Chapter 092: A Clue and a Pest That Would Not Let Go

Liu Qiang stood there, dumbstruck.

Seeing this, Liu Ying flew into a rage. She reached out and slapped Liu Qiang’s shoulder. “Liu Qiang! Were you stirring up trouble out there again?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Liu Qiang said, genuinely baffled. “You know I’ve been busy playing League of Legends these past few days.”

Liu Ying pointed at the contract. “Then look at this and see what’s going on.”

Liu Qiang took the contract, flipped through it, and his expression changed. He said, “This seal is mine, but back then I was in prison. Also, wait a minute, this contract should have been signed by Luo Yunpeng and you. Why aren’t you going to find him?”

“If I could find him, why would I come looking for you!” Ding Sanming said. He blocked Liu Qiang’s retreat and went on, “Today, you’ve got to give me an explanation. More than seven million yuan, and you think that can just be brushed off? Listen to me, the penalty and all that can be forgotten, but the principal must be paid back!”

Seeing how panicked Liu Qiang looked, Song Kai already understood what was happening. He asked, “What’s going on?”

Liu Qiang pulled out his phone while opening it. “A while ago, Luo Yunpeng and I had nothing to do, and he said he wanted to invest in starting an internet company, one that would specialize in game development. I thought that sounded pretty good, so I invested ten thousand yuan, and he put in a hundred thousand. We registered a company, and I was still the legal representative. I had almost forgotten about it. I thought he was just talking casually, since there are a ton of online game companies these days. I... I’d almost forgotten all about this.”

As he spoke, Liu Qiang dialed a number. Very soon, he put the phone back down.

“What is it? What about Luo Yunpeng?” Liu Ying asked.

“The number is... is disconnected.” Liu Qiang’s face went pale. He knew he had been fooled.

Song Kai had already guessed as much. It seemed Liu Qiang really was a trouble magnet. Maybe he was not bad at heart, and not some wastrel after all. He had wanted to do something for this family, for his sister. But the world was full of danger, and there were traps everywhere; one careless step, and you ended up caught in someone else’s snare.

Song Kai looked at Ding Sanming and said, “I may not know much about the law, but I can tell you clearly that if the company cheated you out of money, it has nothing to do with the legal representative. So you came to the wrong place.”

“Bullshit! Debts must be repaid!” Ding Sanming snarled. “Say one more word against it, and I’ll cripple all of you right now!” With that, he drew a wrench from behind his back and glared viciously at Song Kai.

Song Kai narrowed his eyes and smiled. “Looks like that’s your true face. I don’t know whether you and Luo Yunpeng are really friends, but I can be certain of one thing: you’re here to scam people. Seven million, a contract, all of it is just a setup to cheat money, isn’t it?”

“Go to hell!” Ding Sanming shouted, swinging the wrench straight at Song Kai’s face.

Song Kai ducked, then drove a hard kick into Ding Sanming’s chest. The force was so great that Ding Sanming was sent stumbling all the way to the doorway.

“Call the police!” Song Kai said.

“Oh, right, right.” Liu Ying had already dialed the number. In truth, she had wanted to call the police long ago.

The others saw how fierce Song Kai was and hesitated, but then they raised hammers, wrenches, and other tools and rushed at him.

Liu Ying screamed. Song Kai charged forward instead, and with three heavy punches, one for each man, he flattened all three.

Liu Qiang stared. Then he looked at Song Kai. “Brother Kai, I used to think you were only ruthless. Now I see you’re a technical guy too. Amazing!”

Song Kai smiled. “If you had a little more brains, I wouldn’t have to be this amazing.”

“Fine! You’re good! Kid, don’t think that because you’ve learned a little martial arts, this can be over! I’m telling you, no chance!” Ding Sanming got back up.

At that moment, a security guard came running from afar. Behind him, two police cars arrived. Clearly, however, Ding Sanming had no intention of leaving.

“What’s going on?” A female officer stepped down from one of the police cars. It was Wu Hongying. Although she was not the officer directly responsible for this district, she had always kept an eye on Liu Qian’s family affairs.

“Hi, Officer!” Song Kai greeted her. “These four are causing trouble.”

“It’s you?” Wu Hongying said as though she had only just recognized him. “Did you hit someone again?”

Song Kai smiled and quickly said, “This time I really wasn’t the one making trouble. These four broke into a private residence.”

“Bullshit! They owe money and won’t pay it back!” Ding Sanming picked up the contract copy from the ground and walked toward Wu Hongying. “Officer, take a look. This is the contract. This guy cheated me out of more than seven million yuan, and now he still dares to renege on the debt! Let me tell you, from ancient times to the present, life for a life and debts repaid with money—those are heaven’s own law. Even if the law says he doesn’t have to pay, he and Luo Yunpeng were in this together. Since Luo Yunpeng owes me money, you have to pay it back.”

