When things get serious, the truth immediately comes out. There were six security guards involved, the same ones who had surrounded Zhuang Rui earlier. After locking them all in the solitary confinement room, Director Wang explained the situation to Zhuang Rui and Director Liu.
While Wang was investigating the matter, a completely different scene unfolded in the police station's meeting room.
Seeing the sudden change in Wang's attitude after receiving a phone call, Liu Chuan's father was puzzled. Wang simply wouldn't listen to him, and he couldn't do anything about it, since it wasn't within his jurisdiction. After thinking it over, he concluded it must be because of that phone call.
Director Liu's connections within the public security system were far more extensive than Director Wang's. After making a few phone calls, the feedback he received was quite different from what Director Wang had learned. It turned out that Zhuang Rui's matter was actually instructed by a big shot in the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee, and even the head of the Municipal Bureau almost got into trouble.
"You little brat, who did you ask for help with this? How did you make such a fuss?"
Director Liu naturally wouldn't stand on ceremony with Zhuang Rui, glaring at him with an air of "I'll teach you a lesson if you don't say anything."
"How would I know? You tried calling earlier but couldn't get through. Those members of the joint defense team surrounded us and were about to attack. Oh, right, I called Brother Song."
Zhuang Rui replied with a wry smile. He had guessed it too. It was probably Song Jun who had handled this matter. However, it was a bit of an overreaction to mobilize such a big shot, who was one of the most influential figures in Pengcheng, for such a trivial matter.
"Brother Song? Which Brother Song? Explain yourself clearly."
Director Liu, as was his habit, spoke with a hint of interrogation, which made Li Bing, who was standing to the side, cover his mouth and chuckle.
Zhuang Rui gave a general account of the situation with the Song army and how they met. He didn't know much either, so you might as well ask your own son.
"Song Jun? Oh, so it's him."
Director Liu had obviously heard the name before. After a moment of contemplation, he slowly said, "Xiao Rui, not bad. You and Da Chuan are both good. Now you know how to build social connections. I can rest assured about what you'll do in the future."
As the two were talking, Zhuang Rui's phone rang. After answering, Song Jun's voice came through: "Zhuang Rui, did you finish up? What are you still doing in that lousy place? Come over and have some tea. I'm free this afternoon, let's go take a look at the land where you built the mastiff kennel."
"Okay, Brother Song, I'll be there in a bit. That guy at Da Chuan's shop hasn't been released yet. Thank you so much for today. We'll have Da Chuan treat us to dinner later."
Zhuang Rui wanted to wait until the monkey was released before leaving. Besides, Wang Suo owed him an explanation. If his godfather hadn't arrived in time, he would definitely have suffered a loss today, especially that triangular-eyed man who kept saying he wanted to kill the little white lion, which Zhuang Rui resented the most.
"If you want to treat, then you treat. This has nothing to do with that kid Liu Chuan. It's just a trivial matter. If he comes to me, I won't even acknowledge him. By the way, Brother Zhuang, now that I've helped you with this, you can't show that Tang Bohu painting to anyone else."
Although Song Jun and Zhuang Rui hadn't known each other for long, Song Jun knew that Zhuang Rui was a very generous person. He had previously said that he would sell the painting to him first, but now he had even taken away Zhuang Rui's right to give it to others for appraisal.
After hanging up with Song Jun, Zhuang Rui realized that half a day had passed and Liu Chuan hadn't called yet. Just as he was thinking this, his phone rang again. It was Liu Chuan calling.
"Wood, my old man's here, right? Damn it, everything's clear now. That guy surnamed Hao filed a false report to annoy me. I'm going over there now to bring the monkey out."
Zhuang Rui was greatly surprised when he heard Liu Chuan's words. Director Wang still didn't understand what was going on, but it turned out that Liu Chuan had already investigated everything thoroughly.
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's question, Liu Chuan angrily shouted on the other end of the phone, "What the hell am I investigating? When I got back to the store just now, Da Xiong told me about this, and I guessed it was that Hao kid who did it. I went over and taught him a lesson. That coward told me everything. Alright, we'll talk about it when we meet again. I'm hanging up."
Liu Chuan's voice was very loud, and Director Liu, who was sitting next to Zhuang Rui, could hear it clearly. Just as he angrily took the phone from Zhuang Rui, Liu Chuan hung up.
Zhuang Rui chuckled inwardly. Now things are just fine. When Liu Chuan arrives, he'll definitely get a beating from this old man. These two are such an unreasonable pair.
Once the situation was cleared up, Director Wang pushed open the door and came in, followed by the deputy director of the police station, who was also Boss Hao's brother-in-law. As soon as he entered, he apologized to Zhuang Rui and said he would give his brother-in-law a good talking-to.
