Chapter 75: Deputy Governor's Call

The boss inwardly cursed his bad luck but had no choice but to follow Du Long's instructions and find him an old set of clothes. Du Long put them on; they were a bit tight and short, but there was nothing he could do. After all, he was tall and didn't look like a southerner at all. The boss had already done his best to find the largest and most spacious clothes.

Du Long then asked the boss to get him an old canvas bag, stuffed his changed police uniform and leather shoes into it, and put on the miners' worn-out safety shoes. He walked leisurely along the road toward the Tieling Coal Mine.

As the boss's son had said, there were many coal trucks at the Tieling Coal Mine. Du Long quickly climbed onto an empty truck returning with coal. The driver didn't even notice that there was an extra person in the high truck bed.

After half an hour, three small cars came speeding from the front. As soon as Du Long saw them, he jumped off the truck and hid in the shadows by the road. Sure enough, Ding Menghong and his men returned, stopped the truck Du Long was hitching a ride on, and checked it. After that, they continued on their way. The coal trucks didn't drive fast on the mountain road. After the police cars were far away, Du Long ran quickly and caught up with his ride, climbing back onto the truck.

Soon, Du Long's phone rang. He saw that it was Mayor Ma calling. Du Long answered the call and said with a smile, "Uncle Ma, you're still up so late?"

Ma Guangming said in a stern voice, "Du Long, don't act rashly. Return to the county immediately."

Du Long exclaimed, "Uncle Ma... Uncle Ma? Why is there no sound? The signal in the mountains is really bad. The mobile company claims their signal is good... Hello... Hello... My phone is out of battery... What a piece of junk..."

Ma Guangming could hear the sound of a large truck rolling over gravel very clearly. He knew Du Long was playing tricks and raised his voice angrily, "Du Long, return immediately!"

But the other side had already hung up. Ma Guangming was so angry that he almost threw his phone. He secretly vowed to himself that he would definitely punish this disobedient bastard when he returned!

Soon, Ma Guangming put Du Long out of his mind and began to consider his own future. Not long ago, he had received a call from Deputy Governor Wu Weitao. Wu Weitao's words were tactful but gave Ma Guangming a wake-up call, "Guangming, such a big incident happened in Wuxi County, why didn't you report it to me immediately? Now the Provincial Party Committee already knows, and you've put me in a difficult position..." Wu Weitao's words made Ma Guangming deeply regretful. If he had known, he would have followed Du Long's advice and reported the situation to his old leader earlier.

Ma Guangming weakly defended himself, "It was the intention of Secretary Wang of the Municipal Party Committee. He hoped not to alarm the Provincial Party Committee..."

Wu Weitao said, "Such a big incident, can your Yuming City hide it? Guangming, how can you be so shortsighted? Secretary Wang is old and about to retire. He is starting to think about himself. You are young, and you need to think long-term. This was originally an opportunity for you to earn credit, but unfortunately, the provincial leadership held an emergency standing committee meeting at 1:30 PM, which just ended. I was caught off guard. The standing committee reached a consensus: with the National Day approaching, stability is the top priority. Do you understand?"

Ma Guangming's heart sank. Stability meant not making too much noise, minimizing the impact, and keeping the matter within the province to avoid embarrassing Tianshan Province by letting the central government know.

Ma Guangming said in a solemn voice, "Old leader, I just heard that Deputy Governor Zhu Hongqi is from Wuxi County."

Wu Weitao replied, "Yes, he is not the only one in the provincial standing committee who decided on stability. Even the secretary doesn't want the matter to escalate. Try to resolve the issue smoothly."

Ma Guangming pondered for a moment and said, "Alright, I respect the guidance of the Provincial Party Committee. I will handle the matter properly."

After hanging up the phone, Ma Guangming felt somewhat disheartened. He had originally planned to launch a major offensive to thoroughly resolve the chronic problems in Wuxi County, but it turned out... Wuxi County's waters were indeed deep. Just as he was feeling frustrated, he heard that Du Long was acting on his own. He was furious, not expecting Du Long to hang up on him at this time. This pawn was brave, but it seemed he could only be used as a sacrificial piece... Du Long, however, had no idea that Ma Guangming had already decided to use him as a sacrificial piece. He hitched a ride back to the Tieling Coal Mine and, when the truck turned toward the mine, quietly jumped off and walked toward Xia Hongjun's rental house.

Xia Hongjun had two handguns, so Du Long was a bit worried. He didn't go directly to Xia Hongjun's door but found the landlord, who was watching TV, and said he wanted to rent a room.

With such a big incident at the mine, many temporary workers had fled, and the landlord was already worried about the high vacancy rate. Seeing someone come to rent a room, he was overjoyed. He took Du Long to see the rooms. As they passed Xia Hongjun's door, Du Long casually asked, "Are all the people who rent here miners? I'm new, and I don't know much. I want to find someone to ask."

The landlord replied, "Not all of them. Many families of three or four live in one room. This room is occupied by an old lady. Her son is a capable person at the mine, very honest and filial. It's a pity..."

"What's a pity?" Du Long asked knowingly. The landlord hesitated and said, "He got into trouble. He just came back and gave me a year's rent, food expenses, and caretaker fees, asking me to take care of his mother. What a good young man, to end up like this for the mine..."

Du Long asked, "Did he leave? When did he leave? Did he say anything?"

The landlord became alert and said, "He left... Why are you so interested in him? I know nothing, I said nothing!"

Du Long showed his police badge and said, "I am a member of the special task force sent by Yuming City to investigate the case. Please cooperate with the investigation, or it will be considered obstruction of justice. Do you understand?"

The landlord was stunned. Not only did he lose a tenant, but he also got into trouble. Fortunately, Du Long didn't say anything about confiscating the rent Xia Hongjun had paid in advance, or he would have been even more upset.

Du Long asked a few more questions, but the landlord knew nothing about Xia Hongjun's whereabouts. Just as Du Long was about to continue questioning, an old woman's voice came from inside Xia Hongjun's room, "The police officer outside, Hongjun left something for you. The door is unlocked, please come in."

Du Long had long wanted to go in. Seeing that the person inside had called him, he didn't hesitate. He pushed the door open and saw a neatly dressed old lady in her fifties sitting on the bed facing the door.

The landlord said, "Old Lady Liu is blind. You'll have to turn on the light yourself. The switch is by the door."

Du Long flipped the light switch, and the room was finally illuminated. He saw that the room was very tidy and clean. The old lady sat calmly and said, "Officer, my son said he didn't kill anyone. I believe him."

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