Before the instructions from above came down, everyone in the ward was discussing how one person could control bullets—was it magic or sorcery?
The ward door creaked open, and the noisy sounds immediately ceased. Everyone turned to look at the doorway, where a tall, imposing soldier stood. Wang Keliang and the others recognized him and immediately forced smiles as they greeted him: "Battalion Commander Li."
(Thanks to Jingheng for the 588 coins reward, to Ziting and Yongheng Jinqu for the 100 coins reward, to Lian~lianbushe for the four votes to urge for an update, and to Laoshitian, Maomao Xiaoxiao, Shinong, and 〓Heitianshi〓 for the monthly ticket support)
Volume 2 [464] Returning Home
【464】Going home
The visitor was Li Zhongyuan. He glanced at the Yihai City leaders in the high-ranking cadre ward. These people all felt a chill. The imposing aura of a seasoned soldier made them uncomfortable, and they felt a coldness rising from their hearts.
Ignoring the crowd's welcome, Li Zhongyuan walked in on his own. Huang Keyi bowed slightly and said, "Battalion Commander Li, please forgive me for not being able to greet you properly due to my poor health." Li Zhongyuan was Old Master Chen's nephew, a fact known to everyone in official circles.
"What did he say to you?" Li Zhongyuan asked abruptly.
Huang Keyi was somewhat confused: "What?"
Li Zhongyuan repeated in a curt tone, "What did Zhao Qiang say to you?"
Huang Keyi had a bad feeling. He was worried that he had been shot for nothing and that he would not have benefited from it. "He said he wanted to live peacefully with us, to be friends with us, and to ask us to take care of him in Yihai in the future."
Huang Keyi thought Li Zhongyuan would start cursing after he finished speaking, but to his surprise, Li Zhongyuan just smiled faintly.
Wang Keliang said, "He also said he preferred someone as smart as me to be the head of the Public Security Bureau."
Li Zhongyuan snorted and said to Huang Keyi, "You are to prepare to hand over your work. No one is allowed to mention what happened today in any situation. Since Director Wang Keliang has received such praise, then let him retain his original position." After saying that, Li Zhongyuan ignored the expressions of the people in the room and left on his own, leaving Huang Keyi on the hospital bed with a look of surprise.
Half an hour later, Huang Keyi finally received instructions from the province. Sure enough, it was similar to what Li Zhongyuan had said earlier. Huang Keyi was injured on duty and was temporarily suspended from his post to recuperate. The province would assign a municipal party secretary to come down and guide the work. Other municipal party committee leaders received verbal warnings of varying degrees, but Wang Keliang was unaffected.
Haiyun Shopping Mall couldn't open today, so Zhao Qiang took three women to another shopping mall and didn't stop until they had filled both BMW X5s completely.
Back home, Zhao Ling started unpacking the clothes she had worn, while Chen Xinxin and her mother prepared dinner. Zhao Qiang opened his notebook; he hadn't touched a computer in a long time. He planned to contact the bootlegger, and if she was still interested, he would trade the antivirus software source code. He'd been too busy these past few days to think about making that little bit of money.
Hu Qian was busy at the company when Wei suddenly called her online: "Sister Qian, your brother is online and looking for you."
Hu Qian said, "I'm going home right away, you can keep talking for me."
Hu Qian is currently staying at Shunfeng Repair Factory. It won't be long since she returned from Hongwang Technology. She opened her laptop and took control of QQ. Wei sent over the chat history from earlier. Hu Qian glanced at it and then scolded in the chat box: "You deadbeat, it's been so long since you contacted me. You broke your promise." This could be considered a form of coquetry, because Wei guessed that there was a 90% chance that the other party was Zhao Qiang. Although he didn't know who Hu Qian was, Hu Qian still regarded him as her husband, so her words would unintentionally reveal some coquettishness.
Zhao Qiang already knew that the pirate was a woman, so he wasn't angry at her insults. "Hehe, don't be angry. I've been too busy on business trips lately and haven't been home or online, so it's been delayed until now."
Hu Qian said, "Do you know how much trouble you've caused us?" Because they couldn't get the source code, they couldn't be 100% sure that the other party was the amnesiac Zhao Qiang, so Hu Qian and Yang Shiqi couldn't go to him, which really caused too much trouble.
