Absolute power in officialdom

Chapter 108 Lin Keke's Bitter Childhood

Lin Keke broke down in tears as she spoke.

Wu Zhiyuan held Lin Keke tightly, feeling as if his heart was being repeatedly stabbed, an indescribable pain. This true story is so heartbreaking!

"My cousin later told me that he completely broke down at that moment, roaring like a wild beast at the ruins and the gray sky..."

Lin Keke calmed herself down and continued, "Later, he helped the girl's uncle bury her and her parents who had also perished."

All he took with him was the cell phone and the necklace.

Several years have passed since this incident, but my cousin is still single.

He said he couldn't start a new relationship because the deepest part of his heart was already filled with that person. That love and regret were too heavy.

In this world, some people experience betrayal and are heartbroken, but my cousin's story makes me firmly believe that true love is never a mythical illusion.

The story was over, and a long silence fell over the room.

After a long pause, Wu Zhiyuan changed the subject: "Coco, your parents should know about your transfer, right? Will they come to see you or help you settle in here?"

This question seems to have touched on Lin Keke's most tender wound.

She remained silent for a long time, so long that Wu Zhiyuan thought she wouldn't answer, before finally speaking: "My mother passed away when I was still a baby, lying in my swaddling clothes."

While she was out buying baby formula for me, a drunk driver ran a red light…

Wu Zhiyuan's heart sank. He hadn't expected such an answer and was immediately filled with remorse. He quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, Coco, I didn't know..."

"It's okay, it's been many years." Lin Keke interrupted him, saying sadly, "I don't have much of an impression of my mother because I was too young then."

I saw the photos; Mom was beautiful, her smile radiant, like the sun that can never be obscured by clouds. It's a pity the sun set too soon.

Lin Keke continued, "Not long after my mother passed away, my father remarried. My stepmother wasn't good to me; she thought I was a burden."

My dad's a policeman, but at home he's indecisive. Even giving me pocket money has to be done secretly, behind my stepmother's back. It's like I'm some illegitimate daughter he can't have in public.

Wu Zhiyuan felt a pang of sadness as he listened. He couldn't imagine how Lin Keke had spent her childhood: losing her mother, her father's absence after his remarriage, and that awful stepmother...

"I bought this apartment with my own savings after I started working." There was finally a hint of pride in Lin Keke's voice, but more so a sense of heartache. "My dad's family is doing quite well now. My stepmother had another baby girl, so they are now a family of three."

I rarely go back. I don't want to be at their beck and call, nor do I want to disturb their happiness. My relationship with my half-sister is also distant; we don't talk much.

Wu Zhiyuan hugged her tightly and whispered in her ear, "Keke, I want to give you a complete family from now on."

Lin Keke didn't reply. After a while, she changed the subject: "Zhiyuan, how did you and Su Taohong meet?"

Wu Zhiyuan said with some bitterness: "It was introduced by my colleague's wife. I saw that she was pretty and lively, so we got together."

I treated her very well, and I felt that I had found the person I wanted to spend my life with. I wanted to give her my heart.

My father's aquaculture farm was losing money, and our family's financial situation was not good. I was also being suppressed at work, and my situation was terrible. Su Taohong was probably afraid of being poor since she was a child, so she climbed the social ladder and became Sang Jiaquan's mistress, or more accurately, his plaything.

Once, I came back early from a business trip, wanting to surprise her. But the surprise turned into a shock.

She and Sang Jiaquan were having an affair in my rented apartment. Sang Jiaquan has a history of breaking and entering other people's homes. When he learned I was coming home early, Sang Jiaquan jumped out of a second-floor window and escaped…”

After a pause, Wu Zhiyuan said with some sadness, "Loving to the extreme is a calamity. Some people are not worth loving deeply."

I once thought that heartfelt emotions were easily shattered in the face of reality and desire.

Some people, no matter how good you are to them, will only take it for granted. Once you can no longer give them what they want, they can turn around and throw themselves into someone else's arms without any guilt.

Su Taohong is that kind of person. She's not bad, just inherently vain and selfish.

