Reborn as a Noble's Son

Seeing that Ma Ergou was stunned, a boost of joy surged in Nie Zhenbang’s heart. The ethnic situation in Lixian was too complex, unlike inland provinces, where the ethnic composition was more homogeneous. Here were different ethnic groups living together, and the conflicts between them were not insignificant. More importantly, these circumstances encouraged unity among the groups. Likewise, they were prone to disagreements and clashes.

Given these circumstances, the enemy was weakened, and it was a perfect opportunity to dissuade them. Nie Zhenbang then walked over to Zhao Kunlun and murmured, “Secretary Zhao, there are more and more onlookers. I think we should deploy our community police officers to control the crowd. Too many people might not only create a bad impression but also chaos.”

Zhao Kunlun agreed with Nie Zhenbang’s advice, and was a bit surprised. Nie Zhenbang had a deep understanding of the police’s responsibilities in such circumstances and knew that unnecessarily crowding around with police officers was not the solution. Activating the local community police, familiar faces to the masses, proved to be a better solution as their persuasion could be more effective without triggering any backlash.

On Zhao Kunlun’s command, many community police officers sprang into action, all of them were familiar with each street and community.

“Uncle Zhang, didn’t expect you to be here too. You should go home, it’s getting freezing cold.”

“Alex, you little rascal, what are you doing here? Go home, or I’ll beat you up!”

The community police were extremely familiar with the locals, where they resided, what kind of people there were in their families, and their family situations in general. With the involvement of several community police and some security volunteers, they found many influential onlookers. With their persuasion, the number of onlookers around the construction site rapidly decreased, and within twenty minutes, there were only about two hundred people left.

Meanwhile, Zhao Kunlun’s police officers had identified Ma Ergou’s informants inside the crowd. Now, Zhao Kunlun had no reservations.

As the secretary of the Political and Legal Committee, maintaining local stability and public security was his responsibility. Regardless of the cause of the issue, Zhao Kunlun would be implicated. That’s why he was going all out to resolve the situation. It didn’t matter who was backing Ma Ergou; if they wanted to give him a hard time, he wouldn’t be soft on them. This was Zhao Kunlun’s mindset.

Looking at the slightly alarmed Ma Ergou, Zhao Kunlun sternly said, “Ma Ergou, you are now under suspicion of disrupting public order and gathering a crowd to make trouble. Come with me peacefully and explain yourself.”

In front of Zhao Kunlun, Ma Ergou became obedient and seemed extremely docile. After seeing him off, the remaining few were in awe, whereas Liu Kun, who was at the construction site, didn’t seem to care and ordered everyone to get back to work.

At that moment, Zhao Kunlun pulled Nie Zhenbang aside and chuckled, “Director Nie, this matter seems to have wrapped up. But there’s something I’d like to say.”

Looking at Zhao Kunlun’s insincere smile, Nie Zhenbang paused before responding with a smile, “What do you mean, Secretary Zhao? Aren’t we familiar? Feel free to speak your mind.”

Zhao Kunlun, given his rank and status, wouldn’t merely act like any regular chief of the Public Security Bureau. He wasn’t afraid of offending Nie Zhenbang either and joked, “Director Nie, with the large scale operations of the Farmer Welfare Company and its substantial investments, it’s only natural that some people might be tempted. With all the building materials like sand and red bricks having to be sourced locally, don’t you think, Director Nie, it might be a good idea to give the guys at the Farmer Welfare Company a heads up? Then, everyone can make a profit. It’s crucial to maintain good relations locally too. Otherwise, if we keep rounding up these troublemakers, another batch will soon crop up. Being in charge isn’t easy for us cops.”

Listening to Zhao Kunlun’s words, Nie Zhenbang furrowed his eyebrows. His intentions were decidedly straightforward. While the Farmer Welfare Company could not simply hoard all profits. It was indeed true that the construction team was backed by influential people, but they must offer some benefits to the locals. Zhao Kunlun was getting tired of getting the police involved all the time. And he didn’t want to keep dealing with such troublesome situations. There was no special connection between him and Zhao Kunlun; given their individual jurisdictions, Zhao Kunlun had no fear of Nie Zhenbang. Moreover, it was undeniable that it was a standard procedure on such local level projects. Some basic infrastructure projects with little technical difficulty were typically left to the locals in exchange for local support. Liu Kun, however, was acting more independently, which was normal for gloomy and stubborn men like him from Jingcheng. Apart from his circle, Liu Kun truly had no intention of offering benefits to outsiders.

Nie Zhenbang also responded with laughter, “I do appreciate Secretary Zhao’s tip. I will mention this to General Liu from the Farmer Welfare Company.”

