Ye Qing and Zhao Chengshuang both turned their heads at the same time and saw Li Lianshan coming over quickly with a few people, and it was indeed him who had just spoken.
"What do you mean I better forget about it?" Zhao Chengshuang asked oddly, knowing that Li Lianshan became friends with Ye Qing, and his attitude towards Li Lianshan had improved.
Li Lianshan walked over and said with a smile, "Captain Zhao, being a police officer, of course, protecting people is the best thing to do. But those three girls have to go to work every day, and you can't possibly assign a team to follow them around all the time, can you?"
"Uh..." Zhao Chengshuang scratched his head, the statement was indeed true.
"Little Ye, leave this matter to me!" Li Lianshan said to Ye Qing: "My guys have a lot more free time. I'll assign a few of them specifically to protect them during their commutes, there shouldn't be any problems."
"Are you sure you can handle it?" Zhao Chengshuang sounded uncertain.
Li Lianshan responded, "What could be wrong with that? My brothers may not be skilled, but they are loyal. Unless they are dead, those girls will certainly be safe."
"That's not necessary," Ye Qing waved his hand and said, "Actually, the main thing is just to keep an eye on them. If there really is any danger, someone could send a message, and that would let me know who is causing them trouble—that's enough."
"No problem, leave it to me!" Li Lianshan promised promptly.
"If anything happens, call me first. I am a police officer after all; it's more convenient for me to handle things." Zhao Chengshuang glanced at Ye Qing, actually fearing that Ye Qing, acting in anger, might kill someone again and make things bigger than necessary.
Li Lianshan nodded, "No problem."
Zhao Chengshuang gave a sigh of relief and then turned to Li Lianshan, asking, "By the way, what brings you to the hospital in the middle of the night?"
Li Lianshan replied, "To see my foster son, of course."
Xiao Mao, who had his arm broken by Yang Wei last time, had been taken in as a foster son by Li Lianshan. With no children of his own, Li Lianshan cared greatly for his foster son and would visit him in the hospital at least once every day.
Zhao Chengshuang grimaced and said, "What time is it now? Who comes to the hospital to visit patients in the dead of night?"
"You know my situation, I'm usually busy at night and by the time I'm done, it's already this hour. I can't sleep at home anyway, so I just drop by to check in. I didn't expect to hear such big news just as I reached the hospital entrance." Li Lianshan looked at Ye Qing and said, "I was wondering recently who has been constantly clashing with the Lins.
It turns out to be you—that's why he tried to trap you last time."
Hearing this, Zhao Chengshuang huffed angrily, saying, "Damn it, to think I treated him as one of us. I even called him to help Little Leaf out. I didn't expect him to take advantage of the situation . I'm completely done with him now!"
Li Lianshan said, "You definitely know what kind of person Boss Lin is better than I do. I say you're not doing your job as a police officer well enough—why don't you arrest that kind of person, leaving him to cause trouble for others?"
Zhao Chengshuang exhaled and said, "You think you can just arrest anybody? First, you need concrete evidence that he was behind all these things, right? Even if we prove it's his doing, considering the power of the Lin family, catching him won't be easy. His followers know too well about his strong background, so they dare not betray him. As a result, we have no sufficient evidence or witnesses.
Not to mention arresting him, even looking at him the wrong way might lead him to complain to my aunt. Last time I saw him, wasn't I scolded by my aunt? Not a single hair on him was harmed."
Li Lianshan fumed, "Your aunt is a foolish old woman!"
"Keep your voice down, keep your voice down," Zhao Chengshuang gestured with his hand, "My aunt can't be called foolish; it's mainly because she raised Boss Lin with her own hands. She's extremely indulgent and trusts him. As long as Boss Lin says he didn't do those things; she believes he really didn't do them. What can you do about that?"
"Damn!" Li Lianshan cursed under his breath. He had some understanding of the Lin family dynamics and certainly knew of the old woman's status in the family. If she decided to protect Boss Lin, who could touch him? No wonder Boss Lin had been getting away with so many heinous acts in the city for a long time; it was all closely related to Old Lady Lin.
After chatting casually for a while, Ye Qing accompanied Li Lianshan to see Xiao Mao. Xiao Mao was recovering quite well these days and would probably be discharged from the hospital after a while. Li Lianshan had already found them a house to move into after Xiao Mao's discharge.
With Li Lianshan as his adoptive father, Xiao Mao's mood had visibly improved. Granny could finally take a break as Li Lianshan rented a bed for her to stay by Xiao Mao's side every day, which for her was the greatest luxury.
Li Lianshan stood outside the ward looking at Xiao Mao and sighed softly, "Little Ye, you're right. Taking in a child is not as simple as just a few words; it's also a responsibility. These past few days, I've been thinking, with all the things I've done, could there be some retribution coming for me?"
