Reborn as a Noble's Son

Chapter 710: Chapter 666 Reunion With Old Classmates_1
 

Feng Tianqi’s audacity left Deng Chunhe incredibly shocked. They say that among all the people in Xibei, Feng Tianqi is the most ruthless. Now it seems that his reputation is indeed well-deserved. He wanted to kill and silence.

Such a thing, without a second thought, Deng Chunhe flatly refused. Doing such a thing under the watchful eyes of the Three Public Offices is suicide. If anything goes wrong, Feng Tianqi might be protected by his father and won’t have much to worry about. However, Deng Chunhe himself might end up as the scapegoat.

Deng Chunhe is not a child anymore, naturally, he wouldn’t be that impulsive. Looking at Feng Tianqi beside him, Deng Chunhe adjusted his mentality, smiled and said, “Master Feng, there is no need for this. I think the old man’s goal is to save his son and daughter-in-law. If his grandson also falls into our hands, I believe he won’t dare to speak nonsense. However, people with the surname Han all live in Hanjiabao, it won’t be easy to catch them.”

At this moment, Feng Tianqi only smiled softly, looked at Deng Chunhe and said, “Old Deng, this depends on your capability as the Secretary of the Kulin County Party Committee.”

After Feng Tianqi left, Deng Chunhe picked up the phone and dialed the Secretary of Politics and Law Committee.

On the side of Kulin County Committee Guest House, the comrades from Kulin County Committee Reception Office arranged accommodation for Nie Zhenbang and his party with full consideration and warmth.

Right now, inside Nie Zhenbang’s room. Huang Xudong sat on the sofa at the side, Nie Zhenbang, with a relaxed face, offered Huang Xudong and Li Jupeng a cigarette each. He lit one himself, took a deep puff, and then said, “Comrade Xudong, you will be the main player in this inspection.”

Hearing Nie Zhenbang’s words, Huang Xudong nodded, straightened up, and said, “Director, looking at the current situation, will the people of Kulin County…?”

Nie Zhenbang understood what Huang Xudong meant. Being able to think of this was very gratifying for Nie Zhenbang. However, Huang Xudong still lacked experience. At this moment, Nie Zhenbang intends to cultivate Huang Xudong, and gently pointed out, “Xudong, when dealing with problems, you must consider all aspects. If Uncle Han’s issue did not exist, these people would naturally do everything to evade responsibility. But now, with Uncle Han’s ticking time bomb, I think Deng Chunhe and his group will surely fully cooperate with our supervision and inspection.”

Nie Zhenbang paused for a bit, and then continued to say, “Currently, the existence of small treasuries in units is no secret. Kulin County must also have a small treasury. I guess problems won’t be found when we audit. This time, you guys don’t need to rush. Investigate slowly.”

Upon hearing Nie Zhenbang’s words, Huang Xudong was shocked for a moment, then instantly understood Nie Zhenbang’s meaning, and immediately nodded in agreement, “Director, you mean, people like Deng Chunhe hope that we will finish our inspection quickly and leave this place as soon as possible.”

At that moment, Li Jupeng also chimed in with a smile, “Director Huang, that’s right, that’s how it works at the grassroots level. Didn’t that Feng, who said on the dinner table that his father was the vice-chairman of the Northwestern Autonomous Region, Feng Xueliang? No matter what, even for his own reputation, Feng Tianqi will find ways to help the people of Kulin County remove their penalties after we leave.”

Upon hearing this, Huang Xudong also nodded. For a deputy ministerial-level officer like Feng, it’s an easy task to cancel the penalties for several division-level or deputy division-level officials.

At this moment, Huang Xudong seemed to have an overall understanding of Nie Zhenbang’s strategy. As for Uncle Han’s matter, Nie Zhenbang didn’t need any excuse at all. The document alone was enough to initiate an investigation by the disciplinary department. The reason why he was delaying the time and not leaving was just to exert pressure on the local comrades with the authority of the Three Public Offices under the central government, so they wouldn’t dare to cover it up.

The next day

Huang Xudong, along with the staff of the office, officially stationed at the Kulin County Committee office and started the formal investigation. Meanwhile, the leaders of Atai Municipal Party Committee also got the news. Director Nie had arrived in Kulin County and started the investigation. It is completely different from how Director Nie has been doing things all along.

However, no one dares to interfere with the work of the Three Public Offices, not just in Atai City, not even the leaders of the North-West Autonomous Region Party Committee.

At this moment, the leaders of Atai City were rushing to Kulin County without stopping.

In the afternoon, at the room 308 on the third floor of the Kulin County Committee Guest House, there was a knock at the door. Afterward, the door opened, and Li Jupeng walked in solemnly. Walking behind Nie Zhenbang, who was sitting on the sofa, he whispered, “Director, comrades from Atai City have arrived.”

Upon hearing Li Jupeng’s words, Nie Zhenbang opened his eyes and said, “So soon?”

At this moment, Li Jupeng nodded and reported, “Director, Secretary Zhou Chunlei and Mayor Wang Baoguo of the Atai Municipal Party Committee are outside. What do you think?”