“This has nothing to do with me, that’s Liu Chuan’s business. I just want to ask, is the police station still allowing ordinary people to enter? I walked in today, and before I could even say a word, that security guard started hitting me. I don’t know why. Chief Wang, could you explain this to me? Also, my dog has a dog license and a tag around its neck. Why did that person beat and kill my Tibetan Mastiff?”
Liu Chuan arrived on his own shortly afterward. Zhuang Rui didn't want to get involved with Boss Hao anymore. What angered him most today was the security guard who kept saying he wanted to kill Little White Lion.
"This is because our usual ideological education is insufficient. We haven't been strict enough in managing police conduct. We just had a discussion, and we've decided to expel these bad apples. Um, Deputy Chief Wei, you can go out for a bit. When the person involved arrives, you can explain to them."
Director Wang first explained his handling of the matter to Zhuang Rui. When he turned around and saw that Deputy Director Wei was about to plead for his brother-in-law, he was immediately furious. If it weren't for the fact that you saw the pet market was profitable and forced your brother-in-law to open a shop there, would this have happened? So he became rude to Deputy Director Wei.
Deputy Director Wei was unaware that the matter had become a big deal. Upon hearing this, he glanced at Director Wang with some displeasure, turned around and walked out of the room. Just then, he saw two people entering the police station, still arguing. One of them was his brother-in-law, who looked bruised and battered.
"Hey, Deputy Director Wei, perfect timing. I've come to report a case. This guy filed a false report and even accused my employee of theft. Could you please handle this?"
Liu Chuan, with his sharp eyes, spotted Deputy Director Wei from a distance and shouted out loud.
"Brother-in-law, this is not my fault. It was Dajun and his group who gave me the idea. It really has nothing to do with me."
When Boss Hao saw his brother-in-law, he clung to him like a drowning pig, howling like a pig being slaughtered. Even Zhuang Rui and the others in the room heard it and came out one after another.
"Damn it, you're such a wicked kid. But it's not your fault, it's not your fault!"
Liu Chuan gripped Boss Hao's collar tightly and slapped him on the head repeatedly while cursing, showing no regard for Deputy Director Wei.
Although he disliked his brother-in-law, Deputy Director Wei couldn't stand by and watch him be humiliated in front of him. He sternly said to Liu Chuan, "Liu Chuan, stop! What do you think this place is? He broke the law, so the law will punish him. What right do you have to hit him?"
Liu Chuan completely ignored him. This guy was always the type to cause trouble for no reason. This time, he had been outmaneuvered and was venting his anger on Boss Hao.
"Liu Chuan, stop! Come here!"
The same words sent a chill down Liu Chuan's spine. He turned around and saw his father standing not far away, watching his performance. He quickly pushed Boss Hao aside and ran over to him.
"Hey kid, you've really gotten yourself into trouble, coming here to beat people up. Are you trying to make me look good or embarrass me?"
Comrade Lao Liu never hesitated to discipline his son, regardless of the occasion or location. He slapped Liu Chuan hard across the back of the head. Everyone watching understood immediately: it turned out that Comrade Lao Liu had taught Xiao Liu how to hit people.
The monkey was brought over too, with a clear handprint on its face, which made Liu Chuan angry again. If his father hadn't been there, he definitely wouldn't have let it go.
"Alright, what are you glaring at me for? Get out of here, all of you. Chief Wang, I hope you can handle this matter seriously, and we also need to clean up the police appearance and conduct."
Director Liu glanced at the few scrawny-looking members of the joint defense team, snorted coldly, got into his Mitsubishi, and drove off.
Chapter 111 Family Matters
"This damn thing is such a hassle. White Lion, stop messing around and go play by yourself."
Zhuang Rui pushed away the white lion that had snuggled into his arms, and looked at the dark stone in his hand with a rather helpless expression.
Three days had passed since the incident at the police station. After Liu Chuan's father left that day, Zhuang Rui and Liu Chuan also left with Monkey Li Bing. However, the matter did not end so easily.
According to Liu Chuan's later account, all of those joint defense team members were dismissed and removed from the team. Hao's brother-in-law was removed from his position as deputy director and reassigned to a police station in a suburban area as an ordinary police officer because he abused his power to help his relatives seek personal gain.
As for Chief Wang, he was also implicated. Due to his poor management of his team, which led to a decline in police conduct, he was dismissed from his post and transferred to another police station as deputy chief, thus avoiding being completely stripped of his position. Chief Wang was fortunate in a way, though.
The most unlucky one was Boss Hao. He was detained by the police for a day. After being released, he didn't dare to stay in the flower and bird market anymore. Liu Chuan simply asked Zhou Rui to sublet his storefront to be used as an office for the mastiff kennel in the flower and bird market. Only then was the matter considered settled.
