Soon, he got his answer. Within minutes, Nan Sheng arrived with breakfast.
"Little Hou, you worked hard last night. Come eat—I bought your favorite guokui."
Little Hou eagerly took the breakfast. Meanwhile, Lin Han was still pretending to sleep, ignored by everyone. Nan Sheng was deliberately leaving him hanging, and even the kids and Little Hou had to follow her lead.
Nan Sheng checked her watch, silently calculating how long the man could hold out. But barely a minute and a half later, someone sat up.
With a booming voice, he declared, "Darling, I was wrong!"
Little Hou quietly took his portion of breakfast to the hallway, fearing indigestion. Sizhe and Siqi ate while watching the show, completely unbothered—their parents had never fought before, so they weren’t worried about any real conflict.
Nan Sheng sat close to Lin Han, eating while watching him shift from sitting to standing stiffly, like a nervous child.
Finally, she burst into laughter. "Alright, hurry up and eat. Running around like that—what if your wound reopened?"
Lin Han wasn’t a child; he wouldn’t risk his health. Nan Sheng had only told him to stay off his feet to keep him from overexerting himself. Who knew he’d get so scared? It was both frustrating and amusing.
Lin Han cautiously studied Nan Sheng’s expression, confirming she wasn’t actually upset before daring to sit down and eat.
"My wound’s fine, it’s already healed."
He weakly defended himself, "Darling, I stayed in bed all day yesterday. I just couldn’t take it anymore today, so I came downstairs."
Nan Sheng neither accepted nor rejected his excuse, leaving him to figure it out himself.
After finishing breakfast, with time to spare, she brought up Lu Wei. "Do you remember him?"
"I do. He wasn’t under my command, but Lu Wei was an outstanding soldier. It’s a shame he lost half his arm in an operation. If he’d stayed in the military, he’d probably be a battalion commander by now."
If Lin Han remembered his name, he couldn’t have been a nobody. Nan Sheng didn’t press further. After resting, she headed toward the government offices.
Liang Kechang was getting into his role, even asking Nan Sheng if they should plant more letters in the complaint box. She simply replied, "Don’t overdo it," and told him to keep a low profile.
Xu Liang was out inspecting collective resettlement conditions for relocated households in various towns. Luo Xiaoxuan was packing up—he still needed to visit the Lu family.
Yesterday, he’d run into someone from the Grain Bureau paying Lu Wei a visit. His instincts told him they were trying to buy Lu Wei’s silence, so he only asked a few questions before leaving, letting the Grain Bureau think it was just a routine check.
Liu Song and Su Jie were screening submitted personal records to prepare for upcoming interviews.
"Notify everyone that disciplinary committee members must supervise their colleagues in daily work. If anyone is threatened, they can request immediate backup—I’ll arrange protection!"
The most cunning part? Nan Sheng had Liang Kechang call each town’s Party secretary to relay the message.
Not one secretary dared object. Instead, they promised full cooperation, even welcoming inspections at any time!
This test of obedience ended with Nan Sheng’s victory.
Once she took down the Grain Bureau’s director, she could slow down and methodically weed out the troublemakers in the county government.
Meanwhile, Director Lu was panicking after learning the disciplinary committee had already reached Lu Wei’s home yesterday.
"What’s Lu Wei’s deal? Skipping work today—is he trying to defy me?"
"Director, we should consider other options. He won’t take money, won’t return to work. Maybe he’s banking on the disciplinary committee’s investigation to bring you down."
Director Lu grew even angrier. "Wishful thinking! I didn’t get to this position by being useless!"
After a moment, he ordered his subordinate to draft a complaint letter. "Go, drop it in the complaint box. Tomorrow, we’ll watch the show!"
The Grain Bureau was his domain. Framing a powerless man like Lu Wei would be child’s play. Once his reputation was tarnished, who would believe him?
"Brilliant, Director! I’ll handle it right away!"
That afternoon, Nan Sheng received a call from the city. She could even tell Director Jin was in a good mood.
"I’ve reviewed the testimony. You’ve done well. I’ve issued a directive to dismiss Jiang Lin as an example. Nan Sheng, tighten when needed, loosen when appropriate—I trust you’ll handle it."
After hanging up, Nan Sheng was in high spirits. The worst was over, and everything was moving in the right direction.
But the next day, when Liang Kechang handed her the complaint letter, her smile vanished.
"Didn’t expect Director Lu to pull this move. Underestimated him."
The Grain Bureau would undoubtedly present a united front. If they investigated from this angle, Lu Wei wouldn’t stand a chance.
"Director, what do we do now? Protocol says we have to bring Lu Wei in for questioning."
Luo Xiaoxuan objected. "This is clearly a setup! Lu Wei explained everything—I believe him!"
"What good does that do? He has no proof!" Su Jie added bluntly.
She looked at Nan Sheng, secretly hoping the director would defy protocol again and just arrest Director Lu—fight fire with fire!
Nan Sheng raised an eyebrow. "Why are you looking at me?"
Su Jie lowered her head. "No reason."
She wouldn’t dare tell the director what to do.
Nan Sheng tapped her fingers rhythmically on the desk. "Add one more name to tomorrow’s interview list."
"Who, Director?"
Liu Song chuckled—wasn’t it obvious? "Lu Wei!"
Su Jie and Liang Kechang immediately looked at Nan Sheng. Wait, was this even allowed?
Nan Sheng nodded. If Director Lu wanted to drag Lu Wei down, he’d have to get through her first. She’d pull Lu Wei out of the fire, then use him against the Grain Bureau—no one knew their dirty secrets better.
Liang Kechang pointed at the letter. "What about this? If we ignore it, will the Grain Bureau come knocking?"
Liu Song shook his head. He doubted it.
"If they had the guts to confront us, they wouldn’t have resorted to anonymous letters. Director Lu probably hopes we’ll sweep this under the rug."
Nan Sheng concluded, "Destroy the letter. If anyone asks, we never saw it."
Two could play at being shameless…
