Chapter 90: Gu Santong’s Mindset Collapsed

Yang Dong saw the look of contempt and disdain in Gu Santong’s eyes, and could not help finding it amusing.

Director Gu, I hope you can keep looking down on me a little longer.

He sat down, opened the case notes, and picked up a pen.

Lu Yike switched on the law-enforcement recorder and placed it on the table, closer to Gu Santong.

Yang Dong leafed through all the reports involving Gu Santong: anonymous letters and实名 complaints alike.

The anonymous letters were of little value, mostly vague speculation and hearsay.

But the实名 complaints contained plenty of hard evidence, though it still required Gu Santong to admit it himself.

“Gu Santong, how old are you this year? How many years have you been a Party member?”

Yang Dong looked up at him, beginning in an almost casual tone.

That made Lu Yike pause in surprise; she did not understand what Yang Dong was trying to do.

Gu Santong was even more baffled. Was this an interrogation?

Still, he felt a little relieved. As long as they were not talking about his crimes, that was fine.

As head of the Education Bureau, it was essential to have a silver tongue, and he had more than enough knowledge to draw on.

“Group Leader Yang, I was born in sixty-seven, started work in eighty-seven, and joined the Party in eighty-nine.”

With a smile on his face, Gu Santong answered Yang Dong’s “important question.”

Yang Dong gave a small nod, then went on, “What is the fundamental political system of our country?”

Gu Santong was instantly at a loss. He felt as though he were not being interrogated by the city’s Discipline Inspection Commission at all, but rather undergoing a cadre interview by the municipal Party organization department. Was this some kind of exam?

Though he did not understand the point, he was more than willing for Yang Dong to keep asking and never bring up his crimes.

“The system of people’s congresses is the fundamental political system of our country.”

As the head of the Education Bureau, these were the sort of things Gu Santong could recite from middle-school civics textbooks.

“What are the three basic political systems of our country?”

Leaning back in his chair, Yang Dong asked with a smile.

Lu Yike was growing more and more unable to make sense of what Yang Dong was doing. Was this really a city Discipline Inspection Commission investigation? It felt more like a municipal Party organization department interview for cadres.

But trusting Yang Dong, she kept watching in silence and did not interrupt.

“The three basic political systems are the system of multiparty cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of our Party, the system of regional ethnic autonomy, and the system of grassroots mass self-governance.”

Gu Santong answered on and on, full of confidence, as though he had gone back to his student days and was reliving the happiness of being in school.

“Tell me what you understand by the Scientific Outlook on Development.”

Yang Dong continued questioning him.

Gu Santong’s expression changed slightly. This subject was not easy to talk about; it was one of the major strategic ideas since the Sixteenth National Congress.

After thinking for a few minutes, he answered, “The Scientific Outlook on Development upholds people first, establishes a development philosophy of comprehensive, coordinated, and sustainable progress, and promotes the all-around development of the economy, society, and people.”

“Coordinate urban and rural development, coordinate regional development, coordinate economic and social development, coordinate harmonious development between humankind and nature, and coordinate domestic development while upholding reform and opening up.”

“This is the methodology for advancing reform and development in all fields. It is also the most scientific outlook on development, as well as a major strategic idea, a great practice, and a revolutionary direction of our Party.”

After Gu Santong had finished saying all that, Yang Dong broke into applause.

He clapped for Gu Santong with loud, clear strikes.

“Director Gu truly lives up to his title as Education Bureau chief. You know the textbook content for students inside and out.”

“Too kind, too kind. You’re so young, Group Leader Yang, and yet you can ask all these questions offhand. That shows you’re also highly educated.”

Lu Yike rubbed her forehead. The more she listened, the more confused she became. If Yang Dong wanted to interrogate Gu Santong, why did it sound like a political class?

The two of them were even praising each other now.

“Director Gu, your reserve of knowledge tells me that you are a responsible leader, and also a well-read and accomplished one.”

Yang Dong still looked at Gu Santong, speaking with a smile.

