After saying that, Secretary Meng hung up the phone immediately!
Secretary Cao stared blankly at his phone for a long while, then slammed his hand on his desk with a deafening bang. "Old Zeng is a complete idiot! Utterly a complete idiot! Purely a complete idiot!"
After a pause, Secretary Cao shouted, "This has escalated! We need to get to the Municipal Public Security Bureau immediately!"
Municipal Public Security Bureau.
Zeng Shiji finally drove back. He stormed into the office building with a menacing look on his face, and the fat Officer Ma came straight up to him. "Boss, the person has been dragged inside."
"Yes, I'll go in and see for myself. They dare to hit my son, Zeng Shiji? I want to see if they have three heads and six arms!"
The two went directly to the door of the interrogation room.
Officer Ma said with a forced smile, "Boss, the person here is probably unconscious."
Just then, Zeng Shiji's phone rang again; it was Secretary Cao calling.
Zeng Shiji had a very bad feeling!
He answered the phone. On the other end came Secretary Cao's terrifying roar…
"Zeng Shiji! What have you done? I just called to confirm! Your son's company, that demolition project they were working on, has run into trouble again today! You want to carry out forced demolition, is that it? It's complete nonsense! You've betrayed the 'government's' trust in you! You're harming the interests of the people! Bullshit! You brought back a so-called criminal? Do you even know who that criminal is? Master Gao Jianfei! Our good son of ZG City, Master Gao Jianfei! Let me tell you, if Master Gao Jianfei loses even a single hair, then you and your son... Hmph! I'm coming right now!"
After hanging up the phone, Zeng Shiji felt as if he had been doused with a bucket of ice water. His legs trembled, and cold sweat poured down his forehead. He turned to Officer Ma and asked, "Did...did you call?"
"Uh..." Officer Ma was taken aback. "Boss, as you said, we've been hitting him for about 20 minutes now. He's probably half dead."
"Wow!" Upon hearing this, Zeng Shiji burst into tears.
Chapter 170 Let me personally take action! I'll kill him!
Chapter 170 Let me personally take action! I'll kill him!
Zeng Shiji's feelings were very complicated. You could even say he was devastated.
His feet felt like they were walking on cotton, floating and unsteady. He never dreamed that the person who beat his son would be Gao Jianfei!
The great painter Gao Jianfei!
In fact, Gao Jianfei's status as a "great painter" wasn't enough to cause Police Chief Zeng Shiji to completely break down. The important thing was that Gao Jianfei was the pride of the people of ZG City, and the pride of the ZG City "government"! How many years does it take to produce such a talent?
Importantly, Gao Jianfei has become a link between ZG City and the flower market!
The ZG City Government attaches great importance to this art exhibition, which is similar to a "marriage." Tomorrow, from the moment the leaders of the Flower Market and the painters arrive in ZG City, all public buses in the city will be rerouted, and 90% of ZG City's police force will be deployed to maintain public order.
This is an event that cannot be missed, as it concerns the future development of ZG City!
Now, the key figure in this event, Master Gao Jianfei, has actually been... beaten up.
Zeng Shiji felt extremely dizzy. He gritted his teeth to keep from fainting on the spot. He murmured to Officer Ma beside him, "Open...open the door..."
Officer Ma asked suspiciously, "Boss, what's wrong? Your face has changed..."
Zeng Shiji interrupted weakly, "Open...open the door! I told you to open the door! Immediately order someone to call an ambulance."
Officer Ma didn't dare to say more. He took out a bunch of keys and opened the door to the interrogation room.
Gao Jianfei was smoking. He had his legs crossed.
He saw the interrogation room door open, and a pale-faced middle-aged man stood in the doorway, peering inside. Gao Jianfei seemed to understand something. He flicked his cigarette butt away, then skillfully and quickly set the bones in the wrists and jaws of five police officers who had dislocated.
"Crack! Crack! Crack!"
As if by magic, the officers' hands regained their mobility, and they were able to speak again. Their first instinct was to retreat outside the interrogation room!
Terrifying! This man in front of me is absolutely terrifying!
His methods were simply unheard of and unseen by these police officers!
Zeng Shiji, standing outside the door, had his eyes bulge out, and then a surge of joy welled up inside him! His pale face instantly flushed crimson!
He no longer cared what was happening in the interrogation room, nor how badly his son had been beaten. All he cared about was one thing… that his son wasn't hurt!
Master Gao Jianfei is not injured!
"Boss... this... this... I'll call a few more brothers in right away to serve him! This is really weird!" Officer Ma's fat face trembled, and then he prepared to turn around and go out to call for help.
