Yang Bo's educational record was average, his qualifications were inadequate, and his origins were common. Aside from having a bit of cleverness and looking rather decent, he had no other strong points. So why had he been able to reach his current high position in the Zhou Clan at such a young age?
Under normal circumstances, this question had only two possible answers—this person was either a crown prince or a concubine.
But with Yang Bo, the circumstances evidently weren't normal.
Luo Wenzhou immediately asked, "Who was the victim in that case? What connection did they have to the Zhou Clan?"
"That just happens to be the most incomprehensible thing of all," said Fei Du. "The car that was hit then was a seven-seat business car. There were five people on it, including the driver. Four died, and one was injured. The location was a prefecture-level city in T Province. All the people were office workers from a local real estate investment company. On the day of the crash, they were going to the local seat of government to submit a project plan for a bidding contest their company was participating in. The Zhou Clan wasn't participating in the bidding contest. From both the public and private standpoint, none of the victims had any association with the Zhou Clan."
When you couldn't find a private resentment, you had to consider who had a vested interest, so Luo Wenzhou muttered to himself for a moment, then asked, "Who got the project they were bidding for in the end?"
"Since the whole team came to grief, the local business abandoned the opportunity, and the project went to an obscure little company in the end. If I told you the name, you wouldn't know it." Fei Du paused. "Although I could give you another very useful piece of information."
Luo Wenzhou was listening carefully for the meaning behind his words. He could tell that the black moth next to him, finally behaving for a moment, was ready to spread his wings again. So he tightened his belt and cleared his throat, affectedly saying, "Although I may lag behind a little, anything you can find, I can definitely find, too—though I've determined to hear out your improper request first. Go on."
"You have to answer a question for me." Fei Du paused, then added, "It's a personal question, of course."
Luo Wenzhou raised his eyebrows high, thinking, "Am I the sort of person to sell out my privacy for work?"
Putting the question so clearly, Luo Wenzhou only took three seconds to come up with an answer. He said resolutely, "Deal."
"If you investigated that company's finances, you'd find that they had a large debt. If they couldn't pay when it came due, the equity shares they'd used as collateral would go to the creditor—simply speaking, it was like they had an invisible shareholder, and that shareholder just happened to be called Guangyao Fund." Fei Du turned off onto a side road. The hotel Yang Bo was staying in was already in sight. "Do you recognize that name?"
Luo Wenzhou's brow furrowed tightly. He thought he must have heard that name somewhere, but the information he came across in his daily life was too jumbled. It was hard to put it in order.
Fei Du drove openly up to the hotel. Because his car was so eye-catching, the attention of everyone who saw it was drawn to the logo; it was an unconventional way to be inconspicuous.
Luo Wenzhou looked down and searched for 'Guangyao Fund' on his phone. There wasn't much information. This enterprise seemed not to like publicity. There was only a link to the company's website. The website was very properly set up. Luo Wenzhou hastily scrolled through a long and tedious explanation of its corporate culture. Suddenly, he saw the Guangyao Fund's logo.
Luo Wenzhou looked up at once.
Fei Du slowed the car, unhurriedly adding, "So you've remembered. The place where Xu Wenchao disposed of the bodies—that piece of undeveloped seaside land belongs to them. Isn't that rather a coincidence?"
"Darling," Luo Wenzhou said quietly after a while, "you have a rather horrifying way of putting things."
The market was like a battle field. Tremendous changes were common. Animosities would gradually arise among many partners who'd happily worn the same pair of pants in the beginning; either they couldn't share their trials and tribulations, or they couldn't enjoy the same pleasures. In the end they'd break up, divide up their luggage, and go their separate ways—among these, Zhou Junmao and Zheng Kaifeng were simply a model pair. They'd both been strangers in a strange land, mutually supporting each other; one owed a debt of gratitude, the other did all he could to be worthy of it. Based on this summary, you could have made a legendary film.
But now it seemed that what was behind this "legend" wasn't "crossing a river in the same boat" but "sharing a common goal."
As well as "wallowing in the same mire."
