"this……"
Zhou Ziwei didn't know how to answer this question for a moment. In fact, ever since the two met in Kunming, Liu Xiaofei had been prejudiced against Zhou Ziwei and targeted him at every turn, never giving him a kind look along the way.
But ever since Zhou Ziwei cured Liu Xiaofei's blocked nerves after the electric shock at the hotel, Liu Xiaofei seems to have suddenly become a different person.
Zhou Ziwei didn't know if Liu Xiaofei's feelings for him at that time could be considered liking or love. But when he witnessed Liu Xiaofei weeping blood in grief for him, Zhou Ziwei's heart was involuntarily touched...
"I also heard that you're already married, is that right?"
Liu Haiyang continued puffing on his cigarette, his expression indifferent, and said, "If that's the case, then you shouldn't have any more contact with Xiaofei, okay? I know my own child. Xiaofei is the kind of girl who has high aspirations but is also very persistent. Once she really falls for a man, she'll probably have a hard time letting go. And you... since you can no longer give her happiness, then stay away from her! Lest she get more and more deeply involved and end up unable to extricate herself... If that happens, I'll hate you for the rest of my life!"
Zhou Ziwei was taken aback upon hearing this, then nodded slightly and said, "Okay! I can promise you I'll try my best to avoid contact with her in the future, but... tonight, I hope I can spend the night alone with her..."
"What exactly do you want to do?!"
Liu Haiyang, who had remained calm until now, suddenly exploded like a powder keg. He threw down his cigarette butt, jumped up from his chair, and yelled at Zhou Ziwei, pointing his finger straight at Zhou's nose, "If all you want is to play with women, I can pay you to go to bars and nightclubs and find you eight or ten women to play with to your heart's content! Even if you demand that all of them be virgins, I can still satisfy you. Although I'm just a poor teacher, I can still come up with this amount of money. I just ask that you stop harassing my daughter, okay?"
Zhou Ziwei was startled by Liu Haiyang's intense reaction, and then a surge of anger rose within him. He couldn't help but jump up as well, facing Liu Haiyang's face, which was twisted with extreme rage, and shouted, "What? Is this what you really think? You think I've been harassing your daughter all along, trying to toy with her? You think I risked being blown to bits to save your daughter just to play with her body? Uncle... I understand that you're worried about your daughter, afraid she'll be taken advantage of, but please don't slander my character, don't trample on my dignity!"
"Haha... Personality! Dignity!" Upon hearing this, Liu Haiyang couldn't help but sneer, "What personality and dignity do you, a rich second-generation and parasite who only knows how to eat, drink, and have fun, have? Please don't pollute these two words, okay?"
Zhou Ziwei was finally enraged. Liu Haiyang's words were really hurtful. It's fine to be worried about your daughter, but you can't bite like a mad dog whenever someone gets close to her!
Just as Zhou Ziwei was about to retort fiercely, he heard Liu Haiyang sneer, "Zhou Ziwei, Brother Gu didn't know your background and thought you were a good person, but you can't fool me! Hmph... Let me ask you, your hometown is Dangyang, right? You're the eldest son of the Zhou family, a wealthy family in Dangyang, right? You're notorious in Dangyang, and you've slept with at least a thousand women in the past few years, right? Now that you can't make it in Dangyang, you've come here and set your sights on my daughter! Hmph... Let me tell you, I don't care how much money your family has, or how clever you are, if you want to lay a finger on my daughter... no way! I'll risk my life to make sure you don't succeed!"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ziwei immediately lost his temper.
It was obvious that this Uncle Liu knew everything about his past... or more precisely, about the "glorious deeds" his predecessor had done.
Therefore, people have already formed a preconceived notion about his character, and it is difficult to change it.
What respectable family would want to marry their daughter to a spendthrift who does nothing but drink, gamble, and womanize all day long? Especially since this spendthrift is already married! Parents with beautiful daughters would probably treat such a scoundrel like a thief. I guess only that old man Wang Guohui would be willing to push his own daughter into a fire pit to save his business!
