I Cultivate in a Government Office

Chapter 183: Chapter 113: The Hearing

After breakfast, Yang Wenqing piloted his Flying Shuttle to the precinct.

The moment he stepped onto the Major Case Team’s floor, Li Yue hurried over to meet him. She had clearly been waiting for some time.

Yang Wenqing led her and Sun Yi into his office, where Li Yue immediately began her report. ”Yang Group Leader, based on Ma Wu’s preliminary interrogation and the movement patterns of his subordinates, we’ve identified a group of suspicious individuals who were in frequent contact with him. We’ll need some time to track their daily movements and locations. We estimate it will take two days.”

Yang Wenqing responded, ”That’s efficient. This case might be about more than just gambling and organized crime. While tracking them, if you enter areas outside the city or abandoned zones, request support from the operations team immediately. Also, go to the armory and check out two rifles and some Explosive Bullets to have on hand.”

As he spoke, he wrote out a requisition form for the rifles.

”Understood, Yang Group Leader!” Li Yue’s expression turned serious as she took the requisition form.

”Go on. Keep following up and report anything immediately.” Yang Wenqing waved his hand, and Li Yue departed with her orders.

Watching them leave, Yang Wenqing rubbed the bridge of his nose. ’I just got promoted, and things are already piling up one after another. It’s like everything is deliberately working against me, not giving me a single moment to breathe.’

And sure enough, just as he was catching his breath, Vice Director Gao contacted him.

”Wenqing, in ten minutes, top-floor conference room. There’s an inquiry about the Lingshan Town collapse. The County Magistrate and people from the Civil Affairs Bureau will be there. You’ll attend as the head of the Major Case Team to take notes. You can ask questions if necessary.” Vice Director Gao’s voice was concise and clear.

”Yes, Director Gao. I’ll be right there.” Yang Wenqing replied, then straightened his uniform, grabbed his dedicated notebook and pen, and hurried to the third floor.

When Yang Wenqing arrived at the conference room, Vice Director Gao and Deputy Director Zhou were sitting to one side, speaking in low voices. Director Qiming had not yet arrived. Yang Wenqing silently sat down in the recorder’s seat and nodded to the two deputy directors in acknowledgment.

He had just sat down when Director Qiming strode in. He sat in the first seat to the left of the head of the table, his gaze sweeping over everyone present before he picked up an internal document and began to read.

A moment later, there was a knock on the conference room door, and two colleagues from the General Affairs Section led Liu Min and Zheng Hu inside.

Both wore neat uniforms, their faces etched with the fatigue of having rushed back from Lingshan Town. After saluting the leaders present, they sat at the reporting table. Zheng Hu appeared somewhat tense, while Liu Min did her best to remain composed.

But the inquiry didn’t begin, because County Magistrate Wang had not yet arrived.

A few minutes later, footsteps were heard outside, and County Magistrate Wang walked in briskly. He was followed by a deputy director from the Civil Affairs Bureau office and a recording secretary.

Everyone in the conference room immediately stood up.

”Sit.”

County Magistrate Wang walked to the head of the table and motioned for them to sit.

After sitting down, he dispensed with the pleasantries, his gaze falling upon Liu Min and Zheng Hu. ”Section Chief Liu, Captain Zheng, you’ve just returned from the front lines in Lingshan Town. Thank you for your hard work.”

”The main purpose of this meeting is to hear your report on the situation at the collapse site and your preliminary findings. Both the county and the city are taking this matter very seriously, so you must be strictly factual and explain everything exactly as it happened.”

Liu Min took a deep breath and began her report.

She was clearly well-prepared. Her report was methodical and clear, starting with the rescue organization’s structure upon arrival at the scene. It was a very formal report, perhaps excessively so.

County Magistrate Wang listened with rapt attention. When Liu Min mentioned a discrepancy between the ”safety inspection records” and ”what the workers had reported,” he interjected, ”Who was responsible for safety inspections in that area? Who signed the records?”

Liu Min replied, ”It was the dedicated safety officer of the third operations team under Hongyuan Construction, a man named Liu Shun. His signature is on the records. However, when we went to verify with him, he only said that he had conducted the inspection according to procedure and couldn’t recall the details. The construction company currently has him in custody, and he is cooperating with the investigation.”

County Magistrate Wang nodded, not pressing the matter further, and gestured for her to continue.

Zheng Hu reported next.

He focused more on the specifics of maintaining order at the scene and the emergency rescue operations, repeatedly emphasizing how he and his patrol team had done everything in their power to maintain order and ensure the rescue proceeded smoothly.

County Magistrate Wang’s gaze swept over to Yang Wenqing. He asked sharply, ”Yang Group Leader, for this type of incident, aside from managerial and technical issues, are there any other possibilities?”

The conference room fell silent.

Yang Wenqing put down his pen and answered cautiously, ”There is currently insufficient evidence. However, for any incident involving major casualties, we theoretically cannot rule out the possibility of intentional sabotage or deeper criminal activity. That would need to be determined by a joint investigation team after an in-depth inquiry. The Major Case Team will closely monitor any related leads.”

His answer neither overstepped his authority nor avoided another potential line of investigation.

County Magistrate Wang nodded, not questioning Yang Wenqing further. He looked toward the two guards at the door and ordered, ”Take them to get some rest. They must be tired after their trip.”

Hearing this, Liu Min and Zheng Hu stood up on their own before the guards could approach and walked toward the door.

County Magistrate Wang paid no mind to the departing pair, his gaze sweeping over the room.

”Everyone here understands the situation. The Lingshan Town collapse has had a terrible impact, and the county must give the people an explanation. Passing the buck is pointless.”

He tapped his finger on the tabletop. ”We are officially forming the ’Lingshan Town Black Water Stream Collapse Incident Joint Investigation Team,’ to be led by Assistant Liao from the Civil Affairs Bureau.”

He looked at Assistant Liao beside him. ”Assistant Liao, you will be in charge of coordinating all parties. You must ascertain the direct technical causes and the responsible management as quickly as possible.”