Thirty-eight years ago, Zhou Junmao had seduced his big brother's wife. The big brother, Zhou Yahou, soon after died of a heart attack, handing over his household and career on a silver platter. The cause of his death was now in question.
And this wasn't a unique occurrence. Twenty-one years ago, the course of the Zhou Clan's advance into China's interior had been extremely smooth; there hadn't been the slightest hint of a failure to acclimate. The stumbling block hindering them from purchasing a domestic brand was knocked aside by a car; the enormous market awaited their indomitable pioneering and subjugation. Compared to this, what did Dong Qian and his wife, unluckily caught in the middle, count for?
How many cases like this were there? How many lives stained the hands of the famous public-spirited returning overseas Chinese?
To this day, no one knew.
Zhou Junmao and Zheng Kaifeng were an excellent and most understanding pair of partners in flipping chess boards and cheating at cards, trampling on law and order time after time to easily attain what they wanted. As time went on, the feeling of being invincible would undoubtedly have become habit-forming.
Finally, perhaps because the opportunity had been ripe, perhaps because some circumstance had pressed, this impregnable alliance had crumbled from within, formally entering into a period of internal strife.
So…what part had Yang Bo of the dubious past played in all of this?
"I really want to make you carry out your obligation and answer my question now," Fei Du said suddenly, "but…I think there's something wrong with that truck in front of us."
Luo Wenzhou followed his line of sight and saw a freight truck with a huge logo for fresh produce delivery at their three o'clock, silently circling around the hotel, in the end driving into the hotel's underground parking lot.
"At this hour, all the supervisors must have gotten off work, so who's going to receive the goods they're delivering? There are many things that won't be fresh in the morning if they're left to sit out all night," Fei Du said quietly. "Also, if I recall correctly, that high-end cold chain transport is under the Zhou Clan's banner."
Luo Wenzhou's original train of thought had been: Zheng Kaifeng had taken a fancy to Yang Bo, a nothing of a downy-headed brat; there had to be some link between the two of them; through Yang Bo, they could pick up some traces. He hadn't expected to reap such a harvest!
Luo Wenzhou said, "Wait, is it possible Zheng Kaifeng is in that truck?"
Fei Du shrugged lightly.
Luo Wenzhou said, "Follow it."
Maintaining a certain distance, Fei Du very cautiously turned into the underground garage's other side. The security guard on duty hurriedly came out to block their way. "Sorry, this is the exit, you need to…"
The car window slowly rolled down, and a police ID flashed out.
The security guard froze, seeing the long-haired man in the driver's seat turn his head and half-smilingly curve his eyes at him, index finger at his lips. "Shh—"
Yang Bo wasn't like Zheng Kaifeng. In the investigation into Zhou Huaijin's kidnapping, he'd been very carefully looked after. There were people watching him from downstairs, from the surrounding area, even from inside the hotel itself, so he could be retrieved anytime he was wanted for questioning at the bureau.
Day after day, Yang Bo had been tormented by the police, tormented by the media, and tormented by himself. His condition could be described as not having eaten or slept well. As soon as he closed his eyes, he thought of that paternity test report, which had made him feel such a profusion of emotions, but which he now would have loved nothing better than to wish out of existence.
When he'd first gotten that report, he'd been disbelieving—disbelieving that his mother could actually have betrayed his family. After the shock had passed, he hadn't been able to keep down his secret delight, feeling that he'd instantly become a prince fallen on hard times in a story. It was as if his internal organs had been made of a different material; for days after he'd floated when he walked.
He, Yang Bo, an ordinary person who had grown up in ordinary surroundings, was Zhou Junmao's son, Zheng Kaifeng's disciple. The two people in charge of the Zhou Clan carefully looked after him. When you were a step away from the heavens, wasn't all that was required that one step?
But worldly affairs are hard to predict. To this day Yang Bo couldn't understand how things had developed to this point.
Yang Bo lay heavily on the big hotel bed, hands covering his face, feeling the stubble he hadn't had time to take care of. He opened the news feed on his phone and saw a screenful of blood; the photographs of the crime scene where Zhou Huaixin had been stabbed hadn't even been pixilated.
