Chapter 313: Sitting in Jail, Others Are on the Move

Xu Chaoyang felt as though his body had been filled with lead.

Upon learning that Li Xian and Li You had been taken to Bing City by the Forest General Bureau due to the compensation funds issue, he immediately rushed over.

He knew that this incident was not targeting Li Xian and his son but himself.

The arrest of Li Xian and Li You was more of a warning—directed at him regarding his interference with the Berry Research Institute and its two affiliated enterprises, as well as the removal of Han Wenzhong from the Multi-operation Bureau.

But the situation was far from being as simple as it appeared on the surface. 

In October of this year, the Forest General Bureau proposed a comprehensive reform plan. The major directive was to transform state-owned forest farms into market-oriented entities, with a series of planned deployments. Among these, closely related to the Bangye Forestry Bureau, was the Forest Industry Cooperation Development Project.

The main content of this project included integrating local township enterprise resources with the natural resources of state-owned forest areas to form a superior ecological commercial chain, led by local governments and attracting social funds for development.

The Berry Research Institute and its two subordinate production enterprises were the only entities within the project's designated area that could form the so-called superior ecological industrial chain.

In this project, although the Berry Research Institute was a crucial link, it was not the most valuable one.

The real reason Xu Chaoyang felt uneasy and did not dare to let the Berry Institute be handled by the Multi-operation Bureau was because, according to the project plan, the forest resources of the Bangye Forestry Bureau's jurisdiction would be privatized for the first time. Enterprises with timber processing capabilities would be given priority.

To summarize the project in one sentence: whoever holds development qualifications in the forestry bureau's region for mountain products can have the right to develop resources including timber, undergrowth plants, wildlife, soil microorganisms, and other natural environmental factors.

Under normal circumstances, every forestry bureau would welcome those interested in such projects. However, Xu Chaoyang was highly cautious about Huang Yingxiong, who had already been acting on this matter even before the project was publicly announced. 

This person was well-known within the Forest General System, but unfortunately, not for good reasons. Xu Chaoyang did not dare to let such a rule-bending person engage in development in his domain. Hence, the Berry Research Institute was first leased and then sold to Li Xian.

Now, the retaliation was precise and pointed. The plight of Li Xian and his son was filled with warnings and threats—indeed, a more direct warning had already been revealed in the call Huang Yingxiong made to him a few hours earlier.

Upon arriving in Bing City, Xu Chaoyang immediately contacted Wang Linhe's two sons: Wang Anguo, the Director of the Forest General Transportation Bureau, and Wang Anbang, who had just taken office as the Director of the Industrial Department of the Forestry Bureau.

Although they had grown up together, Xu Chaoyang's relationship with these two was currently very delicate due to the personal issues between Wang Linhe and his mother. Under unavoidable circumstances, he would not easily make contact.

However, despite setting aside his pride and reaching out, the responses from the two brothers were still disheartening.

The obstacles were too great to overcome.

Standing downstairs at the family building of the detention bureau, Xu Chaoyang and his secretary, Xiao Liu, looked up at the sky in a daze after being turned away by Zhang Wanhao.

"Director Xu, it's past nine. What should we do now?"

In the afternoon, Bing City had experienced a light snowfall.

By November, the temperature across Longjiang Province had already dropped below freezing, making the first snow after the start of winter settle fully. Standing in the snowy night, Xu Chaoyang sighed.

Breathing out a long cloud of vapor under the streetlights, he said, "No matter what, we should still go to the detention bureau. If we can't protect the people, we can't let them suffer."

"Alright," Xiao Liu nodded, picking up a pile of things from the ground and loading them into the car.

On the fourth floor of the detention bureau family building, as the two left in the car, Zhang Wanhao picked up the phone.

"President Huang, the people have left. Yes, Xu Chaoyang came alone, without the Wang brothers. But the detention bureau just called, saying someone has used Wang Anguo's connections to visit. Yes, the review is underway. However, the young one didn't say much, and the older one only mentioned that the funds allocated were delivered to the people. So, there's no embezzlement. It's only suspected of falsification."

"Hmm, it's not too problematic. At most, it will be dismissal."

"Alright, we'll put it on hold for a few days. Yes, this is not a big deal. We'll talk another day."

...

At the entrance of the Forest General Bureau.

Looking at Su Ya, who was only wearing a white sweater and stubbornly waiting outside in the cold wind, Wang Zhiye stomped her feet in frustration.

"Are you stupid? Waiting here won't help him get out. What if you freeze yourself? Come on, let's go home. We'll come back tomorrow morning."