"Stop!" Zeng Shiji shouted angrily. "This is our artist from ZG City, Teacher Gao Jianfei!" After saying that, he rushed over in a few steps and warmly shook Gao Jianfei's hand... "Master Gao Jianfei, you've been wronged!"
Seeing Zeng Shiji's attitude and expression, Gao Jianfei completely understood... Secretary Meng must have spoken!
"Hello, Master Gao Jianfei, I am Zeng Shiji, the director of the ZG City Public Security Bureau. You can call me Lao Zeng. I'm sorry I'm late! I'm sorry you've been wronged!" Zeng Shiji gripped Gao Jianfei's hand tightly, like a good cadre and leader upholding justice. Then, he turned to the five police officers who had suffered at Gao Jianfei's hands, and Officer Ma, and angrily shouted, "What are you doing? Humph! Get out of here right now! I will deal with your actions seriously! I will definitely give Master Gao Jianfei a reasonable explanation!"
As he spoke, he gave Officer Ma a barely perceptible wink.
Officer Ma was a sensible person; without saying a word, he left the interrogation room with five officers.
"Come, Master Gao Jianfei, let's talk outside, let's talk outside," Zeng Shiji said to Gao Jianfei with a beaming smile. He truly felt incredibly lucky! Gao Jianfei was alright! This meant that he would be alright too!
Gao Jianfei, however, felt a mixture of amusement and disbelief... Zeng Shiji, Zeng Jian's father! His own son had been beaten by his father, and he was still here smiling obsequiously—how ironic! Moreover, he probably didn't even know that his father was the victim whose family had been destroyed by his precious son before, right?
Gao Jianfei remained calm and composed; he wouldn't say it outright. He simply said, "By the way, I think I heard before that I beat up the son of some official. I thought I was going to be in trouble, but I didn't expect that the police in our ZG city can still distinguish right from wrong! Not bad, not bad!"
This statement is nothing short of a slap in the face!
Zeng Shiji could only swallow his blood and the pain of having his teeth knocked out. "Yes, Master Gao Jianfei, rest assured, we have thoroughly investigated who was right and who was wrong. This matter has nothing to do with Master Gao Jianfei. The person who was beaten deserved it!"
The two men, each with their own thoughts, left the interrogation room and went to Zeng Shiji's office. Soon after, the entire leadership team of ZG City arrived!
The municipal party secretary, mayor, deputy mayor, director of the cultural bureau, and others stormed into Zeng Shiji's office!
Zeng Shiji stood up straight and said, “Secretary Cao, Mayor He, Vice Mayor Dongfang, I have personally investigated the matter! Master Gao Jianfei is innocent! I have apologized to the master and received his forgiveness.”
"Hmm?" Several leaders looked at Gao Jianfei at the same time, and all praised him in their hearts... So young! Truly a genius!
Then, several leaders warmly shook hands with Gao Jianfei, showering him with sycophantic words, like baskets of flowers being poured over his head!
Phrases like "Master Gao Jianfei is young and promising, bringing honor to his hometown! He is a good son of his hometown!" have been repeated to death by several leaders.
Later, he confidently stated that the entire city of ZG, with its more than 3 million citizens, was eagerly anticipating this art exhibition, and that the city's leadership would certainly make it a grand and high-class event, living up to Master Gao Jianfei's high expectations.
Gao Jianfei is no longer the same Gao Jianfei. Previously, facing so many prominent figures in ZG City, Gao Jianfei would have been completely at a loss, utterly bewildered. But now, he can respond with ease and engage in lively conversation. This composed and calm demeanor has earned him the unspoken admiration of the ZG City leaders.
Zeng Shiji secretly assessed the situation in his mind... "...How did my son offend such a person? This Gao Jianfei looks like someone who has seen the world! No wonder he is the number one painter in China today... My son has been beaten for nothing this time! I can't get revenge!"
Gao Jianfei had a pleasant conversation with the municipal leaders. Upon arrival, he raised two substantive questions.
First, the city of ZG established a traditional Chinese painting training class and appointed Gao Jianfei as its honorary principal.
Secondly, the ZG Municipal Government provided Gao Jianfei with material rewards!
Secretary Cao's words were very agreeable. "Master Gao Jianfei, you are now renowned throughout the country. The value of one of your paintings is probably roughly equivalent to the annual output of a small or medium-sized enterprise in our city. Therefore, offering Master Gao Jianfei money is beneath him. However, I've heard that Master Gao Jianfei's family still resides in ZG City. So… the Municipal Party Committee will reward Master Gao Jianfei with a fully furnished apartment to settle his family. This will also make it much easier for Master Gao Jianfei to visit his family whenever he wants while working elsewhere. What does Master Gao Jianfei think?"
