Chapter 560

Chapter 560 Internal Strife Among the Top Brass!

God knows how much force Su Rui put into that slap,but it landed heavily on Wang Guangming’s face,sending him tumbling and flying several meters before crashing down at the far end of the stage!

Daring to openly strike someone in the city government’s auditorium in front of over a thousand people,and the target being the industry elite who had just been selected,Su Rui was truly one of a kind!

Wang Guangming lay sprawled on the ground like a dead dog,his entire head buzzing and ringing,as if countless little bees were swarming inside!

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth,and several blood-stained teeth were scattered across the floor,all knocked out by Su Rui’s single slap!

Seeing Wang Guangming beaten to such a state,nearly everyone present froze in collective shock!

Even many of the city leaders,who had seen their share of storms,were completely at a loss for a reaction!

People had seen the arrogant and domineering,but never anyone this brazen to the point of breaking through the sky!

“Turns out he can’t take a hit.”

Su Rui shook his head,his gaze already ice-cold.

This Wang Guangming had nearly cost him the little sister he had been separated from for years,so how could Su Rui possibly let him off?

Letting someone like this become one of Ninghai’s elite workers was an absolute disgrace to that honorable title!

Su Rui grabbed Wang Guangming by the collar and drove a kick straight into his stomach!

That kick sent the man curling in on himself,launching him from one end of the stage to the other!

On the way down,he slammed headfirst into the podium,immediately splitting his head open and losing consciousness!

Ye Binglan finally arrived at this moment,and as she watched Su Rui standing there with cold composure,her eyes flickered with emotion.

In this world,besides her parents,who else would care for her like this?

Only him! This brother she had been separated from for nearly twenty years!

Only this brother who shared no blood relation with her!

At that moment,Ye Binglan couldn’t help but feel her breath quicken,her heart filled with an emotion called “being moved”!

Seeing Su Rui openly strike someone,Mayor Duan Qingfeng slammed the table hard and shouted at Su Rui: “What do you think you’re doing?”

In this mayor’s eyes,Su Rui’s actions were a direct provocation against him!

“You shut up first,I’m only here to get justice for myself,bystanders are not to interfere!” Su Rui raised one hand and pointed directly at Duan Qingfeng from across the room!

Being pointed at and berated like this was an absolute first for Duan Qingfeng,and his face flushed red with rage!

He was the mayor of a direct-controlled municipality,a “regional overlord” that countless people coveted but could never attain,yet today he had actually been called a “bystander”!

After warning Duan Qingfeng,Su Rui walked back over to Wang Guangming who was still sprawled on the ground and delivered another heavy kick,this time to his ribs!

With that kick,all the ribs on his left side snapped,and his body flew far through the air like a cannonball,carrying tremendous force!

And the direction Wang Guangming flew toward was precisely the front row where the city leaders were seated!

Since the tables and chairs in the auditorium were bolted to the floor with screws,Wang Guangming’s body didn’t knock them over,but instead… shattered them completely!

Even Mao Dongsheng and another deputy mayor were knocked to the ground by the impact,tumbling into a pile of broken wood,utterly stripped of any dignity,in a most wretched state!

Something like this happening inside the city government was practically on par with a terrorist incident!

“Where are the police,where are the officers on duty?” Duan Qingfeng shouted.

No one responded. Everyone had stood up by now,but no one dared to rush forward and stop Su Rui.

After all,looking at the way he carried himself,it was truly terrifying,casually kicking a man weighing well over a hundred jin several meters through the air,who would dare step up and court disaster?

“Why isn’t city bureau chief Chen Zhishan here? He’ll have to answer for this when I get back!” Duan Qingfeng shouted without any regard for his image! He didn’t even bother calling him “Chief Chen” anymore!

In fact,Chen Zhishan,as the Ninghai city bureau chief,also served concurrently as a standing committee member of the Ninghai municipal party committee,a position not much lower than Duan Qingfeng’s,yet the latter considered himself the supreme authority in Ninghai and had no regard whatsoever for Chen Zhishan,the easygoing old-timer who was about to step back from the front line.

Casually demanding that a standing committee-level leader answer for himself,Duan Qingfeng really did have an inflated sense of his own importance.

“I’m right here.”

At that moment,Chen Zhishan’s voice suddenly came from the back door of the auditorium!

He had practically been “dragged” here by Luo Feiliang and had no desire to stick his neck out for Su Rui,but hearing Duan Qingfeng speak so disrespectfully about him in his absence,even the easygoing Chen Zhishan felt a surge of anger rise within him!

If he hadn’t shown up today,he would surely become the laughingstock of the entire Ninghai officialdom after the meeting!

“I’m here,I wonder what instructions Mayor Duan has for me?” Chen Zhishan’s face was dark as iron,and though his words toward Duan Qingfeng carried a formal tone of respect,there was not a shred of genuine deference behind them!

Under normal circumstances,this kind of scene would never have played out with Chen Zhishan!

“Chief Chen,you’ve come at just the right time,quickly have your people subdue this thug and take him away for questioning!”

Seeing Chen Zhishan appear,Duan Qingfeng showed no awkwardness whatsoever,simply switching his form of address without missing a beat,since they still had a year or two of working together ahead of them,and making things too hostile would be bad for everyone.

“Thug? I’d like to know where exactly Mayor Duan sees a thug in me?”

Su Rui stepped down from the stage one step at a time,looking at the pot-bellied Duan Qingfeng,a cold smile playing at the corner of his mouth: “Without asking for any facts,you want the police to take me away for questioning,is that really what you should be saying as the mayor of a city?”

“What a sharp-tongued fellow!”

Duan Qingfeng returned Su Rui’s cold smile: “I have no interest in arguing anything with you,the facts are plain for all to see,Chief Chen,have your people take him away for me now!”

