When Chu Yifeng received Wang Cheng’s call, he assumed he was in Guanjia Village. Instead, someone very calmly informed him that he was at the police station drinking tea and asked whether he was interested in coming over to watch the show. If he could still joke like that after causing trouble, the situation probably was not too serious. That was what Chu Yifeng thought, but he moved quickly all the same.
“Boss?”
The boss suddenly stood up, and everyone in the room looked at him in surprise. The meeting had been proceeding normally. No one understood why he had suddenly risen.
Li Yu, who had been giving the report, adjusted the glasses on her nose. She was also the one who had spoken. She thought perhaps something in her presentation had displeased him. Nothing like this had ever happened before, so even she could not be sure whether she was the reason.
“Continue the meeting. When you’re finished, give me the report.” Chu Yifeng left those words behind, picked up his coat, and walked out of the conference room.
People who knew Chu Yifeng well found his behavior unbelievable. Gao Yongfu, for example, had been at Chu Yifeng’s side even longer than Li Yu and the others. In his memory, although the boss was unsmiling, he was always serious about work and would never abandon a room full of subordinates in the middle of a meeting and simply walk away.
Li Yu looked at Gao Yongfu. “Assistant Gao, what do we do now?”
Their main decision-maker had left.
“The boss said to continue, so continue,” Gao Yongfu replied. His role was to handle everything whenever the boss was absent. This was hardly some impossible situation. If the company became useless the moment the boss stepped away, it would have collapsed long ago.
Chu Yifeng’s usual sports car had been sent for its monthly maintenance, so lately he had been driving a Maybach. Someone had given him the car. He rarely used it, but it was still serviced every month and had only come back from maintenance a week earlier. The silver body was extremely conspicuous, its cold lines well suited to his personality. It swept into the police station like a gust of wind. The guard at the entrance nearly thought he was seeing things. A person who drove a car like that was clearly rich or powerful, and hardly seemed likely to turn up at a place like this.
Chu Yifeng walked into the station and immediately saw Wang Cheng sitting on a chair near the side. His hands and feet were intact, so he clearly had not suffered any loss. The man beside him, who kept glaring at him, had one black eye and both arms hanging uselessly.
“Wang Cheng.”
Hearing his name, Wang Cheng turned around and unsurprisingly saw Chu Yifeng. He had arrived even faster than expected. Wang Cheng immediately smiled and greeted him.
“Boss Chu, you’re finally here.”
“What happened?” Chu Yifeng walked over.
Wang Cheng jerked his chin toward Zhang Wei. “That bastard. Didn’t I tell you about what happened to my cousin? He’s the delinquent named Zhang Wei. I went with my cousin to help him move today. He must have found out, because he brought several people over to smash the place. Then he tried to fight me, so I had no choice but to fight back. I don’t know who called the police, and now here we are.”
“You’re lying! You were obviously the one who hit us first.”
Before Chu Yifeng could speak, Zhang Wei leaped up angrily.
Wang Cheng shot him a sideways look.
Zhang Wei immediately shrank back. He was already somewhat afraid of Wang Cheng. His dislocated arms still had not been reset and hurt so badly that he wanted to howl. No matter how angry he was, he did not dare attack Wang Cheng again. He had thought the man merely knew a few moves. He had never expected him to be genuinely skilled.
“You bring people to my cousin’s house to smash things, and you still have the nerve to say that? If you’re not embarrassed, I’m embarrassed on your parents’ behalf.”
The neighbors had witnessed what happened, so Zhang Wei had no way to argue his way out. Everyone believed his side had started the violence. Even if they had not thrown the first punch, forcing their way into someone’s home and smashing property was already an offense. The police also believed Wang Cheng had not been at fault. Now that an imposing man like Chu Yifeng had appeared as well, the officers told Wang Cheng that once he gave his statement, he could leave.
Zhang Wei’s parents and uncle arrived rather late. Wang Cheng had just finished giving his statement and was preparing to leave when they hurried in from outside. He saw a middle-aged woman let out an anguished cry the instant she spotted Zhang Wei. Her voice was enormous.
“My son! What happened to you? Why is your eye black? And your arms, how did they end up like this? Which damned bastard did this to you? Your mother will get justice for you!”
“Mom, it was him.” With his parents there, Zhang Wei felt as though he had found backing and immediately grew bolder, pointing straight at Wang Cheng.
The woman glared viciously at Wang Cheng, then charged at him. “You damned bastard! You dare do this to my son? I’ll fight you to the death!”
