Chapter 341 - 341: Arriving Home
"Which 'Young Master Xu' are you talking about, you Bastard?" Secretary Zhou bellowed, "Who else could call me in the middle of the night and wake me up? Tell me, which other 'Young Master Xu' in Pingnan Province has that kind of status? Are you confused from sleeping, or what?"
Upon hearing this, Huang Feiming's mind suddenly felt as if struck by lightning, and he froze for nearly half a minute.
He now knew which 'Young Master Xu' Secretary Zhou was referring to. In Pingnan Province, besides that 'Young Master Xu,' who had the power to make the Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Political and Legal Committee curse at him, the Municipal Police Chief, in the dead of night as if he had gone mad?
Thinking of Young Master Xu's identity, the phone in Huang Feiming's hand almost dropped. It took him a while to somewhat regain his composure, and with a sob in his voice, he asked, "Young Master Xu... how is he now?"
Huang Feiming was well aware that if something untoward happened to Young Master Xu in Dengyang City, his tenure as Municipal Police Chief would be over. The best he could hope for was to be removed from his position. If the higher-ups really decided to investigate him, he would likely spend the rest of his life in prison.
Deputy Secretary Zhou spoke gravely, "You're one lucky Bastard. Young Master Xu encountered a noble person and fortunately escaped with his life, capturing that Carjack Gang at the same time. You send someone right now to bring those carjackers back, and make sure Young Master Xu is well taken care of.
I warn you, if Young Master Xu decides to pursue this matter, you'd better be prepared to be demoted!"
Learning that Young Master Xu was safe, Huang Feiming finally let out a long sigh of relief and repeatedly said, "Secretary Zhou, Secretary Zhou, don't worry, I'll take care of it. Rest assured, I will make sure Young Master Xu is well taken care of and handle this matter properly!"
After hanging up the phone, Huang Feiming immediately called his most capable assistant, instructing him to send people to pick up Xu Changzhi and the others, as well as bring back the Carjack Gang, all in the shortest time possible.
At the same time, he had several of his subordinates start working overnight to prepare materials and documents to show to Xu Changzhi later, demonstrating he had indeed been working hard to capture the gang.
Having given all his orders, Huang Feiming sat by his bed, devoid of any mood for intimacy, and slowly started to smoke a cigarette.
"Honey, what's wrong?" the little goblin asked as she hugged Huang Feiming's neck from behind, her voice full of pity, "What happened? You... you scared me just now!"
The little goblin had a knack for being persuasive. Huang Feiming sighed and murmured a recap of the recent events.
After hearing Huang Feiming's account, the little goblin's eyes widened as she covered her mouth with her hand and tremulously said, "Young Master Xu? Isn't this Young Master Xu... isn't he actually that..."
"Yes, he is the son of Xu Canjun, the incumbent Vice Governor of Pingnan Province!" Huang Feiming replied dejectedly. Xu Canjun wasn't even fifty years old yet and had already reached such a high position, with an immeasurable future ahead. There were rumors he was the hottest candidate for the next Governor of Pingnan Province.
Whether he got the position or not, such a figure was far beyond Huang Feiming's reach!
Xu Canjun had only one son and one daughter. Considering what Deputy Secretary Zhou said earlier, it seemed both had come and ran into the Carjack Gang. If anything happened to them here, Huang Feiming would be hopelessly accountable, even if he had Heaven-reaching abilities!
The little goblin, shocked and covering her mouth, knew Huang Feiming had considerable clout in Dengyang City. But compared with a figure like Xu Canjun, he was as insignificant as an ant.
"Why did this young master come to our Dengyang City without any reason?" the little goblin frowned and asked, "Don't these big shots have bodyguards when they go out?"
"Deputy Governor Xu always keeps a low profile; even his son doesn't have any special privileges, let alone bodyguards," responded Huang Feiming, pausing before adding gravely, "I've heard that Deputy Governor Xu has a sister living in Dengyang City. Probably Young Master Xu was here to visit relatives. Damn it, why did I let them encounter the Carjack Gang, of all things?"
Huang Feiming sighed repeatedly, anxiously awaiting news from his subordinates. The usually non-religious man was praying fervently, hoping beyond hope that Young Master Xu and his company were unharmed.
Meanwhile, Ye Qing and his group had dealt with the Carjack Gang and reached Jiuchuan County after one a.m.
Ye Qing didn't go home but rushed to the hospital, eager to see his father, Ye Changwen.
In the early morning, most of the hospital was sleeping. Mad Dog parked the car at the hospital entrance, and Ye Qing dashed into the hospital, while Mad Dog and Da Fei went off to park the car elsewhere.
As he arrived outside his father Ye Changwen's ward, Ye Qing peered through the window and saw three people inside. His father, Ye Changwen, was lying on the hospital bed, bandaged in several places with a breathing tube in his nose. His stepmother, Zhou Hongxia, was resting on the adjacent bed, while his sister, Yuan Xiaoyu, sat beside the bed, resting her head on her hand.
