Chapter 155: Seeing It Through to the End (Part Two)

Hearing Kang Ning’s words, both Luo Ming and Xiaofeng perked up. Luo Ming looked at Kang Ning and said with excitement, "Brother Hua, you are a capable person. Your idea will definitely work!"

Kang Ning waved his hand and said in a low voice, "I tried several dishes at your restaurant today, and I think they are very good. There are quite a few customers tonight, which shows that as long as no one bullies you, your business will definitely get better and better if you keep going. That's why I've been thinking just now: could you discuss this with Auntie Si, and have Xiao and her invest a small share—giving her one to two percent for free—while operating under her signboard, treating your place as one of her branch restaurants? Judging by the connections with Auntie Si that you mentioned, once she agrees, your tax and fee issues will be easily resolved. This will not only save some expenses, but also provide mutual support if anything comes up in the future."

Xiaofeng and Luo Ming’s eyes lit up. After discussing for a moment, Xiaofeng said, "This shouldn't be too difficult. Auntie Si is a straightforward person, shrewd in business, and very loyal. Plus, with us paying her dividends every month, I think she will definitely be willing."

After discussing some specific implementation methods, Kang Ning saw that it was already half past eleven, so he stood up to bid farewell to Luo Ming and Xiaofeng. Luo Ming tried every possible way to keep Kang Ning from leaving at this hour, repeatedly offering to book a room for him at a nearby hotel to rest. These suggestions were eventually politely declined by Kang Ning.

Kang Ning whispered a few words to Luo Ming as he walked him to the car. Although puzzled, Luo Ming nodded in agreement.

Bidding farewell to the young couple, Kang Ning turned his car around and headed toward Xiguan. The weather in the late autumn night was already quite cold. There were barely any cars on the main streets, and pedestrians were even scarcer.

In less than ten minutes, Kang Ning found the antique-style Yixiang Teahouse. He drove in a circle around the teahouse and saw that the Chu brothers' Santana was parked on one side of the teahouse entrance, next to only an old Toyota Camry. Kang Ning then drove away.

After much effort, he found a public telephone booth a few hundred meters away from the county government office. Kang Ning pulled over to the side, walked up to the booth, took out a calling card, and made a call.

First, he obtained the telephone number of the Dongguan Police Station duty room through 114, and then got through to the duty room. After some smooth-talking, posing as a newly arrived Discipline Inspection Commission secretary and using a mix of tough and soft tactics, he effortlessly obtained the instructor's cell phone number.

Hanging up the phone, Kang Ning recited it three times in his mind, then drove his off-road vehicle to the front of a closed clothing store fifty meters to the left of the teahouse. He took off his non-commissioned officer uniform, changed into a dark jacket, tidied up slightly, got out, locked the car doors, and swaggered toward the Yixiang Teahouse.

Under the current circumstances, Kang Ning, who had long since prepared to go on the run, was not worried about being recognized in this unfamiliar Zhouzhi County town. Moreover, armed with the equivalent of a imperial sword, his experience was growing daily, and he had repeatedly considered and prepared contingency measures.

Walking into the teahouse lobby, there were very few people under the dim lights. An attentive waitress approached him with a smile and greeted him: "Good evening, sir! Are you heading to the second floor or the third floor?"

Kang Ning asked with a smile, "Is there a difference between the second and third floors?"

The waitress smiled and replied, "The second floor is the chess and card area, and the third floor consists of bathhouse rooms. Is this your first time here, sir?"

"Yes! I'm from the Administration for Industry and Commerce, just transferred here a few days ago. Which floor is Section Chief Chu on?" Kang Ning replied calmly.

The waitress smiled even more sweetly: "No wonder I haven't seen you around; you must be Brother Chu's new colleague. Brother Chu is playing mahjong in Private Room No. 7 on the second floor. Let me show you up."

Kang Ning said thank you but didn't move his feet: "How many people are in Brother Chu's room? If it's all colleagues, I might feel embarrassed going up. Is his younger brother there?"

