novelSavage dragon crossing the seas
| ← Ch.486 | Ch.488 → |
As Zhao Yanan and her soon-to-be husband were not greedy like Xiang Ning's eldest uncle's family, the proceedings of getting a flat went very smoothly for them.
It was a win-win situation that left everyone happy and satisfied.
Xu Tingsheng, though, was still a bit worried. It was he who had asked Lu Zhixin to investigate the gutter oil affair, but everything seemed to have fallen squarely on her shoulders right now.
He called Du Jiang and was assured that everything appeared fine for the moment. Still, he reminded Du Jiang to raise his caution a bit. After all, even somebody like Huang Gui had been unable to rein it in. Like he said, their wallets busted, their livelihoods impeded, it was likely that there were many people out for revenge.
Some of them might be vicious enough that they licked blood off the edge of blades. They might also lack awareness of or heed for the law. These people were all threats.
Also, while many people might think nothing of gutter oil, it was truthfully so profitable it was scary. Therefore, some relatively big companies had actually also been involved. These individuals, with their money, their power and influence, their methods... were scariest.
This scale of this incident was so, so much greater than in his previous life.
He hesitated for a bit. In the end, however, he did not call Lu Zhixin.
......
On 10th February 2006, Lu Zhixin was on the way home from work when her car was forced to pull over on an empty section of the road by two minivans, one in front and one behind. Knives, metal rods... eight people got off from the two vehicles, all of them armed.
In the car, an unhurried Du Jiang opened his black luggage bag and donned some protective gear.
"Boss Lu, you just stay in the car and call the police. No need to worry. If you need evidence, you can take some photos. I probably won't be able to leave all of them here, " Du Jiang said calmly before getting off the car.
Encountering something like this for the first time, Lu Zhixin did not know whether to feel scared or fortunate that Xu Tingsheng had had the foresight to send Du Jiang over. Only when she saw Du Jiang smash a knife-wielding opponent to the ground on first contact did she break out of her reverie. She called the police and began taking photos with her phone.
Ten plus minutes, one versus eight.
Six people escaped on their vehicles with injuries. Two more remained immobile on the ground.
Du Jiang had suffered one fractured arm, three knife wounds and countless other minor injuries.
Lu Zhixin opened the door and got out of the car.
"Boss Lu, can you call the police again? An ambulance too, if you please, " Bloodstained all over, Du Jiang smiled.
......
While Du Jiang's injuries were not very severe, he was still hospitalised. In the meantime, Wang Xiao came to Yanzhou.
The incident was classified by Yanzhou's police as the February 10th incident. An investigation squad was established.
On 12th February, five remaining assailants were arrested before they could flee Yanzhou.
Xu Tingsheng called Fang Yuqing's cousin from the Vice squad. These people were all out-of-towners. This meant that they would have to work together with other police forces in order to get to the bottom of the incident.
"We've already sent over all the evidence and deployed people to investigate. Rest assured, the city is viewing this with the utmost importance, " Fang Yuqing's cousin said.
Yet, a week later, there was still no update on the matter.
Xu Tingsheng called him again.
"Across provinces, a bit of a problem cropped up with coordination, " Fang Yuqing's cousin said rather sheepishly.
"That is to say that the investigation will very likely stop here?" Xu Tingsheng asked.
"... It is very likely, " The other party admitted rather helplessly.
"It actually isn't really difficult to investigate, right?" Xu Tingsheng asked.
"It's not. Some have already spilled, " Fang Yuqing's cousin said in a hushed tone, "Don't say it was me who said it."
"Got it."
The next day, Lu Zhixin's photos depicting the February 10th incident were all uploaded by her and shared by Xu Tingsheng on Weibo. Having frequently been receiving threats to her personal safety over that gutter oil affair, that Lu Zhixin had encountered this now...
Who would dare call this a coincidence? A standalone incident?
The collective rage of the netizens thus erupted...
Lu Zhixin received a few calls regarding deleting the photos from Weibo.
Lu Zhixin refused.
Xu Tingsheng refused.
