The pushover offended a top-tier boss

Ye Zhenzhen carried the box of fruit back to Yuyuan, and Zhou Huaijin returned shortly after.

She placed the box on the kitchen floor, picked out a few strawberries with leaves still attached, washed them, and brought them to him.

"These are strawberries I just brought back from Nanjing, Lao Zhou, have a taste."

She fed him one.

Zhou Huaijin took the opportunity to open his mouth and eat one.

Seeing that he seemed to be in a good mood, Ye Zhenzhen cautiously probed, "Old Zhou, how are we handling Nan Jing's matter? Where did all those negative news stories on the internet come from?"

She deliberately avoided mentioning Yang Guanyu's name to prevent that jealous man from overthinking things.

Zhou Huaijin glanced at her and spoke in a very official tone. "The bigger the tree, the more the wind blows. As Nanjing develops better and better, it's inevitable that some people will be envious. The tourist accident was just the fuse; there are people behind it all. The police will thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident, and the disciplinary committee will also investigate the online reports."

Ye Zhenzhen hesitated for a few seconds, then asked, "Then... will the officials be disciplined for what happened at the scenic area?"

Zhou Huaijin's voice remained calm: "Mismanagement that leads to death—whoever is responsible from top to bottom should be held accountable."

Ye Zhenzhen nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

Now, all we can do is wait for the outcome and for official clarification.

She took out her phone and scrolled through it, then suddenly her eyes widened.

"Hey, look! Someone suddenly posted that tourist's suicide note online. She was terminally ill and wanted to commit suicide."

She scrolled down the list one by one. "Now public opinion is starting to reverse. Everyone is saying that the family is deliberately trying to extort money from terminally ill patients."

"Another tourist unintentionally filmed a video, saying that the tourist deliberately unfastened the lock and intentionally committed suicide."

"What a stunning reversal!"

She put down her phone and suddenly felt a chill down her back.

If the tourist committed suicide intentionally, then who is behind the smear campaign against Nan Jing and Yang Guanyu?

Was all of this a setup deliberately orchestrated by someone?

Before I could even react, the doorbell rang.

Zhou Huaijin walked over and opened the door. Two uniformed men stood in the doorway, their expressions serious. They showed their identification: "Hello, Secretary Zhou. We have received a report that you are suspected of accepting bribes and you are required to cooperate with the investigation."

Zhou Huaijin stood in the doorway, his expression unchanged. He glanced at the two men and stepped aside. "Comrades, since taking office, I have always strictly adhered to organizational regulations. Is there some misunderstanding?"

"Secretary Zhou, we are just following regulations. Someone reported that you have bribe money stored in your home, and we need to search it," one of them said.

Zhou Huaijin glanced at them and nodded. "Alright, please go ahead."

Several people entered the house and began searching the living room, study, and bedroom.

Ye Zhenzhen stood in the middle of the living room, momentarily stunned and at a loss for what to do, her palms sweating profusely with nervousness. "Old Zhou, what's going on?" her voice trembled.

Zhou Huaijin held her hand and whispered in her ear, "Don't be afraid, it's alright."

Ye Zhenzhen was filled with anxiety. She could only silently pray that it was just a routine inspection and that Zhou Huaijin would not do anything illegal. She believed in him.

She nodded, but she had never seen anything like it before, and her lips turned white with fright.

Two staff members came out of the kitchen, carrying the box of fruit that Ye Zhenzhen had brought back from Nanjing. One of them squatted down, turned the box over, felt around at the bottom, and pried open a hidden compartment.

Stacks of cash were neatly stacked inside, their bright red color particularly glaring under the light.

"Found it! There's a hidden compartment here with 100,000 yuan in cash underneath."

When Ye Zhenzhen saw the money, she was frozen in place, as if something had stopped her.

"I...I didn't know there was money in there!" She panicked instantly. "I thought it was just a box of fruit..."

Zhou Huaijin glanced at the box of fruit, then at her, and asked coldly, "Who sent this?"