Zhao Qiang said, "Then let's make the deal right away." As he spoke, Zhao Qiang dragged the packaged source code directly into the chat box. As for the money, Zhao Qiang wasn't worried. If the other party was really short of money, Zhao Qiang would just give it to her. Not for any other reason, but because Zhao Qiang was very satisfied with the photos of several girls in the pirate merchant's space.
Zhao Qiang's network was modified by him, while Hu Qian's network was dedicated and very fast. So, the small file package was transmitted instantly, and then Wei decompressed and checked it, and the conclusion came out in the blink of an eye.
"Sister Qian, he must be my brother. I have to go find him!" Wei was the first to lose control of her emotions. You know, she really did crack the source code of the antivirus software, and not a single word was wrong. You know, I added a lot of garbled characters and error codes to the source code. If it weren't for the super biochip in my brother's brain, I believe that no one in this world would be able to crack it, at least not for the next two years.
Hu Qian was also very excited and immediately called Yang Shiqi: "Yang, I received the source code. Wei said it was Zhao Qiang."
The person on the other end of the phone was breathing rapidly: "Really? I'm coming right now, we'll go find him immediately."
After Yang Shiqi hung up the phone, Hu Qian called Xu Xiaoya. In Hu Qian's heart, Yang Shiqi held a slightly higher position than Xu Xiaoya. Xu Xiaoya wasn't as composed as Yang Shiqi; after hearing Wei's assessment, she burst into tears: "That damn Zhao Qiang, I'm going right now, boohoo..."
After Zhao Qiang finished sending the source code, he went offline. The other party had the account, and if she was sincere, she would naturally transfer the money, so he didn't need to worry about it.
Zhao Ling walked into the room and said, "Zhao Qiang, what time are we leaving tomorrow morning? We all bought our driver's licenses, so I'm worried our skills might not be up to par."
Zhao Qiang said, "I'll drive one car, and Aunt Chen will drive the other. I've looked at the map; there's a direct highway to Baiyuan City, so we don't need to worry about getting lost."
Baiyuan City is located at the border of the north and south, and is closer to the sphere of influence of the north. The city is not as large as Beijing or Shanghai, but it is still a medium-sized city. However, its economy has always been lagging behind.
That night, Chen Xinxin was left at home by her mother, which was originally intended to create an opportunity for Zhao Qiang and Zhao Ling to be alone together. Theoretically, they should have finished their business. However, considering that they had to leave early the next morning and drive for almost a whole day, which would be quite tiring, Zhao Ling did not come to find Zhao Qiang. The two slept alone for the night, which was a miracle, as going home was the priority.
Before dawn, Zhao Ling got up to get ready, and Zhao Qiang also woke up. They went downstairs to check the car's condition. Soon after, Chen Shuxian prepared breakfast. After a quick breakfast, the two BMW X5s drove out of Yihai City. The sky was overcast, and the temperature dropped as they drove further north. By evening, snowflakes were falling. At this point, they were less than ten kilometers from Baiyuan City, and the buildings along the roadside were becoming increasingly dense. Zhao Ling sat in Zhao Qiang's car, pointing out the direction they were heading and introducing Baiyuan City to him. She felt nervous, having been away from home for so long, and had a feeling of trepidation at the prospect of returning home.
“Besides my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, I also have a younger brother who is studying at a vocational school this year and will graduate after the summer of the new year. My parents have a bit of a preference for boys over girls. When I was studying, they refused to pay my tuition fees and only wanted to raise my brother to be successful. So, in a fit of anger, I left Baiyuan to work elsewhere and eventually ended up in Yihai City.”
Zhao Qiang said, "From your phone call, I could tell your parents are very concerned about you."
Zhao Ling said, "Now they probably understand that daughters are more considerate. My brother's grades are not good while studying away from home, and he has also caused a serious financial burden on the family. He also causes trouble from time to time, which worries my parents a lot. So they have no choice but to place their hopes for their old age on me again."
Zhao Qiang laughed: "It's not as serious as you make it out to be. What parent doesn't love their child, whether it's a boy or a girl?"
Zhao Ling sighed, "Maybe I just didn't realize it. Turn right ahead and then keep going straight and you'll enter the machinery factory area. My parents worked at the Baiyuan City Machinery Factory their whole lives and they're still just ordinary workers."
