Free Web NovelChapter 704: Chapter 674: Family Scandal
The follower wore a green flat cap, with his face fully covered, revealing only eyes that sparkled with shrewdness. The moment Shi Taiping saw the green hat, he immediately recalled the embarrassing scene of being chased like a stray dog at the Taibai Ghost Market. As the saying goes, ’enemies inevitably meet on a narrow road.’ How did this calamity find him again?
Shi Taiping knew he was no match for the other. Hearing voices coming from afar, Zhou Yi Wu’s group was tracking the trail again. Making a quick decision, Shi Taiping turned towards a nearby creek and plunged naked into the water.
Xu Chunliang snapped photos non-stop, and took off the green hat that was on his head; wearing it felt really stifling. He had nothing to hide anyway, so why conceal his identity?
Zhou Yi Wu, leading a group of people, arrived and saw someone holding a camera and taking pictures. Taking a closer look, he recognized the person—it was actually Xu Chunliang.
Xu Chunliang smiled and greeted him, "Shopkeeper Zhou Er, what a coincidence!"
Zhou Yi Wu’s face turned ashen; it seemed no one had ever addressed him like that. He eyed the camera in Xu Chunliang’s hands, "What are you doing?"
"Nothing much, just taking photos!"
Zhou Yi Wu suddenly remembered the naked Shi Taiping running away. What was there to photograph here? Could it be that he shot images of Shi Taiping?
Zhou Yi Wu asked, "Did you see anyone pass by?"
Xu Chunliang nodded, "Saw a naked guy running, I even took quite a few pictures." He was there for the excitement, unfettered by the severity of the situation.
Zhou Yi Wu’s associates checked by the river but saw no one, then returned to report to Zhou Yi Wu, who extended his hand to Xu Chunliang, "Give me the card."
Xu Chunliang laughed, "Why should I?"
Zhou Yi Wu suppressed his anger. This incident was very peculiar. He was at home playing mahjong with friends when he got a tip-off saying his wife was cheating on him at the Bogu Pavilion. Zhou Yi Wu had known Shi Taiping for quite some time, and their cooperation had always been smooth. To be honest, he looked down on Shi Taiping, using him merely for his sleight-of-hand thievery skills. He never imagined that this guy would not only steal things—he’d steal people too, even stealing his wife behind his back.
Why was Xu Chunliang here? And he just happened to have a camera? Zhou Yi Wu highly suspected that the incident was related to Xu Chunliang; he could very well be the source of the news.
Zhou Yi Wu said, "I’ll buy it!"
Xu Chunliang asked, "Buy what?"
"The card! Sell the card to me."
Xu Chunliang retorted, "Are you delusional? I worked hard to capture so many works, planning to submit them to a photography contest, and you want to take them all?"
Zhou Yi Wu offered, "I’ll give you ten thousand."
Xu Chunliang countered, "Are you dismissing me like a beggar?"
Zhou Yi Wu gritted his teeth, "Fifty thousand!"
"Fifty thousand? That’s a bit low."
Zhou Yi Wu steeled himself, "One hundred thousand! I’ll transfer it to you right now." He feared Xu Chunliang might have captured something significant and wanted to acquire all firsthand materials. Zhou Yi Wu was keen to crush Shi Taiping to pieces, yet he also wanted to hush up the scandal, as family scandals should not be aired in public.
Xu Chunliang remained silent, indicating tacit agreement. Zhou Yi Wu immediately transferred one hundred thousand to him.
Xu Chunliang prepared to remove the card, but Zhou Yi Wu asked him to wait so he could check first.
Receiving the camera, Zhou Yi Wu, a photography enthusiast himself, pressed review. Xu Chunliang’s photography skills were not impressive; several shots were blurry, showing a vague pale figure. It was up to interpretation whether it was a person or a big white Ukrainian hog.
As Zhou Yi Wu reviewed quickly, his temper flared. He had never lost so much in a business deal in his life. Xu Chunliang had indeed taken many photos, but none were clear. What kind of skill was this? Ten thousand for this crappy stuff? What a scam!
Zhou Yi Wu glared at Xu Chunliang, "Are you messing with me?"
Xu Chunliang replied, "I don’t have that kind of taste."
"You took shit photos!"
Xu Chunliang chuckled, "I see, Boss Zhou has sharp eyes."
Zhou Yi Wu was furious. Tonight, he lost both face and men. What was once intolerable was now unbearable. Unable to control his temper, Zhou Yi Wu smashed the camera to pieces.
Zhou Yi Wu’s rage played right into Xu Chunliang’s hands; anger makes a person lose rationality, and once rationality is lost, one doesn’t consider the consequences. Zhou Yi Wu had just transferred a hundred thousand to Xu Chunliang to buy the card, which did not cover the camera price.
The set of equipment provided by the skinny guy, body, and lens, cost over twenty thousand.
Xu Chunliang attacked forcefully, "President Zhou, you purchased the card. On what grounds are you smashing my camera?"
Zhou Yi Wu knew he was at fault, but he wouldn’t admit it, gritting his teeth, "You set me up!"
Chunliang sneered and said, "You better have a conscience when you speak. You wanted to buy it yourself, did I ever force you? If you don’t compensate me for the camera today, I’ll call the police right away."
