Village chief, your township enterprise sells laser cannons?

Chapter 103 Honest Confession is Considered Surrender! (First Update!)

The words "anti-fraud propaganda" made the faces of the police officers in the third group turn pale and then red. They understood very well why the other party would use those words.

I also know about this—actually, it's because the people from Xinhui aren't very decent.

However, the purpose of coming here today is for work, not for jealousy. The leader of the third group took a breath, forced a smile on his face, and walked towards the policemen of Tuocheng. As he walked, he took out a thin lotus flower from his pocket.

He approached and offered each person a cigarette before whispering, "Have a smoke to calm down. After that incident, we were dragged out every day to do propaganda."

"For criminal police officers to conduct propaganda, what kind of talk is that?"

"I'm here today mainly to investigate a case of defamation and slander, which can also be considered a follow-up to the last incident."

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"Please help me!"

Seeing the third team leader's humble demeanor, the anger in the hearts of the policemen from Tuocheng eased slightly. The leader reached out and took the cigarette, casually stuffing it into his pocket: "Tell me in detail!"

The group leader turned around and pointed to the print shop in front of him: "It's the one next door, Hongxing Village. Their village secretary was the one who asked people in Fenyuzui Village over the loudspeaker last time whether the police had gone to the countryside to conduct anti-fraud propaganda."

"That guy has been getting reported every day lately, and with the village committee elections underway, the villagers came up with a crooked idea."

"They sent a letter to the disciplinary committee investigation team in their village, a letter of surrender with money attached, saying that the guy had engaged in bribery during the village committee election, and that their conscience was being tormented, so they chose to surrender."

"The other party has a certain level of counter-surveillance awareness; they didn't write the letters by hand, they used printed ones."

"We searched all over Hongxing Village but couldn't find it, so we came here. Luckily, we found the same printing paper and the same printer with the same marks."

"We need your help now. Could you ask the owner of this print shop to check the security footage?"

After hearing the whole story, the police officers in Tuocheng looked like they had just realized what was going on.

No wonder they took it so seriously; it turns out they even included money in their confession letter.

Although the amount of money was small, the nature of the crime was egregious.

The police officer leading the team stepped forward, leaned forward, and whispered to the team leader, "You mean you're currently investigating an organized, premeditated, and highly counter-surveillance-savvy group involved in spreading rumors and slander?"

"Moreover, the targets of their slander and defamation are grassroots cadres."

"Is it right?"

Hearing the other person's words, the group leader quickly turned to look around and, noticing everyone staring at them, lowered his voice and said, "It's not that serious!"

"However, we will definitely include you in the announcement."

The police officer leading the group from Tuocheng didn't waste any time, pointing to the printing shop in front of them: "Let's go!"

Upon entering the shop, several police officers from Tuocheng identified themselves, took the printed documents from the third group, and went straight to the print shop owner: "Hello, we are currently investigating a case. It seems the suspect has had some documents printed here."

"We need your assistance in retrieving the surveillance footage. Please cooperate."

After the police officer in charge finished speaking, the three groups of police officers stepped forward and began to explain to the print shop owner in a low voice.

Within minutes, the print shop owner had figured out what had happened and quickly led the police to the computer controlling the surveillance. While the police were reviewing the footage, he took out his WeChat payment records and searched for WeChat messages: "I vaguely remember the person you mentioned. He arrived around 1 p.m., a young man in his twenties. He seemed to be handling the documents one by one, fiddling with them for a long time."

"I took fifty-seven dollars from him, and this guy asked me to give him a receipt for three hundred dollars."

Upon hearing this, the police officer leading the team from Tuocheng looked at the people in the third group and said, "Cut this part out later."

With the time given by the print shop owner, the three groups quickly found the young man at the corresponding time.

After receiving confirmation from the boss, the group leader of the third team quickly took a photo and sent it to Hao Chuan.

Hongxing Village.

After receiving the photos taken by the three groups, Hao Chuan turned around and found Lin Man with the photos: "Do you recognize this person?"

Lin Man took the phone, looked at it carefully for a while, and then looked up at Hao Chuan and said, "Wei Bing, the youngest son of Wei Zhengkuan in Group Four."

"Understood!" Hao Chuan nodded, turned around and called a few people to go out, heading towards Group Four.

At Wei Zhenliang's house, Wei Zhenliang was making the next steps in his arrangements: "Many people came to the village today, all to investigate Lin Man."