Soon the car entered the district, and Zhao Ling pointed to an old gray building. At this moment, the snow started falling heavily, and the car was covered with a layer of snowflakes after stopping for a while. Zhao Qiang got out of the car and carried two large bags. The things inside needed to be taken upstairs now, and the rest could be left in the car. It was impossible for so many people to stay at Zhao Ling's house overnight, and they would need to find a hotel later.
Several middle-aged women returning from grocery shopping pointed at the two BMW X5s parked under the gray old building. "Whose family has guests? I heard these are nice cars. Apart from the factory leaders, there aren't many cars of this caliber in our district." Baiyuan City's economy is underdeveloped, so there aren't many nice cars. A car worth around a million yuan is considered quite good, especially in the machinery factory area, where even wages are hard to come by, let alone buying a car.
Zhao Ling got out of the car wearing a mink coat. This coat cost more than 30,000 yuan, making it the most expensive piece of clothing in Zhao Ling's life. Of course, it was also very comfortable and warm to wear, and it showed off her good figure.
"Look, isn't that Zhao Shan's daughter?" an older woman muttered under her breath, ignoring the increasingly heavy snowfall.
"Yes, it really is Zhao Shan's daughter. Driving such a nice car back, she must have made a fortune."
"What wealth? Everyone's talking about it. They say she sleeps with a lot of men in Yihai, she's a slut."
The women weren't speaking loudly, but Zhao Qiang could hear them clearly. He frowned, as if Zhao Ling's reputation in the district wasn't very good. However, Zhao Qiang knew Zhao Ling was innocent, and this must be a rumor spreading about her in Yihai. Logically speaking, given the distance between the two places, no one in Baiyuan City should know about it.
"Stop talking, it's not good if people hear you. Hurry up and go home to cook," a middle-aged woman with some basic decency advised everyone.
"Since you've already done it, why are you afraid of what people will say? I've always thought she was very promiscuous. No wonder she didn't stay in Baiyuan to work; she ran off to another place so it would be easier for her to do that kind of sex work. Even if she gets rich, we'd still look down on her." The group of gossipy women dispersed, but their last few words were spoken loudly enough for Zhao Ling to hear clearly. Her face instantly turned pale.
Zhao Qiang patted Zhao Ling: "Let's go upstairs. You don't need to care about others. I believe in you."
Zhao Ling gripped Zhao Qiang's hand tightly, tears welling in her eyes. She gave Zhao Qiang a heavy "Mmm," and said, "Let's go upstairs."
The stairwell was cluttered with miscellaneous items, and the narrow passageway forced Zhao Qiang to lift his bag several times to pass through. Chen Xinxin followed behind and said, "Zhao Ling, although your city is larger than Yihai, it seems to be much less upscale."
Zhao Ling laughed, "Yes, otherwise I could go to Yihai, it's on this floor." As she spoke, Zhao Ling knocked on the door, but there was no response after four or five knocks. Zhao Ling was very puzzled, so she called home on her cell phone, but no one answered either.
"What's going on? My parents should definitely be home at this time," Zhao Ling said. She wanted to surprise her parents, so she didn't tell them she was going home in advance.
With a creak, the security door across the street opened. "Oh, it's Ling coming home!" the woman who opened the door greeted warmly, her manner completely different from the group of people they had encountered downstairs earlier.
"Aunt Huang, where are my parents? Why is no one home?" Zhao Ling asked anxiously.
"Your parents went to the hospital. It seems your younger brother injured someone. You should go and check on him."
Volume 2 [465] Cannot Be Kept
【465】Cannot be kept
Zhao Ling felt her head was spinning. She had always dreaded hearing this sentence because it meant that something bad was about to happen in the family. When would this irresponsible younger brother finally stop causing her so much trouble?
Zhao Ling didn't have a house key, so Zhao Qiang pulled her aside and said, "Let's go to the hospital. There's no point in staying here."
After going downstairs, Zhao Qiang said to Chen Shuxian and Chen Xinxin, "Auntie, why don't you take Xinxin to find a place to stay? I'm afraid there won't be any rooms available if it gets late. We'll contact each other by phone later."
Chen Shuxian nodded: "Okay, call us if you need anything."
Zhao Qiang was driving, and Zhao Ling sat uncomfortably in the passenger seat. Zhao Qiang reached out and patted Zhao Ling's thigh, "Alright, don't worry, I've got you covered. It's not a big deal. We can always settle it with money."