“Don’t get cocky!” Wu Hongying kicked Ding Sanming in the thigh. “Take him away! Back to the precinct for questioning. Breaking and entering is a crime. If someone owes you money, you can pursue it through the law. Breaking into another person’s home is illegal!”

Ding Sanming glared at Wu Hongying, then pointed at Liu Qiang again. “Kid, you can rest assured. I will never let you off. I won’t let any of your family off either! And you too, you little punk, just wait!”

“Take him away!” Wu Hongying had Ding Sanming hauled off.

At that moment, Liu Qian happened to return home. She stood beside the car and watched the scene, frowning slightly.

The police car roared away.

Liu Qian came over and stood at the entrance, saying coldly, “Everyone inside. We’ll talk in the house.”

Song Kai glanced at Liu Qian. The woman’s queenly aura was far too strong, and it made him a little uncomfortable.

Once inside, Liu Qian quickly asked about the whole affair from beginning to end.

Very soon, she let out a breath and said, “I know what happened. Liu Qiang, you don’t need to bear criminal liability. If the company has no money to repay the debt, then apply for bankruptcy. Besides, now that someone has run off with the money, that person bears primary responsibility! But in the future, can you stop associating with those loafers and hangers-on of yours? And from now on, when everyone goes out, be more careful. I don’t think those four will let this go.”

“I understand, sis. I just didn’t expect Luo Yunpeng to be that kind of person,” Liu Qiang replied with his head lowered.

Song Kai returned to his room. Since Liu Qian had come home, Liu Ying did not dare run into his room either. That made Song Kai feel somewhat relieved, though at the same time he felt a faint trace of disappointment. After all, Liu Ying really was a pretty girl.

So Song Kai simply settled down and focused on cultivating his Nine Thunder inner energy.

Early the next morning, while Liu Qian was preparing breakfast, she answered a phone call, and her face darkened.

Only after Liu Ying asked did they learn that someone had thrown stones at Liu Qian’s law office the previous night, shattered the windows, and splashed paint on the walls with the words about debts and murder written in red. There was no need to say more; it was surely the work of Ding Sanming and his crew.

Song Kai rubbed his chin and thought it over. Those people really were shameless enough. They were probably just hoping to extort as much money as they could. Thinking about it, people like that were the hardest to deal with. They were like a clump of filth: once they got on you, they were nearly impossible to shake off. They would keep causing petty trouble, slashing your tires, scratching your car, or smashing your windows.

The police could arrest them, but without evidence there was nothing to do. Even with evidence, it was still only a civil matter; at most, they would pay damages and spend five days in administrative detention, and that would be that. But the victim would feel as if they had swallowed a fly, left anxious and on edge.

Song Kai figured these matters would not end so easily. Ding Sanming and the others were clearly trying to squeeze money out of them.

This undercover assignment had been a bit unfair to Liu Qian and the others. As for Ding Sanming’s crowd, he might as well clean up that mess himself.

During breakfast, Song Kai said to Liu Qian, “Sister Liu Qian, thank you for your hospitality these past couple of days. I have to head back today. I’m not much of a big shot, but I can handle small-time thugs. As for Ding Sanming and the others, don’t worry about them. I’ll take care of it.”

Liu Qian shook her head. “You’re just a kid. How are you going to handle it? Don’t go causing more trouble. Understand? Don’t worry, the law will deal with it.”

Song Kai had not expected her to say that, and his heart warmed a little.

Beside him, Liu Ying said, “Song Kai, what are you going back for? It’s not like you own the place you’re renting, and it’s in such a shabby state. You can just stay at our house for now.”

Song Kai smiled and shook his head.

Liu Ying pouted. “Oh, right, the milk should be here by now. I’ll go take a look.”

As she said that, Liu Ying walked out, looking somewhat downcast.

The moment she opened the door, Liu Ying screamed.

Song Kai set down his bowl and chopsticks and hurried outside.

At the entrance to the courtyard, someone had splashed paint and written the words about debts and repayment in large red letters, along with a huge red cross. It seemed these people were really committed, staying up all night just to splash paint everywhere.

Song Kai patted Liu Ying’s shoulder. “It’s fine. Don’t be afraid. They won’t end well.”

Liu Ying nodded, though her body was trembling.

From farther away, an old man rode up on an electric tricycle. When he passed by Liu Qian’s home and saw the red words on the ground, he froze for a moment. Then he took three bottles of milk from the back of the tricycle, placed them in the mailbox in front of Liu Qian’s house, and rode off.

Watching the old man, Song Kai suddenly felt his heart lurch.