Watching Quinn Lewis’s figure recede into the distance, Nathaniel Johnson stood there, momentarily lost in thought. He understood that if his own job issue really involved Quinn Lewis’s daughter, Lillian Lewis, and if Lillian Lewis pleaded with her father, Quinn Lewis might still intervene. With Quinn Lewis’s influence in Haidu City, just a single phone call from him could get Nathaniel Johnson into any organization. However, how could Nathaniel Johnson possibly dare to accept Quinn Lewis’s help now?

Don’t be fooled by the fact that Quinn Lewis was currently a high-ranking, powerful member of the municipal party committee and its secretary-general, a top leader in Haidu City who commanded respect wherever he went. In just a few short months, he would fall from grace due to a major corruption case and end up behind bars.

In June 1996, the fraudster David Scott was lawfully arrested, which gradually marked the beginning of a joint investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection into Haidu’s massive corruption “nest case.”

David Scott was originally an unemployed drifter in Haidu City, but later, by chance, he met the city’s Political and Legal Affairs Commission Secretary and Public Security Bureau Chief, William Thompson. Through the lure of large sums of money, William Thompson quickly became David Scott’s protector, clearing the way for Scott’s economic fraud schemes. Later, through William Thompson’s introduction, David Scott met several other high-ranking officials in Haidu, and soon they formed a small interest group trading power for money. But the good times didn’t last long. After a public tip-off, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection ordered the Binhai Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection to investigate, and David Scott was soon brought to justice.

With the exposure of David Scott’s fraud case, William Thompson and his high-ranking friends, as well as their “friends,” also suffered misfortune. After William Thompson and others were arrested, they not only confessed to their crimes with the fraudster David Warren, but also implicated several other city leaders, including Haidu Municipal Party Secretary Jackson Scott, Municipal Party Committee member and Secretary-General Quinn Lewis, and Deputy Mayor of Haidu People’s Government Leonard Johnson, among more than a dozen county and department-level officials.

Under the close attention of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the provincial leadership, this far-reaching corruption nest case was cracked. In January 1997, Jackson Scott, Quinn Lewis, Julian Johnson, and others were lawfully arrested. Jackson Scott was sentenced to 11 years, while Quinn Lewis, due to the enormous amount of corruption, was sentenced to 20 years and was not released on parole until around 2009.

Meanwhile, Nathaniel Johnson’s father, Deputy Director of the Public Security Bureau Noah Johnson, was also inadvertently implicated in Quinn Lewis’s corruption case. He was disciplined by the party and government and was ordered to resign. Nathaniel Johnson vividly remembered the scene at the time: the police and prosecutors found $20,000 in cash, a bankbook with 3.2 million yuan, luxury cigarettes and liquor, and a stash of gold jewelry at the Lu family’s home across the hall. Among them was an inconspicuous gold necklace worth more than 2,400 yuan, which, according to Quinn Lewis’s confession, had just been given to him by Noah Johnson before the case broke, asking him to put in a word with the city’s Political and Legal Affairs Commission Secretary and Public Security Bureau Chief William Thompson to help Noah Johnson adjust his work assignment.

This was the first and last time in Noah Johnson’s life that he had ever bribed a superior. Although the amount was small and the matter was downplayed internally, his official career was over from that point on.

……

……

Pressing the doorbell at his own home, his mother Paige Walker came out wearing an apron around her waist. Seeing her son Nathaniel Johnson at the door, a radiant smile immediately appeared on Paige Walker’s charming face as she pulled Nathaniel Johnson inside. “Nannan, you’re finally home! Your dad and I were just saying how late it was and wondering why you hadn’t arrived yet. — Old Zhou, Nannan’s back. Little Liam, come in, come in.”

“Mom.” Nathaniel Johnson called out with deep emotion, his eyes growing slightly moist. Then, he stepped forward and suddenly hugged Paige Walker tightly, murmuring, “Mom!”

Chapter 005 Reunion

Paige Walker was taken aback, vaguely sensing that her son seemed a bit different, but she didn’t think much of it, assuming Nathaniel Johnson just missed her after being apart for so long. She hugged Nathaniel Johnson tightly as well, patting his shoulder and gently saying, “Good child, it’s good you’re back, it’s good you’re home!”

Mother and son held each other tightly, one out of maternal instinct, the other overwhelmed with emotion. A mother’s embrace was still as warm and forgiving as ever, and Nathaniel Johnson’s heart gradually calmed, feeling an unprecedented sense of security and warmth. Noah Johnson coughed twice and slowly walked out of the study. Seeing the mother and son embracing so tightly, his own eyes grew a bit red.

“Dad.” Nathaniel Johnson gently broke free from Paige Walker’s embrace and smiled at Noah Johnson.

“Mm.” Noah Johnson smiled as well. “Go wash up quickly, let’s eat. Little Liam, you stay and eat with us.”

Liam Carter put Nathaniel Johnson’s suitcase in the corner and shook his head with a smile. “Director Johnson, no need, I’ll go home to eat. My mom is waiting for me too. Nathaniel Johnson, you have a good rest at home for a couple of days, I’ll come visit you again soon.”

Noah Johnson didn’t insist on keeping Liam Carter, just smiled warmly and nodded at him. Nathaniel Johnson saw Liam Carter to the door, thanked him a couple more times, and then went back inside to take a shower.

By the time he finished showering, Paige Walker had already set out a sumptuous meal on the dining table and opened two bottles of chilled beer. She waved him over, “Nannan, come eat! Today is your first day after graduating from university, you’re an adult now. Have a beer with your dad, let’s celebrate as a family.”