"Then what we need to do next is to fan the flames and make this matter bigger."

"Wei Xiang, go out and start a live stream, pretend you run into the police, and then tell them why they're here."

"Remember, you must mention that Lin Man went to find orders, then had his father open a company, and used his father's company to rent the production workshop of the village collective enterprise for production, which has seriously violated the Party's disciplinary regulations."

"The regulations clearly prohibit Party members and cadres from using their power and influence to seek benefits for their relatives and other specific individuals in resource development, project bidding, and other areas."

"As long as we stick to this principle, Lin Man will definitely be brought down."

"Wei Bing, you shouldn't go out for the next couple of days—"

Before Wei Zhenliang could finish explaining his arrangements, there was a knock on the courtyard gate, accompanied by a shout: "Wei Bing, we are from the Xinhui Criminal Police Brigade. We know you are inside. Come out now and explain what happened, and we will consider it a confession."

"You can run now, if you think you can."

A few words of warning made Wei Bing feel like he was facing a major enemy. He turned to look at his second uncle, Wei Zhenliang, only to find that his second uncle was also looking outside with a look of fear on his face.

Just as he was about to ask his second uncle what to do next, his second aunt's voice rang out from outside the window: "Don't knock, I'll open the door!"

With a creak, the wrought iron gate opened, and Hao Chuan smiled slightly at the woman in front of him before walking past her and straight into the living room.

His gaze swept over the dozen or so people in the living room, finally settling on Wei Bing. He smiled and walked over, taking out his identification and displaying it to Wei Bing: "Please cooperate with our investigation. Are you coming with us yourself? Or—"

Hao Chuan didn't finish his sentence. Instead, he shifted his gaze from Wei Bing to the group of people in the living room.

Although he had a smile on his face, it was a very serious smile, so serious that everyone present was sweating even though the air conditioning was on.

Wei Bing did not respond immediately. He raised his head slightly and looked at Wei Zhenliang for help. However, his second uncle looked at him with pity and turned his gaze away.

Then, Wei Bing looked at the others.

Upon closer inspection, the uncles and brothers who were all friendly yesterday now acted like strangers, and he guiltily turned his gaze away.

Upon receiving this signal, Wei Bing steeled his resolve and asked Hao Chuan, "Officer, if I explain everything clearly, will it be considered that I have turned myself in?"

In an unexpected surprise, Hao Chuan didn't answer immediately. He reached out and pulled Wei Bing up from the chair, pulling him behind him and shielding him from Wei Bing and the others. Then, with his back to Wei Bing, he said, "If you explain yourself clearly now, we'll consider it a voluntary surrender. This matter hasn't spread widely yet. Since you surrendered, you can be released in a month or two in the detention center."

"Once you've thought it through, you can speak."

"Okay, I confess!" Wei Bing pointed at Wei Zhenliang behind Hao Chuan: "This was planned by my second uncle. At first, he just wanted to take the position of deputy director of the village committee, but later, my fourth uncle, Wei Zhengming, said that the deputy director of the village committee was useless and that if he was going to be a director, he should be the director of the village committee."

"So they planned this, and I was in charge of running errands and printing the text."

"The money came from my fourth uncle, Wei Zhengming. He's been running around these past few days, but he hasn't received much money."

Wei Bing spilled the beans, revealing everything about everyone involved in the matter.

Hao Chuan, who was blocking his way, raised his hand after hearing what he said, signaling his teammates to take Wei Bing away.

After Wei Bing was led out the door, Hao Chuan closed the door behind him, leaned against the wall, and looked at Wei Zhenliang beside him: "I remember you. You used to be the village secretary in the village."

"Although the information we have shows that the villagers are very dissatisfied with you, it is only dissatisfaction, they have not cursed you."

"How did you... become like this?"

The questioning words silenced Wei Zhenliang. After a long while, he finally raised his head and said, "When people get old, they should leave something for future generations!"

"I admit defeat this time. Do with me however you want."

As he spoke, Wei Zhenliang stretched out his hands, looking as if he was waiting for Hao Chuan to handcuff him.

Hao Chuan didn't handcuff them; he simply turned and pointed to the door: "Go, all of you!"

In short, the people in the living room got up and walked out one after another. As they passed Wei Bing, who was standing outside the door, a group of people cast resentful glances at him.

Hearing the commotion outside, Lin Man, who was temporarily isolated, stood up and looked out the window from the hotel where the investigation team was staying.