“That goes without saying. As the chief in charge of education across the city, as the director of the Education Bureau, I deeply feel the weight of my mission and the honor of my responsibility. I will devote myself wholeheartedly to education, and in the concrete work of education, I…”

“I passed by No. 32 Youth Road and saw a villa. It was beautifully built.”

Before Gu Santong could finish his “political report,” Yang Dong smoothly shifted the topic, smiling all the while.

In an instant, Gu Santong’s expression froze. A trace of fear surfaced in his eyes as he looked at Yang Dong.

Within him, too, a storm the size of the heavens was rising.

As a veteran Discipline Inspection Commission worker, Lu Yike immediately sensed that something was wrong. She picked up her pen at once and wrote down the address and the villa Yang Dong had mentioned.

Yang Dong continued, still smiling as if speaking to himself.

“What makes me even more curious is that there were slogans painted on the east wall of that villa. And strangely enough, the content of those slogans was exactly the same as what I had just asked Director Gu.”

“The fundamental system of our country, the basic system, the Scientific Outlook on Development—all of it was written in beautiful red lettering on that east wall.”

“It’s just that the owner of the villa doesn’t seem to live there. The place is overgrown with weeds, which puzzles me. For the owner to be able to write those things on the wall suggests someone who understands politics, perhaps even a cadre.”

“But if they’re a cadre, just what rank would they need to afford a villa?”

“Let me ask you something, Director Gu. As a bureau chief at the county division level in charge of education, what is your monthly salary?”

Yang Dong looked up with a pleasant smile at Gu Santong, whose face had turned pale and whose forehead was beginning to glisten with cold sweat, and asked him.

Gu Santong fell silent, or rather, he did not dare speak.

“What’s wrong, Director Gu? Weren’t you just talking with me so eloquently?”

The smile on Yang Dong’s face gradually faded, and then he slammed his hand on the table.

The bang startled Gu Santong and Lu Yike alike.

“Gu Santong, at this point, do you still want to deny it?”

Trembling, Gu Santong looked up and hurriedly waved his hands in protest. “N-no, no, no, no, that’s not my villa. The registered owner of that villa isn’t under my name.”

Yang Dong could not help sneering. He leaned back in his chair, utterly relaxed.

“It seems I never said that villa was yours.”

“And I also seem to have never mentioned who the registered owner was.”

“In that case, why are you, Gu Santong, so familiar with this villa?”

“Director Gu, that sounds a bit like confessing before the confession, doesn’t it?”

Yang Dong put down the pen in his hand and signaled to Lu Yike. “Get him a glass of water and let him catch his breath.”

“Okay!”

Lu Yike stood up, filled a paper cup with mineral water, and handed it to Gu Santong.

“Thank you!”

Gu Santong gulped it down in one go, but his heart could not settle.

Only then did he realize why this improbably young head of the special investigative task force from the city Discipline Inspection Commission had been asking him all those things.

It had all been a setup, waiting for him here.

When Yang Dong brought up the villa at No. 32 Youth Road, empty of any resident, it sent Gu Santong into utter disarray.

He panicked in an instant, and in his panic, he said the wrong thing.

Yet the wrong thing he said was, for Yang Dong, exactly the right thing.

“Gu Santong, did you really think you could walk out of the city Discipline Inspection Commission unscathed?”

Yang Dong sneered as he fixed Gu Santong with a stare.

Gu Santong shuddered as he looked at Yang Dong. This young man was far too cunning.

How had he found out the address of that villa?

How had he learned all of this?

This kid was not easy to deal with—extremely hard to shake off—and he had frightened him.

The disdain in his eyes was gone, completely gone.

“I’ll tell the truth!”

Gu Santong gave a bitter smile. At this point, he could no longer deny it.

Just that one mistaken answer was enough for the Discipline Inspection Commission to condemn him outright.

Because he had confessed before being asked.

“The villa was given to me by a businessman, but I never lived there. I wouldn’t dare stay there even for a day. It’s too luxurious. I was afraid. I’m the son of a farmer.”