Anti-gang campaign: Female bureau chief

"Slit the throat."

Jiang Ruolan stood behind Lu Zheng and uttered those two words calmly.

Her gaze remained fixed on Duan Pengfei's face, not missing a single change in his subtle expression.

The moment the words "throat-slitting" were uttered, Duan Pengfei's pupils visibly contracted—a genuine physical reaction, an undeniable stress reflex.

But he quickly masked his shock with an expression of disbelief, shaking his head repeatedly and muttering, "That's terrifying, that's terrifying."

"On February 18th, Feng Wanqiu wrote in her inspection log that the construction waste problem here was serious and said she was preparing to report it to the Municipal Urban Management Bureau for joint enforcement. What was your reaction after that?"

"Me? I didn't react much. People from the neighborhood committee have come many times. She's a very stubborn person, but I've never argued with her. I, Duan Pengfei, may be a rough man, but I don't hit women."

He patted his chest as he said this, his tone carrying a deliberate, exaggerated sincerity: "Besides, it's not worth it for such trivial matters."

That's right.

It's really not worth it for such a trivial matter.

But what if it's not just about this little bit of trash?

Jiang Ruolan did not press further, but instead turned her gaze to a row of photos hanging on the wall of the parking lot office.

Most of the photos are group photos of Duan Pengfei with different people—clinking glasses at a dinner party, cutting ribbons at a construction site, and singing with his arm around Duan Pengfei's shoulder in a KTV room.

One of the photos caught her attention: the background was a luxuriously decorated private tea room, with Duan Pengfei sitting on a sofa next to a middle-aged man wearing a dark blue Zhongshan suit.

She recognized the man's face at a glance—Dong Jianmin, deputy director of the Yi'an City Urban Management Bureau.

"Are you very familiar with Tung Chee-min?"

Jiang Ruolan pointed to the photo.

Duan Pengfei's expression flickered, not with panic, but with vigilance—like a hunter suddenly catching a familiar scent.

He smiled and said, "Director Dong? We know each other, we're old friends. He used to help me out a few times with all the violations in my parking lot. What's up?"

"It's nothing, just asking."

Jiang Ruolan looked away from the photo and glanced at the other corners of the office.

Several unopened delivery boxes were piled on an old sofa, an old computer covered in dust sat in the corner, and the ashtray on the coffee table was full of cigarette butts.

Her gaze fell on a box of cable ties on the coffee table—a box of white nylon cable ties, industrial grade, eight millimeters wide, the same size as the cable ties on Feng Wanqiu's wrist.

"What are these cable ties for?"

She walked over, picked up the box of cable ties, and spoke casually as if she were chatting about everyday things.

Duan Pengfei glanced at it and shrugged:

"It's for bundling goods in the warehouse, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, just asking."

Jiang Ruolan put the cable ties back in their place, turned around and walked out of the office.

Behind her, Duan Pengfei was still standing in the same spot, a smile still on his face, but the unlit cigarette that had been held between his fingers had been unconsciously crushed, and the cigarette fragments fell silently onto the cement ground.

It was already evening when I got back to the municipal bureau.

Jiang Ruolan uploaded the photos she took in Duan Pengfei's office to her computer and enlarged the group photo in the tea room.

In the photo, Dong Jianmin is wearing a dark blue Zhongshan suit, sitting casually with one arm draped over the back of the sofa behind Duan Pengfei, in a friendly and natural manner.

The date watermark in the lower right corner of the photo shows that it was taken on January 17th of this year, which is exactly one week after Feng Wanqiu's second meeting with Duan Pengfei.

"Dong Jianmin, 51 years old, is currently the deputy director of the Yian City Urban Management Bureau."

Lu Zheng projected the information he had just found onto the big screen: "In charge of urban appearance and sanitation, comprehensive law enforcement coordination, and digital urban management."

He has been in this position for six years; previously, he was the director of the Urban Management Bureau of Chengxi District.

Duan Pengfei's parking lot is in the west of the city, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Chengxi Subdistrict Office. The Chengxi Subdistrict Office is directly under the Chengxi District Urban Management Bureau, which is where Dong Jianmin used to be the director.

Feng Wanqiu wanted to report Duan Pengfei's case to the Municipal Urban Management Bureau's joint enforcement team, and the deputy director of the Municipal Urban Management Bureau in charge of joint enforcement happened to be Dong Jianmin.

"This explains why Duan Pengfei is so fearless."

Jiang Ruolan leaned back in her chair, tapping her fingers lightly on the table. "The neighborhood committee's meeting with him is useless because he knows he has someone protecting him."

Feng Wanqiu bypassed the proper channels and reported Duan Pengfei's problem directly to the Joint Enforcement Office of the Municipal Urban Management Bureau, thus circumventing the Urban Management Bureau of Chengxi District.

If joint enforcement is indeed launched, Dong Jianmin, as the deputy director in charge, should either personally lead a team to demolish Duan Pengfei's illegal construction or find a way to suppress the matter.

No matter what he does, he will offend one side. Duan Pengfei is caught in the middle, and he needs to make a gesture to prove that he cannot be manipulated at will.

He had every motive to get rid of Feng Wanqiu—she had touched upon his core interests.

"But a seasoned veteran like Duan Pengfei wouldn't kill someone with his own hands."

Lu Zheng continued, "He has a group of people under him."

"Check his recent call and transfer records. If he hired someone, there must have been financial transactions."

Jiang Ruolan stood up. "In addition, please ask the provincial department to cooperate in investigating Dong Jianmin's financial situation."

Duan Pengfei was able to stay safely on this land for ten years; Dong Jianmin didn't do it for free by providing him with shelter and protection.

……

Duan Pengfei sat in the old swivel chair, his fingers unconsciously rubbing a cigarette that had already been crushed. The cigarette shreds fell on the cement floor and were scattered by the wind.

He watched Jiang Ruolan and Lu Zheng's figures disappear at the parking lot entrance, the smile on his face gradually fading, revealing a gloomy expression underneath.

He threw the cigarette butt in his hand on the ground, rubbed it with the sole of his shoe, then picked up his phone from the table, found an unsaved number, hesitated for a few seconds, and then put the phone down again.

He stood up, walked to the office door, looked at the piles of construction waste and rusty construction machinery in the parking lot, lit a new cigarette, and took a deep drag.

The smoke billowed from his nostrils and dissipated in the wind.

His expression flickered in and out of the smoke, making it impossible to discern what he was thinking.

After returning from Cuizhu Road, Jiang Ruolan went directly to the Technical Department.

The technical staff are conducting in-depth analysis of the data recovered from Feng Wanqiu's phone.

The phone that the murderer threw out of the thirteenth-floor window had an intact motherboard and undamaged storage chips. Technicians have successfully exported all the data, including call logs, text messages, WeChat chat history, photos, memos, and some cached files that had been deleted but not yet overwritten.

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