Yang Li smiled very humbly and politely. As the director of the Xingcheng City Police Bureau, he felt he had already given Xu Ze plenty of face.
If the other party weren’t Old Master Tang’s dearly doted honorary grandson, if he hadn’t easily driven Deputy Mayor Zhang’s two sons into madness and exile back in the day, and if he didn’t hold that mysterious position as a major in the General Staff Department’s Intelligence Bureau…
Then Yang Li, as the director of the Xingcheng City Police Bureau, showing up in person with his son to apologize for something like this—why, even Mayor Tang’s own son wouldn’t deserve such treatment.
But here Yang Li was, having come in person. He was quite confident. The matter wasn’t serious. His son hadn’t actually done anything to that young man, nor had he harmed the female student. Sure, Xu Ze had Old Master Tang backing him, but surely a few kind words would suffice. The man ought to show him some respect.
And besides, Lin Zhaoyang’s son was also involved in this. Lin Zhaoyang was one of Tang Guorui’s capable subordinates. Xu Ze would have to be mindful of Lin Zhaoyang’s reputation and wouldn’t go too far. Otherwise, if this really blew up, it wouldn’t be fun for anyone. His own son wouldn’t gain anything, and Lin Zhaoyang’s little brat wouldn’t get off easy either.
But this time, Director Yang’s prestige didn’t seem to carry much weight. Just moments ago, Xu Ze had looked completely indifferent. Yet in response to Yang Li’s gentle, apologetic words, he suddenly said, “Director Yang… you don’t need to apologize to us.”
Hearing Xu Ze’s unpleasant tone, Yang Li froze. The smile on his face stiffened instantly. It took him two seconds to recover, and then he looked at Xu Ze with an awkward laugh. “Of course I need to apologize… that’s the proper thing to do.” He immediately shot Yang Xiaoming a meaningful glance.
Seeing his father’s stern expression, Yang Xiaoming reluctantly stepped forward, holding the bouquet. He handed the flowers to Lin Yumeng, who was lying in the hospital bed, and said, “I’m sorry… please forgive me.”
Lin Yumeng looked at this young man with his dyed-yellow hair and remembered that it was because of him yesterday that she had nearly…
Just thinking about it made her feel a wave of fear. She shrank back slightly and tightened her grip on Xu Ze’s hand.
Feeling the pressure on his hand, Xu Ze raised an eyebrow slightly. Then he reached out, took the flowers, and set them aside.
Yang Xiaoming hadn’t wanted to come and apologize in the first place. He had only come because his father had forced him. Now, seeing that pure, innocent girl—who yesterday had looked as delicate and flawless as a rare white flower—being so intimate with Xu Ze, he felt a surge of bitter jealousy.
He secretly fumed over not having gotten his hands on her yesterday. What a huge loss…
Now, watching Xu Ze take the flowers, Yang Xiaoming shot him a resentful glare and let out a soft snort. Since the flowers had been delivered and the gesture made, he turned and walked away indignantly, quietly seething. For as long as he could remember, he had never lost face like this.
He had been slapped hard by Xu Ze yesterday, then kicked fiercely. At the time, he was absolutely terrified. His face was still a bit swollen, and his right wrist still hurt so much he could barely move it…
But now, with his father standing behind him, he wasn’t so afraid of Xu Ze. So although he didn’t dare try to get even for yesterday, today he felt bold enough to give Xu Ze a nasty look. In his mind, his father had brought him here only because the other party had some standing—just going through the motions, saving face on both sides so everyone could gracefully back down.
After all, who was his father? He was about to be promoted to deputy mayor. Soon, apart from a few people in Xingcheng, there would be no one he needed to fear. Certainly, this guy would have to show some respect today. He wouldn’t dare make a scene.
Hearing his son’s low snort, Yang Li’s expression shifted slightly. He thought to himself, “This boy of mine really hasn’t been disciplined properly. That guy over there is like Sun Wukong—don’t poke him and he’s fine, but if you do, you’ll tear a hole in the sky. At a time like this, to go and provoke him… he’s just too clueless.”
But Yang Li couldn’t very well punish his son right then and there. So after giving Yang Xiaoming a fierce glare, he laughed and said, “Comrade Xu Ze, please don’t worry. We’ve taken excellent care of the other students. They are all receiving proper treatment, and they will also receive nutrition allowances and compensation.”
“The children were foolish. For something like this to happen, it’s truly because I failed to teach my son properly… I ask for your understanding, Comrade Xu Ze.” With that, Yang Li looked at Xu Ze, smiling and nodding. He thought to himself that he had shown more than enough humility today. Although Xu Ze was young, he wasn’t an unreasonable person. Surely he wouldn’t keep making trouble. This could even be an opportunity to build a little goodwill for future encounters.
Otherwise, making an enemy of the police bureau director would be unnecessary. Xu Ze wasn’t his adoptive uncle Tang Guorui, after all. He still had to give Yang Li some face.