Ye Qing looked at Li Lianshan, who lit a cigarette, took a deep breath, and then continued with struggle in his voice, "I'm not afraid of retribution. Who doesn't have some blood on their hands to stand firm in this society? But, I'm fearful the retribution will fall on Xiao Mao. He's just a child who knows nothing, and he has absolutely nothing to do with the things I've done.
How can I let him suffer the consequences?"
Ye Qing replied, "Then do fewer things that outrage heaven and man, and accumulate more virtue."
"Heh heh..." Li Lianshan forced a bitter smile and said, "Little Ye, of all the people involved in Shenchuan City's underworld, I dare say I'm the cleanest of the lot. I don't throw people into the fire pit, nor do I force the innocent into prostitution. What I do is nothing compared to those other bosses. If you're saying I'm defying heaven and reason, what exactly does that mean?
If I don't do these things, there are plenty of others who will clamor to do them. If I don't, I can only be eliminated by this society and then slowly devoured by others, ending up dead on the streets. Society has already become ; I can only adapt to it!"
Ye Qing remained silent. Having spent such a long time in Shenchuan City, he had come to realize the true nature of this city filled with dazzling lights and wine. Just as Li Lianshan had said, society had already become . However, Ye Qing's thoughts were different from Li Lianshan's. Li Lianshan wanted to conform to this society, while Ye Qing, he wanted to change it!
The next day, bright and early, Ye Qing brought some food to visit Scar Lee. On the way, a few people tailed him, but Ye Qing casually turned into several alleys and shook off the people following him.
Scar Lee hadn't slept well all night; he woke up from nightmares now and then. At the first chance, he would press himself against the window to look down, checking if Boss Lin's people had caught up to him. In the morning, Ye Qing's knock on the door startled Scar Lee, who immediately jumped up to hide behind it.
"Stop hiding, it's me!" Ye Qing whispered.
Upon hearing Ye Qing's voice, Scar Lee finally took a breath of relief. He went to open the door to let Ye Qing in, still cautiously peeking outside to make sure no one was following before hurriedly closing the door. But still not reassured, he ran to the window to look outside again.
"No need to check again; no one is following," Ye Qing said as he placed the food on the table. "Come on, eat something first."
Scar Lee, having been hungry all night, was now starving. He grabbed a pancake and wolfed it down. After gulping down a large glass of soy milk, feeling a bit more comfortable in his stomach, he looked at Ye Qing and said, "What's happening outside now? Is Boss Lin still sending people to find me?"
"What do you think?" Ye Qing replied with a question.
Scar Lee sighed and said dejectedly, "How long do I have to hide in this place? What exactly are you planning to do about Boss Lin? Do you need me to tell you the locations of his other stash spots?"
"Not necessary," Ye Qing shook his head.
"Why not?" Scar Lee asked, puzzled. "Haven't you been looking for his stash spots? Haven't you been flipping his joints over? I'm quite familiar with those spots. Boss Lin is short-handed, and those stash spots are barely guarded. With your skills, you could take down all those spots by yourself!"
"I know," Ye Qing said with an indifferent expression. "However, those stash spots you know about are already empty!"
"What? How come?" Scar Lee's face was full of surprise.
Ye Qing explained, "Boss Lin is convinced that you've teamed up with me, and you know the locations of his stash spots. In that situation, do you think Boss Lin would dare keep the goods and his people there?"
Scar Lee fell silent, and after a while, he said in a low voice, "So, what are you planning to do? I can't just stay holed up here forever."
Ye Qing said, "I need to find someone first."
"Who?" Scar Lee asked curiously.
"I'll tell you in the afternoon," Ye Qing stood up. "This food will be enough for you for the day. Don't go running around for the day. If something comes up, just call me!"
"Oh." Scar Lee looked at Ye Qing with confusion. To be honest, he was finding Ye Qing more and more inscrutable as time went on.
After leaving the motel, Ye Qing wound through a few more alleys before he emerged onto the main street and nonchalantly went to work.
In the morning, Lin Huayu had two classes, then she was free in the afternoon. But even then, Ye Qing wasn't idle; if Lin Huayu went shopping, he had to accompany her since he was currently her personal bodyguard.
Lin Huayu, the heiress, shared a common trait with other girls—she particularly enjoyed shopping. As Ye Qing was her bodyguard, he spent most of his time on the streets. After a few days, he couldn't help but marvel at Lin Huayu's stamina—this girl's shopping endurance was truly boundless.
In the afternoon, Lin Huayu took Ye Qing to East Lake Park to stroll and have fun. The park had a nice scenery, and next to it was an alley filled with many small stalls selling all sorts of trinkets.
On a whim, Lin Huayu decided to browse these alley stalls with Ye Qing. As Ye Qing walked through the alley, he suddenly spotted a familiar face.
(The update schedule has been adjusted to two chapters in the morning at nine and one chapter in the evening at six.)