Title: Reborn Qi Tongwei, who defies fate by half a move and refuses to kneel

Chapter 137 is all about filling the fiscal hole?

Jingzhou City, a villa area by Crescent Lake.

As night deepened, the wind rippled across the lake's surface, reflecting the scattered lights along the shore.

Qi Tongwei pushed open the villa door. The chill and earthy smell of the house hadn't dissipated yet when the warm yellow light from inside rushed in, like a pair of gentle hands softly brushing away the frost on his shoulders.

The main lights in the living room were not on; only a floor lamp was left on.

Ye Cunxin was curled up on the leather sofa. Hearing the noise, she sprang up like a nimble cat.

She wasn't wearing the smart tactical outfit she wore during the day; instead, she was only wearing a burgundy silk slip dress.

The fabric was extremely thin, like a layer of flowing water, clinging to her curvaceous figure. Her two fair and slender legs were crossed, gleaming with an ivory-like luster under the light, and a thin red rope was tied around her ankle, swaying gently with her movements, exuding an indescribable allure.

"You're back?"

Ye Cunxin walked barefoot on the carpet and quickly walked up to Qi Tongwei.

She didn't mind Qi Tongwei's dirty clothes covered in mud and ash. She reached out her well-maintained hands to unbutton his top button and help him take off his dusty jacket.

A faint, sweet fragrance wafted into Qi Tongwei's nostrils. It was the scent of her usual shower gel, mixed with a hint of a young girl's unique body odor, sweet but not cloying, with an alluring warmth.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?" Qi Tongwei looked down at the woman in his arms.

From this angle, one can just see the breathtaking white cleavage beneath the neckline of her nightgown, rising and falling slightly with her breath, the deep cleavage seeming to suck one's soul in.

"I can't sleep if you don't come back." Ye Cunxin took his coat and threw it aside, then pulled him to sit down on the sofa. "I've been running around in the mountains these past few days, and I've lost weight."

A thermos was placed on the coffee table. As soon as the lid was lifted, a rich aroma of chicken soup wafted out.

"It's freshly stewed. I've skimmed off all the oil. Have some to warm your stomach." Ye Cunxin ladled out a bowl, stirred it with a spoon, blew on it to cool it down, and then handed it directly to Qi Tongwei's lips.

Qi Tongwei didn't stand on ceremony and took a big gulp from her hand. After drinking the hot soup, the gloom he had brought back from Yantai dissipated a little.

Ye Cunxin put down the bowl and went around to the back of the sofa.

Cool fingertips touched Qi Tongwei's temples and massaged them with just the right amount of pressure.

Her body leaned slightly forward, her soft breasts occasionally brushing against Qi Tongwei's back, their amazing elasticity and heat clearly discernible through the thin shirt.

"Is the situation at Yantai bad?" Ye Cunxin whispered in his ear, her warm breath tickling his earlobe.

Qi Tongwei closed his eyes, enjoying this rare moment of peace, but his voice was somewhat deep: "It's worse than I imagined. That idiot Zhang Guohua pretended to be mentally ill in front of me. The so-called poverty alleviation industrial park is just a wasteland. The common people are drinking muddy soup, while those officials are drinking Moutai."

Ye Cunxin paused for a moment, then increased the pressure, her fingertips sliding down his neck to his tense shoulders.

"These guys deserve to die."

Her tone changed. Just moments ago she had been a gentle, sweet woman, but now it exuded a chilling aura.

Ye Cunxin lowered her head, resting her chin on Qi Tongwei's shoulder. Her exquisite and beautiful face was covered with frost, and her eyes flashed with undisguised killing intent.

"What my grandfather hated most were these parasites who drank the blood of soldiers and ate the fat of the people. Back when we were fighting, if we caught one of them, we would execute him without even having to interrogate him."

She stretched out her arms and wrapped them around Qi Tongwei's neck from behind, pressing her entire weight onto his back.

That unreserved closeness allowed Qi Tongwei to clearly feel the curves of her body; those two soft mounds pressed tightly against his back, deforming and rising and falling with her breath.

"Tongwei".

Ye Cunxin breathed softly into his ear, her voice languid yet firm: "Do whatever you want. This rotten boil needs to be punctured with a knife. Even if the sky falls, I'll be here, the Ye family will be here."

Her hand slid down Qi Tongwei's chest, gently caressing his firm muscles with a suggestive teasing and soothing tone.

"I've already called Beijing." Ye Cunxin bit Qi Tongwei's earlobe, her voice muffled. "The old man said that as long as the evidence is conclusive, he'll cover it up for you, no matter if you're a mayor or if you make a huge mistake."

Qi Tongwei grabbed her small hand that was playing around on his chest, his palm caressing her smooth skin.

