Chapter 1829
Song Guanchao was a bit confused at first, but then quickly realized that since he wasn’t a police officer, he must have been sent by Secretary Liu.
This was a misunderstanding.
He quickly called out to the old man’s back: "Sir, I’m not one of Secretary Liu’s people."
The old man’s limping steps paused slightly, and after a second of hesitation, he slowly turned around with a suspicious look in his eyes.
Song Guanchao knew he was doubting his identity, so he added more fuel to the fire: "Sir, I’m here to investigate a case."
This statement finally made the old man resolve. He came over, opened the courtyard door, and without a word, turned to walk into the house. Song Guanchao quickly followed.
They entered the living room, and the woman on the sofa looked up.
Seeing a stranger, there was clear wariness and fear in her eyes.
The old man made him a cup of tea, sat down to take out a cigarette, and as he was about to light it, glanced at his daughter-in-law and put the lighter down.
Song Guanchao got straight to the point, introducing himself: "My name is Song Guanchao, Director of the Jiangzhou Municipal Government Office."
"Jiangzhou?" The old man was puzzled. "Can an official from Jiangzhou manage matters of our village?"
Song Guanchao pointed his finger upwards: "I have connections in Beijing."
The old man still had some doubts, but since he had already let him in, whether or not he could help, it was at least a hope.
However, he was still a bit skeptical about Song Guanchao’s identity.
"Why are you here?" the old man asked.
"One of the female officers among the police who came this afternoon is my girlfriend. I came to accompany her, and happened to hear about this case. I heard that your son was falsely accused by Secretary Liu’s son, so I came to understand more about it. If it’s really a false accusation, I will definitely get involved."
This matter indeed needed explaining, otherwise, it wouldn’t be clear and could lead to speculation.
After hearing this, the doubts in the old man’s heart noticeably eased.
But for a moment, he didn’t know where to start, he just frowned, lowered his head, and recalled bits and pieces of the matter.
The more he thought, the deeper his frown became. He couldn’t resist taking out the cigarette he had put back earlier.
After hesitating a few times, he still didn’t light it, letting out a deep sigh, and from his sigh, Song Guanchao heard a thick sense of powerlessness.
"This is my daughter-in-law."
The old man raised his cigarette-holding hand slightly towards the woman: "She came back pregnant to recuperate in July the year before last, while Siyuan was working in Beijing..."
The process the old man recounted was much the same as what others had said, but with a lot more details.
Song Guanchao listened patiently, and after he finished, asked, "Do you have any evidence?"
The old man didn’t answer but looked at him with a complicated gaze.
Faced with this look, Song Guanchao realized the old man probably did have evidence.
However, he still couldn’t trust him, and didn’t dare hand over the evidence.
What if he was one of Secretary Liu’s people, sent specifically to test him?
"If you have evidence, show it to me. I can assure you that as long as the evidence corroborates what you say, your son will absolutely be fine. All those involved in Rongcheng Town will be arrested!"
The old man still hesitated, unable to make a decision.
Song Guanchao stood up, walked to the table, picked up a pen, and took out a cigarette, tearing off a piece from the carton to write down his phone number.
"If you find the evidence, call me."
Just as he reached the doorway, he stopped, turned back, and said: "If you’re not convinced, tell your son about this. My identity information is all public on the government’s website, ask your son to check it online."
He closed the door, left the courtyard, and found a dark place to relieve himself.
The old man took the cigarette paper from the table, glanced outside again, still hesitant and unable to decide.
"Dad, call Siyuan." The woman suddenly spoke up.
Her tone was smooth, slightly emotional, showing no signs of being mentally unstable.
The old man sighed, said nothing, just holding the cigarette, he went out to light it in the courtyard.
Once he finished the cigarette, he returned inside.
"You go to sleep first." With that, the old man went upstairs.
He didn’t turn on the lights, standing by the window looking out, making sure there was no one lurking around the corners, before pulling out a keypad phone from his pocket and found a record from his contacts, dialing it.
Through the beep, a man’s voice was heard on the other end: "Dad, why are you calling so late? Is something wrong?"
"Nothing’s wrong." The old man suppressed his voice, saying: "A director came to see me tonight, saying he could get justice for you."
"Which director? Dad, don’t be fooled, he might have been sent by Liu Hua Yong." Lin Siyuan’s voice was tense with caution.
The old man hesitated: "He didn’t seem like that, and he said he was the office director of Jiangzhou Municipal Government, also told me to tell you to check..."
"A scammer!" Lin Siyuan interrupted: "This is Yuanyang, not under Jiangzhou’s jurisdiction, how can he help me?"
"He said he has connections in Beijing..."
"Why is he here then?" Lin Siyuan still didn’t believe it.
"His girlfriend..."
After the old man finished explaining, Lin Siyuan suddenly fell silent.
All his questions could be answered.
Though it sounded far-fetched and coincidental, it wasn’t impossible.
Besides, as long as he remained hidden and didn’t show himself, no matter how long the police waited in the village, they wouldn’t find him.
"What’s his name?"
"Song Guanchao, his number is..."
"I’ll check it out."
Lin Siyuan really had returned, he was now wanted, unable to take high-speed trains, so he could only take a black-market bus.
But he hadn’t anticipated Liu Hua Yong setting up long-term surveillance at the long-distance bus station.
Fortunately, he was cautious and didn’t immediately return home.
He planned to stay outside for a few days, letting his father observe for any suspicious people in the village.
In the end, he received a call in the afternoon—police had entered the village.
He knew then he had been discovered.
He despised Liu Hua Yong and his son deeply, feeling desperate enough to want to storm in with a blade several times.
After all, being already wanted, with a deceased mother, taking one with him wouldn’t be a loss, taking two would be a gain.
But under his father’s persuasion, and thinking of his wife who miscarried, he suppressed that momentary surge of emotion.
He shook off the negative thoughts, opened a webpage, and searched for Song Guanchao’s name.
This search indeed brought up quite a few related news articles.
Among them were several criminal cases, and even ones about recovering embezzled funds.
The skepticism he initially held completely vanished after reading these articles.
This righteous Director Song truly seemed to have nothing to do with Liu Hua Yong!
He would really help him!
Looking at the number sent by his father, he gritted his teeth and decided to take a gamble!
If he really helped, all he’d need to do was provide the evidence, and he’d see results without showing up himself.
Once decided, he didn’t hesitate to dial Song Guanchao’s number.