Chapter 212 - Who Did You Offend?
Translator: aominemika
TLC: Lav
Editor: Seliniaki Ilikia
"This is not all," Chief Feng continued. "Anything regarding the case reported by Mrs. Guan—in which she is accusing someone of damaging your house—has no relation to this case. Our investigation has also concluded that the demolition was not Shi Lei's doing. I sincerely apologize to Mr. Shi on behalf of the police station. We hope that Mr. Shi can be forgiving and won't dwell upon this. We have filed a case with regard to Mrs. Guan providing false information to the police during an investigation and falsely accusing Mr. Shi. We will seek the opinion of Mr. Shi as to how to deal with her. We have also confirmed the real perpetrator who damaged your house. Last night, due negligence and other reasons, Mr. Hu Xiaohua unintentionally caused some damage to the house of Mr. Qin Huaiyuan. Mr. Hu Xiaohua came to the station this morning to explain, and expressed that he is willing to take full responsibility for the crime and will also cover the cost of repairs. The police will follow up on this matter to ensure that the house looks exactly the same as it did before it was demolished. Qin Huaiyuan, regarding the assault that your wife mentioned, did Mr. Hu Xiaohua commit an act of violence against you after damaging your house?"
When Chief Feng finished speaking, he narrowed his eyes at Qin Huaiyuan. The latter shivered in horror when he saw the sharp gaze.
He felt exasperated. What kind of prodigal wife have I married? Reporting Shi Lei to the police for damaging the house is enough. Why did you have to lie and say that I was beaten up by him? Now someone was willing to take the blame for Shi Lei, and the way Chief Feng phrased it clearly showed that he was declaring them innocent. In his speech, he hadn't mention anything about investigating who was responsible. Instead, Chief Feng had only said that Qin Huaiyuan's house was wrecked due to negligence and other reasons. He was undoubtedly supporting the other side.
Why does the name "Hu Xiaohua" sound familiar?
While taking another look at the people in the room, Qin Huaiyuan's gaze focused on the imposing person who sat at the front. So this Hu Xiaohua should be the one sitting next to Jiang Yuanchao.
Hu Xiaohua…
Qin Huaiyuan finally recalled where he had heard the name before. Wasn't "Hu Xiaohua" the name of the son of Zhenping Real Estate's CEO, Hu Jianjun?
Damn, what ability does Shi Lei have to make Hu Jianjun's son take the blame for him? Or maybe this really is a coincidence. Maybe it really is Hu Xiaohua who damaged the house and not Shi Lei.
Qin Huaiyuan's eyes flickered. Chief Feng became impatient, slamming his hand on the table and shouting, "I am asking you a question! Be honest. Did anyone commit an act of violence against you last night?"
Qin Huaiyuan had to be a moron if he still didn't understand. Moreover, no matter who the perpetrator was, it was true that nobody assaulted him. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't just sweep it under the rug. If a doctor was called in, it would be easy for them to tell that the injuries had not been caused by another person.
"My wife must have misunderstood because the incident happened so abruptly. She assumed that I was assaulted just by looking at all the blood on me. The truth is that no one hit me. I heard some commotion downstairs and my blood pressure rose, so I ended up falling down the stairs myself."
"This means that your cerebral hemorrhage has no direct connection to this incident, right?!" Chief Feng asked again.
Qin Huaiyuan wanted to cry, but no tears came out. How can it not be related? If they did not damage my house, would I even have a hemorrhage? Of course, Qin Huaiyuan knew that neither Hu Xiaohua nor Jiang Huaiyuan were people he could afford to offend. Since Hu Xiaohua had stepped up to take the blame for Shi Lei, he could only swallow the bitterness inside of him.
Furthermore, amongst the people present in the room, Hu Xiaohua and Jiang Yuanchao were only minor figures. The people sitting beside Shi Lei seemed to be the big shots, especially the woman with a buzz cut who was wearing a long dress. She seemed to be the most important person there.
