I Only Wanted to Be a Low-Level Government Official - Chapter 4: Leader, you may go in.

He stared at the recipient’s name—Zhang Jianhua—which was completely unfamiliar to him.

Following the procedures taught during training, he needed to verify the person’s identity first.

How can we verify this?

He’s in room 502 of the hotel right now, and all he has is this photocopy. He can’t exactly take it to the police station to ask questions, can he?

“Team Leader Wang.” Qin Feng hesitated for a moment before speaking.

Wang Jianguo was talking to Liu Fang when he heard this and turned around: “What?”

“How do we check Zhang Jianhua’s identity?”

Wang Jianguo walked over and glanced at the line Qin Feng was pointing to: “Do you have an ID number?”

“No, the transaction records only show the name and account number.”

“The first six digits of the account number are the bank code.” Wang Jianguo took the transaction statement, squinted at it, and said, “This is a card from Jiangdong Rural Commercial Bank. Liu Fang, please contact the bank and retrieve the account opening information according to procedure.”

Liu Fang responded and went to make a phone call.

Qin Feng stood there, feeling a little awkward.

“Sit down and wait.” Wang Jianguo patted him on the shoulder. “That’s how investigations work. One clue leads to another. Don’t rush.”

Twenty minutes later, Liu Fang returned with a piece of paper in her hand: “Found it. Zhang Jianhua, male, 48 years old, legal representative of Jiangdong Xinyuan Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd.”

Xinyuan Agricultural Technology… Qin Feng felt that the name sounded familiar.

He flipped back to the previous report materials, and sure enough, the third report mentioned that Li Guofu’s son ran an agricultural technology company in the provincial capital and had repeatedly undertaken business from units under the Agricultural Bureau.

But that’s his son, he doesn’t have the surname Zhang.

“Does this Xinyuan Company have any business dealings with the Agricultural Bureau?” Qin Feng asked.

“We are investigating,” Liu Fang said. “We have asked the market supervision department to retrieve the company’s business registration and operating information.”

Qin Feng nodded and sat back down.

He reconsidered his thinking: Why did Li Guofu lend 200,000 yuan to the owner of an agricultural company? Was it truly a loan? Or…?

He opened Li Guofu’s family member information form.

Spouse, Wang Xiuying, a retired teacher from the Municipal Experimental Primary School.

My son, Li Hao, is 29 years old and works for an investment company in the provincial capital.

Wait, Li Hao’s workplace is… “Haoyuan Investment Consulting Co., Ltd.”

Haoyuan and Xinyuan. They sound like sister companies.

Qin Feng’s heart skipped a beat, and he wrote in his notebook: “Check whether there is any connection between Haoyuan Investment and Xinyuan Agriculture.”

At 3 p.m., the feedback from the market supervision bureau arrived.

Liu Fang printed out the documents and distributed them to everyone: “Xinyuan Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd., registered capital of five million, paid-in capital of one million.”

Business scope: agricultural technology development, agricultural machinery sales, and agricultural product processing.

There are two shareholders: Zhang Jianhua holds 70% of the shares, and Li Hao holds 30%.

“Li Hao?” Qin Feng blurted out, “Li Guofu’s son?”

“Yes.” Liu Fang pushed up her glasses. “Moreover, according to the tax records provided by the tax bureau, in the past three years, Xinyuan Company has undertaken a total of twelve projects from the Municipal Agriculture Bureau and its subordinate units, with a total contract value of 8.7 million yuan.”

The room was silent for a few seconds.

“Does this count as a transfer of benefits?” Tao Yang asked in a low voice.

“Yes.” Wang Jianguo said calmly, “Spouses, children and their spouses of leading cadres engaging in business or running enterprises within their jurisdiction violate the discipline of integrity.”

If it involves project approval, fund disbursement, or other related processes, it may constitute an abuse of power.

Qin Feng took a deep breath.

So, that 200,000 might not have been a loan at all, but rather… dividends? Or something else?

“Continue the investigation,” Wang Jianguo said. “Retrieve all the project contracts, approval processes, and acceptance documents.”

For the next three days, Qin Feng felt like a detective.

He reviewed all the documents for Xinyuan Company’s twelve projects, checked the flow of funds one by one, and compared product prices with market conditions time and time again.

The more I look, the colder my heart becomes.

In a simple “high-yield corn seed procurement project,” the market price for seeds was 30 yuan per kilogram, but Luyuan Company quoted 45 yuan and ultimately won the bid.

An “agricultural technology training project” was contracted to train 500 people, but only 217 people actually signed in, yet the full amount was still paid.

