Just after Chu Wang left the photography studio.
Shanghai.
Baoshan District.
Shengqiao Town.
Inside a rental house.
Zhao Xiaoni dully sprawls on the bed, watching TV. He lazily pops sunflower seeds, feet propped up, surrounded by seed husks and rubbish strewn all around him. It’s a reveal of how laissez-faire a single man can be, to a painstaking degree.
Suddenly.
"Click."
The sound of a door opens.
Zhao Xiaoniu trembles. This is his rented house. The only people who have keys, apart from him, are the landlord...or a thief.
The landlord is unlikely because he has not defaulted on his rent. He has paid a year’s rent up front, so there’s virtually no chance of the landlord coming without knocking and not saying a word. If it’s not a thief...
Then could it be... The police?
The police?
Zhao Xiaoniu feels a chill down his spine.
If you do nothing wrong, you fear nothing. Not even a ghost knocking at your door.
He’s done sothing wrong. He often raises his spirits with fresh mories of being hauled away in handcuffs by the police, singing ’Prison tears’ from behind the bars, getting harassed and beaten up by fellow inmates, and facing mortal danger.
"Creak..."
The door opens.
Zhao Xiaoniu curls up in a corner, clutching a quilt, like a frightened housewife.
Because two large, burly n have appeared. Their cold faces and the air around them fill him with dread. These are not the kind of n you want to ss with. Could they be sent by Chu Wang to silence him?
"Zhao Xiaoniu?" one of them asks dryly.
Zhao Xiaoniu, terrified to his core, kneels on the bed and starts bowing frantically. "Please spare , big brother. I shouldn’t have co back. I’ll leave for my hotown right away. Please spare my life. I admit I was wrong..."
As he begs, his tears and snot mix.
Two years ago, Zhao mixed with Chu Wang and collected high-interest loans for him.
During one collection, Chu took a fancy to a man’s wife. Without any hesitation, Chu cuckolded the man right in front of his face. The man beca furious and fought back. In the scuffle, Zhao beat the man ruthlessly.
Chu Wang stood by, yelling, "Beat him to death!" Zhao Xiaoniu lost control and did just that.
The man’s head hit the corner of a wall and within minutes, he was dead silent.
No need to think twice. Zhao packs his things and, taking Chu Wang’s fifty thousand yuan, runs away.
What happened to the man’s wife after that, he has no idea. When he got back to his hotown, he beca more and more afraid. Uncertainty and fear of being captured one day filled his thoughts. He sought hedonistic distractions and soon spent all of Chu Wang’s fifty thousand yuan.
He even started using drugs. Now, he doesn’t resemble his forr self. Physically and ntally, he’s collapsed.
In the end.
He’s out of money.
He had no choice but to return to Shanghai in June of this year. He aid to find sothing to do to support himself.
Unfortunately, he had gotten used to spending freely. The little money he earned working at a factory was not enough. Last month, he quit his job and started robbing people. He picked secluded paths at night to survive.
He thought about asking Chu Wang for money, but he was afraid that Chu Wang would send soone to kill him, a cri Chu Wang would be perfectly capable of committing.
His latest robbery.
He felt he was not going to escape this ti, but his will to survive ant he could only resort to his last tactic - pleading for rcy.
"Zhao Xiaoniu, I am not here to kill you."
The two of them co in and, in passing, close the door behind them.
Zhao Xiaoniu takes a deep breath, ecstatic. "Thank you, big brother. Thank you, big brother."
After begging for rcy.
"Zhao Xiaoniu, are you not ashad of what you have done?" one of the burly n suddenly asked.
Zhao Xiaoniu is taken aback.
Which deeds?
If there was anything to be ashad of, it was that one ti with Chu Wang. As for the robberies, he didn’t murder anyone, nor did he sexually assault anyone. After that day, the day when Chu Wang slept with another man’s wife right in their bedroom and Zhao killed the husband by accident, he had lived in terror of anything related to sexual desire.
Every ti anything related to sexual desire crossed his mind, he would be haunted by the mory of that day.