Yang Bo thought that he ought to have been pleased, but now he oddly felt rather panicked and nauseated.
Just then, his phone vibrated. It was a number of unknown origin. He answered weakly, "Hello…"
"It's me," came Zheng Kaifeng's familiar voice from the other end. "Are you in the Fragrant Palace Hotel now?"
For no reason, Yang Bo caught feeling of anxiety from his voice. He instantly sat up. "…I'm here, Venerable Zheng, do you…"
Zheng Kaifeng urgently interrupted him. "Come down. Take care to avoid the policemen following you. When you get to the underground parking lot, come see me. I'll send you the license plate number."
"Venerable…"
Before the bewildered Yang Bo could get out a sentence, the phone was hung up.
He stayed where he was for a moment, staring emptily, not knowing what was going on, feeling rather helpless. Soon after, a few messages arrived on his phone. The first was the license plate number. Then there were some photographs. The comment on the photographs was: "These are the policemen following you. Careful!"
Yang Bo instantly broke out in a cold sweat. His hands were shaking a little. He forced himself to concentrate, took a deep breath, changed into exercise clothes, picked up his phone and wallet, and went out, pretending he was going to the hotel's gym for a midnight run.
As soon as he opened the door, he came face to face with a male attendant pushing a small cart, raising his hand preparing to knock on the door.
The attendant wasn't at all embarrassed. He greeted him, smiling. "Going to exercise, sir? Do you need room service?"
Yang Bo focused on the newcomer's face, feeling a chill go up from the base of his spine to his neck—this man was one of the policemen in the photographs!
Face pale, he stiffly shook his head. "No need, thank you."
These words used up nearly all of his strength. When he'd said them, Yang Bo subconsciously lowered his head, wanting to lock the door and leave immediately.
But the "attendant" spoke. "Wait, sir."
Yang Bo's spine stiffened at once. Even his breath paused.
The cop pretending to be an attendant said in a low voice, "Don't forget to take your key card."
Yang Bo's heart was beating fit to burst out of his chest. He plucked out his card and strode away without looking back.
His back was already soaked with sweat.
The "attendant" watched him leave, narrowed his eyes, and quietly said, "Something's wrong with the 'monkey''s attitude. I suspect he may be about to run. Everyone look out."
He'd just spoken when a familiar male voice came through his earpiece. "Got it. Someone arranged to meet him in the underground garage. Hook me up to the real-time surveillance for the underground garage outside of the Fragrant Palace Hotel. The guys outside, seal off the garage's entrances and exits for me. Prepare to catch a turtle in a jar."
After a moment's pause, the "attendant" recovered immediately. "Yes, boss!"
Fei Du drove against the direction of traffic into the underground garage's exit, silently blocking the exit ramp with the car. The real-time surveillance footage quickly arrived on Luo Wenzhou's phone. Two men got out of the truck that had just driven in. Though they both wore delivery uniforms, there was no attempt at a performance—these two men were tall and robust, their movements incomparably agile, their gazes alert. As soon as they got out of the truck, they began to search the cars scattered around to see whether there was anyone inside them.
"Captain Luo." The voice of another one of the criminal policemen responsible for surveilling Yang Bo came over his earpiece. "Yang Bo just went into the gym, casually did a couple of laps, then went into the bathroom. I waited outside for five minutes, then forced the door pretending to be doing the cleaning. He'd already left by the bathroom window… Captain Luo, when Yang Bo saw me, he looked away at once. I suspect he recognized me."
Luo Wenzhou wasn't at all taken aback. "Understood."
Then he cut his connection to his colleagues and turned to say to Fei Du, "Yang Bo is coming down. He's been regularly called into the City Bureau for questioning, my people have been following him for a week, and during that week, the numbskull didn't notice at all. But today he's suddenly acquired some IQ. I suspect someone's just leaked a list of the people assigned to tail him—if Zheng Kaifeng really is in that truck, why would he run the risk of coming to get Yang Bo? Zhou Huaijin said that Yang Bo privately went to find someone to run a paternity test for him and Zhou Junmao. That shows the joker may not know anything at all. Does Zheng Kaifeng really like him that much?"
