DLWAV CH116

So Ao Ruize had long since made the first move to gain the upper hand.

Then, Ao Ruize pulled out a pair of literary play walnuts (wenwan walnuts) and handed them to Sun Jianhong: “These are a pair of Lion’s Head walnuts I opened a few days ago. I also carved a protective array on them. I’m giving them to you to play with, big brother.”

“Then I won’t be polite.”

Sun Jianhong smiled immediately: “I actually had a pair of Lion’s Heads myself, but when I took them out to play with a few days ago, I accidentally lost one and still haven’t found it.”

He accepted the pair of literary play walnuts without hesitation.

After all, he genuinely wanted to make friends with Ao Ruize.

Friends, right? It’s through give and take that a relationship can slowly be cultivated, isn’t it?

Professor Zheng and the others watched this scene, burning with envy.

After all, they had already witnessed Ao Ruize’s formidable abilities.

One could easily imagine that the protective magical artifacts he brought out were absolutely no ordinary items. If only they could get a few for their own families…

However, Sun Jianhong came from the Sun family and had a successful son; his status was no lower than Ao Ruize’s. Furthermore, even before he knew Ao Ruize’s true identity, he had proactively stepped in to help him. Although Ao Ruize didn’t need it, who would refuse an olive branch extended by a good person?

Therefore, it couldn’t have been easier for Sun Jianhong to become friends with Ao Ruize.

But they were different; their status was clear for all to see.

However, even if they couldn’t become friends with Ao Ruize, it didn’t mean they had no chance of trading for a few magical artifacts from him.

The minds of Professor Zheng and the others instantly became active.

Thus, that very afternoon, just as the Zhao family was throwing a massive banquet at the largest hotel near the urban village to celebrate extravagantly, a squad of police officers suddenly stormed in.

“Zhao Cheng, Zhao Li, Zhao Mingde… You are under arrest on suspicion of bribing public officials.”

Zhao Cheng’s eldest brother, Zhao Li, blurted out almost instinctively: “When did we ever bribe public officials?!”

The lead police officer frowned deeply: “The process of applying for a homestead land use certificate includes reviewing documents, investigating the situation, measuring dimensions, and issuing a public notice to ensure there are no disputes over the homestead land, before the certificate can finally be issued… All of this takes at least a month.”

“How did you manage to get the use certificate issued in less than a single day, without ever going through the two steps of measuring the dimensions and issuing a public notice?”

The smug expressions on the faces of Zhao Cheng and the others instantly froze.

They had never imagined that the police coming to their door would actually be for this.

This shouldn’t be—

Zhao Cheng immediately said, “Wait, I need to call my young uncle first.”

Father Zhao also hastily added, “And your sister…”

The lead police officer merely said, “There’s no need. Your young uncle, Zhao Mingyi, has already been arrested for accepting bribes, embezzling public funds, and operating a casino…”

“As for your sister, she is currently on her way to the police station as well.”

Smash!

The phone Zhao Cheng had just pulled from his pocket dropped straight to the floor, the screen shattering into a spiderweb.

One didn’t need to guess to know that these police officers had come prepared.

But on whose orders were they acting?

Could it be Zhang Qingyan and her brother?

No, that was absolutely impossible—

If Zhang Qingyan had this kind of capability, would she need to come buy a house in an urban village?
If Zhang Ruize had these kinds of connections, he wouldn’t be sitting at home unemployed two years after graduating.

But clearly, now was not the time to investigate these things.

Because in the next second, the lead police officer directly ordered: “Take them away.”

The entire Zhao family was arrested.

Just two hours after Zhao Cheng had taken his people and left the Zhang family’s house.

Along with them, quite a few village officials were also taken away.

Old Mrs. Zhang, who had only left a short while ago, came rushing right back: “Qingyan—”

“Did you know? Zhao Mingyi was just a lowly clerk, but over these past ten-plus years, he embezzled over three million from our village!”

“I always said! That Zhao Mingyi was just a clerk earning one or two thousand a month, and his family didn’t have any houses to rent out. When his son got married back then, where did he get so much money to buy a house and a car for his son all at once?!”

But that wasn’t important; what was important was—

“My daughter’s classmate’s cousin’s young niece said that the higher-ups seem dead set on making an example out of the Zhao family!”

“Not just our village—anyone who had any involvement with the Zhao family has been arrested!”

“According to her, just based on what Zhao Cheng’s young uncle did alone, he’s looking at a minimum of fifteen years in prison.”

“As for Zhao Cheng’s family, aside from his eldest sister-in-law who went home to take care of her sick mother and thus wasn’t involved in this matter, every single one of the rest is looking at a minimum of six months in prison.”

“The Zhao family is finished!”

“And as for your house, the Real Estate Administration Bureau has already revoked the property rights certificate that Zhao Cheng held.”