"Big brother, what do you an?" Zhao Xiaoniu is confused by what the man is saying.
With cold eyes, the burly man stared at him. "Zhao Xiaoniu, I’ll cut to the chase. The day with Chu Wang when you killed that man’s husband and his wife disappeared after being taken by Chu Wang, do you think you can escape your guilt?"
Zhao Xiaoniu feels like he has been struck by lightning.
Did the woman die too?
His mind blanks. He had been hoping or, rather, convincing himself that the woman was still alive. But from what the man in front of him suggests, the woman is dead. Dead sowhere unknown.
And he’s connected to all of this.
He’s just a small-ti hooligan. With limited psychological resilience, the connection of two deaths to him totalled the end of his sanity.
"I...I... It wasn’t intentional, I was just beating her husband normally, I didn’t think he would die from a fall... After that, I left...
The woman... she... I... I..." Zhao Xiaoniu murmurs.
"Zhao Xiaoniu." The burly man yells.
Zhao Xiaoniu is jolted back to reality.
He stares at the man in front of him, his eyes filled with fear, feeling as though the ghosts of the two dead people were waving in front of him.
"Do you want to redeem yourself, or do you want to have nightmares for the rest of your life?" The burly man asked coldly.
Hearing the word ’nightmare’.
Zhao Xiaoniu recalls the nights of the past two years, the frequent nightmares, the vividness of the scenes from that day. Each ti, he would wake up startled, hugging his pillow, turning on the light and the TV volu up high, trying to make the room feel less empty.
Before, he thought that being a gangster was cool. He thought watching ’Young and Dangerous’ made him tough. But then he did sothing he will always regret. Now he realizes the truth in the wisdom of the older generation.
Redemption echoed in his ears.
"I...don’t want to have any more nightmares. I want redemption. I’d give them my life." Zhao Xiaoniu decides, then turns towards the wall, preparing to throw himself at it. But then the burly man speaks again: "I can give you a chance to redeem yourself."
Zhao Xiaoniu stops.
He looks at the burly man and waits to hear more.
"How do I redeem myself? Tell and I will do it." Zhao Xiaoniu eagerly replies.
The burly man says: "You are only a victim in this. The true perpetrator is Chu Wang. He should be the one having nightmares. But he is enjoying his life while you live in constant fear."
"Yes... it’s him... he put in this ss, it’s all his fault..." A flash of ferocity appears in Zhao Xiaoniu’s eyes. Had it not been for Chu Wang’s affair right in that man’s house, right in their bedroom, that day would never have happened.
It was all Chu Wang’s fault.
It was all him.
It was him who ruined his life.
Chu Wang deserved to die.
"Zhao Xiaoniu, I am giving you an opportunity to take revenge. Chu Wang is currently under investigation. If there is no evidence against him, he will be released and continue living his life freely. However, sooner or later, he might send soone to kill you to eliminate any loose ends."
"No, no, no... Chu Wang, no, we can’t let him get out." Zhao Xiaoniu was frantically thinking to himself.
"If you want to live and atone for your sins, you have to identify him. Once your testimony is validated, he will spend the rest of his life in prison. If you provide enough evidence, you’ll not just get a reduced sentence, but you’ll ensure that he’ll never get out, even to the point where he could be executed by firing squad. This way, you can make ands and rid yourself of nightmares. Would you be willing?" The burly man spoke.
Upon analyzing this...
Zhao Xiaoniu was nodding like a pecking chicken.
His intellect was starting to recover from the fear, it was clear that the man before him wanted Chu Wang locked away. If he didn’t agree, this guy would just have to give a hint to Chu Wang and it would be over for him.
On the other hand...
If Chu Wang died...
He could live, albeit in jail, but he’d still be alive and able to make ands.
"I’ll do it, I know a lot of things about Chu Wang, including a murder. It was accidentally disclosed by one of his followers, who is still working for him. He has done too much evil, he won’t die a good death." Zhao Xiaoniu quickly nodded.
The burly man nodded his approval.