She never reached him. Chu Yifeng blocked her halfway. Because he moved suddenly, the woman fell straight to the floor. Instead of getting up, however, she sat there and began wailing. “They’re beating people! They’re killing people! So having money means you can bully ordinary people like us? You beat my son and still think you’re right? Is this how you bully us because we have no money and no power? I don’t want to live anymore! If you don’t give me an explanation today, I’ll hang myself right here!”
The words rolled off her tongue so smoothly that anyone could tell she had done this kind of thing many times before. The officers who knew what had actually happened all showed disgust. If her family had truly been the victims, perhaps they could have tolerated her making a scene. But when they were clearly the instigators, behavior like this only made them even more unpleasant, especially since the woman had not once asked whose fault the situation actually was.
“If you want an explanation that badly, then we can always pin kidnapping, extortion, and attempted murder charges on your son.”
The entire room went silent. Everyone stared in shock at Chu Yifeng, who had spoken. His expression was so cold it was almost emotionless, and his calm tone made it sound as though he were discussing something completely ordinary.
The woman’s wailing stopped abruptly. For a moment, she did not know how to react. She had never encountered someone like this before, calm yet forceful. She had spent ages acting like the thief crying thief, but he had not shown even a trace of impatience. Unease immediately crept into her heart.
After they left the police station and got into the car Chu Yifeng had driven over, Wang Cheng glanced at him several times before finally asking, “You weren’t serious just now, were you?”
He had known Chu Yifeng for several months already, and the two were even dating now, yet in that moment Wang Cheng genuinely could not tell whether he had merely been frightening the woman or whether he had meant every word. Somehow, it felt like both.
“Where are we going?” Chu Yifeng asked.
Wang Cheng gave him an address. “You still haven’t answered my question.”
“If you want it fake, it’s fake. If you want it real, it can be real.”
So he was leaving the choice to him?
Wang Cheng thought for a moment. “Attempted murder sounds a little too serious. How about we go after him for misappropriating other people’s property, and maybe extortion?”
The first one was not exactly fabricated. Zhang Wei and his uncle did have a history of it. They had paid back the money that day, but there might still be other victims. As for extortion, Zhang Wei had once been a street thug, so he had almost certainly done things like that before. The man was vicious and had even come looking for revenge. If Wang Cheng had not happened to go back with Cousin Jiahe, he did not dare imagine what might have happened. There were two small children in that home. The more he thought about the danger, the less willing he was to let Zhang Wei off.
Chu Yifeng glanced at him. This was one of the things he liked about Wang Cheng. He was clear about kindness and grudges, and when necessary, he was never softhearted. “As you say.”
Guan Jiahe and his wife were still at home. When the police arrived, Wang Cheng had taken responsibility for the fighting himself. Although it seemed unlikely anything serious would happen, the couple were still extremely worried. Ordinary people like them had never imagined that one day they would have dealings with the police. Wang Cheng had told them nothing would happen, but they remained anxious. Even when they heard a car outside, they paid no attention.
“Cousin, Cousin-in-law, I’m back.”
His voice arrived before he did. Wang Cheng appeared in the doorway a moment later, with Chu Yifeng one step behind him.
“Chengcheng, are you all right?” Guan Jiahe grabbed his arm in relief and looked him over from head to toe. Only after confirming he was completely unharmed did he relax.
“I told you nothing would happen. Everything’s fine. Zhang Wei is still being held at the police station. He won’t come looking for trouble again, so you can relax now.”
Cousin-in-law noticed Chu Yifeng. “How should we address this gentleman? Were you the one who helped Chengcheng?”
“I forgot to introduce him. He used to be my boss. His surname is Chu. I was able to get back this quickly thanks to my boss.” Wanting his relatives to accept Chu Yifeng as soon as possible, Wang Cheng nearly piled all the credit onto him. His intentions truly were painstaking.
“Really? Thank you so much, Mr. Chu. You’re our savior.” If not for the distant aura around Chu Yifeng, Guan Jiahe would have liked to grab his hand and express his gratitude properly.
“No need to be polite. It’s only natural,” Chu Yifeng said.
Guan Jiahe froze for a second.
Wang Cheng hurriedly asked, “Cousin, there’s something I need to know. You didn’t tell my parents that I went to the police station, did you?”
Guan Jiahe immediately forgot to wonder about Chu Yifeng’s wording and looked guilty. “Sorry, Chengcheng. When they took you away, I panicked and called Uncle.”
Wang Cheng helplessly smacked his forehead. If Papa Wang knew he had gone to the police station, he would definitely rush over without stopping. Wang Cheng quickly took out his phone and called him, hoping it was not too late.