The violent crash of the door startled every resident in the entire building block, the shockwave even reaching the two adjacent units, prompting a flurry of people to rush out and check the situation.
The hallway was instantly crammed with peering faces; by the time Zhao Aiguo and his subordinates arrived, the corridor was already hopelessly crowded.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Ji Guang demanded, his face flushed with indignation, speaking to Fu Xinran. “Didn’t I make myself perfectly clear? I’m starting a business, a genuine venture! Why can’t you understand?”
“Xiao Bai, you need to wake up!” Fu Xinran pleaded earnestly, trying to reason with him. “Multi-level marketing is a pit of fire! You need to come back with me; these people are all conning you!”
One of Ji Guang’s companions immediately took offense. “Hey? Miss, how can you talk like that? What makes us scammers? What have we cheated him out of?”
Ji Guang quickly intervened, placating the man. “Brother Liu, she doesn’t understand our development philosophy. Don’t take any notice of her.”
“Pah!” Wang Zhuo spat a mouthful of phlegm directly at the man’s feet, sneering coldly. “You know exactly what you’re doing. Stop playing dumb while you’re fully aware, or you might catch a beating.”
The man called Brother Liu was about to retort, eager to vent the anger from having his door smashed, but a sharp glare from Wang Zhuo instantly chilled him. His lips moved several times, but ultimately, no sound escaped.
Ji Guang glanced at Wang Zhuo with some difficulty. Seeing Wang Zhuo’s stern face and uncooperative demeanor, he had no choice but to address Fu Xinran. “Xinran, listen to me. You two should just go back first. I promise I will follow through on what I told you. Your constant insistence on finding me like this is only putting me in a difficult position.”
Siyuan, who had been silent until now, suddenly piped up quickly. “Hey, Ji, how about you figure out the situation before you speak? What do you mean it’s putting you in a difficult position? If Sister Xinran hadn’t specifically gone to Zuo’an to pick you up last time, you’d still be locked up at the Armed Police Detachment!”
Hearing her words, Wang Zhuo couldn't help but turn and look at her, thinking, When did this girl, who always lacks EQ, suddenly start seeing the sun rise in the west today?
In truth, Siyuan had always suffered from a lack of emotional maturity training, which is why she often appeared obtuse, but after a year of recent conditioning, she was certainly no longer the ignorant girl she once was.
“I was framed that time,” Ji Guang explained resentfully. “Every wrong has its perpetrator; we will settle that score with them sooner or later!”
Wang Zhuo shook his head wordlessly, thinking this kid was not only dense but also paranoid—a perfect example of someone who’d help count the money after being sold out. How did I not realize he was this brain-dead when we first interacted?
Just then, Zhao Aiguo and his entourage finally arrived. After listening for a few sentences at the doorway, they understood: outsiders had come looking for a relative involved in a pyramid scheme, but the relative was stubbornly refusing to leave. It was a tense standoff.
Such incidents happened almost daily in Tianlu County. Zhao Aiguo had even witnessed relatives of pyramid schemers kneeling on the ground, kowtowing to the organizers and begging them to release their family members. He was more than adept at handling this kind of situation.
“Make way, make way, please!”
Zhao Aiguo pushed through the onlookers gathered at the door, leading his four followers into the apartment. The living room instantly gained five new occupants, becoming rather cramped.
“What’s going on here?” Zhao Aiguo scanned the scene. With the security door knocked down, the living room was in shambles. He pointed at the fallen door, asking knowingly, “What happened to this door?”
“He knocked it down!” the short man who had stumbled from the door’s impact immediately pointed at Wang Zhuo to report.
Before Zhao Aiguo could question them, Wang Zhuo spoke up with a forced, insincere smile. “They are running an illegal multi-level marketing scheme and are holding one of my friends captive. We are here to rescue him.”
Ji Guang immediately raised his voice in protest. “I am not being held captive, and we are not running a pyramid scheme!”
Zhao Aiguo understood the cause and effect in these situations perfectly; it was extremely easy to manage. He just needed to take all relevant parties back to the police station, then release the pyramid scheme personnel on the grounds of insufficient evidence, notify the family members, and consider the matter closed.
As expected, the next thing heard was the beautiful woman who came looking for him telling the bespectacled man running the scheme, “They gave it to you; that counts as a form of confinement too. No matter what you say today, you have to come with us!”
Ji Guang’s companion immediately became defiant and started debating with Fu Xinran, and Siyuan chimed in to support her. The debate quickly escalated into an argument.
Wang Zhuo listened, finding the tone increasingly off. He could sense from Ji Guang’s voice that he held significant resentment toward Fu Xinran; it seemed he felt Fu Xinran was not only hindering him but also causing him to lose face. He clearly viewed this silly woman as unreasonable and was deeply disappointed in her.
Could it really be that, as recorded in the Compendium of Materia Medica, there is no cure for the utterly brainless? He shook his head, a mixture of amusement and exasperation on his face, cleared his throat, and asked Ji Guang, “You say you aren’t running a pyramid scheme. Then what exactly are you doing here?”
“We are operating a titanium-copper alloy project. What about it?” Ji Guang retorted coolly.
“Titanium-copper alloy?” Wang Zhuo scoffed and bluffed loudly. “That’s a vital national strategic material, directly managed by the Central Military Industry Department. Don't tell me that material is available for private enterprise now.”