"You better turn yourself in now, otherwise it will be too late once Chu Wang is released and leaves the country. You won’t be safe then."
"Yes, yes, yes. I’ll go now." Zhao Xiaoniu hastily nodded.
"We’ll accompany you." The burly man said.
Zhao Xiaoniu dared not refuse.
He went downstairs.
And got into a Santana car.
He was driven to a nearby police station.
Upon reaching the entrance of the district police bureau, Zhao Xiaoniu relaxed completely. As he had left the building, it crossed his mind that if this man was Chu Wang’s ally, wouldn’t he be dood? Now it seed clear that this man was no ally of Chu Wang’s.
"Rember, just tell the truth. Say as much as you know. The district bureau doesn’t know that Chu Wang has been arrested yet. Just say that soone inford you and don’t ntion us. You’re doing this because you don’t want to have nightmares anymore, do you understand?"
"Yes, I do."
After saying that...
Zhao Xiaoniu got out of the car.
Looking at the sweltering, 45-degree sun, he took a deep breath and walked into the district police bureau.
...
City Bureau.
Chu Wang had been there for ten minutes,
Bureau Director Jiang Jun was sitting in his office, waiting for the so-called evidence before starting the interrogation.
Shen Yi.
In his mory, he was a good kid.
Never took advantage of his status to bully people, unlike other arrogant and unruly children of governnt officials. Otherwise, without any evidence, he wouldn’t have brought Chu Wang, with his high-interest lending practices, to the city bureau.
He just didn’t know what kind of evidence Shen Yi was talking about.
If it was really a case involving death, as Shen Yi said, it would be a major case.
"Ding Ding Ding..."
Looking at the district bureau’s number displayed, Jiang Jun frowned and picked up the phone.
After ten seconds...
Jiang Jun was a little stunned.
"Quick, bring Zhao Xiaoniu to the City Bureau imdiately, fax his statent over here. I’m aware of this case, a couple disappeared two years ago without a trace. Don’t worry, your contribution won’t be forgotten." Jiang Jun was excited.
Zhao Xiaoniu’s statent implicated many people, including other major cases involving Chu Wang.
Now...
Did Chu Wang think he could escape?
Hmph, dream on.
After hanging up the phone...
Jiang Jun sat down, a smile spreading across his face. In this line of work, punishing wrongdoers was their duty, and that made him happy.
"Director, when will we question Chu Wang? He’s asking to call his lawyer, saying that we’re wasting his ti." His secretary knocked and walked in. Normally, Jiang Jun wouldn’t handle such details, but this involved soone he’d personally ordered the arrest of.
Jiang Jun sneered: "Let him make the call. This ti, the evidence is compelling, I want to see what his lawyer can do. No decent person would represent such a high-interest lender anyway."
An hour later...
Chu Wang was taken to a room.
"Na."
"Chu Wang."
"..."
"What do you have to say about the disappearance of the Wang Shang family two years ago?"
Chu Wang shivered.
Had it finally co to this?
He couldn’t lose his cool. What if this was just an attempt to trick him?
"I’m not clear, who is Wang Shang? I don’t know him." Chu Wang defended.
However...
When the officer placed a photo of Zhao Xiaoniu in front of him, Chu Wang internally cursed, "Damn."
If Zhao Xiaoniu was arrested, he had no defense. But that wasn’t a big deal, after all, he wasn’t the one who killed the man. The woman’s body had been disposed of neatly, as long as his underling didn’t betray him, then...
As this thought crossed his mind...
The man across from him presented him with another picture.
A sense of doom overwheld Chu Wang.
When they finished disclosing several other matters, Chu Wang felt weak and slumped into his seat.
He knew...
He was completely done for.
He was definitely going down.
Why?
Why did this happen? Why did two people turn themselves in at the sa ti? Was soone pulling the strings behind the scenes?
Just as this thought crossed his mind...
The image of Tang Qing suddenly flashed across Chu Wang’s mind.
He rembered the phrase ’see you never’.
Chu Wang was astonished.
Could it really be Tang Qing?
Was this the aning of ’see you never’?
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