"Don't worry, there are four people in the room right now. Aside from Brother Chu, the other three are bosses from Shanxi. Brother Chu's younger brother, Brother Jun, is getting a massage on the third floor and probably won't come down for a while." The waitress found the handsome and polite Kang Ning very appealing, so she answered amiably and in detail.

Kang Ning nodded and declined the waitress's offer to guide him: "Thank you. I can go up by myself. I'll just pop in to say hello and report for a moment, then I have to hurry back to the bureau for overtime."

Under the waitress's admiring gaze, Kang Ning strode up the stairs to the second floor. Taking a careful look at the smoky second-floor lobby, he saw that all seven or eight mahjong tables were fully occupied. Everyone was engrossed in gambling and had no time to spare a glance at him.

Kang Ning checked the room numbers on both sides and strode down the right corridor. Standing outside Private Room No. 7, he listened for a moment, then turned the spherical door lock and entered on his own.

The private room was thick with cigarette smoke. The four men who were deeply engrossed in playing mahjong had yet to react when Kang Ning, having locked the door from the inside, had already reached the mahjong table.

The man surnamed Chu, facing the doorway, had a cigarette clamped in his mouth. Seeing the unfamiliar Kang Ning, he looked displeased.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to bark a question, the icy-faced Kang Ning moved with lightning speed, striking left and right without hesitation to drop the men on either side of Section Chief Chu. Following that, with a casual sweep of his palm, he knocked unconscious the man with his back to him who was just trying to raise his head. Within seconds, only the dumbfounded man surnamed Chu remained, staring in terror at Kang Ning as the cigarette butt dropped from his mouth onto the velvet-covered mahjong table without him even realizing it.

Kang Ning stepped forward, clamped his hand around Chu's fat neck, leaned his face close, and whispered word for word: "Someone gave me fifty thousand to take one of your younger brother's arms. Considering that you are a man of some status and haven't committed too many evils, I'll spare your life for today. Remember, commit fewer wrongful deeds from now on, or next time not even the Jade Emperor can save the lives of you and your family!"

With that, Kang Ning struck Chu unconscious with a single palm blow, quickly gathered the five handbags in the room, placed them on the mahjong table, opened them one by one, and sorted out the seventy to eighty thousand yuan in hundred-yuan bills from the table and bags. He shoved all of it into one of the slightly larger genuine leather handbags, ignoring all the loose change and various other items.

Pulling the zipper of the bulging handbag shut, he held the handbag in one hand and grabbed a mobile phone from the table with the other, walking toward the door. After opening it and observing for a moment, he closed the door and calmly left.

Walking downstairs, Kang Ning flashed a bright smile at the smiling waitress near the stairwell, said thank you, and strode out the door. The waitress even warmly escorted him outside.

Five minutes later, Kang Ning parked the car ahead of Luo Ming's restaurant. Luo Ming, waiting anxiously by the door, hurried over at Kang Ning's signal and asked anxiously outside the car window, "Brother Hua, it's the middle of the night. What's the deal with having me wait?"

Kang Ning lifted the handbag from the passenger seat, took out all the money inside, wrapped it neatly in newspaper, turned around, and shoved it straight into Luo Ming's arms. "Brother, your big brother is leaving this place. Once I go, it might be hard for us to meet again in this lifetime. I don't have any gift for you, so just consider this a small token of my appreciation. You must not tell anyone about this. If your wife Xiaofeng asks about it later, just tell her I lent it to you, just like last time. Never tell anyone you saw me. Alright, I wish your business grows bigger and bigger. Go back to sleep!"

The shocked Luo Ming wanted to say something, but Kang Ning had already quickly started the car and headed east, disappearing into the distant darkness shortly after.

Regaining his senses, Luo Ming looked around and found that there wasn't even the shadow of a dog on the silent street. He hurriedly ran into the restaurant, closed the door, and walked quickly to the cash register under the light. He placed the newspaper parcel on the desk and opened it.

