Late that night, Floral Shirt, who claimed to be Li Xing's brother through life and death, was brought back to the Police Bureau. Wang Daolin immediately ordered his officers to round people up across Zhannan District. Overnight, more than twenty people indirectly "involved in the case" were arrested or summoned, and every one of them worked for Changqing Company.
Had Wang Daolin dared order the arrests of Changqing Company employees because the dim-witted Floral Shirt had confessed?
Not at all. In fact, once Floral Shirt was taken into the Police Bureau, he realized these people weren't Li Xing's colleagues. He chose to resist questioning and refused to say anything about the case, but it did him little good.
Wang Daolin didn't need Floral Shirt's confession. He had more than a dozen accomplices, all thugs on Changqing Company's payroll. With Li Xing protecting them, they usually acted with reckless impunity. If the Police Bureau wanted to investigate them, it would have no trouble finding dirt.
Wang Daolin's purpose was simple: to put pressure on Li Xing and Changqing Company. With a shooting, vandalism and arson, and grievous injuries to workers to investigate, he could detain them first and question them afterward. He couldn't go wrong.
After Floral Shirt, the other henchmen, and Changqing Company employees were arrested one after another, Li Xing heard about it through his contacts inside the Police Bureau. Sometime after three in the morning, he called Wang Daolin again, but Wang still didn't answer and openly rejected the call.
Li Xing grew increasingly agitated. At one point, he even heard that Floral Shirt had confessed, telling Wang Daolin's men that the two of them had torn panties together.
That news infuriated Li Xing enough to throw his hormones out of balance. He didn't sleep all night and went to work shortly after seven the next morning, hoping to see Wang Daolin. But Wang's officers told him that Wang would be out investigating all day and wouldn't be coming in.
Without a chance to talk, there was no way to resolve things. Finally, left with no other choice, Li Xing asked a deputy commissioner of the Dragon City Police Bureau to mediate.
Around noon, Wang Daolin's Police Vehicle stopped outside a teahouse. He got out alone and walked up to a private room on the third floor.
Inside, a plump man in his fifties sat on a tatami mat, drinking tea. He waved to Wang Daolin. "Come on, Wang. Have a seat!"
Wang Daolin took off his shoes and bent down to sit on the tatami. "Deputy Commissioner Guo, how come you've got so much free time today?"
"There's no one else here, so let's speak plainly." Deputy Commissioner Guo filled Wang Daolin's cup himself and pushed it toward him. "Li Xing came to me."
Wang Daolin smiled without saying anything.
"Heh. Wang, do you really want things to get this ugly between you and Li Xing?" Deputy Bureau Chief Guo didn't address the details, asking only that vague question.
"If I were a little taller, those three shots at the Cantonese Restaurant last night would've blown my brains out." Wang Daolin paused before continuing. "Deputy Commissioner Guo, Changqing Company has gone too far. Even if I didn't pursue it personally, that shooting alone is something our Police Bureau has to investigate thoroughly!"
"Li Xing said there was a misunderstanding."
"What misunderstanding? If Lu Feng didn't do it, who did? Me? Su Tiannan?" Wang Daolin shot back.
Deputy Commissioner Guo fell silent.
"Su Tiannan took a bullet in the abdomen. I saw it myself, Deputy Commissioner Guo!" Wang Daolin continued. "He's just making excuses. Before, he thought I wouldn't dare touch Changqing. Now that things have gotten serious, he wants me to smooth it all over. Why should I?"
"Li Xing has the Fuzi Chamber of Commerce and Changqing Group behind him. My personal advice is to do him a favor and not let things get too ugly."
"Deputy Commissioner Guo, since we're talking about favors, let me ask you something. Second Su and I served together. Does Lu Feng know that? Does Li Hongze know? Does Li Xing know?" Wang Daolin tapped a finger against the table. "They knew perfectly well, but they still tried to destroy the Su Family. Did they show me any respect? Did they give me so much as a heads-up? Earlier, I wanted to arrange for Su Tiannan to see his father, and even the Anti-Smuggling Division turned me down. Where was the respect for me?"
