Official Career Storm

Chapter 1648

Song Guanchao arrived at the Municipal Bureau, leaned back in the chair, saw the grave look on her face, and asked, "What’s wrong?"

Wu Qiangwei said, "Mayor Sun just came to see me."

Song Guanchao wasn’t surprised at all. Smiling, he asked, "Did he come to clarify the matter with Wei Zhou?"

"Mm." Wu Qiangwei nodded and asked, "What do you think?"

Song Guanchao stroked the stubble that had just grown out. "I’ve actually always suspected it was Sun Jiajun, but his reaction doesn’t really fit."

"It’s not him." Wu Qiangwei’s thinking was the same as his.

"Two possibilities." Song Guanchao said, "Either someone is targeting you and using Wei Zhou to sow discord between you and Sun Jiajun. Or it’s someone inside Jiangzhou Precision setting him up."

"I think the former is more likely. After all, the setup is way too childish; it can’t really affect Wei Zhou."

"At first I thought it was Zhang Yan. But then I thought about it and it didn’t quite add up. It’s certain Zhang Yan bears a grudge against you, but she’s the type who either doesn’t act, or if she does, she goes all the way."

"But aside from her, I can’t think of anyone else."

"Then I changed my line of thinking. From this kind of provocation, who would benefit? The answer becomes fairly clear."

Song Guanchao stopped just short of naming a name and looked at her with a smile.

Wu Qiangwei also had a line of thought in her heart. With a soft sigh, she breathed out a name: "Zhou Zheng."

In fact, from the very beginning, Song Guanchao and Wu Qiangwei had automatically ruled out Zhou Zheng.

Because Secretary Gao had already warned him, and since then he had behaved harmless as a lamb, and in terms of work he’d been all mild and amiable, with no conflicts arising.

But based on their analysis, Zhou Zheng was indeed the most suspicious one.

And this wasn’t hard to figure out.

As the City Secretary of a provincial capital, Zhou Zheng had no backing. He knew very well that his position as top leader was temporary—he was merely warming the seat for Wu Qiangwei.

Once Wu Qiangwei had enough seniority, she would replace him.

As the number one, could Zhou Zheng really accept that?

Even if there was only a ten-thousandth chance of pressing Wu Qiangwei down, he would try.

"Let’s set this aside for now and talk after we’re done with what’s in front of us. Anyway, things are clear on Mayor Sun’s side. We’ll share with him the investment-attraction achievements from this round, maintain a good relationship afterward, and make sure the City Government is a solid piece of iron. Even if he wants to sow discord again in future, he won’t have much of a chance."

It was enough to figure out who did it. Right now Zhou Zheng only dared to play a few petty tricks in the dark, he didn’t dare act openly.

Then they would pretend not to know, not to have noticed, and let his guard down.

Wu Qiangwei shook her head. "I’m afraid it’s not that simple."

She thought of Sun Jiajun’s expression earlier and said, "I’m afraid Mayor Sun thinks this is all my own self-directed show."

Song Guanchao arched a brow. "It won’t go that far, will it?"

Wu Qiangwei gave a bitter smile. "Go get on with your work."

Song Guanchao wanted to say something, but after thinking it over, he realized there really was a possibility that Sun Jiajun would think along those lines.

"Let’s not overthink it. Deal with what’s in front of us first." Song Guanchao stopped letting his thoughts run wild.

Leaving the Municipal Bureau, Song Guanchao called Sun Jiajun. He decided to have an open, honest talk.

Once they agreed on a meeting place, Song Guanchao headed over immediately.

They met at a teahouse. After Sun Jiajun came in and sat down, he took the teacup Song Guanchao handed him, took a small sip, and said, "What does Director Song need from me?"

Song Guanchao came straight to the point: "Does Mayor Sun feel that the Wei Zhou matter is quite a coincidence?"

Sun Jiajun said expressionlessly, "It is quite a coincidence."

Seeing his expression and hearing his tone, Song Guanchao knew that what Wu Qiangwei said was right; he probably really did think this was all staged by Wu Qiangwei herself.

