After a blizzard, the weather cleared up, and the world was beautiful...
The old man and Xu Zhengyang both tacitly chose to remain silent, peaceful, and secretive.
Apart from the old man and the young man who knew the secrets, even the agents who were beaten didn't know what kind of earth-shattering changes had taken place behind the scenes before ending their investigation, which they themselves found rather absurd.
After a series of personnel changes, the Fuhe River municipal government departments gradually calmed down from the shock.
From last year to this year, it has truly been a turbulent time for Fuhe City!
Several major cases have caused a series of upheavals in the officialdom, with countless officials of all ranks falling from power and changes in government power figures. This has brought this not-so-famous city to the attention of those in power. What exactly happened here?
However, the old man's words thwarted the higher-ups' idea of conducting a thorough investigation of Fuhe City. He said, "Fuhe City needs to be addressed. I see it very clearly."
Those in power naturally couldn't say anything, but the old man then said somewhat angrily, "A small city like Fuhe has investigated and punished such a large number of officials. How many cities like this are there in our country? If every city could investigate and punish so many officials, how can our government gain the trust of the people?"
Upon reflection, it is indeed a very disheartening issue.
If we can truly gain the trust of the people, why should we fear the gods taking our trust from the human world?
These are the words that the City God spoke to Elder Li in his dream.
The old man deeply agreed, but he also knew all too well how unrealistic this expectation was.
...
It's already December, and the weather is freezing cold.
The old man and Xu Zhengyang had never been in contact, yet they seemed to know each other's thoughts, maintaining this strange balance.
In fact, the two sides have already torn off their masks, so what is there left to talk about?
However, both sides believed that talks were necessary.
The old man felt that this matter could not be considered over, because he could not bring himself to let Xu Zhengyang and that deity continue to run rampant in the world. Xu Zhengyang felt that he needed to talk to the old man to ease the tension, because he was going to marry Li Bingjie in the future, and they would be relatives, right?
Despite the fact that even the elderly members of Li Bingjie's family were unwilling to accept this marriage.
Well, it's their business if they don't want to, as long as Li Bingjie is willing.
Now it's up to who will bring it up first.
Thus, the old man and the young man remained deadlocked in a state of stalemate due to issues of face.
The new school in Shuanghe Village has been completed and is just waiting to be renovated after the spring when it gets warmer. After the busy farming season in May, the students can move in and start classes. Xu Neng's construction team has taken on another big job. A company of Ronghua Group in the provincial capital needs to expand its factory and warehouse. This group of fifty or sixty people will be busy for four months before and after the New Year.
The fifth day of the twelfth lunar month was a Sunday. In the morning, Xu Zhengyang was surfing the internet in his office at Gu Xiangxuan. He was reading books and taking notes.
Around 3 PM, he and Li Bingjie started chatting online on QQ.
It was only at Xu Zhengyang's insistence that Li Bingjie learned to chat online.
Initially, Li Bingjie wondered why she needed to chat online. Wasn't it the same as sending a text message or making a phone call?
Xu Zhengyang said, "How can that be the same? Making phone calls and sending text messages cost money, don't they?"
Li Bingjie said, "Does going online not cost money?"
"I still have to pay for internet access when I make phone calls and send text messages... So how can I save money?"
"Zhengyang, you're not short of money now, are you?"
“Waste is shameful…”
The simple-minded Li Bingjie thought it made sense, so she bought a laptop. After learning how to use the internet, Li Bingjie suddenly realized that Xu Zhengyang wasn't doing it to save on phone bills, but because he could video chat online... Li Bingjie realized this the first time she video chatted with Xu Zhengyang, and felt extremely embarrassed, yet also a little happy and shy.
After several video and voice chat experiences, the two seemed to discover a wonderful aspect of online chatting: typing is better than voice. This is because many things that are difficult to say aloud can be expressed smoothly through typing, without the awkwardness.
For example: Honey, I miss you! Come here, honey, let me give you a kiss! Why is there still boogers in your eyes?
Thus, Xu Zhengyang discovered that deep within his pure heart lay a certain flirtatiousness that he himself was unaware of, which would be completely revealed when he typed and chatted online.
However, both sides felt that this was a good thing!
So the two of them started chatting by typing.
Xu Zhengyang is no longer a novice internet user; his typing speed can reach fifty or sixty words per minute. Therefore, while chatting with Li Bingjie, a newbie, he also has time to browse the news.