Deputy Bureau Chief Guo fell silent again.
The room went quiet. After a long stalemate, Deputy Bureau Chief Guo sipped his tea and said, "Then how about this? Do it as a favor to me, Wang."
"What would you like me to do, Deputy Commissioner Guo?" Wang Daolin asked with a smile, neither servile nor overbearing.
"Let the people below us talk it out. If they can reach an agreement, great. If they can't... I'll stay out of it," Deputy Bureau Chief Guo said bluntly. "Until they've talked, keep the investigation limited to the henchmen already arrested. Can you do that?"
Wang Daolin considered it, then lifted his teacup. "Sure. Since you've asked, of course I'll do you that favor. The rest depends on what Changqing does."
"Heh. Thanks, Wang!"
"You'll always be my superior." Wang Daolin offered him a flattering remark.
Inside the People's Hospital in Zhannan District.
Su Tianyu sat in a chair, fiddling with his phone.
Beside the bed, Su Tianbei asked his eldest brother quietly, "Did you take my piece?"
"What piece?" Su Tiannan was baffled.
"The piece I hid in the car is gone. Tianyu and I thought it over, and you're the only one who could've stolen it," Su Tianbei said earnestly. "Were you afraid I'd cause trouble with it, so you secretly hid it?"
"Are you out of your mind?"
"Did you take it or not? Tell me the truth!" Su Tianbei demanded anxiously. "I didn't sleep a fucking wink last night because of this."
"...!" Su Tiannan stared at him, speechless. After a long silence, he replied, "With that brain of yours, you should try not to hang around Tianyu so much. Otherwise, he could sell you off and you wouldn't even know it."
"What's that mean? What do you mean? Spell it out!" Su Tianbei pressed, adorably clueless.
"Stop talking to me. Just looking at your head gives me a headache."
"...!"
While the two brothers were bickering, Bai Hongbo, the man's man, suddenly walked in. "Hey, Tian Nan! Feeling any better?"
"Heh, Bai, you're here." Su Tiannan braced a hand against the bed and sat up a little.
"It's fine, stay lying down. I came to give you some good news." Bai Hongbo grinned. "A friend at the city Management Council called me. He said some senior officials aren't happy with what Changqing Company's been doing lately, and we should try making some connections."
Su Tiannan paused. "What connections?"
"My friend said a new official just joined the Management Council. He's mainly responsible for developing Dragon City's rural sanitation system going forward. His name is Yu Jinrong. At the council's regular meeting today, he took the lead in criticizing some of the recent disorder in Zhannan District. He even said outright... that Changqing Company's monopolistic practices had seriously damaged the Management Council's reputation and made the public label the Sanitation Sector as mob-connected." Bai Hongbo smiled. "My friend thinks the Four Companies should go see Yu Jinrong. After all, in some respects, his position lines up with what we want."
Su Tiannan was delighted to hear it. "That's great news! We definitely have to meet him. I'll go with you."
"You're injured. Don't go," Su Tianbei said with a smile. "Tianyu and Six can handle it."
"Make sure the talks go well," Su Tiannan instructed.
"Got it!"
After chatting for a while, Su Tianyu, Su Tianbei, Bai Hongbo, and the others left the hospital for Longkou District, where an intermediary would introduce them to Yu Jinrong.
That afternoon.
Inside cell 403 of the Police Bureau's criminal detention facility, a wiry old man with a shaved head was idly reading an erotic romance novel.
Diagonally across from him, the inmate who ran the cell was sizing up a new arrival. "What are you in for?"
"Trashing a garbage plant." The new inmate was none other than Floral Shirt.
"What's there to trash at a garbage plant? Infighting in the Beggars' Gang?" The inmate boss had a sense of humor. "Which area did you hit?"
"The Su Family's garbage yard in Zhannan."
At those words, the bald old man across from him froze. "What the hell did you say? Whose garbage yard?"
"The Su Family's in Zhannan! Why? You know them?" Floral Shirt replied thickheadedly.
Thud!
The bald old man launched himself up and kicked Floral Shirt square in the face. "Anyone in here who knows martial arts, use him for practice!"
Before you continue