Xiao Ji left the table with a dark expression.
Song Liang turned to the only other person remaining, his smile suggestive.
“What do you think matters most, Uncle?”
Xiao Yi put down his cutlery and left too, delivering one cold remark before he went.
“Having some shame.”
“…”
Completely unruffled, Song Liang turned to a servant.
“Some soup.”
The already dumbfounded servant: “…”
Were rich people all this brazen? Discussing their infidelity at the dinner table?
For several days, uncle and nephew were scarcely to be seen.
On the rare occasions Song Liang encountered them in the villa, one gave him cold, accusing looks while the other had resumed treating him like air.
Aunt Jiang couldn’t help complaining that it hardly felt like the New Year.
Song Liang spent several days testing Xiao Yi’s attitude, without success. The man seemed to have muted his WeChat notifications too; he never answered a single message.
3085 subjected him to an enthusiastic barrage of mockery, accusing him of imagining an attraction that wasn’t there.
The original novel’s villain truly put profit above everything and destroyed anyone who stood in his way. Even after the original owner climbed into his bed later in the story, discovering his betrayal had only made Xiao Yi more brutal.
Song Liang didn’t feel embarrassed. He merely stopped testing him, because he had other things to do.
Ever since learning the main love interest’s identity, he had asked Duan Yan to keep an eye on Chen Jiahe.
Duan Yan had been diligent, reporting every day. With Song Liang’s financial support, he had successfully resolved the problems of Chen Jiahe’s mother’s medical bills and his tuition.
To make it clear he wasn’t taking the credit, Duan Yan said he had always told Chen Jiahe that someone else was providing the help.
Who that person was would depend on when Song Liang chose to reveal himself.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, Song Liang had no intention of doing so.
Unfortunately, Chen Jiahe had a troublemaking father.
Song Liang’s ankle had healed, though the bandages on his arm had yet to come off.
After greeting the bodyguards at the entrance, he went straight to the villa’s underground garage.
Less than three minutes later, a message arrived.
[Xiao Yi: Where are you going?]
Too lazy to type one-handed, Song Liang called him.
“Out to take care of something. Can I use one of your cars?”
“The keys are in the entryway. Take the bodyguards.”
“Mm.”
Then he noticed Xiao Yi hadn’t hung up.
The background was fairly quiet, though now and then someone made a report in a low voice. He was probably at the office.
“Anything else?” Song Liang asked.
After a pause, Xiao Yi said, “Don’t go around hitting people.”
Speechless, Song Liang ended the call.
Shortly afterward, Xiao Ji called too. Song Liang didn’t answer.
Xiao Ji sent a WeChat voice message asking what he was going out for.
Apparently realizing his tone was poor, he quickly withdrew it and recorded another. Song Liang’s arm hadn’t healed, he said, and there had been no word from Liang Ziyu’s side. Unless necessary, he should stay home and let the bodyguards run his errands.
[Song: Going to meet someone.]
[Xiao Ji: Who?]
Naturally, Song Liang wasn’t about to introduce him to Chen Jiahe’s existence.
He simply stopped replying and had the bodyguard drive out of Huayin.
Half an hour later, Song Liang stepped out of a black Range Rover with a repeating-number license plate, one arm in a sling.
With his bodyguards behind him, he entered the municipal police headquarters’ public service hall.
He immediately spotted a middle-aged man grabbing a delicate-looking young college student and shouting at him.
Duan Yan stood beside the student, trying to shield him.
“I’m your father! Even if you become a superstar, even if you become God himself, I’m still your father!”
“You little brat! Cutting ties with me? Have you forgotten who raised you? That sick mother of yours needs medicine all year round. If I hadn’t gone out to make money, she would’ve died long ago!”
The young man was slender and looked utterly exhausted. His eyes were red as he shouted in a trembling voice.
“You stole Mom’s medical money to gamble! When have you ever supported us?!”
“Talking back to your father now? You think I don’t know where your money comes from? Selling yourself to men! You might not be ashamed, but I am!”
“I didn’t!” the young man cried through his tears.
The middle-aged man raised a hand to slap him.
A nearby male officer hurried to intervene, only for the man to start screaming that the police were beating him.
Alarmed, the officer let go.
The man seized the opening, snatched up a vase, and swung it toward the young man.
Duan Yan swore inwardly and threw himself in front of him without thinking.
