Official statement: Tongwei is dead! You chose Ruijin, didn't you?

Zhou Zhengming asked, "Can Sha Ruijin write?"

"Yes," Gao Yuliang said confidently. "Because he also wants to live. As long as Baiwangshan doesn't fall, Sha Ruijin is the best scapegoat. If Baiwangshan falls, Sha Ruijin can say that he was misled by his old leader and try to get a lighter sentence."

Zhou Zhengming stood up decisively: "I'll report to Team Leader Qin immediately."

As he reached the door, Zhou Zhengming turned back to look at Gao Yuliang: "Secretary Gao, your mind has indeed recovered remarkably well."

Gao Yuliang sighed and patted his leg, which was in a cast: "My body isn't up to par, so I can only rely on my brain to supplement the family income."

Xiaolin couldn't help but burst out laughing, quickly covering her mouth as she followed him out.

After the ward door closed, Wu Huifen looked at Gao Yuliang and asked, "Aren't you afraid that faction will hold a grudge against you?"

Gao Yuliang looked out the window, his tone cold: "Huifen, since we've already offended him, we might as well make sure he falls completely."

Wu Huifen fell silent.

Half an hour later, the task force received recommendations from the Handong supervisory team.

That evening, Sha Ruijin was asked by the special task force to write a supplementary personal statement.

He sat at the table, pen in hand, but hesitated to write.

A staff member reminded him, "Comrade Sha Ruijin, please explain truthfully."

Sha Ruijin closed his eyes, and the image of Bai Wangshan patting him on the shoulder flashed through his mind.

"Ruijin, Handong is a place where you can hone your skills. When you go there, you must stabilize the overall situation."

Looking back now, that sentence wasn't about cultivation at all, but rather about arrangement.

He lowered his head, the tip of his pen touched the paper, and he wrote the first line.

"Before I took up my post in Handong, Comrade Bai Wangshan had a private conversation with me..."

As the writing progressed, Sha Ruijin realized that the last bit of fatherly affection between him and Bai Wangshan had also been included in the case file.

......

A day later, in that special care ward in the north, Bai Wangshan lay on the hospital bed with an oxygen tube hanging from his nose, and the monitor next to him beeped.

Hearing the door open, he maintained the silence of a seriously ill old man.

The task force members walked to the foot of the bed, without bringing a fruit basket or offering any pleasantries.

"Mr. Bai, let's verify three things today, so as not to delay your oxygen treatment."

Bai Wangshan slowly opened his eyes, his voice so weak it sounded like he might die at any moment: "Young comrade, my mind is a complete mess right now. I really can't remember anything from the past."

"It's okay if you can't remember, we brought medicine." The cadre handed a piece of paper to the bedside table.

That was Sha Ruijin's own handwritten explanation.

Bai Wangshan glanced at it, and several veins on the back of his hand with the IV needle inserted were clearly bulging.

"Before taking up my post in Handong, Comrade Bai Wangshan spoke with me privately, asking me to maintain order in Handong and not to touch upon the Lingang project, clues about the Chen family's funds, or related historical arrangements..."

Bai Wangshan cursed Sha Ruijin's ancestors for eighteen generations in his mind.

This adopted son usually talks a lot about party principles, rules, and bottom lines, but once he's in detention, he's more adept at betraying his old leader than anyone else.

"What do you think of this statement?" the task force leader asked.

Bai Wangshan sighed: "Comrade Ruijin is under a lot of pressure in Handong. When he's inside, it's inevitable that his words will be tinged with emotion."

He used a Tai Chi move to try to deflect the real-name accusations into an emotional outburst.

The official ignored this and went straight to the documents: "Zhao Heng confessed yesterday that the policy descriptions for the Lingang pilot program were polished to your exact words. Wang Zonghui also vomited, and you reviewed the risk classification list from the Zhong family secretariat. The testimonies of Du Qishan, Luo Jianping, and Guan Zhiqian are now enough to make a mahjong table, corroborating each other perfectly."

Seeing this, the doctor next to him quickly stepped forward: "Comrade, the patient's blood pressure is soaring, we must control the duration of our conversation."

The official glanced at the doctor and said calmly, "We understand the rules. Blood pressure can rise, but facts cannot fall."

The doctor tactfully retreated to the corner.

Bai Wangshan slowly raised his hand and pulled the oxygen tube down a bit: "When you're handling a case, don't be too aggressive."

"This isn't an attack, it's helping you with the accounting." The official pushed the last document over. "The special task force for overseas assets has just identified three names: Sha Ruijin's nephew, Sha Haizhou; Fang Jingyao's grandson, Shen Zhe'an; and your granddaughter, Bai Ruoning. The purchase price of these three mansions in Singapore, Vancouver, and London is roughly three Pacific Oceans more than the legal income of your families."

