Chapter 500 (2/2)

”It's true that it's your job, but you also have to consider the impact it has on others. As the saying goes, family shame should not be made public. At the risk of sounding harsh, this is my family's business. What does it have to do with you? Oh, my words were too serious, excuse me, hahaha! Have some tea!”

He  was met with their cold faces in response. Chen s.h.i.+ wanted to see how long he could continue pretending.

Father Zhang put his hand in his pocket and his phone rang suddenly. He pulled it out to answer, ”Ah? What... The customer has arrived? I'll come immediately!” Then he smiled apologetically at Chen s.h.i.+. ”Sorry, there's business I have to-”

Chen s.h.i.+ s.n.a.t.c.hed his phone away, looked at it in his hand and asked, ”It was just the alarm that sounded, right? Mr. Zhang, if you are really unwilling to talk, let's talk somewhere else.”

”No, this... I didn't break the law. What right do you have to invite me to drink tea?”

”You didn't get any special enrollment opportunities at that time. It was just a deferral strategy. From your detailed understanding of Yan Qilin's father, it can be seen that you've contacted him in private. You definitely used all your means to try and break them up!”

Chen s.h.i.+ threw this bombsh.e.l.l out and Father Zhang's forehead broke into a cold sweat. However, he immediately covered things up with a smile. “You're not going to make such a big joke, right? As a parent, who doesn't want their child to be happy. Even if I don't support...”

Chen s.h.i.+ raised his voice, ”Is it possible that after all your methods failed, you took extreme measures? In that case, you may be suspected of murder!”

Father Zhang sat down as if he was cornered, sweat falling like rain. ”Officer, you can't say  such irresponsible words. I've abided by the law all my life and I've never done anything harmful to others.”

”Really? Would you like to say hi to my friends at the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and have this bank's accounts checked? Let's see if you're so pure and innocent.”

The bluff was a violent blow to Father Zhang and he finally looked as though he admitted defeat. He gulped. ”Don't, I'll cooperate with the investigation.”

”Let's talk about what happened in the summer of 2013!”

”That summer... That summer...” Father Zhang's eyes looked blurred. ”My son finished the college entrance examination. He had scored over 600 points, but he filled out his choices with band 3 universities. I was so angry that I threatened to cut him off. He actually left without looking back.” He slapped his chest so hard that the slaps resounded loudly. “At that time, my heart was about to break. I had worked hard to cultivate such an outstanding boy, but for a little b.i.t.c.h, he wanted to sever ties with me. That night I cried at home. I mobilized all those that I could mobilize to persuade him to change his mind, but his att.i.tude was very resolute. During those couple of days, I didn't live like a normal person and used alcohol to drown my sorrows all night. When that was done, I'd quarrel with his mother. I was on the verge of a mental breakdown!”

Recalling the sad past, Father Zhang wiped a few tears away. ”I don't understand what I did wrong for the heavens to want to punish me like this. Everything I did was for him! Seeing that the university choices were about to be handed in, I had no other choice. I could only... I could only promise to allow them to be together. I promised to get a special enrollment opportunity and let the girl go to a band 1 university. Actually... I actually lied to them. She had only scored over 400 points. Even if I went bankrupt, I wouldn't have been able to get her into a band 1 university through bribing connections. That was just a delaying tactic, but how long could I stall for? The admission notices would be sent out in a month. Once Jinlei knew that it was fake, he'd run away from home again and not go to university. I couldn't bear this kind of shock anymore, so I found the girl's house. I planned to force them to break up with money. Her father also accepted my cheque, but that old drunkard couldn't control his daughter. They were still together...”

Chen s.h.i.+ listened on, feeling sad for him. He obviously couldn't control his own son but had placed hope in another parent's ability to control their child.

1. Typically middle-aged men who aren't very capable, like to show off, are obscene, etc. Implies that their integrity and sincerity are questionable. This has become a buzzword among Chinese people and they typically use it to describe fat, obscene and complacent middle-aged men.

2. The four arts. Guqin(ancient music instrument) playing, weiqi(Chinese name for the board game Go), Chinese calligraphy and painting are the four skills that ancient Chinese literati and elegant ladies had to master. For more info, here's the wiki for it:

3. It's a derogatory neologism used by Chinese feminists to describe men who stubbornly support traditional gender roles and are therefore considered s.e.xist and chauvinistic.

4. Actual Chinese proverb.

5.  The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection is the highest internal control inst.i.tution of the Communist Party of China, tasked with enforcing internal rules and regulations and combating corruption and malfeasance in the party.

6. Real stratagem that Sun Zi (Sun Tzu) devised during war while waiting for reinforcements. You can read this in his book The Art of War.

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