Just as he resigned himself to sacrificing either an arm or his skull, a tall figure strode out of the crowd and drove a powerful kick into the middle-aged man.
Bang!
The man flew into the tempered-glass service window.
The frame shuddered several times before he slid onto the counter like a dead dog and lay completely still.
The entire hall fell silent.
Duan Yan reacted first.
Staring at the young man slowly lowering his foot, he shouted excitedly, “Song Liang?!”
“Mm.”
Song Liang glanced at the stunned student beside him.
“Chen Jiahe?”
Tears still clung to Chen Jiahe’s face, but he stood frozen.
“…Yes.”
Song Liang held out his hand.
“Song Liang.”
Chen Jiahe dazedly reached to take it.
Before he could, a young police officer intercepted them, seized Song Liang’s hand, and fixed him with a stern look.
“Sir, this is municipal police headquarters. Publicly assaulting someone is a violation of the law!”
Song Liang glanced at the hand holding him.
“Wasn’t I helping someone in danger?”
“Of course not! This is police headquarters. With us here, we won’t let anyone get hurt. As an ordinary citizen, you can try to break up a fight, but you can’t hit people!”
Yang Zhengwen struggled to contain himself.
“And you used excessive force.”
Song Liang looked at the unconscious man being hurriedly lifted off the counter.
“He’s not dead. That’s excessive?”
Yang Zhengwen was appalled.
“Does he have to be dead for it to count?”
Song Liang looked at his bodyguard.
The man immediately understood.
“I’ll contact the lawyer and Chairman Xiao.”
“Wait, wait! There’s no need! If the injured party doesn’t press charges, you’ll be fine. No need for a lawyer!”
The mention of a lawyer and Chairman Xiao left Yang Zhengwen momentarily rattled.
He hurried to stop him, then asked cautiously, “Which Chairman Xiao do you mean?”
Song Liang glanced at Chen Jiahe and answered vaguely.
“The one who had something stolen in that robbery a while ago.”
“…”
Yang Zhengwen’s vision nearly went dark.
Wonderful. There was only one Chairman Xiao in all of Linhai with that kind of standing, and he kept getting tangled up with him.
As for the man before him, judging by the recent gossip, he must be the young master of the Xiao family’s rumored partner.
“Mr. Song, thank you very much for your brave intervention. You’re a model citizen.”
“Do I get a commendation banner?”
“…”
“Just kidding.”
Song Liang calmly withdrew his hand and nodded toward Chen Jiahe.
“So, my friend here—what’s going on with his father?”
“There’s a crackdown across Linhai’s Changyu District. This man was involved in organized gambling at an underground casino, and he’s also suspected of using illegal drugs. We’re waiting for his urine test results. If they’re positive, he’ll be arrested.”
Yang Zhengwen’s expression grew more serious.
Flattery was one thing, but he wasn’t granting any favors. If this young master had come to get the man released, he would refuse.
Song Liang, however, asked nothing of the sort.
“Why the sudden investigation into underground casinos?”
Yang Zhengwen paused. “Orders from above.”
Song Liang said nothing for a moment.
Changyu was a bustling, partly commercial district with a concentration of entertainment venues.
The underground casino where he had worked—the one belonging to Liang Ziyu—was there.
He suddenly smiled.
He had known that man wouldn’t simply sit and wait to be attacked.
So he had been striking back in secret.
【You think Xiao Yi is behind it?】
Song Liang: 【Who else could direct Linhai’s municipal police?】
3085 fell silent.
True. In the original novel, the Xiaos weren’t merely wealthy. They wielded enormous influence.
By comparison, even with the Liang family behind it, the Xinglong Society was a step below them.
But Liang Ziyu was hardly an easy opponent. He would certainly retaliate.
In the original novel, the Xiao and Liang families had been business rivals, though not mortal enemies.
Only after Xiao Yi fully took control of the Xiao family later in the story had the two become irreconcilable.
The Xinglong Society, which Liang Ziyu oversaw, had been dissolved outright. Liang Ziyu himself had gone to prison.
Whether for his company or his son, Liang Sizhong had agreed to join forces with Xiao Ji.
Even then, the two had failed to bring Xiao Yi down. Liang Sizhong had also suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed and nearly cost him control of his company.
Xiao Yi’s abilities and temperament were both frightening.
It was difficult to imagine that the handsome man with those beautiful green eyes—the man who sat among roses in the sunlight reading poetry—possessed such an icy heart.
How fascinating.
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