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Chapter 20: Director Ma's Choice
Four beams of light pierced the pitch-black night as two cars came to a stop, one after the other, their bright headlights shining directly onto the large silver iron gate across from them. A searchlight from the guard tower illuminated the area, and a duty soldier raised his 95-type automatic rifle equipped with an optical sight. Upon seeing the police markings on the vehicles, he swiftly lowered his weapon and resumed his post.
Officer Huang stood outside the security line waiting. Ten minutes earlier, he had called the detention center's Director Ma. The viewing window on the gate opened, revealing a shiny face peering out to look around. Once the gate opened, Director Ma stepped out and warmly shook Officer Huang's hand, saying, "Thank you for your hard work."
Officer Huang saluted and pointed to the police car behind him, saying, "Director Ma, just put a few people inside; you can find any excuse to release them tomorrow afternoon."
"Alright, alright," Director Ma replied as he led Officer Huang inside. It had been a while since they last met, so it was a good opportunity to catch up and have a deeper exchange. The soldiers who followed Director Ma assisted in escorting the suspects out of the car. Liu Fangfei stood still for a moment and looked up; this place felt so familiar to her. She never expected that after two months, she would once again find herself locked up here.
Officer Huang had arrived at Matang Town Detention Center. Due to historical reasons, Beilan County used this detention center, and Nanlan County did as well. Fortunately, both counties had good public order, so there was no pressure on the detention center.
Since it was only temporary detention, Zhang Qiu, Zhao Pingchuan, Song Weidong, Jiang Xue, Liu Fangfei, and Rui Rui were all locked up together without registration or interrogation; no one paid them any attention. Zhang Qiu grabbed the arm of the police officer escorting him and shouted, "Why haven't we been interrogated? Why are we locked up?"
The officer shook off Zhang Qiu's arm and threatened him with a baton before stepping back and locking the door behind him. The room was instantly plunged into darkness. Fortunately, this cell was treated specially; it only contained these few people. Liu Fangfei was the angriest; as a high-ranking official's daughter, she exclaimed angrily, "I can't believe it! The issues at the grassroots level are still so severe!"
"Sister, calm down. We'll be out tomorrow; we can take revenge afterward," Zhang Qiu said, knowing that getting angry wouldn't help. He tried to comfort Liu Fangfei; he was just as frustrated himself. He had come out for some relaxation but ended up in this situation. Such precious vacation time was now ruined. Moreover, he had planned to meet Zhao Grandpa Pingchuan tonight; now being locked up here meant he could only break that promise. This whole ordeal would cost him dearly; Zhang Qiu silently vowed to find everyone responsible once he got out.
In the darkness, Song Weidong spoke up: "I'm sorry to everyone; I know today's events stem from me. Tonight's incident is probably targeted at me; I've dragged everyone down with me."
"Wei Dong, what are you talking about? We're brothers; how can I not care when my brother is in trouble? Don't worry; whoever is after you, I'm willing to stand by your side," Zhang Qiu reassured him.
"Thank you," Song Weidong said with a hint of emotion in his voice. In times of hardship, true feelings are revealed; how many people can genuinely do this? He felt fortunate to have encountered one.
The room in the detention center was pitch black. Considering safety, Zhang Qiu suggested they sit together. They formed a large circle with their backs against each other; it wasn't too hot and provided a sense of security.
After an unknown amount of time passed, footsteps echoed outside. To those inside the dark room, it sounded terrifying. Jiang Xue instinctively tightened her grip on Zhang Qiu's arm as he furrowed his brow at the sounds outside. The noise didn't seem like that of men but rather sounded like high heels clicking against the floor. The sound echoed repeatedly in the empty corridor.
"Brother Qiu, what is that?" Zhao Pingchuan asked curiously as well; the sound reverberated but did not approach them. It reminded him of those Hong Kong horror movies he used to watch.
Zhang Qiu called out loudly: "It's nothing; who cares what it is? Let's stick together and look after each other."
His words provided temporary reassurance until some more time passed and the sounds finally faded away. Exhausted from their tension, everyone gradually fell into a deep sleep while leaning against one another for support. Only Song Weidong remained awake with his eyes open; he wondered what his father was doing and if he knew about his situation—whether he was facing threats again.
This was a windowless dark room where personal belongings were confiscated; apart from their clothes, they had nothing else on them and lost track of time inside. Zhang Qiu could see a sliver of light coming through the iron door's bars and judged that it must be dawn already.
Everyone gradually woke up, stretching and complaining about the uncomfortable sleep. Zhang Qiu smiled and said, "It's good that we could sleep at all. After all, we’ve been through a lot. Just wait, today Bai will definitely let us go, and then we can have a good sleep outside."
"But Brother Qiu, I'm hungry."
"Zhang Qiu, me too."
"Me too..."