These past few days, Zhuang Rui, Liu Chuan, and Zhou Rui haven't been idle either. Liu Chuan needed to process the land use contract and the business license for the mastiff kennel, so he pulled Zhuang Rui along to find someone to design the kennel's floor plan. Zhou Rui, of course, stayed at the flower and bird market to familiarize himself with the pet trading process.
In 2003, although the internet was not very developed, it was still possible to find information about some Tibetan Mastiff kennels. After checking several large Tibetan Mastiff kennels online, Zhuang Rui had a better understanding of the situation.
Zhuang Rui's former university was renowned nationwide for its architecture department. Although they studied different majors, Zhuang Rui had made several good friends among the alumni from that department, all of whom are now working. Zhuang Rui contacted one of these alumni, who works in Nanjing, by phone and explained his requirements. He also sent the relevant materials online and is now waiting for the drawings to be produced.
Zhuang Rui handled all these matters smoothly without taking up too much of his energy. However, he was only three or four days away from leaving for Nanjing, and he couldn't bring himself to present the gift he had prepared. Zhuang Rui had decided to give the jadeite stone as a gift to Qin Xuanbing, but despite racking his brains, he couldn't break the stone open and ended up ruining the stone containing the jadeite the size of a fingernail.
These past few days, Zhuang Rui has searched all the hardware stores in Pengcheng City, but not a single one sells a small grinding wheel machine. He also couldn't find out where he could buy one. With his trip to Nanjing just a few days away, Zhuang Rui, in desperation, came up with a foolish idea.
Zhuang Rui had just gone to the pet market, using the excuse that he needed to drill a few holes in the wall at home, and brought home an electric drill from Liu Chuan's shop. While his mother wasn't home, he planned to drill some holes in the stone and then hammer it open. However, his skills were lacking, and his aim was off; the drill bit went straight to the core of the stone. The jadeite, already pitifully small, was pulverized by Zhuang Rui's drill. Luckily, he was experimenting on a stone with a small amount of jadeite; otherwise, when he later learned the true value of jadeite, he would probably be devastated.
In fact, Zhuang Rui knew that it would be as easy as playing around to break the stone open in any machine shop, but he didn't dare to do it. He also didn't have a good excuse. If he let those craftsmen cut the stone open casually, the egg-sized jade inside would definitely be destroyed. But if they broke the stone open according to his instructions, he would really have no way to explain himself after the jade came out.
Moreover, I can't ask Liu Chuan for help with this matter. Otherwise, once I give the jade to Qin Xuanbing, even a fool would know what's going on.
"Xiao Rui, what are you doing upstairs again?"
The old lady downstairs started talking again, probably disturbed by the sound of the electric drill earlier.
"It's nothing, ma'am. I just drilled a hole in the wall to hang something."
Zhuang Rui opened the window and replied, now considering whether he should buy a house elsewhere. This place was really inconvenient; if he were in Song Jun's villa, no one would bother him even if he used a power drill or set off firecrackers.
Shaking his head with a self-deprecating smile, Zhuang Rui laughed inwardly at himself for starting to daydream as soon as he had a little money. The three million had already been transferred to Liu Chuan, and now he had less than a million left, not even enough to buy a garage for that villa.
"Xiao Rui, come and eat."
A knock on the door startled Zhuang Rui awake. He glanced at his watch and saw it was already past noon. Since Zhuang Min moved here, she had stopped working and stayed home taking care of the children and cooking. Zhuang Rui had been eating ready-made meals every day anyway.
"Hello, Uncle..."
As soon as I entered Zhuang Min's house, I saw the little girl sitting obediently at the dining table, looking like a little adult. But when she saw the little white lion, she immediately jumped off the chair and the two little ones started playing around.
"Hey, brother-in-law. Aren't you at work today?"
Seeing that Zhao Guodong was also at home, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but ask, since Zhao Guodong usually didn't eat lunch at home because his workplace was a bit far away.
"Yeah, there's not much work these days, so I've taken a day off. You'll be going back to Zhonghai soon, right?"
Zhao Guodong wasn't in a very good mood, and he casually chatted with Zhuang Rui.
"Is the factory not doing well?"
Zhuang Rui asked, "They're family, so there's nothing to worry about."
"Yes, after the restructuring, it became private, but our salaries and benefits are getting lower and lower. There's no point in continuing like this."
"Let's eat first. Why are you talking to Xiao Rui about this? If you keep doing this, you'll quit. With your skills, you can do it anywhere. Nannan, go wash your hands. You're being disobedient again."
Upon hearing her husband's words, Zhuang Min immediately took over. Zhuang Rui knew that his sister-in-law was honest, usually hardworking and quiet. For her to say something like this now, it must mean that her workplace was about to go under.
