Three questions

Golden Years Entertainment City.

The private Dragon suite.

Holding a glass of red wine in his right hand, Xie Zhaolong lounged against the spacious sofa with his legs crossed, his posture utterly lazy and outrageously arrogant.

Across from him sat Sun Mei, the establishment's owner, and two young men.

"My old man sent me over to ask what exactly is going on with Tao Guozheng."

The refined-looking young man wearing black-framed glasses spoke first.

"Brother Long, we're all brothers here, so I'll be straight with you. Has Tao Guozheng offended you somehow?"

The other young man, who had a buzz cut, followed with a question of his own.

Xie Zhaolong said nothing. He merely stared coldly at the wineglass in his hand.

Few people in Dongji County could stand on equal footing with him.

No, to be precise, there were only the two sitting before him.

The first was Fu Yu, son of County Party Secretary Fu Pingjiang; the second was Zeng Xuehua, younger brother of Executive Deputy County Magistrate Zeng Xuedong.

They had come to see him today for one reason.

They wanted to figure out just what he was trying to do!

So, what exactly am I trying to do?

Brother Long gently swirled his glass. The whirlpool of dark red wine carried his thoughts back through time to that morning-

As he walked out through the Detention Center's gates once more, a police car slowly approached and stopped beside him.

Zhou Yi had kept his word and come to pick him up himself.

Xie Zhaolong opened the door and settled into the passenger seat. The first thing he said was, "I've taken care of what you asked me to do."

Zhou Yi smiled faintly, seemingly unsurprised that he had completed this apparently difficult task in just four days while confined to the Detention Center.

In fact, Xie Zhaolong really hadn't found it very difficult.

With dirt on so many people, once he decided to go after someone, all it took was a couple of calls and a few expendable pawns to get the job done.

"It takes about half an hour to get from here to Golden Years. If you have any questions, you'd better ask them now. We might not get another chance to talk like this."

Zhou Yi spoke calmly as he turned the steering wheel to make a U-turn.

Xie Zhaolong hesitated, then asked the question that had puzzled him most and robbed him of both sleep and appetite. "Captain Zhou, how did you know my cousin's wife and I have a child?"

Keeping his eyes on the road, Zhou Yi answered expressionlessly, "If you don't want anyone to know, don't do it in the first place. There are no absolute secrets in this world. Here's another example: the only reason you had the nerve to rape your cousin's wife was that you discovered your girlfriend had climbed into your cousin's bed."

Xie Zhaolong fell silent. The young police officer beside him felt like a devil who could see straight into people's hearts.

Every word was true.

It was precisely because he had discovered his girlfriend's betrayal that lust and hatred had driven him to force himself on his cousin's wife, Li Ruoyun.

Once that impulsive act was over, he had thought he was dead for sure. Yet for some reason, his cousin's wife hadn't blamed him and had even made him a nourishing tonic soup.

He had asked her about it later, too.

Smoking a cigarette after sex, she had answered with an air of profound reflection, "Perhaps I was lonely!"

"Who exactly are you?" After a long silence, Xie Zhaolong asked his second question.

"I'm just an unremarkable police officer. I got lucky and caught a fugitive, which is how I became Public Security Brigade Captain." Zhou Yi glanced at him and answered quite honestly.

Unremarkable?

Like hell I believe you! Xie Zhaolong thought.

Your looks, your bearing, your words, your behavior, the way you do things-which part of any of that is 'unremarkable'?

He had done some investigating, but what he had found could easily have been a facade someone had deliberately put in front of him.

His cousin, for instance, was ostensibly a Provincial People's Congress Representative and a prominent entrepreneur, but in reality, he was a crime boss involved in prostitution, gambling, organized crime, and drugs.

Then there was Xie Zhaolong himself: outwardly an arrogant, domineering gangster who thought himself untouchable, but in reality, he was indeed an arrogant, domineering gangster who thought himself untouchable.

And some people appeared to be lowly police officers, but in reality... no one knew what powerful figure might be backing them.

So with someone like Zhou Yi, you absolutely couldn't judge him by what he said. You had to look at what he did!

Brother Long had spent his time in the Detention Center in secluded contemplation, painstakingly inventing Zhou Yi's background. After working on it long enough, he had actually started believing it himself.

Neither of his two questions had received a real answer. Rather than feeling disappointed, Xie Zhaolong only found the other man even more mysterious and unfathomable.

"What are you planning to do?"