Lin Keke asked softly, "Zhiyuan, do you hate her?"

Wu Zhiyuan shook his head: "I can't say I hate her anymore. When you still hate someone, it means you still have feelings for them and care about the hurt from the past. But as for Su Taohong, I neither love nor hate her now."

When the initial burning love for someone has faded, and the deep-seated hatred from the moment of betrayal has dissipated, what remains is probably a distant indifference.

Su Taohong is like a book I read a long time ago. I still remember the story, but the joys and sorrows within no longer resonate with me now.

This feeling might mean we're not far from true forgetting.

Wu Zhiyuan sighed softly and continued, "Moreover, her fate is now unknown. After being missing for so long, she is most likely no longer alive."

Thinking about this makes it even harder to hate them; instead, I feel a bit sad.

Is it worth paying the price of your life for a choice made out of vanity?

Wu Zhiyuan gently caressed Lin Keke's body and said softly, "Having gone through all this, I understand even more what kind of feelings are worth cherishing and what kind of people are worth protecting. Let the past be the past."

……

Mayor's Office.

Zhuge Qingyun, the director of the municipal government office, is Ai Kun's confidant and advisor.

Zhuge Qingyun, nicknamed "Little Zhuge," boasts that he is the reincarnation of Zhuge Liang.

Ai Kun paced back and forth in his office with his hands behind his back: "Xu Youwei, relying on Secretary Sha's support, stirred up trouble in Longcheng, took down Zhang Wanlin, and threatened the interests of many people."

Now that Secretary Sha has stepped down and Secretary Jiang has taken over, our opportunity has arrived. But directly targeting him would lack a legitimate reason and easily invite criticism.

Zhuge Qingyun is in his forties and always has a smiling face, but those who know him well know that he is meticulous and shrewd, and is Ai Kun's top strategist.

He said unhurriedly, "Mayor Ai is absolutely right. Although Xu Youwei's actions are radical, his reasons are all plausible, and there is not much to be found to hold him accountable."

Forcing it would be counterproductive. However, we happen to have a ready-made "knife" that we can borrow.

Ai Kun paused, then asked, "You mean that mess at the Yinnong Cooperative?"

"Exactly! The Yinnong Cooperative's illegal fundraising case involves a huge amount of money and a large number of victims. It is currently the most unstable powder keg in Longcheng."

Although Xu Youwei attached great importance to the matter, personally overseeing it and arresting Peng Dafu, progress in recovering the stolen goods and mitigating losses was slow, and public resentment continued to build. This was his biggest weakness! We could add fuel to the fire a little.

Aikun became interested: "How do you add it?"

Zhuge Qingyun smiled sinisterly: "First, we'll secretly fan the flames. Through representatives of grassroots rights activists, we'll spread the word that Xu Youwei never genuinely wanted to solve the problem, that arresting Peng Dafu was just a sacrifice to save the king, and that he's about to be transferred."

Once he leaves, this case will definitely be dropped. If we're going to make a scene, we need to make a big scene now to get the provincial authorities' attention. We need to direct the public's anxiety and anger towards Xu Youwei personally.

Second, create friction and escalate conflicts. Instruct our personnel in the petitioning and public security departments to adopt a tougher stance and provide more official responses when dealing with mass gatherings.

In short, the goal is to make the public feel the indifference and shirking of responsibility by the authorities, and to make them feel that there is no hope of resolving the issue through normal channels, leaving them with no choice but to resort to more extreme measures.

Third, wait for the right opportunity and exploit the situation. As long as public sentiment is stirred up and friction continues, trouble is inevitable.

"In the event of a mass incident, or if an individual member of the public acts excessively due to emotional distress..."

Zhuge Qingyun didn't finish his sentence, but Ai Kun immediately understood: "In the event of a mass incident, especially a serious one, once online public opinion takes hold, Xu Youwei, as the municipal party secretary and the leader in charge of the Yinnong Cooperative's collapse, will bear leadership responsibility and will inevitably be held accountable. At that point, the province will be the first to use him as a scapegoat!"