Power and Wealth

Chapter 285 – Disappointment!

The Traffic Department does not need to wait for any instructions from Dong Xuebing and had started investigations. Although it’s already after working hours, the Traffic Officers still managed to contact the person-in-charge of the CCTV to get the recordings of the roads around the shopping mall at the time of the accident. This is not Beijing, and the cameras did not cover all the roads. The road where the accident occurred is not the main road, and there are no CCTVs there. The Traffic Department can only check the footage of nearby roads and check all the cars passing through the area. They also assigned a few officers to collect evidence at the scene and look out for witnesses.

Ring, ring, ring... Dong Xuebing’s phone in his pocket rang.

Dong Xuebing answered. “Chief Liang.”

“... How’s your mother?” Liang Chengpeng asked.

“Her condition is stabilized for now and is on the drip.”

“Good. Don’t be anxious. I had already increased the manpower to investigate this case, and I believe we will get some clues very soon.” Liang Chengpeng is concerned about this case and immediately calls for investigation when he heard about it. He even ordered to seal the junction for investigation. Dong Xuebing had offended many people and is working for Public Security. Liang Chengpeng does not rule out the possibility of revenge, and he must find the culprit at all costs!

After hanging up, Dong Xuebing returns to the ward and saw Luan Xiaoping on the bed. He walked over and held her hand. “Why are you still awake?”

Luan Xiaoping replied. “I can’t sleep. Have you all found the driver?”

Dong Xuebing replied angrily. “Not yet. Mum, can you tell me what happened?”

Luan Xiaoping thought for a while and sighed. “After leaving your apartment, I went to the shopping mall to buy yarn. I should have left the mall earlier, but I met a student’s parent and chatted with her. It was after 8 pm. after I bought the yarn, and I walked along the road towards the west to catch a bus back. When I was about to cross that side road, a car appeared behind me. I did not expect that car to hit me because the car is traveling at a very slow speed. But when I reached the junction of that side road and the main road, the car behind me passed me and turned right.”

Dong Xuebing asked. “Did he knock into you heads on?”

“It’s not knocking into me heads on. The back of the car brushed against me.”

“How did the back of the car brush against you?”

“I did not notice that car. I saw the traffic lights are about to change and I ran faster to cross the road. But the car behind me also sped up to turn and brushed against my hand and made me fall.” Luan Xiaoping thinks back on the accident. “That car did not stop, and I did not see the license plate because of the trees and bushes.”

Dong Xuebing paused for a second and asked. “Do you think that car had knocked into you on purpose?”

“No.” Luan Xiaoping shook her head. “It should be an accident.”

“Accident? If it is an accident, why didn’t the driver stop the car after knocking into someone? He didn’t even alight from the car.” Dong Xuebing was also worried that this incident might be an act of revenge against him. “What color is that car?”

“I remember it should... be black.”

“Do you know the brand of the car?”

“I don’t know and didn’t see it.”

After understanding how the accident happens, Dong Xuebing felt it should not be an act of revenge. If the driver wanted to knock his mother, he should have hit her heads on, and not hitting her with the back of the car while turning. But even if it is an accident, Dong Xuebing was still furious. How can the driver drive off after hitting someone? Luckily Dong Xuebing’s mother is not seriously injured. If she was left bleeding and the driver did not call for an ambulance, his mother might die!

F**k!

You just wait!

Dong Xuebing left the hospital and drove to the County’s Public Security Bureau.

Most of the offices in the Bureau were dark as it’s after office hours, and only a few rooms were still brightly lit. Dong Xuebing walked up the stairs to the Command Center. He opened the door and saw a Deputy Office Director and a few officers working seriously inside. Chief Liang Chengpeng was also there. All of them were staring at a few CCTV footage on a monitor.

“Chief Liang.” Dong Xuebing walks over.

Liang Chengpeng turned. “Chief Dong, you are just in time.”

“The car had been found?” Dong Xuebing brightens up. “What car is it?”

An officer replied. “From the tire marks and witnesses’ description, there are three cars that fit the description. We checked the cars, and from the CCTV footage, we narrowed down to one car.” He points to the monitor. “Here. This is the car.” It was a CCTV footage of a black car passing a junction, and the make of that car is a Toyota Reiz.

Toyota? Dong Xuebing was stunned.

“This is the number plate.” The officer enlarged the picture to show the license plate number.

Dong Xuebing was furious. It is those Japanese delegations’ car!

“Can we confirm this is the car involved in the hit and run accident?” Liang Chengpeng asked.

The officer replied. “It should be this car that had knocked into someone.”

The officer played another clearer footage, and they can see the driver. It’s the same driver that had got into an accident and beat up the driver of the other car. Dong Xuebing clenched his fist. This group of bastards! I still have not settled the score for what happened in the evening, and now you knock my mother down? The Traffic Officer had warned him not to drive with an expired driving license, and he ignored the warnings. He continued to drive and even got involved in a hit and run accident! This is a blatant disregard of the law!

Dong Xuebing turned and was about to go off.