No need to replenish it.

Qi Tongwei opened his eyes and looked out at the dark night. The lights of the villa area reflected in his eyes looked like two burning will-o'-the-wisps.

"Since it's a hole, let's make it even bigger and let the light from outside shine in so we can see the faces of these vampires."

……

The next morning.

The Provincial Party Committee compound in Handong.

The atmosphere today was unusually heavy, as if an invisible layer of frost had been condensed in the air.

Normally, the parking lot of the provincial party committee compound is just starting to get busy at this time, but today, the huge parking lot was already full before eight o'clock.

The rows of black Audi A6s looked like a flock of crows, parked in perfect order.

The license plates were incredibly varied, covering all the prefecture-level cities under the jurisdiction of Handong Province. A was the provincial capital, Jingzhou; B was Lüzhou; C was Lincheng; D was Yantai…

A group of men dressed in white shirts and black trousers, carrying briefcases, gathered in twos and threes at the foot of the steps in front of the provincial party committee building.

Although they tried their best to maintain a calm demeanor, their frequent smoking and constant rubbing of their fingers betrayed their inner anxiety.

This is an emergency expanded meeting.

The notice was issued late last night and was worded extremely harshly: all municipal party secretaries, mayors, vice mayors in charge of poverty alleviation, and directors of poverty alleviation offices must be present, and no one may ask for leave or be absent.

"Old Li, you're here too?"

A portly, bald man approached a man wearing gold-rimmed glasses, offered him a Zhonghua cigarette, and lowered his voice, "Have you heard anything? Why all this fuss over something that's not a holiday?"

That's Mayor Li of Lincheng City.

Old Li took the cigarette, but didn't light it. He just sniffed it, his face turning bitter. "What other rumors could there be? Didn't you hear what happened at Yantai last night?"

The bald man's hand trembled, and the flame from the lighter nearly burned his eyebrows: "You mean... Zhang Guohua?"

"Shh!" Old Li nervously looked around, and seeing that no one was paying attention, he lowered his voice even further, almost whispering, "They've been placed under investigation on the spot! They've been taken back to the provincial detention center overnight! I heard that Director Qi is leading the team, and even that Liu the Pockmarked from the Yantai City Bureau has been taken off his gun!"

The bald man gasped, feeling a chill run down his spine: "That's too ruthless! Arresting someone from another city? Didn't the Yantai Municipal Party Committee stop them?"

"Stop my ass!"

A voice suddenly came in from the side.

The group turned around and saw Zhou Zheng, the Party Secretary of Yantai City.

At this moment, Zhou Zheng's face was as black as the bottom of a pot, his eye bags were swollen, and his eyes were bloodshot, clearly indicating that he hadn't slept all night.

The collar of his white shirt was slightly wrinkled, which was unbelievable for a department-level cadre who was extremely particular about his appearance.

"Secretary Zhou..." The group greeted him hastily, but their bodies instinctively took a half step back, as if Zhou Zheng were carrying a plague.

Zhou Zheng ignored their distance, simply lit a cigarette with trembling hands, took a deep drag, and coughed violently from the smoke.

"This time... it's for real." Zhou Zheng coughed until his face was red and his voice was hoarse. "That idiot Zhang Guohua, I always told him to tone it down, but he wouldn't listen! He insisted on building some kind of ecological park in that poor mountain village! Now look what's happened, the hole can't be plugged!"

The people around looked at each other, their hearts sinking.

Misappropriation of poverty alleviation funds.

This is actually an open secret in the grassroots officialdom of Handong.

In recent years, local finances have been tight, but they still want to carry out urban construction and vanity projects. Where does the money come from? Many local governments are robbing Peter to pay Paul, diverting special funds allocated by the central government and then making up for it later by selling land.

It's like dancing on a tightrope; as long as no one checks, you can keep dancing forever.

But now, the music has stopped, and someone is going to cut the rope.

"I heard..." The director of the poverty alleviation office from another city leaned over, sweating profusely and wiping his brow with a handkerchief, "This isn't a simple audit; it's a retrospective investigation spanning twenty years! Every single account has to be reconciled! And we'll have to conduct on-site visits!"

"Investigate back twenty years?!"

These words were like a thunderclap, exploding in the crowd.

Everyone's expression changed.

If this were truly investigated, probably half of the people present would end up in jail. Everyone has their own past misdeeds. Who can honestly say that every penny they've handled is completely clean?

"Quick! Call the station!"

The bald man was the first to react. Forgetting all about his appearance, he pulled out his phone and scurried into a corner. "Tell the finance department to go over that…yes, that road repair account from last year, right now! Make sure the documentation is accurate! Even if they have to get replacement invoices now, they need to provide all the necessary documents!"