Hmm, the two of them are currently talking about Chen Chaojiang and Ye Wan. Xu Zhengyang thought to himself, it turns out that women can't escape their gossipy nature after all. Even a girl as innocent as Li Bingjie can be so fond of gossiping. Of course, he knew that Li Bingjie was only talking to him about these things.
Dong Wenqi's QQ avatar flashed, and Xu Zhengyang clicked on it casually. A website address appeared in the window, along with the message: "Click to take a look at this."
Xu Zhengyang smiled and clicked on the website, which was a post on the Fuhe City Information Port.
The post made Xu Zhengyang both laugh and cry. It was about what happened when he went to Dong Wenqi's house last time and encountered something at the entrance of Yong'an Community.
The author of the post is called "March Awakening of Insects". Judging from the posting time, it was uploaded on the same night that the incident occurred.
The post title is: This young CEO is really awesome!
The post detailed all the events of that day and included several photos. Fortunately, the author was kind enough to blur the license plate of the white Audi A4 and the faces of the people in the photos to avoid compromising their privacy. However, the post did specify that the person in the photos was the driver, chairman, and secretary of Jinghui Logistics Company.
There were quite a few comments below, well, over three hundred replies already: some gave Xu Zhengyang a thumbs up, some said it was all an act, some commented on the social phenomena surrounding this incident, some started spewing insults without saying a word, and some were just passing by...
The original poster also responded to some questions and inquiries from netizens, and solemnly declared that he was a person who witnessed the whole thing firsthand.
Xu Zhengyang thought about what happened that day. Hmm, wasn't that the handsome young man in the light gray down jacket? He was also a resident of Yong'an Community. Xu Zhengyang scanned the city's records with his divine sense and immediately knew the young man's identity. His name was Xue Ziyi, a typical night owl.
Xu Zhengyang happily sent the website address to Li Bingjie, wanting to show off how brilliant and capable his boss was.
After sending it, Xu Zhengyang casually browsed other posts on the forum. What he saw was as if he had discovered a new continent. Well... there were many posts about strange and bizarre events, and quite a few of them were about what the ghost messengers in Fuhe City had done this year!
Volume 4, City God Chapter 205: Don't Monitor Me
Before this, Xu Zhengyang had never registered an ID on any forum. He had never replied to any posts, let alone created any new ones. He wasn't interested in these things; aside from his fondness for QQ chatting and browsing news, he mostly went online for the convenience of finding information.
However, a post that involved himself drew his attention to the so-called forum.
While many posts on these forums are unrealistic, some posts reflecting current events seem more authentic and better represent public opinion than those on major news websites.
Because the news topics on websites are often influenced by official sources, overly sensitive news and opinions are unlikely to be expressed. Forums, on the other hand, offer much more freedom. Netizens can freely express their opinions and comment on current events, politics, and society from the perspective of ordinary citizens.
Admittedly, most netizens' views and opinions tend to be narrow-minded and individualistic, but they are closer to real life and reality.
Well, the above does not include those gossipy netizens who are just passing by.
However, those who merely observe or pass by, especially those who only observe, sometimes highlight the helplessness of the public towards reality in posts that emphasize the current social situation.
The posts on the Fuhe Information Port that recount bizarre events often feature subjective interpretations by the authors. Inevitably, these posts embellish the events with mythical elements and personal emotional venting. This is understandable; those who post such things are usually people who have had conflicts with the so-called victims or harbor prejudice against them. After all, who, the actual victim or their family, would willingly reveal such shameful secrets?
Thus, Xu Zhengyang, who had been somewhat hesitant and pondering due to the conflict with Elder Li a few days ago and Elder Li's personal thoughts, found satisfaction and psychological comfort here, which further strengthened his beliefs and affirmed his actions.
As the saying goes, this is what the people want!
When browsing the news, Xu Zhengyang occasionally came across stories of injustice and crime, most of which had already been resolved or were being dealt with quickly after being exposed. He hadn't paid much attention to them. However, on forums, posts expressing dissatisfaction and venting anger would frequently appear, recounting injustices committed against certain people or events in various places…
Xu Zhengyang was extremely interested in this.
From some posts on the forum, Xu Zhengyang realized that relying solely on his subordinate ghost messengers to patrol the territory of Fuhe City and handle major and minor matters, as well as trivial family squabbles, was far from sufficient.
