Published at 5th of September 2019 12:32 pm

Chapter 92 - Father and Son

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Translator(s): Zryuu

Editor(s): Amalea, FistFullOfDollars, Juurensha

Later in the principal’s office, Yu Hao was still feeling agitated and reeling from the events had transpired - the scene just now was truly too thrilling. Yet Fu Liqun raised his hand and high-fived Zhou Sheng as he shouted, “Yeah!”

The principal, teaching director, and form teacher were extremely grateful and pleaded with Xiao Yujun to not send a manuscript off to be printed yet. After all, this matter could erupt into a scandal. Something like this has not happened in No. 3 High for many years; one of the most terrible things that could happen in a school was their students committing suicide. Xiao Yujun was obviously unsettled now too and could only nod her head.

“What about now?” Yu Hao asked Zhou Sheng.

“What do you think?” Zhou Sheng smiled.

The principal realised that Zhou Sheng appeared to be their leader, as even the reporter listened to him, so he asked, “How can we express our gratitude……”

“Will there be a silk banner?” Fu Liqun asked expectantly.

“Ai that’s right, give a silk banner ba?” Zhou Sheng said, “A lion dance, set off some firecrackers, and beat gongs and drums as you send it over?”

“That……our school doesn’t have a lion dance troupe.” The principal clearly didn’t get Zhou Sheng’s cold joke.

The teaching director quickly stepped forward to save the show and repeatedly promised them a reward. Zhou Sheng knew that Yu Hao wanted to see Ou Qihang, so he motioned for him to go first. Ever since Yu Hao came down from the rooftop, he had obviously been absent minded. Ou Qihang’s words shocked him greatly and left him feeling conflicted. Talking about pity at this kind of moment would practically be an insult to Ou Qihang.

“Remember to come back to practice in the afternoon.” Fu Liqun reminded, “I’ll head back first.”

Outside the school grounds, Xiao Yujun called Huang Ting. She grasped one side of the earphones and asked who between Zhou Sheng and Yu Hao would listen by motioning to them; Zhou Sheng took it and put it on.

“This case now involves three stations.” Huang Ting said, “It’s no longer something I can interfere with. Yujun, when you go back, shelve the news first, and don’t publish it. Your leaders will surely put pressure on you too.”

Xiao Yujun said, “I just want to ask one thing: Huang Ting, will the situation improve?”

“I don’t know.” Huang Ting answered, “I hope so. Wait for the station to notify you to come and collect your things, he should confess soon. If Zhou Sheng hasn’t left yet, tell him and Yu Hao to be prepared to come over the next two days to identify the suspect from last night’s robbery.”

Zhou Sheng listened quietly for awhile. Huang Ting didn’t say much before hanging up.

Xiao Yujun looked at the two of them, “Then……that’s all for now?”

Zhou Sheng nodded. Xiao Yujun sprained her ankle yesterday and still had a slight limp. Zhou Sheng said, “Jun Jie, I’ll get a cab for you.”

Xiao Yujun was about to refuse when Yu Hao had already hailed one and escorted Xiao Yujun to the car. Yu Hao suddenly felt a little uneasy, as if there was a heavy gloominess pressing down on him, yet he didn’t know what he was feeling gloomy about.

“She’s already that badly hurt.” Zhou Sheng said, “After we get back, we’ll need to share some of our medicinal wine and drugs with her.”

They have a frequently used medicinal wine in their dormitory that Cen Shan had asked someone to give to Fu Liqun. It was common for sports students to get a sprain. Yu Hao hadn’t realised that Xiao Yujun’s sprain from the day before was so serious.

“She wants to save up money to buy a house.” Yu Hao answered, “And she’s usually very thrifty, similar to how I was before. She would get an apple and yoghurt from the newspaper office for lunch, and eat a biscuit or two-dollar buns for dinner.”

Yu Hao has always had a good understanding of Xiao Yujun; she’s someone who lacks a sense of security.

“1.2 million,” Zhou Sheng said, “can buy the lives of Ou Qihang and his father, this world is just... Hungry? Let’s go get lunch?”

An SUV was parked outside Ying city’s No.3 High. Yu Hao thought it seemed a little familiar, but Zhou Sheng directly went up and pulled the door open. Yu Hao saw the person in the driver’s seat —— Zhou Laichun!

“Yo, you caught wind of it pretty fast ma.” Zhou Sheng said, “You came over so quickly?”

