Chen Feng stared, dumbfounded.
What the hell was going on? He had intended for the head of the Yongming County Education Bureau to deal with Bureau Chief Wu and Principal Ding, but here they were, all three laughing and chatting together.
A bad feeling surged in his heart.
“Bureau Chief Sun, you know about it then?”
Chen Feng asked tentatively.
“Know what?”
Bureau Chief Sun replied, deliberately playing dumb.
“The tablet incident at Mingshan Town High School. It’s all over the internet now.”
Chen Feng explained slightly.
“I know about that.”
Bureau Chief Sun responded calmly.
“Bureau Chief Sun, I’ve already spoken with Bureau Chief Wu and Principal Ding, telling them to refund the money quickly and settle the matter peacefully. However, neither of them is willing to refund. I had no choice but to come to Yongming County to find you.”
Chen Feng continued to explain patiently.
“Why should they refund?”
Bureau Chief Sun asked with a relaxed smile.
“A thousand-yuan tablet sold for five or six thousand. Shouldn’t they refund that?”
Chen Feng felt dizzy.
“Chen Feng, although you haven’t been in business, you must have heard of it, right? An expensive tablet costing five or six thousand is quite normal. Besides, Principal Ding didn’t charge five or six thousand.”
Bureau Chief Sun replied with a continued relaxed smile.
“What? Principal Ding didn’t charge five or six thousand?”
Chen Feng looked at Bureau Chief Sun with surprise.
What was Bureau Chief Sun up to? Was he going to protect Principal Ding no matter what?
“Don’t you like to collect public sentiment from Douyin? Open Douyin now and search for the Mingshan Town tablet incident. See what’s really going on.”
Bureau Chief Sun said with a sly grin.
Chen Feng instinctively took out his phone and searched on Douyin.
It was one thing to search, but as soon as he did, Chen Feng’s worldview shattered.
Damn it,
This was possible too?
In just one morning, the tide on Douyin had completely turned.
There wasn’t a single video denouncing Principal Ding for embezzling money.
Instead, there were praises, singing the praises of the Yongming County Education Bureau as a good education bureau for the people, which had provided financial subsidies for them to buy tablets. These were good five or six thousand yuan tablets, and they only had to spend over a thousand yuan to get them.
“Chen Feng, you’ve seen Douyin, haven’t you? The facts are right in front of you. You need to reflect. You are in charge of education in Mingshan Town. By rights, you should cooperate sincerely with Bureau Chief Wu and Principal Ding. But you, instead, undermined them. That’s not good. It shows you have no vision.”
Bureau Chief Sun’s attitude did a complete 180-degree turn, and he looked at Chen Feng coldly.
Chen Feng was completely bewildered.
Why was Bureau Chief Sun defending Bureau Chief Wu and Principal Ding so fiercely, even going so far as to use the Yongming County Education Bureau’s financial subsidies to settle the matter?
“Bureau Chief Sun, this is a misunderstanding. Since it’s a misunderstanding, I apologize.”
Regardless of what Bureau Chief Sun was thinking, facts were facts. There were no more posts denouncing Bureau Chief Wu and Principal Ding on Douyin. The matter was resolved.
“It’s good you know you were wrong. There’s still hope. Don’t undermine things behind the scenes like this again. Alright, since the matter has been resolved, you should hurry back to Mingshan Town. I have some specific matters to discuss with Bureau Chief Wu, Principal Ding, and some people from Mingshan Town High School.”
Bureau Chief Sun coldly ushered him out.
In fact, Bureau Chief Wu and Principal Ding had encouraged Bureau Chief Sun to find a way to dismiss Chen Feng. Bureau Chief Sun had also made inquiries, but the response was that Chen Feng was currently untouchable in Yongming County.
Chen Feng’s backing was Mayor Qin. Mayor Qin’s backing directly led to Jiangcheng.
Dismissing Chen Feng because of the Mingshan Town tablet incident was a very risky move. The Mingshan Town tablet incident wasn’t baseless. If it escalated, and the matter that had been quelled suddenly caused many leaders to be held accountable, then resolving it quietly was the best outcome.
Bureau Chief Wu and Principal Ding could only accept it with frustration.
Chen Feng returned to Mingshan Town immediately.
“Mayor Qin, what exactly is going on?”
As soon as Chen Feng entered Qin Yan’s office, he got straight to the point.
“I only just received the news. I have to say, we underestimated Bureau Chief Wu and Principal Ding’s resourcefulness.”
Qin Yan sighed deeply.
“What happened? Mayor Qin.”
“Bureau Chief Wu and Principal Ding privately sold several guaranteed admission slots, which immediately covered their several million yuan deficit. Then they shared some of the money with Bureau Chief Sun, and naturally, Bureau Chief Sun spoke up for them.”
“Guaranteed admission slots can be sold?”
Chen Feng was taken aback.
“Teacher positions can be sold, so can’t guaranteed admission slots?”
Qin Yan retorted calmly.
“Then it’s strange. Even though the three of them settled the matter and could have used this opportunity to dismiss me, why did they only give me a few harsh words? They didn’t dismiss me?”
Chen Feng asked instinctively.
“Do you think they didn’t want to dismiss you? Your meddling this time caused them to lose several million yuan. Logically, the money from selling guaranteed admission slots should have been extra, but it was used to cover the deficit. To be honest, they wished they could kill you. However, their connections above did not act rashly. They knew they were in the wrong regarding the tablet incident, so there was no need to dwell on you. If the matter had truly escalated, something that had been downplayed would have blown up, making it difficult to resolve. Of course, I also spoke to my superiors, stating that you were not at fault in this matter. With the backings of both sides playing a game, we won, and naturally, those three could only watch as you got away unscathed.”
Qin Yan explained earnestly.
“Mayor Qin, I apologize for causing you trouble with the tablet incident.”
Chen Feng said with guilt.
“Don’t say that. Honestly, the tablet incident had to be dealt with. If you hadn’t intervened promptly, Bureau Chief Wu and Principal Ding would have absolutely turned this into an unmanageable situation. However, with your involvement, they reluctantly downplayed the matter.” httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
“Mayor Qin, I need to reflect. After being in the political arena for so long, I’m still so naive, underestimating my opponents. I will be more careful in the future.”
Chen Feng said solemnly.
“You don’t need to be careful in the future. You need to be careful starting now.”
Qin Yan said with a smile.
“Be careful starting now? What do you mean?”
Chen Feng was confused.
“It’s simple. Bureau Chief Wu and Principal Ding have no intention of letting you off. You need to be vigilant during this period and not fall into the traps they set for you.”
Qin Yan explained earnestly.
“Mayor Qin, you mean I’ve made sworn enemies of Bureau Chief Wu and Principal Ding?”
“Otherwise? As the saying goes, blocking someone’s financial path is like killing their parents. This tablet incident cost them millions. Do you think they would let you off so easily? Moreover, these two are notorious for their vindictiveness in Mingshan Town. In short, you must be extremely cautious during this period.”
“I understand, Mayor Qin. I will be careful.”
After chatting for a while longer, Chen Feng returned to his office. Before he could even settle in, Wang Tao, the second-in-command of the Mingshan Town Education Bureau, rushed in with panic.
“Vice Mayor Chen, it’s not good, it’s terrible…”