Chapter 158: The Zhou Family
Translator: Lonelytree
With Xiao Lingyu’s concrete evidence, Zhou Hongwei and his two subordinates were convicted of threatening, illegally restricting the freedom of others, and kidnapping.
Jiang Tao ordered a thorough investigation of Zhou Hongwei. Zhou Tanxiong, as a person of interest, was to stay away from work temporarily. If he was found innocent, he could return to work.
When Gu Ziye heard the news, he immediately bought more than a dozen big firecrackers and fireworks. He called his friends and had a party.
“Ziye, what’s the matter? Why are you so happy?” Zheng Haiyang asked in puzzlement, “You are setting off fireworks in broad daylight. Other than the loud pop, there’s nothing to see. This is so wasteful.” He looked at the wrappers on the ground and smiled, “And these fireworks are not cheap. They are of the highest quality, but we can’t see anything in the day. This is such a shame.”
“Why is it wasteful? I’m just so happy!” Gu Ziye huffed, “Don’t come to rain on my parade.”
“Fine. But can you tell us why you’re so happy?” Yuan Xuanhao was confused. He guessed, “Did you get a new girlfriend?”
Qian Yifan nodded and said, “It does look like it!”
Gu Ziye, “…” What are these people on about?
Gu Ziye said excitedly, “Zhou Hongwei was arrested, and Chief Jiang made it into a criminal case!”
The other three were surprised. “Ziye, did you finally take down Zhou Hongwei?”
“It’s not me!” Gu Ziye shook his head and said, “It’s Xiao Lingyu!”
“Ah, Xiao Lingyu?!” The other three were surprised. “How did the two even know each other?”
Gu Ziye said with a contemptuous smile, “That bastard, Zhou Hongwei wanted to deal with Lingyu the same way he dealt with Green Source. Lingyu found an opening to message me, telling me that the Yi Family Hotel sent two men to escort her to their boss. She asked me to call the police.”
“But calling the police would be useless.” Zheng Haiyang pointed out. “Zhou Hongwei’s uncle is the chief deputy. The police won’t do anything.”
“That’s why I didn’t call the police. Instead, I called Uncle Chen. Then, Uncle Chen called Jiang Tao.” Gu Ziye said proudly, “In the past, I had to be cautious around Zhou Hongwei because of the deputy chief, Zhou Tanxiong. Everyone at the station has been hiding Zhou Hongwei’s crimes from Jiang Tao. However, Xiao Lingyu exposed the man’s crime right before Jiang Tao. Zhou Tanxiong wanted to cover it up, but he couldn’t. Even now, Zhou Tanxiong is on house arrest, waiting for an internal investigation. He can’t help Zhou Hongwei this time.”
The three nodded. “In that case, this is indeed a happy occasion.”
“But, Zi Ye, I’ve heard that Zhou Hongwei is a very cunning person. He always used verbal threats and never physical threats so that he wouldn’t leave behind evidence. So how did Xiao Lingyu pin the crime on him? What evidence could she get?” Qian Yifan analyzed. “The man is clever, or else even with Zhou Tanxiong, and he wouldn’t have survived for so long.”
“The devil meets his match this time.” Gu Ziye said happily, “None of them expected Lingyu to bring a recording pen and record everything. The evidence is ironclad.”
“Oh, a recording pen?” The three of them were surprised. “How did Lingyu think of bringing a recording pen? She’s too smart.”
“But, with Zhou Hongwei’s cunning and vigilance, why didn’t he search Xiao Lingyu?” Qian Yifan was full of doubts.
“Yes, he’s always careful in his evil dealings, or else he would have been accused already. He never leaves any evidence behind,” Yuan Xuanhao agreed.
“Perhaps it was because Lingyu is a girl?” Zheng Haiyang guessed.
“Tsk, as if the man is such a gentleman. His actions in the past showed that he is not. Take, for example, the seafood boss’ daughter. Zhou Hongwei had his men strip her before he started to threaten her.” Gu Ziye said disdainfully, “The girl was so traumatized and ashamed that she tried to hang herself. Thankfully, she was saved. Her father moved away from this place because he didn’t want his daughter to stay here anymore.”
“So, why didn’t Zhou Hongwei search Xiao Lingyu?” The four of them were puzzled.
Suddenly, Gu Ziye thought of something. “I think I know!”
“Why is it? Tell us!” The other three said.
Gu Ziye shared. “From the beginning, Xiao Lingyu was extremely compliant. She didn’t resist like the rest. She said politely that she needed to grab the business contracts. Zhou Hongwei’s men were too careless. They didn’t expect Xiao Lingyu to be able to be so calm under duress.
“They had confidence Xiao Lingyu wouldn’t do anything because they were threatening her with Xiao Lingye’s life. Lingyu wouldn’t take risks to protect her brother. Therefore, they didn’t expect Lingyu to use the time to call me and grab the recording pen. Plus, Xiao Lingyu held the pen openly inside the file in her hands. They didn’t think anyone would be so brazen.”
Gu Ziye laughed, thinking back to Zhou Hongwei and Zhou Tanxiong’s faces when they saw Xiao Lingyu open the folder and take out the recording pen.
The others laughed. “Haha. Zhou Hongwei really deserves this.” They agreed unanimously. “This is indeed worth celebrating.”
While the four were celebrating, the Zhou family was in a state of upheaval.
Old Master Zhou was in his seventies. His sideburns were white, and his face was full of wrinkles. He also had a rat’s beady eyes like Zhou Hongwei. Similarly, they hid a cunning and ruthless light.
He knocked the ground with his walking stick. He was angry and dignified. Before him were his two sons. Their heads were lowered in shame.
