Chapter 45 In Trouble
It had begun to rain heavily, and a round of thunder rolled and rumbled above us. The rain puddled all around us, and I heard the engine of the Bentley suddenly revved into gear. The car didn’t move forward, but the madly spinning wheels splashed the dirt and puddle everywhere, all over my head and clothes.
I wiped at the grime on my face with my hand, holding back the anger that was building up.
“Out of a place to live now have you? With this rain, you look just like the homeless and beat up dog you are. Oh, I know, I’ll take a photo of you and send it to Lin Fang, and let’s see if Lin Fang will still be willing to be with you after seeing that.”
Then he whipped out his phone and began taking photos, then he flaunted it at me.
“Don’t you think you’re a little too old for this, Chen Yuzhou? I remember you doing similar things in school all those years ago, not much of a creative person are you?“
Chen Yuzhou laughed, with hatred seething through his swollen face, “Is that what you think? I beg to differ. Nothing can be more satisfying to me than watching you suffer.”
I gritted my teeth hard, “You think this will make Lin Fang turn back to you!? Don’t be ridiculous! You threatened her father’s life, then you tried to drug her best friend and almost raped her. No sane person would still like you after all that you’ve done.”
“One day, she will be mine. And when that time comes, you’ll see, that there are things that lowlifes like you can never even have a chance to have.”
He gritted his teeth and glared at me too. Though the rain was heavy all around us, the heat and intensity in his eyes was so strong that I could almost see sparks flying off them.
It wasn’t that I couldn’t understand why he hated me so much and was always on my case. In his eyes, by my status, I shouldn’t even be standing before him in his presence. But now, not only was I after the girl he liked, and she even liked me back.
But then, I could say the same of him. What right does someone as dirty as Chen Yuzhou have to even think that he deserved Lin Fang!?
Chen Ruhai said after Chen Yuzhou, “Zhang, my boy, let’s not do anything rash here. Lin Fang and my Yuzhou had always loved each other, why must you force yourself between them? Why don’t you do yourself a favor and just take care of yourself first? Look at all this rain, where are you going to sleep tonight? Right now, in the entire Tong City, who would dare to take you in? Which hotel would even dare to let you inside their premise? I heard that you’ve always been poor and orphaned since you were little, if something should… happen to you, you won’t have anyone to look after you. So think about it, you don’t want all that you’ve worked so hard for and earned for yourself up until now to all disappear, do you?”
I almost vomited in disgust at how hypocritical his words are. Claiming to be looking out for me on one hand while showing off just how far and wide his power and influence reached at the same time. In simple terms, if I should refuse him, he would make it so that I’ll have no place to even live in Tong City.
At that, I simply turned around and walked away with my laptop in my hand.
Chen Ruhai tailed behind me slowly in his Bentley. Inside the car, Chen Yuzhou yelled, “Quickly, father, follow him closely! I want every second of this on video. Let’s see just where he can go, and if any cab driver would dare answer his call…”
I didn’t wait for him to finish. Walking up to a car in the car park, I stopped at its door. It was a Porsche. My Porsche. I pulled on its handle, and hopped on.
Inside the Bentley, Chen Yuzhou’s face froze with his phone camera still pointing in my direction. Chen Ruhai was a little better, but the corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.
Turning on the ignition, the Porsche’s engine roared into life. Chen Ruhai’s Bentley was directly behind me, blocking my way out. I honked at them, but they didn’t respond, or move. Maybe they were just too surprised, or shocked, or whatever, but I cared not. Putting the gear into reverse, I stamped my foot down squarely on the accelerator, as if to ram my car into his.
Perhaps out of love and consideration for his Bentley, Chen Ruhai snapped out of it and immediately backed off and gave way.
I didn’t drive off just like that. Backing my Porsche just a little so that I was right in front of them, I let my window down. Taking a look at his face now stricken with dumbness, I gave him a laugh, “How kind of you, Chen Yuzhou, what a friend and classmate you are. But it looks like I won’t be needing a ride anyway. Oh, and Lin Fang will never be yours, because she is already mine.”
Chen Yuzhou’s hand loosened and his phone slipped out and dropped. Maybe he was surprised by my words, or my car, but in any case, I no longer have any more interest in looking at his stupefied face any longer. Revving up the engine, I kicked my Porsche into gear and it zoomed off like the beast that it is, leaving Chen Ruhai in place with his Bentley.
I actually hadn’t wanted to drive initially. With Chen Ruhai careful personality, seeing that I owned a Porsche would definitely arouse his suspicion. With the Chen’s being as powerful and connected in the Tong City, they really just might be capable of finding out something about me. But then again, what they said might very well be true, since I also don’t think that I’ll be able to find any taxi drivers or hotels willing to take me in tonight.
