Chapter 55: Means on the Path

  Half an hour later, Qu Wen re-entered the private room, Jiang Jing had been beaten to a pulp, and Quan Qu curled up in the corner of the wall, convulsing constantly.

  "Is this kid going to die?" Qu Wen asked, he wasn't a street thug after all, and had some fear of killing someone.

  "Don't worry, brothers, they know what they're doing. They can make him suffer enough without killing him. And for now, this guy is still a god of wealth." Gong Haide sneered, glancing at Jiang Jing who was covered in injuries, as if looking at a dead dog.

  It wasn't until later that Gong Haide found out, after letting Jiang Jing suffer, he was thrown into the hospital, and boldly made a phone call to his father, asking for one million.

  When he arrived at the hospital, Jiang Jing's father saw his son's miserable state but didn't dare to make a sound. He even gave up on the idea of reporting it to the police. This was because they were in the wrong first, so they couldn't blame others for being ruthless. Moreover, Gong Haide knew his home address, his hometown address, and even the name of his dog better than he did. How could he not be afraid? Not killing him was already giving him face. By noon the next day, the money had been transferred to Gong Haide's account without a single cent missing.

  "Didn't you say that there was a guy in Qishi City who couldn't get along with you? Guess what kind of person he is?" Gong Haide said with a playful tone, having just finished one cigarette and lighting up another.

  Qu Wen thought for a moment, in the afternoon at Qishi City, Lao He and others were facing off against someone named Lu Jiajie, who often troubled Su Yaxin, and was called Lu Shaojie. Suddenly an idea flashed through his mind.

  "Lu Jiaju and Lu Shaojie are two brothers!?"

  "It's half right, they're cousins! Ah San, tell Wen Ge about what you've found out." Gong Hai De said, beckoning to a young man by the door.

  Jian Dan, only nineteen years old this year, perhaps due to his upbringing in prison, had a mature demeanor that didn't match his age. At 1.78 meters tall, with deep and introverted eyes, he was slightly slender, and respectfully bowed to Qu Wen before saying: "I went ahead and investigated Lu Shaojie's background as per De Ge's instructions. His father runs a company in the building materials market, an uncle is the director of the City West Branch Bureau, his aunt works at the Finance Bureau, and another uncle owns several chain restaurants in the city, namely Lu Jiaju's father. The entire family has quite some influence in Longcheng. If we want to deal with them, we can't do it openly."

  After listening to the explanation, Qu Wen suddenly realized that it was no wonder that the two brothers of Lu's family dared to be so arrogant, as they had money at home and a powerful backer.

  "No wonder Lu Jiajun looked at me like an enemy when he saw me. I thought he was just targeting Chen Tuan, but it's possible that Lu Shaojie had said something about me in front of them, so they took the initiative to treat me as an enemy. Although we can't do anything openly, we need to think of a way to deal with this, or else this injustice will be too much to bear."

  When Gong Haide heard Qu Wen's words, he extinguished the cigarette that had been smoked halfway and said with a premeditated tone: "Let us handle this matter. You are different from us, clean and innocent, no need to get involved in dirty things. Moreover, it's too eye-catching to take action now, let them not even know how they died after some time." He paused for a moment, and a sly smile appeared on his face: "Since you said that Lu Shaojie is a lecher, I will give him a gift, a sick girl who can make him end his life ahead of time."

  Although it's not explicitly stated, Guo Haide can imagine the method to deal with Lu Shaojie. Just thinking about Lu Shaojie suffering from a serious illness and being in extreme pain makes him feel chills all over his body.

  "Is this too extreme?"

  "Despicable!" Gong Haide snorted: "When he was plotting against us, he should have investigated carefully who he was dealing with. Besides, this kind of guy is rotten to the core, relying on his family's wealth, and has definitely done many bad things. He says we're a black society, scum, trash, but in fact, there are many people worse than us, not even worthy of being human!"

  Upon hearing this, Qu Wen's heart sank even further. Looking at the situation, he couldn't just leave a time bomb by Su Ya Xin's side. It was indeed true what Gong Hai De said - it would be better to get rid of such people as soon as possible.

  "I'll leave it to you then, just let me know the outcome. And don't forget, when I go to Southwest, help take care of Su Yaxin for me. This girl is so kind-hearted that she's easily taken advantage of."

  "Don't worry, as long as I'm around, anyone who dares to touch a hair on her head will have their whole family wiped out. But between you and me, a good woman like her is now considered a national treasure, so it's best to marry her back home soon and let her be a full-time wife."

