After around two weeks of rest, Dong Xuebing was discharged from the hospital.
These few days, Qu Yunxuan and Xie Huilan accompanied and took care of Dong Xuebing. Dong Xuebing was looking better, and even when he got agitated now, he does not suffer from any breathing difficulties or heart failures. But Dong Xuebing’s doctor is not so optimistic. He said that psychological conditions could not be cured within one or two days. He warns Dong Xuebing to take note of his mental health to prevent any relapses.
It was nearing winter, and the temperature had dropped, and Xie Huilan and Qu Yunxuan started to wear winter coats.
In the lobby of the hospital, Qu Yunxuan straightens Dong Xuebing’s coat collar. “I will be returning to Beijing.”
“Ok. Your work is more important. It should be time for the Autumn Auction.” Dong Xuebing said. “Sister Xie, you should also get to work. Thank you for taking care of us.”
Xie Huilan smiles. “The County’s Public Security Bureau will be holding an award ceremony for you later. You have to get ready a thank you speech.”
Qu Yunxuan reminded. “Remember to stay relax and don’t work too hard. I will visit you when I am free.”
Dong Xuebing nodded and looks at his watch. He still has some time and can return home to draft his thank-you speech. Because Dong Xuebing has experience in writing speeches, he wrote his speech within five minutes. After that, he drove to the carwash to wash his car and top up petrol, before going to the Public Security Bureau.
“Hi, Chief Dong!”
“Chief Dong, you are discharged from the hospital?”
Dong Xuebing smiles and greeting everyone. When he entered the office building, he met some leaders and colleagues. After greeting Bureau Chief Liang Chengpeng, Political Commissar Liu Weiye, Deputy Bureau Chief Qin Yong, Dong Xuebing returned to his office, and called his old friends and other leaders, like Hu Silian and the County’s Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee, Huang Li, to thank them for their concerns. They had visited and called him during his hospitalization.
9.30 am.
After Dong Xuebing finishes thanking everyone, he waits for the award ceremony to start.
Dong Xuebing is feeling radiant and energetic today. After a long rest, he can finally return to work.
During this free time, Dong Xuebing took out a notebook and started writing the date he entered the Civil Service, and the dates he got promoted. He felt he should start setting his next goal. His relationship problems with Xie Huilan and Qu Yunxuan is temporarily solved. They are not forcing him to make any decision, and they have time to think through their relationship problems. Maybe one day, Sister Xia or Aunt Xuan will decide to leave him for other guys, and that might be a good thing.
What Dong Xuebing needs to do now is to set a goal for his career.
A few months ago, Dong Xuebing had set his target on Section Chief. His goal now is still the same.
Dong Xuebing was posted to Yan Tai County for slightly more than six months and had achieved many incredible feats. He will be getting the one first-class, two second-class, and a third-class merits award at the same time in the ceremony later. This is an achievement that most people cannot get after working in civil service for decades. His foundations are strong, and his resume is getting thicker. If a Deputy Bureau Chief with these achievements had worked for three years, he would be promoted to Section Chief. But Dong Xuebing had only entered the Civil Service for slightly more than one year. It will be too difficult for him to get promoted.
The probation period for Deputy Section Chief is one year, and Dong Xuebing’s probation is not over.
Promotion on exceptional terms is hard to get. First, one must have political points, and secondly, he must have connections with the higher-ups.
Dong Xuebing had fulfilled both conditions, but Xie Huilan was just transferred over and is only the second seat in the County. Most of the County’s Party Committee members are Xiang Daofa’s supporters. Even if Sister Xie helped him, the chances of success would be low. Dong Xuebing’s achievements are enough for someone with two years of experience to get promoted. But it is insufficient for someone who had not even past the probation to get promoted.
It’s too hard!
Dong Xuebing read some reports, and though about the County leaders’ information. Executive Deputy Bureau Chief Hu Yiguo had gotten two Second-class merits, and four Third-class merits award these few years. Deputy Bureau Chief Gong Zhongwen’s achievements are about the same as Hu Yiguo, except that he has only gotten Second-class merit. Even Qin Yong, who is new to the County, had gotten four Third-class merit awards over his years of service. Dong Xuebing is not the only one who had gotten merit awards. He knows that it is not practical for him to get promoted now.
Will Dong Xuebing give up?
Of course not! Dong Xuebing has a plan.
After Lunar New Year, Dong Xuebing’s Deputy Section Chief probation will be over, and he can be promoted. At that time, it will be easier for Dong Xuebing to get a promotion on exceptional terms without probation. If he can get outstanding results again, his chances of promotion will be higher. The outstanding results are not Third-class merit or Second-class merit. He needs another First-class merit!
Dong Xuebing thought about this carefully. Two First-class merits and two Second-class merits.