This was his third question, and the last one Xie Zhaolong intended to ask.

"Good question!"

At an intersection, Zhou Yi saw the light turn red and stepped on the brake. Turning toward Xie Zhaolong, he said in a low, forceful voice, "Everyone has different goals at different stages of life. As for me, what I want most right now is to take Fu Pingjiang's or Yan Xiangyu's position in the shortest time possible!"

Seeing the naked ambition and desire in his eyes, Xie Zhaolong finally felt reassured.

He had genuinely worried that Zhou Yi might be one of those upright Party officials who hated evil and championed the people.

Ambition doesn't scare me.

Having no desires at all does.

Xie Zhaolong felt he had seen through Zhou Yi's intentions. The man simply wanted to use his influence to eliminate opponents and clear a path for his own promotion.

In that case, they were birds of a feather, traveling the glorious road of collusion between officials and gangsters.

Xie Zhaolong even began wondering whether, if he "invested" in Zhou Yi now and formed an alliance with him, he might soon replicate his cousin's success-building a vast network of connections and expanding his own power until he could escape tiny Dongji County and step onto a much larger stage.

By then, he would no longer depend on or fear his cousin, and naturally, he would no longer worry about Zhou Yi revealing that so-called secret.

The more Xie Zhaolong thought about it, the more criminally promising it seemed, with a bright sentence ahead.

The police car turned onto Chaoyang Road, and the enormous sign of Golden Years Entertainment City came clearly into view.

Just as they reached their destination and Xie Zhaolong was about to get out-

Zhou Yi suddenly stared into his eyes and asked a question that sent his heart pounding with fear. "Have you ever thought about killing me?"

"N-no..." Xie Zhaolong denied it, his eyes shifting evasively.

"You have. You just don't dare!" Zhou Yi coldly exposed his lie. His lips lifted slightly in a cruel, dangerous smile as he suggested, word by deliberate word, "Actually, you could give it a try!"

Only after Xie Zhaolong got out and watched the police car leave did he discover, to his astonishment, that his back was already soaked with sweat.

"Brother Long. Brother Long."

Xie Zhaolong snapped out of his reverie to find Fu Yu and Zeng Xuehua staring at him impatiently.

Oh, his thoughts had apparently wandered a little too far and taken a little too long to return, leaving his guests tired of waiting.

"That bastard Tao Guozheng. I spent half a month in the Detention Center, and he didn't call me once."

Brother Long took a sip of wine and casually charged Tao Guozheng with "failure to offer timely comfort."

Fu Yu and Zeng Xuehua exchanged a glance and curled their lips.

Who the hell are you trying to fool?

You might as well say the weather was too hot, the cicadas were too loud, the sex was unsatisfying, or you were in a bad mood. Pick any one of those, and it would be more believable than that excuse.

"Brother Long, is it because Tao Guozheng offended Zhou Yi?" Zeng Xuehua finally lost patience and cut straight to the point.

"If you already know, why ask me?" Brother Long retorted belligerently.

"But Tao Guozheng didn't do anything. He never wanted to provoke Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi was the one going after his daughter!" Fu Yu frowned, feeling that Tao Guozheng had been wronged.

"Then let Zhou Yi go after her!"

Brother Long stacked three buffs-"sound reasoning," "righteous confidence," and "taking it for granted"-and somehow left Fu Yu and Zeng Xuehua feeling as though they had no argument left.

This is fucking outrageous!

"Brother Long, could we please be reasonable?" Zeng Xuehua asked, deeply displeased.

Tao Guozheng belonged to his elder brother's faction and could be considered one of its backbones. Now that backbone was about to become ashes.

Besides, pulling up a radish brought dirt along with it. If Tao Guozheng really went down, there was no guarantee he wouldn't implicate others.

"Reasonable? Does Tao Guozheng deserve that?" Brother Long laughed as though he had heard a joke. "Was he reasonable when he forced his female subordinates to get hotel rooms with him?"

"All right, Brother Long. Just level with us. What's the background of that Zhou fellow?" Zeng Xuehua decided to stop arguing pointlessly. After all, Tao Guozheng had already been taken away by the discipline inspection commission.

"Have you heard of the Seed Plan?" Brother Long asked mysteriously.

Fu Yu and Zeng Xuehua shook their heads blankly.

They had only heard of Amway.

Sun Mei, who had remained silent throughout, suddenly widened her eyes. Fuck, that isn't what you told me before.

"The Seed Plan, my ass."

