Du Zhaohui was attacked on his way to the airport.
Early in the morning, Tang Hong’en received this news.
“Is Du Zhaohui alright?”
“He only suffered minor injuries, but I heard his driver and bodyguard who were with him – one died and one was severely injured. Among those who attacked Young Master Du, five were killed, but some escaped.”
Secretary Peng relayed the latest news.
Tang Hong’en was certainly unhappy.
Just after finalizing some business agreements with Du Zhaohui, he gets attacked – who was trying to prevent Du Zhaohui from doing legitimate business in Pengcheng?
That Hong Kong style of doing things shouldn’t be brought to the mainland – all this violence, is this still the party and people’s country or not?
“This matter must be thoroughly investigated. Every investor is someone we need to protect. How can foreign investors have confidence in our Special Economic Zone if it’s not safe?”
When life and property couldn’t be guaranteed, it was indeed a fatal blow to investors’ enthusiasm.
Although Tang Hong’en suspected this was Hong Kong’s Du family conflict spilling over to the mainland, he was determined to investigate thoroughly. Some people needed to be warned that the mainland wasn’t a place where they could do whatever they pleased!
Du Zhaohui and his bodyguard must have had firearms to kill five people, but the Yangcheng police said nothing, proving Du Zhaohui had already handled the evidence. The deceased driver took the blame for carrying weapons.
Tang Hong’en knew this matter wouldn’t end well. It had been hard enough to persuade Du Zhaohui in the first place, and now Du Zhaohui definitely wouldn’t let this go!
The police bureau took it very seriously – this was a major incident for the entire Yue Province.
After this summer’s crackdown, such violent incidents resulting in multiple deaths have become rare. Now another one had occurred, involving a Hong Kong merchant no less – this reflected poorly on the entire provincial police system!
Due to the high priority of the case, the identities of the deceased were quickly discovered.
Among the six dead, one was Du Zhaohui’s driver, his body burned beyond recognition.
Of the remaining five, two were from Yangcheng, while the other three’s identities were unknown.
“Two of them had criminal records and were just released from prison this year.”
Ex-convicts easily fell back into crime – society wouldn’t accept them, and crime became their means of survival. There was also a psychology of revenge; with people’s strange looks, they felt they might as well do bad things to meet expectations!
The piece of steel shrapnel had hit Xia Dajun’s spine. After surgery, his life was saved, but the Yangcheng doctors believed he had a high risk of paralysis.
Du Zhaohui cursed.
One dead, one injured – they’d nearly capsized in the gutter.
Du Zhaohui contacted hospitals in Hong Kong. Money wasn’t an issue; the doctors would heal Xia Dajun.
Lying in his hospital bed after surgery, Xia Dajun had no idea about the doctors’ prognosis of his condition.
“Young Master—”
“Don’t speak. Just hearing your voice gives me a headache.”
Du Zhaohui didn’t want to hear any more requests for care of dependents.
He had originally planned to return to Hong Kong to discuss with Du Chengrong about their recent loss of over ten million in Min Province, wondering if they should temporarily suspend smuggling operations to test the mainland government’s attitude. After the attack, Du Zhaohui completely reversed his previous thinking. Before heaven destroys a person, it first makes them mad – how could they stop smuggling? Du Zhaohui identified Liu Tianquan as the prime suspect, and he was determined to speak up for “Uncle Liu’s family,” to help Liu Tianquan gain more power!
Seeing Xia Dajun in such a pitiful state, Young Master Du rarely spoke gentle words:
“I’ll send you to Hong Kong to see doctors. Remember that guy Ma from last time? We sent him back to Hong Kong from Pengcheng, and now he’s up and about again. Your injury is nothing compared to that!”
Whatever the Young Master said went; Xia Dajun had no thoughts of his own.
Du Zhaohui muttered:
“I owe you all. Fine, don’t you have a son back home? I’ll pay for his college education too.”
Having been through two life-and-death situations with Young Master Du, and with Du Zhaohui not abandoning him but supporting him to walk several miles, Xia Dajun wasn’t as afraid of the Young Master as before. He weakly smiled:
“…No need, Young Master. I don’t have a son, only a daughter, and she’s already been admitted to university.”
Du Zhaohui didn’t believe it.
Everyone said mainland college entrance exams were like hell, getting into university wasn’t easy. With Xia Dajun’s pig brain, how could his daughter get into university?
If Xia Dajun hadn’t been lying in the hospital bed half-dead, Du Zhaohui would have spoken more harshly, asking if Xia Dajun’s ex-wife had been unfaithful before their divorce – how else could their daughter get into university!
She definitely couldn’t be Xia Dajun’s offspring.
Du Zhaohui had initially suspected both the driver and Xia Dajun, but the driver died on the spot, and Xia Dajun was nearly dead too.
Now he suspected that some assistants had been bought off, and leaked his whereabouts due to loose lips, leading to this attack. Du Zhaohui patted Xia Dajun’s shoulder:
“It’s good you didn’t die. I said I’d raise your salary – with your pay, you could support several more women on the mainland. Out with the old, in with the new – have someone give you a son!”
As men, Du Zhaohui understood male psychology.
Some men truly loved their daughters, but men who didn’t want sons were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. Hong Kong had the same attitude, especially in families like the Dus – only sons were valued. Daughters would eventually marry off – should they hand over the Du family’s money to outsiders?
Mainland views were surely more traditional, and Xia Dajun was from the countryside – having only one daughter would surely bring mockery!
Xia Dajun’s sole aim was to earn money to return home, hoping his family would remain intact. Once he made good money, their previous conflicts would surely disappear. Although Liu Fen had slashed him with a knife, Xia Dajun still hoped to reconcile with her. In his view, it was just a couple’s fight – after making up, a wife was still a wife, and their daughter would naturally forgive him too.
When Du Zhaohui suggested finding another woman to bear a “son,” Xia Dajun was somewhat tempted.
But he quickly suppressed the thought. Having a son would be nice.
But if he had this son, Liu Fen and Xia Xiaolan would never speak to him again. Xia Dajun shook his head:
“Young Master, my daughter is very outstanding. There’s no need for a son.”
How outstanding could she be?
Du Zhaohui didn’t take it seriously at all.
Learning that two of the attackers were from Yangcheng, Du Zhaohui planned to investigate himself. Some information was beyond the police’s reach; it needed to be investigated by people from the underworld.
…
Whether Xia Xiaolan was outstanding or not didn’t depend on a Hong Kong rich kid’s evaluation.
Liu Fen and Grandmother Yu had stayed in Beijing for two days, and both wanted to return. Grandmother Yu was cornered by Ji Lin, who wanted to “repay the favor.” After some thought, Grandmother Yu said:
“Then give money.”
Grandmother Yu needed money now, especially to find someone in America. That would require money.
With such a terrifying exchange rate between Chinese currency and US dollars, Grandmother Yu needed to prepare more money.
How much money she needed, Grandmother Yu wasn’t sure.
Ji Lin was also troubled – when it came to personal favors, how much money would be appropriate to repay it?