Official Career Storm

Song Guanchao's words carried a tone of blame and questioning.

Xiao Chenlei's face darkened, and after a few seconds of silence, he said, "Director Song, you should ask Mayor Chang. He is the Party Secretary of the Chemical Industrial District Management Committee, and he knows these things best."

From his tone, Song Guanchao detected a hint of grievance and resentment, realizing that this Vice District Mayor had some issues with Chang Hai.

It's good they don't get along; it means he might obtain information from him that others wouldn't know.

Song Guanchao softened his tone, and a few more smiles appeared on his face, "I just came from Mayor Chang."

Xiao Chenlei mused for several seconds, then sighed lightly, "Director Song, do you know who was instrumental in establishing the industrial park?"

Song Guanchao shook his head, and Xiao Chenlei continued, "Our Jiangzhou City once had a mayor named Yang Gaolin. He facilitated the establishment of the industrial park during his term and was soon promoted to Governor."

"At that time, Mayor Chang was just a small director in the High-tech Zone Government. Because of his outstanding performance in the industrial park, Governor Yang entrusted him with important responsibilities, first making him Vice District Mayor, then District Mayor, and later Vice Mayor."

Xiao Chenlei took a sip of tea and said, "This is as much as I know."

Song Guanchao nodded thoughtfully, having roughly understood what Xiao Chenlei was implying.

The industrial park was Governor Yang's political achievement. As a Vice Mayor personally promoted by Governor Yang, if something went wrong with the industrial park, Chang Hai would naturally try to cover it up.

To prevent major problems from affecting Governor Yang's reputation, leading to the unearthing of old issues and even tarnishing his retirement.

However, there are still some details that need careful investigation.

"How serious is the pollution issue?" Song Guanchao asked.

"Very serious." Xiao Chenlei's face was stern, casting a glance at Wu Yun.

"I'll go to the restroom." Wu Yun tactfully excused herself.

After she left, Xiao Chenlei said in a low voice, "Over the past ten years, some residents nearby frequently fell ill and were hospitalized. It wasn't too severe in the early years, but the number of sick people has increased in the past two years, with many even developing cancer. There were also incidents of food poisoning. Later, we investigated and found it was caused by the enterprises discharging wastewater."

Song Guanchao asked, "Did the enterprises offer compensation?"

"They did," Xiao Chenlei said, "The enterprises covered all the medical expenses of the patients and paid a sum of money, also signing confidentiality agreements with the patients to prevent them from speaking out."

Song Guanchao didn't expect the pollution issue to be so severe. Thinking about how the pollution persisted for ten years without being properly resolved, a surge of anger rose in his heart.

"Didn't Mayor Chang consider solving it thoroughly? The wastewater discharge issue shouldn't be difficult to resolve, should it?"

Xiao Chenlei smiled, "As long as enterprises are willing to increase costs, there would be no pollution issue. But the problem is, they aren't willing."

"In their view, if someone gets sick, they just pay compensation. Compared to the cost of reducing pollution, the compensation is negligible. Anyone can do that math."

Song Guanchao's face grew increasingly grim, "Are the patient records in the district, or where are they?"

Xiao Chenlei hesitated, "Director Song, you should investigate this yourself. At the time, it was directly between the enterprises and the patients; our district government was not involved."

He only wanted to bring down Chang Hai, but didn't want to get himself involved.

If he provided relevant information, he would also be implicated.

After all, he is also a Vice District Mayor. It's impossible for the District Mayor to be the only one responsible while he, as the Vice District Mayor, avoids being implicated.

Song Guanchao gave him a deep look and nodded, "Alright, I understand."

Upon leaving the office, Wu Yun, who was waiting outside, approached and saw his grim expression, asking, "What's wrong?"

Song Guanchao shook his head without saying a word, closing his eyes in contemplation on the way back. Wu Yun did not disturb him and drove quietly.

Back at the City Government, Song Guanchao called over Zhou Xingjian and Jiang Yiren.

Wu Yun asked, "Do I need to excuse myself?"

"No need."

"Oh." Wu Yun sat happily to the side.

The two quickly arrived, and Song Guanchao said, "Director Zhou, retrieve the establishment documents of the High-tech Industrial Park for me and contact the High-tech Zone Government to list the names of the polluting enterprises."

"Okay." After Zhou Xingjian left, Song Guanchao turned to Jiang Yiren, "Jiangzhou previously had a Mayor named Yang Gaolin. You contact the organization department and ask them to retrieve Mayor Yang's file."

"Okay."

After Jiang Yiren left, Song Guanchao also stood up, "Sit for a while, I'm going to report to Mayor Wu."

After leaving the office, he didn't immediately go to Wu Qiangwei, but instead walked into the hallway and made a call to Lu Zhizhong.

Yang Gaolin was now the Governor, but in his memory, there was no impression of this person.

He speculated that Yang Gaolin might have been promoted long ago.

The files that could be retrieved from the city level only included the period when he served as Mayor.

For anything higher, Lu Zhizhong would have to help investigate further.

If Yang Gaolin indeed held a high position now, the industrial park's issue would be challenging to escalate.

"Governor Lu, have you heard of Yang Gaolin?"

"Governor Yang, I've heard of him. Why are you asking about him now?"

"Is he still the Governor?" Song Guanchao raised an eyebrow.

"He retired."

"What?" This result was unexpected for him.

"When did he retire?"

"Seven or eight years ago."

Seven or eight years... Song Guanchao was even more surprised.

According to Xiao Chenlei, Yang Gaolin facilitated the industrial park about ten years ago and soon became Governor thereafter.

However, Lu Zhizhong told him that Yang Gaolin retired seven or eight years ago.

This means he barely served two years as Governor before stepping down.

This is quite strange.

Generally, when a cadre of the Governor level retires, there are only two reasons.

Either it's genuinely due to health reasons, suffering from an illness that mandates retirement.

Or there's been a political incident, forcing a retreat to preserve oneself.

"Was Governor Yang unhealthy?"

"Why are you investigating him?"

"Jiangzhou City's industrial park has serious pollution issues. The industrial park was facilitated by Governor Yang back in the day, so I'm looking into it."

Lu Zhizhong immediately understood and said, "I'll help you look into it. Wait for my call."

"Alright."

After hanging up the phone, Song Guanchao went upstairs to Wu Qiangwei's office.

"Director Song, have some tea."

"Thank you."

After Shu Xue left, Song Guanchao relayed the information he learned in the afternoon to Wu Qiangwei.

Listening to Song Guanchao analyze the relationships among the individuals involved, Wu Qiangwei quickly formulated a plan, "Let's hold off on this matter for now. I'll first investigate Yang Gaolin's situation."

"Alright."

...

In the evening, in a private dining room, Sun Jiajun was enjoying a meal while discussing the situation of the industrial park with Zhang Yan. He also spoke of his intention to bring down Chang Hai through Wu Qiangwei.

"The industrial park..." Zhang Yan fell into a memory.

Sun Jiajun asked, "Do you think I should blow this case out of proportion? Maybe contact some media people to create some buzz?"

Zhang Yan snapped out of her memory, her eyes flickering for a few seconds before shaking her head, "Don't act impulsively."

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