Beiguan Village. Hot Pot Restaurant!
Ye Jianhua’s unusual demeanor naturally caught Li Yi and Jiang Longcheng’s attention. Knowing Ye Jianhua as they did, they knew he wouldn’t say such things unless something was wrong.
The two exchanged a glance, and Li Yi immediately asked him, “What’s going on? What’s got you so pensive?”
“Nothing. I just heard what you were saying earlier, and it suddenly struck a chord with me. I couldn’t help but say a few extra words!” Ye Jianhua replied casually.
No sooner had he finished speaking than Jiang Longcheng, standing nearby, shot him a glare, his face betraying a look of disdain.
“Give it a rest. Do you really think we can’t tell if something’s up? Do you take us for blind?”
“Uh…”
Ye Jianhua shook his head with a wry smile. “It’s true that something rather unpleasant has happened, and I’m having a hard time coming to terms with it right now!”
“What’s going on? Spit it out,” Jiang Longcheng said.
Ye Jianhua paused for a moment, then sighed after a long silence. “Zhu Qiwén’s father came to see me this afternoon!”
“What did he want? Was it about Zhu Qiwen?”
“Yeah, he wants me to forgive Zhu Qiwén and drop the matter!”
Jiang Longcheng snapped, “Why? Doesn’t that Zhu guy know exactly what those bastards did? How dare he come to you?”
“Damn it, if I get pissed off, I’ll take care of those old farts too. I’ve been too lenient with them…”
Li Yi and Jiang Longcheng were both aware of the situation involving Zhu Qiwen, Gou Daocheng, and Yang Xueli.
After Du Haicheng had ruined the gathering Ye Jianhua had organized that day, Li Yi had warned Ye Jianhua to keep a close eye on those bastards.
Ye Jianhua naturally took Li Yi’s words seriously. Plus, unlike Jiang Longcheng, he wasn’t so stubborn, so after returning home, he had his second older brother—who worked at the Public Security Bureau—start investigating these guys.
As it turned out, once they started digging, they uncovered something serious.
The investigation revealed that while Ye Jianhua had treated them as friends and brothers over the years, they had been exploiting him all along—even going so far as to use his name to get up to all sorts of mischief.
Extorting bribes and kickbacks was bad enough, but what was most despicable was that these scoundrels had actually been preying on numerous women behind Ye Jianhua’s back.
But the victims, intimidated by the Ye family’s influence, dared not speak out and chose to let the matter drop.
Faced with such behavior, neither Ye Jianhua nor the rest of the Ye family would let the matter rest.
Subsequently, at the Ye family’s behest, the district bureau—having secured irrefutable evidence—immediately arrested the men.
Although the Zhu, Yang, and Gou families weren’t exactly major clans, they weren’t ordinary households either. After the incident, their relatives scrambled in every direction, trying to get those bastards out of jail.
But the Ye family was naturally not going to let them off so easily. No matter how hard these families tried, they ultimately failed to get those scoundrels released.
Left with no other choice, Zhu Qiwén’s father appealed to Ye Jiànhuá, hoping he would show mercy and drop the charges against Zhu Qiwén and the others.
He knew full well that as long as the Ye family relented, everything else would fall into place.
“Third Brother, please calm down!”
After stopping Jiang Longcheng from ranting, Li Yi turned to Ye Jianhua again and asked, “You aren’t having a change of heart and planning to let them off, are you?”
“No, why would I do something like that? It’s just that some information Zhu Qiwén’s father shared with me sent a chill down my spine!” Ye Jianhua said.
“What is it that’s got you so scared?” Jiang Longcheng asked curiously.
Ye Jianhua glanced at Jiang Longcheng, paused for a moment, then suddenly said, “Brother Long, do you know how Du Haicheng found out the exact time and location of my last setup?”
“How would I know!”
At that moment, Li Yi spoke up: “If I’m not mistaken, it must have been Zhu Qiwen and his crew who deliberately leaked the information to Du Haicheng!”
Li Yi had known about this in his previous life. He also knew that in his past life, Ye Jianhua had been implicated by those bastards, ultimately landing him in jail and even dragging the entire Ye family down with him.
Jiang Longcheng glanced at Li Yi and said, “No way. Why would those bastards do that? What’s in it for them?”
“It was them!” Ye Jianhua sighed.
“It really was those bastards? No wonder you were saying all that earlier. That’s a pretty painful blow to take!” Jiang Longcheng said.