Zhang Qiu sighed, "I’m hungry as well."
Just as Zhang Qiu was calling out about their hunger, the iron door creaked open, and everyone perked up, thinking it might be breakfast.
The door swung open to reveal a man in a light blue shirt and a wide-brimmed hat, swaggering in with two stripes and three four-pointed stars on his shoulders. Director Ma took a closer look and was instantly shocked.
After sending off Huang Hou from the Ancient City District Police Station last night, Director Ma went to rest. Before sleeping, he patted a yellowed envelope that Huang had given him and fell into a deep slumber. In the morning, as usual, Director Ma planned to inspect the Prison Area to check on the few "prisoners" Huang had locked up. He was curious about what could have happened at night that warranted locking someone up only to release them the next day. When he saw that Zhang Qiu and Liu Fangfei were among those captured, Director Ma wished he could slap himself. Why hadn’t he thought to check on them last night?
The bright light made Zhang Qiu and the others squint their eyes. After adjusting for a moment, Zhang Qiu stood up to face Director Ma and said, "You must be the Director here?"
"Director Ma, long time no see. I don't know why you brought me in again," Liu Fangfei interjected before Director Ma could respond, standing beside Zhang Qiu with an impolite tone.
Sweat beads formed on Director Ma's forehead as he quickly left the dark room without saying a word. The iron door slammed shut behind him, plunging the room back into darkness. Zhang Qiu and Liu Fangfei exchanged glances; what did this Director Ma mean by closing the door?
Director Ma waved his hand, signaling for the prison guard to leave while he paced back and forth in place. After stepping into a quiet empty room, Director Ma took out his phone and dialed Wang Guodong's number. Just before pressing call, his finger hesitated above the screen. He then canceled the call and flipped through his contacts to dial He Jun's number instead.
When Director Ma returned to the dark room again, his attitude had completely changed. He warmly shook Zhang Qiu's hand and exclaimed, "Zhang Qiu! I've heard so much about you!" He then smiled and nodded at Liu Fangfei, saying, "Liu Journalist is here too! Come on, let’s talk in my office."
Liu Fangfei teased, "So Director Ma isn’t going to keep us anymore?"
"It’s all a misunderstanding! No more detainment! Let’s go!" Director Ma shook his head vigorously like a rattle drum. The prison guards watching from afar were astonished. What was going on with Director Ma? Who were these people that had been locked up for several nights?
Director Ma warmly ushered everyone out, but it was clear that his focus was primarily on Zhang Qiu and Liu Fangfei. Especially with Liu Fangfei; his attitude was almost servile. As he watched them leave the Prison Area, Director Ma finally breathed a sigh of relief; thankfully they didn’t cause any trouble or refuse to leave; otherwise, his political career would be over.
During his conversation with He Jun from the Beilan County Public Security Bureau, He Jun mentioned that there were forces from the Province backing Liu Fangfei and that they must not be neglected. Director Ma had sensed this during Wang Guodong's tenure from Wang Guodong's and Zhou Guanghai's attitudes towards Liu Fangfei. His conversation with He Jun confirmed his suspicions further. This was someone he couldn’t afford to offend. He had locked her up for no reason for an entire night; if she pursued this matter...
Director Ma dared not think further; his legs trembled slightly but he steadied himself. At times like this, panicking was not an option; everything needed to be handled in a normal manner.
"Please, everyone sit down and take a break here." As soon as they entered the office, Director Ma immediately invited everyone to sit on the sofa, personally pouring two cups of water—one for Liu Fangfei and one for Zhang Qiu. He then told the others, "There are more cups over there; if anyone is thirsty, feel free to help yourselves."
Zhang Qiu said, "Director Ma, I'm not going to be polite with you. We're all starving; can you think of a way to solve this?"
Director Ma was momentarily taken aback but quickly smiled, "Alright, alright." He then picked up the black telephone on the desk and called the cafeteria to send food to the office.
"Oh dear, everyone suffered last night," Director Ma said awkwardly, rubbing his hands together. "Don't worry; I've already called the cafeteria, and breakfast will be here soon."
"Director Ma, regarding what happened last night, I think you owe us an explanation."
As soon as Liu Fangfei spoke up, the topic was immediately brought up. Zhao Pingchuan chimed in loudly, "On what grounds were we taken and locked up for a whole night?"
"Exactly! What law did we break?" Rui Rui added from the side.
Director Ma looked at the group in front of him who seemed ready to devour him alive, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. This situation was troublesome; they had arrested people without proper investigation. Sighing, he thought it was his fault for having done this several times without issue before—who knew this time would hit a nerve? One was the nephew of the Director of the Beilan County Public Security Bureau, and another was a powerful journalist in the province. What could he do?
Director Ma frowned and explained, "I was also kept in the dark about this matter."
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