The most outrageous one was a “pilot project for intelligent irrigation system”. Xinyuan Company won the bid for 1.2 million yuan, but Qin Feng checked online and found that the highest market price for the same model of equipment was 800,000 yuan.

Where did the 400,000 yuan price difference go?

He listed these doubts one by one, writing three whole pages.

On the morning of the fourth day, his hand trembled slightly when he handed the materials to Wang Jianguo.

Wang Jianguo flipped through the pages slowly.

The only sound in the room was the rustling of turning pages. Everyone else stopped what they were doing and secretly glanced over.

After reading it, Wang Jianguo looked up at Qin Feng with a complicated expression: “You found all of this out?”

“Yes.” Qin Feng’s voice was dry. “It’s all based on the analysis of existing materials. We still need to verify it online.”

Wang Jianguo was silent for about half a minute, then laughed—not a happy laugh, but the kind of laugh that says “goodness gracious.”

“Qin Feng, Qin Feng,” he shook his head, “this gift of yours is enough to give your bureau chief a hard time.”

Qin Feng didn’t know how to respond.

“Leave the materials here for now.” Wang Jianguo carefully put away the three pages of paper. “I’ll report to my superiors. You can continue with your work.”

Qin Feng sat back down, his mind a little blank.

Tao Yang leaned closer and lowered his voice: “Brother, did you really find out the problem?”

“Maybe,” Qin Feng said, “but we’ll have to verify.”

“Judging from Team Leader Wang’s expression, it’s pretty much a done deal,” Tao Yang clicked his tongue. “You just joined the company and you’ve already got your boss arrested. How are you going to get along in the future?”

Qin Feng smiled wryly: “What can I do? The organization told me to investigate, so I investigated. I can’t just not investigate, can I?”

“That’s true.” Tao Yang patted him on the shoulder. “But to be honest, I really admire you. When I was investigating our deputy director, I was really nervous, afraid of making a mistake and offending someone. But you, you’ve got it all figured out every time.”

Qin Feng remained silent.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t afraid, it’s just that… seeing those inflated prices, reduced services, and blatant transfer of benefits reminded him of his parents farming back in their hometown.

All year round, sweat pours down, but you can’t earn more than a few hundred yuan from an acre of land.

These people can swallow hundreds of thousands of dollars with just one contract.

On what grounds?

Just because he has some power?

—

At the same time, in the office of the director of the Municipal Agriculture Bureau.

Li Guofu sat behind his large desk, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the surface.

The sky outside the window was overcast, as if it were about to rain.

His eyelids have been twitching for the past two days.

Yesterday, when I went to a meeting at the municipal government, several familiar bureau chiefs gave me strange looks.

This morning, his secretary whispered to him that the Discipline Inspection Commission seemed to be investigating the accounts of the agricultural system.

Audit?

Whose accounts are being investigated?

He picked up the phone and dialed a number.

It rang seven or eight times, but no one answered.

I dialed another number, but the phone was off.

Li Guofu hung up the phone, his palms sweating.

He got up and walked to the window, watching the vehicles coming and going below.

The black Passat was still parked in the same spot—it was the Discipline Inspection Commission’s car, he recognized it.

They probably… weren’t after him, right?

He’s been in that position for five years, and he’s taken care of everything that needed to be taken care of, smoothed things over, and covered things up.

Weren’t all those whistleblower letters suppressed?

But the unease in my heart grew stronger and stronger.

He recalled that when he went to a meeting in the provincial capital last month, his old leader told him privately, “Guofu, things are getting tense lately, so you should keep your tails between you.”

He smiled and said, “Don’t worry, boss, I’m clean.”

Is it really clean?

He himself didn’t believe it. Putting everything else aside, his son Li Hao’s company alone has secured nearly ten million yuan worth of projects from the agricultural system in the past three years.

Although they all followed the formal bidding process, anyone with a discerning eye could tell what was really going on.

And he knew perfectly well what was inside the “local specialties” that the owners of those agricultural companies sent him during holidays.

The most fatal thing was what happened three years ago… Xinyuan Company sold substandard pesticides to several townships, resulting in reduced yields on thousands of acres of crops.

He intervened to suppress the farmers’ collective petition, on the condition that Xinyuan Company would provide private compensation—the money, of course, was partly “diverted” from the special funds of the Agricultural Bureau.

If this matter is brought up again…

Li Guofu shivered.

—

Three days later, at nine o’clock in the morning.

Wang Jianguo returned from outside with a serious expression.

