"That's not right."
Yu Botao seemed to have thought of something, and frowned at Yu Lingxiao, "Dad, why would Chen Jinzhao appear near our house for no reason? Is he trying to steal something from our house?"
Yu Lingxiao glanced at his eldest son and said impatiently, "You only realize that now?"
"Hehe, well, our family doesn't have much to steal, I guess he's so angry his teeth are itching?" Yu Botao said smugly. The evidence of the Yu family's shady dealings was not in the manor at all.
*Slap!*
Yu Lingxiao couldn't help it and slapped Yu Botao on the forehead.
"Dad, why are you..." Yu Botao was confused.
Yu Lingxiao's face was terrifyingly grim, which prevented Yu Botao from saying anything further. He only heard the old man say in a chilling tone, "Chen Jinzhao has already stolen the most precious thing in our family!"
As he spoke.
He looked up at the window of Yu Mengzhi's room.
Yu Mengzhi was currently the Yu family's most precious asset, capable of bringing immense profit. It was easy to guess that Chen Jinzhao was likely there to have a private meeting with Yu Mengzhi, and if nothing unexpected happened, Yu Mengzhi's heart had also been stolen by Chen Jinzhao.
Yu Botao was so angry he immediately wanted to go upstairs to confront Yu Mengzhi, but Yu Lingxiao grabbed him.
"Dad!"
"At this point, you're still protecting her?"
"It concerns the future of my Yu family for generations to come. We absolutely cannot let her act impulsively."
Yu Lingxiao asked with a sullen face, "Are you done?"
"You think you can change her mind with a few words? What do you think you are? You're so impatient with everything you do. Look at you, where is there any trace of my demeanor on you?"
Yu Botao instantly wilted.
But he was still somewhat unconvinced and asked his father how to handle the situation.
Yu Lingxiao's answer was to turn a blind eye and, without alerting Yu Mengzhi, to quickly finalize the marriage alliance between the Yu family and the Qin family.
"Hasn't Qin Fengwu already gone south? I'll personally visit him tomorrow." Yu Lingxiao's deep eyes flashed with sharp light. He wanted to use Qin Fengwu as a sharp sword to cut Chen Jinzhao down!
Three hours later, the sky began to show the color of fish belly white, and the heavy rain that had plagued Ninghai all night turned into a drizzling shower.
While many people were still asleep, a news report about a shooting case appeared on the front pages of major local news portals. The main reason was the extremely unusual identity of the perpetrator—the Yu family's head steward. What made people even more astonished was that Old Master Yu drove to the police station overnight to report Shen Liangping's criminal acts and submitted numerous pieces of evidence, thereby receiving city-wide commendation.
To many, it was simply magical realism.
Several media outlets funded by the Yu family also fueled the fire, shifting the focus of the case to the Yu family's righteous punishment of their own kin, thus winning the public's favor for the Yu family as much as possible.
It had to be said.
It had indeed produced a good effect, causing the Yu family's reputation to rise instead of fall.
When Tao Qiyue learned of these events, she was so angry that she smashed a water cup and vowed to uncover the Yu family's dirty dealings.
When Wang Zhenliang heard about this, he even came over to counsel Tao Qiyue, telling her not to be impatient. Cases like this, he explained, could easily lead to sentences of three to five years, or even a decade.
All she could do was wait, wait for the Yu family to make another mistake.
Wang Zhenliang sighed, "You're still too young, just like I was when I was young, too idealistic, thinking every problem can be solved."
Tao Qiyue looked at Wang Zhenliang in surprise.
In her impression, her direct superior had always been just going through the motions. Why did he seem like a different person lately?
However, Wang Zhenliang's words did give Tao Qiyue some insight.
"Young people, work hard. The future belongs to you. What will the Yu family matter then?" Wang Zhenliang said with a smile, and then told Tao Qiyue, who had been working all night, to go back and rest.
As soon as Tao Qiyue left the office, Zhou Linghui's call came to Wang Zhenliang's desk.
Wang Zhenliang said with a smile, "Deputy Zhou, you're calling me so early in the morning. May I ask what your instructions are?"
Zhou Linghui's tone was somewhat sinister, as if he were struggling to control his anger. "Wang Zhenliang, what is going on? A shooting case of this severity occurred under your jurisdiction! And you even let the media report it. Do you not want this job anymore?"
"Deputy Zhou misunderstands. Letting the media and the public supervise is the best approach. Hiding it would only make it seem like you're trying to cover something up." Wang Zhenliang was not afraid at all, which made Zhou Linghui frown. He thought to himself, why is this brat speaking so boldly? Wang Zhenliang never dared to talk back to him directly before; even if he was unhappy, he would express it in a very tactful manner.
This made Zhou Linghui realize that Wang Zhenliang was starting to have ambitions!
He said meaningfully, "Little Wang, you are eight years younger than me and still have a lot of room for advancement. It's good to want to climb up, but don't resort to any means necessary because of it. Do you understand what I mean?"
Wang Zhenliang knew that Zhou Linghui was warning him.
However, he completely ignored Zhou Linghui and pretended to be confused, saying, "What is Deputy Zhou talking about? I don't understand at all. It is our responsibility to protect the lives and property of the people. Anyone who dares to threaten this is an enemy of the people."
Zhou Linghui was speechless.
He knew that Wang Zhenliang must have understood his meaning and was now pretending to be ignorant.
And he was even using a grand principle to scare him.
That brat!
"Heh heh, of course. Then you must make sure to do as you say." Zhou Linghui hung up the phone without waiting for Wang Zhenliang's reply, cursing Wang Zhenliang incessantly in his heart.
After hanging up the phone, Wang Zhenliang immediately called the mayor to report the situation.
The mayor of Ninghai was getting on in years. His thoughts were similar to Wang Zhenliang's previous ones: he sought no achievements, only to avoid making mistakes.
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
The negative impact brought about by Shen Liangping and Wang Qin had basically disappeared, and everything returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.
During these days, Yu Mengzhi would often come to see Chen Jinzhao, but Chen Jinzhao always maintained a certain distance from her.
What Chen Jinzhao found strange was that Xu Nianqing had been engrossed in her laboratory these past few days. Even when they met, she was still pondering the problems encountered in her experiments, as if she had become a different person.
There wasn't much Chen Jinzhao could do, except to tell her not to overwork herself.
That evening.
As Chen Jinzhao was preparing to leave work, Xu Yaoyao ran to the security room and asked him for a favor. Seeing her hesitating, Chen Jinzhao asked with a smile, "What is it? Is there something you're ashamed to say?"
"It's not a big problem. I just want you to pretend to be my boyfriend." Xu Yaoyao said, lowering her head.
She was already twenty years old, the age to be in a relationship.
Many people at school were interested in Xu Yaoyao, which caused her a lot of distress. Moreover, tonight a second-generation heir had invited her to dinner, and he would likely propose during the meal. How could Xu Yaoyao handle that?
"Brother Jinzhao, just help me this once."