Chapter 15

Chapter 7: The Enigma of Qianchi

"Move, move, what's so interesting to look at?" A sharp woman's voice suddenly rang out.

Yang Zixuan looked inside and saw a woman with some charm coming out of the town government's main gate. She was wearing a small red cotton jacket and waving her hands at the gathered crowd, shouting at them.

Clearly, the crowd was quite afraid of this woman. Seeing her come out and shout, many immediately dispersed from the back.

"Who is she?" Yang Zixuan instinctively turned to ask a man in homespun clothes beside him.

The man in homespun clothes looked at Yang Zixuan's attire and, somewhat nervously, said, "Young man, are you from out of town? You don't even know her?"

"I'm from out of town. I just happened to pass by and saw such a large crowd, so I wanted to know what was happening," Yang Zixuan could tell that the man was somewhat hesitant, so he identified himself as a passerby to ease his concerns.

The man in homespun clothes sighed with relief and said, "She is Liang Li, the head of the family planning office in our town. Everyone in town is afraid of her. She often leads a group of men to the countryside to catch those who have more children than allowed, and fines them heavily."

He paused for a moment, then lowered his voice and added, "And it's said that she is very close to the chief of the town police station, Liang Fei, and many people in the town government are also afraid of her."

"What are you two talking about? Why don't you disperse? What's so interesting to look at?" Liang Li, seeing Yang Zixuan and the other man whispering, put her hands on her hips and shouted.

The driver, Xiao Chen, seeing the situation, quickly rushed to Yang Zixuan and shouted at Liang Li, "Who are you? What are you doing?"

Liang Li, who was used to being powerful in the town, was almost enraged that someone dared to shout at her. However, seeing that Xiao Chen and Yang Zixuan were not ordinary, she did not dare to be too reckless. She raised her thin eyebrows and said, "Where are you from? Are you from Qianchi Town? If not, don't meddle in other people's affairs."

Yang Zixuan did not respond, patted the man in homespun clothes, and signaled for him to leave. After he walked away, Yang Zixuan turned to look at the formidable head of the family planning office.

"Are you deaf or mute?" Liang Li, seeing Yang Zixuan's indifferent attitude, which clearly did not take her seriously, was thoroughly enraged.

At this moment, the town party secretary, Li Zu, came out of the town government building with a grim expression. Seeing Yang Zixuan, he was taken aback, rubbed his eyes hard, and then his face lit up with a smile as he hurried over. He had met Yang Zixuan at a city-wide cadre meeting not long ago, and recognized him immediately.

"Old Li, you came just in time. These two people seem to have taken the wrong medicine. They've been loitering around the town government for a long time and won't leave. They don't even respond when asked," Liang Li said, still with her hands on her hips, looking furious.

Li Zu did not even glance at her, bent over to shake hands with Yang Zixuan, and said with a smile, "County Chief Yang, how did you arrive so quickly? You should have told us so we could have come to pick you up."

County Chief Yang?

Liang Li, standing to the side, heard Li Zu's title and her mind went blank, her face changing dramatically.

"I came to the scene to understand the situation," Yang Zixuan looked deeply at Li Zu and asked, "How is Comrade Qiu Nan's injury?"

"The health center arrived in time and provided timely treatment. I heard he is out of life-threatening danger, but it's unknown when he will wake up. Director An accompanied the doctors from the county hospital to continue his treatment," Li Zu replied carefully.

The young man in front of him looked younger than his own son, but he did not dare to be casual. Everyone in Hongshui County knew that although the county chief was young, his methods were as ruthless as any seasoned official, and he had quietly taken down the extremely powerful Li Si Cheng and Xu Fu Guo.

Yang Zixuan remained calm and walked into the town government building. Li Zu followed, bending over to accompany him and report, "Town Chief Qiu jumped from his third-floor office around 3 PM today. At the time, no one was in his office. I was in another office on the third floor and only heard a loud noise, followed by screams from other offices and the security guard shouting loudly..."

"Has the town committee investigated the cause of Town Chief Qiu's decision to end his life in such a drastic way?" Yang Zixuan turned and interrupted Li Zu's report.

"Not yet," Li Zu's face showed some shame, and he did not meet Yang Zixuan's gaze.

Yang Zixuan glanced at Liang Li, who was following behind, looking uneasy and flushed, with her chest rising and falling under her pink cotton jacket.

"Your name is Liang Li, right?" Yang Zixuan's face was calm, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Liang Li nodded hurriedly, "I didn't know you were the county chief just now..."

Yang Zixuan waved his hand to stop her from continuing and asked, "How is the family planning work in the town?"

"Our town's family planning work ranked third in the county last year. All the indicators were completed satisfactorily," Liang Li reported, her head slightly lowered, secretly glancing at the young county chief's sharp profile, sighing inwardly at how young and handsome he was, and how he had achieved such a high position.

Yang Zixuan nodded and turned to Li Zu, "Go and call the deputy mayors to the meeting room for a temporary meeting."

After Li Zu left, Liang Li followed a few steps, smiling, "County Chief Yang, let me lead you to the rest room first."

Yang Zixuan did not respond, and instructed Xiao Chen, "Find a place to rest. I'll notify you after the meeting."

The rest room was on the second floor. The town government building was built two years ago and had a decent environment. The walls of the rest room were adorned with calligraphy.

"Who wrote these?" Yang Zixuan looked at the powerful brushstrokes on the wall.

"These were written by Old Li, I mean, Secretary Li Zu. Secretary Li was a talented young man in our town and later became the secretary after serving in the military," Liang Li stood close to Yang Zixuan, her hair brushing against him intentionally or unintentionally.

"Please sit down. I'll go get you a glass of water," she said and then walked out, swaying her hips.

Yang Zixuan sat down in the chair and recalled Liang Li's earlier address to Li Zu as "Old Li."

A town family planning office head daring to call the town party secretary "Old Li" suggested either a very close relationship or that Liang Li did not take Li Zu seriously at all.

Why would Qiu Nan, who was young and well-educated, commit suicide? This Qianchi Town truly is an enigma.