Seeing Wei Zhenliang get out of the car, his face twitched, and he turned to walk towards the door: "Team Leader Du, Team Leader Ding, I want to go out and take a look."

"Wait a moment!" Ding Jiayi, who was guarding the door, replied, then turned to instruct Du Mingfeng to keep an eye on the door before heading towards the stairs to greet the police officers.

After meeting with Ding Jiayi, Hao Chuan separated the group of people he had brought back and put them into different rooms. Then, he led the criminal police team to begin questioning them.

The first person to be questioned was naturally the so-called mastermind, Wei Zhenliang.

He opened the notebook, looked at Wei Zhenliang, and asked, "Why did you spread rumors and slander?"

"Am I spreading rumors and slander?" Wei Zhenliang retorted, then revealed a ferocious expression and questioned, "Can't I report Lin Man for violating disciplinary regulations?"

"If there's a violation, you can report it, but unfortunately, there isn't." Hao Chuan picked up the documents beside him, opened them, and waved them at Wei Zhenliang: "These are documents provided by the Discipline Inspection Commission."

"You're probably referring to Lin Man's previous order."

"According to the information provided by the Discipline Inspection Commission, this order came from Deli Company. Although it is a state-owned enterprise, it has a strong degree of autonomy in its operations."

"We don't know the specifics, but Deli gave Lin Man an overseas parts processing order."

"The disciplinary committee has already confirmed this with Wang Wen, the general manager of Deli, and he has admitted that this happened."

"And he made it clear that he wouldn't have given this order if it weren't for Lin Man's sake."

"The source of these funds is clear and transparent, and there is no possibility of illegal fundraising or money laundering."

"Then Lin Man's father, Lin Yaobei, founded a company and used it to lease workshops from the village's collective enterprise for production."

In this incident, Hongxing Information Technology Payment leased two production workshops, with a total rent of 90...

The rent is 10,000 yuan per month, and two months' rent has already been paid.

"The Discipline Inspection Commission commissioned professionals to conduct a relevant assessment, and the conclusion was that, in a normal market, the monthly rental cost for these two workshops would not exceed 700,000 yuan."

"The rent of 900,000 yuan has far exceeded the market value. This basically confirms that Hongxing Information Technology Company is giving back to the company controlled by the Hongxing Village collective."

"As the village secretary and village head, Lin Man prioritized paying off the company's unpaid wages after receiving the rent, which is normal behavior."

"In addition, Hongxing Information Technology Company, which is controlled by Lin Man's father Lin Yaobei, did not receive any special operating treatment from Lin Man during its operation, nor did it obtain any corresponding profits."

"Furthermore, the company has no cooperation with Hongxing Village related to resource development."

"If there is any cooperation later, that's a matter for later."

"Therefore, your report is completely fabricated."

"On the contrary, it is you who violated the disciplinary regulations—"

"What you can do now is to explain everything clearly, and once our procedures are completed, we will hand you over to the Discipline Inspection Commission."

"If you confess and receive leniency, then everything is fine; if you insist on resisting to the end, then there's nothing we can do."

Every time Hao Chuan explained, Wei Zhenliang's eyes bulged out a bit. When Hao Chuan finished speaking, especially the part tinged with regret, Wei Zhenliang slammed his hands on the table in front of him: "I refuse to accept this!"

"You're all in cahoots!"

Hearing this, Hao Chuan let out a helpless sigh, then stood up, walked to the door, opened it, and said to Ding Jiayi and Du Mingfeng outside, "You two come and talk. I'll go and secure the evidence that needs to be secured."

Ding Jiayi, standing at the door, turned to the side and gave Du Mingfeng a wink. Du Mingfeng received the signal, turned around, and went into the room.

Ding Jiayi, who remained where she was, nodded to Hao Chuan, turned and walked towards Lin Man's room, pushing open the door and saying, "You can go back now!"

By the window, Lin Man turned around and flashed a bright smile at Ding Jiayi: "Team Leader Ding, I heard the commotion downstairs just now. Wei Zhenliang and his gang engaged in vote-buying. Um—aren't you going to call those who took the money over and question them?"

This one sentence, combined with their previous conversation, made Ding Jiayi understand Lin Man's thoughts almost instantly. She pointed to the floor beneath her feet: "There's not enough space!"

"Even a key figure like you who was reported had to be released after the situation was confirmed, let alone those who are not important."

"Get out of here right now and clear this space!"