Chapter 978: Don't be afraid! I know Mayor Lin!

After Fu Xinping took the position of chief of the City Bureau, his whole aura changed.

When he was deputy bureau chief, he walked hugging the wall, afraid to draw attention, maintaining a low-key, restrained, and amiable demeanor, offering a three-tenths smile to everyone he met.

Now it's different.

Now he walks in the hallway of the City Bureau building, his leather shoes thudding on the floor, his back ramrod straight; wherever his gaze falls, subordinates lower their heads and make way.

This feeling of exhilaration is like drinking a chilled sour plum soup on the hottest summer days, refreshing from the throat all the way to the stomach, then spreading from the stomach to every pore.

His office also changed.

Previously in the deputy bureau chief's office, the window faced north, cold in winter, hot in summer.

Now this one faces south, sunlight pours in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, shining on the wide desk, on the new leather sofa, and on the wall plaque that reads "Uphold Justice and Enforce the Law."

He sat in the chair, turning round and round, unable to suppress the smile at the corners of his mouth.

The phone rang; it was an old classmate, Peng Xianjun, calling.

"Old Fu, tonight at Li Ji Bar, let's celebrate. I've reserved a private room; the drinks are ready—red has Lafite grape juice, white has soy‑scent mineral water."

Peng Xianjun is still as generous as ever.

Especially after opening the bar, his whole outlook has opened up; he's extraordinarily lavish in his spending, never disappointing his old classmates.

In his words:

A human life is only about thirty‑plus thousand days.

Eating and drinking takes a day, toiling to exhaustion also takes a day; if one is able to eat and drink, why would one still choose to toil to exhaustion?

Every time he sits in a private room at his bar, Fu Xinping feels these words make particular sense.

Think about what he's toiling for each day.

Isn't it to create the conditions for freely enjoying life? Now that the conditions are in place, of course he lives as comfortably as possible.

? Li Ji Bar is a pleasure ground; there you not only have grape wine and glowing cups, but you can also choose consorts like an emperor, and the point is that none of this requires you to pay.

To Fu Xinping, this is the ultimate meaning of striving to climb upward!

But these thoughts cannot be spoken aloud.

Fu Xinping replied with a chuckle: "Old Peng, you're trying to get me to make a mistake."

"What mistake? It's perfectly normal for old classmates to get together." Peng Xianjun chatted and laughed: "Besides, you're now the bureau chief—who would dare say you're making a mistake?"

"All right. See you tonight."

Fu Xinping didn't decline further, hung up, leaned back in his chair, feeling quite content.

Think back twenty‑plus years ago, when he first started work, he was just a green‑horn kid, wearing a police uniform and directing traffic at an intersection, wind and sun beating down, his monthly salary barely enough to fill his stomach.

Back then his greatest wish was merely to become a squad leader.

Looking back now, that little wish of yesteryear is insignificant; today he is the chief of the Wuzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau, holding the city's entire public security authority.

Just thinking about it makes him excited.

Fu Xinping picked up the desk phone; his yellow‑faced wife at home called: "Tonight there's a meeting, I might not have time to come home to celebrate your birthday, so go to bed early…"

At the same time, on the Wujiang Bridge.

A young girl climbed over to the outside of the rail, her hands gripping the rail, with only a twenty‑centimeter‑wide bridge ledge beneath her feet.

The river wind blew, her face as pale as paper, her eyes already swollen from crying.

"Don't come any closer! If you come nearer, I'll jump!"

Her hoarse voice sounded as if she had been crying all night.

Passing pedestrians stopped in their tracks; some exclaimed, some called the police, some tried to approach, but all were driven back by her shrill scream.

"He Wei! What are you doing?!"

A beautiful woman in a white dress rushed out of the crowd.

She is a graduating senior of the Literature College at Jianglan Daxue—Su Qianqian, one of Lin Dongfan's admirers. She and He Wei were classmates and once shared a dormitory.

During the time when Su Qianqian's father ran into trouble, He Wei had helped her a great deal.

Now the roles have reversed, and she is the one in despair.

"Qianqian, don't mind me, don't come over!" He Wei's tears fell, scattered by the river wind, dropping silently into the river below.

Su Qianqian dared not act rashly.

She looked at He Wei, her eyes also reddening: "He Wei, what on earth happened? Tell me, and we'll figure it out together."

"!!!"

Whenever she thought of being violently raped and having the incident filmed, He Wei's tears fell like a broken string of beads.

Such a thing, she feels ashamed to speak of.

Su Qianqian reached out slowly: "He Wei, don't act rashly, stay calm. No matter what happened, I'll face it with you—please come down first…"

"Goodbye, Qianqian."

He Wei, her heart like ashes, suddenly let go, plummeting down like a fearless bungee jumper.

At this critical moment.

Su Qianqian lunged forward in a stride and grabbed He Wei's clothing.

Many enthusiastic citizens were still around; some worried that Su Qianqian alone couldn't pull her up, so they rushed to help, several people pulling together, and they forcibly dragged He Wei back from the outside of the rail to the inside.

Su Qianqian squatted before her, gripping her hand: "What exactly happened?"

"!!!"

He Wei sat with her arms around her knees, forehead buried, weeping uncontrollably.

At this moment Su Qianqian also realized that perhaps the surrounding crowd was too large, He Wei didn't want to speak, for her self‑esteem has always been strong.

"Come on, let's go home first."

Su Qianqian forcibly pulled He Wei into her own mini Hongguang.

Returned to the rental apartment.

Su Qianqian locked the door and asked, "If you still consider me a sister, then tell me the truth—what exactly happened?"

He Wei lowered their head and wept.

After Along silence, they, with difficulty, uttered: "I was raped by a beast...."

"When did it happen?"

Su Qianqian showed no trace of sympathy or pity; instead, she calmly looked at He Wei, waiting for their statement.

At this moment, He Wei's emotions also gradually stabilized.

He Wei grabbed a tissue and wiped their tears: "Today, I first went to? Ji bar to work, and Cao Shaozhen forced me to drink alcohol. I said I was here to work as a server, not to be a hostess. After I refused, he slapped my face, saying I was disrespectful. In anger, I threw a glass of wine at his face. He then had people press me onto the sofa and poured an entire bottle of alcohol down my throat, afterwards...."

As they spoke, the eye sockets they had just dried filled with tears again.

He Wei, wiping their tears while choking up, said: "That beast raped me and also took a video to threaten me, demanding that I be at their beck and call in the future, or else they would post the video online."

"Have you reported it to the police?" Su Qianqian asked.

He Wei shook their head, voice sorrowful: "It's useless; Cao Shaozhen is the bar owner's close nephew, all have powerful backers. He said that if I dared to report it, he would kill my whole family."

"Come on, I'll go with you to report the police!" Su Qianqian grabbed He Wei and was about to leave.

He Wei instinctively pulled their hand back.

In tears, they said weakly: "It's useless; that beast also bullied another server last year, and nothing happened—the bar owner's backing is very strong."

"Can his backing be harder than Mayor Lin's? Come on, I'll go with you to report the police!" Su Qianqian forcibly dragged He Wei outward: "I know Mayor Lin; there's nothing to fear from them!"