Upon hearing Li Jupeng’s words, Nie Zhenbang stood up suddenly. Zhou Chunlei? In his mind, the scenes from their days studying at the Northwestern Autonomous Region Party School emerged. However, he felt some confusion. He remembered that Zhou Chunlei had been the Secretary of Yushi’s Political and Legal Committee, and had steadily climbed up through the public security system. Could this Zhou Chunlei and that Zhou Chunlei simply share the same name?

With these thoughts, Nie Zhenbang did not sit back down. He turned to Li Jupeng and said, “Ju Peng, please bring in the comrades from Atai City.”

As the Director of the San Gong Bureau and a deputy ministerial-level official, he also held the title of an Alternate Member of the Central Committee. Nie Zhenbang’s credentials and qualifications were recognized openly and as such, he didn’t need to stand up to welcome a municipal Party Secretary and a mayor of bureau-level rank.

However, Nie Zhenbang chose to play a bit smart at the moment. Regardless if this Zhou Chunlei was his classmate or not, standing up could never be a bad thing.

On the one hand, if he was a classmate, standing up to greet him personally demonstrated his courteous attitude and showed that he was not the type to forget old friends. If they just happened to share the same name, this gesture would fully express his respect. After all, for a deputy-minister-level official – who also happens to be a leader sent down for inspection by the Central Committee – to stand up to greet a local bureau-level official, was bound to be seen as flatteringly surprising by those below.

The door opened, and the man trailing behind Li Jupeng brought a smile to Nie Zhenbang’s face. It was indeed his old classmate. Unexpectedly, after studying at the party school, Zhou Chunlei had left the political and legal system, and in the seven years since they last met, he had moved from his position as Secretary of Yushi’s Political and Legal Committee to become the Secretary of Atai Municipal Party Committee. Zhou Chunlei’s promotion was indeed swift.

Zhou Chunlei, now probably in his early forties, was definitely considered a young cadre amongst the municipal Party Secretaries.

At this moment, as Li Jupeng stepped aside, Zhou Chunlei too saw Nie Zhenbang, and froze on the spot.

Nie Zhenbang sensed Zhou Chunlei’s discomfort. Back in the day, when they were studying together at the party school, he was already a deputy bureau-level leading cadre while Zhou Chunlei was just a director-level cadre appointed by Li Yifeng. Now, at their reunion, he was already at the deputy ministerial level, half a level higher than Zhou.

“Old Zhou, so many years have passed, yet you seem even more lively and energetic. I didn’t expect that my last stop would be in your jurisdiction.” Weighing his words, Nie Zhenbang adopted a casual tone.

Next to them, a man around forty-five or forty-six years old, towering and sturdy, a typical characteristic of Northwestern people, looked at Zhou Chunlei, puzzled.

Before Zhou Chunlei could respond, Nie Zhenbang continued, “Is this Atai City’s Mayor, Wang Baoguo? Back in the day, Chunlei and I were classmates at the Northwest Autonomous Region Party School. Meeting an old classmate made you speechless, didn’t it?”

Nie Zhenbang’s words also brought Zhou Chunlei back to his senses. Looking at Nie Zhenbang, he smiled and said, “Old Nie, you sure know how to surprise people. You’ve made your rounds in the entire Northwestern Autonomous Region, and I saw no unusual moves from you. But now as soon as you, a senior leader, arrive in Atai City, you pull off such a stunt. The call I received from Kulin County last night disturbed my sleep.”

After both of them had settled down, Li Jupeng quickly poured a cup of hot tea for Zhou Chunlei and Wang Baoguo.

Nie Zhenbang then grabbed two packs of special supply Panda cigarettes from the nearby cabinet, tossed them to Zhou Chunlei and said, “Old Zhou, you are not right about this. Back in the day, you, I, Old Min, and Qiao Yuan shared a dormitory. On this trip around the North-West, I neither saw Qiao Yuan nor Old Min. You’re from the political-legal system, so how could I have known you were in Atai City? I thought the Zhou Chunlei mentioned here was someone else with the same name.”

Hearing this, Zhou Chunlei chuckled and said, “Old Min is now in Longxi province, and Qiao Yuan has been transferred to Bashu province. Currently, I am the only one left in Northwest. It’s been many years and Nie, you’ve become a deputy ministerial leader.”

While he spoke, Zhou Chunlei offered one of the packs of the special supply cigarette to Wang Baoguo next to him, laughing, “Baoguo, this time, we have a generous guest. Old Nie is not the one who lacks anything. These cigarettes he brought are the good stuff.”

Receiving the special supply Panda cigarettes offered by Zhou Chunlei, Wang Baoguo was slightly taken aback. They were meant exclusively for central leaders. This in itself was sufficient evidence of Nie Zhenbang’s profound background.

At this moment, Zhou Chunlei relaxed, opened the pack right then and lit up a cigarette. He took a deep puff and savored it, “Old Nie, your cigarettes are truly rich in flavor.”

Then, Zhou Chunlei looked at Nie Zhenbang and said, “Old Nie, since you’ve come to Atai City, I will fully cooperate with your work, and I’ll also make sure to take care of you privately. How about we start by going to the city?”

Nie Zhenbang understood Zhou Chunlei’s intention, smiled, but shook his head. He looked at Zhou Chunlei and said, “Old Zhou, we might be like real brothers, but we should keep the scores clear. This time, I can’t leave. Coming to Kulin County is essentially bringing trouble to you.” (