Chapter 82: A Fair-Weather Friend

I do not know. When I woke up this morning, it was already on the nightstand. Whoever did this is no ordinary man. He must know full well what kind of relationship I have with Yu Jiang, and that I have long wanted to bring Yu Jiang down, which is why he sent me all this incriminating evidence,” Zhao Fanglin said with a slight furrow of his brow. “The sender must have a deep grudge against Yu Jiang and wants to use your hand to eliminate him. There may even be a greater purpose behind it,” said Old Master Tang, striking straight at the heart of the matter. Unconsciously, Zhao Fanglin thought of Lin Fan. He took a sip of tea and said, “What do you think that Lin Fan went to do when he broke out of prison last night? Yu Jiang wanted to kill him, and right then Yu Jiang’s evidence landed in my hands. Could there be some connection between the two?” “If that is really the case, then to uncover all this in such a short time, that boy is certainly no simple figure,” said Old Master Tang. “What are you planning to do now?” “Since the other side has handed this to me, it is not a bad thing for me. These past few years Yu Jiang has been coveting my position all along, spending money to bribe high officials above me in an attempt to have me transferred out of T City. I should do something too,” Zhao Fanglin’s eyes flashed with brilliance. In the past he had lacked evidence to move against Yu Jiang, but now the chance had come. If he did not seize it well, he would be letting himself down. “No matter what, you should help this boy first. Who knows, maybe he and his sister are really Zhen Tian’s children,” said Old Master Tang. “Mm,” Zhao Fanglin nodded. After a few more words, he took his leave. On the way, he picked up the phone and dialed again. ……… Zhao Ying could not get through to her father by phone, and even the appetite for breakfast was gone. She drove her private car at top speed toward the police bureau, leaving the Lamborghini in the garage as usual. Although her mother was very wealthy, her father was after all the municipal party secretary. It would not look good to be too ostentatious. If not for Lin Fan, Zhao Ying would never have driven that Lamborghini Murcielago out yesterday. Passing a breakfast stall, Zhao Ying thought that Lin Fan must not be eating well at the police bureau, so she specially bought some food to bring him. Along the way, her mind was in turmoil, filled entirely with thoughts of Lin Fan, fearing that he would be sentenced because of what happened last night. Before she knew it, she had arrived at the police bureau. After parking the car, Zhao Ying collected herself and called Zhao Fanglin again. “Dad, where are you? Why couldn’t I get through to you just now?” Zhao Ying asked anxiously. In her view, her father must have gone to handle this matter, or else his phone would not have been turned off. “You’re asking about how things are going with Lin Fan, aren’t you? My daughter, have you taken a fancy to him?” Zhao Fanglin said with a smile. How could he not know what his daughter was thinking? He was afraid she had already developed some kind of relationship with this Lin Fan boy, otherwise why would she care so much about this matter? “Dad, what are you talking about?” Zhao Ying still did not want Zhao Fanglin to know about her and Lin Fan for now. After all, her mother wanted her to marry Jin Baiwan. If her father learned of it, word would probably reach her mother very quickly. “All right, all right, I won’t say anything more. But let me remind you, your mother has already found you a fiancé. You should think carefully about this,” Zhao Fanglin said. “As for Lin Fan, don’t worry. As long as what you said last night was true, I guarantee that boy will be fine.” Hearing her father speak with such certainty, Zhao Ying finally breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did she carry the breakfast she had bought for Lin Fan and head into the police bureau. Because everyone at the bureau had gone out to arrest Lin Fan last night, there were very few people inside. Zhao Ying went straight to the duty room. When the young policeman on duty from last night, Sun Wei, saw her, he said, “Officer Zhao, that murderer broke out of prison last night.” “What? How could he have escaped?” Zhao Ying swayed and nearly collapsed. “Officer Zhao, are you all right?” Sun Wei asked with feigned concern. He knew very well that Lin Fan was Zhao Ying’s boyfriend, but last night Lin Fan had actually dared to kick his groin, sending him to the hospital in the middle of the night. He had to apply medicine and take pills, and it had frightened him badly. Now that Lin Fan, that murderer, had escaped, the police across the city were carrying out the manhunt. He was hoping Lin Fan would be shot dead on the spot. Perhaps then he might even have a chance to get close to