Zhao Ling said, "If we really beat them up badly, I'm afraid money won't be enough to settle the matter."
Zhao Qiang said, "There's no use in us worrying here. Let's find out what's going on first. Don't be anxious."
With Zhao Ling's directions, they quickly arrived at Baiyuan Central Hospital, but it took them an hour to find Zhao Shan and Guo Huiqin. When Zhao Qiang saw them, the couple was squatting in a corner of the ward. Guo Huiqin was wiping away tears, and Zhao Shan's wrinkled face was full of worry. The two looked very old.
Pushing open the ward door, Zhao Ling softly called out, "Dad, Mom."
Zhao Shan looked up with a hint of surprise: "Lingling?" Guo Huiqin immediately wiped away her tears, rushed to the ward door, and took Zhao Ling's hand: "Lingling? Why are you back? You didn't call home beforehand."
Zhao Ling said, "Dad, Mom, let's not talk about me now. What trouble has my brother gotten into this time?"
Speaking of Zhao Ling's younger brother, Zhao Shan sighed, "Your brother is truly disappointing."
Guo Huiqin started wiping away tears again. The elderly couple didn't even see the man following Zhao Ling. Before they could explain the situation to their daughter, a middle-aged man in the ward stomped his feet and roared, "Damn Zhao Mingming! If I don't skin him alive, I'll take his surname!" It seemed that this middle-aged man was a relative of the victim, otherwise he wouldn't be so angry.
A middle-aged woman standing nearby said, "What's the use of skinning him? Let his family pay the medical bills first." The two women were guarding a hospital bed where a patient was almost entirely wrapped in gauze, and his leg was in a cast. He looked to be seriously injured.
Zhao Shan gestured with his chin towards the outside. Guo Huiqin, holding her daughter's hand, started to walk out of the ward. At this moment, the middle-aged man stopped them, rushing over. "Where are you going? You have to stay here. Who am I supposed to ask for medical expenses if you leave? Let me tell you, your son hit someone, and as his guardian, you are responsible for paying the medical expenses. As for compensation for emotional distress and lost wages, we'll settle those later."
Zhao Shan practically bowed as he pleaded, "Please, my daughter has finally come home. Can we talk in the hallway for a bit? We're definitely not going anywhere. We have our ID cards with you; where else could we possibly go?"
The middle-aged man repeatedly said, "No, no, can an ID card be used as money? Since your daughter is here, that's even better. Let her go home and raise the money. You two must be held here as collateral. We won't release you until we receive the money."
Zhao Ling retorted angrily, "Do you have the right to detain my parents?"
The middle-aged man, hands on his hips, said, "Hey, you bastard, you've got a sharp tongue. Judging by your designer clothes, you must be rich. Hand over 100,000 yuan first, or none of your family will leave here today!" Just then, the middle-aged woman was on the phone: "Hurry up, everyone! His family is here, they're trying to run away!" Then, hurried footsteps could be heard in the corridor. Five men, young and old, rushed in, kicked open the ward door, and the one in the lead shouted, "Run? Where do you think you're going?"
Two young men in their late twenties entered. Being young, they were naturally impulsive and pounced on Zhao Shan. One kicked and the other punched, intending to intimidate him. Zhao Shan was an honest and hardworking factory worker. He had never even seen anyone fight before, let alone fought. The two young men were so aggressive that he was so frightened that he squatted down on the ground with his hands covering his head like a hen brooding over her nest.
Zhao Qiang made his move, grabbing one youth's fist with one hand and stepping on the other youth's foot with the other. The two originally high-fighting guys were stopped. The youth whose wrist was grabbed was quite dissatisfied and tried to break free, but Zhao Qiang's arm was firmly fixed, like a mountain pressing down on the youth, making it hard for him to breathe, and the bones in his wrists were throbbing with pain.
The young man whose foot was stepped on immediately pulled back, then turned and kicked Zhao Qiang. Zhao Qiang arrived first and kicked the young man in the stomach. The young man flew backward like a fully drawn bow, crashing into an unused hospital bed and falling to the ground with a thud.
Zhao Shan then noticed the man behind his daughter. Guo Huiqin, surprised, naturally asked her daughter, "Lingling, who is he?"
Zhao Ling said shyly, "Mom, he's my boyfriend. He's coming to our house with me for the New Year."