He spoke off the cuff, yet his delivery was smooth and convincing, instantly intimidating most of the people present. Only Lu Weimin and Siyuan, familiar with his usual methods, knew he was improvising. The others, including Fu Xinran and Zhao Aiguo, were either skeptical or outright convinced.
The pyramid scheme members were stunned. They had no idea what titanium-copper alloy even was; it was entirely fabricated to fool people. The few around Ji Guang were merely mid-level cadres in the organization and had no clue about the alloy or its existence. All they knew was that this "thing" was supposedly “very expensive and valuable.” Wang Zhuo claiming it was a strategic national resource perfectly matched its perceived worth, leaving them with no choice but to believe him!
Seeing them left speechless and unable to respond, Wang Zhuo snorted arrogantly and addressed Zhao Aiguo. “Officer, I am reporting them now for illegal business operations, tax evasion, and smuggling national strategic materials. That last point is a serious felony. Don't you think we should take them back to the precinct for investigation?”
Zhao Aiguo, however, was not easily fooled. Hearing this, he suddenly caught Wang Zhuo’s weak point. In situations where relatives are involved in crime, the first instinct of most people is to help conceal the truth. This young man, however, shamelessly slapped on such major accusations, suggesting that his supposed charges were entirely fictitious and his real goal was simply to get the group taken to the police station.
He instantly understood: the talk about titanium-copper alloy was nine parts nonsense, and this young man had inadvertently bamboozled everyone present!
But he had no intention of exposing the deception. Taking them to the station would actually make it easier for him to handle the situation, and there might even be some illicit profit to be made—this was a gift delivered right to his doorstep; how could he refuse?
“In that case, all of you will have to come down to the station with me.”
He spoke in an official tone while subtly winking at one of the pyramid scheme members. As the local power broker in this area, he had some existing connections with various pyramid schemes. This individual had dealt with him twice before and understood the meaning behind the look instantly.
With this inside help, the few pyramid scheme members who had been fiercely arguing quickly quieted down and agreed to go to the station for questioning. Zhao Aiguo led the way, and the entire group proceeded downstairs in a grand fashion.
As soon as they reached the roadside, Zhao Aiguo suddenly turned back, blocking Wang Zhuo and his group. He said stiffly, “You few wait here a moment. A vehicle from the station will be here shortly to pick you up. Since you forcibly entered a private residence and damaged property, you must leave in an official police transport vehicle.”
Lu Weimin looked at Wang Zhuo; seeing a slight nod, he told Zhao Aiguo, “Alright, we’ll wait a moment then.”
Zhao Aiguo stepped aside to make a phone call, while his four subordinates stood guard nearby. A large crowd of unknowing onlookers gathered at a distance, and faces peered out from the upstairs windows, forever remaining the unknowing audience.
“Hey, I say.” One of the subordinates nudged his partner discreetly and chuckled low. “That chick is pretty hot, did you see the two up front? They look like big steamed buns.”
They were about six or seven meters away from Wang Zhuo’s group, so speaking quietly wouldn't reach their ears.
“Go to hell with your steamed buns, you’re so uncultured,” interjected a young man with slightly upturned nostrils. “That’s called nai—the tips are pointed upward. Haven’t you seen how thin hers are? With that shape, she probably doesn't even need underwire!”
“Why do I hate listening to you two brag so much?” said the one who seemed to be the leader of the four, puffing out his chest. “Whatever kind of nai it is, your brother will appraise it for you later, and then we’ll know for sure, right?”
The four of them chuckled as they discussed, occasionally sneaking glances at their subject of discussion. Wang Zhuo had just finished a call with a provincial party leader. As he ended the call, he happened to catch sight of their ill-intentioned gazes, and an unnameable fire immediately flared in his chest.
At that moment, the precinct’s van arrived. This van was marked with official lettering and even had a police light mounted on the roof; it was genuinely an official vehicle. In contrast, the van Zhao Aiguo and his men had used earlier was clearly civilian-grade, utterly inadequate for official business.
“Get in.” Zhao Aiguo stepped forward, pulled open the door, and waved toward Lu Weimin.
Lu Weimin had already instructed the driver of the commercial vehicle to follow the police car. With Wang Zhuo backing him up, he wasn’t worried about running into trouble in a small place like Tianlu County. He was too lazy to exchange pleasantries with Zhao Aiguo and crisply got into the van first.
Fu Xinran followed as the second person, with Siyuan right behind her. However, Wang Zhuo subtly pulled Siyuan, maneuvering her to walk alongside him, right next to Fu Xinran. Just as Fu Xinran was steadying herself with her left hand on the car door and raising her right foot to step onto the running board, a young man beside the car suddenly lunged forward a step, reaching toward the seat cushion inside the van.
Superficially, he was reaching for the seat cushion, but his real target was Fu Xinran’s 36D. Wang Zhuo had anticipated this act. He strode forward to the opposite side of Fu Xinran and, as she leaned back slightly to give the young man space, the youth pretended to bump into her while grabbing the cushion. At that exact moment when his hand grazed her chest, Wang Zhuo’s right hand shot out like lightning, clamping down hard on the young man’s palm!
Fu Xinran only felt a quick, fleeting touch across her chest, and then she saw Wang Zhuo seize the youth’s hand, twist it, shake it, and shove it—sending the young man tumbling onto the ground with a pig-like shriek of agony, holding his dislocated hand aloft!