Before Luo Wenzhou had finished, a figure appeared in the surveillance footage. It was Yang Bo, wearing exercise clothes. Yang Bo stood there, looking in alarm at the men dressed up as delivery people, constantly making gestures of wiping away sweat. Just then, the container of the cold chain transport opened. The camera couldn't see what was inside the container, but Yang Bo's body language changed immediately. He very respectfully said something towards the container.
Fei Du said, "Zheng Kaifeng is inside."
Whatever the person in the container said, Yang Bo's expression changed, like an elementary school student who'd come to class in the morning having forgotten his backpack. He looked all around with extreme caution. Then the two hefty fellows in delivery uniforms picked him up, one on each side, and lifted him into the truck—
"Get them, move!" Luo Wenzhou firmly ordered the criminal policemen already guarding the garage's entrances and exits.
As soon as he spoke, sudden police sirens rose like the tide, swelling through the whole underground parking lot. The people inside the cold chain truck were caught off guard and instantly panicked. The fake delivery people hurriedly threw Yang Bo into the container and jumped into the truck. Before the doors were even fully closed, they hit the gas pedal. The cars parked next to them met with unmerited calamity, being roughly clipped by the truck, shoved this way and that in a heap.
Then the truck very quickly clearly distinguished which direction the police sirens were coming from. Flooring the gas pedal, it drove as if it was about to take flight towards the other exit, where there was no movement.
Luo Wenzhou went down in his seat, pulling over and buckling the seatbelt he'd undone when Fei Du had stopped the car. "Block that truck!"
His first time acting as their field staff, Fei Du's performance was outstanding. He casually blurted out, "Yes, sir."
The truck hadn't expected there to be a car driving the wrong way at the exit, and moreover the car had no intention of getting out of their way, but was coming right towards them. The driver cursed loudly, subconsciously turning the steering wheel and narrowly avoiding the oncoming car. Before he could relax a little, he heard a loud sound. In an extremely short time, the big SUV had put on extremely high speed, turning in place in a surpassing display of driving skill, crowding the truck towards the wall of the garage.
The little truck's windows broke at once, and the doors warped, the wheels on one side rising high—
The container banged open. Along with Yang Bo, holding his head, a good number of men who looked liked hired thugs gushed out.
Sitting in the newly-reinforced car, Fei Du, while entirely uninjured, had been choked by the seatbelt. He coughed and said, "Shixiong, I can't deal with the fighting…"
"I wouldn't dare to trouble you with that." Luo Wenzhou pushed open the door. At the same time, the police cars that had been behind encircling and intercepting came along, tightly surrounding the miserable truck, quickly rounding up the thugs.
Luo Wenzhou got out a set of handcuffs. His gaze went past the alarmed Yang Bo, who was holding his head, falling inside the cold chain container—the inside of the cold chain container was very cozily arranged, with a thick rug and a few genuine leather chairs. Zheng Kaifeng was sitting in one of them, his expression like a Shar Pei governing a country.
Luo Wenzhou knocked on the door of the truck with the stainless steel handcuffs. "President Zheng, please alight."
Fei Du had been rather severely choked by the seatbelt. He got out of the car, stumbling a little, and tripped on something.
"Barbarians!" Fei Du looked on as the criminal policemen collected the thugs, shaking his head, leaning his hand on the hood of the car, pressing his other hand to his chest and coughing a few times.
Just then, he saw that there seemed to be some flashing light under the truck's container. It was very weak. Only when it hit Luo Wenzhou's light-colored pant leg did it appear, flashing faster and faster, almost the same as the police cars' lights…
First, Fei Du stared. Then his pupils contracted, and he immediately threw himself forward, grabbing Luo Wenzhou by the waist and pushing him back.
Luo Wenzhou's back was wounded to start with. Grabbed like this, he couldn't keep his footing. Before he could grab onto anything, there was a sudden enormous sound in his ears—