When the police discovered something suspicious about the case, they found they couldn't locate this most crucial on-site party. Further investigation revealed this individual was merely a tenant in the apartment downstairs, having moved in only a few days prior; no one had seen him since the incident!
“Did this guy just snatch a few gold bars and run?” the police speculated.
But they soon uncovered another issue: the supposed leak was itself suspect. The apartment where the valuables and cash were found hadn't leaked at all. Surveying the downstairs unit, the police realized the deluge that day was likely an illusion fabricated by the missing landlord, designed to gain the trust of the property management and the police officers so they would open the upstairs apartment!
The case immediately became baffling, but the paramount objective remained identifying the origin of that massive fortune.
The weather was bright, yet Director Zheng Mingshun’s mood was as stormy as thunder and lightning.
Five million in cash, nearly thirty million worth of jewelry—it had just walked away from the police’s grasp! That was the fruit of nearly half a lifetime of ruthless effort, amassed through extortion, seizing assets, corruption, and excessive levies, and now it was gone!
“What kind of garbage building did you put up?!”
At that moment, he desperately wanted to call the CEO of the Huayuan residential development and unleash a torrent of verbal abuse. The inexplicable water leak—the quality of this building was utterly abysmal!
Indeed, Director Zheng still didn't know the leak was intentional. The police had kept a secret on that front, withholding crucial case details.
Because the police concealed this vital piece of information, Director Zheng made an incorrect assessment. He assumed it was just an accident, unaware that someone was already targeting him, and he was busy plotting how to reclaim his assets.
“Foolish! Look at that wreck of a house you bought!” Director Zheng first thoroughly berated his wife, then placed a call to one of his developer friends.
As expected of the city’s chief financial manager and a leader’s confidant, Director Zheng, tested by years of political struggle, quickly struck a secret agreement with his friend. The friend made firm assurances that he would help recover the assets quickly and safely.
The developer friend drove off, while Director Zheng called home, ordering his wife to bring out the property deed and all related identification documents.
The Director’s wife immediately drove home. Having such a major incident occur left her anxious; her usual commanding presence before her husband had vanished, and she was now more obedient than the housemaid.
Half an hour later, Director Zheng received a call from his wife.
“Mingshun, no—it’s not good! The property deed and everything… it’s all gone!”
“What?!”
Zheng Mingshun’s thin frame suddenly erupted with immense force. He sprang up from his luxurious office chair, nearly knocking over the desk that had cost over five thousand yuan to procure!
The Director’s wife’s voice trembled with terror: “N-nothing left! Absolutely nothing!”
“Damn it!” Zheng Mingshun roared into the phone, smashing his fist onto the desk. “Wait for me at home, I’m coming back right now!”
“Just to block your parking spot, you went that far?”
The speaker was Guan Yingying. She was smiling now, radiant as a wild lily in full bloom.
“Can’t you two find something else to talk about?” Wang Zhuo laughed wryly, shaking his head. For the past two days, the parking spot had been the most frequently mentioned topic, and he was sick of hearing about it.
It was Qi Fei who finally spoke a fair word: “People like that deserve what’s coming to them.”
Wang Zhuo immediately hailed her as a kindred spirit and blew her a kiss.
The room instantly burst into laughter.
At this moment, in the penthouse apartment of the building adjacent to Director Zheng’s residence, Wang Zhuo was hosting a gathering—a home party, or as they called it, a ‘Hong Pa’ ().
Of course, it wasn't about blasting beauties with his 250-caliber cannon. The company was rather mixed: not only were Qi Fei and Guan Yingying present, but also Gan Shuang, Siyuan, and the Meng sisters!
“But seriously, have you thought about what kind of prison sentence Director Zheng will get?” Gan Shuang suddenly asked.
Guan Yingying immediately chimed in with a smirk, “Who cares? That’s the consequence of offending our Wang Zhuo!”
“Are you ever going to stop?” Wang Zhuo leaned over, half-laughing, half-frowning, trying to tickle her.
Guan Yingying shrieked happily and dodged away. Gan Shuang felt no jealousy watching them mess around; she knew Guan Yingying spent more time with Wang Zhuo than she did, and whether it was sisterly affection or something more, it had been established long ago.
“This won’t bring you any trouble, right?” Qi Fei asked with concern.
“It won't,” Wang Zhuo replied seriously. “The person who did the job was a retired pickpocket expert, specially invited from Guangnan Province. The police won't trace him. On the day of the action, Siyuan paused the community's surveillance system, and afterward, we replaced the footage with falsified recordings. It’s seamless.”
Gan Shuang also inquired, “And the fake male landlord?”
“He’s gone to Korea for labor work,” Wang Zhuo chuckled. “By the time he gets back, the provincial leadership will have changed, and who will care about this old cold case then?”
“This is really fun…” Meng Shengdi sat nearby, listening with a constant smile. Though she didn't understand much of what was being discussed, she was happy just to be part of the conversation.
Her sister, Meng Shengnan, grasped the deeper implications. This city had millions of residents, yet an official controlling the finances of those millions had been brought down by Wang Zhuo with little apparent effort. Such immense power gave her a feeling of looking up at a towering mountain, deepening and clarifying her reverence for Wang Zhuo.
