Chapter 514: Arguing with Li Ming

Just then, Director Wang came over,

He brought me Shangguan Zhuren's personal effects.

Director Wang said: "At the time, someone was supervising; I merely kept a few items carefully. Ah, when Shangguan Zhuren's relatives come, I can give them something to remember him by."

I saw that Director Wang's bag held a lighter and an ordinary watch that Shangguan Zhuren had worn.

Looking at the items in the bag, tears fell again.

"Thank you so much, Director Wang; without you, Shangguan Zhuren wouldn't have left us anything."

"Then I'll accept it."

"You're being polite, Mr. Zhao; I don't have much authority, so I can only do this. If it weren't for Shangguan Zhuren's help back then, I might not have a job now."

People should be grateful.

Shangguan Zhuren was a good person.

All right, my task is also done.

"If you need anything, Mr. Zhao, please come to the funeral home to find me; I'll do my best to help you," Director Wang said politely.

"Shi Yong, get Director Wang a gift; we can't let him work for nothing," I instructed Shi Yong.

Shi Yong quickly moved two cases of good wine from the car.

My car always carries cigarettes and alcohol for emergencies.

Director Wang quickly declined.

I said to Director Wang, "Director Wang, if you don't want it, I'll throw this liquor on the road."

Director Wang had no choice but to put the liquor away.

When Shi Yong and I left the funeral home in Teng County,

The sky was already completely dark.

Shi Yong asked me, "Brother, where should we go back to? Back to Niushiling?"

I said, "Let's go back to the Zaocheng Grand Hotel. I'm exhausted and want to rest."

Shi Yong drove silently,

I tightly grasped Shangguan Zhuren's belongings in my hand.

It was a very ordinary stainless‑steel lighter, worn smooth and lacking much shine; it seemed Shangguan Zhuren could not bear to throw it away.

And the watch was actually an old Shanghai brand.

Who knows how many years Shangguan Zhuren had worn it.

I clenched both items tightly in my hand, feeling they still retained Shangguan Zhuren's body heat.

The deceased is gone; we merely miss them in vain.

The car quickly returned to Zaocheng Xin Cheng.

This investigation into Shangguan Zhuren's cause of death had gains and also losses.

The gain was knowing where Shangguan Zhuren was buried,

The loss was that Shangguan Zhuren's death remains an eternal mystery.

Everything is in the past; we still need to look forward.

Upon arriving at the Zaocheng Grand Hotel, Shi Yong's phone rang; it was Ya Ling calling, asking him to come back to keep her company for a meal.

Shi Yong had no choice but to agree.

Shi Yong left, and I didn't want to eat either. I had drunk quite a bit at Shangguan Zhuren's grave and felt a bit dizzy.

I returned to my room and lay down on the bed to sleep.

I hadn't been lying down long when I heard a knock at the door.

I had to get up to open the door; I thought it might be Shi Yong coming back.

I opened the door and saw,

it was Li Ming.

Li Ming looked somewhat disheveled.

I turned on the room light,

looking at Li Ming,

"Li Ming, you didn't go to the provincial capital this morning; why did you come back?"

"Brother, I couldn't go; they didn't want to see me," Li Ming said, reeking of alcohol.

"What do you drink all day? You can't keep going like this," I said, taking out a cigarette and offering it to Li Ming.

Li Ming took it,

"Brother, I'm finished; if I don't drink, what else can I do? I have nothing to do."

I have no shift, no one supervises me.

All I do is drink,

"I've discovered that only drinking makes me feel damn good. Haha," Li Ming let out an annoying laugh.

"All right, Li Ming, you have plenty on your plate."

I ask you,

"Who says you have no shift? At Da Heng Group, why don't you go? Zhao Xiaohua has already saved you a spot."

"You can start tomorrow; besides, He Qing can go too. You two will work at Da Heng Group, and your annual income will definitely not be low."

"Li Ming, I really don't understand what you're thinking—do you have to go back just to prove your worth?" I asked urgently.

"Yeah, I'm a civil servant; how could I work at a private company? Besides, Da Heng Group is a private enterprise that could collapse at any moment."

Who knows when it might go under.

I know clearly in my heart, I'm still long-term within the system.

Brother, I just want to ask, what are you working hard for?

We have already won,

Your Da Heng Group is gone, my job and property are also gone,

It's really damn strange.

We're basically busy for nothing.

You can not care about these,

I must care.

I know why you don't care, Zhao Xiaohua is chairman, you direct from behind the scenes. Zhao Xiaohua can only listen to you.

So you feel nothing.

Otherwise, how would Zhao Xiaohua leave the house and position to us?

Brother, I truly have nothing left.

My heart hurts.

The position I struggled for many years is gone,

The property I accumulated over many years is all gone.

Brother. "What gives you the right to have while I have nothing?" Li Ming repeatedly questioned me.

How can I explain to him,

What do I have,

I originally meant well, letting Zhao Xiaohua leave the house and position to Li Ming, but instead earned his misunderstanding.

He thinks my losing the Da Heng Group is fake,

It's not the case, I have again retreated behind the scenes.

I have suffered no loss at all, while he has lost everything exactly.

Li Ming, drunk, stared at me,

At this moment, I really wanted to slap him awake with a big slap.

But I didn't act,

I know the consequence of that slap would be that our brothers' decades of feelings would all come to nothing.

My relationship with Li Ming is different from that with Zhao Xiaohua and Zhao Xiaoguo.

Zhao Xiaohua and Zhao Xiaoguo are blood brothers, born of the same mother; they fight and it's done.

There's no hindrance in the heart.

I still see Zhao Xiaohua and Zhao Xiaoguo the same as before.

Li Ming and I are just sworn brothers,

When things are good, anything goes,

When things are bad, a little inattention could make it impossible to go back to anything.

Moreover, Li Ming, Zhao Xiaohua, Zhao Xiaohua, and Shi Yong have different personalities.

Sigh, I just took a puff of cigarette, watching Li Ming,

"Li Ming, you say, the Da Heng Group still belongs to me, I temporarily can't argue otherwise.

I know, your losses are huge. Moreover, these things haven't come back.

Go ahead, let me, your brother, compensate you how.

Then you'll feel comfortable in your heart.

How much money is appropriate, you just need to say a number.

If I have it now, I'll give you all.

If I don't have it temporarily, after I earn it, can I give it to you then?

Brother, you know you've suffered collateral damage by following me.

Brother, I don't feel comfortable either.

Back then, the situation wasn't something we could decide.

Kong Shi and Liu Shiru wanted to find a breakthrough from you,

they arrested you,

After knowing, I was in so much pain, do you know?

But I was powerless, brother, I truly was powerless.

Who let you get to know Brother?

Who let me call your mother Qian Niang?

Who let us brothers be together for decades?

This is fate; if someone must bear responsibility, let me bear it. Brother, it's me who has implicated you.

If you want to scold me, scold; if you want to hit me, hit; I will not talk back.

Regarding your matter,

I also tried to fight for you.

But now,

Brother, really many things aren't something we can decide.

Brother, you say, what should we do now.

I have in hand the ten million and a car that Wen Han gave me, I've already spent part of it.

I'll give you all the remaining money, alright.

If you're still not satisfied,

There's also the house,

I asked Hou Laoban to get the villa over, I'll give you all of it, alright.