Qi Tongwei: Sign-in relationship started during student days

Chapter 983 Someone Offered a Favor

The meal was simple: two dishes and a soup.

For ordinary people, this is already an excellent standard of living, but for Li Yongbao, who is used to eating rich and delicious food, it tastes bland, especially in such an environment.

Li Yongbao said, "I have no appetite and can't eat. Take it away."

The young man tapped the plate with his fingernail. "This isn't like outside. If you don't eat here, you'll go hungry."

Li Yongbao stared at the young man's actions for a moment, then calmly picked up the soft spoon and began to eat, appearing reluctant.

Soon, he bit into a hard object in his rice. Judging from the texture, it was a rolled-up piece of paper.

Li Yongbao glanced discreetly at the two guards. The young man stood beside him, staring at him with a shifty gaze, his figure blocking the view of the older man.

He immediately and confidently spat out the note, unfolding it as he ate. On it were just four simple words: "Confess as soon as possible!"

Li Yongbao, who had once been Qu Zhengping's secretary, recognized Qu Zhengping's handwriting at a glance.

After swallowing the paper, Li Yongbao thought for a moment, then slowly raised his hand and shouted, "I confess!"

Li Yongbao was a smart man; he believed that Qu Zhengping would never confess to him like this unless it was a crisis.

Since he's been asked to confess, it's highly likely the investigation has already uncovered the problem, so his voluntary confession is the best outcome.

The detention room quickly became lively as Li Yongbao was interrogated overnight.

The next day, the things Li Yongbao had told him were presented to Pei Yihong.

Liu Huatao, secretary of the provincial discipline inspection commission, reported: "Everything Li Yongbao confessed was basically consistent with our investigation."

In engineering projects, he made improper requests and engaged in bid rigging, but the amount of corruption was not large, totaling less than two million.

The money matches the amount we found in the mezzanine of his house last night.

In addition, regarding the Hongqi Grain Depot, he only admitted that when he was in charge of the Hongqi Grain Depot, he bought dozens of tons of grain.

Furthermore, most of the profits were distributed as welfare to the comrades below.

This has been preliminarily confirmed by our interviews with staff members who were at the Hongqi Grain Depot last night.

"That's all?"

Pei Yihong found it hard to believe that Li Yongbao had only embezzled so much money after following Qu Zhengping for so many years. It simply defied common sense.

Putting aside other things, just take the county party secretary named Wan Hanshan in Tianzhou a while ago. He made 10 million to 4 million yuan just by buying and selling official positions in his own county. How could a deputy director-level cadre only make that much?

Liu Huatao said, "I don't believe it either, but after summarizing all the information, this is the conclusion."

Pei Yihong said, "This matter is definitely not that simple. Many of the bosses he has contacted are nationally renowned entrepreneurs. Even a small amount of money from these people would be worth millions."

The Times Avenue project under construction in our provincial capital alone is a huge project worth over a billion yuan. If it were sold for tens of thousands of yuan as he instructed, would it be done?

"I don't believe he only made a little over two million in over twenty years of political career. You need to investigate further; you can't just brush this off." He then asked, "By the way, did he confess to having someone directing him?"

Liu Huatao shook his head and said without any hesitation, "No, he said he did all of this behind Comrade Qu Zhengping's back."

Meanwhile, our inquiry with Comrade Qu Zhengping's wife last night also corroborated this situation.

Since Li Yongbao stepped down from his position as Comrade Qu Zhengping's secretary, the latter generally does not visit Comrade Zhengping except during holidays.

Even if they do contact me, it's just to sit down and talk about work.

Pei Yihong suspected that the two were sacrificing a pawn to save the king, but he didn't say anything more.

Since he had no other options, there was no need for him to keep a close eye on it.

Firstly, he had no grudge against Qu Zhengping; secondly, Qu Zhengping's problems were not a good thing for him.

After all, it would be embarrassing for him if a newly elected member of the provincial standing committee had problems.

"Then you should focus your investigation on his financial situation, and be cautious about other things."

"Yes."

Just then, the phone on the table rang.

Pei Yihong took the document; it belonged to a ministerial-level leader surnamed Yang. After a few pleasantries, the leader directly inquired about Li Yongbao.

Pei Yihong was surprised, not expecting that Li Yongbao had a relationship with this minister.

"Minister Yang, you and he are...."

"Hey, don't get me wrong, I'm just asking for someone else. You know Liu Qizhi, right?"

"I know him. He's a well-known leader in our country's electronics industry and also a member of the National People's Congress, but I've never met him."

"It was him. He approached me at a business conference yesterday and talked about this comrade's situation, hoping I could put in a good word for him. I agreed to ask him for help."

Pei Yihong suddenly realized, "Oh, I see."

Li Yongbao's case is still under investigation and involves numerous cases. He concluded by adding, "It's very serious."

Minister Yang sighed and said, "It's such a pity. Not long ago, Liu Qizhi praised him to me and Director Xia as a capable person from our Hanjiang."

Director Wang had taken a strong interest in this comrade at the time and even wanted to meet him, but he never expected such a serious problem to arise so soon.

Another question:

What are his abilities like?

"His abilities... are not bad."

Pei Yihong was right. Li Yongbao held multiple positions, but he handled each job very well. He was indeed a rare all-round talent.

He had heard people say before that Qu Zhengping's rapid rise to power was entirely due to his right and left hands, who always charged into battle.

"If you, Old Pei, say it's good, then it must really be good. What a pity, what a real pity." Minister Yang said regretfully, then paused and asked, "What exactly did he do wrong?"

"Oh, it's mainly due to multiple cases of embezzlement and irregularities in bidding, and winning bids."

"A large amount?"

"So far, we have only found more than two million."

"More than two million? How big of a loss has his bid-rigging caused to our country and people?"

Pei Yihong sensed something was amiss and mumbled, "There aren't any specific statistics."

"I heard from Liu Qizhi that the other party contacted them in violation of regulations, but they still spent the money they were supposed to. I don't know if it's true, but I asked out of curiosity."

Pei Yihong said, "That's the current situation, but a thorough investigation is needed before we can get any results."

“That’s right, that should be the case.” Minister Yang pondered for a moment, “If, Lao Pei, I mean if, if the problem isn’t so serious.”

For example, actively returning stolen goods, actively cooperating, and not yet causing serious consequences to the country and the people.

Shouldn't we consider trying to salvage these cadres who are "quite capable"?

Of course, in my personal opinion, I support a strict approach.

What I mean by "saving" is not that I want to keep him in the team.

He is a talented person, and I believe that if he were placed elsewhere, he would also contribute to the development of our country.

The only thing that shouldn't be wasted is spending one's best years in prison.