Siheyuan: I just came across and wanted to chase me away

Chapter 1120 Direct Threat

It's good to let Li Jianjun suffer a bit inside, to let him taste the bitterness of prison, and to teach him a lesson—let's see if he dares to cause trouble behind my back again without my permission, and even try to take advantage of Gu Nan? He's simply courting death.

As for Lili… Zhang Li took a sip of tea, his lips curling into a sneer. What kind of trouble could a little brat with no background or connections cause in the police station? Once Li Jianjun had suffered enough inside and lost his edge, Zhang Li could easily pull some strings, say a few nice words to the person in charge, and give him a bribe of three or five hundred yuan. He could easily get her out. A little discipline then would make her more obedient.

He had everything figured out perfectly, the abacus beads clicking away as he calculated every detail, but he said nothing more, only waving his hands repeatedly, his face showing impatience and disgust, as if shooing away flies: "Alright, alright, stop getting in my way, go do what you're supposed to do."

Zhang Li leaned back in his armchair, tapping his knuckles on the armrest. His hand, holding the enamel mug, paused. A ring of yellow stains clung to the rim, the marks of years of tea drinking, gleaming greasy in the dim light. He glanced sideways at Ah Hu standing opposite him, the wrinkles around his eyes crinkling, a cold smile playing on his lips: "You said yourself, he's my 'son-in-law.' Li Jianjun is just my son-in-law, not my own son. I don't have time to care about his life or death right now."

The meaning behind the words couldn't be clearer—the son-in-law is ultimately an outsider, someone you can't reach through the skin of your stomach; it's not worth the trouble and effort, or even the risk to your future, for him.

Ah Hu was furious. His fist clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He never expected this man to be so cold-blooded, turning a blind eye to his own son-in-law. All that talk of "family" at the dinner table was just a bunch of lies!

He took a step forward, his chest heaving, his eyes blazing with fury, his voice trembling: "You can choose not to save Li Jianjun, that's your family matter, it's none of my business. But you must save my girlfriend Lili! She's implicated because of Li Jianjun, she has nothing to do with this whole thing! If you refuse to help, don't blame me for being impolite!"

Zhang Li chuckled, slamming his enamel mug on the table with a loud crash, spilling a few drops of tea onto the greasy surface. He sized Ah Hu up and down, looking at him like a naive, ignorant brat, his eyes full of contempt: "I'm not going to save him. I want to see what you're capable of. You think you can just barge into the police station and snatch him away?"

Ah Hu's anger surged to the top of his head; the veins on his forehead throbbed, and his temples throbbed. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, when suddenly something occurred to him. His eyes darkened, and his tone carried a hint of desperate ruthlessness: "Are you really going to just stand by and watch us die? You're not even going to help the two of us?"

Zhang Li laughed even harder, leaning back in his chair and laughing so hard his shoulders shook, making the armchair creak. "Hmph, even if I don't help, what can you do? You dare threaten me? That's really interesting. Nobody in this area has ever dared to talk to me like that." He was certain that Ah Hu was just a hot-tempered fool with no real evidence, and couldn't cause any trouble.

Ah Hu knew that dealing with this stubborn old fox required some real substance; he wouldn't budge without something substantial. He stared intently at Zhang Li, speaking each word as if squeezed out from between his teeth: "Then don't blame me. Not only will Li Jianjun be stuck inside, but you won't be leaving either. You embezzled Boss Zhang's money for that batch of imported cloth at the docks a couple of years ago, and last year you conspired with Boss Wang to lower prices, cheating small-time traders out of half a year's harvest. What do you think will happen if this gets reported to the higher-ups?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Li's smile froze instantly, like a frozen lake. He sat up abruptly, a flicker of panic in his eyes, and his hand holding the cup tightened involuntarily—he hadn't expected that this street urchin would know these things! Those were his deepest secrets, things even Li Jianjun might not know the details of.

The air in the room seemed to freeze instantly, as if covered with a layer of ice, making even breathing difficult and causing a tightness in the throat. Only the ticking of the wall clock, slow and steady, each tick like a small hammer striking the heart, making one's temples throb and the whole body feel uneasy.

Zhang Li leaned back on the leather sofa, the cigarette between his fingers half-burned, the ash teetering precariously. Hearing Ah Hu's words, he paused, then chuckled softly, a laugh laced with undisguised contempt and a hint of offended anger: "You're threatening me now? Quite the big shot. Do you really think I've been an official for nothing all these years? If just any Tom, Dick, or Harry could point their finger at me and threaten me, I would have been fired long ago." He tapped his fingers lightly on his knee, the rhythm quickening, his eyes filled with disdain—a street thug dared to challenge someone like him, who held real power?

Ah Hu ignored his sarcasm, his face expressionless. He pulled a manila envelope from his pocket and slammed it onto the glass coffee table with a loud "thud," making the glasses on the table tremble. The envelope wasn't sealed properly, and several photos slipped out, the images of which were obscene and painful to look at under the living room lights. "Take a look for yourself," he said, his voice as cold and hard as a stone. "If these photos were to appear in the social section of the newspaper, or be sent to the desk of a disciplinary committee member, guess who will be the unlucky one in the end?"

Zhang Li's smile vanished instantly, the curve of his lips frozen in place. Though still harboring a hint of disbelief that it was "just a little trick," he involuntarily reached out and picked up the photos. After only a couple of glances, his face turned deathly pale, as white as paper. He almost dropped the photos in his hand, two of them slipping away—they clearly showed Li Jianjun and a strange woman embracing in a private room, the backdrop being the distinctive crystal chandelier of the Peace Hotel, which he had seen there just two days ago.

"That bastard!" Zhang Li was so angry that his chest heaved violently, and he almost fainted. He crumpled the photo in his hand into a ball. He had known for a long time that Li Jianjun was no good—greedy, lecherous, and all talk and no action—but he never expected that this kid would dare to do something like this, and even be stupid enough to let someone take a picture! If this got out, not only would Li Jianjun be ruined, but he, the "elder" who had acted as a go-between and even wanted to marry his daughter to him, would also be dragged down and branded as someone who "misjudged people."