69novels Page 439
Page 439
Chapter 427 Peach Blossom Arrives to Join! (10,000 words, please vote!)
As a fourth-tier evil god, the whale shark may be a bit timid, but it still has a good appearance.
He was two meters tall and had long blue hair. Before, at the bottom of the lake, his hair flowed like seaweed. But after reaching the shore, due to gravity, the whale shark's hair could only stick to his face and head.
He didn't seem to care. He reached up and smoothed his messy hair, gathering it back. His long, sharp eyes held a smile as he walked ashore.
Once ashore, he seemed to sense something and quickly glanced around.
After finding nothing amiss, he turned around with a puzzled look, then, dripping water, headed away into the distance.
Seeing that, Qiu Tu slowly withdrew his "Infinite Vision" and then looked at La Riluo beside him, asking, "How about it? Want to pull off a heist?"
"Kill him, and his 'Boundless Sea of the Heart' is yours."
"I only want his 'Boundless Divine Crystal'."
Upon hearing Qiu Tu's words, La Riluo practically rolled her eyes to the sky.
She looked at Qiu Tu as if he were an idiot, and then said, "Qiu Tu, have some decency."
"I kindly tipped you off, but instead of being grateful, you tried to fool me."
"How many times have you lied to me about being the 'Lord of the Region'?"
"You want me to work for you for free?"
At this point, Larilu shook her head vigorously, "I won't fall for that."
She waved her hand at Qiu Tu without any hesitation, "You should think of a way to deal with the whale shark."
"I'm going back to recuperate now."
"Don't worry, I'll come and check on you secretly tonight after you make your move. If you die, I'll come back to collect your body."
After saying that, Larilu turned into a wisp of green smoke and disappeared from the spot.
Seeing La Riluo running so fast, Qiu Tu shook his head with a smile.
Look at my current character; I can't even fool a single person.
But it's alright. He hadn't planned to ask Larilu for help anyway. He was just teasing her on purpose.
If you want to truly win someone's heart, isn't it about constantly tugging at their emotions?
The less confident Larilu is in herself today, the more surprised and regretful she will be when she kills the whale shark tomorrow...
Thinking this, Qiu Tu glanced at the blazing sun high in the sky, then said to the air beside him, "Have 'Captain' stay close to the whale shark."
"We'll get ready to take action once the sun sets."
"Yes." Along with Qiu Tu's words, an old, dark figure responded, and then disappeared from the spot with a slight spatial distortion.
After finalizing his plan to hunt whales, Qiu Tu left "Boundless Heart Sea" to recuperate.
Turn the world upside down, and return to reality.
Qiu Tu had just taken a shower when his communicator rang.
He lay down on the bed, picked up the communicator and glanced at it; the call was from Bai Ru.
'Bai Ru? What does she want with me so late?'
Thinking this, Qiu Tu answered the call.
"Director Qiu?" A soft voice came through as soon as the call connected.
Qiu Tu had always been quite interested in Bai Ru, the widow, so his tone wasn't as stiff as when he chatted with others. Instead, he gave a soft "hmm" and then asked, "What does Deputy Director Bai want with me?"
Some time ago, perhaps to give Qiu Tu face, or perhaps because Tao Yaoyao often mentioned Bai Ru to Jiang Zhenpeng, Bai Ru was promoted one rank during the city hall's routine reshuffle, becoming the deputy director of the Civil Affairs Department.
Upon hearing Qiu Tu's words, Bai Ru whispered, "It wasn't me looking for you, Director Qiu, it was Secretary Tao."
"Secretary Tao?" Qiu Tu's eyes flickered slightly upon hearing Bai Ru's words.
Since the last time he had dinner with Committee Member Jiang, when he had Tao Yaoyao sit next to Qiu Tu and served him food and tea, even jokingly saying that the two were a perfect match, (Chapter 418)
Tao Yaoyao contacted Qiu Tu more and more frequently.