Zhuang Rui considered it for a moment and then said, "Brother-in-law, if it really doesn't work out, why don't you quit your job? Da Chuan and I are planning to start a Tibetan Mastiff kennel, but we don't have enough manpower right now. Besides, I'm going back to work in Zhonghai soon. You can represent me and work at the kennel. You know about plumbing and electrical work, so we won't need to hire anyone else. What do you think?"
“Aoyuan? I’ve never heard you mention it. The plumbing and electrical work is simple. Just pay attention to maintenance and you don’t need to be there every day. But Xiao Rui, can he be stable? You know, I’ve worked at this company for over ten years. If I quit, I’ll lose my job.”
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Zhao Guodong's eyes lit up at first. Then he became a little hesitant. People who stay in familiar environments for a long time are generally unwilling to move, especially since his company used to be a state-owned enterprise. Although it wasn't doing very well after the restructuring, he could still earn more than a thousand yuan a month, which was considered a middle-income in Pengcheng.
Before Zhuang Rui could speak, Zhuang Min interjected, "So what if you've worked here for over ten years? What has the company given you? Not even an apartment. Guo Dong, I told you long ago, you should start a car repair shop with your mentors and apprentices. It would definitely be better than working here. But you wouldn't listen. Go work for Xiao Rui. You know Da Chuan well. It's your own business, they won't treat you badly."
“Yes, brother-in-law, there’s no such thing as a secure job anymore. The sooner you start working for yourself, the wider your career path will be. I’m back working in Zhonghai now to learn something, but I’ll still have to come out on my own eventually. If you’re not happy working at the mastiff farm, you can find a place yourself. I’ll provide the money, and we can invest in a car repair shop or open a car dealership.”
Although he only has less than a million yuan left, he expects to make a large sum of money once Tang Bohu's "Li Duanduan" is framed in half a month. Zhuang Rui has been researching online recently. Although Tang Bohu has many surviving works, his reputation among the people makes each piece highly sought after. His painting, being quite large, should be worth between six and nine million yuan. Given Song Jun's character, he probably won't haggle over the price.
Moreover, selling the painting to Song Jun would save Zhuang Rui a lot of trouble. After all, this item was traded on the black market, and Zhuang Rui didn't have the extensive social connections that Song Jun and others had to launder the painting and send it to an auction house.
As for investing in a car repair shop, Zhuang Rui wasn't just talking about it casually. He majored in finance and economics and is quite sensitive to the market. When he was at China Overseas, he observed that the number of privately owned cars has been increasing in recent years, and he expected that the automotive-related industries would also flourish in the future.
Having been frugal since childhood, Zhuang Rui didn't know what to do with the money when he had more than three million. After a while, he would have earned several million more. If the stock market wasn't doing so well, he would have thought about investing the money in the stock market. If his brother-in-law were willing to open a car repair shop or a car dealership, Zhuang Rui would be happy to invest in it. After all, it's good to keep the money in the family.
"Xiao Rui, opening a car repair shop requires over 100,000 yuan. Do you have that much money right now?"
Zhao Guodong thought about it for a while. There wasn't much of a future in working at his company. He was only in his early thirties, so he might as well go out and try his luck. However, he couldn't afford the initial investment.
"Over ten thousand? That's so little?"
Zhuang Rui was stunned for a moment when he heard this. He thought that opening a factory would cost at least a million or two, but he didn't expect that it would only cost a few hundred thousand, which he could take out right now.
"Xiao Rui, you don't understand this industry. Tens of thousands is already a lot. If you scale it up a bit, you can start with forty or fifty thousand."
When talking about his profession, Zhao Guodong became excited and started counting on his fingers: "Actually, the initial cost of opening a car repair shop is not much. Apart from the rent, the equipment is the main expense. Buying two four-post lifts and two two-post lifts will cost about 20,000 yuan. A medium-sized paint booth should cost about 40,000 yuan. A sheet metal mustard machine and a computer decoding machine will cost more than 15,000 yuan. Add some small tools, and more than 100,000 yuan will be enough."
Listening to Zhao Guodong talk eloquently, Zhuang Rui realized that his brother-in-law wasn't as dull as he had imagined, and that he had probably been thinking about opening a factory for quite some time.
"Brother-in-law, I don't understand any of this. How about this, I'll put up 200,000 yuan. Do you think we can set up a car repair shop? If we can, you can quit your job. I still have 100,000 yuan in my room. I can go out and get another 100,000 yuan later."
Zhuang Rui was a bit confused by Zhao Guodong's technical jargon, so he simply stopped listening and decided to just pay up.
"Two hundred thousand is enough, but Xiao Rui, do you still have that much money? Although this dog is valuable, you haven't sold it yet."
Zhuang Min and her husband were unaware that Zhuang Rui had sold the manuscripts; Zhuang Rui had only told his mother about it, which is why Zhao Guodong had such questions.