“What is going on?” Zhou Guojian asked in a stern voice, “How did Wei ‘Er get caught?”
Zhou Huaying, the only one who sat on the sofa, was anxious and said angrily, “Dad, I heard it was third brother who personally arrested Wei ‘Er.”
Zhou Guojian had three sons, the eldest, Zhou Huaming, the second, Zhou Huaying, and the third, Zhou Tanxiong.
Zhou Huaming had two daughters. Zhou Huaying only had one son, Zhou Hongwei, and Zhou Tanxiong also had two daughters.
In the newest generation, Zhou Hongwei was the only male, so he was naturally favored by Zhou Guojian. His father thus enjoyed the highest status among Old Master Zhou’s sons.
After hearing his second son, Zhou Guojian turned his fury to Zhou Tanxiong. “Tanxiong, what is going on? You have to explain everything today, or else there will be consequences!”
“Third brother, haven’t I asked you to take care of Wei ‘Er, your nephew? Instead of doing that, you arrested him instead!” Zhou Huaying was furious. “You owe me an explanation.” He paused before saying. “I know that you’re jealous that I have a son, and you only have two daughters. But you can’t place Wei ‘Er in danger just to take revenge on me.” Zhou Huaying looked pained.
Zhou Huaying lorded over his brothers because he had given birth to the only male in the Zhou Family. He was the greatest contributor to the Zhou Family lineage. Everyone in the family had to bow to him. They offered him money and power. Therefore, even though he didn’t have a job, he had the most comfortable life. He spent his days around women. When he was out of money, he would find his eldest brother. If he needed someone cowed or something removed, he would go to his third brother. In conclusion, he was the typical second-generation young master.
Zhou Huaming and Zhou Tanxiong had no choice but to tolerate their second brother. He was the one who gave birth to a son. Their future was dependent on Zhou Hongwei.
The Zhou Family was still stuck in the olden times even though the world had moved on.
Zhou Tanxiong was bitter when he was questioned. He didn’t want to arrest Zhou Hongwei, but he was set up by Jiang Tao. Jiang Tao went on a mission and asked him along. Zhou Tanxiong only knew they were responding to a report against Zhou Hongwei when they were halfway there. He tried to inform Zhou Hongwei on the way to the scene. Once Zhou Hongwei released his captive, there would be no crime.
Zhou Tanxiong asked to use the toilet, but actually, he wanted to make a call to his nephew. However, he couldn’t find his phone. He thought he had lost his phone. He later saw Jiang Tao toying with his phone. When the police arrived at Zhou Hongwei’s place, Jiang Tao answered the call before him.
After answering the call, Jiang Tao returned the phone to him and said innocently. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I got the wrong phone.” Then, he asked with a puzzled face. “But Deputy Zhou, who is this Zhou Hongwei? Why is he so arrogant? I believe I heard him call you his uncle. Is the man your nephew?”
Zhou Tanxiong was so furious his face was green. It was bullshit. They didn’t even have the same model, so how could Jiang Tao mistook his phone. Furthermore, there was no reason for Jiang Tao to answer his call for him.
However, there was nothing he could do at that moment. When he entered the house and saw Zhou Hongwei’s latest victim was a beautiful young woman, he came up with the plan to make the girl into his nephew’s girlfriend. However, he had no idea the woman knew Jiang Tao.
Fortunately, his nephew was smart and quick-witted and immediately gave him a hint. They coerced the woman to submit by using her younger brother as a threat.
However, the woman surprised them by producing a recording pen. She had stabbed them in the back. After Zhou Hongwei was arrested, Zhou Tanxiong also had to stay at home to cooperate with the investigation.
Zhou Tanxiong said, “Second brother, Hongwei is my nephew, but I’ve treated him like he is my son. I’m also very anxious that he’s arrested. I’m not jealous of you at all.” Even though he was, he didn’t dare to say it out loud. Otherwise, his second brother would make his life hell.
He treated Zhou Hongwei like his son, but Zhou Tanxiong really couldn’t care for Zhou Hongwei’s father.
Zhou Huaying sharply asked, “Are you really anxious? Then, why are you sitting around at home and not at the station helping Wei ‘Er?”
Zhou Tanxiong was speechless. Immediately after, a wave of anger surged up as he loudly said, “I’m at home because Wei ‘Er is arrested. I was told to stay away from the case by my superiors due to a conflict of interest. Do you think I like to stay at home?”
Zhou Guojian and Zhou Huaming instantly fell silent, their faces solemn. They didn’t think this matter would be so serious.
Jiang Tao intended to look deeper into this investigation. The whole Zhou Family would be implicated, and how many of them would escape unscathed? This would draw out many problems.
Only the simple-minded Zhou Huaying didn’t realize the severity of the issue. He said disdainfully, “Hmph, this is only your excuse!”
Zhou Tanxiong’s face turned livid with anger, but he had no choice but to swallow his anger.
Zhou Guojian glanced at his second son and sternly shouted, “Shut up!” He doted on his second son, but he was no fool. The reason his second son could live so freely was because of the Zhou Family. And the pillars of the Zhou Family now were Zhou Huaming and Zhou Tanxiong.
Zhou Huaying tactfully shut his mouth, but he still blamed his third brother, Zhou Tanxiong. He planned to take revenge for this in the future.
“Tanxiong, explain everything to me now!” Zhou Guojian asked with a serious face.
After Zhou Tanxiong explained everything, he asked anxiously, “Dad, what should we do now?”
Zhou Guojian leaned on his walking stick. His face was solemn and angry, and his eyes were cold and fierce. He said, “We need to go to the source!”
Zhou Huaming and Zhou Tanxiong were stunned for a moment, but they immediately reacted and asked, “Dad, you mean….”