“If Zhao Zhiwei wants to sell your house again, he has to personally return to the country to handle the paperwork.”

“But how would he dare come back now?”

“Don’t forget, he’s Zhao Cheng’s accomplice. If Zhao Cheng’s charges are confirmed, he won’t be able to escape either.”

“So your house is saved!”

But the matter didn’t end there.

An hour later, Old Mrs. Zhang came back again. She said, “Zhao Zhiwei has also been arrested by the police in Country M. They say it’s on suspicion of fraud…”

“How could there be such a coincidence in this world? The moment your family ran into trouble, Zhao Cheng and the others met their retribution right after.”

“See? I told you good people get rewarded. Qingyan, those few things Ruize did back then were absolutely the right things to do.”

Right at this moment, Zhang Qingyan suddenly received a call from her company’s HR manager. The manager said the head office was preparing to select a batch of elites from the subsidiary companies. The company had submitted several resumes a few days ago, and the head office had chosen her, wanting to transfer her to the head office’s planning department as a trainee supervisor. They were asking if she was willing to go.

How could Zhang Qingyan not be willing?

Not only because transferring from a subsidiary to the head office meant her salary and benefits would increase by at least fifty percent, but it also meant she would step onto a higher stage, opening a new chapter in her life.

But wasn’t all of this a bit too coincidental?

Just as Old Mrs. Zhang had said, the moment their family ran into trouble, the Zhao family ran into trouble right after. Not only did they emerge completely unscathed, but she had also received a notice of promotion…

And all of this happened after she made that phone call to Yan Qi.

Thinking back to what Yan Qi had told her at the time—telling her not to worry and that he would help her—Zhang Qingyan couldn’t help but grip her phone tightly.

Could it be Yan Qi who helped her?

But how was that possible?

Wasn’t Yan Qi just a normal working-class person like her?

At the same time, Mother Yan also learned of this matter from her butler.

She never expected Yan Qi’s actions to be this fast.

One could easily imagine how many of the Yan family’s connections Yan Qi had burned through for such a trivial matter.

Her face instantly darkened.

In her view, if it wasn’t Yan Qi helping Zhang Qingyan, who else would have this much power to settle this matter for her?

And then there was Zhang Qingyan’s sudden transfer to the head office—Hailu Daily Chemicals, where Zhang Qingyan worked, was an industry belonging to the Wang family. And the Wang family’s second son was Yan Qi’s college classmate. If he hadn’t spoken up, no matter how capable Zhang Qingyan was, it would have been impossible for her to reach the sky in a single bound and be directly transferred to the head office.

She immediately called Yan Qi.

But Yan Qi actually refused to admit to it, fighting tooth and nail.

What did this mean? This meant Yan Qi truly cared about Zhang Qingyan.

He refused to admit to it in order to dispel her hostility toward Zhang Qingyan.

She absolutely could not allow such a thing to happen.

The daughter-in-law of her Yan family could only be Qian Shanjing—the savior of Zongzheng Ge, the richest man in the Southeast, and someone who could help the Yan family rise to another level.

Thinking of this, she immediately said, “That woman named Zhang Qingyan still doesn’t know Ah Qi’s true identity, does she?”

“Go, tell her Ah Qi’s true identity—”

Mother Yan couldn’t help but let out a cold sneer.

If Zhang Qingyan chose to back off after learning Yan Qi’s true identity, that would naturally be for the best.

But if she dared to seize the opportunity to try and fly up a branch and become a phoenix, then she shouldn’t blame Mother Yan for showing no mercy.

But what none of them knew was that at almost the exact same time, in Qibao Pavilion.

Boss Li introduced enthusiastically: “Come, come, come, Director Wang, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Zhang Ruize.”

“Mr. Zhang, this is Director Wang of Hailu Daily Chemicals.”

Director Wang hurriedly extended her hand.

“Director Wang.”

Ao Ruize reached out and shook her hand.

Ao Ruize naturally knew of Hailu Daily Chemicals, and he also knew that this Director Wang was a person with strong bottom lines and morals. As long as someone worked at her company for a full month, even if they were a temp worker, her company would pay social security for them.

That was why, when Boss Li mentioned that her family had recently encountered some troublesome matters, he ‘proactively’ suggested that Boss Li could bring her to him.

Ao Ruize didn’t waste words: “So, what exactly happened in Director Wang’s family?”

Director Wang immediately said, “It’s like this. Wasn’t it the Ghost Festival last month? Our whole family went back to our hometown to pay respects to our ancestors.”

“But during the ancestor worship, my husband and I had a bit of a conflict. In a fit of anger, I took all the paper sycees and offerings he had burned for his parents and grandfather, and I scattered them all into the wind.”

“Ever since then, my family hasn’t had much peace.”

Boss Li: “…”

He never in a million years expected Director Wang’s trouble to be this.

