The Poor School Heartthrob Was Secretly a Financial Titan - Chapter 33

The contents of the confession were shocking—

Using his position, Zhou Jianguo reduced the sentences of several individuals involved in cases. The son of a construction company owner, suspected of intentional injury, should have been sentenced to three to five years, but Zhou accepted a color TV and 20,000 yuan, resulting in a suspended sentence. A district official, drunk driving and causing an accident, should have received a prison sentence, but Zhou accepted three cartons of cigarettes and 5,000 yuan, resulting in a six-month detention sentence, without even serving time in jail.

Sentence reductions were commonplace for him. He had connections within the prison system; as long as the money was right, he could falsify his conduct records and negotiate the extent of the reduction. Under his influence, one prisoner’s sentence was reduced from life imprisonment to a fixed term, and then from a fixed term to early release, earning him over 40,000 yuan in total.

Getting people released on bail was even more direct. Someone had only been incarcerated for three days when their family came knocking; Zhou Jianguo made one phone call, and the person was released on bail that same day. Afterwards, he received 8,000 yuan plus two cases of Moutai liquor.

What enraged Li Jiquan the most was Zhou Jianguo’s collusion with the underworld.

Zhou Jianguo was behind several underground casinos in Donglin. He always managed to tip off the police before they took action. On several occasions, when people were arrested at the casinos, Zhou Jianguo personally intervened to bail them out, and afterwards, the casinos would give him a monthly share of the profits.

The case of Qiao Laosi was even more outrageous—back then, Qiao Laosi’s second brother was sentenced to a heavy prison term by Zhou Jianguo. Outsiders thought it was because Zhou Jianguo was impartial and incorruptible, but in reality, it was a case of double-crossing. When Qiao Laosi didn’t pay enough money, Zhou Jianguo increased the sentence. Later, when Qiao Laosi paid the difference, Zhou Jianguo helped him get a reduced sentence.

It’s a shame that Zhou Jianguo has a reputation for being incorruptible, incorruptible, and hating evil.

They’re utterly hypocrites in the legal profession!

Li Jiquan slammed the documents shut and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples.

But as he was rubbing, he stopped.

wrong.

Zhou Jianguo confessed to so many things, from getting his sentence reduced to colluding with the underworld—each and every one a serious crime. Yet he consistently refused to disclose his relationship with Executive Vice Mayor Kong Sen and firmly denied ever bribing Kong Sen.

This shouldn’t be happening.

None of the crimes he confessed to were minor. Eliminating the charge of bribery wouldn’t change the nature of the offenses.

Kong Sen has already fallen from power, and even if Zhou Jianguo confesses now, it would only be another charge against him. But he stubbornly refuses to admit it, determined to fight to the bitter end.

What is he after?

Holding on at this time will only give the organization the impression of resisting scrutiny, which will only do him harm and no good.

So what is he trying to hide by refusing to tell us?

Li Jiquan thought about it for a long time, but couldn’t figure it out.

He picked up the phone: “Transfer Comrade Fu Xiangmin to the special task force.”

…

Around noon, an elderly policeman, clearly quite old, pushed open the door and came in.

He was in his early sixties, with gray hair and a deeply lined face, but his eyes still shone brightly.

He walked in with a helpless expression: “Secretary Li, I’m retiring in a few days, why did you transfer me to the special task force?”

Li Jiquan quickly stood up from his seat, walked around the table to greet him, and said, “Uncle Min, you can call me Xiao Li or Jiquan, but please don’t call me Secretary Li. When I first started working, I was your apprentice.”

Fu Xiangmin waved his hand: “No, Secretary Li, I can’t accept being called ‘uncle’ by you. Can’t you just let me retire peacefully for two days?”

He pulled out his phone from his pocket, opened a page, and handed it to him: “Look, your teacher’s wife and I had already bought our plane tickets to go to Dali for a trip. But you brought us back with just one phone call!”

Li Jiquan quickly pressed Fu Xiangmin down onto the sofa, turned around to pour him tea, and said with a smile, “Uncle Min, Master! I’ll pay for your plane tickets when you and your wife go on your trip. How is your wife’s health?”

Fu Xiangmin took the teacup and sighed, “Alright, alright, get to the point, hurry up. I can’t afford the plane that Secretary Li booked.”

Li Jiquan sat down next to him with a smile and recounted the whole story from beginning to end.

“…Now Zhou Jianguo refuses to confess to the bribery with Kong Sen. He’s deliberately hiding it, and I’m worried there’s more to the case.” Li Jiquan looked at Fu Xiangmin. “Uncle Min, can you help me analyze this? What is Zhou Jianguo’s motive? What is he trying to hide?”

