Chapter 18: Lu Qiao's Dead End (Seeking Favorites, Recommendation Tickets)

"What, Long Er escaped?" Master Zhang Si slammed his wine glass down and stood up abruptly.

"Wasn't he on the list?"

"Section Chief Lu, didn't you say it was a done deal? What's going on?"

Master Zhang Si pointed at Lu Qiao and demanded an answer.

Lu Qiao was also stunned: "Impossible, I circled the list myself. Long Er was definitely on it, and it was for tonight."

"Shaobai, go and get this cleared up," Master Zhang Si ordered.

Zhang Shaobai hurriedly made a phone call.

A moment later, he walked over and said indignantly:

"Damn it, the people over there said it was the secretary and the confidential director of the Jinhai Station who took the person away under Wu Jingzhong's orders."

"It's Hong Zhiyou!"

"This brat is craftier than a fox; it must be his twisted idea."

"Right now, he has a grudge against the Young Master, so releasing Long Er is just a way to spite you, Master."

Lu Qiao hurriedly chimed in.

"Damn it all, it's always the thing I fear most that happens!" Master Zhang Si was so angry he slapped the table.

"Section Chief Lu, you aren't very effective as the second-in-command of the Jinhai Station."

"By rights, you should have been personally overseeing things at the Shuitun Prison this afternoon."

"Instead, you went off to show yourself before Commander Chen."

"Sigh, you're being sold out and you're still happy about it."

"So much for being a veteran of the intelligence system; I think you're nothing special."

Yang Wenquan gave a cold, sinister laugh, exposing the secret behind it all.

"I..." Lu Qiao's face darkened; he immediately realized he had been lured away from his post by that old fox Wu Jingzhong.

"Wu Jingzhong is greedy for money; it must have been Hong Zhiyou who gave him that rotten idea."

At this moment, he could only shift the blame onto Hong Zhiyou.

"Sigh, Old Lu, I really overestimated you."

"If I had known you were only capable of this, I would have joined Wu Jingzhong's camp directly. By now, the grain business would be mine, and Long Er would be in hell."

"Why was I so possessed as to trust you?"

As the local kingpin of Jinhai, Master Zhang Si didn't hold back at all.

Bang!

He suddenly stood up, drew his sidearm, and pressed it against Lu Qiao's forehead: "Lu, if it weren't for the fact that your son works with my Shaojie, I would shoot you dead right now."

"Master, I..." Lu Qiao was covered in cold sweat, unable to argue.

"Master, you are thinking too highly of Wu Jingzhong."

"You're pointing that gun at the wrong person."

"Right now, the Red agents are very active in Jinhai. If Wu disappears, we can just say the Red agents did it. What could Dai possibly do?"

Yang Wenquan picked up some food with his chopsticks and said calmly.

"Officer Yang, you want me to get rid of Wu..." A fierce glint flashed in Master Zhang Si's eyes.

He wasn't stupid.

The 94th Army was afraid of Wu Jingzhong investigating the resale of military supplies; Yang Wenquan was using him as a pawn.

But as someone in the same boat, he had no choice but to be that blade.

"Section Chief Lu, you wouldn't report the Master, would you?" Yang Wenquan looked at Lu Qiao.

Cold sweat poured down Lu Qiao's face.

He regretted everything now.

Originally, he had used his son's connection to get in with Master Zhang Si to skim some kickbacks from the docks every month.

Who would have thought this was a man-eating tiger?

Wu Jingzhong was a Major General and a station chief.

Assassinating a high-ranking official of that level—if this came to light, everyone present would be executed.

"Station Chief Wu has always been cautious and heavily guarded; you two should reconsider," he could only advise in a low voice.

"Heh!" Yang Wenquan gave a dry laugh and stopped talking.

"Father, in my opinion, there is someone who must be eliminated right now," said Zhang Shaobai.

"Who?"

"Hong Zhiyou," said Zhang Shaobai.

"This person has ruined our affairs time and again. Last night, he was still flirting with Mu Wanqiu; he clearly doesn't care about my death warrant or your face, Father."

