Qi Tongwei at the start: Not relying on Liang Lu, but winning by a single move against Heaven.

When Baimaiti arrived at the secretariat, the secretaries immediately greeted him with smiles.

Since they were all old acquaintances, Baimaiti didn't stand on ceremony and plopped down on the sofa to chat with everyone.

After a brief chat, Baimaiti didn't hesitate and directly asked to see Mayor Wang.

Everyone in the secretariat knew about his connection with Wang Jianguo, and immediately arranged for the two to meet.

Pushing open Wang Jianguo's office door, Baimaiti grinned and offered him a cigarette.

"Mayor Wang, it's been a long time..."

Wang Jianguo smiled and took the cigarette, gesturing for him to sit down and talk.

He glanced at the cigarette in his hand and chuckled as he teased.

"Sigh, he's a county magistrate now, and he can't even improve the quality of his cigarettes..."

After saying that, he got up and personally poured Baimaiti a glass of water, sat down next to him, and asked with a smile.

"You little weasel wishing you a Happy New Year? You're definitely up to no good... So, what's the matter...?"

Baimaiti didn't stand on ceremony and lit a cigarette for him, saying with a smile.

"What could be wrong? I'm short of money, I've come to you for alms..."

Wang Jianguo glanced at Baimaiti and asked with a smile.

"What project are you working on now? Let me see the project report..."

Baimaiti waved his hand, grinned, and said with a wry smile.

"The Bailong River water diversion project is beyond the financial capacity of Fuyuan County... Could the city provide some support?"

Wang Jianguo didn't respond. After a moment's thought, he looked at Baimaiti.

"Old Bai, this project was approved three years ago, right? It's still not finished?"

Baimaiti nodded, sighed, and said with a wry smile.

"That's right, the mess left by Li Guofu... it was shelved for three years, and now we've resumed work..."

After listening to Baimaiti's explanation, Wang Jianguo nodded and asked in a deep voice.

"This is a public welfare project... Didn't the city approve the funding at the time? Why are you still applying for funding?"

Baimaiti took a deep drag on his cigarette, glanced at Wang Jianguo, and burst into laughter and tears.

"The city approved three million, and it was all spent that year... The project wasn't even completed..."

Now that we're reopening, we don't have enough funds. What can I do but ask you for help...?

After hearing what Baimaiti said, Wang Jianguo frowned even more, his voice slightly displeased.

"Old Bai, the funds have already been disbursed, and you're still asking for more... that's not appropriate..."

Baimaiti moved closer to him and continued with a smile.

"Hey, this isn't a duplicate application... I just wanted to ask about the confiscation of Li Guofu's property..."

The money he embezzled was all from Fuyuan County... It's perfectly reasonable to use it for the development of Fuyuan...

After he finished speaking, Wang Jianguo frowned and stared at him for a long time before saying in a cold voice.

"Old Bai, you're a veteran Party member and cadre, how could you forget the organizational procedures..."

And yet they say it's reasonable and justifiable... This whole thing is neither legal nor compliant.

Didn't you know? The embezzled funds are to be turned over to the national treasury and allocated by the municipal finance department.

"Oh? The punishment for copying lines falls under the jurisdiction of the county that issued it? Wouldn't that create complete chaos?"

Baimaiti's expression turned helpless after being rebuked by Wang Jianguo.

He took a deep drag of his cigarette, slowly exhaled, sighed, and said softly.

"I can't do anything about it. The county is short of water, and the people are having trouble getting irrigation and drinking water."

The water diversion project has been restarted, but the county is short of funds, and everyone is trying to find a solution... The only thing missing is fundraising...

As the county magistrate, if I don't come out to beg for alms, who will...?

At this point, he lit another cigarette, glanced at Wang Jianguo, and said in a deep voice.

"As you know, the city allocated three million three years ago, but it was all spent that same year..."

Dare you say that Li Guofu's ill-gotten gains didn't include these three million?

Wiping your butt is fine, but at least give me some toilet paper... You have to pay back the money you've taken in...

After Baimaiti finished speaking, Wang Jianguo remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking.

"Old Bai, you can forget about getting involved in the embezzled funds. It's not in accordance with procedure, and there's no policy against it..."

Upon hearing this, Baimaiti glanced at Wang Jianguo and immediately began to slack off.

"Fine, then I won't think about it. Anyway, Fuyuan is short of funds, and I've already guaranteed to ask for the money..."