So if anyone's to blame, Zhou Ziwei can only blame himself for why he chose to be reborn in the body of such a scumbag and degenerate. Now look what's happened... carrying such a notorious reputation, he's even in Tengchong where people still know his past! And since Liu Haiyang has already formed a prejudice, no matter how he explains, Liu Haiyang probably won't believe him!
Zhou Ziwei was still somewhat puzzled. How could Liu Haiyang know so much about his past life? Dangyang and Kunming were worlds apart; even if Zhou Ziwei's past life had a terrible reputation, it shouldn't have reached Kunming, right? And Liu Haiyang was just a middle school teacher; he shouldn't have the power to investigate so much in such a short time. Could this Uncle Liu be a secret agent in reality, disguised as a school teacher?
"Second Uncle...Second Uncle...How is Xiaofei?"
Just then, a slightly familiar voice called out from the stairs. Zhou Ziwei turned around and saw a man and a woman hurrying upstairs. He was slightly taken aback, but then he understood everything!
That woman called Liu Haiyang's Second Uncle was actually Liu Ni... Zhou Ziwei's predecessor's first love, the woman who betrayed him and eloped with a rogue painter! It turns out she's Liu Haiyang's niece! No wonder Liu Haiyang knows so much about Zhou Ziwei! And no wonder Liu Haiyang harbors such deep resentment towards Zhou Ziwei; who knows how many bad things Liu Ni said about him!
The man who came up with Liu Ni was also a familiar face to Zhou Ziwei; he was Yan Jun, the one who had brought Zhou Ziwei to the private party hoping to make a fool of him.
Zhou Ziwei had never liked these two people, but he never expected that the world would be so small. He ran into them even though he had traveled all the way to Tengchong. What he didn't expect was that Liu Ni and Liu Xiaofei were actually cousins.
"Hey hey... Zhou Ziwei! I can't believe it really is you..."
Upon seeing Zhou Ziwei, Liu Ni exclaimed excitedly, then narrowed her almond-shaped eyes and said with a smile, "Young Master Zhou, you've really gone this far! You've even come all the way to Yunnan to play around with women... Humph, luckily I happened to be here with Brother Jun, and while we were visiting my second uncle's house, I heard that you actually managed to hook up with my sister... Uh, Zhou Ziwei from Dangyang, I figured it couldn't be anyone else! Let me tell you... my sister is so innocent, so don't you dare try anything with her!"
Yan Jun followed closely behind, a mocking smile on his face. "Hey Zhou, you're really getting cocky! You just won three or four million at the casino last time, and you're already showing off again! You actually came all the way to Yunnan to act like a rich young master! What can you do with your three million? You might be considered rich by ordinary people, but for us... hehe... it might not even be enough for me to buy a stone!" He then deliberately turned to Liu Ni and whispered, "I've heard that gambling on stones is popular in Tengchong. You can just buy a stone, cut it open, and there might be jade inside! Hehe... Anyway, we're already here. If your sister isn't busy tomorrow, let's go gamble a couple of times. I'll pay, you guys pick the stones. If you lose, it's on me; if you win, it's on you. Hehe... If you're lucky, you might buy a stone and find a piece of imperial green jade inside, then your whole family will be set for life!"
"Really... Brother Jun, you're so good to me!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Ni was overjoyed and immediately turned to lean against Zhong Yan's chest, revealing a blissful, womanly expression.
Zhou Ziwei was utterly speechless at the two of them. If they had simply told Liu Haiyang about his past to make him wary of him, Zhou Ziwei wouldn't have had anything to say.
After all, no one knew that he had a different soul inside his body, so saying those things wasn't entirely unfair to him. However, these two were clearly there to annoy Zhou Ziwei, targeting and belittling him in every word they spoke.
Zhou Ziwei couldn't bring himself to be angry at Liu Haiyang, but he wasn't so polite to these two. He immediately gave a cold snort and said, "Idiots!"
"Hey...who are you cursing?"
Yan Jun was immediately enraged upon hearing this. In Yan Jun's eyes, Zhou Ziwei was an incompetent spendthrift. In the past, out of respect for the Zhou family, Yan Jun could have been somewhat polite to Zhou Ziwei. However, now... the Zhou Group had just encountered a major incident and might even face bankruptcy, while their Yan family had made a fortune due to the recent surge in housing prices. In Dangyang, their Yan family's status was now on par with the Zhou family.
