Chapter 21
Cao Ge sneered and proceeded to beat me severely. They wanted me to give up the 13,000! I had my hands on my head and could only kick them with both feet. When they saw that I dared to fight back, they hit me even harder.
I tried to get up.
But one of them kicked me in the back of the head. There was a stabbing pain in my head and I was then put down by them.
It was my resistance that made them even angrier. Cao Ge took the brunt of it and kicked me so hard in the stomach that my insides felt like they were on fire. And only when they had been beating me for five or six minutes, beating me to the point of pain in my body, did they stop.
“Brother Cao is almost done. If we go on, the police will be here in a while.” Those minions of Cao Ge said with some scruples.
“Pull out Brother Cao. It’s not like this guy can run away from the school anyway, it’s only a matter of time before we get into trouble with him again.”
Brother Cao nodded in agreement and he turned his head to look at me, “Jin Chao, I’m warning you. As long as you don’t hand over the money, then the matter between us is definitely not over yet.” What followed was a roar from him, “Brothers, retreat!”
I watched their departure and listened to the popping sound from the fire dragon tube as I strained to get up from the ground.
I spat the blood out of my mouth and the feeling of my lips breaking the skin was very unpleasant. I patted the dust from my body and the palm of my hand landed on me, but it made me grimace in pain.
But it was when I was trying to get out of here that a high heel sounded from behind me.
I turned my head curiously to look, but froze. She didn’t shy away from my eyes, on her was a complete set of blouse, western skirt and black stockings, making it look like an OL woman working in an office building. And she walked towards me and stood beside me.
“Jin Chao, it’s been a long time. Look at you now, you’re in a real mess.”
She looked me up and down, and at the corner of her mouth was a faint smile. But it made me feel more like she was mocking me. Her name was Xu Ying and she was the manager of the 1908 nightclub and the person I had previously handed over my ‘job’ at 1908. And I had called her Manager Xu before!
“Wait, didn’t you …… you get arrested in?” I couldn’t care less what she said, so I looked at her in amazement.
“Look at me, do I look like I’ve just been let out?” She did show off her body at me, especially the pair on her chest, which were eye-catching. She laughed lightly and said to me, “Just a place like a police station, is it still hard for me to get out!”
And indeed! She was the right hand of Sister Ah Jia when she was in 1908, so her power was naturally not bad!
As I listened to her words, I hurriedly tried to call Uncle Chen. But she stopped me with her soft, boneless hand, gently pressing on the back of my hand.
“What’s wrong Jinchao, who are you trying to call in such a hurry?” She asked me at close range.
She had a faint charm about her, and with her exhale, one could not help but want to hold her down. And she was such a woman, a woman who made people want to pay over a hundred thousand dollars for a night with her! And a woman who has spent a good long time learning how to seduce men!
“None of your business?” I just broke away from her.
“If you want to call your Uncle Chen, I advise you to give up!” She didn’t care what I said, so she continued, “Jinchao, I’m afraid you don’t know that yet! Your Uncle Chen is in a difficult position to protect himself. How can he still have the heart to care so much about you?”
“What did you say?”
I froze for a moment.
“Yah, you really don’t know?” She looked at me funny, which upset me even more. I hated the feeling of being led around by her!
“What’s wrong with my Uncle Chen?”
I just asked in a rush.
“You really want to know?”
“Nonsense!”
“Well then, let’s find a place to sit and talk. I didn’t mean any harm when I came over to look for you this time, more mainly because I want to work with you. But if you don’t trust me, you can feel free not to come with me.” She dropped these words and waited for my decision. And I thought about it and went with her.
Although I had something against her, I was more convinced that she, a manager of 1908 and a popular person beside Sister Aja, could still come and cheat me, a high school student? She had absolutely no need for that!
I left the alley after following her and got into her BMW. I didn’t know where she was taking me and I didn’t ask so much.
It didn’t take long for her to just take me inside an upscale lounge bar called ‘Green Trace Wonderland’. It was already quite upscale for a Starbucks. But here, surprisingly, it was even more upmarket than Starbucks. Even the prices of the drinks on the menu were three times that of Starbucks!
“Manager Xu, let’s make a long story short. What exactly is wrong with my Uncle Chen? And how are you going to co-operate with me? Cooperate with what? Say it all at once!” I sat with her by the window. The dirty school uniform I was wearing was simply a bit out of place with the high-profile décor of the place.
To be honest, I didn’t want to have anything to do with Xu Ying, but since she had said so, I had to find out what she wanted and what she wanted from me.
“Jinchao, what are you in such a hurry for? The drinks haven’t even come up yet!” Xu Ying, who was sitting opposite me, was in no hurry to say.
“It’s mainly because I don’t want to stall for time here.” I felt the stares cast by the people around me and felt even more uncomfortable.
“Fine, fine, then you can look at this first.” With that, Xu Ying took out a folder from her bag and placed it in front of me.
“What is this?”
I looked at her in confusion.
“This is the, the biggest threat your Uncle Chen is facing right now.” She spoke to me in a very matter-of-fact tone. And it was between our words that the ones she had ordered were served up. She smiled lightly and thanked the waiter, but it was her ‘insignificant’ gesture that charmed the waiter to the core.
I untied the string wrapped around the file bag and just pulled out a stack of A4 papers from inside. On it was a man’s profile, covering his domicile, religion, criminal past …… and a number of other things in great detail.
Just as I looked at it, I became a little confused in my heart.
“Manager Xu, this person called Hua, is not a social mixer? What does this have to do with my Uncle Chen, directly?”
I asked at her.
She gently bit into her straw and said, “There’s a lot more to it than that. If your Uncle Chen hadn’t used dirty tricks, would he have gotten in?”
“Underhanded?”
I was suddenly stunned.
