127: Chapter 127 A Light Breeze of No Debt

Driving his newly purchased Tiggo 9, the afternoon sun and warm breeze brushed against Lin Ning's face through the car window. He squinted his eyes involuntarily, the corners of his mouth curling upward.

It wasn't a luxury car; the interior was ordinary, and it even had the smaller dual-screen setup, but this was the first car he had bought with money he earned himself.

Driving to the Police Station, Lin Ning parked carefully in a spot. After getting out, he walked around the car; the paint was glossy, perfect and flawless.

He went straight into the main office inside.

Lin Ning muttered, "Why did you call me here again?"

Officer Li Feng pushed two forms in front of Lin Ning, his eyes filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred as he said, "Sign them, God of Wealth!"

He smacked his lips, "Five cases from our station plus the three cases we handled jointly with Officer Yang Jun and his team... Tsk tsk, you kid have made almost ten years' worth of my salary in just this one month."

Lin Ning glanced at the small stack of receipts and signed them one by one.

The smaller cases were worth ten thousand or so, while the larger ones—like the spicy hotpot shop where Zhang Shitou risked his life dealing drugs, along with two gambling cases—those three alone amounted to 450,000.

Altogether, it added up to — 625,000!

Lin Ning was so happy his eyes crinkled into slits, but he feigned seriousness, saying, "Officer Li Feng! Think big! I'm doing this to rid the people of evil, and improving my own life is just a side benefit."

"That's a hell of a 'side benefit'!" Officer Li Feng muttered.

Just then, Director Zhang's loud voice came from outside.

"You think he's suspicious? So he's a suspect? Who do you think you are? You want the station to send people to investigate without a shred of evidence or signs? I've been a cop for decades, and these days I even find my own son suspicious; do you want me to establish a task force to investigate him for the sake of justice? If you think someone is suspicious, go verify it! What's the direction? What's the corroborating information? Only then can I send people to investigate! Do you think we're the security guards for your family's security company?!"

Lin Ning shrank his neck. This was exactly the mode he and Chen Zhi operated under, and he had even hoped to develop it further to see if it could work at the Police Station, but it seemed that wouldn't be possible.

Director Zhang walked into the main office, spotted Lin Ning immediately, and waved his hand to let the newly arrived intern police officer, who looked like a scolded grandson, off the hook.

His expression switched in a second, smiling like a kindly grandfather, "Our Little Lin is here!"

Thinking of the merits earned during this period, and the major success achieved so easily last night, the station's anti-drug quota for the year had been met.

The more he looked at Lin Ning, the more he liked him. But aside from the bonus he deserved, there was nothing else he could give Lin Ning, so he scolded Officer Li Feng, "You don't even know how to pour a cup of tea!"

Officer Li Feng: "..."

If I'd known he was coming, I wouldn't have come!!

Lin Ning knew he would still need to "trick" Officer Li Feng later, so he dared not offend him too deeply and quickly changed the subject.

He coaxed Director Zhang until he was beaming from ear to ear, and after chatting for nearly half an hour, he took his leave.

Officer Li Feng walked him out, taking the opportunity to clock off.

As they stepped outside, he scoffed at Lin Ning, "I couldn't tell, you're quite the flatterer. You should be working in a government office."

Lin Ning scoffed back at him, "Listen to what you're saying? Describing my heartfelt, surging admiration so nastily—no wonder you're still a low-level grunt; your awareness is truly low."

After trading a few insults, just before parting ways, Lin Ning mentioned something as if it were a casual remark.

"I'll have more cases for you in a few days."

Officer Li Feng also replied casually, "Things aren't as busy as before lately, just give them to me."

Lin Ning stifled a laugh. You brat, looks like you've forgotten the pain once the wound has healed. Just you wait!

Leaving the Police Station, it was already approaching nightfall.

Lin Ning thought for a moment, then ran straight to Xiang Xiangqing to pack up a few hearty dishes before heading directly to the three-bedroom apartment.

Inside the room, Jin Er and the others took the food containers and started getting busy.

Lin Ning sat to one side, took out his phone, and began calculating the accounts. According to what was agreed upon originally, each person would get a 10% bonus, which came to 62,500 each, and he transferred the money one by one.

The three men's phones chimed simultaneously; they must have been specially set ringtones. The moment the sounds rang out, the three of them stopped what they were doing and scrambled to find their phones.

Looking at the numbers on their screens, all three were stunned.