Seeing how they took care of their father, Ye Changwen, Ye Qing forgot all her previous discontent toward them, filled only with gratitude. Yuan Xiaoyu wasn't Ye Changwen's biological daughter, but the fact that she stayed by the bedside like this was already enough.
Ye Qing quietly pushed the door open; neither Yuan Xiaoyu nor Zhou Hongxia heard her, as they were both sound asleep.
Ye Qing looked at her father lying on the hospital bed, his face gaunt, and her heart couldn't help but clench. Ye Changwen's body was covered with wounds, and his head was wrapped with a bandage—he must have been struck on the head.
Ye Changwen was in his fifties or sixties this year, and years of hard work had aged him prematurely. More than half his hair was white, making him look like a man in his seventies. She couldn't understand how anyone could be so cruel to strike such a heavy blow to an elderly man—what kind of venom filled the hearts of her uncles?
Ye Qing stood there for over half an hour until Mad Dog and Da Fei finally parked the car and came over. After all, Jiuchuan County wasn't Shenchuan City; it had no decent parking spots, so finding a place to park the car was good enough.
The noise made by Mad Dog and Da Fei's arrival woke Yuan Xiaoyu, who had been resting by the bed. She opened her eyes, drowsily scanning the three people in front of her. Her gaze fixed on Ye Qing for a while. She rubbed her eyes vigorously and, only after making certain that the person in front of her was indeed Ye Qing, did her mouth open wide with a look of excitement mixed with grievance.
Ye Qing gestured for silence with her finger to her lips, then waved her hand and led Yuan Xiaoyu out of the room. They walked to the end of the corridor and stopped at the stairwell before Yuan Xiaoyu quietly called out, "Brother."
With just that one word, her tears flowed silently. It seemed that she must have suffered quite a bit during this time.
"Don't cry, it's all right now," Ye Qing said with a gentle smile. With her father, Ye Changwen, down, she was now the sole pillar of the family; she had to remain optimistic in front of her loved ones.
"Okay, I won't cry," Yuan Xiaoyu lifted her head, trying hard to hold back her tears, but they still streamed down her cheeks.
"How is Dad now?" Ye Qing asked.
"The doctor said he needs to be observed for some time..." Yuan Xiaoyu whispered, "But from what the doctor suggested, even if Dad recovers, his left leg won't be the same. He'll have to rely on a crutch for the rest of his life."
"What?" Ye Qing frowned and spoke in a heavy tone, "How could they... be so ruthless?"
"I don't know..." Yuan Xiaoyu said with her head down, indignantly, "Not only did they beat Dad, but they also caused trouble at my workplace. So as not to affect the business, Manager Lin told me to take a few days off. However, I know that if we don't clear this up, they'll make sure I can't keep my job in the future."
"Just for half a house, they didn't need to make such a big fuss, did they?" Ye Qing frowned and said, "That house was swapped for a one-hundred-and-fifty-square-meter apartment. Even if that apartment were sold, it wouldn't fetch more than seven hundred thousand yuan. Giving them half, that's just three hundred and fifty thousand. If several families share it, how much can one person get?
To make such a big deal over this amount of money, is it worth it?"
"Brother, not only did they make trouble for our family, but they also went to our house and stopped Boss Yang's demolition team from starting work. Moreover, they spread the word about our family being compensated with a whole apartment, and now all who had signed contracts agreeing to demolition are backing out, demanding more compensation from Boss Yang," Yuan Xiaoyu explained.
"Because of this, Boss Yang's construction schedule has been delayed by half a month. New District construction is about to be inspected by the city leaders soon. But since Boss Yang hasn't started work, the county is very dissatisfied. They may even find someone else to develop this project!"
"Is that so?" Ye Qing's brow furrowed as she suddenly felt something fishy about this whole affair.
With five uncles and two aunts, that amounted to seven families. The apartment Yang Old Fifth gave Ye Qing was valued at most seven hundred thousand yuan. Even if they conceded half as demanded, that would only be three hundred and fifty thousand yuan. Divided among seven families, each family would get only fifty thousand. For such a small sum, they wouldn't go to such lengths, would they?
Moreover, their actions had escalated the situation to the point where Old Fifth Yang's construction couldn't proceed normally. This was a county project, with the city also keeping an eye on it. If the construction couldn't go forward, it was highly likely that the county, in anticipation of the city's inspection, would replace Old Fifth Yang and find someone else to take over the project.
This made Ye Qing increasingly feel that this incident wasn't so much against him as it was against Old Fifth Yang. After all, the construction of the New District was a huge project with potential profits of several hundred million. For such massive profits, how many people would be willing to risk their lives?
"By the way, Brother, the forty thousand yuan you got from your military service, we've used it all for Dad's hospital expenses," Yuan Xiaoyu said. "Boss Yang also brought a hundred thousand yuan, but we didn't dare touch it in case we can't pay it back later. Your forty thousand is all gone. The hospital has said if we don't pay by tomorrow, they'll ask Dad to vacate the room.
Brother, I was waiting for you to come back to discuss what to do. Should we use Boss Yang's money?"