Suspects apprehended

A sign reading "Jingzhou Shantytown Redevelopment Project Special Investigation Team" was hung outside a conference room in the municipal government building overnight. The news that Lin Yanzhou would personally lead the team spread throughout Jingzhou like a heavy bomb dropped into a deep pool.

It was the investigation team's first plenary meeting. Handpicked personnel from the discipline inspection commission, audit bureau, finance bureau, public security bureau, and Guangming District whispered among themselves. They all knew they were about to touch the largest festering wound in Jingzhou, one no one had dared casually uncover for years.

After Lin Yanzhou entered the meeting room, silence fell. Everyone immediately rose. "Good morning, Mayor!"

Lin Yanzhou raised a hand to signal everyone to sit and went straight to the point. "Comrades, several thousand households in Jingzhou's shantytown redevelopment area waited more than a decade. In the end, it took an explosion and dozens of lives to secure redevelopment, only for them to receive not new homes, but shoddy construction and hard-earned money that had vanished without a trace! This is the greatest mockery of our principle of governing for the people!"

His gaze swept over every face. "This team has just one goal: dig down to the roots and get to the bottom of everything! Whoever is involved, however powerful their backing, investigate to the very end! Audit and finance will establish the final destination of every sum after those five hundred million yuan from Jingzhou Zhongfu reached the Jingzhou municipal government. The discipline inspection commission will keep a close watch on those responsible at every stage. Public security will uncover the transfers of illicit benefits behind this and any possible economic crimes! Guangming District must keep the residents of the redevelopment area safe and reassured, and prevent another mass petitioning incident. All four fronts will advance together, share information, and compile daily reports!"

"Strict confidentiality must be maintained throughout the investigation. All leads and progress are restricted to this team. No one may disclose a single detail outside it. At the same time, pay attention to your working methods and safety."

After the meeting ended, the audit bureau director and the deputy director of the public security bureau were the last to leave. Each saw the gravity and hint of excitement in the other's eyes.

Both had risen through professional ranks and had long detested the chaos in certain sectors of Jingzhou. Lin Yanzhou's tough stance gave them a sense of confidence they had not felt in a long time.

The investigation team's rapid operation immediately stirred waves across Jingzhou.

The auditors' first task was to untangle the bizarre movement of those five hundred million yuan. Back then, Jingzhou Zhongfu had contributed five hundred million yuan to assist with shantytown redevelopment, transferring it from its corporate account to the Jingzhou municipal government's account. Why had Wu Xiongfei, then deputy mayor, sent it back? After that enormous sum returned to Jingzhou Zhongfu, how had general manager Shi Hongxing improperly approved its use by her younger male cousin Wang Ping'an for stock speculation, only for the so-called Myth Fund to swindle it away, leaving none of the money recoverable? What underlying connections linked all this to the subsequent explosion in the redevelopment area and the arrests of Wu Xiongfei and Shi Hongxing?

Meanwhile, economic crime investigators began preliminary inquiries based on vague leads supplied by resident representatives and several key company names identified by the discipline inspection commission. Their focus was precisely this: after Wu Xiongfei's downfall, Li Dakang had made the final decision to put Ding Yizhen in charge of the "Jingzhou Shantytown Redevelopment Project." Ding Yizhen had arranged for Jingzhou Urban Construction Group to undertake construction, and the Urban Construction Group had then subcontracted it to a local construction company, Jingzhou Dingsheng Construction Engineering Co., Ltd. That company purchased all its high-margin materials from companies belonging to Ding Yizhen's relatives.

Resistance, however, arrived right on schedule.

The investigation team received a report from their audit bureau colleagues: the financial computer hard drives at Jingzhou Dingsheng Construction Engineering Co., Ltd., currently one of the redevelopment project's largest subcontractors, had suffered permanent data loss in an accident the night before the audit team arrived.

The economic crime investigators also reported that funds in several associated company accounts they had provisionally identified had been transferred en masse to multiple overseas shell companies several days earlier. The trail had nearly gone cold.

Their opponents' response was astonishingly swift and ruthlessly thorough.

Lin Yanzhou listened to the reports. He had anticipated this situation. "If the data is lost, recover it! If it can't be recovered, find other information and leads. Flies don't land on seamless eggs. As long as there's a crack, we have a chance."

"If the money went overseas, investigate its route within the country! From the main contractor and subcontractors to materials procurement, investigate everyone who handled it and every approval stage. Trace it backward, one link at a time! Anyone who put up obstacles or facilitated things is to be listed as a priority investigation target!"

Just as the investigation team was making an all-out effort to break through the technical barriers, municipal discipline inspection commission secretary Zhang Shuli's secret investigation made a major breakthrough.

The director of the First Supervision Office brought back a report that would have left anyone dumbfounded.

The mysterious Hong Kong businessman "Wu Sheng" was very likely a white glove whom Zhao Ruilong had met while doing business elsewhere in his early years, specifically responsible for handling financial dealings for him that could not bear the light of day.

