Chapter 416 - 416 Childhood Friends Reunite
Ye Qing first took Uncle Feng Jianshe out of the village and drove straight to the gold mine ahead to return the gold they had taken. Regardless of what Zhao Bin and the others did, stealing someone's property was always wrong first and foremost.
Feng Jianshe had worked out of town before and had seen the world. When he saw Ye Qing's car, he was greatly surprised. He had been very worried and had been dead set against going to the gold mine. But after sitting in the car, he suddenly stopped struggling. Looking around inside the car for a while, he couldn't contain his curiosity and asked, "Qingzi, this… this is your car?"
"Borrowed from a friend," Ye Qing replied.
"Oh," Feng Jianshe said, slightly disappointed, but still hopeful as he said, "Your friend… your friend must be very rich and capable, right!"
"Quite so," Ye Qing glanced at Feng Jianshe and said, "Uncle, what are you trying to say?"
"I…" Feng Jianshe hesitated for a moment, lowered his head, rubbed his clothes with his only arm, and said softly, "Qingzi, you've worked outside and know lots of people. Can you… can you find a good family to take your sister in for adoption? I've stolen so much gold this time, I'm definitely going to jail. Your aunt is so old, she can't take care of Yingying. If I go to jail, and Yingying is all alone in the village..."
At this point, Feng Jianshe choked up and couldn't finish his sentence.
"Uncle, don't think too much!" Ye Qing said, "Don't worry, you won't go to jail. You'll return the gold, and since the mine doesn't suffer any loss, I'll find a way to negotiate with them and have them drop the charges against you, you definitely won't go to jail!"
"Qingzi, it's not about going to jail or not," Feng Jianshe shook his empty right sleeve and said, "Even if I don't go to jail, with my condition, Yingying following me would also be suffering. I've never accomplished anything in my life, Yingying has grown so big, and she's never worn a decent piece of clothing. Every time I see her wearing clothes patched over patches, my heart aches. If I find her a good family to adopt her, she can have better days ahead. Qingzi, I'm begging you as your Uncle, help Yingying. She's still young, and I don't want her to live in this inferiority forever!"
Feng Jianshe, covering his face with one hand, couldn't hold back his sobs any longer. This simple and honest man, who didn't shed a single tear when his wife betrayed him and ran away with another man, was now weeping helplessly for his beloved daughter.
Ye Qing, watching from the side, felt his own heart ache and couldn't help but blame himself for not caring about his aunt's household for so long.
Ye Qing said, "Uncle, you don't need to worry about these things. Once this matter is settled, I'll take you to the city and find you a good job. This way, you can stay by Yingying's side and take care of her. As for her schooling, I'll figure something out, don't worry!"
"Ah?" Feng Jianshe looked at Ye Qing in amazement, shaking his empty sleeve and said, "Qingzi, I know you mean well. But look at me now, even if I went out, what could I do? Qingzi, I appreciate your kindness. As long as you can help Yingying find a good family, your Uncle would die happy!"
"Uncle, don't talk like that, everything will be fine!" Ye Qing comforted him as the car reached the outskirts of the gold mine.
The gold mine was a town enterprise, and the workers were all locals from nearby. It was common to see vehicles come and go here, but luxurious cars like the one Ye Qing drove were rare.
Ye Qing stepped out of the car and from a distance, he saw a police car parked inside the mine, with a man in a suit talking to several officers.
As Feng Jianshe got out of the car and saw the police car ahead, his body went soft. Ye Qing propped him up and said, "Uncle, you have to go personally, that's considered good attitude. Only with a good attitude can we negotiate with them to keep you out of jail."
Feng Jianshe glanced at the officers and then at Ye Qing, finally gritting his teeth and mustering up the courage to walk towards them.
Just a few steps in, a chubby boy suddenly ran over, and upon seeing Feng Jianshe, he immediately rushed up and blocked his path, exclaiming, "Oh my God, Uncle Feng, why have you come back? Don't you know the police are looking for you?"
Ye Qing looked at the chubby boy, finding him somewhat familiar, and asked curiously, "Are… are you Qin Jing?"
"Huh?" The chubby boy looked Ye Qing up and down, then suddenly said with surprise, "Are you Qingzi?"
"It's really you!" Ye Qing was overjoyed. Qin Jing was a childhood friend from his aunt's side and the two had been close since they were young. After Ye Qing went away to study, they had lost touch. Now Qin Jing had turned into a chubby young man, though considering his build back in the day, such a development was inevitable.
As the chubby boy was also overjoyed, there weren't many families in the village, and even fewer people his age. At that time, only Ye Qing and he were close in age, and they were very good friends. Seeing an old friend again now naturally brought boundless joy. After chatting casually with Ye Qing for a while, he suddenly remembered Feng Jianshe's situation and hurriedly said, "Hey, now's not the time to chat. Qingzi, you'd better take Uncle Feng away quickly. The mine has alerted the police, and if they find Uncle Feng, he'll definitely be jailed!"