Even Liang Chengpeng’s achievement will not be as outstanding as Dong Xuebing!
Dong Xuebing decided in his heart. He must get another First-class merit within these few months. He can’t wait to get the rank of Section Chief!
10 am. The Award Ceremony starts.
Dong Xuebing sat in front with the rest of the Public Security Leaders. Not only the City Public Security Leaders were attending, but even the Provincial Public Security Leaders were also there. After all, this is an Award Ceremony for a First-Class Merit award, and it is rare. About ten minutes later, the Provincial Public Security Leader helped Dong Xuebing wear the First, Second, and Third-class merit medals. He even joked that Dong Xuebing is the first person in China to get all three merit awards at the same time. After Dong Xuebing finished his thank you speech, the crowd claps.
Dong Xuebing was overjoyed, as he had risked his life for these medals.
After the ceremony, many people went up to Dong Xuebing to congratulate him. Xie Huilan, who was also there, went up to him and patted his shoulder. “Don’t get conceited and continue to work hard.”
Dong Xuebing replied respectfully. “Thank you, Mayor Xie. I will continue to do my best.”
“Haha...” Xie Huilan laughed. “I will be waiting to see your performance.”
There were many people around, and Dong Xuebing did not say anything. He grumbled in his heart. With our relationship, is there a need for a bureaucratic response? After that, Dong Xuebing went to greet the leaders from the Provincial and City Government.
After the ceremony, it’s lunch.
The leaders will be having lunch together when a phone call interrupted them.
A leader from the Provincial Public Security Bureau was chatting with Qin Yong. Deputy Bureau Chief Qin Yong was previously from the Provincial Public Security Bureau, and that leader was his former superior. After receiving the phone call, that leader’s face changed. “What did you say?! How did this happen?! The alarm did not go off?! Ok, I know. Control the scene immediately!” The leader is furious and hangs up.
Qin Yong was stunned. “Director Huo...”
The leader waved his hand and left with his men!
Liang Chengpeng, Liu Weiye, and other County Public Security Bureau leaders exchanged looks. Everyone could tell something had happened in the Province! Dong Xuebing was wondering what happened that can make everyone from the Provincial Public Security Bureau panic. Another jailbreak? Did some terrible crimes happen?
In the afternoon, Dong Xuebing returned to his office, and his phone rang.
“Hello, I’m Dong Xuebing.”
It was Qin Yong. “Brother Dong, switch on the TV and watch the afternoon news!”
Dong Xuebing was shocked, and quickly switch on the TV with the remote. Dong Xuebing seldom switch on the TV in his office, and he switched a few channels until he got to the Provincial news. The news is showing a Provincial museum from the outside. When the footage switched to the inside of the museum, Dong Xuebing saw a glass display case was smashed, and the artifacts inside were gone!
Dong Xuebing realized what happened during lunch. The Provincial Museum was broken into!
Dong Xuebing asked over the phone. “Chief Qin, how did this happen? What happened to the security at the Provincial Museum? How did someone break into the museum?”
Qin Yong sighed. “Even the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City was broken into, let alone a Provincial Museum.”
Dong Xuebing thought for a while and asked. “Has the criminal been arrested?”
“I had just received news of this incident. The criminal has not been arrested, and we are not sure what artifacts had been stolen. I heard the Provincial Leader is furious. Almost half of the Provincial Police force had been sent out to catch the culprit, and they had only three days to crack the case. I think the artifact should be at least a Second-grade relic.” Qin Yong has friends in the Provincial Public Security Bureau and can get more updated information.
No wonder Director Huo left with his men in a hurry. This is a big case. A successful break-in at the museum? This is like a slap to the Provincial Leaders. If the case drags on, the culprit would have smuggled out the relic out of China. In China, relics that are Second-grade and above cannot be traded. This is how precious these relics are in China! These criminals are daring!
The impact of this case is significant, and even CCTV news reported about it!
The whole nation is in an uproar, and Hebei province is under the spotlight. Some people were scolding, and some were pointing fingers. The Provincial Government, especially the security departments, were under immense pressure. They started searching every household to try to recover the relic.
Dong Xuebing is also very concerned about this incident and spent the whole afternoon reading the news on the internet.
At around 3 pm, there was still no progress on the case. Dong Xuebing stopped looking at the news and knew this is the Provincial Public Security’s case and has nothing to do with him. Even if he wants to help, he also can’t do anything. He started thinking about how he is going to get his First-class Merit. It is not easy to get a First-class Merit, and he might not even get one even if he busts a drug syndicate.
Flip... flip... flip... Dong Xuebing starts to read the old unsolved case files.
After an hour, Dong Xuebing still cannot find any cases that can let him get a First-class Merit.
