Chapter 618

Fang Jingwen said: "Indeed, as expected, I knew you were calling me only when you have something. I can help you with this matter, but you must remember, you owe me another favor. This favor of mine is easy to incur but hard to repay; you'd better be mentally prepared."

Su Yang said: "Sure, sure, you're a living Bodhisattva, you're the big sister who saves from suffering; as long as you help me settle this, I'll do anything."

Su Yang also let go; after all, with Fang Jingwen there's nothing he can't say or do. Their relationship—if it becomes too solemn and formal, that's a disrespect to this kind of relation. Moreover, the so-called favor he owes Fang Jingwen isn't the first time; when the time comes, whatever will be, will be.

At that moment, the bracelet on Fang Jingwen's wrist jingled, and she coquettishly said: "What big sister? Am I that old? If you keep talking nonsense, be careful I report you for taking bribes there."

Su Yang immediately replied: "Okay, Miss, I got it."

Fang Jingwen was almost driven to breaking point: "You're the Miss, your whole family are Misses!" She said that and hung up directly.

Su Yang couldn't help but laugh; it really takes magic to beat magic.

At that moment, Sun Chengjun made a call; after connecting, he heard Sun Chengjun ask: "Su, County Magistrate, what's going on? Weren't we supposed to get you drunk so I could keep an eye on you afterward? You seem fine; I followed you all the way to the guesthouse and didn't see them shoving things at you, nor did I see them arranging women to go in. But you're holding a bag—I don't know what's inside."

Su Yang said: "Originally, according to today's situation, I should have definitely gotten drunk, but then Geng Miao appeared. As soon as Geng Miao came out, these people didn't drink much anymore, and he became the center of attention."

"This person is deeper than I imagined; they've already moved beyond the forms of low-level and mid-level thugs, and are genuinely a high‑level gangster with status, reputation, and position."

"This person is not easy to deal with; upon meeting, in front of so many people, they directly handed out some so‑called gifts. The bag you see me holding contains exactly 100,000 yuan in cash."

"I estimate they gave others too, but probably not as much. Of course, I've already had the relevant staff handle this money. You go about your business; if there's nothing else, go to sleep early—I'm sleeping too. I trust they won't cause trouble for me at the guesthouse."

After Su Yang finished speaking, he hung up. Having drunk so much, the alcohol was now taking effect; he simply washed his face, lay on the bed, and fell into a drowsy sleep.

The reason he accepted this gift today was to avoid later troubles. If he hadn't taken it, even if he came back now, he might not be able to sleep peacefully.

A businessman who can win over and corrupt so many officials, and have the entire county committee's cadres firmly under his control, surely has hundreds of ways to deal with him. For him, the most direct and effective method is to integrate with them from the start.

Besides, Geng Biao had just returned to the downstairs KTV, about to find a few new girls to have fun with, when a waiter came saying Geng Miao was looking for him and told him to go over.

Although Geng Biao looks fierce and hot on the outside, in front of his elder brother Geng Miao he is still obedient to a fault, because nobody knows his brother's ruthlessness better than he does.

Although Geng Miao has long worked at the Twin Ditch Large Koji Winery, his family has a separate large office for him in each of their enterprises in the county seat.

The significance of this office mainly has two points: first, it's convenient for Geng Miao to bring his lovers over for a tryst at any time, and sometimes he even has relations with a lover in the office.

He once, when drunk, told some of his confidants that doing such things at home or even in other villas was completely uncomfortable compared to doing them in the office.

Moreover, his office isn't a suite and has no bed; he just likes to do it on the desk. That's the fundamental reason why he has offices everywhere. Although the KTV is under Geng Biao's charge, this doesn't prevent him from having absolute authority here.

Another meaning is that he isn't necessarily fixed in one place to work; basically, he starts working wherever he wakes up.

Geng Biao almost trotted to his elder brother's office door, knocked, and only entered after hearing the voice from inside permitting entry. Although they are family and normally wouldn't need such formality, he knows exactly what his brother is like—he could at any time and place do whatever he likes. After all, out of those dozens of lovers, more than half are in Lieshan County.

