Things had gotten somewhat out of hand. Lin Qi certainly deserved some of the credit for this. He had thrown himself into the affair as one of its elements, but what had truly caused it to snowball so quickly was neither him nor those media outlets.
They did not have the ability to shake the official stance to such an extent. What had made the officials wary was an enemy of the same level as themselves.
Not everyone had a friend with a "license," nor could everyone use a friend's "license" to handle matters for them. Quite a few people were actually the ones being handled. This caused considerable panic among those who possessed social status but had no access to power.
Their panic came from the fact that their wealth and power had not successfully connected as they had originally imagined. Even now, they remained two parallel horizontal lines. That meant if their opponents employed power they did not possess against them, it would be difficult for them to resist.
Among these people, the newly emerging capitalists made up the majority. Under the explosion of the era's dividends, they had rapidly accumulated wealth that might once have taken two or three generations to amass, while lacking sufficient foundations.
They began to fear the power they had fantasized about countless times. It was like what many people said about putting capital in a cage. For these newly emerged capitalists without deep roots, the thing that should be put in a cage was not them, but power.
So when Lin Qi's affair rapidly snowballed after he set it in motion, it was not because Lin Qi was particularly special. He had merely forged a blade for these people.
That blade might not be able to tear through the impregnable fortress the Federation had gradually built over hundreds of years, but it was enough for them to slash once more across the marks already left on that wall, making them a little deeper! One day, they would be able to tear an opening in that invisible wall with slash after slash. One day.
The pressure from these people quickly forced the Federal Taxation Bureau to compromise, because those exerting pressure were precisely some of the people who paid the most taxes each year.
Throwing away an utterly insignificant bottom-level investigator in exchange for calming this storm might have made it seem as though the Federal Revenue Service had suffered a loss, but in reality, there was only one person who had truly lost out: Michael.
As long as the enforcement authority in the Federal Revenue Service's hands remained undamaged, they would always have a chance to turn the tables!
The situation was so clear, yet Michael's inner world was filled with unending rain. The director's words before leaving had left him in a state of agitation. That man had actually told him to bow his head to his enemy in exchange for genuine forgiveness.
Anyone with some understanding of the world knew that Lin Qi's apology was an offensive tactic disguised as retreat. The weaker he appeared, the more violently he would stir up the entire society.
What needed to be done now was to persuade Lin Qi to genuinely forgive Michael. Then the matter would be easy to resolve. It was nothing more than a minor offense.
Michael's Wife was still receiving treatment in the hospital. The injuries on her face and the outside of her thigh were not minor, and she had not fully recovered. At the same time, she needed counseling from a psychologist, so the two treatments were arranged together.
This was a considerable expense. Little Michael's affair not only required money to pay the defense lawyer's fees, but also required Michael's current status to resolve certain troubles that were not troubles to the Privileged Class.
That meant that once he lost his current job, Michael's family would collapse in an instant. They would soon be worrying over all kinds of bills, then sell their house and move to the Lower District, where the cost of living was lower. That family would be ruined for the rest of their lives!
After smashing a large number of things, Michael walked out of his home in formal attire. His head was buzzing, and his eardrums seemed to bulge outward again and again.
When he had just left, he had clearly seen the concern on his neighbors' faces, and had even seen them apparently saying something. Yet he could not hear a thing. His entire head contained only a lifeless ringing.
He forced out a faint smile, opened the car door, and sat inside. He started the engine, shifted gears, and slowly drove out of the community.
He was going to meet Lin Qi and resolve these matters. He had never realized that he would encounter obstacles he could not overcome, nor had he believed he would ever face them. After all, he was the young and vigorous head of the Investigation Team at the Federal Revenue Service, and might even rise to a higher position in the future.
He had misjudged himself, and he had misjudged others. He would have to pay for his mistakes.
By the time Michael arrived at the hospital, the reporters had mostly left. Lin Qi's cooperation had made the interview extremely quick. Michael went straight to Lin Qi's hospital room. When he pushed open the door, Lin Qi was sitting on the bed in a hospital gown, watching television.