Zhao Kunlun nodded and chuckled, “Director Nie, don’t blame me for talking too much. That’s just how things work here. Our people in the Northwest are rowdy and we often need to compromise. Sometimes, we also need to use some strategies. You go on with your work, and I’ll take my leave. This Ma Ergou is usually not so bold. This time, it’s a bit strange. I need to interrogate him personally.”

Somewhere in a secluded yard in Li County City, a man was passionately loving a naked woman.

The ringing of the phone on the bedside table was annoyingly loud, accompanied by a woman’s screams and gasps. After he had finally finished his business, the man irritatedly picked up the phone, said, “What the hell do you want at this hour? Did someone in your family die or what?”

The man was really pissed off, and the woman beside him seemed to have regained her breath. In a cajoling tone, she said, “Brother Wu, come on, I want more.”

But the man snapped violently at her, “Bloody hell, you slut, you’re a complete whore. God knows how many times you’ve cuckolded your man. If you dare to cuckold me, you’ll be dead.”

Finishing, the man continued into the phone, “Alright, what’s so urgent?”

Once the other end of the phone finished speaking, the man’s brows furrowed and he repeated, “What? Ma Ergou has been taken away by Zhao Kunlun? Blackie, remember this, send Ma Ergou a message to keep his mouth shut. If he spills everything, he’ll have a hell of a time and will be ready to be picked up dead. Also, Blackie, isn’t Ma Ergou a Hui? Get on it now, put some pressure on the county government tomorrow – we need to get him out sooner rather than later.”

After hanging up, the man’s face turned extremely dark. Looking at the woman beside him, he harshly grabbed her chest, his strong fingers deforming the soft flesh. Judging by the woman’s expression, she was experiencing quite a bit of pain.

Then, the man laughed, “You slut, you’re enjoying this, aren’t you? Also, that teacher friend of yours, you better hurry up. I don’t have much patience left.”

In the meantime, Nie Zhenbang had called Liu Kun and Qian Jin over to a makeshift office on the construction site. Nie Zhenbang took out two of his Huaxia cigarettes, gave one each to them, and asked, “Kun, Finance Whizz, seriously, what’s your relationship with the contractor?”

Seeing their puzzled looks, Nie Zhenbang bluntly said, “Let me put it straight: if the contractor is you guys, then I have nothing to add. But if he’s a third party, you should let him share some profits with the locals. It’s not right that you have to deal with these problems after subcontracting it. Benefits should be properly distributed.”

Liu Kun looked stunned, while Qian Jin nodded in agreement. “Brother Nie is right. I neglected this detail. It’s small change for us, but it’ll help us gain local support. Why not?”

At this moment Yi Jun, who had been waiting outside, entered with a grave look. He leaned over and whispered, “Director Nie, Mayor Wu just informed us of a serious incident.”

At Yi Jun’s words, Liu Kun and Qian Jin both stood up. Having been Nie Zhenbang’s secretary for years, Yi Jun could tell important incidents from unimportant ones. Judging by Yi Jun’s current demeanor, it was definitely something serious.

Nie Zhenbang also stood up and asked, “What happened? Did Mayor Wu mention anything specific?”

Yi Jun nodded and said, “He did. Just now, hundreds of Hui people have blocked the entrances to the County Party Committee and the county government. Kuli Street is completely choked up. Their only demand is to release Ma Ergou.”

The county government had been blocked. The County Party Committee and the county government of Li County were directly opposite each other with Kuli Street separating them. The entire street was no wider than fifteen meters, effectively blocking both buildings.

In the past, Nie Zhenbang had only heard about how complicated it was to work in the Northwest, especially due to ethnic issues. Now, he was experiencing it firsthand. For just one Ma Ergou, hundreds of people had blocked the County Party Committee and the county government. Was this still Huaxia?

Thinking of this, Nie Zhenbang immediately stood up and told Yi Jun, “Let’s rush over there. Kun, get in touch with your connections in Bazhou City and both of you head over to the Li County Public Security Bureau. Whatever happens, don’t let Ma Ergou go. I have a feeling things are not as simple as they seem.”

Once he had given his orders, Nie Zhenbang rushed out, jumped in his car, and sped towards the county government. However, by the time they were 200 meters away from the county government, the car couldn’t move any further because of the crowd. As Nie Zhenbang stepped out of the car and saw what was going on, he was stunned.

PS: Brothers and sisters, Old Cai is in trouble. I’m discouraged seeing the lack of movement on the monthly ballot. How can we explode tomorrow? I plead with all of you, stop giving Old Cai a hard time. If we get 520 votes, I’ll be delighted to deliver 15,000 words tomorrow.