"If I don't get the money, I'll be too ashamed to go back, so I'll just stay in your office... and get some tea..."

Wang Jianguo glanced at him and was amused by his words.

He pointed at Baimaiti and said with a smile.

"Hey, Baimaiti, look at you, you don't look like a mid-level cadre at all, you're just a complete scoundrel..."

"When you were in the Municipal Party Committee Office, I never realized... you were such a mangy dog..."

Baimaiti, without batting an eye, slumped into the sofa and answered with a wry smile.

"So what if it's a mangy dog? It's still better than a drowning dog or a stray dog..."

If you don't achieve anything at Fuyuan, you'll leave like a stray dog... What's there to be afraid of?

Wang Jianguo stared at Baimaiti for a long time, feeling both amused and exasperated.

He shook his head, his words tinged with helplessness.

"You really do pick up what you're raised to... You'll never learn anything good from Qi Tongwei..."

Upon hearing him mention Qi Tongwei, Baimaiti immediately perked up and began to speak.

"Hey, you're right, Qi Tongwei and I are now in cahoots..."

We've discussed it and agreed that he'll come over in a few days... We'll take turns reporting to you..."

Wang Jianguo looked at him speechlessly, unsure of what to say.

Having known each other for over ten years, Wang Jianguo understood Baimaiti well and knew he was genuinely in a dilemma.

He sighed and said in a deep voice.

"Old Bai, I'm the mayor, not a bandit leader... Even if there's a second round of funding, it still needs to be approved by the authorities."

You know about my relationship with Cheng Shizhong... Chen Shizhong won't agree to this..."

Baimaiti was taken aback by what he heard, turned to look at Wang Jianguo, and asked softly.

"You two are already working together, why are you still arguing?"

After a slight pause, he continued speaking without waiting for Wang Jianguo's reply.

"I'm confident about this. As long as you agree, Cheng Shizhong won't disagree."

Wang Jianguo was taken aback and looked at Baimaiti with a puzzled expression.

Seeing that Wang Jianguo didn't understand, Baimaiti snorted and gave a hint.

Around 1983, Cheng Shizhong served as the county party secretary in Fuyuan...

......

While Baimaiti was begging for alms from Wang Jianguo, Qi Tongwei was talking to Zharta.

The office door was closed, the room was filled with smoke, and the atmosphere was somewhat heavy.

Qi Tongwei took a deep drag of his cigarette, frowned, looked at Zharta, and asked in a deep voice.

"So, according to you... there was another reason why the water diversion project was halted back then?"

Zalta nodded, took a deep drag of his cigarette, and replied in a low voice.

"It's not exactly a hidden story, it's all about semi-public information, it's a design flaw."

At the time, I was a liaison officer. Although I didn't know everything, I had a general idea...

I remember the chief designer's surname was Tang... He proposed a cement-fixing solution...

Then, during an inspection of the culvert, a collapse occurred... and people were buried inside.

The project was halted because of this accident...

Qi Tongwei frowned slightly and glanced at Zharta.

"Fu Yuan... what a series of surprises... the accident from back then was also covered up?"

Upon hearing this, Zharta quickly waved his hand.

"No, the cause of the accident is very clear: it was a design flaw, and Chief Engineer Tang is fully responsible."

However, since everyone was gone, the matter was dropped... and no further accountability was pursued...

I just wanted to explain the actual situation to you, so that there wouldn't be any problems during the subsequent construction..."

Qi Tongwei nodded, pondered for a moment, and asked in a deep voice.

"Was Zhang Wei in charge at the time?"

"Li Guofu is in charge, and Zhang Wei is specifically responsible for implementation...it's a major project in the county..."

Zalta took a deep drag of his cigarette and answered with great certainty.

He paused slightly, glanced at Qi Tongwei, and tentatively asked a question.

"Secretary Qi, do you suspect there are also problems with this collapse accident?"

Qi Tongwei didn't answer, took a deep drag of his cigarette, and muttered something under his breath.

"The truth will always come out eventually..."

After saying that, he glanced at Zharta and continued to ask.

"Is the original water diversion culvert still there?"

Zalta frowned slightly, his answer not entirely certain.

"It should be there... I haven't heard of anyone touching the culvert..."

Qi Tongwei snorted coldly, glanced at Zharta, and said loudly.

"Zarta, get ready, we're going to check out the culvert first thing tomorrow morning..."