Zhou Laichun was still in his pajamas and didn’t say a word. The tension in the car made Yu Hao’s heart beat violently. He didn’t answer his son and didn’t ask any questions either, he just drove the car onto a turnabout by the river. Zhou Sheng, however, looked indifferent as he played games on his phone and messaged Yu Hao.

Zhou Sheng:【It’s such a bright and windy day today, why don’t we give him a huge surprise?】

Yu Hao:【I think that’s a little terrifying, don’t mess around.】

Zhou Laichun’s expression was completely dark. He drove his car into the underground garage of a restaurant near the river. It was still under renovation; the French windows were already installed, and the place was really spacious.

“Another one?” Zhou Sheng stood in the empty restaurant that should have been a luxurious room; there were even messy piles of wires and aluminium alloy strips on the ground.

The wind from the river blew the door shut with a loud “bang”.

“What the hell are you doing?” Zhou Laichun approached and seized his son by the collar, but Zhou Sheng was quick to react. “Old man, you’re not my opponent now, you really want to fight here?”

“Uncle!” Yu Hao spoke up.

“What are you doing.” Zhou Sheng said, “Kidnapping?”

“I'm asking you! What the hell do you want to do?!” Zhou Lai Chun’s voice was like thunder, and Yu Hao couldn’t help but diss in his heart, the words ‘what are you doing’ really is suitable for all ages, even this irritable father-son pair can’t escape from it. They’ll probably start looping the words ‘what are you doing’ for a while, so they won't be getting to the point anytime soon. Thus, he went to sit down in front of the wooden box by the French windows.

“Be careful, there are splinters in the wood!” Zhou Sheng said.

Yu Hao waved his hand and got him to focus on his quarrel. Zhou Laichun was so angry he picked up a wooden board and roared, “Do you want to die?!”

Yu Hao thought, it ended so soon?

“Why are you mingling with Ou Weihong’s son?” Zhou Laichun said, “That shameless, stubborn bastard didn’t even want his own life, do you understand how serious this is?”

“Oh.” Zhou Sheng said, “Then should I have let him die?! Let his head smash into the ground, then have everyone take photos, and circulate it around the internet and tear all your backstages down?!”

Zhou Laichun was practically roaring, “Have you ever thought about how your Laozi can account for your involvement in this?!”

“We’re talking about someone’s life here!” Zhou Sheng angrily roared back, “Do you understand what a ‘life’ is?!”

The two of them roared at each other, and Yu Hao was almost instantly rendered deaf. This building built over the water was currently under renovation and only recently had soundproof glass installed; it was spacious and echoey. To begin with, Zhou Laichun and Zhou Sheng have always had very strong diaphragms when they spoke, and now even the glass was about to shatter from their roars.

“Stop arguing!” Yu Hao looked back and said, “Can’t you talk properly?!”

Zhou Laichun was a bit stunned by Yu Hao’s roar. Yu Hao frowned, “Zhou Sheng! Talk properly!”

Zhou Laichun would have never even dreamed that someone would dare discipline his son in front of him, so astonishment spread across his face.

But what shocked him even more was that Zhou Sheng’s anger gradually subsided, and he said while suppressing his anger, “Okay, I’ll talk properly. Old man, how much money did you give Huang Baiguang?”

“It’s none of your damn business.” Zhou Laichun said coldly.

These words immediately provoked Zhou Sheng again. Yu Hao immediately glanced at him to stop Zhou Sheng’s rising anger. Zhou Sheng said, “Make it clear, what’s your relationship with Huang Baiguang? Would it cause you to get arrested and imprisoned?”

Zhou Laichun remained quiet for awhile. Zhou Sheng said, “If you could have given him the money, you wouldn’t have needed me to date Huang Baiguang’s daughter, right?”

Zhou Laichun looked at Zhou Sheng -- his gaze was filled with a mixture of hatred and reluctance. He didn’t say anything in the end, only retrieving a pack of cigarettes to light one up.

Zhou Sheng beckoned, took a cigarette, and lit it up.

Zhou Sheng said, “Who approved the plots for Yun Lai Chun in Ying city? Does it have anything to do with Ou Weihong? How much money did you give out?”

“No.” Zhou Laichun said, “Ou Weihong jumped off a building last winter, and Yun Lai Chun only entered Ying City after this year’s Spring Festival. Don’t you know how to count? These few plots went through all the proper formalities.”