She stood there, her mind buzzing.

"Yang Guanyu..."

When Ye Zhenzhen uttered that name, she couldn't believe it herself.

How could this be? How could he harm her?

She quickly turned to the two staff members and explained, "Comrades, this box of fruit was a gift from County Chief Yang. I really didn't know there was money inside. And Zhou Huaijin was unaware of this..."

The staff member glanced at her expressionlessly. "Soliciting bribes exceeding 30,000 yuan is a criminal offense. Secretary Zhou, please come with us."

Upon hearing those words, Ye Zhenzhen nearly lost her balance.

Zhou Huaijin remained calm and simply said, "Comrade, I will cooperate with the investigation."

He turned to look at Ye Zhenzhen. "It's okay, wait for me at home."

The staff member said, "Ms. Ye, you also need to cooperate with our investigation."

Zhou Huaijin was somewhat surprised to hear this: "Comrade, she was unaware of this matter—"

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted.

"A person claiming to be Ye Zhenzhen's ex-boyfriend has filed a formal complaint alleging that during their relationship, you abused your power to sabotage their romance and break them up. Afterwards, Ye Zhenzhen offered you 100,000 yuan as compensation to keep quiet, and you allegedly abused your power to facilitate Ye Zhenzhen's work, and that you had engaged in misconduct with men during your tenure."

Upon hearing this, Ye Zhenzhen froze on the spot, unable to believe what she had just heard.

Meng Chen actually reported her...

She felt sorry for him and lent him 100,000 yuan, which turned out to be the tool he used to betray her...

"That's not how it works, comrade—"

"Ms. Ye, please cooperate with our investigation." Ye Zhenzhen was interrupted coldly.

"Sorry, my wife is timid."

Zhou Huaijin walked over, pulled her to his side, put his arm around her shoulder, and whispered to comfort her, "Don't be afraid. If there's any misunderstanding, we'll explain everything in a bit later."

After saying that, he lowered his voice and whispered, "Don't lie. We're in a normal relationship, and the cards used for financial transactions all belong to Zhou Chenyu, the CEO of Yuji."

Zhou Huaijin gripped his hand tightly.

"Remember what I told you. Don't be afraid."

When Ye Zhenzhen was led out, she saw Zhou Huaijin get into another car. The moment the car door closed, she saw his profile through the window. He was listening calmly to the investigators beside him, but her hands were trembling. She felt as if a huge net was closing in.

The news spread very quickly.

In the Zhou family home in Beijing, Zhou's mother held a string of Buddhist prayer beads in her hand, moving them very quickly. Finally, with a "snap," the beads fell to the ground.

"The Xu family pulled some strings, how dare they lay a hand on Zhouzhou!" Suppressed anger seeped out in every word.

Zhou's father sat on the sofa, his face ashen. Zhou Chenyu stood by the window, calmly analyzing the situation:

"Dad, they're openly going against the Zhou family and trying to drag Yu Ji into this. First, they set a trap to take Zhou'er away, leaving him with too many people to deal with."

"Several more reports have surfaced today, accusing him of colluding with various departments in Binzhou for personal gain, embezzlement, and bribery. They're throwing all sorts of dirty water at him."

Zhou's father composed himself, then changed the subject:

"You all need to calm down."

"The case in Bin City has been dragging on for so long because some people are waiting for a turning point. Perhaps they can uncover more by taking advantage of this opportunity."

He glanced at Zhou Chenyu. "I heard that woman was taken away too?"

"Yes." Zhou Chenyu nodded.

Mr. Zhou snorted coldly. "Perfect, let's take this opportunity to see what she'll do at this crucial moment."

Both Zhou's mother and Zhou Chenyu were on tenterhooks. "She's just a young girl. With such a big interrogation, even if she doesn't want to talk, she'll still fall into the trap," Zhou's mother said with worry.

"Let's see what level she's at." Mr. Zhou leaned back on the sofa and closed his eyes.