Upon seeing the seventy to eighty thousand yuan in hundred-yuan bills, Luo Ming collapsed onto a chair, staring blankly at the money, his entire body trembling. Suddenly, Luo Ming turned and ran like a madman toward the front door, his maimed and sound hands fumbling frantically at the door bolt. Throwing open the door, he rushed outside, staring dazedly into the pitch-black east. The blood welling from the wound on his mutilated hand, cut by the door bolt, dripped one drop at a time onto the dust-covered steps.

Kang Ning drove five kilometers before slowing down. He took out the cell phone he had grabbed and called Auntie Si's sworn brother. After dialing three times in a row, an angry voice finally came through the phone: "Who the hell is this?! In the middle of the night..."

Kang Ning raised his voice and spoke in a Sichuan dialect, "Are you Fang Jinxian?"

"Who are you?"

Kang Ning sneered and said, "I'm Chu Zhiliang's buddy. Our group of brothers is currently playing cards in Private Room No. 7 on the second floor of the Yixiang Teahouse. You eyeless piece of trash actually dared to offend our Brother Chu; I'm afraid your days are numbered! Stop flapping your gums, you bastard—if you've got the guts, come catch us! Aren't you just a tiny little instructor, you jerk? What other skills do you have besides crawling between women's legs? If you don't dare to come arrest us, daddy is your grandfather today! Haha, our Brother Chu said he's going to deal with you turtle descendants one of these days. He's going to rape and then kill all your women, hahahaha..."

"I'll fuck your mother..." Fang Jinxian's voice was high-pitched and furious.

Kang Ning's retort was even more devastating: "Not only will I fuck your mother, I'll fuck your entire family! You better wash your ass clean. Our Brother Chu said that since his group of brothers have nobody else left to fuck, they'll fuck you last! Hahahaha..."

With that, Kang Ning tossed the snatched cell phone out of the car window. After driving forward for a few more kilometers, he also threw the empty handbag used to hold the money out of the window.

The reason Kang Ning didn't give the bag along with the money to Luo Ming was out of fear of leaving a hidden hazard for him, which was why he had taken the money out and wrapped it in newspaper instead.

After disposing of these items, Kang Ning felt extremely relaxed. He rolled up the car windows, hummed a little tune, and hurried toward Shangzhou overnight. Actually, Kang Ning really wanted to visit the ancient city of Xi'an; seeing the Terracotta Army of Lintong had always been one of his wishes. However, considering his personal safety, time constraints, and other factors, he had to choose to avoid cities that might have military garrison patrol inspections.

What Kang Ning least expected was that his mischievous prank on Auntie Si's sworn brother would ultimately result in a major incident that shocked Zhouzhi: The exasperated Fang Jinxian immediately crawled out of Auntie Si's bed upon hanging up the phone, hurriedly summoned his subordinates, and rushed to the Yixiang Teahouse in Xiguan. Without a word of explanation, they burst into the teahouse to search everywhere, and ultimately gave the four "heroic" members led by Chu a thorough beating in the second-floor private room.

Upon seeing this, the teahouse owner immediately dialed 110 to report the crime. By the time the brothers from the nearby Xiguan Police Station arrived, over a dozen improperly dressed massage girls along with Chu and fifty-odd other gamblers and patrons were all escorted to the ground floor lobby by Fang Jinxian's twenty-odd righteous-looking subordinates, leaving the Xiguan police station chief, unable even to put in a good word, to turn around and walk away in frustration.

The shrewd Fang Jinxian knew very well that his anger had broken the unwritten rules, so he simply decided to turn it to his advantage by calling the bureau chief in the middle of the night. He reported in detail how he had received an insider tip and cleverly attributed all the credit to his leadership, while quietly reporting the seizure of over two hundred thousand yuan in gambling funds and asking the leadership for instructions.

The leader, woken up mid-sleep, completely reversed his initial angry tone and offered Fang Jinxian enthusiastic encouragement and praise. He immediately stated that this case would be handled solely by Fang Jin, with only one requirement: punish them strictly and heavily, leaving no future troubles!