Official Career Storm

Su Rong slowly left Leader Hong’s embrace and turned her head to see the man walking towards them from the end of the corridor.

That is... Song Guanchao!

Su Rong’s pupils slightly contracted, her face filled with shock, and she blurted out, "Impossible!"

He was clearly in the room, and she had clearly knocked him unconscious!

How could he be here?

Su Rong’s mind was momentarily dizzy, feeling as if the whole world had become somewhat unreal.

Leader Hong, Du Canyang, and others, upon seeing Su Rong’s reaction and then looking at Song Guanchao, instantly understood something.

Song Guanchao walked over, glanced at the burning room, and then nodded slightly to Leader Hong, "Leader Hong."

Leader Hong roughly understood what was going on; his face turned particularly grim, and he kept Su Rong at a distance, saying in a deep voice, "Put out the fire!"

With that, he took the lead towards the room.

Song Guanchao stopped him, "Leader Hong, you shouldn’t risk yourself. You are the leader of the inspection team; if something happens to you in the fire, the entire Jiangzhou will be affected."

As he spoke, he gave Su Rong a meaningful look.

This woman deliberately started the fire for such a purpose.

The inspection team is the modern imperial envoy, representing the will of the state.

The hotel being set on fire intentionally is a serious case!

In the past, a prefecture-level city in Guang Province had a similar case, later referred to as the case of ’the burning of the imperial envoy’.

That fire burned not just the inspector but the future development potential of the entire city for decades.

Su Rong’s ruthlessness and dark intentions made Song Guanchao somewhat fearful.

Unless this woman is removed, Song Guanchao cannot be at ease.

He snorted coldly and dashed into the burning room.

He saw that the blankets, mattress, curtains...had all caught fire, and the raging flames had blackened the ceiling.

Lin He was lying on the ground at the door, with an empty bottle of mineral water beside him.

After a quick scan, Song Guanchao rushed into the restroom, turned on the water, filled containers, and started to put out the fire.

The number of people in the corridor grew larger, Du Canyang and others gathered around and whispered, "Leader Hong, what should we do?"

"Put out the fire!" Leader Hong’s nostrils flared; he knew this was a significant issue. If not handled properly, his role as leader would undoubtedly be affected.

He must find a way to minimize the impact and must satisfy Song Guanchao. This arson incident must be contained within Jiangzhou and absolutely must not be leaked!

Several inspectors looked hesitantly at the billowing black smoke coming out of the room.

"Get in!" Leader Hong scolded.

They had no choice but to put on a brave face and rushed into the room.

Once inside, they saw a person lying on the ground.

They were about to rescue him when Song Guanchao said, "Don’t move him, go find an attendant to get basins, get hoses!"

"Okay."

They turned and dashed out of the room.

After roughly twenty minutes of busy work, the fire gradually came under control and noticeably reduced in size.

Crackle!

Song Guanchao extinguished the last bit of flames; the room, burnt beyond recognition, finally became still.

At this moment, a series of footsteps sounded from outside; Director Ma and others arrived.

They rushed into the room, frowned at the devastation everywhere.

"Director Song..."

"First, get the person out." Song Guanchao interrupted him, pointing at Lin He on the ground, and added, "The mineral water bottle beside him may contain gasoline; take it back for fingerprint examination. And also the baseball bat behind the door; take it too."

"Alright." Director Ma calmly executed his orders.

First, they carried the unconscious Lin He out, then they sealed the mineral water bottle and the baseball bat properly.

Lastly, they entered the room to check if there were any signs of potential reignition.

After confirming, the group finally came out.

Seeing people everywhere in the corridor, Song Guanchao said, "Director Ma, disperse the crowd, don’t let them gather here. Remember to check their phones; do not let this situation leak out."

"Understood."

Director Ma led people to talk to the spectators one by one.

Leader Hong came over and said, "Director Song..."

"Leader Hong, it’s very late, let’s rest first; discuss things in the daylight tomorrow."

Song Guanchao was fairly courteous to him. Though Leader Hong couldn’t quite grasp how he intended to proceed, the initiative was in Song Guanchao’s hands, so Leader Hong could only follow his lead.

"Okay." Leader Hong told the others, "Everyone go back and rest."

Su Rong also wanted to leave, but Song Guanchao said, "Su Chu, come back with us."

Su Rong’s delicate body trembled, her face turned pale, and she looked pleadingly at Leader Hong, who ignored her and turned to go inside.

The corridor soon only had Director Ma, Secretary Hu, and Song Guanchao and others left.

Hu Yaling still wasn’t clear what had happened; she only knew there was a fire, but it had been extinguished.

Honestly, she felt quite scared.

The lodging housed members of the inspection team, and the burning room was occupied by an inspector.

If the fire hadn’t been controlled in time, it’s unimaginable how far the situation would escalate.

"Director Song, should we send the person to the hospital?" Director Ma asked, looking at Lin He lying on the ground.

"Send him for a check-up; if there’s no issue, bring him back to the bureau. Confiscate his phone, don’t allow any contact with the outside world."

"Understood."

Director Ma immediately arranged for someone to handle it.

Seeing Hu Yaling’s inquisitive expression, Song Guanchao whispered, "Secretary Hu, I’ll explain everything once we’re in the car."

"Mm." Hu Yaling softly agreed, knowing this wasn’t a convenient place for discussion.

The director of the lodging stood at a distance, seeing the situation nearly resolved, he dared to walk up, "Director Song, I’m the director of the lodging, Wang Xiaowu."

Song Guanchao adopted a stern posture, "Director Wang, when were the lodging’s facilities last checked? The fire almost consumed the building, why didn’t the smoke alarm go off? Is it just for show? Why didn’t the fire sprinkler activate, is it also for show?"

Wang Xiaowu quickly explained, "The smoke alarm and sprinkler system are absolutely fine; we check them every month, and the inspection records are available."

Feeling his word wasn’t enough, he ran into the room, dragged a chair out into the corridor, and stood on it, using a lighter to ignite a sprinkler above the corridor.

Within seconds, the alarm rang and water sprayed from the sprinkler.

"Director Song, as you can see, the equipment has no issues whatsoever. The equipment in that room certainly wouldn’t have issues either; I suspect someone tampered with it!" Wang Xiaowu feared taking responsibility more than anyone.

The lodging was a designated place for government officials and foreign tourists; security was always a top priority, and he definitely dared not cut corners in this area.

Song Guanchao said, "Director Ma, have someone guard the room, don’t let anyone in. Tomorrow, have a third-party company come to inspect."

"Also, send someone to the surveillance room with Director Wang to save all recent surveillance footage and send it to the municipal bureau."

"Okay." It’s fortunate that Director Ma brought enough people, or else it couldn’t have been arranged so quickly.

After finishing these tasks, Song Guanchao looked at Su Rong, whose face was ashen, and said, "Let’s go."