Originally, Gao Jianfei wasn't planning to accept any reward from the ZG Municipal Government, but after hearing Secretary Cao's words, he was tempted... Yes, having a home in ZG to settle his aunt, father, and mother was a very real concern. After all, he couldn't take his whole family to develop elsewhere. His hometown needed a better house!
With that thought in mind, Gao Jianfei smiled and said, "Then I shall accept your offer. However, I have two small requests."
"Please speak, Master Gao Jianfei, please state your request, and our municipal party committee will certainly do its utmost to meet it!" Secretary Cao said, patting his chest.
Gao Jianfei pondered for a moment. "First, I'll accept the house awarded by the municipal party committee leaders. However, it should ideally be in the municipal party committee's family residential area because... I need to consider my family's safety. I think the municipal party committee's family residential area should be safe enough." Gao Jianfei also had some concerns. Although Zeng Shiji seemed obedient, Zeng Jian would definitely not give up easily. Zeng Jian's mother was the head of the underground forces in ZG City. If they couldn't deal with Gao Jianfei, they would definitely make things difficult for Gao Jianfei's family. Therefore, it was necessary to arrange a sufficiently safe living environment for his family!
“Oh, no problem!” Secretary Cao said with a smile. “In the Nanhu International Community residential area that our city recently developed, there are several buildings that are welfare housing for the families of cadres. We can allocate a house of about 120 square meters to Master Gao Jianfei’s family.”
Gao Jianfei nodded in satisfaction. "My second request is that my family situation isn't good. My father is disabled, my aunt is retired, and my mother is in a vegetative state. Therefore, I'd like to ask the city leaders for help... Well, I'll be frank and not hide anything. I hope my father, mother, and aunt can be affiliated with some public institutions and enjoy the benefits and retirement benefits of public institutions. Uh, something like the power bureau, tobacco company, or customs... Is this request too much?"
Gao Jianfei knew that these municipal leaders were trying to curry favor with him, and that he could easily make some requests that were unlikely to be refused under normal circumstances. Besides, these requests weren't unreasonable.
Secretary Cao didn't think much of it and immediately agreed. Gao Jianfei's three elderly relatives were directly registered with the ZG Municipal Power Bureau and enjoyed all the benefits of formal employees of the power bureau.
Having reached this point in the negotiations, Gao Jianfei had essentially obtained what he wanted. He then smiled and said, “There’s one more issue I need to raise with the leaders. Actually, my hometown is a slum in ZG City, and recently, commercial demolitions are underway there. Yesterday, when I got home, I heard that there have been forced and violent demolitions. Many neighbors have reported being intimidated, threatened, and even beaten. I think that since ZG City aims to become a major city, it should first and foremost prevent such phenomena. I hope Secretary Cao and Mayor He will look into this matter.”
After saying that, Gao Jianfei glanced at Zeng Shiji out of the corner of his eye, and the guy's face changed.
Of course, Gao Jianfei didn't discuss this issue in detail, nor did he mention the deaths of the Li family father and son. On one hand, no matter how despicable Zeng Shiji was, he had connections at higher levels; the power structure in ZG City was deeply entrenched, and officials protected each other—it was unrealistic to try and bring Zeng Shiji down based on this incident. On the other hand, Gao Jianfei needed to personally kill the thugs who killed the Li family father and son to complete that Level 4 mission, therefore, he didn't want the municipal committee to investigate further.
Upon hearing Gao Jianfei's words, Secretary Cao and the others' expressions became somewhat unnatural... They were also aware of the situation regarding the demolition. The leaders had heard rumors of Zeng Jian's actions, but since Zeng Jian's protector was Zeng Shiji, and he himself hadn't done anything particularly egregious, the leaders had turned a blind eye. Now, hearing Gao Jianfei deliberately bring this up, they knew that they at least had to forcibly revoke Zeng Jian's company's demolition and development rights for that area.
Secretary Cao assured Gao Jianfei, "Master Gao Jianfei, please rest assured. Our municipal party committee leadership will immediately convene a special meeting on this matter, and an official document will be issued tomorrow. We will definitely not allow the legitimate interests of the people to be threatened or suffer losses!"
Gao Jianfei stood up. "Yes, I trust our ZG City government! Well, I have some guests at home now, so I'll take my leave. Tomorrow, when Secretary Meng comes to ZG City, I'll accompany all the leaders to welcome him!"
