As the Spring Festival approached, the Linghai City District was bustling with vendors selling New Year goods and Spring Festival couplets, and the sound of firecrackers could be heard from time to time, filling the air with the festive atmosphere.

However, Lingda Building Materials Market appeared particularly desolate.

The desolation was not only because few people buy building materials at the end of the year, but also because the market owner, Sun Xiuli, was facing family troubles.

It was an open secret that the Disciplinary Committee was investigating Sun Xiuli's husband, Li Guangming, who had been taken away from the police bureau by the Disciplinary Committee over a month ago, and no one knew where he was being held.

Sun Xiuli herself had disappeared for a few days at the start, leading everyone to think she had also been taken away by the Disciplinary Committee, but it later turned out that she had made trips to Binjiang and Jiangcheng, with her whole family running around outside.

After returning, she only showed her face at the market twice and neither went to the office nor returned home, and her mobile phone was unreachable. It was assumed she was hiding from the Disciplinary Committee, but where she was hiding was unknown.

As the merchants were anxious and worried about how long the market could continue operating, Sun Xiuli finally, accompanied by two disciplinary officers, rushed to the seed farm located more than twenty kilometers from the city district, to see her husband who had been under "Double Rules" for thirty-seven days.

Li Guangming's hair had turned white, he had lost weight, looked listless, with a blank stare, appearing to have aged ten years.

Sun Xiuli, heart torn apart, held him and sobbed heavily.

The disciplinary officers investigating Li Guangming felt both relieved and somewhat unwilling, urging them to sign the papers and leave quickly.

Sun Xiuli knew well that getting her husband out in time for the New Year was not an easy task. Without daring to delay or show any dissatisfaction, she hastily had her husband sign the papers, then grabbed his luggage and helped him into her brother-in-law Chen Hao's car.

Having just endured the past thirty-seven days, Li Guangming did not know how he had survived. Looking outside at the fields, everything seemed like a dream.

"Brother-in-law, brother-in-law..."

"Ah..."

"Are you hungry?"

"Not hungry." Li Guangming collected himself and asked in a low voice, "Where are we going?"

Chen Hao heaved a sigh, gripping the steering wheel: "To my house, we're all going to my house for the New Year."

Seeing her husband hesitate to speak, Sun Xiuli held his arm and said with a sob, "Guangming, we're not going back to Linghai."

Li Guangming asked instinctively, "Not going back?"

Sun Xiuli, with tears in her eyes, said, "That's also Uncle Liu's suggestion. Uncle Liu said going back would bring more trouble."

"What about the market?"

"The market...Regarding the market, Guangrong is handling it."

"How is he handling it?"

"The Disciplinary Committee said that our contracting agreement has issues, the previous contract is voided and they're setting up a working group under the State-owned Assets Bureau to take back the operating rights of the market."

Li Guangming fell silent for a moment, then asked softly, "What about me?"

Sun Xiuli hugged his arm tightly, hesitated, then said, "Resign."

"They ask me to resign and I just resign?"

"Guangming, because of you, Uncle Liu doesn't know how many connections he had to pull. Listen to Uncle Liu."

Afraid her husband might resent, Sun Xiuli, with a sense of helplessness, added: "If you don't resign, they will expel you from the party and public office, and also... they will... transfer..."

Chen Hao, equally worried that Li Guangming might dismiss the thoughtful intention of others, reminded, "Brother-in-law, actually this matter isn't much related to Salted Fish. It was Jia Ru Ming and Chen Changgao of Sanxing Town who kicked you when you were down, Secretary Ye and Mayor Shen are the ones who want to oust you."

That afternoon at the bureau, Political Commissioner Sun made it clear. Deputy Mayor Shen criticized Sanxing Police Station in a city-wide cadre meeting, and Jia, the Secretary of Sanxing Town, and Chen Xiang, the Village Chief, complained in front of city leaders and all cadres, blindly stepping into the crossfire and becoming a negative example of damaging Linghai's investment environment.

Secretary Ye seemed different from the previous Secretary Xie, but fundamentally there was no difference.

Even more so than Secretary Xie, Secretary Ye wanted to climb the ranks, desperately pushing for economic development, which is why he proposed to build Linghai Port within three years. Having been in Linghai for two years, with only three years left in his first term, he had to accomplish some achievements in the following three years.

"Damaging the investment environment" would block his path to promotion, and naturally, he wouldn't be polite to you.

Full of regret, Li Guangming realized he really couldn't stay in Linghai and asked in a low voice, "What about Old Huang?"

"Old Huang has been transferred to the traffic police team, directing traffic at the intersection in front of the bus station."

"And Zhao Xuqiang and Xiao Yu?"

"Zhao Xuqiang has been moved to Longyong Police Station, and Xiao Yu to San Zao Port Police Station."

His two old subordinates, one was exiled to the island across the river from the city, and the other to the seaside thirty-plus kilometers from the city district.

Li Guangming felt bitter and fell silent once again.

Sun Xiuli understood his emotions at the moment, nestled close to him, and said, "Guangming, stop thinking about Salted Fish. A local officer can't compete with a county official, you can't beat him in Linghai."

"Can't beat him?"

"At first, we didn't know, but later found out. To build the port, the city couldn't find any cadre familiar with river conditions and navigation, wanting to transfer Salted Fish back, but the Changhang Navigation Police Branch and Port Supervision Bureau wouldn't release him. The city then spent over ten million to buy a tugboat being built by Changhang Bureau and a dunship from Binjiang Port Supervision Bureau."

Wiping away tears, Sun Xiuli continued, "It was Mayor Shen who first proposed buying both the ship and the person. Mayor Shen is a former subordinate of Director Qin of Binjiang City Planning Committee, whose wife Zhu Chunmiao is the deputy director at the Port Supervision Bureau and grew up watching Salted Fish, she was also the matchmaker for Salted Fish."

Li Guangming truly hadn't known these facts and exclaimed, "Salted Fish is Mayor Shen's man!"

"If he weren't Mayor Shen's man, how would he have entered the Port District Party Working Committee."

Sun Xiuli took a deep breath and continued, "Uncle Liu has several old subordinates in Binjiang. They have clear information. They say Salted Fish has even stronger connections in the police system. Vice Mayor of Suqian and Police Chief Yu Xiangqian, and Director Zhang Junyan of Changhang Jiangcheng Branch, care a lot about Salted Fish, and even Director Chen of Binjiang City Police Department holds him in high regard."

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