Thinking about it, it was obvious—Director Wang’s father-in-law and mother-in-law were definitely unhappy and had come looking for her.

But wait, wasn’t Director Wang the one at fault first in this matter?

After all, her parents-in-law had come joyfully to enjoy the offerings, only for their daughter-in-law to scatter them all… If this were in Journey to the West, Hailu Daily Chemicals would suffer a severe drought for three years.

Then, bringing Director Wang over now didn’t seem very appropriate.

He just hoped this wouldn’t end up provoking Ao Ruize’s displeasure.

Who knew Ao Ruize would actually ask: “I wonder what kind of conflict Director Wang and your husband had, that would make you so furious you’d scatter the offerings meant for your husband’s ancestors?”

Director Wang fell silent for a moment: “They say family shame shouldn’t be aired to outsiders, but since things have already reached this point, I have nothing to hide.”

She said, “My husband’s surname is Gao, he is the second son of the Gao family.”

“But my original fiancé was actually the eldest son of the Gao family.”

“It’s just that because the Gao family’s eldest son later got into college, the Gao family felt I was no longer worthy of their eldest son. However, because our area has a custom where if the man’s side breaks the engagement, the woman’s side doesn’t have to return the betrothal gifts, the Gao family didn’t want to lose that sum of money for nothing. Plus, their second son, who had a crippled leg, happened to not be engaged yet. So, keeping my family in the dark, they had Gao Second marry me.”

“You guys know how it was; back then, society was still quite feudal. And since Gao Second treated me fairly well, I ultimately accepted it.”

“But I never expected that a few years later, my good father-in-law would set his sights on me. One time, taking advantage of my mother-in-law and the others going to visit relatives, he actually tried to force himself on me.”

“Naturally, I fought back to the death.”

“What I expected even less was that my mother-in-law and the others had forgotten their money at home and turned back, catching him red-handed.”

“As a result, my good father-in-law turned around and slandered me, saying I was the one who seduced him.”

“My mother-in-law and the others knew perfectly well he was lying, but to save the faces of those two, and to save the Gao family’s face, they flat-out insisted that I was the one who seduced my good father-in-law.”

“Fortunately, Gao Second couldn’t swallow this insult either, and he cut ties with the Gao family alongside me.”

“So until they died, we never interacted with them again.”

“But that was what I thought.”

“It wasn’t until returning to our hometown for ancestor worship this time that I found out: not long after I made my fortune, Gao Second reconnected with the Gao family.”

“All these years, behind my back, he took my money to build a villa and buy luxury cars for the Gao family. After they died, every year he had people burn two large cartloads of offerings for them.”

“And the reason he gave was that, no matter what, those were his biological parents.”

Director Wang couldn’t help but sneer coldly: “He truly is the Gao family’s seed. Just like a dog can’t stop eating shit.”

Hearing this, Boss Li immediately let out a sigh of relief.

Because even he felt that what the Gao family had done was truly unjust.

Director Wang: “That’s why I scattered all the offerings Gao Second burned for them.”

“And then, his parents and the others came knocking on my door.”

“They enter my dreams every single day, controlling me to self-harm.”

As she spoke, Director Wang directly rolled up her sleeves.

Her arms were densely covered in cut marks.

Boss Li: “What?”

“They want your life?!”

The others chimed in as well: “Just because of this?!”

“Where did they get the gall?!”

Director Wang: “It’s not entirely because of this.”

“It’s mainly because after I got back, I cut off Gao Second’s cards, and I’m preparing to divorce him.”

Though not right now.

Because she was the one who made all the money. If she divorced Gao Second, she would have to split half the money with him.

So she was preparing to transfer all the assets first, and then divorce Gao Second.

Furthermore, she had let the word out that from now on, she would only leave her money to those who shared her surname.

So her sons and daughters had all proactively changed their surnames to hers now.

Boss Li: “…”

It would be a miracle if the Gao family people weren’t jumping in rage.

Director Wang: “I’ve already sought out quite a few masters, including several from the Special Affairs Bureau, but none of them are a match for those beasts from the Gao family. Because over all these years, nourished by Gao Second’s offerings, they’ve long since cultivated a formidable set of abilities.”

“So I was wondering if Mr. Zhang has any good methods to help me get rid of them?”

For a moment, everyone turned to look at Ao Ruize.

Ao Ruize: “That’s simple.”

He looked around, then simply took a string of court beads off the shelf: “Boss Li, may I borrow this antique of yours for a moment?”

Boss Li immediately said, “Please go ahead, Mr. Zhang.”

Ao Ruize took a ballpoint pen from the desk, drew a few array patterns on the beads, and handed them directly to Director Wang: “Take this. Tonight, when they come looking for you again, you can use this to catch them.”

Looking at the utterly ordinary-looking court beads in Ao Ruize’s hand, Director Wang: “…”

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