Chapter 2826: A Pile of Bad News

Qin Feng remained seated, watching the news. He seemed completely unsurprised by it all, as if it were all within his expectations.

"I remember the schedule was quite full this morning. Do you have time to listen to their reports?" Qin Feng asked.

“Um… You have an event to attend this morning, and then you have to rush back for a meeting. You have to leave in fifteen minutes, so it’s hard to find the time. But we can postpone the event a little,” Zhang Xinming said after thinking for a moment.

"No need. Just call Jiang Yunpeng and Chen Guohua. If nothing unexpected happens, they can give you a general overview. You can report back to me later. Also, call Mayor Yuan Wei and ask him about the specific situation of the three projects that were suspended today. Again, if nothing unexpected happens, they can call you to report back." Qin Feng said after thinking for a moment.

"Okay." Zhang Xinming said and walked out.

"Wait a minute." Qin Feng suddenly called out to Zhang Xinming again: "Tell Mayor Yuanwei that the project has been suspended, but the inspection and review of them cannot stop. In fact, the more a project is suspended, the more strictly and thoroughly it should be investigated. We should investigate it in a high-profile manner."

Zhang Xinming was taken aback, not quite understanding Qin Feng's intentions, but he didn't dare to ask any more questions, nodded, and walked out.

Zhang Xinming didn't understand Qin Feng's intentions, but Sun Yuanwei certainly did.

Fifteen minutes later, Zhang Xinming walked into Qin Feng's office, carrying a bag and holding a teacup for Qin Feng. The two then walked out together.

"What exactly happened?" Qin Feng asked Zhang Xinming as he went downstairs.

"The Secretary-General and Director Jiang reported essentially the same thing: the police operation last night. According to their reports, the operation was very successful, all the criminals were arrested, and they are now being interrogated as quickly as possible."

"The Secretary-General has started to finalize the assessment work today, and at the same time, he has begun to organize the reporting and publicity of the police's operation last night, paving the way for the smooth completion of the assessment work in terms of public opinion..." Zhang Xinming reported.

"What about the Discipline Inspection Commission? Have they taken any action today?"

"The Discipline Inspection Commission sent people to proactively investigate the assessment process early this morning."

Qin Feng nodded. Since the Discipline Inspection Commission had already intervened in the matter as agreed with him yesterday, the assessment work was basically confirmed to be perfectly completed. There was no chance for any further complications, and everything would proceed smoothly according to his plan and objectives.

Qin Feng got into the car in a good mood and continued listening to Zhang Xinming's report.

……

Shao Hongli sat in a chair, puffing on a cigarette, with dark circles under his eyes; he hadn't slept well all night.

He went to bed late last night and came to the office very early this morning. For someone his age, this is simply torture.

No one forced him to do this; it was entirely his own idea because he couldn't sleep.

Shao Hongli had only been in the office for a little over an hour, but the ashtray in front of him was already overflowing with cigarette butts.

Just then, Ding Wenbo knocked twice and pushed open the door to enter Shao Hongli's office.

"Old Shao, what are you up to? Why have all three other projects stopped today? Didn't we agree to temporarily halt those three projects, leaving this knife hanging over their heads to put pressure on Qin Feng and force him to stop?" Ding Wenbo confronted Shao Hongli as soon as he entered.

Shao Hongli glanced up at Ding Wenbo, said nothing, took out a cigarette from the pack and tossed it to Ding Wenbo, saying casually, "I only found out about this an hour ago."

Ding Wenbo was taken aback: "You mean this wasn't arranged by you?"

"Am I fucking that stupid?" Shao Hongli said angrily.

"So this was arranged by Yang Zhijie? What does Yang Zhijie mean by this? Why didn't he discuss it with us and instead acted alone? This shows he completely disregards us." Ding Wenbo was furious.

“We’re just someone else’s dogs. When has he ever really cared about us? Saying these angry words now will do no good.” Shao Hongli glared at Ding Wenbo. Usually, Shao Hongli was loud and impulsive, like a detonator that could explode at any moment, but today he was unusually rational.

“This isn’t the only bad news, there’s a whole bunch. Would you like to hear it? Have a seat!” Shao Hongli said calmly.

"What other bad news is there?" Ding Wenbo asked.

"What was our initial plan? It was to create trouble during the assessment. According to the plan, it was supposed to be launched yesterday. The people who were supposed to jump off the building had already been arranged. All the media reporters, internet celebrities, and the jokes and speeches we had prepared were all ready. I even arranged for the people on my side who were taken down by Qin Feng to start petitioning and causing trouble as soon as they jumped off the building and the public opinion rose."

"As a result, yesterday, the person who wanted to jump off the building got into a dispute with someone while going upstairs, and they got into a fight. The other person called the police, and he was taken away by the police station," Shao Hongli said with a sneer.

"Is that so? Which police station? Just get them out of there. It's such a small matter, it's just a phone call for either you or Yang Zhijie, right?" Ding Wenbo asked.

"Who says otherwise? It just so happens that the head of this police station is one of Jiang Yunpeng's men. I arranged for someone to handle this matter, but the police station head insisted on following the proper procedures, detaining him for twenty-four hours before releasing him today."

"It's not a big deal, it's just postponing the jump by a day." Ding Wenbo didn't care.

"That's what I thought too, so I didn't take it seriously yesterday and had everyone change the plan to be implemented today."

"As a result, I received a report this morning that the police arrested everyone involved in this matter last night, leaving no one alive. That's why I only received this news this morning." Shao Hongli puffed on his cigarette.

Ding Wenbo stared at Shao Hongli with wide eyes, and after a long while, he said, "You mean the other side was prepared all along, and that arranging for the police station to take him away yesterday was just a show for us?"

“I’m more inclined to believe that they knew about our plan all along, so from the very beginning, our plan and the people who were to carry it out were under their control. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to time things so precisely, let alone capture everyone so quickly and wipe them all out in one fell swoop.” Shao Hongli shook his head.

"So what do we do now? Is there any solution to this? Can we continue?"

"How can we continue? Everyone's been caught in one fell swoop. Now it's not about whether to continue the plan or not, but about how to get them out and how to sever ties with us," Shao Hongli said irritably.

"Are you directly involved in this?" Ding Wenbo was startled. He had nothing to do with the assessment and had not participated in it.