16: There's brains, but not much

“You drive so fast on campus, aren’t you afraid of hitting someone?”

Gao Ze frowned, not finding the blonde young man cool or arrogant at all, only thinking he was a complete idiot, missing a screw in his head. If an accident really happened and the media blew it up, it would definitely screw over his father.

“Brother-in-law, of course not. My driving skills are excellent, and even if I hit someone, my family can handle it.”

Inside the car, the blonde’s gaze locked onto Gao Ze, sizing him up.

“You called me… You’re Zheng Yiren.”

Gao Ze’s eyes narrowed, and he instantly had a guess. He thought that in the Music Academy, only Zheng Yiren, the rich second-generation who often harassed his sister, would address him that way.

“Brother-in-law, as expected of a Police officer, your senses are so sharp. You guessed my identity right away.”

Zheng Yiren chuckled, looking at the calm Gao Ze, a hint of surprise in his heart: “And you’re not surprised at all that I know your identity?”

“What do you want with me?”

Gao Ze wasn’t surprised at all. Even Director Xu had investigated his sister’s family background and knew his details, so Zheng Yiren probably had too, or someone close to his sister, Gao Xiaohui, had leaked information to Zheng Yiren.

“I’ve always wanted to meet Brother-in-law, but never had the chance. Today, seeing your photo embracing Xiao Hui, I realized you came to the Academy. How about we go to the Kaiseki Japanese restaurant? My treat, we can eat and talk?”

Zheng Yiren smiled, pointing to the passenger seat of the Ferrari, completely ignoring his female companion’s embarrassment and anger.

The Kaiseki Japanese restaurant, it’s going to be closed for rectification.

“Not interested. Cut the nonsense.”

“Alright, Brother-in-law, I’ll be direct. I want to pursue Xiao Hui, but she doesn’t agree, so I’d like to ask you to help me persuade her.”

Regarding Gao Ze’s cold and unyielding attitude, Zheng Yiren didn’t mind, smiling faintly:

“As long as I can win Xiao Hui over, I promise I won’t mess around with other women; I’ll only love her.”

“Stop dreaming!” Gao Ze felt he had still underestimated Zheng Yiren’s shamelessness. Knowing he was a Police officer, he still dared to ask him to persuade Xiao Hui.

“Brother-in-law, I’m truly sincere about pursuing Xiao Hui,”

Zheng Yiren sighed and continued:

“After I win Xiao Hui over, I can marry her. If you want money, I can give you money. If you want power, I can have my old man help you make it happen.”

Of course, Gao Ze wouldn’t believe such so-called bullshit promises. He coldly warned:

“It’s useless to say more to me. I only have one thing to say: I am a Police officer. Do not harass my sister Xiao Hui again, or you will not be able to bear the consequences.”

“Oh, really? I can’t bear the consequences?”

Zheng Yiren’s face instantly flushed. He stared intently at Gao Ze and sneered:

“So what if you’re a Police officer? You’re just a small Traffic Police officer. I’ve seen Police officers much higher ranking than you. Besides, do you think I would break the law or be stupid?”

“I just occasionally go to see your sister, bring her some snacks, some flowers. Everything I do is completely within reasonable and legal regulations. What can you do to me?”

Watching Gao Ze fall silent, Zheng Yiren’s smile grew even wider:

“On the other hand, your sister, in such circumstances, will her academic performance decline? Will her mental state be constantly tense and depressed?”

“Oh, why aren’t you speaking? Are you angry? You want to hit me? Do you dare?”

“You have some brains.” Gao Ze looked at Zheng Yiren’s smiling face, made no move, and calmly said, “But not much!”

“What are you saying?”

Zheng Yiren’s smile abruptly stopped. He stared at the condescension in the depths of Gao Ze’s eyes, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, instantly bristling. His plan had been seen through.

Gao Ze, however, couldn’t be bothered to look any longer and simply turned and left.

Zheng Yiren had clearly wanted to provoke him into action, preferably hitting him, and then use his family connections to get him fired. Gao Ze naturally wouldn’t be impulsive enough to fall for such childish tricks.

To deal with Zheng Yiren.