“It was really proper?”

“Proper.” Zhou Laichun said, “After Ou Weihong jumped off a building, everyone was on tenterhooks. Why don’t you tell me who would dare to take money on the cusp of a storm?”

Zhou Laichun felt as if he was getting to know his son again and sneered.

Zhou Sheng, “If you’re going to do business, then just do business. I don’t want to fucking be like Ou Qihang. Restrain yourself a bit, and don’t go too crazy; there are still many days ahead.”

“You’re fucking pulling the rug from under my feet!” Zhou Laichun became angry again and shouted, “Are you going to try to force me to jump off a building too before you’re satisfied?!”

Zhou Sheng immediately felt his throat constrict and became so angry his whole body trembled.

“My Dad passed away early, but if he were still alive,” Yu Hao suddenly said, “He definitely wouldn’t have talked like you, uncle.”

Yu Hao’s actions today had really gone way beyond Zhou Sheng’s expectations. When they heard these words, Zhou Laichun and Zhou Sheng both fell silent. Although Yu Hao’s voice was calm, his words were tinged with anger. He had been facing the river scenery ever since he arrived, as if contemplating about how to best phrase his thoughts.

“There’s nothing to say to him.” Zhou Sheng said with slight weariness, “Let’s go ba, I don’t want to say anything else in the future either.”

Yu Hao got up from the wooden box and walked over to Zhou Laichun.

“Yu Hao?” Zhou Sheng was stunned.

“I don’t remember much about my Dad.” Yu Hao said to Zhou Laichun, “I only remember that he used to work in a stone material factory. He would always go to work happily every day, and he never used to say things like how tiring or hard his life was because of me.”

“Yu Hao.” Zhou Sheng said, “Stop talking.”

Zhou Laichun frowned deeply and stared at Yu Hao in bewilderment.

“My Dad worked very hard and couldn’t earn much money.” Yu Hao said, “It was only after I grew up that I knew it wasn’t easy for him. My family was poor, but he worked hard to earn money to support me. He was just one of the thousands of ordinary people out there, but to me, he was as successful as you. He couldn’t earn as much as you……”

Zhou Sheng frowned deeply as he watched Yu Hao carefully.

“But my Grandma also taught me, is there anything more important than money in the world? Yes, our lovers and family, right?” Yu Hao continued, “No matter how much money you leave behind for Zhou Sheng, if you end up getting imprisoned, he would only feel even more upset ba?”

Zhou Sheng stood quietly. Zhou Laichun grasped a cigarette, his fingers slightly trembling.

“Uncle, you’re really rich and very successful.” Yu Hao looked out of the window at the river, “But in the eyes of children, if we had to choose between money or love, we would not hesitate to choose a blissful family. We would rather have no money, but parents who love each other, who don’t quarrel, no violence, no affairs……

These are all things that no amount of money can buy. But now, we are all doomed to lose them. It has all come to an end, become part of the past, and turned into expectations that would never be realised.

Parents often say that for their children, make do ba. But we actually respect our parents’ decisions and only wish for their happiness. Even if they do get a divorce and start a new life, we will have no complaints, right? So, at least in the future, Zhou Sheng hopes that you and Aunt can both live a good life, and he hopes that nothing bad will happen to either of you. He loves you, that’s what he wants to say.

I wish that my father were still alive. I guess that Ou Qihang must have thought that way countless times ba? As children, we have nothing, and even our skin and body are given to us by our parents. Our opinions aren’t very important, but even so, we still hope that our parents can seriously listen to just one sentence of ours, and not wait until losing it before……”

Zhou Sheng continued to tremble. He walked out and closed the door. Zhou Laichun didn’t say anything else and walked to stand in front of the French windows.

Yu Hao pushed the door open the go find Zhou Sheng. Zhou Sheng was sitting down in the corner of a corridor, exhausted. Yu Hao sat next to him with his back against the wall, then leaned his head on Zhou Sheng’s shoulder.

Zhou Sheng stared at Yu Hao in a daze.

“Do you miss your mother?” Zhou Sheng suddenly asked.

“As long as she’s living well after she left me, then it’s okay.” Yu Hao answered, “I’ll have you from now on, won’t I? This is our family.”

“Let’s go back ba.” Yu Hao was being hugged by Zhou Sheng, and he was afraid that Zhou Laichun would see them. He said, “I’ll go let your father know.”