The day before Old Man Qi’s birthday celebration, Qiu Songhai, a moderately well-known developer, reported to the Public Security Bureau, claiming ownership of the cash and jewelry that the police had found and seized.
He also brought along a dull-witted elderly woman from the countryside and a temporary property ownership certificate issued by the Real Estate Bureau to that woman, proving she was the owner of the property in question, and that the cash and jewelry were things he had entrusted to her keeping.
Qiu Songhai believed that by cleaning up Director Zheng's mess, he could latch onto this powerful figure and secure endless future benefits. Little did he know that Director Zheng, having discovered the loss of his property deed, had already turned into a startled bird, immediately instructing his wife to retrieve his passport and other crucial documents hidden in their rural hometown, planning to flee the moment he got back what Qiu Songhai was returning.
It was rumored that corrupt officials fleeing abroad took an average of one hundred million in assets each. Director Zheng had always strived for this target unremittingly, but now he had no chance to continue pursuing it.
With total assets amounting to less than forty million, Zheng Mingshun knew this sum would only make him a middle-class citizen in Canada or Australia, far less comfortable than his life domestically. The moment he fully resolved to flee, he regretted the mistake he had made. If he had known this day would come, he should have been more frugal in his official capacity, enjoying life as a local big shot in his hometown would have been much more satisfying!
Alas, there was no reversing medicine in this world. Even if he wanted to trade that forty million, he couldn't buy it!
To insiders like Gan Shuang, it appeared Wang Zhuo had first hired a pickpocket expert to steal the property deed and other documents from Zheng Mingshun’s house, and then used the deed to track down the five million in cash and valuables.
In reality, they had the sequence backward. Wang Zhuo had discovered Zheng Mingshun’s hidden wealth first, and then hired professionals to steal the deed and bank cards hidden beneath the floorboards in the master bedroom's cabinet. The subsequent steps of following leads were just something he casually mentioned and never implemented.
Siyuan was hugely instrumental in this affair. Wang Zhuo promised her a car as a reward, yet she chose the modest Changhe Suzuki Wagon R, a commuter car whose top trim level didn't even cost seventy thousand yuan. There was likely a hidden agenda there.
That night was sleepless for Director Zheng's entire family.
Wang Zhuo was relaxing in the bathtub, taking a soak while talking to Gan Shuang on the phone.
Gan Shuang suddenly remembered something. “Oh, by the way, do you know the relationship between Zheng Mingshun and our homeroom teacher, Teacher Zheng?”
“Huh?” Wang Zhuo was immediately taken aback. “I’ve really never heard about that. What’s their relationship?”
Zheng Zhixiu had shown him considerable kindness in the past. Since she shared the surname Zheng with Zheng Mingshun and they both had that same short, thin build, Wang Zhuo couldn't help but suspect some kind of blood relation.
“They’re first cousins,” Gan Shuang said, trying to stifle a laugh. “Teacher Zheng’s husband is a section chief in the Municipal Party Committee Organization Department. I heard Zheng Mingshun helped him get that promotion.”
“That might not be the case.” While surprised by the connection between Teacher Zheng and Zheng Mingshun, Wang Zhuo lectured Gan Shuang on politics: “Though a section chief in the Organization Department is a small position, it’s not something a mere Finance Bureau Director can arrange single-handedly. Zheng Mingshun might have lent some support, but he definitely couldn't have caused it entirely on his own.”
“Political trading, that’s what my dad always says,” Gan Shuang giggled. “If Teacher Zheng finds out you were behind her cousin’s downfall, what will you do if she confronts you?”
“I only like getting behind you,” Wang Zhuo’s laughter carried a teasing, suggestive tone.
Gan Shuang chided him, “Go on! We were having a serious discussion, and you’re going off track. I’m being serious.”
After a moment’s thought, Wang Zhuo replied calmly, “I won’t give her a chance to plead, or even a chance to know.”
After a long silence, Gan Shuang asked softly, “What if this corrupt official was my brother or my father?”
Wang Zhuo paused, the image of his own unreliable father flashing through his mind. He gave a wry smile and said, “If it were your dad, I’d use my own money to clean up all the dirty messes he made over the years, then kick him out of the country and make sure he never came back!”
Gan Shuang was deeply moved, treasuring the warmth hidden in her heart. She smiled and scolded lightly, “Nonsense, you’re the one with the dirty backside!”
“Am I?” Wang Zhuo let out a sinister cackle, like a movie villain, and whispered teasingly, “Then next time, why don’t you help me clean it up, okay?”
‘Clean it up’ versus ‘wipe it clean’—the difference of a single word changed the meaning entirely! Bashful Gan Shuang, who had only let herself go once or twice during moments of intense emotion, couldn't handle this kind of talk over the phone!
“You awful Wang Zhuo, you disgusting Wang Zhuo, go take care of yourself!”
After a flurry of petulant complaints, the call quickly ended with a disconnected tone. Wang Zhuo imagined Gan Shuang blushing fiercely and kicking her blankets, and he laughed heartily!