But when he went in today, he found his brother had no woman accompanying him. He laughed and said: "Big brother, why are you alone? Didn't you call someone to keep you company? Or I could go pick two for you? Recently, too many people owe our family money, and some who can't pay have voluntarily sent their daughters to work at our KTV and hotel."

"As for these, as long as you take a liking to any of them, you just need to say the word and they'll willingly let you enjoy yourself; otherwise, they'll owe us money for eight lifetimes and never be able to repay."

Geng Miao kept a straight face, said nothing, and just stared at Geng Biao.

Geng Biao instantly broke out in a cold sweat, his back soaked, then fell to his knees with a thud: "Big brother, did I do something wrong? Give me a sign."

If outsiders saw such a scene, they'd probably be shocked enough to drop their jaws. Everyone knows how formidable Geng Biao is outside; even if they know he's that capable, and even if they know his elder brother is the true mastermind behind all this, one wouldn't expect him to be frightened to his knees—but in fact, it's not just him; sometimes his brothers, upon making a mistake, also have to kneel.

Geng Miao snapped: "You damn idiot! I told you to go over and politely offer a drink, and at the same time explain our status in Lieshan County—who let you go in and, at the first disagreement, smash an ashtray on someone? Who do you think you are, and on what basis do you hit a state official?"

Although Geng Biao was afraid, his elder brother Geng Miao has always been relatively democratic. Although authority is absolute, if you feel you have a reason, you can speak.

He said: "Big brother, what's wrong with hitting him? I certainly know he's a state official, and I'm not saying I've never hit someone before. Leaving aside the past, in the current leadership team, the last Zhang Guodong wasn't just kicked by me—he still took it meekly. Could it really be that he's so stupid as to call the Public Security Bureau to have me arrested?"

"Even if he really made that call, would the Public Security Bureau people even bother with him? Ask Lin Zhinan if he has the guts for that."

"Besides, he's a newly arrived, lousy Vice County Magistrate; I beat him up just to let him know who really calls the shots in Lieshan County, so he'll behave in the future—this also counts as giving him a warning to stay in line."

Geng Miao slammed the table and said: "I say you're damn stupid, and you still don't accept it? Can Su Yang be like those ordinary officials? I've told you over and over—this time he's come bearing the imperial sword."

"Although he's only a Vice County Magistrate, in the eyes of the superiors his position weighs more than that of Ye Xianggao and Wen Qiren. Every move he makes here is watched by someone behind the scenes; if you really hit him, wouldn't that give him a clear, open reason to take action against you?"

Geng Biao said: "Big brother, I certainly thought of that. When I picked up the ashtray, he was there shouting, saying I was letting the Public Security Bureau come arrest him—I actually wanted to see which Public Security Bureau officer would dare to move against me. I'm prepared, having made sure, to let him see blood; as long as I scare him, no matter who sent him, he'll have to behave properly on our little plot of land."

Geng Miao's face darkened directly: "You're just full of shit! Do you think that because the Lieshan County Public Security Bureau doesn't dare to arrest you, he's helpless? Let me tell you, a person like him—aside from the Lieshan County Public Security Bureau—can even apply to have other counties' Public Security Bureaus, even other cities' Public Security Bureaus, transferred to arrest you, and he doesn't even need to go through the Jinzhou Municipal Party Committee."

"Once you're in his hands, he has dozens of ways to deal with you. Have you forgotten what I said? He previously easily got the son of the county's standing vice magistrate into trouble."

"If you think that's not enough, let me tell you further: earlier, the head of the Provincial Party Committee Organization Department's Division Four, Wang Tao, and later the deputy director of the Tourism Department, as well as the Political and Legal Affairs Commission Secretary of Lancheng Shi, Wang Decai, and the Deputy Secretary of the Lancheng Shi Municipal Party Committee, Gao Liang, who were recently invited for tea—all of them got themselves involved just because they wanted to get him."

"Which of these people lacks background or connections? Yet what was the outcome? Do you think the provincial leaders' heads are filled with paste? Do you think they'd send a nobody?"

After hearing those words, Geng Biao fell silent; he simply hadn't thought that much, and of course he hadn't known this information before.

After a long while, he finally asked: "Big brother, are we really supposed to just watch him stick here like a nail? If that's the case, what do we do with our profit‑making enterprises? Do we have to shut them all down? Do we have to guard against him every day?"