That’s what Director Yang was thinking. But Xu Ze wasn’t thinking that way at all. He had been prepared from the start to deal with Yang Xiaoming. He was even prepared to deal with Yang Li himself. Why would he let the matter drop after just a few nice words?
Based on the documents Xiaodao had sent over, that little beast had harmed who knows how many people. And yesterday, he had nearly hurt Yumeng too. Just thinking about it made a surge of anger well up inside Xu Ze.
So he gave a faint, cold laugh and said, “What happened yesterday was really just a small matter. Young people playing around with ecstasy and ketamine is no big deal… And for Young Master Yang, slipping someone drugs and messing around with a few girls is nothing either. Heh heh…”
Hearing Xu Ze’s words, Yang Li’s eyes turned cold. He had thought he’d shown more than enough respect, but Xu Ze was still being this difficult. All that sarcasm—had he misjudged this guy? Was he just an ungrateful little punk who only knew how to run his mouth?
As for Yang Xiaoming, who was already holding a grudge over the slap and the kick from yesterday, hearing Xu Ze being so ungrateful and sarcastic toward him made him yell angrily, “Hey, Xu, don’t think you can just act however you want just because we’re being nice! My dad came here to give you face, and you—”
“Shut up!” Yang Li narrowed his eyes, two slits shooting out cold light. His son’s outburst had vented some of his own pent-up frustration, but he quickly stopped him from saying more. If the boy really provoked Xu Ze and he ran crying to Old Master Tang, although the old man probably wouldn’t bother with such a trivial matter, it still wouldn’t be ideal.
After barking “Shut up,” which made Yang Xiaoming stop resentfully, Yang Li gave a faint smile and said, “Comrade Xu Ze, this matter could be considered big or small… but in the end, nothing truly serious happened. So one should be forgiving wherever possible. We’ll all be in Xingcheng for a long time, and our paths will cross often.”
“To Director Yang, this is naturally a small matter… but to ordinary folks like us, it’s quite a big deal.” Xu Ze gave a cold laugh and continued, “I won’t pursue the drugging from yesterday any further. But someone pointed a gun at my head, and I still feel a chill running down my spine just thinking about it.”
“My, my… a Type 97. That packs quite a punch. If that gun had gone off, my head here… well, I imagine it would have at least a couple of holes in it.” Xu Ze sneered. “I had no idea our country’s gun control was so lax. It really makes me feel unsafe.”
Hearing Xu Ze bring this up, a shadow fell over Yang Li’s face. A curious kid playing with his dad’s gun—that wasn’t usually a big deal. If word got out, people would just laugh it off and say the kid was being foolish. But illegal possession of a firearm and threatening someone with it—if someone wanted to make an issue of it… well, that could be troublesome.
Yang Li hadn’t become the director of the Xingcheng City Police Bureau for nothing. So he chuckled and tried to laugh it off. “Comrade Xu Ze, this was my mistake too. Kids just like to play around. It’s nothing serious. Don’t take it to heart, don’t take it to heart. Please forgive us.”
“Play around?” Xu Ze looked at Yang Li, who was clearly trying to brush a major offense aside with a laugh, and gave another cold sneer. “Director Yang, as a senior police official, surely you understand the law. Illegal possession of a firearm, and threatening someone with it—what crime is that? Or does Director Yang not know?”
As soon as Xu Ze said this, the faces of Officer Wang and Director Lin dropped. As for Yang Li, standing beside them, his expression changed dramatically.
He stared hard at Xu Ze for a few moments, noticing the cold smile curling at the corners of Xu Ze’s mouth and the icy look in his eyes. Yang Li’s expression darkened. He knew then that Xu Ze was serious about going after him today.
He furrowed his brow, thought for a moment, and wondered, “Is this kid really this reckless? Or is Tang Guorui pulling the strings behind him?”
“That can’t be. Tang Guorui has wanted my position for a long time, but he’s not the rash type. Bringing something like this up would be both taboo and embarrassing, and it wouldn’t actually do much to hurt me. It’s more likely that this kid is just being impulsive and trying to make waves.” With that thought, Yang Li breathed a small sigh of relief. But when he looked back at Xu Ze, his gaze had turned icy cold.
Since the pretense was now broken, Yang Li gave a cold laugh and looked at Xu Ze with a chilling tone. “Xu Ze, who are you accusing of illegal weapons possession? Who threatened whom? I haven’t heard anything about that.”
Seeing Yang Li drop all pretense, Xu Ze smiled as well. He said lightly, “Your esteemed son. Yesterday, he pointed a gun at me and shouted about putting a couple of holes in me. Officer Wang here witnessed it.”
“Is that so?” Yang Li gave another cold laugh and turned to Officer Wang. “Wang Xuebin, did this happen?”
Officer Wang had already been listening to their exchange, his eyes darting back and forth. Now that Yang Li had asked him directly, he didn’t hesitate. He answered his director crisply and clearly. “Director Yang, nothing of the sort happened. Yesterday, I was just handling a minor public disturbance case involving a fight. Nothing as serious as this.”