However, she usually uses her own communicator to contact Qiu Tu, so contacting Qiu Tu through Bai Ru's channels clearly indicates that this call is unusual.
'Could it be... related to Committee Member Jiang?'
Thinking this, Qiu Tu stopped smiling, then hummed in agreement and asked Bai Ru to hand the phone to Tao Yaoyao.
After answering the phone, Tao Yaoyao took two deep breaths before saying, "Qiu Tu... can you trust me?"
Upon hearing this nonsensical remark, Qiu Tu smiled and then blurted out a lie, "Of course."
It won't kill you to believe it, so why not?
Upon hearing this, Tao Yaoyao seemed to have made up her mind and said, "It's like this, Qiu Tu, could you transfer me to work for you?"
"I really can't stand my uncle anymore. I feel like he's gone crazy from being an official."
Hearing Tao Yaoyao's words, Qiu Tu's eyes remained unchanged. Instead, he patiently asked, "Yaoyao, don't rush. Tell me slowly."
Tao Yaoyao hummed in agreement, then said, "It's like this. Tonight, your investigation team arrested a group of spies from the city hall and the military. And some of them had connections with anti-government armed groups and extremist organizations, right?"
Qiu Tu hummed in agreement.
Tao Yaoyao said, "It's the end of the year now, a sensitive time. With so many people arrested, the city hall is in a state of panic."
"In addition, some big businessmen were not arrested, which affected the flow of supplies."
"Therefore, Commissioner Jiang was furious."
"He felt that he was the highest-ranking official in the entire New Territories. The Investigation Department made such a big move, yet they didn't even inform or greet him beforehand."
"This put him in a very passive position at the city hall, and his prestige was also damaged."
Qiu Tu hummed in agreement, indicating that he was listening.
Tao Yaoyao continued, "He asked me about the entire operation tonight."
"Then they believe that the mastermind behind this operation is not Deputy Director Ellie, who was pushed to the forefront, but you."
"Oh?" Qiu Tu smiled upon hearing this.
He wasn't surprised that Jiang Zhenpeng could see that.
Compared to the brainless Lin Chuan, Jiang Zhenpeng was able to barely hold on under the strong pressure from Yan Chen and Ye Mingfeng at the time, and was even secretly making his own plans.
This in itself indicates that he is not a simple person.
Tao Yaoyao, unaware of Qiu Tu's reaction, continued, "So he's planning to take revenge on you..."
Qiu Tu was slightly taken aback upon hearing this. Then he heard Tao Yaoyao continue, "I am his niece, and also his secretary. Actually... even if he planned to retaliate against you, I shouldn't have informed you."
"But... his method of revenge went too far."
"He actually wanted to take advantage of your crackdown operation to arrest too many people and temporarily withhold relief supplies for the people."
"This is the dead of winter. This could lead to a major incident. It could easily incite public outrage."
"However, he saw this as a good opportunity because he could use it to file a complaint against you, giving the state and the forces in the shelters who were dissatisfied with you an excuse to attack you and thus take you down."
Upon hearing Tao Yaoyao's words, Qiu Tu's brows furrowed into a deep frown.
His eyes kept flashing, and his brain was working at lightning speed.
After a moment, he asked, "Miss Yaoyao, what is the purpose of your call...?"
Tao Yaoyao said, "If my uncle is doing something else in the name of revenge, I probably won't tell you anything."
"But what he's doing now is truly outrageous. I tried to persuade him, but he just yelled at me."
"He even made me do it myself."
"I have no choice but to tell you this secret. I hope you can prepare in advance, and I also hope that the people of the New Territories will not suffer undeservedly because of the struggle between the two giants."
After saying that, Tao Yaoyao added, "Besides, I really don't want to stay by Committee Member Jiang's side anymore."
"Although he is my uncle, he has always treated me as a tool."
Perhaps because she had opened her heart, Tao Yaoyao simply poured out all her grievances from the past few days.
