To deliver a lesson to Salted Fish, of course, everyone had to be in the know.

Li Guangming's loyal subordinates earnestly implemented his intentions.

By lunchtime, nearly all the public security police across different departments and teams at Linghai Police Bureau knew that Salted Fish's uncle and elder brother had been arrested, and Salted Fish had waited outside Sanxing Brick and Tile Factory all night.

What does being the Chief of the Port District Bureau amount to? It's like calling out to the heavens and getting no response, and pleading with the earth and finding no solace. At least in Sanxing Police Station, his status as bureau chief doesn't mean a thing; no one would give him face!

Good news seldom leaves the house, while bad news travels a thousand miles.

Probably, in no time at all, other departments will know about the infighting within the Police Bureau.

Political Commissioner Sun was well aware that Li Guangming was picking a quarrel deliberately because he couldn't get promoted to Deputy Director, and it upset him so much that he couldn't eat. Considering it involved the handling of security cases, he couldn't reprimand Li Guangming at this critical juncture; otherwise, it would seem like tipping off a subordinate to handle a case as a favor.

Deputy Director Li Yuanchun had worked as the Director of Sanxing Police Station for ten years and had deep affection for his former unit; he couldn't believe that such a thing could happen there.

He had been holding himself back since receiving the news in the morning until noon, but seeing no new updates, he just couldn't bear it any longer and made a call to his old unit in front of Wu Ren Guang who had just come in knocking.

"Old Wu, has Li Guangming shown up at the station?"

"No."

"What about Huang Chengjie?"

After all, Salted Fish is a Deputy Director-level civil servant; letting Salted Fish wait from yesterday afternoon until now is really inexcusable.

Sanxing Police Station Instructor Wu Changzheng felt more and more that something was not right. With a troubled expression, he said, "I've been calling him all morning, and he has not responded."

"Did you call Li Guangming?"

"I did."

"What did Li Guangming say?"

"At first, he said he was busy with something outside and would come back after handling it, but later when I called again, it was unreachable."

This was intentionally avoiding Salted Fish, to make him wait in Sanxing.

Li Yuanchun knew very well what kind of person Li Guangming was; back when he was appointed Deputy Director, he had reservations about Li Guangming taking over as the Chief of Sanxing Police Station. To put it bluntly, he wasn't yet officially a part of the Police Bureau's party committee team and had no say in the selection and appointment of the Director of Sanxing Police Station.

Seeing his old unit turned into such a mess by Li Guangming, Li Yuanchun felt he could not stay silent any longer and asked with a stern face, "The Director is missing, the Deputy Director cannot be contacted, what exactly is your role as an Instructor?"

"Director Li, I..."

"What do you mean 'I'? Don't you have any sense of responsibility? Since Li Guangming is unreachable, you should take the initiative to oversee the station's work, expedite the cases that need to be handled, and not just procrastinate and stall. What's the point of that?"

Though the Bureau leadership didn't state it explicitly, the attitude was crystal clear.

Wu Changzheng hesitated a moment and said with a frown, "Director Li, I don't want Director Han to wait either, but Yu Huayang and Zhao Xuqiang won't listen to me. I just went to the brick and tile factory to find them, and they insisted on waiting for Director Li and Old Huang to return."

Yu Huayang, at the age of 24, graduated from the police academy and has been working under Li Guangming since he started, absolutely obedient to him.

Zhao Xuqiang, formerly a contract officer at the traffic police team, was one of Li Guangming's staunch supporters during his time with the traffic police. Later, he followed Li Guangming from the traffic police to Northern City Police Station and then to Sanxing Police Station. Even his wife works for Li Guangming's wife's building materials market.

As for the Deputy Director Old Huang, he is almost ready to step back from the front line, and who knows what kind of bewitching potion Li Guangming fed him; surprisingly, in these couple of years, he has also looked up to Li Guangming as his leader.

The Instructor was utterly sidelined, and Sanxing Police Station had become Li Guangming's one-man show.

Director Li hung up the phone with a slam, cursing furiously, "Blind obedience, pure nonsense!"

"Old Li, calm down, it's not like you're new to Li Guangming," Wu Ren Guang offered a cigarette and then asked with a smile, "If the Political Commissioner isn't eating, you're not eating either? If you don't go now, the food will get cold."

"Director Wu, you can actually laugh at this!"

"Li Guangming has been acting high and mighty for too long, if he insists on self-destruction, then let him be. When you think about it, it may not be such a bad thing."