Lu Zhixin had Hucheng, and Xu Tingsheng had Weibo... the other side's protective umbrella was not mighty to this extent.
This was a classic case of public sentiment forcing the hand of legislation which was to be often seen in the years to come.
Within three short days, the masterminds behind the eight assailants, the boss of a certain city's acclaimed biotech company included, were taken into custody, amounting to a total of seven people. This so-called biotech company had precisely been the supplier of gutter oil to that largest oil company involved.
As the truth came to light, so as to appease the flames of fury of the public, these people's sentences would probably not be light.
This blow seemed to demonstrate the capabilities Lu Zhixin possessed as everybody else retreated into the shadows all at once.
The following days proved uneventful.
Just as everyone believed the storm had blown over, in a certain city in H province, three of Hucheng's 'Are You Hungry' employees were injured in the span of a single day. The next day, another was beaten up... the following day, all of Hucheng's food delivery employees from said city collectively resigned.
This entailed that Hucheng's operations within that city had been effectively paralysed.
That night, someone PM-ed Lu Zhixin on Weibo: Next, the neighbouring cities.
This was a pure gangster-like method. What can you do even if you know someone is targeting Hucheng? If the police really arrests them, fine. All you can do is charge them for brawling...
Rather than gunning for Lu Zhixin's life and blowing the matter up, this kind of small-scale, shameless method was scariest. While not major, it could hurt Hucheng's foundation.
Hucheng's legal department got in touch with the local police a few times but to no avail. The second time delivery people were deployed to that city from elsewhere, they were beaten up midway. While the police did make some arrests this time, the lackeys were quickly released...
Their explanation was: Just an altercation on the street. No one was badly hurt.
It was not easy to handle this matter, but it had to be done. Others from elsewhere might emulate it otherwise, causing a subtle but sure collapse in Hucheng's foundation. Therefore, not only did they have to do something about this fast, they also had to ruthlessly quash all other would-be instigators in their cradles, quaking in their boots.
The question was-what should they do?
It meant nothing however outraged the public was. Where the law was ineffective, it was not like they could step forward to defend Hucheng's food delivery personnel. On the contrary, it should be less likely for them to use Are You Hungry lest they bring harm upon themselves as a result.
This was just how things worked in reality.
Therefore, since underhanded, shameless means were being employed, perhaps one could only fight fire with fire, using something even more underhanded and shameless to retaliate.
The next day, Lu Zhixin posted on Weibo: I, Lu Zhixin, hereby declare to friends, Hucheng's employees and all concerned about Hucheng. If I do not pursue this incident to the fullest! I don't deserve to stay Hucheng's boss!
The domineering female CEO won countless likes.
Xu Tingsheng shared the post.
Soon, he received a call from Old Jin.
"Look at that young lady acting cool. I'm Hucheng's shareholder too. Ten percent should be considered quite important, right? Something as flashy as this, I should be the one to say it..." Old Jin said over the phone.
"Why don't you just say something on Weibo too then?" Xu Tingsheng asked exasperatedly.
"I don't have any fans on Weibo..."
"..."
"Still, I'll be the one handling this."
"What do you plan on doing?"
"That city is right beside mine! Right on my shipping route for coal."
"And so?"
"And so? You surely haven't seen how we snatch mines over here, right? Something of this extent is really nothing to speak of."
"Snatch mines?"
"You know how running mines is like picking up money nowadays, right. So, do you really believe that just anyone can do it? While you can't see it on the news, you can check the forums. Us bros are pretty legendary, you know..."
"I'm too lazy to check. Just tell me what you intend to do, alright?"
"Tomorrow, at least a hundred heavy coal trucks will be stopping by in that city for a few days. Wanna check it out? That little lady... no, Boss Lu, she'll be there... come on, I still want to go with you to visit Yanzhou afterwards."
A hundred heavy trucks, pulling definitely not coal, but a lineup sufficient to vie for possession of coal mines. Armed clashes between people numbering in the thousands... Xu Tingsheng had actually heard of this before...
Go take a look, would he?
And see what was truly meant by... a savage dragon crossing the seas.
| ← Ch. 486 | Ch. 488 → |