Zhou Sheng nodded, took out a cigarette pack and shook it. He looked a bit dazed.

Yu Hao pushed the door open and went in. He saw Zhou Laichun smoking near the French window.

“We’re leaving.” Yu Hao said, “Uncle, good bye.”

But Zhou Laichun said, “Yu Hao, you remind me of my Shixiong.”

Yu Hao was a bit puzzled. He looked at Zhou Laichun.

Zhou Laichun flicked the ashes off his cigarette, “My Shixiong and I were in the same kitchen. At first we agreed to start a business together after retiring, but because of some things that happened later on, we didn’t become partners. When I brought you guys out for a meal that day and watched you two talk, I remembered that I used to have such a close bro too……”

Yu Hao recalled the owner of the stir fry shop.

“To be fair,” Yu Hao smiled, “I think his food really is better than yours.”

“When it comes to cooking, I’m really not as good as him.” Zhou Laichun was a little distracted and fell silent again after a while. Eventually, he turned towards Yu Hao.

“Thank you, Yu Hao.” Zhou Laichun said, “It’s Zhou Sheng’s fortune to have a friend like you.” As he spoke, he threw his cigarette away a little sadly, as if he had returned to normal in that moment.

Yu Hao thought, if you knew about our relationship, you’ll probably hold me down on the spot right now and kill me ba……and couldn’t help but turn meek. His just and righteous manner from just now had completely vaporised.

“Where’s Zhou Sheng?” Zhou Laichun remembered his son, “Get in here!’

No answer came from outside. Yu Hao said, “There’s still training in the afternoon, so we have to go.”

Zhou Laichun thought about it for a bit, and knew that Zhou Sheng was listening outside, so he said to Yu Hao, “Even if that kid really did jump off the building and die, he wouldn’t have been able to drag anyone off their horses. Uncle’s words are coarse, but please don’t mind it since I have to explain this clearly.”

Zhou Laichun explained patiently to Yu Hao, “If those on top want to get rid of you, anything you eat, drink, the act of washing your feet at foot massage parlours, and touching a male waiter’s butt could all be used as reasons. If the top doesn’t want to touch you, they’ll have all sorts of ways to protect you. China really isn’t a society ruled by law.”

Yu Hao didn’t answer and just stared at Zhou Laichun quietly.

“If Ou Weihong’s son had really died today, everyone would naturally get busy with their respective tasks -- those in charge of deleting would delete everything, those who had to notify would send out the notifications, those who had to pull strings would pull them. In any case, they would be able to suppress it somehow; there’s a surplus of people around to think up of ways. I don’t know how you two got involved with that kid. After Ou Weihong’s death, everyone’s been paying attention to his son. Zhou Sheng’s my son, and news travels fast in the government circle, so everyone will know soon enough. But after what you said today……”

Zhou Laichun sighed.

“Go back ba.” Zhou Laichun recalled something and asked, “Lack money recently?”

Yu Hao quickly said no, and Zhou Laichun continued, “Let Uncle know if you guys run out of money, don’t mistreat yourselves.”

“See,” Yu Hao said, “Even without the Golden Crow Wheel, we can resolve a lot of things.”

“That’s because you’re the Golden Crow Wheel.” Zhou Sheng tore off the instant noodle cover and glanced at Yu Hao.

“He wants to be a member of the PCC.” Zhou sheng bought two bowls of instant noodles and sat by the river with Yu Hao to eat as they enjoyed the breeze. Yu Hao was starving by now; Zhou Laichun had actually forgotten to treat them to a meal today.

“That’s amazing!” Yu Hao cried in surprise.

However, after he thought about it seriously, if Zhou Laichun became a member of the PCC or an NPC deputy, they would have to face even more obstacles. Yu Hao thought, sometimes, having an amazing father isn’t a good thing.

“Being an official is like singing in an opera.” Zhou Sheng stated truthfully, “For whichever song or act that’s being performed, you would have a script in hand, so you just have to follow the script.”

“That not necessarily true ba.” Yu Hao said, “Wang Laoshi’s really good, and everyone’s a part of reality.”

“Where did another Wang Laoshi pop out from?” Zhou Sheng doesn’t know about Wang Hongyan. He threw away the instant noodle bowl and took Yu Hao back to college while constantly checking his phone. In the afternoon, Fu Liqun brought the two of them out to practice and kept saying, “Focus, what’s wrong with you two today?”

