54. After the Incident (Please Vote for Recommendations)

Wu Hua'an felt a vague sense of unease growing in his heart.

This young man was simply too calm—no surprise, no arguments, he admitted everything in one breath, offering not the slightest resistance. And he was just a university student; it was hard to believe he could be a vicious criminal. Could he be a privileged and fearless young master, someone who had nothing to fear?

After all, this was Linjiang City, the capital of Qujiang Province! The number of influential figures and hidden powers lurking in this city was beyond what a mere precinct chief like himself could grasp. Who knew when he might step on a landmine?

Ordinarily, this was hardly a case worth his personal attention—it was barely worth mentioning. But here he was. On one hand, an old classmate had come to him for help; it was hard to refuse, and it was a good chance to do a favor. After all, this old classmate was wealthy, and such small gestures of goodwill were important. People always have moments when they need a hand. One never knows what the future holds; the wider the road, the easier the journey.

On the other hand, he also worried about getting dragged into trouble by his old friend. To be safe, Wu Hua'an had checked with the university counselor about the students’ family backgrounds. When he learned that one of them was a top-tier rich heir, he breathed a silent sigh of relief. Luckily, the victim only identified two people: the ringleader, Chen Ling, and the one who had thrown the punch, Bu Chunsheng. Both were poor students.

Thank goodness!

He ordered the two to be brought to the car.

"Back to the station," he commanded. Two cars, lights flashing, pulled out of the campus.

"Old Zhang, what do we do now?" Bao Zhenhai, at a loss, turned to Zheng Peng. "Shouldn’t you call your father?"

Zhang Peng stared at the cars disappearing into the distance, recalling how Chen Ling had subtly shaken his head as he was taken away, signaling him not to act rashly. With a sigh, he replied, "Let's see how Old Chen handles this himself."

"You can't be serious! Those two projects are about to start. If he's detained for fifteen days, what will we do?" Bao Zhenhai fretted. "If things fall through, all our previous investment will be wasted!"

Zhang Peng turned to him, already irritated, and now growing impatient. "You're not the one who invested the money. If I'm not worried, why are you so anxious?"

"What kind of thing is that to say?" Bao Zhenhai retorted, his tongue running ahead of his mind. "He helped you make money, and now you just wash your hands of him? Is that how to be a friend?"

"Friendship?" Zhang Peng sneered. "Let me ask you, are you worried about Chen Ling, or just about losing your share of the profits?"

"I..."

"Of course I'm worried about him!"

Zhang Peng shook his head. "Baozi, always scheming but never sincere—nothing good comes of that. I'll only say this once. You should think it over."

With that, he put on his headphones and turned up the music, shutting everyone else out.

Bao Zhenhai glared after him, frustrated, cheeks puffed with anger as he stormed out of the dorm.

"Just do as I taught you—repeat it exactly, word for word. Do you understand?" In the police station's mediation room, Xu Ming instructed the Feng family's younger son carefully. "No matter what, refuse mediation and demand the harshest punishment!"

Little Feng nodded eagerly, feeling quite pleased. He had been spoiled since birth; even his parents had never laid a finger on him, so after being beaten, his resentment had festered, unwilling to dissipate. Now Xu Ming had come to his house, offered money for their help in filing a police report against Chen Ling, and promised them any compensation they won.

Such a good deal—Feng agreed without a second thought.

They waited a while longer. When Xu Ming saw through the window that the cars had returned and Chen Ling was being brought inside, a sly, triumphant grin appeared at the corners of his mouth.

"You little brat, think you can outplay me? Tonight, I’ll show you how much power I really have."

Soon, Chen Ling and Bu Chunsheng were brought in and seated across from Xu Ming and Feng. Chen Ling didn’t spare the two a glance, instead casting several curious looks at Bu Chunsheng.

All the way over, Bu Chunsheng had sat beside him, silent. He hadn’t complained about being dragged into this, nor did he try to show Chen Ling any loyalty. He simply sat there, silent and calm, not a ripple on his face.

"Let’s go over the details of what happened," said an officer, notebook open, with Wu Hua'an standing to the side.

The officer turned to the younger Feng. "You go first."

"Alright." Feng looked at Chen Ling and tossed him a provocative grin, the very image of a petty man triumphant. "Officer, my sister was having a matchmaking meeting at home that day. Everything was going fine until this guy barged into our house for no reason, saying my sister wasn't allowed to go through with the meeting. We tried to kick him out, and he beat me up... and... and..."

"And what else?" the officer prompted, taking notes.

"He threatened that if I dared call the police, he’d break my legs! That’s a blatant threat, officer—you must punish him severely!" Feng added, flashing Chen Ling a victor’s smile.

He felt a surge of pride—he’d managed to recite such a lengthy story word for word. Truly, he was clever.

Xu Ming was equally pleased with his performance. He glanced at Chen Ling, and seeing the other’s calm face, dismissed him with contempt.

"Ha—keep pretending! I want to see how long you can keep it up!"

The officer turned to Chen Ling. "Is what they say true?"

Before Chen Ling could speak, Feng blurted out, "Of course it's true! My parents and Mr. Xu were all present—they can testify! Don’t think you can deny it!" He pointed accusingly at Chen Ling.

The officer frowned and barked, "Quiet!"

Then, turning back to Chen Ling, he asked, "Is the above statement accurate?"

Chen Ling nodded. "It’s accurate."

"…"

"…"

He admitted it just like that? No defense, no explanation? He admitted it?

Wu Hua'an finally let out a breath. In his experience, the student had probably been frightened into submission—his earlier calm must have been from fear rather than composure. He had misjudged the situation.

This would be easy to handle—apologies where they were due, compensation where required, and detention if necessary, all in accordance with regulations.

He patted the officer, signaling him to continue.

At that moment, Xu Ming’s phone vibrated. He fished it out, shot Wu Hua'an an apologetic look, and gestured that he had to answer.

Wu Hua'an frowned and waved him off.

Xu Ming slipped out of the mediation room to take the call. "Hello, Mr. Ge!"

"Xu Ming, where are you?" Ge Luo's voice was stern, but Xu Ming, in his good mood, didn’t notice.

He was an idle figure at Zhongrui Company—wealthy and carefree, but still young, and eager to move to a more promising department. His father had been working on this for him, but although the elder Xu was a shareholder, his stake was small and he had little actual influence, so nothing had come of it yet.

Now, late at night, the deputy general manager was calling him directly. Xu Ming wondered if his father’s efforts had finally borne fruit.

So he answered earnestly, "Mr. Ge, I’m handling a personal matter. If you have any instructions, I’ll get it done."

"Personal matter? What kind of personal matter?" Ge Luo seemed oddly interested.

"Uh—" Xu Ming hesitated, puzzled, but answered honestly, "A friend of mine was assaulted, so I’m at the police station with him."

"Oh?" Ge Luo was silent for a moment. "Was the attacker named Chen Ling?"

"What?"

Xu Ming was instantly dumbfounded.

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[Spent the day out with family, didn’t have time to write.]
[Still three chapters today, but updates may be a bit late. Working hard to catch up.]
[Dear readers, please vote for recommendations~]
[Watch me do a splits-style New Year’s greeting~]