Chapter 146: An Unexpected Family Reunion

Yang Dong personally escorted Deputy County Mayor Zhao Guojun to the end of the corridor by the stairs, watching the latter leave.

Walking back to the conference room, Yang Dong's expression was extremely solemn.

The conversation with Zhao Guojun could be described as very smooth, but precisely because of this smoothness, their Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection task force had made no progress and could not find a breakthrough.

Zhao Guojun's answers all seemed to point to one fact: Zhao Guojun was truly innocent, or if there had been any issues, they had long since been resolved by the Kaiyang County Discipline Inspection Commission and the County Party Committee.

At that time, Zhao Guojun was not yet a deputy-section-level cadre, but merely a full-section-level one, and the County Party Committee and the County Discipline Inspection Commission were fully qualified to handle the matter.

Trying to unearth any misconduct from this highest-ranking cadre involved in the case seemed nearly impossible.

"Comrade Yang Dong, it seems our work is going to be very difficult."

Lü Yanqing spoke with a heavy expression, looking toward Yang Dong.

After listening to Zhao Guojun's words, he had only one feeling: trying to find a breakthrough through Zhao Guojun was an impossible task.

Moreover, what Zhao Guojun confessed himself differed greatly from the testimonies given by Zhao Pengcheng and Lin Liangming.

One of the two sides was definitely lying.

"Comrade Yanqing, call the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and have them interrogate Lin Liangming and Zhao Pengcheng once more. Specifically question them about Zhao Guojun's affairs, and tell them to make sure they confess honestly. Fabrications and random defamation are strictly prohibited!"

"If Zhao Pengcheng and Lin Liangming insist that Zhao Guojun is problematic, have them think of evidence to prove it, rather than just relying on verbal testimony!"

Yang Dong felt that his work required a two-pronged approach alongside the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection.

While he himself needed to talk with the implicated cadres, the interrogations of Zhao Pengcheng and Lin Liangming could not be stopped either.

"Alright, I'll call right now!"

Lü Yanqing nodded. The Zhao Pengcheng case was originally under the jurisdiction of his First Task Force, and as the team leader, he had the authority to do this.

"Who is scheduled for the next interview?"

Taking advantage of the moment before Lü Yanqing made the call, Yang Dong asked him.

Lü Yanqing glanced at the list of implicated cadres and answered Yang Dong, "I notified them in descending order of their administrative rank. The next person to be interviewed by us is Yang Xu, the Director of the Kaiyang County Tax Bureau."

"The Director of the Tax Bureau—another tough nut to crack."

Hearing that the next person to be interviewed was Yang Xu, the head of the Tax Bureau, Yang Dong felt a complex mix of emotions.

Another fierce battle was about to begin!

Knock, knock!

Just as they were talking, a knock came from the door of the conference room.

"Team Leader, Yang Xu, the Director of the Kaiyang County Tax Bureau, has arrived!"

Jiang Hu walked in from outside and reported to Yang Dong.

"Let him come in!"

Facing a full-section-level cadre from the county, Yang Dong did not go out to greet him in person.

He represented the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection task force; when interviewing a county cadre, overly elaborate formalities were unnecessary.

Soon, Yang Xu, the Director of the Kaiyang County Tax Bureau, stepped inside.

He was a man in his fifties, dressed rather plainly in a gray long-sleeved shirt, black trousers, and a pair of old leather shoes, tucking a briefcase under his arm.

The most prominent characteristic of grassroots section-level cadres was that they pulled their belts exceptionally high, making the way they wore their pants look rather awkward.

"Hello, Comrade Yang Xu, please sit down!"

Yang Dong stood up, made a polite gesture with his hand, and shook hands with the Tax Bureau director.

"Hello, hello Comrade Yang Xu. You and I share the same surname! Who knows, we might even be related."

Though over fifty, Yang Xu was extremely amiable, his face beaming with a bright smile. After shaking hands with Yang Dong, he deliberately brought up the fact that they shared a family name.

"Where is Bureau Chief Yang from?"

Yang Dong knew that Yang Xu wanted to close the distance and exchange some polite pleasantries.

Since that was the case, he decided to play along and use the man's own tactics against him.