“Xiao Dong. Come back!” Liang Chengpeng stopped him. “Calm down.”

Dong Xuebing turns and looks at Liang Chengpeng. “How am I going to remain calm?! My mother was almost killed!”

“What can you do even if you go there? Arrest and bring him back? Your mother is not seriously injured, and the driver can only be sentenced to a minimum of three years and up to a maximum of seven years when the victim is seriously injured or dead. But don’t worry. We will not let him off.” Liang Chengpeng immediately ordered the officer beside him. “Go to the hotel where the Japanese site visit team is staying and check their vehicle. We must confirm it is that Toyota that got into an accident.”

“Yes, Sir.” The Officers replied.

Dong Xuebing suppressed his anger. “Chief Liang!”

“Wait for the investigation with me here.”

“The facts are all pointing to them. What’s the point of waiting here?”

Liang Chengpeng is worried Dong Xuebing will be rash. “What if we got the wrong vehicle? Don’t be anxious. Officers will let us know the result very soon!”

Liang Chengpeng knows the seriousness of this incident. This incident is different from the minor traffic accident in the evenings. Driving off after knocking someone down is no longer a civil dispute. It is chargeable in courts, and the people involved in the family member of one of the County’s Government leaders and the Japanese site visit team. These made this incident more sensitive, and to be safe, Liang Chengpeng called Party Secretary Xiang Daofa to inform him.

Xiang Daofa frowned after he heard from Liang Chengpeng. He grumbled in his heart. Why must Dong Xuebing get involved in everything? This is the critical period for the County to get the investment, and nothing must go wrong! He thought for a while and called Meng Xianglin. He ordered Meng Xianglin to go to the hotel immediately to handle this incident.

Meng Xianglin heard of what happened and immediately called the Japanese team.

Hotel.

Third floor, room 3012.

The translator hung up his phone and said in Japanese. “Mr. Sakamoto. Investment Promotion Agency Chief Meng had called to inform us that the Police are on their way here. He said our car is involved in a traffic accident.” The translator told Sakamoto what he heard over the phone and asked worryingly. “Is it at that junction on our way back from the restaurant one hour ago?”

Sakamoto’s face changed. “What happened?”

Sakamoto’s assistant and his men look at each other, and the driver starts to get nervous.

After a long pause, Sakamoto’s assistant replied. “When we passed a junction earlier, I heard and felt the car knocked onto something.”

Sakamoto also heard it. They had finished dinner with a few friends, and on their way back to the hotel, he heard the car knocked onto something. But Sakamoto was on the phone with his company’s headquarters and did not think much of it. After he hangs up, he asked the driver what that sound was. The driver he trusted told him that the car had brushed against the road curb.

Sakamoto’s assistant and the translator did not see anything as they were not focusing on the roads at that time. They did turn and look out of the windows after they heard the bang, but they can only see trees and bushes. That’s why they thought nothing of it.

Only the driver saw everything. When he was making the turn, he saw a middle-aged woman and heard the bang from the back of the car. His heart skipped a beat, and from the side mirror, he saw he had knocked that woman down. But she was not bleeding, and he was relieved. He dares not stop the car as he is afraid to let Mr. Sakamoto know that he got into another accident and continued their way without stopping.

“Zhang Zhifeng.” Everyone looks at the driver.

The driver, Zhang Zhifeng, pretended to be calm. “I did not notice anything or saw anyone.”

Even when Sakamoto trusted Zhang Zhifeng a lot, he is unhappy to know that he had got into two accidents in an evening.

Zhang Zhifeng felt uneasy and tried to push the blame. “Mr. Sakamoto. In China, there is a scam, also known as a fake accident. Drivers here will have to bear most of the responsibility in an accident with another pedestrian, and many conmen will pretend to be knockdown by cars to swindle compensations. We had been traveling smoothly earlier, and a pedestrian knocked into the back of our car. I think it is a fake accident.”

Sakamoto curiously asked. “There are such things in China?”

The translator nodded. “Yes, and it is very common.”

“How is the victim?” Sakamoto asked. “How badly hurt is the victim?”

The translator replied. “Chief Meng said the victim suffered from minor injuries and is fine.”

The Police arrived at the hotel, and some of them went straight to the carpark. They found the Toyota and saw the scratches at the rear portion of the car. A few of the officers went up to room 3012 to interview those Japanese. By right, the driver and passengers must be brought back to the station for questioning. But these people have special privileges, and the officers can only interview them at the hotel.

Such investigations are slightly troublesome, and even after twenty minutes, the statement recordings were still ongoing.

Sakamoto looked at his watch and grumbled impatiently. “Why is it not completed yet?”

The driver Zhang Zhifeng was no longer nervous as the person he knocked had not suffered any serious injuries, and nothing will happen to him. He looked at the few Traffic Officers and said. “I already said I did not see anyone, and that’s why I continue driving. Also, she is the one who knocked into the car herself. She must be trying to defraud compensations from us. You all should investigate that woman! She is not seriously injured, right? Do you all need to waste your time on this? Mr. Sakamoto needs to rest!”

