Lu Guohui did not dare to look at Li Rui and avoided his gaze with a bitter expression. No one knew what he was thinking about.
Li Rui continued, "If that's what you're thinking, then you're gravely mistaken. Firstly, if you want to take responsibility for this, then you can forget about reducing your sentence as long as I'm in Shuanghe City. Secondly, you have to consider that you will lose your job the moment you serve your sentence. Naturally, your family is wealthy, but do you not care about your family's reputation? In the future, when your children grow up, they might be affected by your sentence. Thirdly, if you expose Su Tao, I can guarantee that he won't be able to take revenge on you because he won't be able to take care of himself. I can even help you to speak to the judge. Since you've confessed, you might be acquitted or even given a suspended sentence. Why don't you consider it carefully? "
Lu Guohui looked at Li Rui in doubt and said, "County Magistrate Li, don't try to fool me. I'm in the County Government, and I know that you're only an ordinary County Magistrate, while Mr. Su is a County Magistrate. If the two of you really want to go at it, you won't be able to win against him."
Li Rui smiled. Since Li Rui had said that, didn't that mean that Su Tao was the mastermind behind this matter? "Right now, I'm not fighting Su Tao alone. Su Tao's actions are equivalent to going against the entire Shuanghe County. He's attacking the county committee and endangering all the county leaders. The County Committee Secretary, the County Head, and the other members of the County Committee are my powerful backing. So many of us can't win against him alone."
Lu Guohui looked at Li Rui with sympathy and asked, "Who told you that you're harming all the leaders of the County?"
Ma Ruoxi, who was at the side, understood Lu Guohui's expression and connected the dots. She immediately understood and patted Li Rui's back. "That Su guy is only harming you! You've said it yourself, you're in charge of the West Mine Village incident. If this matter gets out of hand, for example, if our newspaper publishes the article that I wanted to write tomorrow and the leaders of Shannan Province see it, the province will definitely send people to investigate level by level. When they find out that you're in charge of this incident in Shuanghe County, you'll have to take the blame. Think about it, do you still have a good son? "
Lu Guohui looked at Ma Ruoxi in shock and admiration. His mouth was wide open, and he was just short of saying 'You're smart!'. However, he didn't say anything.
When Li Rui heard Ma Ruoxi's words, he was dumbfounded and looked at her in disbelief. "What you said makes sense, but I still don't dare to believe it. How could I have such a huge grudge with Su Tao? Why would he scheme against me?"
Ma Ruoxi shrugged and said, "You'll have to ask yourself."
Long Baoyu said angrily, "Isn't that Su Tao the guy who called me your secretary in the village government compound yesterday? Is he taking revenge on you because of that small incident?"
Li Rui shook his head and said, "No, definitely not. That small matter is not worth the risk for him to deal with me."
Lu Guohui suddenly interrupted: "County Magistrate Li, this is what you said. I didn't say anything."
Li Rui looked at him impatiently and said, "Are you still not going to tell the truth? You don't have to care if I can win against Su Tao in an arm wrestle. I'm just asking if you want to confess. It's fine if you don't confess. I'll get Political Commissar Gao and the rest to check your phone records. There must be a record of your calls with Su Tao, right? We'll ask you what you said in each call before matching it with Su Tao. If it doesn't match, then you can just wait to go to jail! Just the possession of the detonators can get you three years in jail. There's also creating a riot, inciting the public to attack the government, disrupting social order, and so on. It won't be a problem for you to get ten years in jail. How about it? Are you going to confess? If not, I'm leaving. You won't have the chance to confess. "
When Lu Guohui heard this ultimatum, he finally felt afraid. Perhaps he also felt that Li Rui and the others had already guessed the result, so there was no point in him hiding it anymore. He gritted his teeth and began to tell the truth. "Okay, I'll tell you. Yesterday, County Magistrate Su went to Guyang Village early in the morning to take charge of the overall situation. Later on, the county magistrate sent you there. After you went there, you may have overshadowed him in terms of words and deeds. Later on, you even took away his power. He was very angry and wanted you to make a mistake in the West Mine Village collapse incident. Then, he would make a big deal out of it and finally reasonably oust you from office. Then, he would be able to get his revenge. His idea was for me to find someone to create an explosion in Xiguan Village and fake another collapse. Then, he would incite the villagers to come to the county to make a ruckus. Then, he would post this incident on the internet to create public opinion and attract the attention of the provincial and municipal leaders. When they investigate the person responsible, County Magistrate Li will be in trouble. "
"Do you know Peng Liang?" Ma Ruoxi suddenly asked.
"No, who is he?" Lu Guohui was baffled.
Shaking her head, Ma Ruoxi whispered to Li Rui, "He wasn't the one who told our Chief Editor. It should be Su Tao."
