Chapter Thirty: An Old Acquaintance

When Wang Liqing heard about the brawl involving Room 307, he broke out in a cold sweat. He kept praying silently, thinking, “Chen Ru, it’s fine if you mess with Zhang Wenhao, but for heaven’s sake, don’t provoke Chen Feng. If you do, he might storm into the district committee tonight and beat you in front of everyone until your own mother wouldn’t recognize you. You may be a big shot here, but there’s a real heavyweight living in 307!”

Wang Liqing hurriedly sent someone to fetch Chen Feng from Room 307. As soon as Chen Feng entered, Wang greeted him with concern, “Oh my, Feng, are you all right? I heard about the fight in 307 and I’ve been worried sick, afraid something might have happened to you.”

“Cut the crap!” Chen Feng replied coldly. “Since I got here, I’ve only ever been the one doing the beating. Who could ever lay a finger on me?”

“That’s good, that’s very good,” Wang Liqing said helplessly. “But really, how did you end up choosing Room 307? That Zhang Wenhao has gotten himself into some serious trouble.”

“By the way,” Chen Feng frowned, “your men put Zhang Wenhao in solitary. Within ten minutes, you’d better have him respectfully sent back to 307. If there’s even the slightest delay, I’ll hold you personally responsible!”

“This…” Wang Liqing was clearly troubled. “To tell you the truth, Feng, Zhang Wenhao is someone the higher-ups want to deal with.”

“The higher-ups? How high? Higher than me?” Chen Feng snapped. “Get it done now, or I’ll deal with you and your superiors both!”

“Yes, yes!” Wang Liqing nodded repeatedly. Only then did Chen Feng add, “Remember, ten minutes! Have your men take me back.”

“And another thing,” Chen Feng continued coldly, “Tell your people that what happened just now must never reach Chen Ru’s ears. If it does, you’ll bear full responsibility!”

“Yes, yes, I’ll notify them right away!”

Just five minutes later, the door to Zhang Wenhao’s solitary cell swung open, and two guards entered, apologizing profusely. “Comrade, we’re truly sorry, it was our mistake. Here, let us remove your handcuffs and take you back to 307.”

Zhang Wenhao was utterly baffled. Why had these officers’ attitudes changed so abruptly?

He couldn’t have guessed that all of this was because of Chen Feng, the newcomer today. When the two guards politely escorted Zhang Wenhao back to 307, the entire room burst into applause. As they clapped, Qinglong called out, “Wenhao, you’re incredible! If you weren’t younger than me by a few years, I’d want you for my boss! You’ve really made us proud, brother!”

Meng, too, was full of praise. “Wenhao, you really showed them what you’re made of in that fight!”

Old Ji laughed heartily. “I was just telling Chen Feng you made me wet my pants once. You didn’t make Hei Pi do the same today, so I’m feeling a little jealous!”

Zhang Wenhao looked around gratefully and said, “Thank you all for today. I, Zhang Wenhao, owe you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Meng replied with a grin. “Looks like you’ve scared those guards—letting you out so fast, that’s no small feat. After today, you’ll be able to walk tall in this place.”

Zhang Wenhao had no real sense of how much impact today’s fight had made, but the system soon gave him feedback. For that brawl, he was awarded 200 points! He’d earned 50 for beating Fei Long, 100 for Chen Chong, and now, the points for this brawl were more than both previous fights combined.

His available points now totaled 390, and his cumulative points reached 890. He was just 110 points away from his first system lottery draw!

Meanwhile, Zhang Xingping and his wife were still desperately searching for ways to help. They had tried to see Chen Ru, but were stopped by the district committee’s security. Exhausted, they finally returned home, only to be struck by another bolt from the blue.

That very afternoon, while they were running around for Zhang Wenhao’s sake, the factory posted a new list of laid-off workers. To their shock, both their names appeared. Though they had always been diligent at work and, while not holding official positions, were among the best employees at the mold factory, both were let go at once—a sure sign of hidden machinations.

They had tried everything to help their son escape conviction, but instead, he remained behind bars and they lost their jobs. Together, their positions had brought in nearly eight thousand yuan a month. Now, with neither old enough for early retirement, they would have to wait several years before they could receive a pension, and until then, they would have to survive on just about one thousand yuan monthly in subsistence allowances. In effect, the family had lost its livelihood.

For Zhang Xingping, a man who had once fought bravely on the battlefield, this was nearly a fatal blow. He now understood the saying, “Ordinary people cannot win against officials.” Losing his job was one thing, but with his son still behind high walls, what could they do?

Song Huafang sat on the sofa and wept over and over. Suddenly, she couldn’t hold back any longer and said, “Xingping, if there’s nothing else, why don’t you go ask Lei Zhanjun for help? He’s sure to be able to do something, and didn’t you say he owes you his life?”

“He owes me thirty-six lives,” Zhang Xingping replied expressionlessly. “When Wenhao was applying for school, I went to him once already. Otherwise, Wenhao would never have had a chance to attend Number One High. He’s already repaid his debt. I said I never wanted to see him again or have any further ties. How could I go and ask him for help now?”

“But think of Wenhao, he’s our only son. If we can’t save him this time, his whole life will be ruined! Does your pride in front of Lei Zhanjun really outweigh our son’s future? We’re truly at a dead end!”

Zhang Xingping was speechless. He took out a cigarette, lit it, and smoked in silence, while Song Huafang stared at him without blinking, waiting for his answer.

After finishing five cigarettes, Zhang Xingping stood up and said, “I’ll go now. He’s at the military district. It wouldn’t be right for a woman to show up there in tears. Wait for me at home.”

Song Huafang nodded hurriedly. “I’ll wait here. Do you want to bring some money, maybe buy him something?”

“No need,” Zhang Xingping said calmly. “What we have, he wouldn’t care for.”

The Southern Jiang Provincial Military District was located in a county-level city under Jiang City, more than seventy kilometers away. Zhang Xingping left home and hailed a taxi. The driver, seeing an opportunity, asked for three hundred. Zhang Xingping said, “Get me there in an hour and I’ll give you five hundred.”

The driver sped out of the city and made straight for the military district’s headquarters, stopping by the roadside two hundred meters away from the gate in just over fifty minutes. “Beyond this point is a restricted military area. I can’t go further; you’ll have to get out here.”

Zhang Xingping handed him five hundred yuan, got out, and walked straight to the main gate. A soldier on duty saluted as Zhang approached and said, “Comrade, this is a military restricted zone. Please do not linger here without reason.”

Zhang Xingping said, “Comrade, could you please help me contact your Deputy Commander Lei? I’m an old comrade of his—my name is Zhang Xingping.”

“A comrade?” The sentry, barely twenty, asked in surprise, “You’re saying you fought alongside our Deputy Commander Lei?”

“That’s right,” Zhang Xingping nodded. “We fought together in the Southwest Campaign.”

The sentry immediately straightened, snapping a perfect salute. Instinctively, he believed Zhang Xingping wasn’t joking—no one would risk such an easily disproved lie.

He then asked, “Please tell me your name again, and I’ll call headquarters.”

“Zhang Xingping. Zhang as in ‘bow,’ Xing as in ‘prosperity,’ Ping as in ‘peace.’”

The sentry quickly slipped into the guardhouse, made a call, and hurried back out. “Sir, the commander has asked you to wait a moment. He’s coming right away!”