Chapter 45 The Reality of the Small Town

  In this small town, there has always been a habit that is not a good one. Whenever people encounter something that needs to be solved, especially when it involves official matters, the first thing they think of is to find an acquaintance, pull strings, or spend money to see if they can settle the matter. Si Ma, who had several years of work experience in government agencies, could only place his hopes on this aspect and see if he could use money to resolve the issue.

  Simar had some dealings with some small town public security bureau officials when he worked in the government, but they were all superficial relationships. Simar also knew that if he went to find someone rashly, he might be taken as a scapegoat by some people who made a living from this.

  Knocked to nothing, I'm afraid that when the time comes, even if you want to get things done, no one will help you. Moreover, for them, someone like Sima with a huge fortune of unknown origin is the easiest to knock down. If a case is filed, I'm afraid no one will plead injustice for Sima, let alone anyone coming forward to investigate who knocked him down.

  Although he was not familiar with the people in Xiaocheng Public Security Bureau, it did not mean that there were no friends around Sima who were familiar with the people in Xiaocheng Public Security Bureau. In the end, Sima pinned all his hopes on an old colleague of his own. Although the relationship between him and this old colleague was ordinary, Sima really had no one to trust at present.

  Although the small town is a small town in the central region, various entertainment venues and restaurants are not much worse than some big cities, at least in terms of consumption. These high-end restaurants and high-consumption places in the small town face customers from various government agencies and people who entertain these agency staff for business purposes. Ordinary citizens rarely get involved in such places.

  When night falls, in front of the high-end restaurants in the small town, all kinds of cars are parked densely, from high-end to low-end, just like a car show. If someone understands the license plate issuance program of the small town and has a good understanding of the license plates, they can tell who is eating inside by looking at the license plates. Of course, among these vehicles, there are also some cars that belong to powerful organs with special license plates.

  These cars are particularly eye-catching among a stack of cars because they have special colors painted on their bodies.

  "How about it, Old Zhang? Do you think there's still room for maneuvering in this matter?"

  In a luxurious private room in this restaurant in Xiaocheng, Ma Weiguo was excited while toasting.

  "This old colleague of yours is really hard to deal with! You know, the current director just came down from above, his eyes are fixed on big cases, and he's eager to use them to get promoted. It's not easy to get him to loosen up."

  A middle-aged man in casual clothes sitting on the main seat said that he didn't want to come at first, but after all, the old horse in front of him was his old comrade-in-arms for many years. If he didn't come, wouldn't it be a loss of face for him and make their comradeship awkward?

  "Haha! Others don't know, but I didn't know you either, Old Zhang. You're also a man of your word at the Public Security Bureau in this small town. Just help me out on this one and save my face. My colleague is indeed quite unlucky, he came down after just a few years on the job, then sold some antique family heirlooms to start a business, but now he's gotten himself into this kind of trouble."

  As Old Zhang's comrade-in-arms for many years, Ma Weiguo naturally knew what his old comrade was thinking about now. If he didn't want to eat this bowl of rice, it would be strange, but he was also afraid of getting into trouble. After all, this case was led by the director. Just as they were toasting again, Ma Weiguo slipped a bank card between the napkin and handed it over from the table.

  "I heard you've got a new grandson at home, this is just someone's little heart's desire."

  Ma Weiguo said in a low voice

  Although he didn't know how much money was on the card, Old Zhang thought for a moment and then wiped the sweat from his forehead with a napkin. He naturally put the napkin into his pocket. Although there were only two people in the private room, after putting away the bank card, Old Zhang closed his eyes for a few dozen seconds as if resting to sober up from the wine.

  "Actually, from the very beginning when this case was filed, two deputy directors were opposed to it. Our small city may look poor, but in reality, there are many people with money, and everyone knows that not many of them can explain where their money comes from. If he had succeeded in killing the case, I'm afraid the whole city would have been in danger. Later, it was the head of the bureau who insisted on pursuing it, after all, it's a huge case involving hundreds of millions. But compared to other people in our small city, that kid is quite pitiful. What's the use of our sympathy? I'll help you take another look later. After all, we've been friends for many years."

  Ma Weiguo listened to Old Zhang's words and savored the meaning behind them, discovering that although Old Zhang hadn't explicitly stated it, he had already conveyed his intention fairly clearly.

  "Let's do it this way first. I'll go help you get through to those two deputy directors. Let's put some pressure on them first. Then we'll..."

  A small conspiracy was thus completed on the phone between two people.

  The small town, due to its central location, is not economically developed. In the past, it was also involved in a nationwide collective corruption case and several subsequent malicious incidents, making it a media focus. Many outsiders first heard of the small town because of these incidents, so that the small town is often equated with corruption and other negative terms.