"Then who does Mayor Sun think set Wei Zhou up?" Song Guanchao asked.

"Heh." Sun Jiajun gave a somewhat mocking laugh. "I’m not a Daoist. I don’t tell fortunes. I can’t guess."

"Is Mayor Sun interested in hearing my analysis?"

"I’m all ears." He understood that it must have been at Wu Qiangwei’s prompting that Song Guanchao had come to see him. As for what he was going to say, that was harder to pin down, but he didn’t mind listening.

"There are three possibilities." Song Guanchao dipped his finger into the tea and tapped the table lightly once. "First, someone in Jiangzhou Precision’s top management wanted to push Wei Zhou out and set him up. How likely does Mayor Sun think that is?"

Sun Jiajun said, "As far as I know, Wei Zhou came to Jiangzhou Precision at Mayor Wu’s personal invitation. For someone like him, three million isn’t much, is it?"

"Exactly." Song Guanchao nodded. "Wei Zhou really doesn’t care about three million, and Jiangzhou Precision’s higher-ups are well aware of his capabilities. If they really wanted to frame him, they’d at least tack another zero onto the end. So we can rule that out."

He dipped his finger in the tea again and tapped the table a second time. "The second possibility..."

He paused for a moment, then smiled. "Is that Mayor Wu staged the whole thing herself."

Sun Jiajun’s thick eyebrows twitched.

Smiling, Song Guanchao said, "Mayor Wu arranged the setup, Wei Zhou got reported. And just so happens, Mayor Wu wasn’t in Jiangzhou. The City Government’s first-in-command was you, Mayor Sun; naturally it required your approval to detain anyone."

"Under normal procedure, even if it’s a state-owned enterprise employee taking bribes, the Discipline Inspection first conducts an investigation, then, after the evidence is solid, places them under retention. Only when the circumstances are truly egregious will the case be transferred directly to Public Security."

"To take a step back, even if Wei Zhou really did extort a bribe, that still doesn’t reach that threshold. So we can basically be sure that someone was pushing this from behind the scenes."

"In that case, the possibility of Mayor Wu staging it herself is on the table."

"Does Mayor Sun agree with my conjecture?"

Sun Jiajun didn’t know what medicine he was selling in this gourd and gave no response.

Song Guanchao went on of his own accord. "I think that possibility exists, but there are parts that don’t quite add up."

"For example, what would Mayor Wu be after?"

"To dump dirty water on you and make trouble for you? Regardless of whether Wei Zhou was framed, at least the procedures were clean. Even if Wei Zhou and Mayor Wu are friends, she can’t use this as a pretext to come after you, can she?"

"Or is it to damage your reputation? But it’s still the same question: what’s in it for Mayor Wu?"

"As Mayor, Mayor Wu hopes the City Government is harmonious, not riven with mutual suspicion."

"For you two to be at odds only hurts Mayor Wu and does her no good. I’m sure Mayor Sun sees that even more clearly than I do."

Sun Jiajun’s expression gradually grew serious as he sank into thought.

Giving him several minutes to mull it over, Song Guanchao downed the now-lukewarm tea, poured himself another cup, and with tea on his fingertip tapped the table a third time. "If we assume that it was neither Jiangzhou Precision’s top management framing him, nor a show staged by Mayor Wu, then it must have been done by an outsider."

"What this person did was nothing more than leverage Wei Zhou’s relationship with Mayor Wu and then hang this black pot on you, Mayor Sun. If things had gone the way they were supposed to, after Mayor Wu learned of it, she definitely wouldn’t have taken the initiative to ask you about it. In that case, without either of you knowing, a layer of estrangement would have formed between you."

"If that’s the case, then the other side’s goal of sowing discord is achieved."

Seeing the furrow between Sun Jiajun’s brows tighten, he said, "I don’t know who that person is, and I can’t irresponsibly start naming names. But between the two Mayors, the one who stands to gain from stirring things up is the one pulling strings behind the scenes."

As soon as he said this, a figure immediately surfaced in Sun Jiajun’s mind—Zhou Zheng!