Transmigrated as My Aunt in the 70s

Chapter 625: Chapter 618: Uncovering a Chain

The individuals involved in the shoddy construction project were quickly identified by Tian Xinhua. It was unexpected that these two seemingly unrelated projects were actually overseen by the same person, that damned vice mayor.

Thinking back to when I was on the dam with him, the vice mayor’s face was full of panic. It seems he was already worried about being exposed. I mistakenly thought he was concerned about his family and even comforted him a bit!

At first, the vice mayor adamantly refused to confess, insisting he hadn’t taken any bribes. The Disciplinary Committee couldn’t do anything about it; it wasn’t like they could use ancient torture methods on him, right?

Seeing that this guy wouldn’t confess even after a week, Tian Xinhua lost his temper, cursing the Disciplinary Committee as useless. Why stick to rules at a time like this?

Desperate times call for desperate measures, so Tian Xinhua took matters into his own hands. When it came to extracting confessions, he was an expert. As long as he didn’t kill the guy, he wasn’t afraid of taking responsibility!

Under Tian Xinhua’s brutal interrogation, the vice mayor couldn’t hold out any longer and confessed everything in one go. Like how much kickback he took from these two projects, who specifically gave it to him, and how much of it he shared with his superiors. He revealed every detail.

He was also very cooperative when responding to the Disciplinary Committee’s questions, without the slightest intent to hide anything.

Because Tian Xinhua had terrified him out of his wits!

Confessing meant he could live a few more days; not confessing meant he might die at Tian Xinhua’s hands!

According to the vice mayor’s confession, he embezzled two million from the dam project (a random figure), kept two hundred thousand for himself, and distributed one million eight hundred thousand. As for the residential building, he pocketed twenty thousand, keeping five thousand for himself and distributing fifteen thousand.

In other words, he embezzled a total of two million two hundred thousand from these two shoddy projects, but actually only kept twenty-five thousand for himself.

Twenty-five thousand might not sound like much, but compared to everyone’s meager wages, it was an astronomical number. Many people couldn’t earn that amount in their lifetime!

And this vice mayor has a remarkable trait; he’s very timid. Don’t think all corrupt officials are audacious. In fact, many are quite timid, like this vice mayor.

Generally, timid people are more meticulous, and from previous anti-corruption dramas, it’s noted that low-level corrupt officials like this one usually keep an important little notebook. Often, at the critical moment in a convoluted case, this notebook plays a crucial role, serving as the essence of the entire drama and the central thread of the story.

This vice mayor also left behind a valuable little notebook, documenting all his embezzlement records over the past decade. Besides those two large sums, the others were a few hundred or a few thousand here and there, but the total amount over the years was considerable.

This notebook implicated a significant figure at the provincial level, equivalent to a provincial department official. Intriguingly, when the provincial Disciplinary Committee took away this official, someone above intervened to protect him, just like in the anti-corruption dramas.

In summary, this minor vice mayor was like a vine on a sweet potato, pulling it lightly unearthed a string of sweet potatoes of various sizes.

The biggest sweet potato turned out to be the Jins!

To be precise, it was the Jin Family’s Third Son—Jin Wen’s unfortunate father.

According to Tian Xinhua’s estimate, the sum of one million nine hundred fifty thousand sent upwards was pocketed by Jin Family’s Third Son.

Furthermore, according to these sweet potatoes of varying sizes, over the past decade, they’ve given Jin Family’s Third Son at least ten million. And that’s just from this one line of connections.

It’s certain that other connections have contributed significant sums as well.

All in all, the Jin Family has likely received at least over a hundred million over the years.

It’s well-known that the Jin Family has countless protégés across the nation, just like He Kun in the past, with money flowing continuously into the Jin Family from all over the country.

No wonder the Jin Family members have been living comfortably over the years, and Jin Wen could live so extravagantly while studying abroad!

Yet all this is just Tian Xinhua’s estimation. He doesn’t have any direct evidence to prove the Jin Family’s corruption. Just relying on the testimonies of these small fry isn’t enough to topple the Jin Family!

Nonetheless, even if he can’t overthrow the Jins, he intends to dig a hole beneath this mountain. He refuses to believe that by hollowing out the ground beneath the entire mountain, even Mount Tai wouldn’t crumble!

Tian Xinhua made a copy of the evidence for himself and handed the rest over to Mr. Yun, who was looking to avenge Chengsi. Mr. Yun would surely find these things useful.

The materials Tian Xinhua handed over indeed threw Mr. Yun a lifeline. Upon seeing the confessions, Mr. Yun laughed heartily and immediately went to have a heart-to-heart talk with a certain individual.

We may never know how Mr. Yun persuaded that big boss above. Perhaps the boss was already dissatisfied with the Jin Family’s arrogance and dominance?

Still, the big boss gave Old Sir Jin considerable face by only dismissing Third Son Jin from his position. Of course, the money had to be returned (quietly returned).

Although Sisi saw the situation as a mere dismissal being too lenient for the Jin Family considering their huge embezzlement, she didn’t understand what kind of family the Jins were.

The Jins were a top-tier family in the Capital City, second to none. To put it bluntly, even the person above had to show face to Jin Guangrong because half of the country’s military region leaders were his protégés. To be frank, it meant Jin Guangrong controlled half of the country’s military power.

A certain great man famously said that those with guns have the power to speak. Thus, given their many guns, the Jin Family naturally had many words to say.

This was why Mr. Yun had strived to expand his influence in the military over the years!

Therefore, in everyone’s eyes, Third Son Jin’s dismissal was a signal, a sign that the Jin Family’s power was no longer omnipotent, a sign that there were preparations to act against the Jin Family!

Many understood this implication, so they were ready to watch the battle from afar!

Jin Guangrong understood this implication as well. Thinking about the Jin Family’s continual setbacks over the years, his heart felt as if it was being cut by a knife.

At eighty-five years old, he was much older than Mr. Yun. Among the three of them—himself, the higher-up, and Mr. Yun—he originally was in the best health. Yet now, miraculously, the other two’s health improved year by year, while he, despite being the strongest, could barely chew meat. Who knows how many more years he could live?

As long as he was alive, the person above wouldn’t truly act against the Jins; after all, his reputation and contributions were there for all to see.

But after his death, what would happen to the Jins was something he could envision without much thought.

No, the Jins can’t go on like this. He had to eliminate the obstacles in the Jin Family’s path while he could still take action. He needed to pave a bright path for his descendants.

The Jin Family must continue to prosper for generations!