They hadn't expected so much money, and Lin Ning hadn't boasted about anything; he had just transferred it directly to their cards.

In an era where you could work yourself to the bone carrying bricks and bags, only for the foreman to stiff you on a few bucks and still act like you should be grateful.

This wasn't just being decent; this was benevolence to the core!

Lin Ning dropped another bombshell, "Remember how I asked for your IDs before? Your social security and medical insurance have been processed. I'll get the cards back and give them to you later."

The room grew even quieter.

Xu San pushed up his glasses and said nothing.

Zhang Shitou turned his head abruptly to look out the window, his shoulders trembling slightly.

Jin Er reached out and slapped the back of Zhang Shitou's head hard, laughing and scolding, "Have some backbone! You can't handle this much?"

He turned his head to look at Lin Ning. In those eyes that always looked reckless, there was now something else, "Brother, thanks!"

"What are you thanking me for?" Lin Ning waved his hand, "You earned this with your own skills; I should be the one thanking you! We're helping each other out!"

Lin Ning meant it sincerely. Did people really think information was that easy to come by, that anyone could do it?

If it were someone else, perhaps upon seeing 62,500, their first thought would be how much Lin Ning was making, rather than feeling that Lin Ning was benevolent as they did. This was the most fundamental issue of their cooperative foundation.

The three brothers were poor and slippery, but they had backbone and principles. In terms of character, they were far superior to many respectable people. Moreover, they had been stand-up guys to Lin Ning from the very beginning.

Lin Ning didn't want to get all sentimental with thank-yous; as long as they knew, that was enough. He pushed over an A4 sheet filled with names and brief information, ending the previous topic.

"I'm going back to my hometown for a while. You guys start scoping out these ten targets. Same old rules: safety first, no time limit. Just focus on their criminal activities; don't get obsessed with evidence, and there won't be extra bonuses! Don't you dare have another incident like tracking that drug dealer last time!"

Lin Ning's temper flared up again by the end.

Zhang Shitou nodded solemnly.

Jin Er and Xu San silently grabbed the paper, glanced at it, folded it carefully, and tucked it into their jackets.

They called Lin Ning to eat, "Don't worry! There won't be a next time! Come on, first drink, wish you a safe journey!"

The glasses clinked together, making a crisp sound. For men, a thousand words are all in the drink.

The three of them got drunk especially fast tonight.

Zhang Shitou hugged Lin Ning and wailed, Xu San held his hand and stroked it, while Jin Er sat there without getting handsy.

But this guy kept looking at him and smiling, that gaze, just like—like looking at his own beloved son, it was so benevolent.

Lin Ning wished he could just punch each of them and knock them all out for some peace and quiet.

Even when they were drunk, they were still taking advantage of him. At most, he could be their little brother, but no one was going to make him their son!! Not even a beloved son!!

Back home, he calculated who else he needed to contact, and made the last call to Lawyer Zhang Qi.

It rang for a long time before being answered, a sleepy voice saying, "Hello?"

Lin Ning got straight to the point, "Is the early repayment still not possible?"

There was silence on the other end for a long while, followed by a roar, "Didn't I tell you that you could make the repayment a week ago when I told you your former company dropped the lawsuit? And, have I said or have I not said not to contact me after ten at night unless it's something major?!"

He remembered now.

"Hehe, well, you know," Lin Ning said with an embarrassed, sheepish laugh, "In a couple of days, Wang Qiao will be changed to the legal representative of my company, so please cooperate with that. You have my power of attorney, right? Hehe, go to sleep, go to sleep!"

After saying that, he hung up the phone directly.

His brain was also muddled from the drinking.

After sobering up a bit, Lin Ning opened those familiar apps that used to keep him awake late at night.

The early repayment options were all lit up. Lin Ning carefully went through them one by one, entering the repayment amounts, confirming, and submitting.

Every time he paid one off, he clicked uninstall immediately.

"XX Loan", uninstall.

"XX Spend", uninstall.

"XX IOU", uninstall...

When the last icon disappeared from the screen, Lin Ning tossed his phone aside and sank deeply back into the sofa.

The living room was so quiet that he could hear the low hum of the refrigerator.

Even though he knew he could afford to pay them off, it was still different from actually having paid them off.

The nightmare of the past had completely left him, and at this moment, he felt that even his breathing was light.

He closed his eyes, the corners of his mouth curling up bit by bit.