Chapter 31 Su Zhentian

Jiang Yu was also quite emotional seeing Su Ming so motivated. If Su Yuan had possessed this same drive back then, he wouldn’t have been so disliked by the Old Master and assigned to this place.

He sincerely said to Su Ming,

“Young Master, there’s no need to be so polite. As long as you study hard and achieve a satisfactory score in the City Exam, that’s enough.”

“I will definitely work hard and not let down your guidance.”

Su Ming solemnly promised Jiang Yu.

“Good!”

Jiang Yu replied with great satisfaction.

Actually, although Su Yuan, as Jiang Yu’s student, didn’t achieve much, he was very good in other aspects, especially in respecting him. So, he still liked Su Yuan as a student. Because of this, he also grew fond of Su Ming; perhaps this was a case of loving the house and its crow.

“Teacher, have some tea!”

Su Ming quickly poured another cup of tea for Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu smiled, blew on the tea to cool it, and then drank it all. He then checked the time on his watch, stood up, and said to Su Ming,

“Young Master, it’s getting late. Madam hasn’t returned yet, and I need to rush back to Starlight City to analyze the data I downloaded. As soon as I have results, I’ll let you know immediately.”

“Understood, thank you for your hard work, Teacher. I’ll see you out.”

Su Ming personally walked Jiang Yu towards the main entrance.

—

Thirteenth District Center · Administrative Office Building.

In the neat and spacious office, Ye Wei held a statistical report and was reporting to Xiao Lie, who was sitting at the desk.

More than a dozen administrative officers stood in the room, each with a tense expression and a hint of fear on their faces.

“The casualties from this Chirami Larva attack have been tallied. The Lower City District has a total of 213,420 deaths, and the Upper City has a total of 12,113 deaths. Furthermore, due to the impact on the First, Second, and Third Intermediate Academies, nearly a quarter of the deaths in the Upper City are students. As for property damage, it’s countless.”

Xiao Lie’s expression was clouded, and he coldly swept his gaze across the silent crowd, asking,

“With such a major incident, do none of you have anything to say?”

Immediately, the administrative officers present lowered their heads even further. They even wished they could bury their heads in the ground, fearing that Xiao Lie would call on them.

“You are truly a bunch of good-for-nothings, allowing such a disaster to occur! What have you been doing normally?”

Xiao Lie reprimanded with suppressed anger.

None of the administrative officers dared to open their mouths to explain; they weren’t fools. From the compiled data report, they knew that they had really messed up this time.

Just as everyone was feeling uneasy, Ye Wei hesitated and spoke up.

“Xiao-daren, this time it has truly reached a critical point. The Council has already learned of this incident and will definitely pursue accountability. The most urgent task now is how to respond.”

Upon hearing Ye Wei’s words, Xiao Lie immediately stood up from his chair. He walked to the window with his hands behind his back, gazing at the dark night outside, and said in a cold voice,

“Respond? How else can we respond? Of course, whoever is responsible takes responsibility!”

As soon as these words were uttered, cold sweat broke out on the foreheads of the administrative officers present, and their bodies trembled slightly. They quickly spoke up,

“Xiao-daren, the greatest responsibility for this incident lies with the person in charge of the garbage dump. It was his negligence in not reporting the disappearance in time that led to the situation becoming so severe.”

“Yes, it’s him.”

Xiao Lie turned around, his sharp gaze sweeping over the accusing crowd. Their voices immediately grew softer and softer, and they all lowered their heads.

How could Xiao Lie not understand the intentions of these people? They simply wanted Su Yuan to take the blame.

For such a serious matter, someone would definitely need to take responsibility.

At this moment, Ye Wei quickly spoke up.

“Xiao-daren, I don’t think what everyone is saying is unreasonable. Su Yuan, the person in charge of the garbage dump, indeed bears an undeniable responsibility. We should hand him over to the Council’s subordinate tribunal.”

“Where is Su Yuan?”

Xiao Lie’s expression shifted for a moment as he asked in a deep voice.

“He has already been detained.”

Ye Wei quickly replied.

“Hmph, this incident has caused extremely severe casualties and has had an extremely negative impact! There will be no leniency for the culprits; everything will be handled according to official procedures!”

Xiao Lie said sternly to Ye Wei and the others.

“Yes, I’ll go prepare now.”

Ye Wei and the others all breathed a sigh of relief.

Xiao Lie waved his hand, and Ye Wei immediately rushed out. He needed to quickly prepare some things so that when the Council members came down, they could successfully put Su Yuan forward as the scapegoat.

At this moment, the landline on Xiao Lie’s desk rang.

Ding ding ~

Xiao Lie glanced at the number displayed, his eyes subtly shifting, and he said coldly to the administrative officers present,

“Everyone, leave!”

“Yes.”

The administrative officers in the room each felt a sense of relief, wiping the cold sweat from their foreheads as they left.

Xiao Lie walked to his desk and sat down, then picked up the phone. Before he could speak, a muffled voice came from the other end.

“Hello, District Chief Xiao!”

“Old Master Su, what brings you here?”

“Damn it, don’t play games with me. Did you arrest my idiotic son?”

“Old Master Su, let’s be frank. It’s not that I arrested him, but rather that your son committed a crime.”

“I don’t care what he committed. In any case, give me some face and release him!”

“Old Master Su, if it were normal times, I would certainly give you face if you asked. But this time is different. Su Yuan has caused a huge mess. As the person in charge of the garbage dump, his negligence in management led to the rampant spread of Chirami Larva, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths. The Federation is already aware and is pursuing this matter.”

“Nonsense! My idiotic son is indeed the person in charge of the garbage dump, but it’s a garbage dump! He can’t possibly live there and watch it every day, can he? Even if you go as far as to say there’s a problem, it’s with his subordinates.”

“Even if the problem lies with his subordinates for not reporting in time, Su Yuan, as the person in charge of the garbage dump, is still the primary responsible party, so he is still guilty.”

“Damn it, I’m not arguing with you about that. Don’t you just want a scapegoat? I don’t care, that person cannot be my son.”

Su Zhentian’s voice on the other end of the phone grew increasingly agitated.

Xiao Lie frowned and said,

“Old Master Su Zhentian, you’ve misunderstood. We have no intention of targeting Su Yuan; it’s just that he truly cannot escape responsibility.”

“Damn it, just tell me directly what it will take to release my son.”

“I’m sorry, this really cannot be done.”

“Hmph, I’m not going to beat around the bush with you anymore. Release my idiotic son, and I’ll give you two second-generation machines!”

Su Zhentian directly made an offer.

“Old Master, it won’t work! This matter is truly very serious.”

“Three units!”

“It really won’t work; it’s not about the items.”

“Five units!”

“This is very difficult for me to handle; the Federation…

Xiao Lie looked extremely troubled.

“Ten units!”

Su Zhentian said decisively.