In name only, I, Gao Yuliang, will sink Handong at worst.

When Hou Liangping walked out of the office, all his colleagues looked at him with strange eyes. Everyone knew that Hou Liangping had offended the provincial party committee of Handong Province.

As the saying goes, "A higher-ranking official can crush you."

A section chief directly offended several people who were three or four levels above him.

Seeing Hou Liangping's miserable state, Shan Haiyang, the director of the Second Division, felt very happy. He had found the clues himself and even locked down the embezzlement, but Qin Siyuan handed them over to Hou Liangping. He was very angry and frustrated.

It wasn't just him who was angry; the whole team was furious. Their credit had been stolen, and the First and Second Divisions were practically at odds. But what could they do when the other side had a leader behind them and the Zhong family's background?

Now that the other party has directly offended someone, can the Chung family still protect them? The other party has already held the Supreme People's Procuratorate accountable; they need to give an explanation.

Even if we can maintain it, how many resources will it take? You don't just need to satisfy one person, but the people of Handong. Or you can just satisfy one person, and the rest depends on the subsequent exchanges.

When Shan Haiyang saw Hou Liangping come out, he realized that Hou Liangping had already stolen all the credit and was destined to become enemies with the Zhong family. Did he think that if he just kept quiet and endured it, Hou Liangping would come and steal the credit from him?

He wasn't really afraid and couldn't help but go up and greet him: "Isn't this Marquis Changxin? Last night you arrested a lowly official who was incredibly corrupt. That'll be on TV, so your life must be much easier these days. Maybe you won't even need to report to anyone you want to sleep with anymore?"

"I heard you often kneel on a washboard at home, is that true? And this time you even violated regulations in handling the case, getting held accountable by the Handong authorities all the way to Beijing. You're really useless!"

"I've seen people punished for not catching the suspect, but you're the first one to be punished even after catching the suspect!"

After Shan Haiyang finished speaking, his team members couldn't help but laugh. Even Hou Liangping's team members couldn't help but laugh, since they hadn't done anything wrong and the leader would take the blame.

The order was given by Hou Liangping, and the other party contacted Handong privately. Regardless of the circumstances, Hou Liangping should bear the responsibility, since a junior staff member cannot afford to take such a burden!

Hou Liangping was immediately enraged and glared at her, saying, "What do you mean by Marquis Changxin? My relationship with Xiao Ai is not what you can say."

Shan Haiyang burst out laughing and said, "Hahaha, hahaha, your son said at school that you often kneel on durians and have to report before going to bed. It just so happens that my son goes to the same school as your son."

"Hahaha."

"Hahaha."

Everyone burst into laughter. If they were holding back their laughter before, now they were laughing heartily.

Hou Liangping's face turned ashen. He hadn't expected that it was his own son who had betrayed him.

Shan Haiyang then laughed and said, "Lord Changxin, if I were you, I wouldn't be chatting here right now. Instead, I would go back and kneel on a durian, apologize to my wife, and maybe she would soften her heart and save me."

Hou Liangping thought about the trouble he had caused. He was about to become a clerk, and the only one who could protect him was his father-in-law. If he wanted to ask his father-in-law to plead for him, then he could only rely on Zhong Xiaoai.

Although Shan Haiyang just mocked him, what he said was actually true.

The most important thing now is not to argue with these people, but to go back and find Zhong Xiaoai. Hou Liangping turned around and left. Previously, the nickname "Changxin Hou" was only mentioned to outsiders, but now it was out in the open.

This nickname will stay with him for the rest of his life, unless Hou Liangping can climb to a higher position, in which case no one will dare to laugh at him anymore.

But is that even possible?

Hou Liangping simply called a delivery person to buy groceries for him, while he cooked at home. In just a short time, with only himself and a kitchen, Hou Liangping managed to prepare eight dishes, a soup, a tea, and a dessert.

6:30 p.m.

Zhong Xiaoai returned home with Hou Haoran and her niece Liu Shan.

Looking at all the delicious dishes in front of her, Liu Shan couldn't help but ask, "Uncle, what's the occasion today? You've made so many dishes."

Looking at the food, Hou Haoran couldn't help but glance at his father and whispered, "Dad, did you do something wrong? Or did you upset Mom?"

Zhong Xiaoai naturally knew what Hou Liangping had done.

"The three of us are eating. Don't worry about your brother-in-law. You know what we're supposed to do, right?"

Hou Liangping had prepared durians in advance and had made plans long ago, but his niece was also here. If this got out, what reputation would he have left in front of his fellow villagers?

"Liu Shan is still here, can you give me some face?" Hou Liangping said.

"You'd better just wait and see! Wait to be dealt with!"

The three of them sat down to eat. Hou Liangping had worked hard to prepare a large table of dishes, but in the end, not only could he not sit down to eat, he had to kneel there.

Liu Shan never expected her uncle to be like this here. She knew before that Hou Liangping did not have a high status in the family, but she never expected him to be like this.

The three of them were eating at the table. Liu Shan was enjoying the braised prawns, which were really delicious. She couldn't help but look at Zhong Xiaoai next to her and asked, "Sister Xiaoai, what did my uncle do? What mistake did he make?"

"Eat first, otherwise I won't be in the mood to eat if I start yelling later." Zhong Xiaoai didn't want to talk right now; she already knew what Hou Liangping was up to.

She asked for permission before attributing the credit to the other party, but Hou Liangping not only received no credit, but also caused trouble and offended the Standing Committee of Handong.

after eating.

Zhong Xiaoai twisted Hou Liangping's ear and led him into the room, which was somewhat of a courtesy to him.

Once inside the room, Hou Liangping immediately knelt down and hugged Zhong Xiaoai's leg.

"Xiao Ai, you have to help me! You have to save me! I can't afford to be demoted! If I'm demoted, it'll be hard for me to get promoted."

Hou Liangping spent nearly twenty years rising from clerk to director. If he were to be demoted from director to clerk now, and his former subordinates, who were now section chiefs, could order him around, where would he put his face?

"You even know how Father arranged things, and what you did?"

"I really didn't know about the ledger! There were body cameras over there, and everything was recorded. There really weren't any names on the ledger! Besides, I had specifically instructed Chen Hai about this in Handong beforehand, who knew I would run into Ji Changming to report this!"

"Besides, wasn't it agreed that Sha Ruijin is an ally of the Zhong family? Why am I being punished?"