Chapter 274: What Can You Do If You Don’t Agree
Cao Weida smiled faintly, placed the wine glass back on the bar, making a crisp ‘click’ sound.
He stood up, walked in front of Guo Dashuai, and said with a smile on his face: “This matter has nothing to do with Zhao Si’er.”
Ha, nothing to do with him?
You’re saying this to fool ghosts!
Guo Dashuai was secretly annoyed inside, “Aiyo, looks like my subordinates have neglected you and offended a big shot.”
He was saying big shot on his lips, but just from the tone, it was clear this was not praise, but sarcasm.
Sarcasm that a mere patrol officer dared to provoke him, Guo Dashuai!
Cao Weida heard it, but he wasn’t annoyed at all.
What was there to get angry about with someone who was about to become a chess piece? It would just ruin his mood for no reason.
“We’ve discovered people here colluding with communist bandits and smuggling prohibited medicine. We’re handling the case according to the law.”
Guo Dashuai’s face turned cold. This was trying to pin a crime on this old man, to use it to deal with me!
He looked at Cao Weida expressionlessly, his tone laced with sarcasm: “You look young, probably haven’t been a patrol officer for long, right?”
“What, have I failed to recognize Mount Tai?” Cao Weida kept smiling, but there was no trace of amusement in the smile. He just looked at the other calmly and steadily.
Seeing the other not taking the bait at all, Guo Dashuai sneered: “Let me tell you, I’m a legal Manchukuo citizen. If you’re just smashing my place because of a patrolman who gambled money here and owes gambling debt, I won’t agree to that!”
Little Ear was immediately displeased and said unkindly: “So you won’t agree? What do you plan to do about it?”
“You think having someone above you means no one can control you, right?”
Guo Dashuai’s heart sank, secretly thinking it was a miscalculation. The other side was clearly well-prepared!
He didn’t think the other was a fool. Daring to pick a fight with him knowing his background meant they were obviously prepared in advance!
If he flipped out now, who knows what follow-up moves might be waiting for him!
After pondering for a moment, he waved his hand at Wang Shuanzhu and the two police officers.
Wang Shuanzhu by the side had long wanted to slip away. Now seeing this gesture, how could he hesitate? He immediately took his younger brother and walked out.
“That’s right, sensible is good.” Little Ear had followed Cao Weida for so long and been a sergeant for so long that he had learned some grandiose official language.
“Do you know your subordinates are colluding with the Communists? If we catch evidence, you’re probably done for.”
Having been threatened so openly, when had Guo Dashuai ever suffered this kind of anger?
He was immediately furious inside, seething with dark anger.
But now the other side was clearly prepared. If he clashed with them at this moment, he would definitely be the one to suffer.
He took a deep breath, suppressed the anger in his heart, and said with a stern face: “Fine, fine, fine. I’m waiting!”
With that, he spat a mouthful of saliva on the ground and strode out.
Little Ear was furious and was just about to go up and teach the other a lesson when Cao Weida stopped him: “Let him go.”
It wasn’t time to deal with Guo Dashuai yet. He walked in front of Little Ear and patted his shoulder:
“Let him be smug for a while. His time to suffer will come.”
“First take everyone back to the police station. Once the statements are sorted, invite the reporters over.”
“Good!” Little Ear waved his fists a few times with a hum: “This old bastard is too arrogant. When he falls into my hands, I’ll give him a proper lesson!”
The next day, major newspapers all published a report: ‘Selling prohibited medicine, colluding with communist bandits!’
On it, photos of several people with ‘colluding with communist bandits’ were clearly visible.
Although the article explicitly named Guo Dashuai as secretly colluding with the Communist Party, it openly and implicitly questioned whether Guo Dashuai had suspicion of colluding with the Communists.
This news shocked Beiping’s political circles into stunned silence. Even the mysterious disappearance of another traitor last night went unnoticed. That day’s telephone call frequency was abnormally high.
Xu Hancheng came to Cao Weida’s office to complain to him: “Brother Cao, you’ve really given me a big problem.”
Cao Weida wasn’t panicked at all. Instead, he smiled easily and asked: “What, run into trouble?”
“More than just a little trouble.” Xu Hancheng said with a bitter face: “Director Song called me, saying the mayor called to inquire about this case.”
Director Song, the director of Beiping’s police department. Nominally, all police station officers, including the chiefs, were his subordinates!
In other words, he was pretty much Xu Hancheng’s direct superior!
Being scolded over the phone by his superior was naturally like a bolt from the blue for Xu Hancheng, who liked to curry favor everywhere.
“Yo, Director Song personally inquired? What did he say?” Cao Weida asked with interest.
Xu Hancheng sighed: “What else? Naturally, he expressed special concern about this case.”
Then, in a resentful tone, he said: “What I said, a tiger’s butt is not to be touched.”