Ye Qing shook the bag in his hand and laughed, "It's okay, we're here to return the gold to them."
"What?" Qin Jing was taken aback, looking at Ye Qing in astonishment and said, "Qingzi, are you joking? The mine's manager now is Hou Renkang, a real scoundrel. He won't let Uncle Feng off even if you return more gold than you took. He's said he wants to make an example out of this, and in my opinion, you'd better hurry and get Uncle Feng out of here!"
"It's okay," Ye Qing said with a faint smile, "Taking someone else's stuff is ultimately wrong. If it's not ours, we won't take it. We treat others with respect, but if he insists on being aggressive, then I won't be polite with him any longer!"
"Not be polite with him?" Qin Jing was even more surprised and said, "Qingzi, don't say I didn't warn you, Hou Renkang has a good relationship with our village chief, and no one in this area dares to provoke him!"
Ye Qing smiled faintly and said, "What does it matter if he has a good relationship with the village chief? I have a good relationship with the county head!"
"What?" Qin Jing's eyes widened, and after a moment Fang Cai pointed at Ye Qing and laughed, "Damn, you've changed, you've learned how to brag."
Ye Qing just smiled lightly, not saying a word, and took Feng Jianshe into the mining area.
On the other side, Hou Renkang was talking to several police officers about the loss of gold when he suddenly saw Ye Qing bringing Feng Jianshe in and was stunned. He doubted if he was seeing things, rubbed his eyes, and looked again carefully. Who could it be if not Feng Jianshe?
"Damn, you still dare to come back?" Hou Renkang's eyes bulged as he pointed at Feng Jianshe and shouted, "It's him, it's him, he's the thief. Quick, don't let him get away, damn, arrest him!"
There were quite a few workers around who heard this, yet not many came forward. However, several members of the factory's security department were nearby, and upon hearing his shout they immediately ran over. The one leading was Hou Renkang's brother-in-law Zhang Daniu, who immediately surrounded Ye Qing and his group. He reached out to grab Feng Jianshe by the neck and said, "Damn, daring to steal right under my nose, you're really asking for it!"
Zhang Daniu was a notorious bully on the mine and had often picked on Feng Jianshe. Seeing his hand stretched out, Feng Jianshe instinctively stepped back and hung his head without saying a word.
"Dare to dodge?" Zhang Daniu was instantly enraged and raised his hand to slap Feng Jianshe.
His slap didn't reach Feng Jianshe but was instead caught by Ye Qing, who swiftly tossed it aside.
"Let's talk this out!" Ye Qing said calmly.
It was only then that Zhang Daniu noticed the person beside Feng Jianshe and was taken aback, then angrily said, "Damn, who the hell are you? Trying to protect him? You're in cahoots with him, aren't you!"
Ye Qing frowned slightly, not bothering to deal with Zhang Daniu, and helped Feng Jianshe walk ahead.
Seeing Ye Qing act like this made Zhang Daniu even angrier. He grabbed Ye Qing's clothes and said, "Damn, I haven't gotten an answer from you, where do you think you're running off to!"
"Let go!" Ye Qing replied sternly.
"Oh, you've got some nerve, eh? Telling me to let go, do you have the ability to make... ah ah ah, ah, let go let go let go..."
Zhang Daniu's words were cut off as Ye Qing twisted his wrist, causing him to cry out in pain. The others nearby, seeing this, immediately circled around to grab Ye Qing.
Ye Qing kicked one of them, sending him flying over two meters, and the others immediately halted, not daring to move a fraction closer.
Meanwhile, Hou Renkang and the rest raised their eyebrows upon seeing the situation. Hou Renkang gave a look to the police officer, who understood and walked over with a few subordinates, angrily saying, "What's going on here? What's happening? A group fight, isn't it? Didn't you see us here, not even regarding the police?"
Only then did Ye Qing release Zhang Daniu's hand and handed over the bag of gold, saying, "We've come to turn ourselves in, we mean no harm."
"Turn yourselves in?" The police officer took the bag and glanced at it, immediately delighted, and passed the bag to Hou Renkang behind him.
Seeing the bag of gold retrieved, Hou Renkang couldn't help but be overjoyed, hurriedly securing the bag. Then he gave Ye Qing a cold glance and said, "Turning yourselves in? Damn, you dare to hit our factory's people while turning yourselves in, is that how you turn yourself in? I think, this doesn't count as turning in at all. It's entirely because you saw there were too many police officers and got scared, they never intended to turn themselves in!"
Ye Qing frowned slightly, glanced at Hou Renkang, and said, "We've delivered the stuff, and we're here, why doesn't it count as turning ourselves in?"
"Whether it counts as turning yourselves in is not for you to decide!" The police officer said impatiently, waving his hand, "You claim to be turning yourselves in, yet you come here to fight, where does it look like you're intending to turn in? Enough, no point in talking, let's go back to the station and talk there."