“You bastard, you dare to beat me? I’ll kill you…” Hu Dahai was still protesting. Eventually, he was reduced to moans and grunts as he laid on the ground. It was a pathetic sight.
The villagers cheered at this cathartic experience, though some of them looked worried.
Hu Dahai’s brother-in-law was the superintendent of the local police station in town and everyone regarded him with fear. It was bad news to cross him.
Twenty minutes passed quickly.
An ear-splitting police siren was heard at the entrance to the village. Three police cars drove in one after another. A squad of police officers hopped off the cars and rushed toward the crowd.
The one leading the squad was a fifty-something-year-old tall and thin man. He was dressed in a police uniform and looked unfriendly.
“Move aside! Everyone, get out of the way!”
He rushed ahead furiously. “Which one of you assaulted a police officer? Stand out now! You bunch of mountain folk dare to rebel against authority? You assault the police officers now. What’s next, a full-on revolution?”
“Superintendent! It’s that kid over there!” The two police officers went forward and pointed at Tang Hao.
The superintendent was shocked when he saw the person they were pointing to. ‘Isn’t he just a small kid? How old is he?’
Hu Dahai, who had been curled up in the fetal position on the ground, pounced on his feet and ran toward the superintendent, crying as if his parents had just died.
“Brother-in-law! You have to stand up for me! This kid is the troublemaker! You must make sure that he dies! Avenge me!”
Superintendent Huang almost could not recognize the person standing in front of him.
That person was in a horrible state. His face was as swollen as a pig’s head and all his facial features were distorted.
“You are… Dahai?”
“It’s me, brother-in-law! This is the handiwork of that kid! You must avenge me!” Hu Dahai cried.
Superintendent Huang was furious. “Alright! This kid is inciting a rebellion!”
“He was also cursing you, brother-in-law. He says that the superintendent of a small town can’t touch him!” Hu Dahai wiped the snot away from his nose.
“What, ‘Just a small-town superintendent’?” Superintendent Huang was raging. He ordered the police officers behind him. “Why are you still standing there? Cuff him up now and bring him back for interrogation. My surname isn’t Huang if I don’t see him lose a layer of skin after this!”
The police officers received their orders and pounced onto Tang Hao with great ferocity.
“What are you doing? You want to arrest Tang Hao? Over my dead body!” Tang Hao’s uncle stepped out from the crowd and roared.
Some villagers also followed his actions and stepped out.
“You… you all are rebelling!” Superintendent Huang was angrier than ever.
Tang Hao walked toward his uncle and said, “Don’t worry, Uncle!’ Then he walked past the crowd toward the police officers.
“Cuff him up!” Superintendent Huang roared.
Tang Hao leisurely took out his phone and dialed a number. “Before you arrest me, Superintendent Huang, you might want to talk to this person and reconsider your decision.”
Superintendent Huang chuckled condescendingly.
He could only find this laughable. This kid in front of him was just from the village, but he boasted as if he was connected with some VIP. Who could this country bumpkin be acquainted with?
Tang Hao’s call went through. “Hello? Secretary Lin!”
Superintendent Huang burst out laughing. “Secretary Lin, too! Who’s he fooling?”
“I’m in a little bit of trouble here, Secretary Lin. I’m now at Dragonrock Village, near Jade Town. The police officers here are abusing their power and tormenting innocent villagers. Now their Superintendent Huang is here and wants to arrest me.
“Alright, I’ll pass the phone to him.”
After that, Tang Hao handed his phone over. “Secretary Lin wants to talk to you.”
Superintendent Huang laughed coldly and said, “Who will believe you? Let me expose your lies.”
He walked a few steps forward and took the phone, then yelled, “Hello? Who’s this? Tell me your name. I know you’re not Secretary Lin. I can say that I’m Secretary Zhao, too!
“Goddammit, you’re still pretending to be Secretary Lin? I’ll arrest you as well!”
The other end of the phone was silent. Then, a low voice spoke, “Please wait for a moment. I will have Commissioner Xia speak to you.” Then, he hung up the call.
Superintendent Huang was taken aback, then he burst out laughing. “Ha! Now there’s Commissioner Xia too! You guys are really into this ruse.”
Commissioner Xia was the head of Westridge District Police Headquarters. He was out of the district for an inspection on the day Tang Hao was framed, so An Zhenghua was the leader in his place.
Tang Hao only found out about that later.
“Cuff him up! Now!” Superintendent Huang pointed at Tang Hao and ordered at the police officers.
He had just finished speaking when his phone rang.
He took out the phone from his pocket and trembled as his face turned pale. The hand that held the phone was shaking.
“Com… Com… Commissioner… Xia…” He stammered as he stared wide-in horror at the name on his phone. “So… So…. That was really Secretary Lin?”
His vision turned black and he nearly fainted.
Secretary Lin was one of the highest-ranking officials in the district. Just a word from him could end his career.
On normal days, he did not even have the chance to fawn and grovel at his feet. Just earlier, he had cursed at Secretary Lin and even threatened to arrest him.
His body trembled more violently when he remembered that.
He answered the call with trembling hands.
A stern voice roared from the other end of the call. “You sure have guts, Huang Yang! You are relieved of all your duties immediately pending investigation. Now, bring all the people with you and get out of there.”
“Com… Commissioner Xia, I… I…” Superintendent Huang stammered. His face looked like he was about to cry.
“You? What about you? Get out of there fast! Don’t you know who you’ve crossed? Let me tell you, he singlehandedly caused An Zhenghua’s fall from grace!”
Superintendent Huang was shocked to the core. His eyes displayed the panic within him.
“It’s him… how could it be him…”
He looked at Tang Hao with an expression of utter shock. His intestines were already in knots.
Yesterday, shockwaves were sent across the district police force. The news about Deputy Commissioner An and Squad Leader Sun’s fall from grace was spread throughout the entire police force, and naturally, he had also heard the news.
He did not expect that he would encounter this hotshot the very next day.
“I’m finished! Utterly finished!”
His knees went weak and fell sitting on the ground.
Hu Dahai was confused. He could not understand why his awe-inspiring brother-in-law was in such a pathetic display.
“You’ll have to stand up for me, brother-in-law!” He was in tears again.
“Still crying? Cry your mom’s ass! It’s all thanks to you, you useless bastard that brought me into this mess. Now that I’ve lost my job, are you happy now? I… I’ll kill you!”
Superintendent Huang pounced on Hu Dahai and delivered a few tight slaps to his face.
Hu Dahai was thoroughly dumbfounded.
“Oh my, Lil Hao is acquainted with a high-ranking person. Look at Bully Huang, he’s scared out of his wits.” Someone understood the situation.
“I think he mentioned something about Secretary Lin. Don’t tell me it’s that Secretary Lin from the district office?”
“Oh my god! He’s a high-ranking official! I can’t believe that Lil Hao is acquainted with him!”
The villagers’ gazes toward Tang Hao had changed. They were looking at him with admiration and respect.
