Free Web NovelChapter 712: Chapter 682: Subduing the Enemy Without Fighting
Although Secretary Zhou’s arrival was low-key and did not attract much attention locally in Jizhou, the matter quickly spread to Dongzhou.
The first to feel uneasy were the other leaders of the Bureau of Culture and Tourism. Deputy Directors Li Yushan and Xiao Dong initially did not pay attention to such a minor matter, but upon hearing that Secretary Zhou personally went to the site to pay respects, and their bureau director Fu Guomin, along with the newly appointed deputy director Fan Lidada, were there helping, they immediately realized that they must take it seriously and not feign ignorance.
The Bureau of Culture and Tourism was newly established, and Fu Guomin was parachuted in by Secretary Zhou, but he had no foundation in the bureau and had not yet achieved any results. Li Yushan and Xiao Dong only superficially followed Fu Guomin but were not truly convinced by him at heart. They knew that Xu Chunliang and Fan Lidada were both from Fu Guomin’s team.
They did not reject Xu Chunliang of a younger generation, nor would they actively approach him. However, after hearing that Secretary Zhou personally went to the site to pay respects, they instantly decided they must go and go quickly. Even a leader as significant as Secretary Zhou had gone; what excuse would they have to act unaware? What business would they have acting oblivious in a unit?
The two of them didn’t notify each other but each found an excuse and immediately used the official car to go to Jizhou.
The news also reached the Changxing Hospital, intentionally leaked by Gao Xinhua to Zhao Feiyang.
Upon hearing the news, Zhao Feiyang felt a bit regretful. Although there had been some unpleasantness between him and Xu Chunliang recently, they had not expressly fallen out, and they had always maintained a good relationship on the surface. When Zhao Feiyang got married, Xu Chunliang was his groomsman. When his father passed away, Xu Chunliang personally came to pay his respects.
Of course, this time it was Xu Chunliang’s great-uncle who passed away, and the connection seemed somewhat distant. Zhao Feiyang also entrusted Gao Xinhua to bring condolence money over, so it wasn’t a breach of decorum. But the key issue was that Secretary Zhou personally went? This indicated a close relationship between Secretary Zhou and Xu Chunliang. According to Gao Xinhua, many people had gone to pay respects, and prominent figures from the Bureau of Culture and Tourism, where Xu Chunliang currently worked, and the Hu Shan Town Government had all turned out. Changxing Hospital, where Xu Chunliang had previously worked, currently only had Gao Xinhua attending in a personal capacity.
Zhao Feiyang wondered if Gao Xinhua did this on purpose, as he could have notified the union to intervene. The more Zhao Feiyang thought about it, the more he felt he was small-minded in this matter.
Pei Lin could see that something was troubling him, and after understanding the situation, she gave him a suggestion: he should still go personally. As the saying goes, reciprocity is important, and Xu Chunliang wouldn’t care about a bit of condolence money. Only by going personally can sincerity be shown. Although there had been some unpleasantness between them lately, fundamentally, it was Hua Nian who abandoned Xu Chunliang first. Zhao Feiyang could use this opportunity to mend his relationship with Xu Chunliang.
Although Hu Shan Town had agreed to unfreeze the 50 million transfer fund they oversaw, there wouldn’t be a sense of security until the money actually reached Changxing’s account.
According to Pei Lin, Xu Chunliang is the kind of person who retaliates immediately if he is displeased.
Zhao Feiyang had to admit that his wife understood Xu Chunliang better than he did, which made him slightly uncomfortable. Although he didn’t think there was any ambiguity between Pei Lin and Xu Chunliang, he always felt that deep down, Pei Lin admired Xu Chunliang more than him. Moreover, Xu Chunliang was younger than him, no less capable, and had a promising future.
This discomfort he could only swallow silently, and he notified the union to represent Changxing Hospital to go to the site to offer condolences, and he himself also decided to set off immediately. Such matters are better attended to sooner rather than later.
Fan Lidada, older and more thorough in his considerations, knew that trouble brewed the same afternoon when members of the Zhou family came to cause a scene. The troublemakers were over 30 relatives of the Zhou family, led by Zhou Yisheng, who had previously contracted the traditional Chinese medicine department at Changxing Hospital and suffered a loss under Xu Chunliang. He also had the identity of being a distant nephew of Zhou Renhe.
Zhou Renhe carried his mother’s surname, and Zhou Yisheng brought his maternal relatives in a menacing fashion to the old residence.
An old man, claiming to be Zhou Renhe’s paternal uncle, started cursing before even entering: "My nephew died, and none of you came to inform us of the funeral. Are you bullying the Zhou Family because there’s no one left?"
Pu Jian and Ding Si had already brought some people to block them off. Ding Si said, "What are you shouting about? Don’t you know that the dead are to be respected? Are you an old man with no respect?"
Zhou Yisheng pointed at Ding Si and said, "Ding Si, what does Zhou Family’s affair have to do with you? Do you have a say here?" They were acquainted from their time at Changxing Hospital. Although they knew Ding Si was a local bully of Dongzhou, this was Jizhou, and with so many family members backing him, his courage naturally increased, daring to openly quarrel with Ding Si.
Ding Si looked fierce: "Zhou Yisheng, are you looking for trouble?"
The Zhou family clan members present crowded around, clearly outnumbering Ding Si’s side.
