Right path to power

On Sunday, night gradually fell in the living room of a small apartment in the city.

Lin Xiao and Song Wanqing nestled on the sofa, watching TV and chatting about the various trivial things that had happened this week.

"Who's cooking tonight?" Lin Xiao suddenly asked.

Song Wanqing was taken aback, and said somewhat embarrassedly, "I...I don't know how..."

Lin Xiao smiled and said, "This is the first time I've heard of a married woman who can't cook?"

"What? Are women born to be both elegant in public and skilled in the kitchen?"

"No, cooking noodles isn't difficult, is it?"

"Okay, I'll cook you instant noodles for dinner tonight."

"Never mind, I'll make some of Mom's braised meat and some rice noodle soup later."

"Either is fine, you can cook it."

"Okay, I'll cook it."

"Hehe, thank you, honey."

In fact, Song Wanqing learns to cook whenever she has time, and she also learns from the internet when she has free time.

As they chatted, a faint, sour, rotten smell drifted in through the cracks in the window.

Song Wanqing wrinkled her nose: "What's that smell? Honey, can you smell it?"

Lin Xiao immediately sniffed as well, her brows furrowing slightly: "Hmm, it seems to have a sour, rotten smell."

"What do you mean 'seems like'? It's definitely there. My nose is very sensitive."

Lin Xiao got up and went to the balcony. She opened the security window, and a pungent, sour smell immediately rushed in.

"Turn it off quickly, the smell is too strong."

Song Wanqing also went to the balcony, looking into the distance, trying to find a possible source.

"Why didn't I smell it before? Could it be that the wind changed direction today and blew the smell over here? I wonder what went wrong."

Upon hearing Song Wanqing's words, Lin Xiao suddenly remembered Hengsheng Industrial Park in Zhenxing District, but it was at least four kilometers away from here.

Could this stench be coming from there?

If you can smell it from this far away, then the smell around the park must be even stronger.

In other words, the pollution problem in the industrial park is probably very serious.

Quanzhou has two main urban districts, Yong'an and Zhenxing. The municipal party committee and government are located in Yong'an District, while Zhenxing District is part of the old city area.

However, as the former seat of the government, Zhenxing District laid a solid economic foundation in the early years by taking advantage of various policies. Although it has been surpassed by Yong'an District in recent years, the district committee and government have still made great efforts in attracting investment, so Zhenxing District's economic strength is still among the top in the city.

Of course, these are all actual data that Lin Xiao saw from internal documents.

As for whether the development of Zhenxing District is based on environmental damage and pollution, Lin Xiao cannot draw a conclusion at the moment.

"Let's go out and take a detour to see if we can find the source."

After saying that, the two tidied themselves up quickly, changed into casual clothes, grabbed their car keys, and drove off, following the direction from which the smell was coming.

As the smell grew stronger and the car drew closer to the Hengsheng Industrial Zone, Lin Xiao's heart tightened—his guess was probably true.

Soon, the car arrived at Hengsheng Industrial Park.

"It stinks!" Song Wanqing had just rolled the car window down a little when she immediately closed it again. "That's right, the smell is mostly coming from here."

Lin Xiao looked up and saw several chimneys on the roof of a white factory building not far away, emitting smoke that drifted outwards with the wind.

Are these factories secretly discharging waste gas over the weekend?

Lin Xiao drove around the outside of the park and found that several other factories were also emitting exhaust fumes.

No wonder the stench could be clearly smelled from several kilometers away.

The residents in that area must be living in such an environment every day, and their health must be affected to some extent.

Lin Xiao took out her phone and took some photos.

"Are you planning to report them?" Song Wanqing smiled. "If people find out it was you, they'll definitely say you're jealous of their economic development and are deliberately trying to sabotage it."

Lin Xiao laughed and said, "I can report it anonymously. However, there's no need for me to report it; someone is more suitable than me. I'm just keeping some evidence; it might come in handy in the future."

"Thinking so far ahead, you're really shrewd and calculating."

"Wrong, this is called being prepared for a rainy day."

"Okay, okay, whatever you say is right."

Looking along the road, most of the doors and windows of the nearby residential areas were tightly closed, and it was almost impossible to see any residents with their windows open for ventilation.

Clearly, the residents have also suffered greatly, and they have probably reported the issue to the environmental protection department, but the problem has never been resolved.

Song Wanqing drove the car, while Lin Xiao used her phone to take pictures of the scene. The stench gradually faded as they drove closer to the main urban area.