He glanced around the room, his gaze finally settling on Qin Feng: “Qin Feng, come with me for a moment.”

Qin Feng’s heart skipped a beat, and he got up to follow.

The two walked to the balcony at the end of the corridor. Wang Jianguo lit a cigarette, but didn’t smoke it; he just watched it burn slowly.

“The issues you investigated are basically true,” Wang Jianguo said. “Preliminary verification shows that Li Guofu is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law. The higher authorities have decided to place him under detention.”

Detention… means being taken away. Qin Feng’s throat went dry: “Now?”

“Now,” Wang Jianguo glanced at his watch, “the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection will send someone to the Agriculture Bureau at ten o’clock. Would you… like to excuse yourself?”

Qin Feng was taken aback: “Why are you avoiding me?”

“After all, he’s your future leader,” Wang Jianguo said, looking at him. “I was afraid you’d feel pressured.”

Qin Feng was silent for a few seconds, then shook his head: “No need to avoid it. I investigated, I take responsibility.”

Wang Jianguo gave him a deep look and nodded: “Alright, you can come with me. But remember, just observe, don’t speak, and don’t react in any way.”

At 10:00 a.m. sharp, two black sedans drove into the compound of the Municipal Agriculture Bureau.

Qin Feng sat in the second car, looking out the window at the familiar office building—he was supposed to report for duty here, sit in an office, and begin his stable career as a civil servant.

Now he’s “reporting in” in this way.

Wang Jianguo sat in the passenger seat, without saying a word.

After the car came to a stop, he opened the door and got out, and Qin Feng quickly followed.

In the lobby on the first floor, several staff members looked around curiously.

Wang Jianguo walked straight to the elevator, with Qin Feng following behind with his head down.

As the elevator ascended, he stared at the fluctuating numbers, his heart pounding like a drum.

Fifth floor, the director’s office.

The door was open, and Li Guofu was on the phone, speaking loudly: “…Don’t worry, I’ll definitely get this done for you…”

Upon seeing Wang Jianguo enter, his expression changed, but he quickly forced a smile: “Director Wang? What brings you here? Please have a seat.”

Wang Jianguo didn’t sit down, but took out his ID: “Comrade Li Guofu, I am Wang Jianguo from the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision.”

In accordance with relevant regulations, it has been decided to place you under detention. Your cooperation is requested.

Li Guofu’s smile froze.

He hadn’t hung up the phone yet when he heard “Hello? Hello?” coming from the receiver.

“Director Wang, is there… some misunderstanding?” Li Guofu tried to remain calm. “I’ve been busy with work lately, and I might have overlooked something, but I can explain it to the organization…”

“If you have something to say, let’s talk in the designated area.” Wang Jianguo’s tone was calm but firm. “Please.”

Two accompanying staff members stepped forward.

Li Guofu glanced at Wang Jianguo, then at Qin Feng—he clearly didn’t recognize the young man, his gaze sweeping over him in a fleeting glance.

Finally, he dejectedly put down the phone and picked up his coat from the hanger.

When I walked out of the office, there were already quite a few people standing in the corridor.

There are deputy directors, section chiefs, and ordinary staff members.

Everyone watched in silence; no one spoke.

Li Guofu lowered his head and strode towards the elevator.

Qin Feng followed at the back of the group and could hear suppressed breathing coming from ahead.

He glanced back as the elevator doors closed.

The door to the director’s office was still open, and the teacup on the table was steaming.

The certificates of honor on the wall are neatly hung: “Advanced Worker”, “Outstanding Communist Party Member”, “Outstanding Contribution Award for Agricultural Modernization”…

The elevator is going down.

Qin Feng recalled a sentence his teacher said during training: “Discipline inspection and supervision work is a job that offends people. But if you don’t offend a few people who violate discipline and the law, you will offend the Party and the people.”

He didn’t quite understand the weight of those words before.

Now, I think I understand a little bit.

As I stepped out of the office building, a light rain began to fall.

Li Guofu was led into the car, and the door closed with a dull thud.

Wang Jianguo patted Qin Feng on the shoulder: “Go back and get back to work.”

“yes.”

The car drove out of the Agricultural Bureau compound.

Qin Feng stood in the rain, watching the two black cars disappear around the street corner.

The raindrops were cool and pattered on my face.

He suddenly remembered that afternoon a month ago when he left that lousy company.

The weather was like this too.

At that time, he thought, “I’m ashore now, I’m safe and sound, I can finally relax.”

Now he knows that some roads are not flat.

You have to walk standing up.