Upon hearing that he was going to call the police, Zhou Yi Wu instantly calmed down. Family scandals shouldn’t be aired outside, and his wife sleeping with someone else was embarrassing enough. If the police got involved, Zhou Yi Wu would become a laughing stock in Jizhou City.
Zhou Yi Wu grudgingly nodded, roughly estimated the price of the camera and lens, and transferred another thirty thousand to Chunliang. Today was just a string of bad luck. Just before leaving, when he wanted to take the broken camera with him, Chunliang swiftly picked up the camera and lens first, and handed two cards to Zhou Yi Wu. The thirty thousand was compensation, but he never intended to sell the camera to him.
Zhou Yi Wu was busy chasing Shi Taiping to settle scores and didn’t have time to bicker with Chunliang.
After this group left, Chunliang went to the riverside, looked over the water, and suddenly blocked a reed standing upright above the water with his hand. Not long after, a wet head emerged from the water. It turned out Shi Taiping hadn’t fled far. He had broken a reed and used its hollow stem to breathe, allowing him to hide underwater successfully and evade Zhou Yi Wu’s group’s pursuit.
Shi Taiping could evade Zhou Yi Wu, but not Chunliang. With his air supply cut off, he had to surface for air. As soon as his head emerged, Chunliang grabbed his hair and pushed him back down.
Shi Taiping struggled desperately, flailing his arms wildly across the water, creating loud splashes that made unknown observers think Chunliang had caught a giant fish with his bare hands.
After he deemed Shi Taiping had been tortured enough, Chunliang relaxed his arm, letting Shi Taiping surface for half a breath, then dunked him back down. He repeated this three times, driving Shi Taiping to near mental collapse.
When Chunliang finally let him up, Shi Taiping pleaded, "I was wrong... I won’t do it again... President Zhou, please have mercy on me..."
Chunliang chuckled to himself. This fool had almost certainly mistaken him for one of Zhou Yi Wu’s men.
Chunliang pulled Shi Taiping by the hair and said, "Open your eyes wide and see clearly who I really am."
Focusing his gaze, Shi Taiping finally recognized him as Chunliang. Shi Taiping, with a pained expression, said, "I haven’t wronged you in the past or present. Why are you doing this to me?"
Chunliang said, "Half an hour later, meet me at the barbecue in the ancient city." He casually placed the green hat on Shi Taiping’s head.
The barbecue was located in Jizhou Ancient City, and Chunliang chose this place because it usually stayed open until 2 a.m.
After a night of chaos, he was also hungry, and as for Shi Taiping, he was sure the fool would show up.
Half an hour later, a tidied-up Shi Taiping arrived at the ancient city barbecue. It was evident that he was very cautious, checking the surroundings to ensure there were no men of Zhou Yi Wu nearby, before entering the venue. It was near midnight, so there weren’t many drinking patrons.
Chunliang, seated in a corner, waved to the shifty-eyed Shi Taiping, wondering what on earth Zhou Yi Wu’s wife saw in him.
Shi Taiping approached Chunliang with a smile.
Chunliang said, "Sit down! You must be exhausted tonight."
Shi Taiping detected the double entendre in his words, sighed, and said, "I had planned to leave Jizhou, but since I had a prior engagement with you, I can’t just break it."
This guy was also pretending to be tough. It was clearly Chunliang who summoned him here. He could have chosen not to come, but he didn’t dare. He had already confirmed Chunliang was the one taking pictures of him wearing the green hat, and if Chunliang spread those pictures, he’d have no dignity left in Jianghu. Regardless of the business, one must maintain some sense of face.
Of course, Shi Taiping was unaware that Chunliang’s photography skills were subpar, and the pictures taken tonight were all blurry. Even if they were all released, no one could identify the main subject, or even recognize it as a person.
Chunliang let Shi Taiping order for himself, and since Shi Taiping was also hungry, he agreed with Chunliang that he had expended a lot tonight.
Shi Taiping opened a bottle of beer, poured a glass, downed it in one go, and sighed, "So, what do you want from me?"
Chunliang said, "You probably can’t stay in Jizhou anymore, right?"
Shi Taiping had offended Zhou Yi Wu, and with Zhou Yi Wu’s influence in Jizhou, it was certain he wouldn’t have a place to continue staying there.
Shi Taiping said, "It’s not my fault; that woman seduced me first."
Chunliang despised people like him. He has eaten the forbidden fruit and still shoved all the responsibility onto someone else. He sneered and said, "I’m not interested in your affairs. You should be saying this to Zhou Yi Wu."
Shi Taiping pursed his lips, realizing that saying such things was meaningless.
Chunliang said, "When the dragon bone rubbings were sent to Linzheng Hall, was that your idea or Zhou Yi Wu’s?"
He referred to his brother, Zhou Yiwen. Zhou Yi Wu didn’t have the brains for it. Zhou Yiwen had Shi Taiping deliver the dragon bones to Linzheng Hall in his personal capacity, intending to use it as a lure to bring out more dragon bone trading opportunities.
Shi Taiping was just an assistant and didn’t know the true value of the dragon bones.
Chunliang believed he wasn’t lying about that and continued to ask, "Where did Zhou Yiwen get those dragon bones?"
Shi Taiping said, "Their family runs a pharmacy, so it’s not surprising, but I think the person who truly wants these dragon bones is that Huang Youlong."
Chunliang nodded, "Have you met Huang Youlong?"