Ji Jiajia’s gang, who had nothing better to do, saw the commotion and rushed over with mourning hats. Ji Jiajia, unable to find a baseball bat, grabbed a mourning stick on the spot: "Do you have a death wish, daring to cause trouble here?"
Zhou Yisheng gave a signal, and several middle-aged women from the Zhou family rushed in, crying loudly.
Ji Jiajia, inexperienced, had never encountered such a scene.
Ding Si and Pu Jian exchanged a glance, both knowing that these people intended to disrupt the site. Ding Si was so angry his teeth itched, and he rolled up his sleeves, ready to step forward and beat Zhou Yisheng.
Zhou Yisheng also fell to his knees with a thud: "Uncle... you died so tragically..." As he began to cry, more than thirty people started crying together, and for a moment, the cries shook the heavens.
Even though Pu Jian was quick-witted, he was dumbfounded at this moment. These people were all professional mourners, employing all sorts of crying styles. When you host a funeral, you can’t exactly stop people from crying.
Xu Chunliang was chatting with Qiao Rulong when he heard the various cries and realized someone was causing trouble.
Qiao Rulong frowned, feeling that Xu Chunliang’s affairs this time might not go smoothly, and whispered, "Do you want to give the local public security a heads-up?"
Xu Chunliang shook his head: "No need, Brother Rulong, don’t worry about it. Go on, I can handle it."
Qiao Rulong nodded and turned to leave.
The group of people approached Xu Chunliang, and Xu Chunliang immediately saw Zhou Yisheng. Zhou Yisheng was pointing at Xu Chunliang and saying something to his uncle, who glared at Xu Chunliang, as if trying to overpower him with his demeanor, but Xu Chunliang dismissed him, looking at him disdainfully.
The old man angrily said, "Who are you? Who do you think you are meddling in my nephew’s affairs?"
Xu Chunliang replied, "Oh, you don’t know me, let me introduce myself. My name is Xu Chunliang. Elder Zhou was my grand-uncle, my grandfather’s own brother. He’s part of the Xu Family, and per his wishes, our Xu Family is handling his funeral, and in the future, he’ll be buried in our Xu Family’s ancestral grave. And who might you be?"
The old man spat: "Full of lies, I am Zhou Renhe’s uncle. We, the Zhou Family, weren’t even informed of such a major event as his death. Where does that leave us?"
Xu Chunliang said: "You’re either too old or hard of hearing. This is an affair of the Xu Family, not the Zhou Family. If you want to find fault, go to Zhou Yiwen and Zhou Yi Wu, the two bastards. Had they any conscience, they would have been here in mourning attire."
Xu Chunliang spoke reasonably and succinctly, leaving the other speechless. Indeed, the Zhou brothers were in the wrong in this matter. No matter how aggrieved they felt, it’s unjustifiable not to mourn your father’s death here.
Zhou Yisheng winked, and several professional mourning women began wailing towards Xu Chunliang: "My grandpa was killed by you..."
Seeing these women, Xu Chunliang realized they were highly skilled troublemakers planning to throw themselves at him.
At this moment, Mo Han came over, stopping the women who were all thunder and no rain. Without resorting to violence, she directly shoved a wad of cash into each of their hands, a sum of ten thousand each.
The professional mourning women were bewildered by her gesture, and Mo Han said: "Crying this hard isn’t easy, but don’t engage in harassment and attacks. You don’t want to get yourself arrested over some dirty money. Here’s ten thousand each, go kneel and cry well for ten minutes, then leave. If you cry well, I’ll give each of you another ten thousand."
Winning without fighting, these professional mourning women had never seen such a scene. Zhou Yisheng hadn’t offered them this much. They could earn another ten thousand after crying, so each quickly pocketed the money and kneeled in front of the mourning hall, crying more earnestly than the last.
Zhou Yisheng was completely flustered. The plan he painstakingly devised was so easily resolved by them. He too had paid money to hire them, but these women were simply too unscrupulous. You took my money first, though it was less, where’s the integrity? A person without trust cannot stand!
Looking around, he saw the women kneeling, crying to earn their twenty thousand.
Xu Chunliang coldly stared at Zhou Yisheng and said: "Zhou Yisheng, I won’t say anything if you came to pay respects, but if you were instigated to cause trouble, I won’t be polite. I know who you are, just as you know who I am."
A chill ran through Zhou Yisheng’s heart. He had harbored deep resentment towards Xu Chunliang, thinking he finally had a chance to retaliate, but upon seeing Xu Chunliang, he became somewhat intimidated. Xu Chunliang’s words made it clear he saw through his intentions. Zhou Yisheng’s mischief this time was certainly instigated by the Zhou brothers.
Zhou Yisheng tried to maintain composure and said: "My uncle died, is it wrong for me to come and burn paper for him?"
Xu Chunliang said: "No, go ahead!"
The Zhou family members who came over saw Zhou Yisheng backing down first. They had thought a stranger in Jizhou wouldn’t have connections, but upon arrival and seeing the scene, their confidence first wavered. The presence of Xu Chunliang’s demeanor and connections, and Mo Han’s actions, made them begin to waver. Acting as cannon fodder for the Zhou brothers was not wise, especially as they were unjustifiable. These Zhou brothers themselves were nothing; their father died, and they weren’t even here. Were they waiting to be struck by lightning?
Here’s an update. My mind is unsettled, so the next update is pending!
