Official Career Storm-Chapter 1374

The dinner meeting was over.

Secretary Lu sat in the car and lit a cigarette.

Summarizing the key points of tonight’s dinner, Secretary Lu smiled lightly.

Initially, he thought Wu Qiangwei would indirectly inquire if he installed the surveillance.

But it turned out she didn’t ask at all.

She was clearly not concerned with the whole matter.

This was their first real encounter in a meaningful sense.

He gained a clear understanding of this beautiful mayor.

She didn’t dwell on trivial matters and quickly identified the key points.

Also, there’s Song Guanchao.

This former secretary of Wu Qiangwei made a deep impression on him.

...

On the way back, Shu Xue stayed silent, trying hard to remain invisible.

She already knew what the focus of tonight’s dinner was.

However, with her status, she couldn’t participate for now.

But what made her happy was being brought along by Wu Qiangwei to this important occasion.

This suggested she had initially gained Mayor Wu’s trust.

This discovery undoubtedly made her very excited.

"Xiao Shu," Wu Qiangwei suddenly spoke.

"Mayor," she responded quickly.

Wu Qiangwei asked, "Is there anything you want to ask about tonight’s dinner?"

Is this a test from the mayor?

After pondering for a few seconds, Shu Xue said, "Was the surveillance in the mayor’s office really installed by Secretary Lu?"

Wu Qiangwei said, "Director Song, what do you think?" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Song Guanchao replied, "Unless Secretary Lu admits it himself, who can know? Besides, it’s not an important issue, at least not for us."

Shu Xue didn’t understand, "Not important?"

"Not important," Song Guanchao repeated, "The purpose of installing the surveillance was to monitor Secretary Zhou, not Mayor Wu."

"So, whether or not it was Secretary Lu, at least he and Mayor Wu are not on opposing sides."

"And if it was indeed Secretary Lu, it might actually be a good thing."

"A good thing?" Shu Xue was more confused.

Installing surveillance in another leader’s office, how could that be a good thing?

Passing a traffic light, Song Guanchao gently pressed the brake and said, "If it was Secretary Lu, it means he likely holds some incriminating information on Secretary Zhou."

"If Secretary Zhou ever really pushes him too far, that information will get exposed."

"Wouldn’t you say that’s a good thing?"

Shu Xue’s small mouth slightly opened; so that’s how it was.

Thinking from this perspective, it does seem like a good thing.

The green light appeared.

Song Guanchao first took Shu Xue home, then dropped Wu Qiangwei off.

When the car stopped at Wu Qiangwei’s apartment complex, Song Guanchao suddenly remembered there was something he hadn’t mentioned.

"I went to meet Secretary Han this morning."

Wu Qiangwei paused as she grabbed the door handle and asked, "How did it go?"

Song Guanchao replied, "Personally, I think her character is quite suitable for the position of secretary-general."

"Suitable?" Her opinion was the opposite of Wu Qiangwei’s.

"Yes, very suitable," Song Guanchao said, "She has a very serious work attitude. I’m not fully aware of her capabilities, not very clear. But with her kind of character, if her capabilities were really poor, she couldn’t have lasted this long."

"Her only flaw is lacking leadership authority, but I think that’s fixable."

Wu Qiangwei remained silent, as Song Guanchao’s opinion was vastly different from hers.

Song Guanchao continued, "Replacing her is possible, but it involves a few issues."

"First, how to replace her? She’s doing fine as secretary-general, and she has no issues. We can’t just use some tactics to remove her, right?"

Dealing with someone like Yao Guangsong, who already has issues, he feels no psychological pressure.

But to use dirty tricks on someone like Han Lan, who is diligent in her work, he couldn’t do it.

"Second, if she’s removed, who will take her place?"

"There are a lot of people eyeing that secretary-general position."

Wu Qiangwei’s eyes showed a slight change; these reasons persuaded her.

Previously, she hadn’t thought that deeply.

She nodded, "Get home early and rest."

Today was overwhelming, and Wu Qiangwei was tired, as was Song Guanchao.

Seeing that she listened, Song Guanchao said nothing more.

He escorted her to the elevator and waited until she entered her apartment before heading back down.

Back home, Song Guanchao took off his clothes and rushed into the bathroom for a shower, feeling a bit refreshed.

Sprawled out on the bed, sleep overtook him like a tidal wave.

Half-awake, Song Guanchao felt like there was something he hadn’t done.

But he couldn’t worry about it now; sleep came first.

When he awoke, it was dawn.

Song Guanchao sat up in bed, looking at the grayish-blue sky outside, taking two seconds to clear his mind.

He got up, brushed his teeth, and washed his face.

He tossed his clothes from the living room into the washing machine.

While getting dressed back in his room, he suddenly recalled what he forgot to do last night.

Not even dressed yet, he hastily rummaged through his suitcase.

"Got it!"

He held the USB drive in his hand.

This was left by the now-deceased Captain of the Criminal Police, Lin Bin.

He had been searching for Tan Xiang’s file.

The USB had no relevant file information, but it contained other cases.

Among them was last year’s jewelry heist.

He secured the USB drive, put on his pants, and headed out.

Once at the office, he inserted the USB into the computer and uploaded all its contents to the cloud.

This way, even if he lost the USB one day, it would be okay.

After hiding the USB safely, Song Guanchao opened the document, locating the jewelry heist file.

The file contained a lot: first-scene photos from various jewelry stores that were robbed, inspection reports, and case progress.

Song Guanchao reviewed the case from start to finish, gaining a general understanding of it.

However, the case hadn’t made any substantial progress.

The suspects left neither fingerprints nor useful surveillance footage, not even footprints were retrieved.

The file included the summary from Captain Liang Bin.

Captain Liang believed there were about three robbers, likely repeat offenders.

They had scoped the area beforehand and were well-acquainted with surveillance blind spots.

From their actions, at least one had highly professional counter-surveillance skills.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been possible to rob so many jewelry stores without leaving a single trace.

"It perhaps really was done by someone within the police department."

Recalling the whistleblower letter from Wen Ru yesterday, Song Guanchao spoke to himself.

Captain Liang judged them to be professionals.

But he hadn’t thought they’d be not just professionals but insiders within the police force.

With such a large force and so many officers, even knowing the suspects’ identities, capturing them wouldn’t be easy.

Sighing, Song Guanchao closed the file.

He had hoped to glean useful information from the file but found nothing.

"Knock, knock."

"Come in."

A woman in her thirties entered; she was Secretary Han’s secretary, Zhang Qi.

"Secretary Zhang, is there something you need?"

"Director Song, Secretary Han would like to see you."