In his study at home, County Party Secretary Fu Pingjiang swore for practically the first time ever.

"I thought it sounded fishy too. That bastard Xie Zhaolong never says a truthful word." Standing beside him, Fu Yu spoke sheepishly.

Fuck, my brain must have short-circuited. I actually let Xie Zhaolong talk me into swallowing all that bullshit.

"The major families in Capital City are cultivating seeds all over the country."

"Zhou Yi is a distant relative of Municipal Party Secretary Zhou."

"Even Zhou Yi's opportunities to earn commendations were deliberately arranged by the higher-ups."

He and Zeng Xuehua had been completely taken in.

"Most likely, someone has something on him," Fu Pingjiang said coldly.

Experience told. The Party secretary had exposed the truth in a single sentence.

"You mean Zhou Yi has no backing at all? He's just threatening Xie Zhaolong and using his influence to throw his weight around?" Fu Yu suddenly thought he understood.

"Heh. Think carefully. Someone who can get leverage over Xie Zhaolong, threaten him without getting killed, and make him keep inventing lies to cover for him-could someone like that possibly have no backing? Could you or Zeng Xuehua manage that?"

Fu Pingjiang fired a string of questions at his son.

Fu Yu nodded thoughtfully. A moment later, he asked, "Then what should we do now?"

Fu Pingjiang shook his head. "Nothing. Let Zeng Xuedong and Yan Xiangyu fight like dogs."

After a pause, he added gravely, "Find a chance to get acquainted with Zhou Yi and get a feel for how he operates."

After bluffing Fu Yu and Zeng Xuehua into leaving, Xie Zhaolong sent Sun Mei away as well.

He was just about to practice some push-ups with two pretty waitresses.

Then his phone suddenly rang.

One glance at the caller ID made Brother Long jolt. He hurried back to the sitting room with his phone.

"Cousin, you wanted me?" Xie Zhaolong answered with utmost deference.

"Little Long, did you bother two exceptionally beautiful women a while back?" Xie Bingkun's somewhat sinister voice came through the phone.

A chill ran through Xie Zhaolong's heart. He immediately recalled that night when lust had gotten the better of him and Zhou Yi had kicked the hell out of him. Not daring to lie, he stammered, "Y-yes, something like that did happen..."

"Someone came to me about it. I was going to break one of your legs to give them an answer, but when they heard you'd been detained for half a month, they said they'd let it go out of respect for me. Keep your eyes open from now on. Don't fucking act like a stupid dog and throw yourself at every pretty woman you see. Do you understand?"

Over the phone, Xie Bingkun reprimanded him without the slightest courtesy.

Xie Zhaolong could only keep nodding and saying yes.

He addressed the man as his cousin, but acted like the lowest of lackeys.

After hanging up, Brother Long sat motionless for a long while, then grabbed his wineglass and smashed it viciously against the floor.

When Zhou Yi arrived at work that morning, he immediately sensed a change in the atmosphere.

If his colleagues had treated him warmly before, that warmth now seemed to have turned into awe.

Li Wenli, Luo Daxiang, and even several deputy bureau chiefs made their eagerness to curry favor painfully obvious.

Even Executive Deputy Bureau Chief Song Chengquan forced a smile and rushed to greet him.

As for his three trusted lieutenants-"considerate" Cai Xiaobo, "eager to step up" Shao Mingbao, and "duty-bound" Zhu Jianping-they launched straight into shameless flattery whenever they saw him, no questions asked.

Such was the tremendous deterrent effect of Tao Guozheng being taken away by the discipline inspection commission for investigation.

A full section-level official with real power, the executive deputy director of the County Party Committee Organization Department, had offended-no, attempted to obstruct justice-and consequently been jointly reported by righteous citizens. His prospects now looked grim.

Thinking it over, with such a cautionary example before them, who could fail to tread carefully, stay alert, learn the lesson, and take warning?

So how did Zhou Yi feel at that moment?

Had he lost himself in the vanity of being feared and respected?

Had he savored the joy of so easily destroying an enemy?

Had he forgotten his rebirth motto, "Evil and I cannot coexist"?

Zhou Yi's answer was that he had no time to ponder any of that.

Accompanied by staff from the County Party Committee Publicity Department, reporters and photographers from Anping Television Station and the Anping Daily News Agency had arrived at the County Public Security Bureau to interview him on-site, as previously arranged.

Yet to his surprise, Zhou Yi discovered two impostors mingling among the reporters.