Zhao Shan and Guo Huiqin took a liking to Zhao Qiang at first sight. The young man was not short, and his skin and appearance were very pleasing. More importantly, he seemed to have a high level of martial arts skills, which met their current requirements. Otherwise, he would be bullied. Only with high martial arts skills could they protect their daughter. It should be said that this was a good thing. They just hoped that he would not cause trouble like their son, otherwise their daughter would be unlucky and would have countless worries in the future.
Seeing his companion meet such a tragic end, the young man whose wrist was clamped was filled with rage. He stopped struggling with that hand and reached for his waist with his other hand, pulling out a gleaming military knife. He stabbed at Zhao Qiang in the abdomen, cursing, "Damn it, I'll teach you to be arrogant!" Actually, they were the ones who should have been arrogant.
Zhao Qiang tightened his grip, and with a crack, the young man's wrist bone shattered. This was only the first punishment. Then, Zhao Qiang grabbed the young man's wrist holding the knife, twisted it, and pushed it back. Thud! The military knife pierced the young man's own abdomen. He was stunned, unable to believe it was real, his eyes almost bulging out. He abruptly released the knife, and blood gushed out from the cut.
The fight between Zhao Qiang and the two young men ended in a few seconds. At this moment, two older men rushed over. Both of them had knives, and one of them even had a machete. It seemed that they had come prepared to fight and had even prepared their weapons. Zhao Qiang did not want to fight them head-on. He casually pulled out a screwdriver from his waist, raised it, and a small shield was generated. The machete struck it and made a crisp buzzing sound.
Another older man attacked Zhao Qiang's chest. Zhao Qiang first grabbed his wrist to stop him from stabbing him further, then used his shield to slap him, knocking the man to the ground with a loud thud. The man wielding a machete swung again, and Zhao Qiang blocked it with his shield once more. Then, the shield and machete combined to form a machete, which he swung at the man. The two machetes met in mid-air, and with a whoosh, the man's machete broke. Zhao Qiang didn't stop; he swung the machete down again. The man screamed in terror, dropped his machete, and fled the ward.
There was only one man left. He had a long weapon, an iron pipe about 1.5 meters long. Presumably because of the advantage of the weapon, he was not scared off. Instead, he charged forward and shouted, aiming the iron pipe at Zhao Qiang's head. Zhao Qiang reacted quickly, grabbed the iron pipe, and twisted it with both hands, bending it into a loop. Just then, the man rushed in front of Zhao Qiang. Zhao Qiang put the iron loop around his neck and pulled hard. The man's neck tightened, and he screamed as if someone was choking him.
Zhao Qiang loosened the iron ring slightly, just enough to prevent suffocation, then kicked the man to the ground. Brushing the dust off his hands, Zhao Qiang said to the middle-aged man tending the patient, "Is there anyone else? Let them go."
The middle-aged man was too scared to speak. This man was too powerful. He had prepared so many men, but they were not enough to defeat him. It seemed that he could not force him to stay for the time being, otherwise he would be the next to be beaten. As the saying goes, a wise man does not fight a losing battle. He should let them go for now. If the monk runs away, can the temple still run away?
Zhao Ling felt lightheaded, a surge of intense happiness welling up inside her. The stronger Zhao Qiang became, the better he could protect her—a scenario every girl had fantasized about countless times since childhood, especially in front of her parents. Zhao Ling felt proud and honored.
Guo Huiqin couldn't help but ask her daughter, "How...how can he be so good at fighting?"
Zhao Ling tossed her head triumphantly: "Mom, Zhao Qiang is really capable. Let's go."
No one dared to insist they stay any longer. The family left the ward, and as they went downstairs, Zhao Shan explained to his daughter, "Your brother got into a fight with someone's son over a woman. He was too violent. You saw how that patient looked. We don't know how to resolve this. We haven't even paid back the money we borrowed for your brother's education, and now the other party is demanding 100,000 yuan in medical expenses. Where are we going to find the money to give him?" Even if they had won the fight, they would still have to pay the medical expenses; there's a law to protect them.
Zhao Ling looked at Zhao Qiang with pleading eyes. Zhao Qiang chuckled and said, "Alright, as long as they stop causing trouble, we'll give them medical expenses, lost wages, and compensation for emotional distress. But the condition is that your brother is also okay, otherwise who will compensate us?"
Guo Huiqin exclaimed, "Ah! We can't afford to pay them back, even if we sell everything we own!"