After listening, Fu Xiangmin didn’t rush to speak, but stretched out his hand: “Where’s the information? The more detailed the better.”

Li Jiquan immediately ordered all the case files to be moved in.

Fu Xiangmin put on his reading glasses and began to turn the pages one by one.

Looking at it, I realized it was almost time to leave work in the afternoon.

Li Jiquan waited patiently to the side, not daring to disturb them. The secretary came in several times to change the tea, but Fu Xiangmin didn’t even look up.

Around five o’clock, Fu Xiangmin took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and uttered three words:

“interesting.”

Li Jiquan immediately leaned over: “Uncle Min, have you found anything?”

He was far too impatient. Everything else in the case is clear now, but this one part is what’s left to close.

Don’t underestimate this seemingly insignificant detail. With his many years of experience working in the Discipline Inspection Commission, he knows that what appears trivial often hides significant secrets. If you can follow the clues and unravel the mystery, you might uncover something astonishing.

Fu Xiangmin chuckled: “I don’t think he’s trying to hide anything. He’s already confessed so much, there’s nothing left, so there’s no need to resist the investigation.”

He put down his teacup and looked at Li Jiquan: “Zhou Jianguo has been framed.”

Li Jiquan was taken aback: “What do you mean?”

“You’ve already become Secretary Li, why are you still asking what it means?” Fu Xiangmin tapped the table with his knuckles. “Isn’t this a common occurrence in your officialdom?”

Li Jiquan smiled wryly: “Master, please stop teasing me! Tell me your opinion.”

Seeing his expression, Fu Xiangmin sighed and began to analyze:

“Let me state my conclusion first: Zhou Jianguo most likely did not bribe Kong Sen. That business card and gift box were deliberately placed there by someone.”

Li Jiquan frowned: “What do you mean?”

“From a criminal investigation perspective, this was done too deliberately.” Fu Xiangmin leaned back and held up three fingers. “First, that business card. Think about it, under normal circumstances, why would you leave a business card when giving someone a gift? Are you afraid that others won’t know it was you who gave it to them? Especially when giving gifts to the deputy mayor, it’s a private matter. Leaving a business card is like leaving incriminating evidence. Zhou Jianguo has been a presiding judge for so many years, would he make such a basic mistake?”

Li Jiquan seemed to be deep in thought.

“Secondly, the location of the gift box,” Fu Xiangmin continued. “It was placed on the desk in the study on the second floor, such an obvious place. Would Kong Sen, who accepted a gift, put someone else’s business card in such a conspicuous place? His villa was used to hide embezzled funds, not to display them. Logically, after accepting a gift, one would either throw away the business card or put it away, not leave it on the table for someone to investigate.”

Li Jiquan nodded.

“Third,” Fu Xiangmin held up his third finger, “and the most crucial one—the timeline.”

He pulled out a few sheets of paper from the documents, pointing to the dates on them: “Look, Zhou Cheng was photographed gambling, his IOU was copied, and a report was sent to the Discipline Inspection Commission—that’s the first wave. But you suppressed that letter and didn’t do anything. And then what?”

Li Jiquan’s eyes narrowed.

“Then the villa was targeted by thieves, the police set up a cordon and discovered Kong Sen’s hideout.” Fu Xiangmin looked at him. “There is a logical chain in this: first, make an issue of Zhou Cheng, the whistleblower letter was not effective, and then use Kong Sen’s case to drag Zhou Jianguo into it. The two things seem independent, but they are actually linked together.”

Li Jiquan suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

“Who set this up?” His voice was a little tense.

Fu Xiangmin shrugged: “I don’t know about that. But judging from this method, this person is not simple. He knows Zhou Jianguo’s background, Zhou Cheng’s problems, Kong Sen’s situation, and even knows that the thief would target that villa. His first trick didn’t work, so he immediately launched a second one, and the second one was done with the help of your Discipline Inspection Commission and the Procuratorate—you were already investigating Kong Sen’s case, so the discovery of the villa was reasonable. Once that business card was out, Zhou Jianguo couldn’t escape.”

He paused, looking at Li Jiquan: “This person is no ordinary whistleblower; he’s been planning this from the very beginning.”

Li Jiquan fell silent.

The office was so quiet you could hear the ticking of the wall clock.

He remembered the letter of complaint, Zhou Cheng’s photo, and the photocopy of the IOU for 830,000 yuan.

He suppressed his anger at the time, not wanting to be used as a pawn.

But they had a backup plan.

Moreover, this backup plan directly forces the Discipline Inspection Commission and the Procuratorate to act as scapegoats; they have no choice but to take the blame.

Li Jiquan felt a chill run down his spine.