She said, "Director Qiu, I know you're handsome, very capable, and have many female confidantes. But... to be honest, I don't have any feelings for you..."
"But... Jiang Zhenpeng didn't care about any of that. He kept trying to get me into your bed and make me the link in your alliance."
“I’ve tried spending time with you during this period, but there just wasn’t any spark.”
"But if there are no feelings involved, and it's just a simple exchange of body and interests, then why can't I sell myself to you instead of letting Jiang Zhenpeng profit?"
"So, for some time now, I've been wanting to break free from Jiang Zhenpeng's control. And this incident has only solidified my resolve."
“I think he can get away with this trick for a while, but not forever. Once the state and the shelter find out, he'll be the one in trouble.”
"Therefore, I can no longer stay on his sinking ship..."
Upon hearing Tao Yaoyao's words, Qiu Tu nodded slightly and said, "Miss Yaoyao, thank you for tipping me off."
"But for your safety now, you must keep this a secret and be careful not to give anything out of the ordinary."
"I will secretly send someone to protect you."
"After this matter is over, we will find a way to transfer you from the City Hall to the Investigation Department."
Hearing Qiu Tu's promise, Tao Yaoyao finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She said, "Then I'll have to trouble Director Qiu."
Qiu Tu gave a deep "hmm" and then hung up the phone.
After hanging up the phone, Qiu Tu couldn't sleep anymore.
He put on a coat, got out of bed, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window in the lounge, looked at the night view of the New Territories outside the window, lit a cigarette, and smoked quietly.
Although he felt that something was amiss, since Tao Yaoyao had risked her life to send him the message, he definitely needed to make some preparations in advance.
Fortunately, such preparations are not difficult to make...
Thinking this, Qiu Tu stubbed out his cigarette, then took out his communicator and made a call to Fang Ming.
A moment later, the call was answered. Fang Ming, sounding a little sleepy, said, "Director, you wanted to see me?"
Qiu Tu asked, "Aren't you asleep yet?"
Fang Ming: ? ?
What could he say? He could only hum in response.
Qiu Tu said, "I need to make a phone call with Mr. Fang."
"Go find him yourself, and don't let anyone else interfere."
Upon hearing Qiu Tu's words, even though Fang Ming didn't know what had happened, he knew that there must be something very secret that his grandfather needed to do.
However, this matter might be very secretive, and Qiu Tu doesn't want anyone else to take it over.
So Fang Ming quickly agreed and got up to go find Old Master Fang.
Less than 10 minutes later, Fang Ming called.
Standing beside the cot, Qiu Tu answered the phone. Fang Lao's aged voice came from the other end, "Director Qiu? What can I do for you so late at night?"
Qiu Tu asked, "If I'm not mistaken, your five families should have their own granaries, right? How much grain is stored there?"
Qiu Tu chatted with Elder Fang for over ten minutes. After confirming that the five elders' granaries were sufficient to support the operation of the entire New Territories City for a short period, Qiu Tu hung up the phone.
However, before hanging up the phone, Qiu Tu did not agree to Fang Lao's suggestion to mobilize supplies in the past two days.
Instead, he advised Elder Fang to hold back for now and not to act rashly.
He had easily thwarted Jiang Zhenpeng's "poisonous scheme" and could have easily turned the tables on him. But... after hanging up the phone, Qiu Tu's brows remained furrowed.
Because... from the moment Tao Yaoyao called him, he felt something was off.
His relationship with the Five Elders was no secret in the New Territories. Therefore, Jiang Zhenpeng's methods were actually of little use to him.
Moreover... Qiu Tu had known Jiang Zhenpeng for a long time and had collaborated with him many times through Tao Yaoyao.
None of the three giants of the New Territories back then were simple figures.
Ye Mingfeng was promoted to vice speaker, and Yan Chen was also promoted to vice speaker. Under these circumstances, Jiang Zhenpeng was still able to put up a fight, albeit at a slight disadvantage, which in itself demonstrates his extraordinary abilities.