Li Rui nodded his head. Peng Liang should be Ma Ruoxi's Chief Editor, and Peng Liang didn't find out about the incident in the West Mine Village from the internet. Someone must have told him about it. Since Lu Guohui didn't know Peng Liang, then it should be Su Tao who told Peng Liang about it. Only the two of them had a personal relationship would Peng Liang give Ma Ruoxi the task of writing a thesis. He then asked Lu Guohui, "Why didn't you send a letter to the provincial leader's mailbox? Why didn't you send a letter to the Municipal Party Committee's mailbox?"
Lu Guohui honestly replied, "County Magistrate Su told me that you have some connections in the city since you're from the Municipal Party Committee. So even if you sent a letter to the municipal leader's mailbox, someone would suppress it for you. So there's no need for you to send a letter to the municipal leader's mailbox."
Li Rui sneered. Su Tao was truly a meticulous person to even think about this. How good would it be if Su Tao could put his thoughts into his work? He then asked, "Does Su Tao know that you've been arrested?"
Shaking his head, Lu Guohui was depressed. But he soon thought of something and cheered himself up, "County Magistrate Li, I've already confessed, so you have to be lenient with me. I'm just a worker, and I don't have any enmity with you. Your real enemy is County Magistrate Su. "
Li Rui replied, "I will. Just wait for it. I'll do what I say." He then gave Ma Ruoxi an eye signal before he called Long Baoyu and left.
When they came out, it was already evening. Li Rui met up with Gao Jianxin and told him that Lu Guohui had already called Su Tao out.
Gao Jianxin was shocked when he heard it. Even if he had already guessed that Su Tao might be involved in this matter, he never expected that Su Tao would be the mastermind. Su Tao was truly cunning to come up with such a brilliant scheme. If it wasn't for Li Rui's warning, he would have already fallen for it. He asked with concern, "What do you intend to do about County Magistrate Su?"
Li Rui faintly replied, "Since he's trying to harm me, how can I be polite with him?"
"Yeah, kill him!" Long Baoyu chimed in.
Raising her hand, Ma Ruoxi pushed him and reprimanded, "Don't talk nonsense. What kind of occasion is this?"
Long Baoyu innocently looked at her. "What kind of occasion is this? How am I talking nonsense? "
Li Rui was also helpless against Long Baoyu's tiredness. Fortunately, Gao Jianxin wasn't an outsider, so he wasn't afraid that Gao Jianxin would laugh at him. He turned to the three of them and said, "Wait a moment, I'll go make a call."
He walked to the bottom of the stairs and walked ten-odd meters to the west before he found a secluded place and gave a call to Mayor Yu Heping. He did not intend to trouble his boss, Song Chaoyang, with regards to Su Tao's scheme. Instead, he would look for Yu Heping and get Yu Heping to deal with Su Tao.
The call was quickly picked up by Yu Heping's secretary, Liu Tianlong. He and Li Rui could be considered old acquaintances. When he heard that Li Rui was looking for Yu Heping, he did not ask what was going on and directly handed the phone to Yu Heping.
Li Rui did not bother to exchange greetings with Yu Heping and immediately told him about Su Tao's actions. When he was done, he said in an aggrieved tone, "Mayor Yu, you have to help me with this matter. If you don't, then I can only look for someone else who can."
Yu Heping chuckled and asked, "Let me ask you first, Li Rui. Why didn't you look for Song Chaoyang after such a thing happened? Wouldn't it be better to let him help you? "
Li Rui replied, "Isn't Su Tao your subordinate? I have to take care of your feelings."
Yu Heping laughed again when he heard that and said, "It's rare for you to think like that. Alright, since you're taking care of my face, then I'll take care of yours today. Tell me, how do you want me to deal with Su Tao? "
Li Rui said, "According to his actions, he should be removed from his position. But if we take him down, I'm afraid that it will cause a chain of changes in our Shuanghe Province. Right now, the county has to help the poor, attract investors, and deal with the Xinguang Village incident. It's not good for there to be any changes in the upper management. As for me, I don't want to leave a bad reputation for fighting with my colleagues. How about this, give him a warning and punish him according to party discipline. "
Yu Heping was shocked when he heard that and said, "A warning is the lowest level of punishment. Su Tao almost got you removed from your position. You're letting him off so easily?"
Li Rui smiled and said, "I didn't get removed from my position, so I didn't suffer any losses. So a warning is enough for Su Tao. I also want to use this opportunity to tell him that I have never treated him as an enemy and ask him not to target me in the future. I'm going to Shuanghe to do my business, not to fight for fame and fortune. "
Yu Heping sighed in admiration when he heard that and clicked his tongue, "What a broad mind. Xiao Rui, I've underestimated you in the past. You're different from us. You're not a fish in a pond! Now that I think about the ridiculous things I did to you in the past, I'm embarrassed! You ah, please forgive me. "
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