Chen Zhishan turned and glanced at Luo Feiliang,still saying nothing.

“Daring to openly cause a scene at the advanced deeds commendation meeting,this kind of situation must be dealt with seriously!” Duan Qingfeng waved his hand,showing absolutely no intention of letting the party secretary Huang Borong beside him get a word in,and issued a clean,direct order to Chen Zhishan!

Seeing that Chen Zhishan was still standing in place without any movement,he couldn’t help but feel some dissatisfaction.

“Chief Chen,your subordinate has been beaten into serious injury,shouldn’t you as the bureau chief take a position? Why haven’t you detained the suspect yet?” Duan Qingfeng was extremely displeased.

A mayor openly reprimanding a standing committee member in front of over a thousand people was a rare sight even across the entire officialdom of China.

“Mayor Duan,I believe this matter needs to be investigated before any conclusions can be drawn,making a decision right now is a bit premature.” Chen Zhishan felt Luo Feiliang’s gaze from behind him,cleared his throat,and actually pushed back against Duan Qingfeng’s words!

Under normal circumstances,this kind of thing would absolutely never happen with Chen Zhishan!

“Chief Chen,what do you mean by that? A criminal suspect forces his way into the city government,assaults Ninghai police bureau’s elite worker,causing serious injury and unconsciousness,does something like this really need an investigation?”

Duan Qingfeng was practically bursting with rage,Chen Zhishan actually dared to show him up like this in front of so many people,he really had gone senile!

Mao Dongsheng’s expression was also very ugly. His daughter had finally found a partner,only to have him beaten into serious injury like this. Looking at the viciousness of Su Rui’s blows,there was no telling what lasting damage might remain,and from the looks of things now,it seemed his daughter’s marriage prospects were going to fall through again!

Without even pausing to think,he said with a dark expression: “I strongly agree with Mayor Duan’s words. As for this kind of thug,I genuinely cannot understand why the Ninghai city bureau has not immediately put a stop to his violent behavior.”

Su Rui glanced at Wang Guangming on the ground and let out a cold laugh: “You so-called city leaders haven’t even gotten the facts straight,yet here you all are making blind decisions one after another. No wonder Ninghai’s economic growth has slowed and the people’s happiness index has dropped significantly over these past few years,it seems that’s all your responsibility.”

When it came to trading verbal blows,the thousand-odd people present combined were no match for Su Rui!

However,Su Rui had come today to deal with someone,not to trade words!

He cast a cold sideways glance at Duan Qingfeng,then grabbed Wang Guangming,who had been beaten like a dead dog,with one hand: “I’m taking him with me today,I’d like to see who can stop me.”

Duan Qingfeng then shouted: “I’d like to see who dares let him walk out of here!”

But he was only shouting,since even the city bureau’s people weren’t following his orders,who else would dare stand in Su Rui’s way?

Su Rui looked at this mayor of Ninghai,cold light flickering in his gaze.

“Mayor Duan,let’s not get worked up just yet,I also think this matter needs to be fully understood before any decision is made.” At this moment,party secretary Huang Borong suddenly spoke up.

This party secretary,who had kept such a low profile he had practically faded into the background,had not said a single word the entire time,to the point where people had almost forgotten he was there! Yet the moment he opened his mouth,he was clearly siding with Su Rui and Chen Zhishan!

Huang Borong appeared to be only in his forties,yet had already become Ninghai’s top official,which made it obvious he had considerable influence in certain areas.

But Duan Qingfeng wasn’t buying any of it,and he looked coldly at Huang Borong: “Secretary Huang,I don’t agree with your view,the way he’s been hitting people is already an open violation of the law and a disruption of social stability.”

He paused for a moment,then continued: “And furthermore,the person he assaulted is the Ninghai top ten elite worker we had just selected,do you really think this kind of behavior still warrants careful consideration?”

Huang Borong smiled: “Mayor Duan,why don’t we hear what this young man has to say,perhaps there are significant hidden circumstances involved? On another note,I personally have never believed from start to finish that this selection of the top ten elite workers was conducted under fair,open,and transparent oversight,the traces of human manipulation in certain areas are far too obvious.”

At that,he cast a meaningful glance at standing committee member Mao Dongsheng,his implication clear.

Regardless of the circumstances,it was entirely inappropriate for a party secretary to say something like this on such an occasion,and Huang Borong,who had become Ninghai’s top official at such a young age,couldn’t possibly lack the intelligence to know that,which meant the only explanation for his behavior was this — he was no longer prepared to keep a low profile!

Once this key point clicked into place,nearly everyone present reached the same conclusion at the same time — there was a good show to watch!

The Ninghai party secretary and mayor expressing different views on the same matter at the same time and in the same place,wasn’t that entertaining enough?

Su Rui took a long look at Huang Borong,and couldn’t help but think of the black sedan that had picked up Huang Jingwei from Ninghai train station.

“I think,let me be the one to explain this matter.” Luo Feiliang stepped forward.

“Nonsense! Who are you? What gives you the right to speak up here?”

Duan Qingfeng said in a furious rage.

“Allow me to introduce myself,my name is Luo Feiliang,currently serving as deputy chief of the Ninghai city bureau.” Luo Feiliang glanced at Su Rui,then shifted his gaze back to Duan Qingfeng’s face.

“Everyone here holds a principal position in their respective units,is it your place to speak?”

One really couldn’t fault Duan Qingfeng for his lack of manners,because this had always been his tone and manner of speaking.

Luo Feiliang didn’t mind in the least,and said with an expressionless face: “Before coming to Ninghai,I also held another position,that of the director of the Fourth Division of Major Cases under State Security.”