Indeed, the Juen Corporation was quite a strong company, but even then, they were nothing compared to the massive juggernaut that the Junran Group is. At best, Juen counts as one of the largest and successful upstart companies in the Tong City, while the Junran Group was already a well established brand name on the national level, with branches in all major cities in the country. Financially, if Juen was a towering muscular man, the Junran would be a 100 foot tall giant. If Junran really wanted to crush Juen, it would take even less than a pinch with their little finger.
So then, just how was Chen Ruhai able to become the unstoppable tyrant that people claimed he is in Tong City? How was he able to control the entire Tong City and had them act exactly as how he willed them to?
With the stunts they pulled on the internet, I knew that I probably didn’t have much of a reputation left now, probably more of infamy instead. But even then, that alone shouldn’t be enough to persuade the entire city to turn me down.
I really must hand it to him. This Chen Ruhai really was a sly old fox. He must still have more tricks up his sleeves.
The only other things I knew of him right now was that Deputy Commissioner Xu of the Tong City Police Department is his brother in law, and that Chen Mengyun still must have her network of people in the Tong City Hospital. Adding himself to the picture, this means that the Chen’s have a substantial influence among the law enforcement, the businessmen, and the common crowd, but to be able to exert such control…
….. the mafia. The hidden society that operates alongside and beneath the surface of our normal society.
Taking a glance at the rearview mirror, I saw that the Bentley had been doing its best following my taillight. That made sense. As careful as Chen Ruhai is, he must really want to know just how I was able to come into possession of something like a Porsche, and where I would head to with it. Knowing this would give him information as to what his stance towards me would be, and how he would deal with me.
The rain continued to get heavier, so much that the wiper was having trouble wiping away the rain bombarding my windshield, even on the fastest setting. Looking out from the car, the outside was almost a complete blur.
I headed up and into the highway, and Chen Ruhai followed immediately. He chased tightly behind me, uncaring of whether I might have noticed him or not.
Then, my phone rang. I skimmed at the phone screen to see who had called It was a number from the Tong City Hospital.
“Hi, may I ask whom am I speaking with?” I thought it might be Lin Fang trying to reach me at the hospital, but instead, it was the voice of a man. Zhao Gongming.
“Zhang, have you got a minute? Can I ask a favor of you?”
Taking a glance at the Bentley through my rearview mirror, I decided to decline politely for now. Though I don’t mind helping him out with whatever it might be, I couldn’t do it with these two tagging along behind me.
But before I could speak, Zhao Gongming continued on, with urgency in his voice, “It was Zichen, he is in trouble! He had a major operation this afternoon, so he said that he was going out to drink and relax with some of his colleagues and went out. But I just got news that a fight has broken out at the pub he went to, and I haven’t been able to reach him on his phone ever since. If I could, I would have gone myself, but I have an operation to perform right now, so could you do me a favor and make sure that he is well for Uncle Zhao?”
My first reaction was to make a witty remark about how I’m not a caretaker for hire, and that his son was probably drinking himself silly in the arms of some beautiful girl right now as we speak.
But again, Zhao Gongming didn’t wait for me to reply, “Zhang, please, help me out, I also tried calling his colleagues when I couldn’t reach him, but it turned out that I couldn’t reach them either. You might not know this, but, recently in the hospital the politics and competitions are getting more and more heated. I really am afraid that some individuals would resort to less civilized methods to gain upper hand.”
The more he pled with me, the more I found it difficult to refuse him. And, I did promise him that I would be his son’s personal bodyguard for some time. I will never go back on my word.
I paused to think for a bit, and then agreed, “Alright, Uncle Zhao, send me the address of that pub. I’ll get to it right away.”
Hanging up the call, I slowed down my car a little so the two chasing behind me could catch up. Chen Ruhai read my intention, and sped his car a little to drive parallel alongside me.
I lowered my window, and I saw that he did the same. I called out to them on the highway in the heavy rain, “Uncle, just how long are you going to follow me around for? With all this rain, the road is getting more and more slippery, so why don’t you do yourself a favor and stop following me anymore? If you’re not careful, your precious Bentley that you worked so hard for just might skid and cause an accident. Think about it, I can see that you loved your son a lot, you wouldn’t want to accidentally kill him along with yourself now would you?”
I imitated the way he talked, with the expressed purpose of trying to taunt and enrage them. The result did not disappoint. Chen Ruhai’s face immediately exploded into anger, and Chen Yuzhou even jumped to the backseat to stick his head out through the back window, just to yell at me, “You watch your mouth!”