After Gao Jianfei left, the municipal party committee leadership held an emergency meeting in the Public Security Bureau office and finally decided that... tomorrow, Zeng Jian's construction team would all withdraw from the demolition area, and the "government" would personally take over the demolition project!
The Fourth People's Hospital of ZG City. A good large-scale state-run hospital in ZG City.
Zeng Jian lay in the intensive care unit. He had dentures in, his body was wrapped in bandages, and his face was contorted with grief, like a defeated rooster. But in his eyes, a flame of extreme resentment and anger flickered!
Zeng Jian's parents were also in the ward.
Zeng Shiji. Sister Hong.
In addition, two burly men, each over 1.9 meters tall, stood indifferently against the wall by the ward door. They were Zeng Jian's mother's bodyguards.
At that moment, Zeng Shiji was peeling an apple for his son. Sister Hong sat on the hospital bed, looking at her son with heartache while smoking.
"Dad! How did things go? Did you torture that idiot to death?" Zeng Jian cried out.
Sister Hong expertly exhaled a smoke ring, then glanced at Zeng Shiji sideways, "How did you handle your son's matter?"
"This...this..." Zeng Shiji stammered, unable to utter a single word.
"Zeng Shiji, I'm telling you, you're a coward at heart. I really made the wrong choice in the first place! Damn it, my son got beaten up, and now I'm asking you how you handled it, and you're acting like a shy virgin. Are you even a man?" Sister Hong sneered. "Tell me! What exactly happened!"
"Wife...son, I...I'm sorry, I'm not capable enough, I really...can't handle it!" Zeng Jian said with a mournful face.
"..." Sister Hong flicked her cigarette butt away, then quickly lit another one. "What kind of police chief are you? You son of a bitch! What can't you handle? Go all out! Then just pay up. What can't you handle?"
"Dad! You can't be serious!" Zeng Jian immediately exclaimed sharply. His eyes quickly revealed disdain and mockery towards Zeng Shiji. It seemed this son didn't quite understand how to respect his father!
"Mom, look at how Dad does things!" Zeng Jian complained to Sister Hong.
"Wife, son, listen to me! Listen to my explanation!" Zeng Shiji complained like a scoundrel, "Gao Jianfei, that person is Gao Jianfei! He's a famous painter in Z country! A genius painter! And he has a very close relationship with the coastal city, Huashi 'government'! Let's put it this way... our ZG city 'government' is licking Gao Jianfei's boots, sucking up to him. Once you get on his good side, it's like climbing the Huashi high branch! Also, Gao Jianfei has become a famous artist and a city icon since ZG was founded! Wife, son, don't even mention me, even Secretary Cao of the Municipal Party Committee has to be obedient to Gao Jianfei. Right now, in terms of officialdom, no one in ZG dares to touch a hair on Gao Jianfei's head! Wife, son, you also have to think about my difficulties... Getting to this position today has really not been easy for me, if I make even a slight mistake, all my previous efforts will be in vain!"
Upon hearing Zeng Shiji's patient explanation, Sister Hong and Zeng Jian were speechless.
They all pondered Zeng Shiji's words. They weren't simply blaming Zeng Shiji; after hearing what he said, they genuinely felt it was a difficult situation.
"...Coward! If I hadn't paid you to get a job from the very beginning, with your meager abilities, you'd never be a police chief!" Sister Hong shouted angrily.
Zeng Shiji forced a smile, "Yes, yes, I owe everything I have today to my wife's support." He paused, then added with a worried expression, "Also, Gao Jianfei has already reported the situation regarding Jian'er's demolition of that area to Secretary Cao and the others. Secretary Cao issued an official document... forcibly revoking Jian'er's demolition and development plans for that area..." He weakly glanced at Sister Hong, "Wife, this has nothing to do with me, it's all Gao Jianfei's doing..."
"..." Sister Hong stood up abruptly and flicked the cigarette butt in her hand at Zeng Shiji's face. Zeng Shiji cried out "Ouch!" and also stood up in a panic.
"That project, I paid a fortune to get it! I've already invested a lot of money upfront, and now, they're just canceling it like that?" Sister Hong gritted her teeth.
“My dear wife, there’s no other way, let’s get out of here quickly! Let’s get out of here before the municipal leaders investigate! Jian’er has already caused public outrage because of the demolition issue, and two people have been beaten to death. If we don’t get out of here soon, I’m afraid…” Zeng Shiji’s forehead was covered in cold sweat.
"Mom! That Gao Jianfei is my enemy! We've been enemies for a long time! The woman I hit with my car and left her in a vegetative state was Gao Jianfei's mother!" Zeng Jian exclaimed excitedly. "He deliberately tried to cut off our livelihood! He did it on purpose!"