"It's the perfect time to kill him and teach Wu Jingzhong a lesson."

Zhang Shaobai said through gritted teeth.

"In the underworld, face is everything. Zhang Shao gave him seven days; if the Hong fellow doesn't die, the rumors outside won't sound very good," Yang Wenquan continued to fan the flames.

Eliminating Wu Jingzhong would set a precedent.

Even if Boss Dai sent another trusted aide, they wouldn't dare wade into the muddy waters of Jinhai.

No matter how this game was played, it was all benefit and no harm to him.

"Fine, then we'll get rid of the Hong fellow," Master Zhang Si decided.

"Father, I've investigated. That brat is staying at the station. He definitely won't come out these next few days, so I don't have a chance to strike."

"Section Chief Lu, I'll have to trouble you to open a door for us tomorrow night and let my men slip into the station."

"This little favor shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Zhang Shaobai took back the box on the table and pulled out only one bar, placing it in front of Lu Qiao.

Yang Wenquan watched from the side with a cold sneer.

Master Zhang Si stroked the bolt of his gun.

"I... I will try my best." Lu Qiao was under immense pressure and could only bite the bullet and agree.

Jinhai Station, inside the secretary's office.

"Zhiguo, it's getting late, go back and get some sleep." Hong Zhiyou glanced at his watch, cleared the chessboard, and handed Mi Zhiguo a silver dollar.

"Thank you, Brother Hong." Mi Zhiguo bowed several times and left, beaming.

Hong Zhiyou stood up and stared at the telephone.

A moment later, the phone rang.

It hung up after three rings.

This was the secret signal he and Long Er had agreed upon.

Three rings meant the first step of the plan had succeeded, and things were progressing smoothly on Long Er's end.

Hong Zhiyou quickly put on his coat, left the station through the side door, retrieved a box from a small shed, and hailed a rickshaw straight to Guilin Road.

Arriving in front of the mansion, he pressed the doorbell.

Lu Qiao returned to his mansion on Guilin Road, feeling utterly dejected.

Ten gold bars, damn it, and he only got one.

The problem was that this money was burning a hole in his pocket.

He felt he was heading down a path of no return.

The development of events had exceeded his expectations.

As a veteran agent with deep hidden motives, Lu Qiao hated this loss of control.

Yang Wenquan was a key member of the garrison.

He wanted Wu Jingzhong dead, wouldn't get a drop of blood on his own hands, and had people above him covering for him.

And himself?

He claimed to be a fellow townsman of Zheng Jiemin, but in reality, he was just a small fry.

He knew the rules of the Military Statistics Bureau very well.

Assassinating a superior officer—not to mention the execution of nine generations of his family, his whole family wouldn't stand a chance of survival.

"No, I can't keep playing this game."

"I have to find a way to jump ship, otherwise it's death."

Lu Qiao secretly made up his mind.

As soon as he entered the house, before he could even put down his bag, he saw Hong Zhiyou and his wife stand up.

"Section Chief Lu!" Hong Zhiyou bowed respectfully.

"Qiaoshan, Little Hong came to see you," Mrs. Lu said with a smile.

"Guifang, you go and rest first."

Lu Qiao ordered, sounding somewhat exhausted.

Mrs. Lu left very tactfully.

"Did you release Long Er?" Lu Qiao asked while loosening his tie.

"It was Inspector Huang who found the Station Chief; Director Yu and I were just following orders," Hong Zhiyou said.

"Sit down and talk."

Lu Qiao changed into slippers, served tea, crossed his legs, and asked with a smile, "Long Er gave you quite a lot, didn't he?"

"It's alright," Hong Zhiyou replied with a knowing look.

"Sigh, they transferred me to the Garrison Headquarters for a meeting, and all I got was a line about the future of the Party and State being mine.

"They fooled me into running until my legs were crippled, and I still felt pretty good about it.

"It's truly brilliant; no wonder he's the Station Chief."

Lu Qiao nodded his head in rhythm with his tone, sighing with a cold laugh.

"Section Chief Lu, I know you have a misunderstanding about me.

"I have no background; I have to do whatever the Station Chief says.