"Let's find a place to eat. I don't think you're in the mood to go home and cook," Song Wanqing suggested.

"Mrs. Lin understands me best," Lin Xiao said with a smile.

Song Wanqing pouted: "I was afraid that if you got distracted, you would put the salt in the pot along with the MSG and sugar."

There were many pedestrians on the street, and also many vendors along the street.

The two found a seafood rice noodle shop, ordered two bowls of rice noodles with different toppings, and asked the shopkeeper for two small bowls to share.

Before eating, Lin Xiao habitually took out a hair tie and helped Song Wanqing put her long hair up in a bun.

At that moment, in a roadside food stall diagonally across the street, a young man looked at the rice noodle shop again and again, and after confirming it, he revealed a ferocious expression.

"What a small world!"

The blond-haired man flattered him, while the other men and women also looked eager to try.

"See that couple in the shop? I'm going to sleep with the guy tonight. Any guys up for it?"

Huang Shulei pointed at the couple in the rice noodle shop, looking determined to win.

"Bro, just say the word, and we'll go wherever you tell us to." The blond guy patted his chest. "But bro, I think that girl's pretty hot, wanna go for it too?"

"Don't rush. Take it one step at a time. Once we've got the man, the woman will be ours for the taking, won't she?"

The blond-haired guy nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, you're so thoughtful, bro. Shall we head over now?"

"No rush, we can't act recklessly, we have to be mindful of the methods and approaches."

After learning Lin Xiao's identity from Xia Lichun, Huang Shulei knew that he couldn't act rashly against such a person. He needed to find the right opportunity and use the right methods to achieve twice the result with half the effort.

After finishing their meal, the couple strolled around the neighborhood for a while before heading back.

Song Wanqing drove slowly toward the residential area.

Someone was crossing the road ahead, so Song Wanqing eased off the accelerator and drove slowly and steadily.

"boom--"

Just then, a muffled thud came from behind, and the violent impact made the car shake and slide forward a short distance.

Song Wanqing was startled and immediately slammed on the brakes.

After the car came to a complete stop, the couple instinctively looked back and only saw a black roof.

The two quickly got out of the car to check, and saw a black sports car stuck firmly against the rear of the car. The front bumper of the sports car was broken, one headlight was damaged, and the hood was dented and deformed.

One of the taillights on the side of the car was broken, and the rear of the car was also dented.

The couple stared intently at the driver's seat of the sports car, only to see the other person sporting a sly smile.

The two frowned simultaneously, because Huang Shulei was the one driving.

After leaving the rice noodle shop, he and his henchmen followed closely behind, keeping a close eye on the car the whole way, while the driver waited for the right moment to make his move.

Seeing that Lin Xiao's car was slowing down, he took the opportunity to release the brake, allowing the sports car to crash straight into it, deliberately creating this rear-end collision.

It's important to understand that in this situation, the surveillance footage wouldn't capture the subjective intent, and it would be difficult for outsiders to spot any flaws, especially since there were hardly any people around.

So, this is a dead end, isn't it?

After getting out of the car, Huang Shulei looked arrogant and angry. He took out his phone to take pictures and said in a domineering tone: "Do you even know how to drive? You braked suddenly for no reason and damaged my car. Let me tell you, this car is brand new, fully imported, costing almost three million yuan. The repair cost alone will be at least two hundred thousand yuan. I must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to run into you again. What bad luck!"

Song Wanqing frowned and explained, "I was just slowing down normally, I didn't brake suddenly at all."

"I don't care!" Huang Shulei waved his hand dismissively. "Either you pay me, or I'll call the police and insurance company to settle the accident and keep a record of it. Also, don't try to argue. My dashcam recorded everything clearly. It was because you suddenly slowed down that I couldn't avoid you in time."

"You're just making excuses..." Song Wanqing said, her face flushed with anger.

"Stop talking nonsense. You must take full responsibility for what happened today and provide full compensation."

Lin Xiao pulled Song Wanqing behind him and gave her a calm look. From the moment he saw Huang Shulei, he instantly understood everything.

"Honey, call the police and let them handle this."

"Oh, you're calling the police? Fine, I'll call the police too. I want to see how the police will judge this case, with all the evidence right in front of them."

At this moment, a crowd gradually gathered around, and several young men squeezed out from among them. The one in the lead, a blond-haired man, shouted loudly, "Brother, don't worry, we all saw it. We're here to testify for you. It was their sudden braking that caused the rear-end collision..."