And Jingzhou Haixiang Trading Co., Ltd. was nothing but a shell. Several enormous sums had circulated between it, Shanshui Group, and a building materials company controlled by Ding Yizhen's younger brother-in-law, in transactions that made no commercial sense whatsoever. Ultimately, all that money had flowed overseas.

More alarming still, shortly after the redevelopment project's earmarked funds were disbursed, a sum of fifty million yuan had been laundered through Haixiang Company and actually deposited directly into an overseas account linked to the former wife of one of Ding Yizhen's relatives.

This lead was connected to the earlier loss of five hundred million yuan in state funds. Meanwhile, the companies belonging to Ding Yizhen's relatives all had large loans from Jingzhou City Bank. The loan procedures and documentation seemed less than complete, yet all had ultimately been approved, with the business all registered under Ouyang Jing's name.

This chain of interests almost directly pinned down Ding Yizhen, yet also vaguely pointed toward Li Dakang's wife, Ouyang Jing.

Holding the report, Zhang Shuli's hands shook so badly he could barely grip the paper.

He knew its weight. It was enough to blow an aircraft carrier to the bottom of the sea.

He shut himself in his office and smoked an entire pack of cigarettes. Should he report immediately to Tian Guofu at the provincial discipline inspection commission? Or follow procedure and report to Li Dakang first?

In the end, loyalty to Party discipline and state law overcame fear.

He took a deep breath and dialed Li Dakang's encrypted line.

"Secretary Dakang, I have information of the utmost importance that I must report to you in person."

Half an hour later, Zhang Shuli placed the report, with the Jingzhou City Bank lead concealed, before Li Dakang.

Li Dakang read it carefully, his face expressionless, though his brows kept drawing tighter.

The report suspected Ding Yizhen of corruption and also vaguely pointed toward the possibility of more powerful backing behind the loss of Jingzhou Zhongfu's five hundred million yuan in state-owned assets.

"I understand the situation. Comrade Shuli, you've done very well, and acted promptly." Li Dakang set down the report. "This chain of evidence is not yet airtight, especially the overseas portion, where gathering evidence is difficult. Immediately organize your most reliable people to follow the domestic trail and secure ironclad evidence at every stage! As for the case involving the loss of Jingzhou Zhongfu's assets, simply forward the materials to Jingzhou Zhongfu. We belong to two different systems, so we should not get involved. Focus on Ding Yizhen's financial misconduct, especially the signatures, authorizations, and approval records within the system for the 'Guangming Peak Project' and the 'Jingzhou Shantytown Redevelopment Project.' Don't let a single cent slip through!"

"Also..." His voice dropped even lower.

"Maintain strict confidentiality. Before we close the net, no third person must learn that this report exists, especially those over there." He gestured upward and toward the municipal government.

Zhang Shuli nodded emphatically. He knew Li Dakang meant the provincial discipline inspection commission, Ding Yizhen, and those associated with him, and possibly Lin Yanzhou as well.

While Li Dakang and Zhang Shuli held their confidential discussion, a plot targeting Lin Yanzhou was quietly set in motion in the shadows.

The "cleaners" Wu Sheng had hired through overseas connections were already in position.

Their instructions were to follow Lin Yanzhou and investigate his weaknesses. If they could find none, they were to stage an accident and intimidate him, instilling fear in him and disrupting the pace of the investigation.

A seemingly ordinary black sedan kept appearing at places Lin Yanzhou might visit. Surveillance equipment was also probing for vulnerabilities through which to access his communications system.

Lin Yanzhou stood at his office window, his eldest uncle's voice coming through the encrypted phone in his hand.

"The special security personnel I sent reported discovering suspicious people scouting your movements. So far, there's no malicious intent, but their intentions are certainly not friendly."

"They've already apprehended them, and questioning is still underway. To guard against any fish slipping through the net, I'll further strengthen the security around you over the coming days. You must remain highly vigilant yourself. Put safety above everything."

Warmth and pressure coexisted in Lin Yanzhou's heart. "Thank you, Uncle. I understand. There's no need to tell the family about this for now. It would only make them worry needlessly."

"Mm, I know how to handle it. Remember, your safety comes first. Never take risks, no matter the circumstances." After those reminders, his uncle hung up.

Almost the moment he put down the phone, Chen Mo entered with swift, silent steps, his expression grave. "Sir, security reports unusual activity around the routes you frequently take recently. Suspicious vehicles and individuals have been spotted. They strongly recommend that you minimize unnecessary public appearances for the time being and temporarily change your travel patterns."

The two accounts corroborated each other. The danger was not wind rising from an empty cave.

Lin Yanzhou nodded. He turned to Chen Mo. "It seems someone is far more sensitive than we imagined, and far more frightened."

The investigation has only just begun. I don't have a card in my hand that can deliver a killing blow.

Yet they're already unable to sit still, even resorting to methods like these. It seems Jingzhou's waters really do run deep.