Therefore, Yan Jun naturally disregarded Zhou Ziwei even more. He immediately pointed his finger at Zhou Ziwei's nose and said, "Let me tell you, Zhou Ziwei, don't think you're still the eldest young master of the Zhou family. Your Zhou family is about to be finished. When the Zhou family is finished, you might not even be as good as a street sweeper! Hehe... Even if your Zhou family doesn't completely collapse this time, it will definitely lose its glory. Besides, this isn't Dangyang. In Dangyang, some people might still recognize you, Young Master Zhou, but in Yunnan, you're nothing. Believe me, I can make you regret it with just one phone call."
Zhou Ziwei was too lazy to talk to this kind of person anymore. He just rolled his eyes and said, "Fine, go ahead and make the call! I'm waiting!"
Seeing Yan Jun pull out his phone and angrily run off to make a call, Zhou Ziwei ignored him and turned to Liu Haiyang, whose face was ashen, saying, "Uncle Liu, I don't care what prejudice you have against me, but I have to stay here with Officer Liu tonight. You may not know this, but... Officer Liu has gone blind due to a retinal tear. The chances of regaining her sight through normal treatment are extremely slim. But I... happen to know some traditional Chinese medicine remedies for blindness. Please let me try for one night. Whether or not I can cure Officer Liu, I'll leave first thing tomorrow morning and won't bother her again. This is something I owe her, and I... have to repay it!"
Volume 1, Rebirth of a Prodigy, Chapter 125: You're So Talented
"What? Xiaofei...she's gone blind!"
The doctor had only recently diagnosed Liu Xiaofei's blindness, and Liu Haiyang and the others were still on their way there at the time, so they were completely unaware of it. Liu Haiyang thought that his daughter had at most been frightened and had suffered some minor injuries to her face, which was why she had a bandage on her face. When he heard that his daughter had gone blind, it was like a bolt from the blue, and he was immediately stunned.
Liu Ni was stunned for a moment upon hearing this news, then glanced at Zhou Ziwei and sneered, "How shameless! Others may not know what kind of person you are, Zhou Ziwei, but do you think I don't know? You think you know anything about traditional Chinese medicine... Bah! If you want to take advantage of my sister, please come up with a slightly more plausible excuse, okay?"
She then turned to Liu Haiyang and said, "Second Uncle... this man is a womanizer and a conman. You absolutely mustn't believe him! If you really let him stay here with Xiaofei for one night... then you'll be a grandfather for no reason!"
Upon hearing the news of his daughter's blindness, Liu Haiyang was already in a state of panic. Naturally, he listened to whatever his niece said. Moreover, as a middle school teacher, he had considerable experience and knew that if the retina was only temporarily detached, it would be easier to treat. However, once it ruptured, it was basically a death sentence! Even with surgery, there was little chance of regaining sight. It was said that retinal transplantation surgery was still mainly in the research stage, and there was little successful clinical data both domestically and internationally.
How could Liu Haiyang possibly believe Zhou Ziwei's claim that he could cure his daughter's eyes? He immediately pointed to the stairs beside him and said, "Excuse me, Mr. Zhou, you are not welcome here. My daughter's injuries are none of your concern. Please leave immediately! If you continue to harass my daughter, don't blame me for calling the police!"
"It seems like your daughter was sent by the police to protect me! How come it's now me harassing her?"
Zhou Ziwei sneered, knowing that with Liu Ni and Yan Jun, that despicable couple, causing trouble here, Liu Haiyang probably wouldn't believe anything he said. So he could only helplessly say, "Fine... since you insist, I have nothing more to say! I'll leave immediately, but... if you regret it later, Uncle Liu, and want to call me back... then you'll have to get rid of those two first before I'll consider it. Humph... I'm a little bit of a germaphobe, and I can't stand these filthy things!"
Liu Haiyang was in a hurry to see his daughter. Upon hearing this, he just snorted and said, "Don't worry, I won't regret it!" Then he rushed to the ward.
"Hey Zhou, who are you calling dirty? Say it again and see what happens!"
