Chapter 5

In the courtyard of the county bureau, police officers in blue uniforms with red collar badges came and went. Occasionally, a three-wheeled motorcycle with a sidecar would rumble away. The only green jeep parked in front of the office building belonged to Deputy Director Gao Zhikai.

Due to work needs, the Guangning County Bureau was equipped with two jeeps. One of them naturally became the exclusive vehicle for Director Zhang, while the other was assigned to Gao Zhikai, which also reflected his position in the bureau.

Although the Wushan area is coastal and the current economic development momentum is good, very few leaders at the department level in the county had their own vehicles. Township leaders all rode bicycles to and from work. However, due to the special nature of the public security system, the vehicle allocation was relatively relaxed.

Although Lu Zheng was the deputy political commissar of the county bureau, he not only did not have a car, but also shared an office with the first deputy political commissar and deputy director Ma Yuewu.

Their desks faced each other, and they could see what the other was doing with just a glance.

Ma Yuewu was an old police officer with gray hair, very down-to-earth, and enjoyed chatting about family matters. He had none of the airs of a deputy director of the Public Security Bureau, which was a fine style of many old cadres in the 1980s. After all, there wasn't much special treatment back then. Even the county party secretary and county magistrate had to queue up with ordinary employees in the canteen of the county party committee compound, with no distinction between large and small canteens.

However, despite Ma Yuewu's approachability and ability to chat amiably with ordinary police officers, he didn't like to talk to Lu Zheng and Gao Zhikai. He felt that these two young deputy directors were out of place, especially Gao Zhikai. The jeep that the bureau had applied for was supposed to be available for all bureau leaders, but Gao Zhikai, citing the special nature of criminal investigation work, had monopolized it. Gradually, it became the exclusive vehicle for the criminal investigation team. Ma Yuewu disapproved of this and even had a heated argument with Gao Zhikai, who almost gave him a heart attack with his domineering attitude.

Ma Yuewu also had no good words for Lu Zheng, thinking that this former military officer was young, lacked professional skills, and was just a roughneck.

As usual, the two deputy directors were busy with their own tasks. In the office, apart from the sound of flipping pages, there was only the sound of sipping tea.

Seeing Lu Zheng reading case files, Ma Yuewu shook his head and sipped his tea.

Lu Zheng saw his head shake and knew that the old police officer must think he was just pretending to work, an outsider trying to act like an insider, not understanding anything.

The office door was open, and a figure suddenly appeared at the entrance, knocking. It was Old Zhao from the criminal investigation team.

Seeing someone from the criminal investigation team, Ma Yuewu's face turned cold. The entire criminal investigation team almost entirely followed Gao Zhikai's lead, and Ma Yuewu strongly disapproved of Gao Zhikai's factionalism.

"Old Zhao, what's up?" Lu Zheng asked with a smile, but he knew that people from the criminal investigation team usually didn't bring good news.

"Yes, there's something," Old Zhao slowly approached, looking at Lu Zheng's expression hesitantly. He pointed to the file in Lu Zheng's hand and said, "Deputy Political Commissar, the materials you brought back, Director Gao said he needs them now and wants to take a look."

The file Lu Zheng was reading was the focus of the entire bureau, the materials for the "June 15th Special Task Force." Since June 15th of last year, several dismemberment and body disposal cases had occurred in Guangning County, causing a very negative impact. The bureau had formed a special task force, with Gao Zhikai as the team leader, and Lu Zheng, who also served as the head of the public security department, was assigned as the deputy leader.

In the special task force, it was clear that Lu Zheng was often at odds with Gao Zhikai and was basically in a marginal position. Now, Gao Zhikai was becoming increasingly overbearing, even sending someone to retrieve the materials Lu Zheng had just started to read.

Old Zhao knew his role, so he was very cautious. After all, it was no big deal for Gao to pressure Deputy Political Commissar Lu, but he was just a small fry. If Deputy Political Commissar Lu got angry and took it out on him, he would have to bear it. Moreover, Lu Zheng, a former soldier, had a bad temper. It was said that a few days ago, he had even led a group of people to beat up some people from the industry and commerce department.

To Old Zhao's surprise, Lu Zheng didn't get angry. Instead, he closed the file with a smile and patted it, saying, "It's all here. You can check it?"

Old Zhao was startled. Something unusual must be happening, but he didn't know what Lu Zheng was up to. He nervously said, "No need, no need. I'll bring it back after Director Gao has finished reading it." He hurriedly took the thick stack of files and left.

Lu Zheng picked up a police magazine and opened it casually. Ma Yuewu, on the other side, shook his head again, clearly thinking that after more than a year, the young man's temper had been smoothed out, and his only remaining virtue was now gone.