He clearly looked very haggard, but through the other man's bright eyes, Michael could tell at a glance that this sickly appearance was fake.
In an instant, rage surged up from the soles of his feet. Before it had time to burn through his reason, he personally extinguished it.
Lin Qi also noticed Michael entering the room. He picked up the Remote Control and silenced the television, then looked at Michael.
Michael felt uncomfortable under his gaze. He took a deep breath, steeled himself, walked to the small round chair beside the bed, and sat down. Then he apologized in what he considered a sincere manner. "I want to apologize to you for my irrational actions before. I hope you can forgive me!"
The fact that he could say those words was already no small feat. The smooth sailing he had enjoyed over the years had become part of his bad temper. If such a humiliating scene had happened before, he would rather have let everything fall apart than come and apologize.
But his family had become the straw that broke him, and he had indeed begun reflecting on some of his problems.
Lin Qi shook his head. "You sound very perfunctory, and I can't see the slightest trace of sincerity from you. This is the first time I've seen someone ask for forgiveness like this..." He looked Michael up and down and said mockingly, "It's as if I'm the one begging for your apology. You enter the room, sit beside me without being invited, say some inexplicable things, and then wait for my response."
"I don't think you came here to apologize. You came to show off that I'm lying here while you're able to stand!"
Michael's brows immediately shot up. He had already apologized, so what more did Lin Qi want? But when he saw Lin Qi's half-smiling expression and thought about the predicament he was facing, the rage rising inside him was once again forcibly suppressed.
He stood up somewhat numbly. He felt as though only a shell remained, and he could no longer sense his real self.
He quickly left the room, bought some flowers, fruit, and gifts from a shop on one side of the hospital's first-floor lobby, then returned upstairs. This time, he knocked on the door first and entered only afterward. Forcing himself to lower his voice, he explained why he had come and repeated what he had said before. "...I sincerely beg you to forgive my recklessness!"
Lin Qi still wore that same irritating expression. "If buying things represented sincerity, there would be no wars in this world."
Michael's voice immediately rose. "Then what else do you want me to do?" He glared at Lin Qi, but quickly softened his attitude again. "I'm sorry. You know what a terrible temper I have. Tell me what you want me to do and get it over with!"
Only then did Lin Qi nod in satisfaction. "Kneel down, apologize sincerely for your actions, and beg me to forgive you."
He sat on the bed and looked at Michael. The latter's face was filled with disbelief.
The two stared at each other for roughly half a minute. Lin Qi's eyes showed not the slightest sign of yielding, and Michael seemed to gradually understand something.
He lowered his head and remained silent for a while. Then, with a thump, he knelt on the floor, keeping his head lowered as he sincerely apologized and begged Lin Qi's forgiveness.
His voice trembled slightly as he said those words, as if he were suppressing something. Lin Qi knew it was rage, resentment, hatred, and the desire for destruction.
Lin Qi also knew very well that all of this was merely a choice made for the moment. It was nothing more than Michael swallowing his pride to preserve himself.
At that thought, he laughed. While pressing the Nurse call button, he said with a smile, "I refuse!"
Michael abruptly raised his head and stared at Lin Qi in disbelief, as if he had not heard what Lin Qi had just said and wanted him to repeat it.
Lin Qi seemed to hear the voice in his heart and continued, "I refuse to forgive you."
Michael stood up and walked to the bedside, a vicious look appearing on his face. "You told me to buy things, and you told me to kneel. I did everything you said. And now you're saying you refuse?"
Lin Qi showed no fear as Michael approached. Instead, he asked, "If an apology were useful, why would there be law enforcement officers and the Department of Justice?"
"You committed a crime, Michael. If an apology could erase your crime, aren't you being too damn stupid?" As he spoke, Lin Qi quickly raised a hand to cover his mouth. "Oh my God, I actually swore. Aren't you being too naive?"
Michael's eyes turned bloodshot. Just as his reason was about to go out once more, the room's door opened. Two nurses stared at Michael in stunned disbelief, then let out shrieks!