Seeing Wang Zhiye's impatience, Su Ya smiled and shook her head. After a moment's thought, she picked up a twig and wrote a few words on the ground.

"He is delicate; he can't sleep even if he changes beds."

"Why does it matter if he can't sleep? Come home with me, and we'll come back tomorrow morning, okay?" Wang Zhiye's almond eyes widened in disbelief.

"Thinking about him not sleeping makes me unable to sleep too."

After writing this, Su Ya blushed—not from the cold.

Outside the high arched gate, the yellow streetlights cast a golden hue on the falling snowflakes. The streetlights, spaced ten meters apart, seemed like spotlights, turning the empty street into a series of small stages.

Bathed in the light from these "stages," Wang Zhiye sighed, took off her coat, and draped it over Su Ya, hugging her shoulders and hiding in the windless corner of the gate.

"Alright, alright. I'm really afraid of you guys—lovey-dovey but still can't get together."

"I really don't know what's so good about him. Fine, you stay here for a while. I'll get the driver to bring the car over."

Just as Wang Zhiye pushed Su Ya to the inside of the gate, three people alighted from an Audi 100.

The leader of the group, upon passing by the gate, glanced at the thin figure briefly. Frowning, he pushed open the detention bureau's door.

In the detention room.

Having just forcibly sent Su Ya and Wang Zhiye away, Li Xian was sitting on the floor, wearing the small cotton jacket Su Ya had insisted on giving him, telling the group of inspectors and Forest General police officers stories about his entrepreneurial journey.

Just as he was narrating how he had made his first pot of gold by trading in Russia with a capital of twenty thousand, and then started Bangye Liquor, footsteps approached from the corridor outside the detention room.

The sound of leather shoes was crisp, filled with an indescribable sense of stability, composure, and grace.

Soon, three people appeared at the end of the corridor.

The two people walking side by side at the forefront were dressed in long black cashmere coats, which were rare nowadays. The leather shoes left a trail of water stains from the melted snow on the shabby floor of the detention room.

"Hey, who are you? Looking for someone?"

Seeing these two individuals, a police officer quickly stood up and asked.

As they approached, the older of the two stopped. The dim light in the detention room cast his upper body in shadow.

Noticing this, the other person gave a slight, rueful smile, paused for a moment, and then walked over.

Although this person appeared to be around forty, his commanding presence and the gaze behind his gold-rimmed glasses made the inspectors and officers in the room instinctively stand up.

"May I ask what's the matter?" Xu Jiaojun, who had worked in the Forest General System for many years, first confirmed that this person was not from the Forest General System.

However, his years of experience with leaders told him that the person before him was definitely someone significant.

"Oh," the man replied, nodding. He took his hands from behind his back and extended them towards Xu Jiaojun. "Please convey to your prosecutor's office that I would like to see the head of the bureau. Li..."

At this point, he glanced back, and, after a prompt from the people behind him, continued, "Yes, Li Xian's case. I would like to understand the situation."

Hearing the person mention his superior directly, Xu Jiaojun was taken aback. "May I ask who you are?"

"Oh, here is my business card." The person pulled out a small card from his coat pocket and handed it to Xu Jiaojun.

The next moment, Xu Jiaojun's legs felt weak.

Inside the iron bars, Li Xian, who had been frowning, finally saw the half-lit and half-shadowed figure clearly.

Seeing the smiling face looking at him, he sat up from the floor with a chuckle, "Secretary Sun, what brings you here?"

"Hehe." Sun Weimin stepped out from the shadow of the ceiling lamp and, with Lai Yunhao following him, walked to the iron bars.

"Little Li, I remember you said you'd give me a big gift in November

."

"Ah..." Li Xian gripped the iron bars and scratched the back of his head, "It's not this gift..."

"I know, I saw it on TV. You did well." Sun Weimin extended his hand and patted Li Xian's hand gripping the iron bars.

Inside the detention room, everyone was stunned as they saw Sun Weimin stepping out from the shadows.

It was ten o'clock at night.

Zhang Wanhao, who had already gone to bed, was abruptly awakened by a series of urgent phone rings.

Wearing a tank top, he answered the phone on the bedside table, and his superior's roar came through.

"Zhang Wanhao, you've done a great job!"

"President Wang, what's going on at this late hour?" Zhang Wanhao, startled by the loud voice coming through the phone, instantly became wide awake.

"Get to the detention room immediately, right now!"

Another roar came through.

Without time to explain to his wife, Zhang Wanhao quickly jumped out of bed and put on his sweater and thermal pants...