Zhao Ying, the police beauty. Sun Wei actually began to eye Zhao Ying, as though Lin Fan were already dead, even extending both hands to support her. “Don’t touch me! You were on duty last night—how could you have let him get away? What exactly happened last night?” Zhao Ying suddenly became furious. She was the kind of person who appeared strong on the outside but was fragile within. Yet now she knew she could not fall. Besides, her father had already promised to help her. He would definitely be fine. Zhao Ying kept telling herself this. Seeing Zhao Ying’s angry expression, Sun Wei felt a chill in his heart. All his earlier fantasies were tossed to the heavens. This girl’s father was the municipal party secretary; he was in no position to offend him. “When I was on duty last night, the suspect suddenly shouted that his stomach hurt. Since it was my responsibility, I went to take a look. As soon as I did, he seized the chance to knock me unconscious. Look at the injuries on me—all of them were from him hitting me in that moment. After that, he escaped,” Sun Wei said, pointing to the blue and purple bruises all over himself. The most obvious were on his face, where many places were swollen red and tinged with livid purple. Unfortunately, he did not know that Lin Fan would never have the time to waste beating up a minor role like him. All of this was revenge from the prisoners in the jail, because he had always been so arrogant, believing he had backing from Yan Dong, and in the police bureau he treated everyone with contempt, except for a few people even Yan Dong could not afford to offend, such as Zhao Ying. “Hmph, shifting the blame,” Zhao Ying snorted coldly. She shot him a fierce glare and was about to leave when Bureau Chief Li Kun happened to come in. Just as Zhao Ying was about to speak, Li Kun’s phone suddenly rang. He took it out and looked at it, and his expression instantly turned extremely ugly. “Could it be that Mayor Yu already knows I never conveyed his order?” That was Li Kun’s first reaction. Since the day would come sooner or later, there was no way to avoid it. Clenching his teeth, Li Kun answered the call. “Mayor Yu, what can I do for you?” In Li Kun’s view, he could not afford to offend either side. He should try to be a fence-sitter as much as possible; whichever way the wind blew, he would lean that way. “I just want to ask whether the murderer named Lin Fan has been caught,” came Yu Jiang’s voice from the other end. Li Kun forced himself to remain calm. “Mayor Yu, the fugitive is still in the process of being apprehended. Please rest assured, I will have my people capture him and bring him to justice as quickly as possible. If the murderer resists, we will strictly carry out your order and shoot him dead on the spot.” As he spoke, Li Kun also wiped the sweat from his forehead, afraid that Yu Jiang would discover he had never issued any order to shoot Lin Fan dead. “What, shoot him dead?” Zhao Ying was bewildered. Yu Jiang and her father were political rivals, and over the past few years the two had been in open and covert conflict. She knew this very well. Moreover, because her father outranked him by one level, Yu Jiang had suffered quite a few grievances these past years. Why had he also inserted himself into this matter? Zhao Ying was somewhat dazed. What puzzled Li Kun was that after hearing his words, Yu Jiang seemed to have no major reaction at all. Instead, he said lightly, “Xiao Li, our country is a democratic one. As long as the other party has not been formally sentenced by a court, he remains a lawful citizen of the state. So you must be very careful with the arrest operation. Also, investigate this matter thoroughly. I heard that he was framed and imprisoned. Handle the specifics as you see fit.” After being told this by Yu Jiang, Li Kun was utterly bewildered. Yesterday Yu Jiang had solemnly ordered him that if the murderer resisted, he was to be shot dead on the spot. Yet now... could he have taken the wrong medicine? How could Yu Jiang possibly have taken the wrong medicine? The evidence in Lin Fan’s hands posed too great a threat to him. He had to get rid of him as soon as possible. But the prerequisite was that Lin Fan not be brought back to the police bureau. That was why Yu Jiang ordered Li Kun to investigate the matter carefully. He knew Li Kun would surely understand what he meant. As long as Lin Fan was cleared and released, the rest would be much easier. Kill him outside, and who would know it was done by him? Li Kun helplessly shook his head. The mind of a superior was truly hard to fathom, changing from day to day. Still, he felt a trace of relief. Fortunately, he had not issued the order to shoot Lin Fan dead yesterday. It seemed that being cautious never went wrong. In this day and age, it was still safest to be a fence-sitter. Note: Please add to your bookshelf.