Dong Xuebing sighed. Never mind. This matter can be put aside for the time being, as his probation will end in a few months. He still has plenty of time to wait for an opportunity. Dong Xuebing picked up the phone and called Hui Tian Village to ask them to fax some case files over. He is going to go through all the cases in Hui Tian Village and improve the crime rates.
Ring... ring... ring... Dong Xuebing’s phone rang again.
It was Liang Chengpeng. “Chief Dong, come to my office now.”
“Yes, Sir.” Dong Xuebing immediately went upstairs to Liang Chengpeng’s office.
Knock, knock... Dong Xuebing entered the office and saw Liang Chengpeng at his desk. “Chief Liang, are you looking for me?”
Liang Chengpeng was rubbing the center of the brows. “Have a seat.” He put away some of the documents on his desk and said. “Have you heard about the Provincial Museum case?”
“Yes.” How can Dong Xuebing don’t know about this? Almost the whole nation knows about this incident.
Liang Chengpeng nodded and pushed a document towards Dong Xuebing. “Take a look at this.”
“This is...” Dong Xuebing stood up and took the document from Liang Chengpeng. The document is only a picture with some captions. Liu Shen Jade Suit Sewn with Golden Thread. It is unearthed in Man Cheng County of Hebei Province, from Duke Zhongshan’s tomb. It is the earliest and top-grade jade suit unearthed. The suit consists of 2,498 pieces of jade, sewed together with 1,100 grams of gold thread, and its length is 1.88 meters.
Dong Xuebing’s eyes nearly pop out. “Jade Suit Sewn with Golden Thread?! A national treasure?”
Liang Chengpeng was surprised. He did not know Dong Xuebing was so knowledgeable about antiques. “Yes. It is a national treasure, and it is one of the top national treasure in China.”
Dong Xuebing is an owner of an antique business, and can easily recognize the relic. A First grade Cultural Relic is not the most precious antique, while a National treasure is a higher grade than First grade and is the top tier. Liu Shen Jade Suit Sewn with Golden Thread is China’s most prized relic. The value of this jade suit cannot even be determined by money. It is Hebei’s most treasured piece of the cultural relic!
Dong Xuebing knew what happened. “Liu Shen Jade Suit Sewn with Golden Thread is stolen?!”
“Sigh...” Liang Chengpeng sighed and nodded. “There are other precious relics that were stolen together with the Jade Suit. The pictures and information of the other stolen relics are in the document too.”
Dong Xuebing quickly flipped the pages and felt his heart beating faster. The items stolen were all priceless relics!
Liang Chengpeng said. “This case should have been committed by a group of criminals, and it was well planned. The higher-ups suspect that this heist was planned at least one year ago. They had infiltrated into the museum, avoid the guards, police, exploited the security system, and not leave any clues. The heist was only discovered when the cleaners started work in the morning.”
Dong Xuebing does not understand why Chief Liang is telling him about this case.
Liang Chengpeng looks at Dong Xuebing. “The Provincial Government had ordered all Counties to support the Provincial Public Security to solve this case. Xiao Dong, this case will be assigned to you.” Liang Chengpeng was only following orders by the Provincial Government. After one night, the criminals should have left Hebei Province. Even if they are still hiding in the Province, they will not come to Yan Tai County. But the necessary checks at major junctions and tolls must still be conducted.
This was the first time Dong Xuebing received a vital task from the Bureau. “Yes, Sir! I will do my best!”
Liang Chengpeng nodded and gave him the rest of the documents. “These are the details of the case. Go through them and let me know if you find any clues.”
Dong Xuebing took the documents and started reading/
Liang Chengpeng has no intention of solving this case, as it is impossible. He only needs Dong Xuebing to do what was required by the higher-ups.
However, Dong Xuebing does not think like this. He does not have any authority to conduct investigations into this case. But now, he is appointed by Chief Liang to conduction investigation in Yan Tai County. Dong Xuebing wants to get back the national relics for the nation. These national relics must not be smuggled out of the country. This is also an opportunity for him to gain political points. If he can recover the relics, he will get another First-class Merit!
This is my opportunity!
Whether if I can become a Section Chief will depend on this case!
Before the day ends, Dong Xuebing starts to make calls to assign duties. Traffic officers were sent to set up roadblocks at main junctions, and he also called Deputy Team Leader Feng to ask him to look into this case. Dong Xuebing is not in charge of these departments, but he was authorized by Chief Liang. He can order the officers around, and even Hu Yiguo and Zhao Jingsong do not dare to go against him. The Provincial museum’s break-in is the focus of the whole nation. No one dares to create trouble at this time!
The search for the criminals started.
Dong Xuebing did not stop working after he returns home. He studied the case file again. He knows that the criminals will not be hiding in Yan Tai County or be passing by here. But Dong Xuebing is still determined to catch them. Even if he must go to another County or City, he must get them!