118: Chapter 118 looks like it's been ruined.

A loud crash echoed.

Dishes, chopsticks, caviar, lobster, and abalone all smashed onto the floor. Hu Yilang recoiled in fear, the brocade box nearly slipping from his hands.

"Director... Director Zhao, what... what do you mean?"

Zhao Yang leaped up and stood on the chair, pointing down at him. "Hu Yilang! Who the hell do you think you're looking down on?"

Hu Yilang froze on the spot, his face twitching, holding the brocade box in a daze. He truly couldn't fathom why Zhao Yang had turned hostile so suddenly.

Zhao Yang stomped his foot hard. "Do you see these shoes? They're worth ten pairs of yours."

He shook the watch on his wrist. "This watch is worth at least fifty of that piece of junk on your arm."

He pulled a bank card from his pocket and waved it. "The money in this card could buy out your entire Kahn Paper Industry."

He put the card back and said coldly, "I only graced you with my presence for a meal of egg fried rice today because I thought your attitude was sincere. But you? You try to fool me with some trashy gold-inlaid jade ruyi. Do you think I haven't seen nice things, or do you think my dignity is only worth this pittance?"

Hu Yilang's face turned ashen, his chest heaving violently. His lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Zhao Yang jumped down from the chair, straightened his collar, and turned to leave. At the door of the private room, he turned back and spat.

"Hick. What a low-class move, giving me this kind of trash. Fuck!"

The sound of footsteps gradually faded down the corridor.

Hu Yilang stood amidst the mess, his whole body shaking.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!"

He let out a sudden roar and hurled the brocade box against the wall. The box split open, and the ruyi tumbled to the floor. He then grabbed a chair and swung it against the wall, over and over, until it fell apart. The wine bottles, glasses, and dishes on the table weren't spared; the wallpaper was riddled with holes, and the seafood on the floor was trampled into mush.

Leaning against the wall, Hu Yilang panted heavily, his voice hoarse. "Zhao Yang! You bastard! Fuck your mother..."

Suddenly, the door was pushed open.

Sun Chuanfu, the chairman of Kahn Paper Industry, stood at the door. He scanned the fragments on the floor and the crazed Hu Yilang, frowning. "Xiao Hu, what happened? Where's Zhao Yang?"

"President Sun, he's a bully! That bastard is too much of a bully!" Seeing Sun Chuanfu, Hu Yilang—who had been so arrogant for years—couldn't bear the grievance, and tears began to fall. "You have to help me! That bastard Zhao Yang! That dog! I'm going to kill him! I'll kill him!"

"What exactly happened?" Sun Chuanfu wondered to himself as he looked at him.

What on earth did Zhao Yang do to him? He looked like a young girl who had been ravished.

But he could only keep those thoughts to himself. Maintaining a calm expression, he said, "Speak slowly. You're a grown man; what will people think if they see you crying like this?"

Hu Yilang took a deep breath and recounted everything that had happened. By the end, his voice was cracking. "President Sun, this guy is too damn arrogant! I have to deal with him! I recorded the whole thing today. I'll get some photos and report him to the city for soliciting bribes! I'll find a chance to plant that jade ruyi in his quarters. We have our own people at the guesthouse, so it won't be hard to get it in. I'm going to make Zhao Yang pay! Or I'm not fit to be called a man!"

"You calm down," Sun Chuanfu said deeply. "Do you know why I rushed here today?"

Hu Yilang was stunned. "You're not planning to meet him personally, are you?"

Sun Chuanfu nodded. "I am here specifically to see him."

"He's just a playboy bastard, what right does he have!"

"Sit down and talk." Sun Chuanfu pulled up a chair. After a moment of silence, he suddenly asked, "Do you know what kind of car he drives in the Imperial Capital?"

Hu Yilang shook his head.

"His own private car is an audi a6. Now you know why he insisted on you sending an audi a6."

Hu Yilang gritted his teeth. "So many demands! Would it kill him to use a different car?"

"He has the right to be demanding." Sun Chuanfu gazed toward the direction of the Imperial Capital and said slowly, "This Zhao Yang owns a detached villa in Xishan, the Imperial Capital—that's Xishan! He also has two duplexes in another luxury complex. Word is he's currently looking at courtyard houses in the Imperial Capital and seems to want to buy one. And that's just the public real estate information everyone knows about. In the Imperial Capital, how much wealth do you think that represents? So when he says the money on his card could buy out the entire Kahn Paper Industry, he probably isn't bragging."

"How... how is that possible?" Hu Yilang's eyes widened. "He's just a deputy division chief; where did he get all that money?"

Sun Chuanfu smiled. "You know the legend of mir 2? The hottest game in internet cafes across the country right now. He developed it. He sold it to Lianzhong for a million US dollars."

"What?" Hu Yilang gasped. "A million dollars? Isn't that a transfer of interests? Why hasn't anyone investigated him?"

"You might not know this, but Lianzhong has made tens of millions of dollars from that game alone. Buying it for a million dollars, they felt like they got a massive bargain." Sun Chuanfu said indifferently, "So when he said you haven't seen the world, he wasn't wrong."

Hu Yilang opened his mouth but couldn't say anything. Over the years at Kahn Paper Industry, he had grown accustomed to throwing his weight around and considered himself a big shot. But during this meal, he had been played for a fool from start to finish.

One pair of his shoes was worth ten of his; one watch was worth fifty of his; one card could buy out the whole Kahn Paper Industry. The pomp and luxury he took pride in were like child's play to the other man.

"President Sun..." Hu Yilang's voice was a bit hoarse. "What level of person do you think he really is in the Imperial Capital?"

Sun Chuanfu was silent for a long time before shaking his head. "I can't tell. But I'm certain that someone like him wouldn't spare a glance for small-timers like us."

Hu Yilang lowered his head, his lips twitching.

To think that one day, he would be considered a small-timer. But considering the news about Zhao Yang, he couldn't refute it.

Sun Chuanfu sighed and patted his shoulder. "Alright, don't overthink it. Let's just mind our own business."

"Then... what about Zhao Yang? What do we do?"

The anger in Hu Yilang's heart had subsided somewhat.

The man was right; his own level was too low, and getting angry was useless.

Sun Chuanfu looked at the mess on the floor and gave a bitter laugh. "In a few days, I'll invite him again in my name. Don't let this young master leave with a grudge."

Hu Yilang kept his head down. "President Sun, I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I've caused you trouble."

...

The next day, Lu Xiaofei and Lu Yike went to the city court to gather information. Zhao Yang, meanwhile, went to find Li Jianguo.

"Is your Pingkang County forensic doctor named Chen Mingzhang?"

Li Jianguo was startled. "That's Old Chen. Are you looking for him?"

"Yes." Zhao Yang frowned. "The handwriting on the autopsy report is like chicken scratch—even harder to read than a doctor's prescription. Our System can't recognize it at all, so I need to ask him about it."

Li Jianguo chuckled inwardly. What high technology? It's completely unreliable.

He suppressed the corners of his mouth. "Old Chen is in the forensics department today. You can go straight to him. I'll give him a heads-up right away."

Afterward, Zhao Yang went to the forensics department and met the slick and shrewd-looking Chen Mingzhang.

After closing the door and exchanging a few pleasantries, Zhao Yang's expression suddenly darkened.

"Forensic Doctor Chen, you've got quite some nerve—just how much money did you take?"