Chapter 22
“Yeah, underhanded.” Xu Ying was repeatedly giving me confirmation, “Jin Chao, do you think your Uncle Chen, is really some very decent person? In his body, there is really no flaw at all? Although you are living with him, you simply don’t understand his full picture!”
Xu Ying’s words were more than enough to make me suddenly wary in my heart.
She went on and on, and I didn’t interrupt her for anything.
She told me that Uncle Chen, that is, Chen Daoming, was not actually the person I thought he was. As far as she said, Uncle Chen was actually a person who would do anything to achieve his goal. Such a person would make a good policeman. But also a very dangerous person all the same!
“Manager Xu, do you really think I would believe your side of the story just by saying that?” I asked her with a sneer.
But she was indifferent and said to me, “Since I am saying it, I don’t need you to believe me either. I’m just reminding you to be careful that one day, your Uncle Chen will even take advantage of you for some case.”
I listened to her words and my emotions flared up, “You’re just being conspiratorial! My Uncle Chen is not that kind of person at all!”
“If you have this attitude, there is nothing I can do for you.” Xu Ying lit her cigarette and said to me.
In my heart, Uncle Chen had always maintained a very tall, magnificent image.
Uncle Chen was a good policeman! This was also agreed by very many people. And as I listened to Shirt Xu Ying’s words that overturned my perception, I was instinctively very unconvinced. But Xu Ying didn’t care. She said that since I didn’t believe it, I should take a good look at the information, and there were still a few pages of content in the back, and she told me to finish reading it.
“You’ve read it all, right?” She asked me.
“Yeah.” I nodded.
She took the information away from my hands and put it back in her bag’s and explained to me that this man called Wah would be released from prison soon. With Wah’s hatred for Uncle Chan, as soon as he comes out, Uncle Chan will definitely be in great danger. Although Wah had been imprisoned for five or six years, his power had not diminished much.
I listened to her words, and although I didn’t quite believe her, I still had some worries.
“Manager Xu, why are you talking to me about this? It is reasonable to say that Uncle Chen has put an end to 1908, shouldn’t you want something to happen to him sooner!” I cautiously asked at Xu Ying.
But she smiled lightly and said.
“1908 has been in Xuancheng for so many years, if it was so easy to get into trouble, it would have been terminated by the police long ago. What do you think the sudden investigation of 1908 is because of? If I hadn’t been in the middle as the obvious one, how could 1908 have been terminated so easily?”
“It was you?” I looked at her with great surprise, her words were something that I hadn’t expected in any way.
She nodded gently.
“Yes, it was me. But behind this whole thing, there is Sister Aja at the controls. And the reason for this is also this man called ‘Wah’. It can be said that we and your Uncle Chan are already gra*shoppers on a rope. That’s also why I took the initiative to find you and want to work with you.”
“Then how do you want to cooperate?”
I still didn’t fully believe her words. But if what she said was true, then at least, we would all have the same stakes for a short time to come. And that, in turn, would determine whether they would stab me in the back.
“Cooperation is actually quite simple. You help me take care of Wah’s wife, while I help you protect Uncle Chan.” She said, was looking at me with a very serious look, “Of course, if you want, I can help you take care of your offended people too! It’s not even a problem after all.”
I listened to her words and fell silent for a moment.
To be honest, the fact that she was making an offer did appeal to me. She was simply grasping at what I was now worried about to ‘satisfy’ me. She knew, I’m afraid, that I would have said yes!
But feeling the look in her eyes, there was sadness in my heart.
In the end, me, Uncle Chen, and even Chen Tingting in prison too, had all become their pawns!
“I promise.”
I said through clenched teeth.
“Then, since it’s a promise, don’t look so bitter and hateful, too. We’re allies now!” She said but smiled at me flirtatiously. Even though I had seen her from time to time at 1908, this one look from her made me suddenly feel something.
I was being stared at by her.
Even though I had been exposed to many women, I bowed my head in shyness. I asked her, changing the subject, what her plan was.
And Ao Tian was gently stirring the coffee in her cup and said to me indifferently, “Jin Chao, as for my plan, you should not know it for now. Before the plan starts, I will prepare the information and everything you want. Even, I will teach you something myself.”
“Let’s say teach me what?”
I got curious instead.
“That you will know in time.” She didn’t say it explicitly.
But as I listened to her words, I felt even more in my heart that what she was going to teach me was in all probability related to women. What else could a woman like her, who could charm men into submission without even thinking about it, teach me? Even some of the tricks I used to seduce noblewomen in 1908 were taught to me by her!
“Well, it’s getting late, so you should go back and wait for my news.” With that, she stood up right in front of me. And with her getting up, she drew the eyes of many men.
“Oh yeah, before I leave, let me give you a little bonus.” She said to me abruptly as she looked at the text message she had received on her phone.
“What reward?”
I asked in a rush. Even more, I was straight up aroused deep in my body by her words.
“You and me come.”
She hooked a finger at me.
I followed her out of the shop and got into her BMW once again. She led me towards the corner of the city. As far as directions went, close to where I’d been beaten by Cog and the others earlier.
“Here it is.”
She motioned for me to get out of the car.
I looked around in confusion, I didn’t see any so-called ‘surprises’ other than the green trees lining the highway. And she was pulling over to the side of the road and just led me down a small alleyway.
“Manager Xu, what exactly is this surprise you speak of?” I was getting more and more curious in my heart.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
She said without any hurry.
She led me to a three-storey house, a small warehouse-like place with red brick walls and red-painted iron doors. She reached out with her long fingers and knocked on the door. A voice came from inside, confirming her identity, and that opened the door.
And I looked at the scene in front of me and was literally frozen for a moment.
“Jinchao, this is the surprise I’m going to give you. How about it, do you like it?”