At the same time, in the office on the third floor, Gao Zhikai was reading the confession of a suspect. At 27, he looked handsome in his blue uniform with red collar badges. He was already a well-known handsome man in the bureau, but after Lu Zheng arrived, he was outshone. Although Lu Zheng wasn't particularly handsome, he had a rugged and masculine charm, and as a war hero, he was more attractive to the female police officers in the bureau. They thought Gao Zhikai's face was a bit too feminine, almost effeminate.

When Lu Zheng first came to the county bureau, he outshone Gao Zhikai in every way, which made Gao Zhikai, who had always been a top student, feel a sense of loss for the first time.

But now? Gao Zhikai smiled. After a year, Lu Zheng had become a marginal figure in the bureau. A few days ago, he heard Director Zhang say that they were planning to remove Lu Zheng from his position as head of the public security department. After that, Lu Zheng would be just a deputy political commissar with no real power, completely losing his voice in the bureau.

Although Lu Zheng's current situation was partly due to the traps he had set, it was mainly his own fault. Two tigers cannot coexist on one mountain, but Lu Zheng didn't understand this. It was laughable that he once called Gao Zhikai a brother.

Moreover, Lu Zheng had no background. His adoptive parents were ordinary people and treated him very poorly. Lu Zheng had been back in Guangning for almost a year and hadn't even met his adoptive parents. Gao Zhikai had casually revealed this information to Director Zhang and some county leaders, which further reduced Lu Zheng's standing. No matter how successful one becomes, one should not forget the kindness of those who raised them, right?

It seemed that Lu Zheng's adoptive parents didn't even know their runaway son had returned and was now successful. Gao Zhikai had been keeping this a secret to prevent Lu Zheng from hearing rumors and rushing home to see his parents. If they reconciled and had a happy family reunion, this secret would lose its power to hurt Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng had no one to blame but himself. Why did he always oppose and annoy Gao Zhikai? Even if he didn't realize it himself.

Take the "June 15th Serial Dismemberment Case," which the whole county was paying attention to. Gao Zhikai had already caught the suspect, who had confessed, and even found the underwear of one of the victims at the suspect's home. But Lu Zheng insisted there were too many doubts and that the case should not be hastily closed. Wasn't this just making Gao Zhikai lose face? What did Lu Zheng know about criminal investigations?

Reading the confession of the suspect, Li Weijun, Gao Zhikai nodded in satisfaction. Solving this major case would add a significant achievement to his police career and greatly help his promotion. Perhaps Lu Zheng saw this opportunity and wanted to leave his mark on the case?

Unfortunately, without the necessary skills, he was just asking for trouble.

Gao Zhikai put down the file and slowly picked up his teacup. In a few days, Lu Zheng would no longer be a problem for him.

The office door was gently knocked on and then pushed open. The slightly plump woman standing at the door was his wife, Zhao Hongxia, who worked at the newly established county TV station.

"Let's go eat. It's already this late," Zhao Hongxia pointed to her wristwatch. She wasn't working today and had come to make sure her husband ate on time. In her eyes, her husband was a dedicated and hardworking official who often neglected meals and sleep for work, which made her very concerned.

As Gao Zhikai and Zhao Hongxia walked down the stairs, Zhao Hongxia said, "Xiaotong disagrees about Zhigang's matter." Xiaotong, whose real name was Tong Susu, was a temporary announcer and host borrowed from the city TV station. She was extremely beautiful, and Gao Zhikai wanted Zhao Hongxia to introduce her to his younger brother, Gao Zhigang, to see if they could become a couple.

Actually, Gao Zhikai also thought it was unlikely. Although his brother Gao Zhigang worked in the county party organization department, was a college graduate, and had a bright future, making him one of the best prospects in Guangning, she was from the city and very beautiful, likely to look down on others.

But Gao Zhikai couldn't resist his brother's persistent requests and agreed to have Zhao Hongxia arrange a meeting. He thought that if they met and it worked out, that would be great, but if not, it would at least make his brother give up.

Hearing that Tong Susu refused even to meet, Gao Zhikai frowned and said, "Just because she has a pretty face, she thinks she's better than everyone else just because she's from the city?"

As they talked, they saw Lu Zheng and Du Xiaohu walking ahead of them.

Zhao Hongxia nudged Gao Zhikai with her elbow and nodded her head, saying, "That's Lu Zheng, right?" She then raised her eyebrows disdainfully, "What a character!"

Gao Zhikai looked at Lu Zheng's back and a cold smile appeared on his lips.