In name only: I will break the chess game in Handong!

At that moment, Yi Xuexi felt an urge to strangle Mao Ya.

But when he looked at the briefcase in his hand and the district government building in front of him, he sighed heavily with a worried expression.

"This isn't the place to talk. Come to my house tonight, and I'll give you an answer."

After saying that, Yi Xuexi stared straight at Mao Ya. Mao Ya felt a sense of calm upon hearing this. She knew that Yi Xuexi had most likely chosen to compromise. Compared to his political future, what did it matter if he remarried her?

"Okay, I'll wait for you to come back tonight."

Mao Ya left, while Yi Xuexi silently walked into the district committee and government building. Work still had to continue, didn't it?

As he walked down the corridor, the staff from Guangming District who passed by saw that it was Yi Xuexi and they all secretly looked at him with curiosity and pity. Although these staff members would politely smile and greet him as "Hello, Secretary Yi" when they met, Yi Xuexi knew very well that they were just watching his drama unfold.

Back in his office, Yi Xuexi sat down in his chair. His desk was piled high with documents. After looking at the documents for a while and handling some work, Yi Xuexi suddenly felt very tired.

It wasn't physical exhaustion, but mental fatigue; he was thinking about how to face Mao Ya that night.

Is it a compromise? Or a firm refusal?

"After crossing the hill, I found no one waiting..."

As he pondered, Yi Xuexi hummed his favorite song, finding a moment of peace in his mind.

Anti-Corruption Bureau of Handong Provincial Procuratorate.

Today, the Anti-Corruption Bureau had a special guest.

In the director's office, Hou Liangping looked at Zhong Xiaoai in front of him and was speechless.

"What are you doing here? We've been divorced for two or three months now, and I don't see any common ground between us at work."

Hou Liangping was disgusted by Zhong Xiaoai's arrival. Now Hou Liangping has a new life, dating a college student girlfriend who is still young and vibrant. His life has been rejuvenated, how comfortable is that?

Zhong Xiaoai's gaze was calm as she shook her head.

"I'm here to report to Chief Prosecutor Ji Changming. Don't forget that I'm now the Chief Prosecutor of Jingzhou Procuratorate, a department-level cadre, and also the Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Provincial Procuratorate. Theoretically, I'm your superior."

Upon hearing this, Hou Liangping rolled his eyes and said disdainfully, "Yes, yes, Chief Prosecutor Zhong, may I ask what brings you to our Anti-Corruption Bureau? If not, I have to get back to work."

After all, the Anti-Corruption Bureau is different from the Jingzhou Procuratorate. Your city procuratorate isn't very busy, but as the bureau chief, my schedule is packed.

"Hou Liangping, we've been husband and wife for over ten years, how can you be so heartless?"

"Chief Prosecutor Chung, please have some self-respect!"

Zhong Xiaoai suddenly sighed, then took out a medical report and handed it to Hou Liangping.

"Take a look for yourself."

Hou Liangping was a little curious, but he was dumbfounded when he received the test report and saw that it was a pregnancy test report.

"Are you pregnant?"

"Yes, it's been two or three months."

"What does this have to do with me?"

Hou Liangping looked at Zhong Xiaoai with the same gaze one would give someone with a mental illness, but what about Zhong Xiaoai? She remained completely unmoved, simply taking the examination report back from Hou Liangping's hand.

"This child is most likely yours."

"High probability? In other words..."

"Yes, it could be Chen Hai, it could be Zhao Ruilong, but you are the most likely candidate."

Hou Liangping shook his head.

"It doesn't really matter whose the father is. You've been keeping it a secret all this time. You don't actually want to have this child, do you?"

Hou Liangping looked at Zhong Xiaoai with the eyes of someone looking at a monster.

"Yes, but this child will only have the surname Zhong after birth, and none of you will need to take responsibility for him."

"Then why did you tell me?"

Hou Liangping was speechless.

"If the organization asks me about the source of the child, I will say it's yours."

"Hey, hey, hey, it hasn't been tested yet, don't try to pin this on me."

"Haoran is doing very well now. You know my dad has retired, and now he's focusing on nurturing Haoran."

One sentence silenced Hou Liangping.

No matter how much he and Zhong Xiaoai quarreled, Hou Haoran, who should now be called Zhong Haoran, was still his son.

If it's just about acknowledging a father figure who doesn't require responsibility in exchange for his son smoothly receiving the Zhong family's future resources for upbringing, Hou Liangping could accept it.

"I understand. When they ask you, just say that you only found out about the pregnancy after we got divorced."

"Well, that's all I wanted to say. I'll be going now. Your girlfriend is very pretty. If you have the chance, after I give birth to this child, you can introduce me to a male college student so I can have a taste of something new."

Zhong Xiaoai could even smile and tease Hou Liangping at this moment, which made Hou Liangping unable to help but laugh as well.

"Okay, okay, but my taste isn't great. I can only guarantee I'll find you someone handsome; as for his character..."

Goodbye, Director Hou!

"Take care, Chief Prosecutor Chung!"

Zhong Xiaoai left, and Hou Liangping calmly continued with his work until he pulled out a letter of complaint.

As Hou Liangping took out the letter of complaint and read its contents, his smile vanished. This letter of complaint wasn't about anyone else; it was about Yi Xuexi, the current Party Secretary of Guangming District. The letter detailed how Mao Ya, while still married to Yi Xuexi, used Yi Xuexi's position to sell tea at exorbitant prices.

"One problem after another!"

Hou Liangping sighed softly. He was no longer a political novice. Now, which cadre in Handong was unaware of the long-standing conflict between Governor Zhou Jianjun and Provincial Party Secretary Sha Ruijin?

Unfortunately, Yi Xuexi was a cadre who was quickly promoted by Sha Ruijin after he came to Handong. If this were verified, Hou Liangping shook his head and no longer had the excitement of investigating a big fish as in the past. Instead, he got up and took the letter of complaint to the chief prosecutor's office.

dong dong dong...

"Come in!"

After entering the room, Hou Liangping looked at Ji Changming with a solemn expression.

"Quarterly inspection!"

"Oh, it's Ryohei. What's up?"

Taking a deep breath, Hou Liangping gave a brief report on the contents of the whistleblower letter.

"Quarterly inspection, should we investigate?"

Now the problem fell on Ji Changming. He opened his mouth several times, but remained silent.

"I'm not comfortable answering that question either. After all, Yi Xuexi is a department-level cadre and the secretary of Guangming District. Chen Hai was just transferred out of Guangming District. If something happens to Yi Xuexi..."

The meaning of these words is quite clear: the big picture!

"But if we suppress this situation during the quarterly inspections, and the higher-ups find out or it gets exposed online, we will also have to bear the responsibility."

"I know, Liangping. I'll be retiring in a month and a half. Now I'm going to tell you some things from the bottom of my heart. Listen carefully and learn from them."