“Bureau Chief Xu, you’re just too timid. Just some local thugs. If we can’t even control a local thug, we might as well all go home and farm.” Cao Weida scoffed, clearly not taking it seriously.
“Local thugs? They’re not ordinary local thugs!” Xu Hancheng wiped the fine sweat that had appeared on his forehead who-knows-when.
“Guo Dashuai is a local tyrant entrenched in Beiping for years. Which police official in the entire Inner Seventh District, up and down, doesn’t give him face?”
“Us arresting people this time is already overstepping in handling the case. The Inner Seventh District police station chief already had big objections, and now the middleman between Guo Dashuai and those smugglers has vanished. My pressure is huge!”
He couldn’t help but panic. Plenty of people were pleading for Guo Dashuai, and each one was a powerful big shot!
He might look impressive as a bureau chief, an unattainable existence to the people.
But in the eyes of those big shots, he was nothing!
He said with a bitter face: “Brother Cao, how about we just drop it? Guo Dashuai is a money tree for quite a few big shots. Brother here with this frail body really can’t take it!”
Hmph, at this point, even if you don’t want to take it, you have to!
If they just dropped it, wouldn’t that batch of medicine and those Communist Party members’ lives be at others’ mercy?
You won’t take it, so should I be the one to stick my neck out?
How could that work!
Bureau Chief Xu!
Elder brother!
How can you be such a coward? You need to toughen up!
A person needs to have a spirit of selfless dedication. You can’t be too selfish!
“Bureau Chief Xu, I know you’re anxious, but don’t be anxious first.”
“Not anxious?! How can I not be anxious?!” Xu Hancheng spoke extremely fast, tone urgent: “Director Song warned me inside and out over the phone to quickly close the case. If I’m not anxious, should I wait for Director Song to come personally and point at my nose to make me understand things?!”
“Bureau Chief Xu, elder brother!!” Cao Weida stood up, walked to his side, pressed his shoulders, and pushed him, who had stood up in agitation, back down to sit.
“I know you’re in a tough spot, but you can’t put me in a tough spot either!” He spread his hands helplessly and said:
“You know me. I hate trouble the most. Do you think I’d want to get involved in such a messy thing? Isn’t it because Consultant Ono wants to stir things up?”
“Don’t you have a good relationship with Officer Ono…”
“Bro, I’ll call you dear brother, okay?” Cao Weida looked speechless, gazing at him with an ambiguous look: “What do you mean I have a good relationship with Consultant Ono? It’s me currying favor with Consultant Ono, okay.”
“Consultant Ono giving me face is because I’m useful to him!”
“But if I don’t know my place and blabber nonsense in front of Consultant Ono, what do you think Consultant Ono would think of me, and how would he treat me?”
“My dear brother, aren’t you harming me?”
“If I didn’t know your character and you hadn’t offended me, I’d really suspect you wanted me to rush into the gun muzzle.”
“This…” Xu Hancheng looked embarrassed, guiltily scratching his butt. After Cao Weida said this, it really seemed like he was deliberately harming Cao Weida.
“Little brother, elder brother absolutely has no such intention.”
“I know.” Cao Weida waved his hand to interrupt, his tone utterly sincere: “Since I came to the police station, besides Master Duo, you’re the one who’s taken the best care of me. I’d suspect anyone else in the entire police station of harming me, but not you, elder brother.”
“Actually, I really want to drop this matter too. We get that little pay each month. Why clash with those big shots!”
“Anyway, with trouble it’s that little pay, without trouble it’s that little pay. Right?”
“But no choice. We’re eating under Consultant Ono. Dare we not listen to him?”
“Under the roof, one has to bow. For this matter, I can only say I’ll try to mediate. For the rest, I’m powerless too!”
Xu Hancheng sighed and patted his shoulder. This heart-to-heart talk made him feel warm inside.
Ever since he became bureau chief, everyone around him was ‘good’.
But he knew clearly how many were truly good and how many were fake.
He wasn’t stupid. He knew that whoever sat in this position would have ‘good people’ around them.
Cao Weida drawing closer was mostly his own initiative. Cao Weida actually didn’t need to bother with him.
With Ono Shiota’s trust in Cao Weida, he could completely bypass him and play alone.
But he was really loyal to him, whether in showing respect or other things, never missing his share.
The two, whether alone or in public, always treated him with great respect.
He didn’t think this respect was deliberate, since there was no need for it!
Cao Weida was different from others who curried favor with him. He didn’t need to curry favor at all!
So, the credibility of these words was naturally extremely high!
“What a sentimental and righteous person…”
Suddenly being told by Cao Weida that he was the second person in the entire police station he wouldn’t suspect, he felt quite moved inside, mixed with some guilt.
After all, his approach to the other had ulterior motives.
He didn’t want to become someone like Cao Weida, because being sentimental and righteous didn’t work in this cutthroat society!
But undeniably, everyone wanted to befriend such a friend. He, Xu Hancheng, was no exception!