Liu Ni was particularly sensitive to Zhou Ziwei's words. Over the years, she had been with at least eighty or a hundred men while she was out and about. Now she was planning to end her dissolute life and marry a rich man, which was why she had been sticking to Yan Jun's side lately.
However, Liu Ni also knew that her past wasn't exactly clean, so especially in front of Yan Jun, she was most afraid of people saying that she wasn't clean. When she heard Zhou Ziwei's words, she couldn't hold back anymore and immediately bared her teeth and claws, ready to pounce on Zhou Ziwei and fight him to the death.
Zhou Ziwei didn't want to get entangled with this woman. He snorted coldly, injected twice the amount of soul power into his foot's nervous system, and slipped away the moment Liu Ni pounced on him. He then strode downstairs without going back to greet Gu Dongfeng.
Liu Ni lunged too hard and lost her footing, crashing headfirst into the white wall. A bump immediately rose on her forehead, and she cried out in pain, "You hit me... you molested me!"
Yan Jun hadn't finished his call when he saw what was happening here. He rushed downstairs, pointing at Zhou Ziwei who was walking down the stairs and yelling, "Hey...hey...where are you going? Didn't you say you weren't afraid? I'm getting someone to deal with you right now. If you've got the guts, don't run away!"
Zhou Ziwei turned and glanced at Yan Jun, saying, "Don't worry! I won't run away. I'm just too lazy to deal with trash like you right now. I'm staying in room 306 of the hotel in the county, and I probably won't be leaving for the next few days. If you want to send someone to deal with me, I'm welcome anytime... But don't blame me for not warning you beforehand. I'm the kind of person who doesn't mess with others unless they mess with me. No matter what methods you use to deal with me, you'd better watch out, or I'll retaliate in kind!"
"You? Hahaha..."
Yan Jun laughed loudly and said, "You think I'm afraid of you, the biggest good-for-nothing in Dangyang? Fine... let's wait and see who comes out on top in the end!"
Zhou Ziwei nodded, said no more nonsense, and immediately left.
When they got back to the hotel, Li Yifeng was still chatting with two young girls at the front desk! He had gotten completely drunk that day and had no idea that Zhou Ziwei had risked his life outside. He slept until noon the next day before waking up.
When he found out what had happened, he couldn't help but scold Zhou Ziwei, accusing him of being a bad friend for not asking for help when he needed it, which made him, as the older brother, lose face.
Zhou Ziwei knew that Li Yifeng wasn't just offering hindsight advice or saying nice things. He understood Li Yifeng's personality; if he had actually called on Li Yifeng back then, Li Yifeng wouldn't have even flinched.
There's even a possibility that Li Yifeng might rush in to shield him from bullets at a crucial moment.
Zhou Ziwei knew Li Yifeng's personality, which is why he didn't dare tell Li Yifeng anything.
Hearing Li Yifeng's endless complaints, Zhou Ziwei had no choice but to say that he had called him, but Li Yifeng was sleeping too soundly and couldn't be woken up even after being kicked twice on the head. Since the kidnappers weren't waiting for anyone, he had no choice but to go alone.
Zhou Ziwei was just spouting nonsense, but to Li Yifeng's surprise, he actually believed it. He kept touching his head and saying that no wonder he had such a bad headache after waking up, it turned out that Zhou Ziwei had kicked him! However, he didn't blame Zhou Ziwei, but only regretted that he shouldn't have drunk so much alcohol, which caused him to mess up something important.
Li Yifeng wasn't worried at all about Zhou Ziwei being investigated by the police. The incident in Kunming had already proven that his brother had some connections, and the victims this time were all vicious and ruthless bandits. Even if there was evidence that Zhou Ziwei was the one who killed them, it wouldn't matter. Zhou Ziwei wouldn't have any trouble at all.
As for Liu Xiaofei, Li Yifeng was very worried, but after all, she was a girl, and it was impossible for him, a grown man, to help take care of her. So he just bought a bouquet of flowers, went to see her twice, and that was it. When he had nothing to do, he could only stay in the hotel alone and wait for news.