Qin Huaiyuan had no choice but to clench his teeth and swallow his protests. "I have had high blood pressure for many years now, and it acts up very often," he said. "I forgot to take my medicine yesterday and also had a few drinks, which was why I had a cerebral hemorrhage. It has no direct connection to the incident."
"Alright then. Since that is the case, we will go with the civil procedure. Whoever needs to pay compensation and cover the cost of the repairs will do so. You will discuss this amongst yourselves later. For now, you will follow my colleagues from the subbureau over to their side and explain everything regarding this incident." Chief Feng turned around to look to Zhou Qi and Wang Hua'an after he finished speaking. They nodded in satisfaction and sat down expressionlessly.
Chief Feng personally walked Qin Huaiyuan and his wife out of the meeting room. Qin Huaiyuan refused to give up and asked, "Old Feng, what is going on? Who were those people?"
Chief Feng threw him a cold glance and shook his head. What were you doing earlier? Now even I am being implicated!
After a moment of thought, Chief Feng reminded himself that Qin Huaiyuan had some information that could be used against him, and the man had also given him quite a bit of money in the past few years as well. So he quickly whispered, "I have no idea who exactly that Shi Lei is. You have kicked an iron plate(1) this time. As you probably know, he hired a famous lawyer yesterday when the case was filed. She's the woman in suit. She contacted Chief Zhou and made us file the case. And you do know who Hu Xiaohua is right?"
Qin Huaiyuan nodded quickly. "Hu Jianjun's son, right? The young master of Zhenping Real Estate."
"Yes. He went to the hospital this morning. But your wife was such an idiot and actually started making a big scene and arguing with him!"
Qin Huaiyuan collapsed before Chief Feng could even finish his words. He immediately turned to his wife and slapped her across the face despite still recovering from the operation. She fell to the ground.
"You stupid woman! You dared to mess with other people and even gave false information to the police! Which eye of yours saw someone hitting me? Didn't the doctor at the hospital tell you that my injuries weren't caused by a person?"
His wife was caught off guard. Looking at how her husband was seething in anger, she wept and was too scared to get up from the ground.
Chief Feng frowned when he witnessed the scene. "This is a police station," he said angrily. "Take your domestic problems back home."
Qin Huaiyuan hastily bowed and nodded. "I'm so sorry. Chief Feng, please continue."
Chief Feng coughed lightly before continuing. "Hu Xiaohua reported that your wife falsely accused his friend, who is Shi Lei. He also mentioned that he will turn himself in for damaging your house. Because they have known each other since childhood, when he heard that Shi Lei and his family were being bullied, he went to your place and demolished your house. But he also added that he did not lay a finger on you, and did not even meet you in person."
Qin Huaiyuan suppressed his anger toward his wife. He didn't dare make any expression and could only nod and grit his teeth. "He is clearly taking the blame for Shi Lei!"
"So what if he is? Are you having a stroke? Did you actually see who the culprit was? Do you have any evidence to prove that it was Shi Lei? Even if he did do it, what can you do in return? If he is willing to compensate with money, then you can't blame him. Moreover, Hu Xiaohua is just a minor figure amongst Shi Lei's friends. The other two—the brawny man who brought you here and that young lady with the dress—do you know who they are? You probably wouldn't know even if I told you. She is the young lady of Xi Xi's Song family, the most beloved granddaughter of the Song family's Old Master.
Those words hit Qin Huaiyuan like a thunderbolt. What in the world is going on? He had worked very hard in Shanghai for years, and only came to Run Zhou around ten years ago. Naturally, he knew what Xi Xi's Song family was. Shi Zhongping was only a random, obsequious worker. How on earth was he connected to Xi Xi's Song family?
"The other young man belongs to Shanghai's Wei family. Since you can be considered from Shanghai, have you heard of him before?"
"Wei family?" Qin Huaiyuan carefully searched through his memories before he finally recalled it. They couldn't be considered a particularly big family in Shanghai, but they were still big enough to crush him anytime they wanted to.