"Recently, the matters regarding the grain store and Long Er have blocked your path; this is the helplessness of being a small pawn.

"You are a magnanimous man, please be understanding."

As Hong Zhiyou spoke, he took out a small box he had prepared and opened it.

Inside were one thousand US dollars and several gold bars.

"What is the meaning of this?" Lu Qiao adjusted his round-rimmed glasses and asked with a squinting smile.

"Section Chief Lu, you are a Lieutenant Colonel, and I am just a lowly Second Lieutenant; if you were to make things difficult for me, it would be more than enough to handle.

"The road ahead is long, and I am still counting on your promotion and care.

"As for blocking your path, I had no choice.

"But in how I conduct myself, I do have a choice.

"This is the benefit Long Er gave me; not a cent is missing, it's all here. I hope Section Chief Lu can let go of your anger."

Hong Zhiyou looked into his eyes, his tone incomparably sincere.

If money is gone, it can be earned again.

Right now, this person must be stabilized; the Intelligence Section is not to be trifled with, and if Lu Qiao were truly determined to keep an eye on him, it would be easy as pie and a troublesome affair.

Moreover, he and old Lu had no personal grievances to begin with.

It was not an unsolvable dead end.

As for killing old Lu, that was Zhang Zui's job; he wouldn't take that risk.

In a word, anything that can be solved with money is not a problem.

"Sigh, one rank higher in officialdom can crush a man!

"You've had it hard too; I'm quite pleased you have this sentiment.

"It's getting late, go back and rest."

Lu Qiao waved his hand, issuing an order to leave.

"Very well!"

Hong Zhiyou had no extra words and rose to leave.

Just as he left, Li Guifang walked out from inside, looking at the US dollars and gold bars on the table, her mouth agape:

"Old Lu, you say he's just a small secretary, where did he get so much money?"

"Can an imperial envoy be short of money?" Lu Qiao sneered.

"I think this little Hong is quite capable of handling things.

"By the way, our child said that all levels of officialdom and merchants in Jingling are in urgent need of red wine, and they entrusted us to get a batch from Jinmen; we could earn quite a bit.

"Little Hong said he has connections and knows people who can get French goods."

Li Guifang said.

"This person is very dangerous and has many methods.

"Just now, when he gave me these, he didn't even blink an eye.

"This is not a small sum.

"To be so young and able to weigh the importance of things, to be able to bend and stretch—it's not simple.

"I underestimated him before."

Lu Qiao let out a long sigh.

"By the way, what about Fourth Master Zhang's side..." Li Guifang asked in a low voice.

Lu Qiao's expression turned gloomy and ugly:

"Try to have as little contact with the Zhang family as possible from now on.

"They are a bunch of lunatics; they actually want to assassinate the Station Chief and Hong Zhiyou."

"Ah!

"That's a matter that costs heads; you must not be foolish.

"If I had known Jinmen was this dangerous, we would have been better off staying in Shancheng."

Li Guifang was terrified.

"Rest assured, I'm not that stupid.

"They wouldn't dare touch Wu Jingzhong for the time being, but it's hard to say for Hong Zhiyou.

"I heard rumors that they want to finish him off inside the station."

Lu Qiao said.

"Then you must hurry and save little Hong.

"He just helped the Station Chief catch Long Er, and if he gets killed right after, not to mention it happening inside the station.

"Wu Jingzhong will definitely think it was you who did it; if an investigation is launched, with those house rules, even if they don't kill you, they'll skin you alive."

Li Guifang was anxious and at a loss.

"What are you panicking about? Do you think I don't know the stakes involved here?

"Rest assured, I definitely intend to protect Hong Zhiyou.

"Don't go anywhere these next few days, just stay at home."

Lu Qiao glared at her in annoyance.

He stood up and walked to the window.

The moonlight was like smoke, and people were like smoke too.

Now, he was clearly walking on the edge of a cliff.

Hong Zhiyou!

May the Heavens bless him; I hope he truly has great wisdom, can break the Zhang family's dead end, and lead himself to liberation.

(End of this chapter)