“I’m very normal!” Yu Hao said.

“I’m talking about Zhou Sheng!” Fu Liqun bounced the ball a few times and asked, “Young Master, are you alright?”

Zhou Sheng’s attention kept wandering and he said impatiently, “Come, come, give me all you’ve got! You think I’m scared of you?”

Fu Liqun, “When will the silk banner arrive?”

Zhou Sheng, “I’ll go issue them an order to hurry it up.”

“Okay!” Fu Liqun said, “Xiao Zhou, I’m at ease if you’re the one handling things!”

The next morning, Yu Hao received news from Huang Ting. He tidied up his books and sneaked out from the back door of his classroom. Zhou Sheng was waiting outside. They hailed a cab after they left the college and went straight to the city bureau. The one who received them was another policeman, who re-confirmed their testimonies according to the records they had.

Xiao Yujun came out after she took her bag. Ou Qihang’s mother was waiting outside with a haggard appearance. When she apologised to Xiao Yujun, Xiao Yujun whispered, “Aunt, don’t be upset anymore. I’m not angry.”

As she spoke, Xiao Yujun hugged her gently, and Ou Qihang’s mother began wiping her tears away again. She was a middle manager at a state-owned enterprise and had been waiting in the city bureau since last night. She had already roughly guessed what had happened. After making a round of calls, no one showed up at all, and even the owner couldn’t be found; all the calls were answered by the secretary.

Ou Qihang’s uncle was on his way. Huang Ting came out of the interrogation room and said to Yu Hao and Zhou Sheng, “Come with me.”

Huang Ting took the two of them across the small courtyard of the city bureau and said to Yu Hao, “Ou Qihang has been saying that he wants to see you. He managed to get Yujun’s laptop password through trial and error.”

Zhou Sheng said, “You’ve been tormenting him for one day and one night?”

Huang Ting was clearly very irritated too and answered, “How’s it any of my damn business? I want to resolve this as soon as possible too. Laozi hasn’t slept since that night. I didn’t expect that after this case made one whole round, it still would come back to me in the end.”

It would soon approach the 24-hour mark. Yu Hao roughly knew that Ou Qihang’s robbery charge was confirmed because they had found Xiao Yujun’s bag in his dormitory, but he probably didn’t confess about what he had planned.

“Have there been any rumours outside?” Zhou Sheng said, “All ready to delete the ties?”

Huang Ting said, “He got his friend to take a picture of him jumping off the building to upload it onto Weibo. Since he didn’t die, there won’t be a large-scale public outcry.”

Yu Hao remembered that Ou Qihang had told him that he had planned it out with his online friend to use his death as a catalyst for a sensational event.

“So, he wants to talk to me?” Yu Hao asked.

“His mother wanted to bail him out.” Huang Ting said, “But we must get some crucial answers before we can go through those formalities for him.”

“But you can’t do anything if he doesn’t confess, right?” Zhou Sheng said, “You’ll need to release him in a few hours.”

“He can be detained.” Huang Ting said, “He can’t escape the robbery charge.”

Zhou Sheng said indifferently, “Then detain him ah. It’s not like you’re detaining me, do whatever you want!”

Yu Hao suddenly understood that Huang Ting was tasked by his superiors to get a detailed report of Ou Qihang’s arrangements and motive out of him.

“Will he be alright?” Yu Hao said, “You’re making me do this, so at the very least I need to guarantee his safety ba.”

“No one wants to lower themselves to the level of a high school student.” Huang Ting suppressed his annoyance and whispered, “As long as he clearly explains his reasons, motives, and the people involved, no one will do anything to him. However, it is inevitable that he will be monitored.”

Zhou Sheng said, “That’s not necessarily true. I’ve seen tons of people who would go back on their words.”

“What benefit would come out of screwing him over?” Huang Ting stopped moving and said, “The top issued a life-or-death order, smoothing things over takes priority.”

Yu Hao suddenly said, “It’s pretty useful.”

Huang Ting, “What? Zhou Sheng, what are you laughing at?”

Zhou Sheng said, “I’m laughing at how there are people who are scared of a defenseless high school student. Isn’t that pretty interesting?”

Huang Ting said seriously, “I don’t care what they think, I want him alive.”

Yu Hao nudged Zhou Sheng as a signal for him to lay off of Huang Ting, so Zhou Sheng stopped talking.

Translator's Note:

Juurensha: the conspiracy deepens…

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