Seeing Zhou Ziwei return, she quickly abandoned the little girls who were still dazed from his flattery, went over and hooked her arm around his shoulder, saying, "How's it going... is the case all settled? Have you gone to see Liu Xiaofei? Sigh... I really don't know what earth-shattering thing you did to make Liu Xiaofei cry her eyes out for you! I think she must have owed you something in her past life... Uh... to be honest, Liu Xiaofei is really a good person, you mustn't let her down!"
Zhou Ziwei gave a wry smile and said, "But I already have a wife. How can I face her? Sigh... Okay, let's not talk about this for now. I have something I need your help with later. Do you think that's okay?"
Upon hearing this, Li Yifeng immediately patted his chest forcefully and said, "We're all brothers, what's with all this begging? If you ever say that word to your elder brother again, I'll get mad at you, you know? Life is as lonely as snow... If we have to be so polite to each other, what's the point of life!"
Zhou Ziwei had been waiting for Li Yifeng to say this, and upon hearing it, he quickly pressed his advantage, saying, "Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony with you, okay? I won't ask anyone else for this, just please help me out, brother!"
"That's more like it..." Li Yifeng nodded in satisfaction and said, "Brother, just say the word. As long as it's something I can do, I definitely won't even bat an eye. Uh... but there's something we need to discuss first. If you want me to donate my retinas to Liu Xiaofei... well... I'll only donate one, okay? Leave me one, otherwise how will I see all the beautiful women on the street? Sigh... life is so lonely! If I can't even see beautiful women anymore, how am I supposed to live?"
Zhou Ziwei was stunned. He knew that Li Yifeng was speaking from the heart. It seemed that Li Yifeng had really thought about donating his retina, otherwise he wouldn't have been bargaining with him! The reason why Li Yifeng was considering donating his retina could not be because Liu Xiaofei was a beautiful woman, nor could it be because Liu Xiaofei and he were both policemen. It could only be because of him, Zhou Ziwei!
At that moment, Zhou Ziwei was truly moved. Many friends would risk their lives for you, but to be willing to donate your own organs for you... that's incredibly rare! It's simply amazing!
At least Zhou Ziwei should ask himself honestly: if Li Yifeng's girlfriend needed a retina, he probably wouldn't be so noble as to donate his own!
However, Zhou Ziwei did not show any emotion, because he knew that Li Yifeng did not like this, and that expressing his gratitude would only make Li Yifeng feel uncomfortable.
So Zhou Ziwei suppressed the slight stinging in his nose, chuckled, and said, "Come on! Dude... with your tiny eyes, you're going to donate your retinas to Liu Xiaofei! I bet even if you took out both of your retinas and patched them up together, it wouldn't be enough for one of Liu Xiaofei's eyes!"
Li Yifeng immediately flew into a rage, grabbing Zhou Ziwei by the collar and glaring at him with wide eyes. He said, "What the hell... are you kidding me? Are my eyes really that small? If you don't believe me, take a ruler and measure them. This width is at least five millimeters! I don't believe it... two retinas patched together wouldn't be enough for Liu Xiaofei's one eye! Why don't we try... what the hell... can this retina even be patched? Don't try to fool me! If I really take it off and she still can't use it, then it's all for nothing!"
Zhou Ziwei gently patted Li Yifeng's arm, signaling him to loosen his collar, before sighing and saying, "Alright, I was just joking. Your retina isn't needed yet. Retinal transplant technology is still very immature. Even if you were willing to donate your retina, it would only give those experts one more opportunity to conduct experiments! I was somewhat confident that I could restore Liu Xiaofei's sight, but... sigh, never mind, let's not talk about upsetting things for now. Let me tell you about the thing I need your help with!"
After saying that, Zhou Ziwei pulled Li Yifeng to the door, then pointed to the coffee shop across the street and said, "I've already bought that little building. We'll do some business here later, but I have other businesses back home, so I definitely don't have that much time to stay here all the time. Brother, could you do me a favor and quit your job to help me keep this stall up? How about it?"
"What? You want me to open a coffee shop?"
Li Yifeng was stunned for a moment, then shook his head vigorously and said, "No...no...it's not that I don't want to help you, but...I'm really not cut out for it! With my personality, I'm afraid I'd be fighting with the customers in less than two and a half days! If that happened, wouldn't I be even more sorry to you?"
