Ouyang Cheng gnashed his teeth as he watched Ye Qian and Li Wei swagger out the door. He snorted and muttered to himself, “You dared to threaten me, sooner or later you will buried underground.”
After a while, Ouyang Cheng suddenly remembered that he forgot to ask them where they hid his precious Mei Li. With the thought of his woman, he immediately became agitated. He went through the whole villa and spent a long time looking for her. He finally found her unconscious in the bathroom floor. She was clad only in a thin, diaphanous nightgown, a pure white thigh half exposed. Even though he had been entangled with her many times already, every time he saw her Ouyang Cheng still couldn’t help feeling an urge. He gulped down his saliva and quickly went forward to wake her up.
After leaving the private villa Ouyang Cheng had set up for his mistress, Li Wei finally couldn’t hold back his curiosity and longer and asked, “Boss, do you really want to cooperate with that guy?”
“What do you think?” Ye Qian replied indifferently.
“I think not. Haha, boss would never give that type of person the light of day.” Li Wei said with a laugh.
He looked at Li Wei helplessly then handed him the records containing Ouyang Cheng receiving bribes, selling of government projects, and the s.e.x tapes. “I have to trouble you with this tonight. Hand these over to a certain person.”
At first Ye Qian couldn’t understand why those government officials liked to keep records of the bribes their received. Weren’t they afraid that they would be caught by the disciplinary commission? But after thinking about it for a while, he realized it wasn’t that strange. Those high officials were so powerful and dominant, who would dare put them under investigation? So how many high officials in China were actually not corrupt?
“To who?” Li Wei asked.
Ye Qian smiled slightly, then leaned in to whisper something into his ear.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
On the morning of the second day, Li Hao received a call from w.a.n.g Ping telling him to immediately go over to his house. Li Hao was astonished when he heard the urgency in w.a.n.g Ping’s voice. He couldn’t help thinking that something big must have happened. Li Hao only had his position now because of w.a.n.g Ping who pulled him up through the ranks. So in Shanghai he could be considered one of w.a.n.g Ping’s subordinates. After hanging up, Li Hao did not delay, he immediately got into the car and left.
When he reached w.a.n.g Ping’s house he found w.a.n.g Ping sitting on the sofa with a solemn expression. There was a thick pile of files on the coffee table in front of him but he couldn’t figure out what it was about. “Deputy Secretary w.a.n.g!” Li Hao greeted respectfully.
“Oh, Li Hao, you’re here. Sit!” w.a.n.g Ping said amiably. w.a.n.g Ping greatly admired Li Hao. Even though he was still young he had a lot of drive. He had promoted Li Hao himself and Li Hao was very respectful to him. w.a.n.g Ping’s faction could be considered the smallest within the political circles of Shanghai, so Li Hao could be considered his trusted aide.
A servant came over to deliver a cup of tea to Li Hao, then left. Li Hao took a light sip then asked, “Deputy Secretary w.a.n.g, you called me over so urgently, has something happened?”
w.a.n.g Ping nodded and replied, “Li Hao, do you have an older brother called Ye Qian?”
Li Hao was taken by surprise. The people who knew about this were few. Aside from the childhood friends he grew up with in the slums, only his coworker from the bureau that day knew. Li Hao couldn’t imagine why w.a.n.g Ping would suddenly bring Ye Qian up, could he have stirred up some trouble again? “Deputy Secretary w.a.n.g, has something happened to my er ge?” Li Hao asked nervously.
“Yes!” w.a.n.g Ping nodded, then continued. “Can you tell me all about Ye Qian?”
Li Hao felt very anxious and wanted to find out what happened to Ye Qian, but he held down his temper and patiently replied, “Ye Qian and I were orphans adopted together by Laodie and we treated each other like brothers ever since. Er ge is a very straightforward person and intensely loyal. He knew that Laodie was having a hard time working to send us to school so he dropped out early to find work. One day I unintentionally offended a mafia boss and got beaten up and sent to the hospital. Er ge could not live it down and secretly waited outside that mafia boss’ house for three days and three nights until he found the opportunity to stab him. If that dagger had been place a little bit more to the right, that mafia boss would have been dead on the spot. When that mafia boss got out of the hospital he searched for er ge everywhere. So er ge decided to lay low and leave Shanghai. Eight years later he came back. I only found out that he was back two days ago.”
w.a.n.g Ping nodded after he heard Li Hao’s words. Based on the emotion in his words he appeared to admire Ye Qian very much. After a pause, w.a.n.g Ping asked, “Where was he in those eight years? What did he do?”
Li Hao shook his head and replied, “I don’t know. In those eight years, he never sent a letter home, nor did he call. It was as if he just disappeared. At the time we thought that that mafia boss most certainly must have caught up with him. I only found out he was back when Laodie called me two days ago about Erge being detained by people from the district bureau.”
“Detained by the district bureau? What for?” w.a.n.g Ping asked.
Li Hao recounted the events concerning Ye Qian injuring the coal mine boss. Then he asked with nervousness, “Deputy Secretary w.a.n.g, can you tell me what really is going on? Did erge get into trouble again?”
w.a.n.g Ping nodded and replied, “Yes, it’s no small trouble either. He’s suspected of murdering a government worker. There was even an order from higher authorities to shoot to kill if he resisted arrest.”
This news came like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky. Li Hao’s entire body stiffened on the sofa. Murder was a crime punishable by death. The victim being a government worker made the crime ever more grave. This was not like the matter with Tyc.o.o.n Zeng where he could personally settle the matter. This was a criminal case, even if he were to step in he wouldn’t be able to save Ye Qian.
“Don’t be too anxious, I think this situation can still be turned around. I have a feeling that he is being framed. However the enemy’s background isn’t small, or else the authorities wouldn’t be forced to make such a grave order over this matter.” w.a.n.g Ping saw Li Wei’s dejected expression and comforted him.
Translated by: korezmi
Edited by: patrick_father_of_dragons