Bai Wangshan finally raised his eyelids.

"Have you investigated thoroughly?"

The cadre closed the folder: "It doesn't matter where the investigation leads; what matters is that we've run out of options. The organization is giving you a chance because you still have value in speaking up. If you continue to feign illness, we'll find another place to seek treatment."

Bai Wangshan stared at Sha Ruijin's neatly written explanation in silence for a full five minutes.

"The Lingang project..." Bai Wangshan's throat was dry. "Back then, it certainly wasn't something that Handong could decide on its own."

The cadre removed the cap from the pen.

Outside the door, another staff member covered his mouth and whispered into his earpiece, "Bai Wangshan has spoken."

……

At the same time, in Handong Province.

Xiaolin pushed open the door to the special care ward, slightly out of breath from running.

Gao Yuliang was leaning against the rocking hospital bed, slowly drinking the millet porridge that Wu Huifen had cooked. When he saw Xiao Lin come in, he put down the bowl and wiped his mouth with a tissue.

"Secretary Gao, your trick really worked." Xiao Lin lowered his voice. "Bai Wangshan has spoken."

"Oh?" Gao Yuliang raised an eyebrow. "You mean Lingang isn't something Handong alone can handle?"

Kobayashi was taken aback: "How could you guess almost exactly what he said?"

Gao Yuliang laughed: "An old fox, as long as he doesn't play dead, his first words will definitely be to drag someone down with him."

Wu Huifen glared at him from the side: "Old Gao, you're cooperating with the investigation now, so watch your words."

Gao Yuliang readily agreed and immediately cleared his throat: "Under the care of the organization, Comrade Bai Wangshan has finally overcome his illness and regained some of his historical memories."

Xiao Lin couldn't hold back and burst out laughing: "Secretary Gao, would you call this a medical miracle or a disciplinary miracle?"

Gao Yuliang thought about it carefully: "No, it's called Sha Ruijin's Personal Handwriting Therapy. It's a treatment specifically for all kinds of politically motivated cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases."

The ward was silent for two seconds. Even Wu Huifen, who was usually dignified, turned her head away, her shoulders shaking.

Despite his laughter, Gao Yuliang's gaze quickly turned serious.

Once Bai Wangshan spoke, the whole affair in Handong was no longer just about anti-corruption, but a historical reckoning for the bigwigs.

He, a supporting character from Handong, finally managed to drag all the main characters to the dock, thus saving his own life.

"Has the province given any preliminary opinions on Qi Tongwei's situation?" Gao Yuliang changed the subject.

Xiao Lin opened his notebook: "Got it. Given Qi Tongwei's death, no further criminal charges will be pursued. However, regarding his first-class merit in drug enforcement and his early contributions to his duties, the supervisory team suggests a separate review, avoiding a blanket denial."

Gao Yuliang didn't speak, but tapped his fingers lightly on the small table.

This result is not perfect, but in the current political storm, it is a hundred times better than the original characterization of him as "committing suicide out of fear of punishment and a typical example of corruption".

"I need to write a report," Gao Yuliang suddenly said.

Kobayashi immediately became alert: "Whose is it about? Do you have any leads in the capital?"

"About Qi Tongwei."

Wu Huifen frowned: "Old Gao, what are you trying to do now? The matter of Tongwei has already been settled. Don't cause any more trouble."

Gao Yuliang picked up his reading glasses and put them on, his tone calm: "Huifen, I'm not trying to whitewash him; he should acknowledge these grievances. But how he was stuck at the grassroots level and couldn't rise up, how he was forced to kneel on the Han University playground—these are not his faults, and we can't let a dead man bear all the blame."

Xiaolin felt a tightness in her chest as she listened.

This Secretary Gao, with his leg in a cast and confined to his hospital bed, never stopped thinking.

He was not only fighting for his own survival, but also using his last bit of political wisdom to try and save face for the student who committed suicide.

Gao Yuliang had just laid out the letter and hadn't even had time to uncap his pen when the ward door was pushed open again.

Zhou Zhengming strode in, holding a new case file in his hand.

"Secretary Gao, let's put Qi Tongwei's case aside for now." Zhou Zhengming walked to the bedside and slammed the case file on the table. "As for Zhao Ruilong, we're preparing for a final supplementary interrogation before filing a public prosecution. The special task force needs to confront him on the spot regarding your confession about the political and legal protection chain at Shanshui Manor."

Gao Yuliang looked up: "Do you need me to step in?"

Zhou Zhengming nodded: "Video connection, direct confrontation."

Gao Yuliang gently put the pen down.

"Okay."