  Qu Yun naturally knew this truth, but he and Su Yaxin had just established a relationship, and he had many things to do on his hands, so the wish for marriage could only be delayed again.

  "Wait until I get back from Southwest, maybe with good luck, I can make another fortune."

  "Also, don't forget to take good care of this guy for me. If possible, let him never touch it again in his life." Gong Haide leaned in close and lowered his voice, his tone unusually serious.

  The Qi Shi Festival lasted for three days, and except for the first morning when he went to Chen Tuan's store with Gu Quan, Qu Wen spent almost all the remaining time with Su Ya Xin. Having finally found a beautiful and well-behaved girlfriend, he had to cherish every moment they spent together.

  Unfortunately, the good times are always short-lived. With the end of the Qishi Festival, Qu Wen's passionate romance also came to an end. He had promised Zhao Haifeng that they would go southwest together earlier, so he could only apologize to Su Yaxin and say goodbye.

  Fortunately, Su Yaxin was very sensible and not the type who would stick together every day when talking about love. She knew that a man should prioritize his career, so she could only hold back her strong reluctance in her heart and smile to see him off.

  As for the money laundering case, since Jiang Jing withdrew the prosecution and implicated higher-ups, it was dropped and no one continued to dig into the inside story.

  However, when they went there, a young man named Weidan joined their group.

  The order was entrusted to Qu Wen by Gong Haide, who had experienced a life that most young people did not have at the age of 19. His parents divorced when he was young, and his father was busy with work, so he grew up almost entirely dependent on his sister. Without parental care, he met a group of bad friends in junior high school and eventually went astray, dropping out of junior high school to follow Gong Haide.

  However, this kid is very loyal and has helped his friends in many ways. Later, he was favored by Gong Haide and stayed by his side to do things. Unexpectedly, after only a year of wandering around, the sister who cared about him the most was ruined by someone.

  He angrily brought a knife to the opponent's home and waited for three days, finally stabbing him into a sieve with the knife, even saving the phone bill for calling an ambulance. Looking at the flashing red light on the police car, listening to the piercing siren, Jian Dan laughed extremely loudly.

  That year, Na was only 15 years old. Since he was not yet 16 years old, the court sentenced him to six years in prison with a lighter punishment according to the criminal law. Later, due to his good behavior in prison, he received two opportunities for commutation of sentence and was released after serving four and a half years.

  After being released from prison, Wei became a true social outcast, and no one wanted to have anything to do with him. In desperation, he returned to Gong Hai De, who was at least someone who had shown him genuine kindness.

  However, in Gong Hai De's eyes, Duanyan was just a child who lacked love and had gone astray, but was not inherently bad. Unlike those who were truly on the wrong path, whose nature was to deceive men and bully women, wasting their youth on food, drink, prostitution, and gambling. At the same time, Duanyan still retained some of his original innocence, a good child who had been forced onto this path by his environment, so Gong Hai De hoped that he could return to the right path.

  Handing people over to Qu Wen, Gong Hai De felt at ease.

  The 1 million yuan originally from Jiang Jing's house was to be divided in half by Gong Haide for Qu Wen, saying it was compensation and expenses for his apology letter.

  "After listening to the song, he flew back immediately: 'It's better for me to put it on myself, earn a suitable amount and completely leave this life behind. Don't let my hair turn white before I go to your funeral.'"

  Since he's a brother of his brother, Qu Wen doesn't mind spending that little money, and doing so also helps his good friend with one thing on his mind.

  "From today on, you're hanging out with me."

  As he walked on the road, Qu Wen patted Duanyan's shoulder lightly, thinking that the other was a confused young socialite. Unexpectedly, Duanyan's behavior was more mature than his own, perhaps it was the years of life experience that made him more calm and composed than many young people.

  "En, Wen Ge." The order nodded in response, with three parts respect and seven parts doubt in his eyes. He had met Qu Wen twice before, the first time being when Qu Wen was brutally beating Li Feng in front of Wang Zi. Although he hadn't seen Qu Wen take action himself, the fierce aura that Qu Wen emitted at the time had shaken him. In the Jianghu, people generally admired those with high martial arts skills.

  Afterwards, it was often possible to hear stories about Qu Wen from Gong Haide's mouth, and it is unknown whether there were any additions or exaggerations. For this person who dared to take the lead for his brothers and graduated with honors, he had a slight sense of respect. However, he did not know what Qu Wen could teach him, nor did he know which path he would lead him down.