Zhou Ziwei said with a wry smile, "Dude, I only said I wanted to buy that little building across the street, I didn't say I wanted you to open a coffee shop! Even if I really wanted to open a coffee shop, couldn't I open it in Kunming? Couldn't I go back to my hometown of Dangyang? Why would I come all the way to this remote frontier to open a coffee shop?"
Li Yifeng thought about it and realized it made sense. He grinned and said, "Oh... that's good, it's not about opening a coffee shop. So what do you want to do? I'll do anything I can manage, as long as it's legal! Even if I really quit being a policeman, I can't become a thief, right? I can't afford to lose face like that!"
"Don't worry about that."
Seeing that Li Yifeng wasn't clinging to his identity as a police officer, Zhou Ziwei was delighted and quickly explained, "Didn't I tell you? I came to Tengchong to gamble on jadeite. However, the price of raw jadeite is fluctuating wildly right now, making it unsuitable for gambling. But... I've changed my mind. Gambling on my own isn't very interesting. I'm planning to invest some money here and become a jadeite middleman, importing raw jadeite from Myanmar and selling it to jewelry merchants from all over the country. This way, we basically don't bear any risk; we just earn the profit, transferring all the risk to others."
I've already bought that two-story building across the street. I'm waiting to find a construction team so we can tear it down and rebuild. We'll build at least a four-story building; the ground floor will be an exchange, and the top floor will be a warehouse, specifically for storing jadeite rough. You should know what jadeite rough is—a single piece can be worth millions. This place could potentially hold rough worth tens of millions, even hundreds of millions. I wouldn't trust anyone else to look after it, so I'm leaving it to you, brother. So… you wouldn't refuse to help me with this, would you?”
"Holy crap...you're really going to go this far!"
When Li Yifeng heard Zhou Ziwei say that he would store raw stones worth tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions, here at any time, he felt his scalp tingle. Hundreds of millions! For a lowly policeman like him who only earns a few thousand yuan a month, that was an astronomical figure that was absolutely out of reach.
But the more this was the case, the more he felt that Zhou Ziwei truly considered him a brother and genuinely trusted him. So without hesitation, he patted his chest forcefully and said, "Alright... as long as you trust your brother, I'll take responsibility for you! With me here, I can't guarantee there won't be any losses, but I can guarantee that as long as I, Li Yifeng, am alive, I won't let you suffer any loss!"
Zhou Ziwei was startled by Li Yifeng's guarantee and quickly said, "Alright... Brother, please don't scare me! If some criminals really come to rob us, it would be great if you could handle them, but if you really can't, don't force yourself. They're just some broken stones; we don't need to risk our lives for them, understand? If you promise me this, then this matter is settled. If you really want to risk your life, then I absolutely refuse to let you help me. Otherwise, if anything happens to you, I'll feel guilty for the rest of my life!"
"Alright... whatever you say! But this is... damn it, if I agree, you'll be my boss, and I, as the older brother, will lose face!" Li Yifeng was quite annoyed for a while, then his eyes suddenly lit up. He pointed to a small fruit shop not far from the building and said, "How about I put in some money and take over that fruit shop too? Then when you're in Tengchong, you can work as a stock clerk there... haha... that way, I'll be your boss too, and we'll be even!"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ziwei broke out in a cold sweat and said with a bitter face, "Dude, you're really too talented! We don't need to do this. I've already thought it through... Once the business is up and running, I'll provide the start-up capital, and you'll be responsible for the specific operation and management. I'll give you 30% of the shares. That way, we'll be partners, and there won't be any distinction between boss and employee."
Li Yifeng's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he said, "Okay... that's a good idea, it saves us the trouble of managing another business. But... I won't invest a single penny, so why are you giving me 30% of the shares? Just 1% will do. As long as I have 1% of the shares, I'll be a shareholder, as long as I'm not your employee. Hmm... it's decided then."
Zhou Ziwei shook his head repeatedly, saying, "No, no... What kind of shareholder is one percent? You have to own at least a quarter! You should have twenty-five percent!"
"Too much, too much! One percent is too little, then two percent will do."
"Twenty percent..."
"Three percent..."