How can it work if it lacks specificity and fails to attract widespread public attention?
So Xu Zhengyang began browsing the posts and recording some of the injustices recounted by netizens in Fuhe City.
Next, it is natural to hand it over to the ghost messengers to investigate the truth of the matter, and to deal with any injustices immediately!
However, given the conflict with Elder Li, Xu Zhengyang decided to handle matters in a way that was as close to the real world as possible. In other words, while the ghost messengers would make punishments, the human public security and judicial departments would also make corresponding judgments. This would make the public more satisfied and prevent them from developing a fear of strange events or gods.
The saying "those who do many unrighteous deeds will surely perish" is more reasonable, isn't it?
...
As darkness fell outside, Li Bingjie logged off, saying her mother had called to send a car to pick her up for dinner.
After browsing some posts, Xu Zhengyang felt somewhat tired. He made himself a cup of tea, lit a cigarette, leaned back in his chair, and squinted, pondering: His official rank was too low. His jurisdiction was too small. There were many things described in the posts that he wanted to do but lacked the power to. He wondered when his jurisdiction would expand to the whole country… Hmm, he didn't ask for supernatural powers to be able to do things anytime, anywhere, but he just wanted to be able to instruct his personal ghost messengers to do things while traveling.
The QQ avatar flashed, and Dong Wenqi sent a message: "Boss, are you angry after being exposed?"
Xu Zhengyang smiled, having been so busy browsing the posts that he hadn't had time to reply to Dong Wenqi's message. So he replied, "It's nothing. I hope that our Jinghui Logistics employees won't be criticized by society in the future."
"Hehe, boss, do you know who posted that thread?"
"It must be the kid who was standing next to me that day, right?"
"Yes, that's him. He lives in Building 5, Unit 3."
"You two know each other?"
“We didn’t know each other before, but after what happened that day, we would occasionally bump into each other in the neighborhood and he would greet me.”
Xu Zhengyang joked, "That kid probably has a crush on you."
“Ugh… I hate you!” After sending this message, before Xu Zhengyang could reply, Dong Wenqi sent another message: “Hey, boss, when are you free to go out for a meal together? I’ve never treated you before.”
"Okay, I'll treat you sometime."
"Sure. Are you free today?"
Xu Zhengyang was stunned. He thought for a moment that he would be free when he had time, but the problem was... I was just being polite. Did I really want to go out to eat with you? The pure-hearted and shy Xu Zhengyang always tended to misunderstand eating alone with a girl, so whenever Dong Wenqi invited him to dinner, he would politely decline. If he couldn't refuse, he would choose to go to Dong Yuebu's house so as not to cause any misunderstanding.
How could an excellent leader and a pure and righteous person allow anyone to suspect that he harbors improper thoughts about his female subordinates?
"Hey, why aren't you saying anything? No time? Never mind then, sigh..."
"Isn't that a bad idea?" Xu Zhengyang replied seriously, adding a sweating emoji.
Dong Wenqi, sitting in front of her computer, couldn't help but laugh. She thought of Xu Zhengyang, who, despite being the company's chairman, occasionally showed shyness and embarrassment when talking to girls in everyday life. Dong Wenqi found this chairman even more endearing. So she sent a laughing emoji and said, "Chairman, comrade, please don't be so sensitive. It's just a meal. Aren't we friends, besides being a leader and subordinate?"
"No, that's not what I meant."
"Afraid your girlfriend will misunderstand? Hehe..."
Xu Zhengyang felt a surge of pride and said, "Let's pick a place. I'll treat you to dinner later."
"Okay, okay, but it's a promise, it's on me!"
"Um, well, I'll call your dad and ask him to come along too." Xu Zhengyang ultimately couldn't shake off his narrow-mindedness.
"Hey! Why are you so boring!"
Xu Zhengyang was extremely embarrassed and quickly replied, "I was just kidding. Well, you pick a place, and I'll come pick you up?"
"Sure! Can I bring a friend?"
"No problem, no problem!" Xu Zhengyang immediately agreed, wishing someone was present to prove his innocence.
...
Driving out of the antique market and along Fuxing Street, Xu Zhengyang glanced behind the rearview mirror and pursed his lips. He couldn't allow them to keep an eye on him today.