  However, the small town does have its dark side. On the surface, it appears to be very poor, but in reality, there are a considerable number of wealthy individuals who live there. These people are often prominent figures in the town, and their success is largely due to certain policies and obscure opportunities that are not entirely transparent. In the small town, the unglamorous pasts of these self-made men are an open secret, but few people dare to mention them because sometimes there are lines that cannot be crossed.

  However, the small town that was originally very stable now seems to have a storm brewing. As an unknown person who has just become rich and hasn't even entered the circle of wealthy people in the small town, Sima received several phone calls from various influential people in the town over the past few days. These people were all leaders in their respective industries, and in the past, Sima had never had any dealings with them.

  They expressed their anger towards the new director's actions without any reserve on the phone, while also expressing their sympathy for Sima. Another layer of meaning is to reassure Sima that it is impossible for the upper circle in the small town to just watch an outsider bully their own people like this.

  In their view, this new director can use the excuse that Sima may have participated in the sale of antiques to conduct a thorough investigation into Sima's property sources. If this matter is opened, it will be too late for them to regret it later. At this time, protecting Sima is actually protecting themselves.

  If it is said that dozens of businessmen will have an impact on the government's decision-making, probably no one would believe it. However, if it is said that dozens of provincial and municipal people's congress representatives have no impact on the government's decision-making, probably no one would believe it either. In fact, not only these people, but even after the case of Sima's property source was exposed, some people within the government also felt a sense of crisis.

  Although the Public Security Bureau does not have the power to handle property cases, they can completely use other excuses to investigate you thoroughly. At that time, I'm afraid the few secrets in this small town will... Moreover, there are too many open or semi-open secrets in this small town. Originally, no one dared to touch this bottom line, but once someone wants to touch it, everyone will be finished. What does "unite against a common enemy" mean? Look at what is called the upper class circle in this small town now and you'll know what it means.

  Most of the time, those people with unclear sources of their items in hand would donate part of them to the country under the name of personal collection or family heirloom, then let the country identify the rest of the items in hand, and finally get an appraisal certificate from the national authority department, so that these items are completely laundered.

  Simar, following the usual procedure, arrived at the Cultural Relics Management Office of a small town. When expressing his willingness to donate two Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelain pieces that had been collected by his family for over half a century to the country, the office naturally first acknowledged Simar's noble patriotic sentiment and then confirmed his actions. Under the witness of TV stations and representatives of the small town government, the two Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelain pieces, valued at millions, which had been treasured by Simar's family for over half a century, were donated to the country.

  The people of the small town, through the introduction on TV, only then did some old folks slowly recall that this Sima family was also a prominent household in their hometown years ago, until after the founding of the country and land reform, their family fortunes declined, but a dead camel is bigger than a horse.

  As a big family for centuries, there are some things in the house that ordinary families don't have. In order to prevent these artworks from being destroyed by the rebel soldiers and generals, Sima's grandfather hid them in the underground of the old mansion's courtyard.

  With two pieces of Yuan dynasty blue and white porcelain worth tens of millions, Sima successfully made the government acknowledge a fact: these porcelains were collected by his grandfather years ago to prevent them from being destroyed by small soldiers and generals. It was only after his grandfather's death that he revealed this matter.

  According to this official statement, the ceramics sold by Sima are all from his own collection, and their origin is absolutely legitimate. Didn't the news on Xiaocheng TV say so? Didn't the number one or two leaders of Xiaocheng also say so? Didn't the certificate issued by the state confirm that Grandpa Sima had devoted his heart and soul to protecting precious cultural relics?

  When the expert from the National Cultural Relics Bureau finished appraising the two Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelain pieces and issued a certificate to Sima, everything came to an end.

  Originally, he just wanted to follow the vine and touch the melon, but the new director who broke the big case knew that as soon as he saw those small town leaders huddled together, the Sima case would be over soon. If anything, it was his own fault for not considering thoroughly and completely ignoring the reality of the small town, touching on some people's sensitive nerves.

  When the head of the local government received a notice that a donation ceremony was being held in the town hall, he knew that this was an opportunity for those so-called "face-saving" people to give themselves an excuse. Face is given mutually, they sell themselves an excuse, and now they just follow the excuse they gave themselves and go down the slope. There's no need to thoroughly tear his face apart as soon as he takes office in the small town.

  Simar spent two pieces of Qianqing flower worth tens of millions, and what he got in return was - the government recognized that his collection of cultural relics came from family inheritance. Also, on the day of the donation ceremony, the Public Security Bureau of Xiaocheng withdrew the special case group targeting Sima.