John Reed swallowed hard. He knew that when Mayor Carter first heard about this, he would definitely be furious, and probably wouldn’t think too deeply about it for the moment...

He waited for about four or five seconds, until David Carter had calmed down a bit on the other end of the line, before John Reed spoke again: “What I’m worried about is Mayor Brooks seizing on this incident to make a fuss and use it as leverage for something else.”

Big Mouth Harris didn’t catch what David Carter was saying on the phone.

John Reed continued, “Brian Sullivan—who isn’t exactly the brightest—said a lot of strange things at the city steel plant today, directly criticizing the plant’s poor performance in recent years. With Brian Sullivan’s abilities, he shouldn’t be able to see that deeply. I’m afraid Mayor Brooks has been looking into the steel plant’s problems behind the scenes. If Mayor Brooks uses the investigation into the fatal accident as a breakthrough point, things could get pretty complicated.”

At this point, John Reed stopped talking; Big Mouth Harris hadn’t expected to hear anything from the receiver, so it must have been John Reed’s words that made David Carter fall into deep thought.

After a long silence, John Reed finally spoke again, saying into the phone, “Yes, that’s what I think too. Brian Sullivan stirring up trouble at the steel plant might very well be at Mayor Brooks’s instigation... Okay, I understand, I understand.” He repeated “I understand” twice, then hung up the phone.

“What did Mayor Carter say, is that it for this matter?” Even if it was for the greater good and they decided not to pursue it, Big Mouth Harris still found it hard to accept letting the matter pass so quietly. If there was no explanation, how could he face anyone at the steel plant in the future?

“If it’s not over, what do you want to do?” John Reed was also holding back his anger, glaring at his useless brother-in-law and saying, “Even if there’s no conspiracy behind the scenes, do you really think you can do anything to that bastard by reporting this to Mark Brooks?”

“Why not?” Big Mouth Harris was still fuming. Hearing his brother-in-law talk so weakly made him even angrier, and he shouted in a rough voice, “Isn’t Brian Sullivan just a dog at Mark Brooks’s side? If this dog runs out and bites people, even if Mark Brooks wants to protect him, he still has to give everyone an explanation, right?”

“What kind of attitude is that? Are you taking it out on me?” John Reed snapped, unable to control Brian Sullivan, but not believing he couldn’t control his brother-in-law Big Mouth Harris, glaring at him.

Big Mouth Harris was actually afraid of John Reed. As soon as John Reed raised his voice, his own bravado deflated, and he slouched in his seat. “Why would I take it out on you? Sure, my face got beaten up like this, but in the end, isn’t it your reputation that’s been damaged, brother-in-law? You’ve never been bullied like this in Donghua City before. If we can’t deal with it openly, then I’ll get a few guys together at night, catch that bastard and give him a good beating. We can’t just let it go like this.”

“Nonsense! If you mess around and cause trouble, no one will be able to protect you.” John Reed stared sharply at his brother-in-law, worried he might do something behind his back, and tried to reason with him, “This Brian Sullivan isn’t as simple as you think.”

“How is he not simple?”

“Mark Brooks was parachuted into Donghua from the province. We have to get to the bottom of his background.” John Reed said, “Brian Sullivan was brought to Donghua by Mark Brooks from the province. Do you think we’d overlook him?”

Big Mouth Harris said nothing. He’d heard from John Reed before that Mark Brooks’s arrival in Donghua could threaten Mayor David Carter’s position, so it was only natural for David Carter to have someone investigate Mark Brooks’s background.

He knew Mark Brooks must have powerful connections, but he didn’t understand why even a dog at Mark Brooks’s side was untouchable.

“Before coming to Donghua, Mark Brooks was the deputy director of the Provincial Planning Commission, while Brian Sullivan spent over a year as a lecturer at the Provincial Institute of Economics. No one really knows what kind of shady overseas university he supposedly studied at. In short, he has no real ability or expertise, just loafing around at the Institute. Supposedly teaching, but it was just for show. Right before he came to Donghua, he even got a female student at the Institute pregnant, but didn’t want to take responsibility and forced her to have an abortion, which led her to attempt suicide by slitting her wrists.”

“Damn, what a scumbag!” Big Mouth Harris spat, not even thinking to take a look in the mirror himself.

“This incident caused a huge stir at the Institute. Quite a few teachers even went on strike demanding Brian Sullivan be fired, but in the end, the Institute just suspended him for reflection. Less than two months later, Brian Sullivan came to Donghua with Mark Brooks.” John Reed explained what he knew to his brother-in-law in detail.

Big Mouth Harris smacked his lips. Even with his brother-in-law’s backing at the steel plant, he wouldn’t dare to act so recklessly.

“Brian Sullivan hadn’t been in Donghua for long before he started causing trouble.” John Reed didn’t really want to admit he couldn’t control his subordinate, but just thinking of Brian Sullivan’s face made him frown. “He’s been arrogant at city hall, too. There was even an old bureau chief from a city department who came to see Mark Brooks for a report. Because he tracked mud into Mark Brooks’s office, this little bastard pointed at his face and told him to go clean his shoes before coming in.”

“Who was it?” Big Mouth Harris asked.