"But Salted Fish is the division chief newly appointed by the Police Bureau's party committee. With Li Guangming undermining him like this, how can Salted Fish establish his authority? If Salted Fish fails to establish authority, where is the authority of the Police Bureau's party committee?"

"This is something Director Zhou and the Political Commissioner should worry about, not us."

Wu Ren Guang laughed, then changed the subject, "Moreover, in my opinion, this does not harm, but rather helps Salted Fish establish his authority."

Director Li asked subconsciously, "How so?"

"Salted Fish, fully aware of the suspicion of interfering with the case, still went to Sanxing for the sake of his uncle and brother, even waiting there overnight. This is also a demonstration of responsibility. After all, we are flesh and blood people first, and public security police second."

Wu Ren Guang tapped off the ash from his cigarette, continuing, "Put yourself in their shoes, if you or I were in this situation, would we go or not? Human hearts are made of flesh, everyone has their own sense of judgment, and through this incident, everyone can see Salted Fish's character."

Director Li was stunned and asked in astonishment, "Won't this cause ridicule towards Salted Fish?"

"I just made a round at the Criminal Investigation Team, and those rascals all admire Salted Fish quite a bit. After all, this matter could be treated as serious or minor; taking it to the extreme could lead to disciplinary action. Yet Salted Fish would rather face the consequences and go; what kind of friend wouldn't want to be associated with that? What kind of leader wouldn't be respected?"

"Ha ha ha ha, Director Wu, hearing you say it like that, it really does make sense."

"You also need to think about who Salted Fish's mentor is; there's no need for you to worry on his behalf."

"By your account, there really is nothing for Salted Fish to be worried about. But fighting within our own ranks is ultimately not a good look; it sounds so unpleasant when word gets out."

"People are diverse, and where there are people, there will be conflicts. Besides, which unit doesn't have its own trouble from time to time?"

Wu Ren Guang's words made sense, had to admit.

Director Li thought for a moment and then asked, "What if Li Guangming and Huang Chengjie still don't show up by the end of today's work hours?"

Without a second thought, Wu Ren Guang said, "We will handle it by the book. As I understand, the arrest was made yesterday afternoon at two-thirty. If they don't show up in another two hours, if they don't give an explanation, it means Li Guangming and Huang Chengjie have violated the case handling regulations. As the Deputy Director in charge of public security, you can then legitimately inquire about it."

"Just get involved with the Sanxing Police Station case like that?"

"Are you worried that Li Guangming will fly into a rage from embarrassment and cause trouble for you afterward?"

"Li Guangming is a petty man; he's capable of doing anything."

Wu Ren Guang was well aware of the concerns of the man before him and reminded him with a smile, "Old Li, people say it's better to offend a gentleman than a petty person, but in my view, you can't afford to offend gentlemen either. I bet that if Li Guangming and Huang Chengjie are still nowhere to be seen in two more hours, Salted Fish will definitely safeguard his uncle and elder brother's legitimate rights."

Director Li asked with a bitter smile, "How would Salted Fish safeguard them?"

"Salted Fish knows the law. Even if he's too embarrassed to take the lead and challenge his own workplace, he will seek an explanation from the Bureau in other ways."

"What other ways?"

"Both his uncles are big bosses, and his brother is a small boss. They have plenty of money to hire lawyers with just a phone call. Moreover, not only can Salted Fish write, but he also has relatives who can write and publish articles even better than him."

Wu Ren Guang extinguished his cigarette butt and added with a smile, "The case that Li Guangming and his team have bungled is already highly controversial. For instance, whether playing long cards between an uncle and his nephew counts as gambling, and whether the money in the shop counts as gambling funds, all these issues are debatable.

If you're concerned that Li Guangming might make trouble for you, I reckon that Salted Fish would likely conduct a case study and offer a detailed analysis of it. This situation is both representative and widespread, and the higher-ups might actually pay attention to it. There could be judicial interpretations to look forward to, which would promote the construction of the legal system."

Salted Fish indeed knows how to write; he has published many articles in various journals and is said to have earned quite a bit in royalties.

Salted Fish does have relatives that are even better at writing; Reporter Wang from the Binjiang People's Broadcasting Station watched him grow up. He's a professional at opinion supervision, and now he's not only the Crownless King but also one of Jiangnan Province's "Top Ten Legal Figures"!