In an instant, the square in front of the provincial party committee building turned into a complete mess.

The secretaries and mayors, who had been maintaining their composure, were now like ants on a hot plate. They were making phone calls, sending text messages, and gathering to discuss countermeasures; the air was thick with their buzzing.

"Hey? Old Zhao? What happened to the money for the air conditioner for the nursing home? What? You bought a car? Remove the license plates right now! Hide the car! Just say it broke down and was sent for repairs!"

"How many pigs does that farm have left? Three? Go buy them right now! Whether you steal them or rob them, you have to get three hundred of them in there by tonight! Even if they're inflatable, you have to put them in there!"

"The ledger? What ledger? Burn it! Just say it was an accident! Don't keep a copy!"

Fear, like a virus, spread across this square that represented power.

What they feared wasn't Qi Tongwei himself, but the unpredictable knife in his hand. Before, everyone played by the same rules; you might be greedy, I might take a little, and as long as it wasn't excessive, the higher-ups would turn a blind eye.

But now, Qi Tongwei simply flipped the table.

He doesn't say "if the water is too clear, there will be no fish." What he wants is to drain the water and roast all the fish to death.

Amidst the chaos, the two heavy glass doors of the provincial party committee building slowly slid open to the sides.

Two rows of heavily armed special police officers ran out from inside with synchronized steps and quickly lined up on both sides of the steps. They were fully armed, wearing black combat uniforms and tactical vests, carrying Type 95 assault rifles, and wearing black masks on their faces, revealing only a pair of indifferent eyes.

This scene doesn't look like a meeting at all; it looks more like a trip to the execution ground.

The noisy crowd instantly fell silent.

Those officials who were frantically setting up "remedial measures" while holding their phones were frozen in place, phones still pressed to their ears, mouths open but unable to utter a sound.

"Please, distinguished leaders, enter the room."

Zhao Donglai, dressed in a crisp police superintendent's uniform, stood at the gate, his face as black as iron. His gaze swept over everyone present as if he were looking at a herd of pigs and sheep waiting to be slaughtered, a mocking smile playing on his lips.

"The meeting is about to begin. Please turn off your mobile phones and hand over all communication devices."

Zhao Donglai pointed to a large transparent storage box next to him, "Today's meeting is top secret. Any attempt to leak information will be considered a breach of state secrets and will result in immediate arrest."

These words completely extinguished the last hope of this group of people.

The officials, their faces ashen, lined up like stray dogs, obediently tossing their phones into the box before bowing their heads and walking through the dark, gaping door.

The atmosphere in the conference room was so oppressive it was suffocating.

This is the No. 1 meeting room of the Handong Provincial Party Committee, which is only used when the provincial party congress is held. The huge crystal chandelier emits a cold light, shining on every pale face.

No one dared to speak.

All that could be heard were the sounds of heavy breathing rising and falling, and the scraping of chairs as they were moved.

All eyes were focused on the huge LED screen directly behind the stage.

The screen did not display the usual blue background and white text such as "Warm Welcome" or "Work Meeting of [Name]".

There was only a glaring, bloody red.

Against that red background, several bold black characters, like sharp swords, pierced straight into everyone's hearts:

[Provincial-wide mobilization meeting for special campaign to combat corruption and misconduct in poverty alleviation]

Below that line of large characters, there was another line of smaller characters, smaller in size but even more chilling:

Regardless of rank or who is involved, the investigation will be thorough and there will be no leniency.

There were only three seats on the platform.

In the middle is Sha Ruijin, the provincial party secretary. On the left is Tian Guofu, the provincial discipline inspection commission secretary.

On the right side, the nameplate clearly reads three words:

Qi Tongwei.

Before everyone could even settle in, the side door opened.

Qi Tongwei was dressed in a crisp police superintendent uniform, his rank insignia gleaming under the lights. He wasn't carrying any documents, just the black notebook he'd brought back from Yantai.

He strode onto the stage, the sound of his leather shoes on the floor echoing like a death knell in the deathly silent conference room.

He sat down in his seat without looking at anyone in the audience.

He simply slammed the old notebook heavily onto the table with a loud "thud".

The sharp sound made several officials with poor mental fortitude in the audience tremble, almost sliding off their chairs.

Qi Tongwei raised his head, his gaze sharp as a knife, and slowly swept across the entire room.

Finally, his gaze settled on Zhou Zheng, the Party Secretary of Yantai City, who was constantly wiping away sweat in the first row.

"Is it hot?"

Qi Tongwei suddenly spoke, his voice not loud, but it carried throughout the hall through the microphone, carrying a mocking coldness.

"Secretary Zhou, roll call hasn't even started yet, why are you sweating?"