“Swindle compensations?” A Traffic Officer got mad. “Try saying that again?!”

Another older Officer gave Zhang Zhifeng a stare. “She is a family member of our Public Security Bureau’s Leader! She is the mother of Chief Dong! Swindle your money? She does not need to do that!” This driver’s tone had made all the Officers mad, and they can’t wait to bring him back to the station. Chief Dong’s mother wants to swindle your money? Everyone in the Bureau knows Chief Dong is rich. Just look at his Mercedes MPV. He can afford to drive a car that cost over a million, do you think he will want your few hundred or thousand?

Chief Dong’s mother? Zhang Zhifeng was stunned. He had knocked down an immediate family member of a Public Security Leader.

Just when the Officers were arguing with Zhang Zhifeng, Meng Xianglin arrived.

“Why are you all shouting?!” Meng Xianglin looks at the officers. “Watch your working attitude!”

This group of Public Security Officers is not Meng Xianglin’s subordinates. Still, they knew he is overseeing the investment site visit and is close to Party Secretary Xiang. That’s why they stopped arguing. Meng Xianglin scolding the Public Security Officers was an act to show the Japanese. He does not want the Japanese to have a bad impression of Yan Tai County.

Meng Xianglin asked the officers. “What is the outcome of the investigation?”

“They had knocked someone, and we confirmed it from the marks on their car.” An officer replied.

Zhang Zhifeng argued. “I had told you all that we had not knocked into that woman. She is the one who knocked onto our car!”

Meng Xianglin looks at Sakamoto. “Mr. Sakamoto, this...” He wants to know what Sakamoto is thinking. If Sakamoto does not say anything, he will let the Police handle this incident. But if Sakamoto wants to protect his driver, then...

Sakamoto looked at Meng Xianglin and said a string of sentences in Japanese.

The translator said. “Mr. Sakamoto says he is willing to compensate that woman’s medical fees, and that will be the end of this incident. They had not seen that woman, and it’s not entirely their fault.”

The Officers’ face changed. Driving off after hitting someone is not considered your fault?!

Meng Xianglin continued talking to Sakamoto for a while.

After a while, Sakamoto’s translator said. “Mr. Sakamoto says he wants to rest now. You can speak to him tomorrow.”

Meng Xianglin saw Sakamoto is getting impatient and said. “Alright. We will not bother you anymore and will settle this incident.” He turns to the Public Security Officers. “You all can leave now.”

The officers were stunned. “Leave?”

The investigation is not over, and we still have not arrested the driver. Leave?

Meng Xianglin can’t be bothered to speak to the officers and went out to call Xiang Daofa. “Hello, Secretary Xiang. I had found out what happened. The site visit team had knocked someone, but further investigations are needed for the cause of the accident. Mr. Sakamoto and his men say it was Chief Dong’s mother knocking herself onto their car. But they are willing to compensate her a sum of money. I can tell Mr. Sakamoto valued that driver a lot, and they should have a close relationship. That’s why I stopped the Public Security Officers to stop their investigations. Do you think we should downplay this incident? Anyway, Dong Xuebing’s mother is not seriously injured, and if she pursues the matter, I’m afraid Mr. Sakamoto might...” Meng Xianglin does not like Dong Xuebing at all, and compared to Mr. Sakamoto, who could help him get political points, of course, he will side with the latter.

Xiang Daofa replied coldly. “I know.”

After a while, Xiang Daofa called Liang Chengpeng.

“Downplay the incident and handle it like a civil dispute.” Xiang Daofa instructed.

Liang Chengpeng was stunned for a second. “What about the driver? He was driving without a license! Furthermore, he drove off after hitting someone!”

“The other party says they do not know they had hit someone and they had not driven off purposely. Just let it like this.” Xiang Daofa continued. “Alright. You must settle this as soon as possible, and pacify Dong Xuebing and his mother. They must look at the bigger picture and not blow up this matter. This is all for the County’s development.”

Du... du... du... the line was cut.

Liang Chengpeng looked at his phone and frowned, as he had not expected this outcome!

Downplay the incident?!

Knocking someone while driving without a license, and driving off after the accident?! How can they downplay this case? Furthermore, the victim is an immediate family member of a Public Security Leader! If Liang Chengpeng do as he was told, how is he going to face Chief Dong? How is he going to face the officers from the Public Security Bureau? Just because those Japanese have the intention to invest in the County, we have to sacrifice our people?! It’s like in the accident earlier in the evening, and they must still think of the bigger picture for this incident?! What bigger picture is this?!

Even when Xiang Daofa groomed Liang Chengpeng to his current position, he felt Xiang Daofa had not handled this incident well! No matter how Xiang Daofa dislikes Dong Xuebing, Dong Xuebing had done a lot for the County and had helped him get promoted to Party Secretary. Dong Xuebing was the one who found evidence that brought the former Party Secretary down and helped him get credit for solving the Provincial Museum break-in case. But now, his mother was knocked down by someone, and you disregarded his past contributions and sided with those Japanese?!

You are making others disappointed.