Su Xiaoqiang was dumbfounded by what I said. In her perception, I had always been the little skinny guy who didn’t hit back and didn’t curse back. I was so scared of the three of them before I became a soldier that whenever they looked at me, I would stiffen up and not even think of resisting at all.
But it’s different now, and I can’t even figure out why I was so scared of them back then.
“Your parents killed my father, you deserve all of this!!!”
Faced with a furious Su Xiaoqiang, I suddenly felt sorry for her, Zhang Mei had instilled hatred in her, yet she never knew that her real father was actually Director Qi.
I was calm and asked Zhang Mei, “Will you tell her, or will I tell her?”
I didn’t intend to save face for Zhang Mei. If she kept on being unforgiving to me, I would definitely tell the truth about Su Xiaoqiang’s birth.
Zhang Mei really didn’t want her daughter to know the truth and said, “I came to see you today to talk to you about Director Qi. I’m not here to beg you either, it’s impossible for me to beg you. I’ve come to make an exchange.”
My heart fluttered, was it hard to believe she was going to trade my mother’s notebook for it?
Sure enough, Zhang Mei whispered, “Xiao Qiang, go and watch the door, don’t let anyone come near.”
Su Xiaoqiang glared at me fiercely, then went to the door with twelve thousand reluctance.
Zhang Mei’s two hands were still bandaged, the wounds from the last fire had not yet healed.
“Let Chief Qi out, and I’ll give you the diary.” Zhang Mei said, “You know the value of this notebook.”
I smiled back and said, “Auntie, I’ll think of another thing ah, this notebook was originally mine, why should I make a deal with you?”
“You!” Zhang Mei didn’t expect me to say that, she thought it would be an effective handle, but I didn’t care about it at all. She said, “If you don’t want it, I’ll go find someone who does!”
I said, “Director Qi was imprisoned by the Central Discipline Inspection, just because I can report him in doesn’t mean I’m capable of getting him out. I can’t help you with that. But then again, you’re quite affectionate, willing to go to such great lengths to get him out?”
Zhang Mei said in a cold voice, “This has nothing to do with you. You just need to do a favour, others don’t know what Junran is capable of, I know it very well. And I know that Xu Xiang was also imprisoned by you, so you say hello to the people above you and release Old Qi, this notebook is for you, from now on we return bridges to bridges and roads to roads.”
“Zhang Mei, you value this notebook more than your life, how can you be willing to take it out and exchange it for someone else now? The only thing is that if Director Qi falls, you can’t open that nightly incense anymore. If you’re not a member of the team, you’re a member of the team. What you’re buying with this notebook is not your old lover’s life, but your own.”
Zhang Mei’s face turned pale and her body swayed a little as I said what was on my mind.
If Director Qi gave her an account, what awaited her was not just jail time, but a bullet.
I said, “I don’t care about this stuff, you can take it back. If you eat a gun, I can bury it for you.”
Zhang Mei snapped her eyes at my words and almost fainted.
When I said I didn’t want it, it wasn’t that I really didn’t want it.
Anyway, the Snow Leopards are all here, so just go to Zhang Mei’s house some time tonight and get it.
It was easy to get the notebook, but not so easy to be able to keep an eye on it. Now that Zhang Mei had given it to me openly and honestly, in other words, I would instantly become a public enemy of the jungle, and I wouldn’t do such a stupid thing.
And asking me to help Zhang Mei would be even less likely.
Helping Zhang Mei would be tantamount to harming people, and as long as the Night Incense is open, a new Sun Qiaoqiao will appear. That’s killing people.
I drained the last sip of my temper and just smiled and said goodbye to Zhang Mei.
“Stop right there!” Zhang Mei shouted from behind me as I walked to the door, “Zhang Chao, what the hell do you want?! Why are you as oily and ungrateful as your father?!”
I turned to look at her furiously and said, “I really don’t think my dad and you carry a relative, what kind of hatred do you have for my dad?”
“That’s because he got …… killed.”
I interrupted her straight away, “Come on, my aunt is dead and my parents are fine?! He was my parents’ driver, so why would he drink so much that he couldn’t drive?! Why did my dad have to drive in the end? My parents hired him as a driver so they would have someone to drive if they drank, and what happened to him? You keep saying all day long that my parents have caused your family harm, when in fact my parents are the ones being harmed!”
These words have been bottled up inside me for a long time and I wanted to say them before, but at that time I didn’t dare.
Damn it, Zhang Mei cried injustice with me every day, but in fact my parents were the ones who were most wronged! It was because of my aunt, a loafer and a waste of time, and because my parents were too lenient with him for the sake of him being a relative, that the tragic accident of taking up drink driving happened.
My aunt was frozen, speechless, as if she had only been reminded of the truth after all these years, when in fact she had known the truth in her heart for a long time, she just didn’t want to admit it.
I said, “Go away and don’t let me see you again. I will not go soft on you again.”
I was really annoyed with this family, able to make black look white and white look black. If Zhang Mei continues to fight against me, I don’t mind treating her as an enemy. I would be enemies to life and death with her, not even willing to admit that I am related to this person by blood.
Zhang Mei propped her hands on the table, gasping for breath, tears pooling in her eyes.
She wanted to yell at me in anger, but realised she couldn’t talk me out of it. She had been able to bully me because I was young, but I was no longer the scrawny, scolded little boy.
“Settle the money before you go.” When I finished, I was no longer interested in ignoring her and turned to leave.
“Zhang Chao, aren’t you curious as to why Han Kun goes to Denmark year after year?”
Suddenly, Zhang Mei asked in a bizarre tone.
I knew very well that this was a trap in her language technique, to make me willing to sit down and talk to her about terms, and that I shouldn’t take her up on it, but I couldn’t help it, and still froze for a moment.
When Zhang Mei saw that I had fallen for it, she finally revealed a grim smile.
I said, “None of my business, Han Kun is already dead.”
“Oh, you’d be foolish to believe that Han Kun is already dead. Han Kun isn’t dead, I’ll trade you this secret for Old Qi.” Zhang Mei said.
I was struggling very much in my heart, there were too many mysteries about Han Kun that I couldn’t solve. I have long wanted to find out those things, but when faced with Han Kun, I a didn’t know where to start.
