As Hamuer spoke, he looked quite interested and poured Liu Zhizhong a ginger tea beer he quite liked, handing it over.

As Liu Zhizhong took the drink, he noticed Hamuer's amused expression and curiously asked, "What unexpected discovery did you make?"

Hamuer poured himself a ginger tea cola, took a sip, and only then said, "Secretary Xie Peng from County Head Zhang's house, he's also from Lu'an County, Pingdu City, Shannan Province, specifically from Xiejiawan Village, Fengqiu Town in Lu'an County. Haha…"

Liu Zhizhong was taken aback, showing a face full of amazed admiration, "Wow, Secretary Ha, how do you know so much about Secretary Xie?"

Hamuer said, "I have to keep an eye on Zhang Hongyang and Xie Peng for Secretary Liu, right? So, of course, I need to understand them well. I transferred Xie's files from the County Committee Organization Department and studied them carefully! But I didn't expect, Secretary Xie and Mr. Wen are actually from the same hometown! Maybe they even know each other!"

"Oh?" Liu Zhizhong frowned, "Know each other? No way? I haven't seen them act like they know each other in any interactions?"

Hamuer nodded, "I don't see it either. But think about it, Lu'an County is not that big, and they aren't very far apart in age. Moreover, Mr. Wen, when he was young, was a notorious juvenile delinquent in An County, a real troublemaker, while Xie Peng did well in studies and sports. Is it possible he never heard of Mr. Wen? Back then, Mr. Wen even appeared in the local newspaper for juvenile offenses, haha…"

Liu Zhizhong got a bit curious, nodded, "By piecing it together like this, if they're pretending not to know each other while actually knowing, there's... something there?"

"Perhaps! It's hard to say. Because they seem to not have had any deep interaction, right? Of course, if they truly know each other and are pretending not to, then that would be quite interesting."

Liu Zhizhong took a deep sip of the brewed beer, nodded, "Hmm, there's definitely something interesting. But, Secretary Ha, this is just our wishful speculation. For the current work, analyzing their relationship doesn't yield any benefits, so let's put it aside for now!"

"Understood. Of course, if Secretary Liu is interested, we can find an opportunity to test them later."

"Haha... I'm not that interested. If you're interested, you can give it a try. But remember, don't affect the bigger picture of unity, do it quietly."

"Sure, rest assured, Secretary Liu, Hamuer knows how to handle things with discretion."

"Alright then. Anyway, I trust you to handle matters, haha…"

"…"

In reality, Hamuer's intuition was also quite sharp.

Having navigated the small-town officialdom for so many years, his political instincts were quite seasoned.

He felt there was a possibility that Xie Peng and Wen Bao might know each other, and the more he secretly thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

So, secretly, Hamuer intended to actually test this and investigate a bit more.

That night while night fishing, the two managed to catch a good haul, about a dozen pounds of fish.

This fish, Liu Zhizhong did not keep to himself, but immediately had Hamuer send it to the County Committee and County Government cafeteria overnight, to add to everyone's lunch the next day.

After Hamuer returned home, he sat down and checked the surveillance at his place to see if there was anything unusual.

Safety was always a priority for Hamuer, especially the safety of himself and Secretary Liu. So, he had installed hidden cameras that even Liu Zhizhong didn't know about.

Upon looking, something unexpected appeared…