Logically speaking, family shame should not be aired in public, and Salted Fish shouldn't put the Bureau on the spot.

But the ones detained in the Sanxing Brick and Tile Factory are his real uncle and elder brother. If the Bureau doesn't stand up for him, he will have to go all out in defending his rights.

Moreover, Salted Fish is Xu Sanye's disciple, and their way of thinking differs from others.

Director Li realized that the situation was unavoidable. After all, as the Deputy Director in charge of public security, he couldn't just watch the Bureau being put on the hot seat. He lifted his arm to check the time and said with a bitter smile, "I'll wait another hour and a half. If Li Guangming and Huang Chengjie still don't show up, I'll head over to the Sanxing Police Station."

Wu Ren Guang patted his arm and laughed, "Don't worry, there's nothing to fear from Li Guangming. If he dares to cause you trouble, I'll help you deal with him."

"You said it."

"I did. To be honest, I've been displeased with him for a long time, just never had the chance."

"Alright, it's settled then." Director Li paused and then added, "I need to inform the Political Commissioner first."

Wu Ren Guang laughed, "Why do you think Li Guangming can't get along with Salted Fish? In the end, isn't it because he couldn't get promoted to Deputy Director? He's discontent with the Bureau's Party Committee, and the Political Commissioner will definitely support you."

...

Southern City Police Station Chief Yang Xihui was much better informed than Bureau leaders like Li Yuanchun and Wu Ren Guang. He received a call right after lunch that left him utterly astonished, disbelieving it to be true.

Deputy Director Guo Fei walked into the chief's office and, seeing Yang Xihui standing there in shock, couldn't help but ask, "Director Yang, what's wrong?"

Yang Xihui regained his composure, touching the corner of his mouth and saying, "Li Guangming has signed his own death warrant. This station chief tenure of his is likely over."

"Is he resentful and looking for trouble with Salted Fish, leading the Bureau leaders to want to clean him up?"

"Not only do the Bureau leaders want to clean him up, but even the City leaders do too."

"City leaders want to clean him up?"

"The government guesthouse is currently hosting a citywide cadre meeting, which hasn't ended yet. During the meeting, when city leaders discussed the investment environment and the soft power of investment attraction, they mentioned the Sanxing Police Station by name in front of so many people, referencing the incident involving the arrest of Salted Fish's uncle and elder brother."

Guo Fei asked in amazement, "They criticized the Sanxing Police Station at a citywide cadre meeting?"

Yang Xihui nodded and said with a feeling of lament, "Perspectives are different, and so are the heights of vision. Li Guangming got used to reigning supreme in Sanxing and forgot who he is, without considering who Salted Fish is."

Guo Fei said, not understanding, "Isn't Salted Fish just Salted Fish?"

"Salted Fish is a cadre dug out by the City Committee for the construction of the Port District, brought back from the Changhang Bureau. It's said that the city spent over ten million to transfer Salted Fish. By going against Salted Fish, Li Guangming is going against the City Committee. Would Secretary Ye, Mayor Qian, and Mayor Shen let him off easily?"

Yang Xihui exhaled softly and pointed at the telephone on his desk, "And with his arrogant attitude, he doesn't just make trouble for Salted Fish; he's also offended many people, including Sanxing's Secretary Jia and Village Chief Chen. Just now, during the meeting, Secretary Ye called on leaders from each township to come to the stage and reflect on the shortcomings in their investment attraction work.

Mayor Shen has already named and criticized the Sanxing Police Station. Secretary Jia and Village Chief Chen couldn't wait to see Li Guangming fail. How could they pass up such an opportunity? They struck while the iron was hot and reported him, saying that he not only disrupted the investment environment in Sanxing but also meddled in the Phase Three construction project of Sanxing Home Textile Market."

"A wall is pushed by everyone!"

"I estimate that after the meeting ends, more people will come forward to complain."

"He deserves it! He brought this upon himself!"

"I knew this day would come for him. Luckily, I reacted quickly last night and found an excuse to come back, otherwise, I really might have been implicated by him unwittingly."

"Director Yang, even if you didn't come back, it wouldn't matter. It was just a dinner gathering."

"Having dinner together really isn't a big deal, but it depends on the timing. He still hasn't returned to Sanxing to this very hour, still hiding from Salted Fish and trying to embarrass him with it."

"He doesn't know he's been named and criticized by the City leaders?"

"He probably doesn't know. With his popularity, who would inform him."

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