Seventy OneA little later into the night, Li Shi Qing had someone brought food over to Xiao Li’s room so that they can have dinner together.
Two bodyguards were standing behind him, but they were not the same men from before. Since the incident with Yan Ming and Liu Zi Cheng, Li Shi Qing has started to utilize all the bodyguards. Every day, four groups of men would switch off to protect him.
Xiao Li did not express much concern about being stared at while he was eating. However, Li Shi Qing appeared ridden with guilt instead and incessantly picked food for Xiao Li as a mean to pamper him.
Unfortunately, the phone kept on ringing nonstop, ruining Li Shi Qing’s mood. Every time, he looked down to see who called, he would frown and disconnect it. After ringing four or five more times, it finally stopped.
“It’s the new leader name Zheng Nan Fang who has just replaced Liu Zi Cheng.” Li Shi Qing said rather indifferently, “Calling three times a day, nonstop like this, none of them have yet to not cause me any problems.”
“Zi Cheng has a subordinate name Yang Ze, isn’t he pretty good?” Xiao Li said.
Li Shi Qing did not respond to that but a while later, he said, “I chose wrongly this time. We will not discuss the gang’s affairs anymore from now on.”
Xiao Li lowered his head to drink the soup without any reaction.
Looking at him, Li Shi Qing sighed and changed the topic. “You don’t have to worry about Xiao Yang. Before, Yan Ming had one of Lu Wu’s subordinate become roommate with you brother in order to control you. But now that Yan Ming has been exposed, there is no profit for Lu Wu if he were to do something to Xiao Yang. When everything in the gang settles down a bit, I will send someone to get—”
The phone rang, causing Li Shi Qing to frown yet again, but just as he was about to disconnect it, his expression instantly changed.
He quickly connected the call, his voice ravaged with urgency, “What’s going on?”
The voice of a male could be faintly heard from the other side. Li Shi Qing’s expression became increasingly ugly as he listened to what the person said. His brows tightened even more as anger crept into his eyes.
“Wait, I’ll be there in a second.” After he hung up, he immediately stood up and gave Xiao Li a glance. He attempted to soften his tone but it was impossible to diminish the anger that beckoned to linger, “I’ll eat with you next time.”
Xiao Li nodded his head and watched as Li Shi Qing quickly rushed out with his bodyguards right behind him. The tall and short bodyguards from earlier were still standing on the opposite side of the door.
Once the room has quietened down, Xiao Li looked at his watch and continued to slowly finish his meal then he got up and walked toward the window.
He looked down at the small alley again. The sky gradually darkened, causing the sharp outline of the surrounding buildings to slowly become a blur. But, a red dot of light could still be seen flickering below as if someone was there smoking.
He walked back and called for someone to come in to pick up the empty plates. After the person finished cleaning up, bored to death, Xiao sat back down on the sofa and stared at the second hand of the clock.
Twenty minutes later, the sound of shouting and fighting came from the other side of the door.
Soon, the sound of the door being rapidly knocked on sounded off. A rather coa.r.s.e voice said loudly: “Open the door! It’s the police! We’re here for an inspection!”
Xiao Li got up and walked to over to open the door while the person continued to roar. However, before he could, the door was busted open and the police rushed in.
“Inspect! Go in!” That loud man walked in while commanding his men. “You guy, take those two into custody.”
The men outside the door complied and dragged those two guards—who yelled and cursed—away.
That officer shoved Xiao Li to the side, luckily it was not too forceful.
“Where is he?” The man asked.
“Last time I saw him, he was still upstairs in the room with the red door.” Xiao Li replied.
The man simply said ‘okay’, thought about it for a moment, then took out a radio.
“Laohu[1], check the red door first.”
“Understood.”
The man switched off the radio, looked at Xiao Li and said, “Why are you so active this time? Aren’t you even more determined about this than Sun Tingzhang?”[2]
Xiao Li snorted, “Commander Wu[3]you must be joking around. If Sun Tingzhang wasn’t determined, would he really need your a.s.sistance just to inspect a room?”
The red light on the radio flickered again before a voice came through: “Laohu to Tank, we’ve found our target.”