Since his Police identity couldn’t make him wary or fearful, then Gao Ze had other methods.

That would be to use up the favor of Sun Chaohui, a wealthy man from Donghai City, and offset it with equivalent money and power, which would be enough to restrain Zheng Yiren’s harassment of his sister Gao Xiaohui.

But Gao Ze thought about it and decided not to use it yet.

It wasn’t that he valued Sun Chaohui’s favor more than his sister Gao Xiaohui; the former was far less important than the latter, and he would use it if needed. But such a method wouldn’t be harsh enough for Zheng Yiren and wouldn’t teach him a lasting lesson.

His siblings were his bottom line. Since Zheng Yiren dared to provoke them, Gao Ze would absolutely not let him off lightly.

Gao Ze wanted to go back and wait for the daily intelligence system to refresh, to see if the system would refresh with information about Zheng Yiren’s family, preferably negative information.

Only then could he hit Zheng Yiren hard.

If the system didn’t refresh, it wouldn’t be too late to use Sun Chaohui’s favor.

“Brother Zheng, are you just going to let him threaten you like that?”

In the passenger seat, the voluptuous and revealingly dressed woman couldn’t help but ask, watching Gao Ze’s retreating figure.

“It’s not your place to speak... He and I have a game to play. Take it slow, no rush!”

Zheng Yiren grabbed the woman’s throat, his eyes filled with dark malice. If Gao Ze wasn’t a formally employed Police officer, how could dealing with him be so troublesome?

If he just beat him up, what could he do? But if he dared to hit him now, that would be assaulting a Police officer, which could lead to three to seven years in prison if it was serious enough. And how many people would dare to hire someone to beat him up?

As a Police officer, such a violent state agency tends to be surprisingly united when faced with external conflict. If he dared to do something, the entire Donghai City Police would probably explode, and his father would definitely not be able to cover for him.

This is Donghai City, a first-tier city, not a small third or fourth-tier county. Many things can reach the highest levels and be known by important figures.

He could only take it slow, preferably stripping Gao Ze of his authority first before he could deal with him.

........

Shanghai, Minhe Community.

This area is located in the center of Shanghai, with an excellent geographical location and convenient access to various subway lines. However, few wealthy people live here; most are white-collar workers and professionals.

This is because Minhe Community is one of the oldest resettlement communities in Donghai City. There are no elevators for daily up and down movement, the stairwells are narrow, and residents’ clutter is piled everywhere.

The safety hazards here are extremely high; if there were a large fire, it could potentially burn down the entire building. The fire department has repeatedly ordered rectification, but the elderly residents, with their white hair, are too lazy to care and simply ignore it.

The two-bedroom apartment Gao Ze rented was in this place, and the rent was not low.

Four thousand five hundred a month, almost half of his salary.

He went straight up to the sixth floor via the concrete stairs, passed through the narrow, cluttered hallway, and opened the door with a key. What greeted him was a warm, original wood-colored decor with sofas and furniture, wind chimes hanging in front of the window, and large calligraphy banners hanging on the railing.

If there was a summer breeze, the wind chimes would emit crisp music, and the artistic calligraphy banners would also dance with the wind, creating a beautiful scene.

Although conditions were difficult, life did not have to be compromised.

This rented house was the home of Gao Ze, Gao Sheng, and Gao Xiaohui. Every part of it was meticulously decorated by the three of them. The wind chimes were found by Gao Sheng in a second-hand market, the calligraphy banners were written one by one by Gao Xiaohui with a brush, and the sofa was a gift from Gao Ze’s colleague.

There was also the kitchen and two bedrooms, all arranged by them.

“Gao Sheng, you’re back?”

Gao Ze saw Gao Sheng’s laptop bag on the living room sofa and knew instantly that the boy was home.

It was time to have an open and honest talk with him.

He pushed open the bedroom door and saw the guy furiously typing code in front of the computer. He turned his head with a look of surprise, then quickly closed the laptop, like a young man secretly watching something inappropriate.

“What, I can’t look at your computer?”

Gao Ze didn’t need to beat around the bush with his younger brother Gao Sheng. He asked directly: “Did you join a gray-market company?”