However, Ye Jianhua shook his head and said, “That’s not the worst of it. According to Zhu Qiwén’s father, the reason Zhu Qiwén and his crew betrayed me was that they were acting on someone else’s orders—and the person who gave them those orders is the one who’s really sending chills down my spine!”
“There’s actually a mastermind behind the scenes?”
“Mm-hmm!”
“Who on earth is so treacherous as to stab me in the back?” Jiang Longcheng said angrily.
Li Yi said nothing, merely watching him quietly as he waited for Ye Jianhua to continue.
“It’s Zhang Hanliang!”
Hearing that name burst from Ye Jianhua’s mouth, Jiang Longcheng froze for a moment, then exclaimed in astonishment, “Zhang Ergou?”
“That’s right, it’s him!”
“Could this be a mistake? Haven’t you and that guy always gotten along well? Why would he do this to you? There’s no reason for it.”
Ye Jianhua replied immediately, “No, he has a reason!”
“What reason?”
“I slapped him once over some trivial matter. Also, our unit recently promoted staff, and since we’re in the same department, there was only one promotion available…”
Ye Jianhua didn’t finish his sentence, but Li Yi and Jiang Longcheng understood exactly what he meant.
At that moment, Jiang Longcheng frowned and said, “You’ve always treated him, Zhang Ergou, like a brother. Yet he’d actually have those scumbags scheme against you over such a trivial matter. Has his conscience been eaten by a dog?”
Ye Jianhua sighed and said, “That’s why I finally understand what my brother-in-law told me before: ‘Pride comes before a fall,’ and ‘Arrogance invites disaster.’ Keeping a low profile is the way to go!”
Li Yi nodded and said, “The fact that you’re able to look inward and find the cause shows you’ve really made progress. Unlike some people who let things go in one ear and out the other—they’re bound to suffer a major setback sooner or later!”
Jiang Longcheng grimaced and said, “I’ll change. Can’t I just change from now on?”
Li Yi ignored him and turned to Ye Jianhua instead. “Who exactly is this Zhang Ergou?”
“The Zhang family is a military dynasty. Zhang Ergou’s late grandfather and my grandfather were old comrades-in-arms, and his father is currently the director of a regional committee in Southwest China.”
Then Ye Jianhua continued, “We practically grew up together, and later joined this same company. I’ve always considered him a brother—I just never imagined he would…”
“So what are you planning to do now?”
“I haven’t decided yet. When I first heard about this, I was planning to beat the crap out of him tomorrow at work, but after calming down, I realized that would be letting that bastard off too easy!” Ye Jianhua said.
Li Yi nodded and said, “Hitting someone is just a display of brute force. Not only would it accomplish nothing, but it would also turn a just cause into an unjust one!”
“Then what should I do?” Jiang Longcheng asked urgently.
“It’s simple!”
Li Yi continued, “That guy is in the same department as you, and now that you’ve been promoted, you’re his boss, right?”
“Right!”
“You’re the boss, and he’s the subordinate. Isn’t it simple for a boss to deal with a subordinate?”
Hearing this, Ye Jianhua’s eyes lit up instantly, and he hurriedly said, “Brother-in-law, are you suggesting I use work as a way to deal with that bastard?”
“You don’t have to be too obvious about it. I haven’t met this Zhang Ergou you’re talking about, but from your description, it’s clear he’s a petty, narrow-minded guy.”
Li Yi continued, “To deal with someone like that, all you need to do is deliberately show off your authority as a boss in front of him, then drop a few hints about how well you’re doing now. Just provoke him a little, and he won’t be able to resist striking again.”
Ye Jianhua immediately replied, “Great idea. As long as that bastard dares to make a move, I’ll catch him red-handed this time!”
Li Yi nodded and added, “Also, you could discreetly leak a bit of this information to the Du family!”
“Why’s that?”
Ye Jianhua and Jiang Longcheng both looked surprised; they couldn’t figure out why Li Yi would do that. What good would it do to let the Du family know?
“Heh, Du Haicheng’s death not only cost the Du family face, but also left them with heavy losses under the combined pressure of the Jiang, Ye, and Lin families. Right now, the Du family desperately needs a way out and a scapegoat.”
Li Yi continued, “As for why Du Haicheng was speeding through the city center—and nearly sparked a war between the major families—Comrade Zhang played a significant role in that.”
“Just think about it—what do you think the Du family will do once they find out the role he played in this?”
Hearing Li Yi’s words, Ye Jianhua suddenly saw the light, and his eyes lit up…
……