“Good, take him away.” Wu Qing Hua put the radio away, looked at Xiao Li and laughed heartily. “I don’t know what kind of relationship that person, Qi Xiu Yuan, has with Sun Tingzhang, and honestly it doesn’t matter what it is. But Li Shi Qing capturing him is certainly a sign that he is trying to go against Sun Tingzhang. Since it’s like this, it’s only normal that Sun Tingzhang cannot be at ease. You, on the other hand…you’re different,” He patted Xiao Li’s shoulder, “Although you’re working with us, you’ve always been indecisive and worked half-heartedly. I still haven’t seen you happily giving us any useful information, not even once.”
“You still suspect there’s more useful information?” Xiao Li gave him a cold glance.
Wu Qing Hua still had a bright smile across his face, “When I first received this mission, I immediately thought that something was strange. Then later, I suddenly recalled something…this name, ‘Qi Xiu Yuan’, sounded really familiar. Especially when I saw a photo of him, it felt like I had seen it somewhere before. Once I saw you, I finally remembered.” He kept laughing ‘he he he’ out loud, “Daoba Xiao[4], I helped you destroyed information on someone when you were drugged back then—”
Before he could finish his sentence, the radio at his waist suddenly sounded again. The voice that came through was stern and full of urgency: “Laohu to Tank. The target does not want to go with us. His att.i.tude is very conflicting…”
“What the h.e.l.l! Even such a simple task requires instruction?” Wu Qing Hua yelled into the radio with a rough tone, “Bind him up!”
A loud static noise went off and no one replied.
Wu Qing Hua’s expression was painted with nervousness: “Laohu? Laohu?”
An ear-piercing ‘diiiiii’ sound ruptured from other side, causing Wu Qing Hua to immediately move the radio away from his ear. Another loud noise came through as if the device was being debugged.
Before long, the noise faded and a man’s clear and steady voice came through.
“Qi Xiu Yuan to Tank. Are you Sun Ze Yu?”
Hearing that voice, both Xiao Li and Wu Qing Hua became stunned.
Wu Qing Hua wasn’t even able to reply yet when Qi Xiu Yuan firmly said, “It doesn’t matter who you are, I won’t leave until I see Xiao Li.”
Still in shock, Xiao Li reached for the radio, but Wu Qing Hua quickly raised it up in the air.
“s.h.i.t! This isn’t a f.u.c.king cell phone, do you want the entire operation team to hear you say sappy words of love, huh?”
Embarra.s.sment crept on Xiao Li’s face, stopping his hand in midair as he looked at Wu Qing Hua.
Wu Qinghua glared at him then pressed the radio b.u.t.ton and cursed relentlessly, “Who the f.u.c.k gave him the radio?!”
Once again there was a noisy sound from the opposite side before an awkward voice said: “Laohu reporting, Laohu…Commander…uh…you should come here.”
“d.a.m.n it.” Wu Qing Hua cursed and switched the radio off. Just as he was about to turn around, he gave Xiao Li another glance, “Come with me.”
Xiao Li hesitated for a moment.
“What are you being stunned for?” Wu Qing Hua asked with dissatisfaction, “Although we are temporarily in control here, but who knows how long we can hold on over there. If Li Shi Qing returns, it will be difficult for everyone.”
“If you have no means of taking him away, you wouldn’t be a Commander.” Xiao Li provoked him then said, “If I go to see him, it will be even more difficult for everyone.”[5]
Wu Qinghua looked at him with sharp eyes, snorted and walked away.
Xiao Li felt an ineffable kind of irritation overtake him. His brows wrinkled together as he sank into the sofa.
Less than five minutes later, the door was roughly pushed open. Wu Qing Hua stood at the entrance with a frown and looked at with fire in his eyes.
“Stop f.u.c.king wasting time!” He angrily shouted, “Come here and handle this f.u.c.king Qi Xiu Yuan!!”
Translator’s Note:
[1]Laohu (老虎 ) “Tiger”
[2] Sun Tingzhang = Sun Ze Yu (Tingzhang is his t.i.tle which translates to “head of provincial PRC gov.’t dept.” or simply “premier”)
[3] Commander Wu = Wu Qing Hua from chapter 18 - he gave Xiao Li the photos taken from the traffic camera.
[4] Daoba Xiao - Scar Face Xiao
[5] BAAHAHAHAHHA because he’ll be flirting with Qi Xiu Yuan in front of everyone XD