"Me? I'm from Shangshui Town in Kaiyang County, but my ancestral home is in Yantai, Shandong Province. My family migrated this way a hundred years ago."

Yang Xu was slightly taken aback; he hadn't expected Yang Dong to ride the coattails so readily, but he could only answer honestly.

Hearing Yang Xu introduce his family background in this way, Yang Dong couldn't help feeling a sense of wonder inwardly. Could it really be such a coincidence?

"My family is from Xiaoyang Village in Xiashui Town, but my ancestral home is also in Yantai City, Shandong Province. More than a hundred years ago, my ancestors also migrated here."

"Your ancestral home is in Shangshui Town, and our two towns are separated by only Moon Lake—a distance of less than thirty kilometers."

"If our luck holds, we might really be relatives."

Yang Dong had originally planned to humor him, but was he actually going to end up finding a relative?

"Ah? Is that really true?"

Yang Xu hadn't expected such a coincidence to happen at a time like this. When he first arrived, he had felt rather apprehensive inside, because being implicated meant he might face disciplinary action from the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Although he had pulled some strings and sought out certain municipal leaders to intervene on his behalf, the outcome remained completely unknown.

Yet, upon coming here for an interview, he might actually turn out to be related to the head of the task force sent by the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection?

"Comrade Yang Dong, if I may be so bold as to ask, what is the generation character in your family genealogy?"

A family, especially a large clan, held the generational characters in their genealogy in extremely high regard.

Furthermore, naming people according to these generational characters made it possible to identify whether someone was a true blood relative.

It was only the year 2008, and this custom still persisted.

However, a decade or two later, it was estimated that no one would bother naming children according to the characters listed in the family tree anymore, meaning the clan consciousness would completely exist in name only.

"The sequence of generation characters in our Yang family genealogy is: Tian, Li, Shun, Sui, Di, Fa, Jian, Quan."

"I belong to the 'Quan' generation. My full name should be Yang Quanquan—ah, no, Yang Quandong, but the 'Quan' character was omitted and not recorded on my household registration."

Yang Dong smiled as he answered Yang Xu's question.

Yang Xu immediately raised his head in astonishment. He even stood up, a look of pleasant surprise washing over his face.

"Big nephew—ah, no, let me rephrase that. Comrade Yang Dong, you and I truly belong to the same clan!"

"The generation characters in my family's genealogy are also Tian, Li, Shun, Sui, Di, Fa, Jian, Quan."

"I belong to the 'Jian' generation. My original name was Yang Jianxu, and that wasn't registered on my household registration either."

Lü Yanqing and the others stood nearby, dumbfounded. Wasn't the Discipline Inspection Commission conducting an official interview? How did they end up claiming kinship?

However, Yang Dong was the team leader. How the interview was conducted, what form it took, and how it proceeded were entirely up to him to decide.

Besides, perhaps this approach could lead to better progress and a new breakthrough.

A look of surprise appeared on Yang Dong's face, and he immediately called out to the Tax Bureau director, "Then I suppose I must address you as my uncle."

"What year was your father born?" Yang Xu asked with a smile.

"My father was born in sixty-three," Yang Dong replied with a smile as well.

"Then you definitely have to call me uncle. I was born in fifty-seven," Yang Xu continued with a smile, naturally accepting the title of eldest uncle bestowed upon him by Yang Dong.

Look at how things turned out.

After all that fuss, they turned out to be relatives. This wasn't a distant relation either; they belonged to the very same clan, and for all they knew, they might even be two branches stemming from the same ancestor.

"Comrade Yang Dong, what was your great-grandfather's name?"

Since Yang Xu had discovered this new kinship, he naturally wanted to get to the bottom of it and figure it all out clearly.

Yang Dong thought for a moment, then replied, "My great-grandfather was named Yang Dishì, because he was ranked fourth in the family."

"Oh my goodness..."

Before Yang Dong even finished his sentence, Yang Xu was seen slapping his thighs in excitement.

"Big nephew, my grandfather was named Yang Dièr! This, this, this..."

"Your great-grandfather and my grandfather were own brothers!"

"Oh, goodness gracious!"

Yang Xu never imagined there would be such an unexpected bonus.

This was a young cadre from the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, and he turned out to be his own blood-related big nephew. This was truly a fantastic stroke of fortune!