"Du… Du…"

Glared at by almost ten pairs of eyes, the man couldn't speak properly. When Du Kang asked to read the doc.u.ments on top of that, he was nearly frightened to death.

Du Kang waited, but the man didn't move. His face darkened. He snorted coldly, approached the man, took the doc.u.ments from his hand, and skimmed through them—

The list of charges, the "confession," the smudged handprint…

On the way here, Du Kang prayed things wouldn't develop in the direction he least wanted to see. Though it was inevitable he would end up looking like an incompetent fool in front of Elder Fang and the provincial leaders who were about to arrive, he'd wanted to save at least some face. However, reality gave him a cruel slap.

"Well, well, well, this is truly a masterpiece, written by an outstanding literary talent." He slapped the pile of papers on the desk and smiled—if the expression full of burning rage could be called a smile. "What's your name?"

Though asked a simple question, the man didn't dare open his mouth. His stomach churned, his knees turned to water, and it took all his willpower simply to stand.

Deng Mai's father, who still accompanied their group, introduced instead, "He's Sun Laixin, Deputy Commissioner Liu's brother-in-law. He's usually in charge of Baima Street."

Du Kang understood what was important. He nodded and repeated, "Very good, very good. That's the busiest area in town, and I guess there's also a lot of 'benefits.' Liu's brother-in-law's in charge of it? Really, Liu's way of appointing duties makes me speechless."

Du Kang held a high position in Liyun Town; his subordinates always painted the scene in gold and glitter. He knew the actual state of affairs would never be that good, but when he finally peeled off the layer of gilt, he found the rot was even worse than expected. Since Elder Fang was also involved, it presumably wouldn't be long before everything was widely known. He expected that soon, he'd become the laughingstock of the whole Qunnan Province.

Trees cannot survive without bark, people cannot live without face. Du Kang thought about the consequences he would face and nearly coughed blood. The rage in his heart was so great it almost shattered the walls of the interrogation room—he planned for the culprits to suffer.

He personally unlocked the chain shackling Lin Jingzhe to the chair, giving him a smile full of sympathy: "We let you suffer, young man."

His secretary, waiting at the side, had already prepared a damp towel. When Du Kang helped Lin Jingzhe stand up, he quickly stepped forward to support the youth's other arm, and to help clean his stained palm.

"I'll do it myself." Lin Jingzhe was upset, but he'd long pa.s.sed the age of taking his anger out on innocent. He also didn't like other people entering his personal s.p.a.ce, so he took the towel and added, "Thank you."

"I'm very sorry about all this. You can rest a.s.sured I will do everything in my power to make amends for everything you suffered," Du Kang said.

He sounded remorseful and apologetic, but Lin Jingzhe knew this was directed not so much at him as toward Elder Fang. He didn't know this man, nor the rest of the people in his group, but Sun Laixin's behavior was enough of a clue.

Lin Jingzhe was a pragmatic man. He wiped his hand, threw the now dirty towel on the chair in which he spent such a long time, and gave a slight nod. His att.i.tude was calm, not like that of a terrorized teenager at all. "You don't have to apologize, it wasn't your fault, after all," he said.

Du Kang's heart filled with unspeakable grat.i.tude—this remark was clearly meant to excuse him in front of Elder Fang.

Therefore, when he turned to the scared Sun Laixing, his anger burned even more fiercely.

It's all because of this group of b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! He hated he couldn't flay them alive—literally!

Sun Laixing, who watched in shock, realized he might have offended someone he never should have. But how could this be? At the very beginning, he and his brother-in-law checked the information about Lin Jingzhe and confirmed he was an ordinary, powerless kid. His parents were divorced, the person who was his factual guardian died not too long ago, and he was estranged from the rest of his blood relatives. That was why they dared to be so bold. But now, Du Kang himself came to save him, and even apologized in such a humble way! What the h.e.l.l was going on?!

Even after all this time, his brother-in-law didn't come. Sun Laixin thought he was about to have a heart attack.  He felt as if he faced the muzzle of a loaded gun. Sweat trickled down his face and formed a small puddle on the ground, but he didn't dare to wipe it. He hunched over, wis.h.i.+ng to make himself invisible.

At this moment, a commotion could be heard outside. A man slipped through the crowd near the door, hurried to Du Kang's side, and whispered in his ear.

"So quickly?!" Du Kang exclaimed, shocked. He promptly straightened his clothes and went out, looking solemn.

Su Laixin was abandoned like a dirty rag. His mind was completely blank.

He heard the man's whisper to Du Kang. It was, "Mr. Zheng Cunzhi's car just drove in."

Zheng Cunzhi?!

Even if he forgot his own mother's name, he would never forget the name "Zheng Cunzhi."

The world went dark before his eyes, his pulse racing. Lightheaded, he felt that suddenly, the air was too thin, and he would suffocate.

Lin Jingzhe got out of this ordeal unharmed. Except for the trouble of cleaning off the thick seal ink staining his palm, he didn't lose a single hair.

Elder Fang, however, was angrier than he had ever been before. Before visiting Liyun Town, he hadn't thought he would encounter such lawlessness in the peacetime. He bluntly rejected Zheng Cunzhi's proposal to return to the guest house, holding an emergency meeting instead. That evening, the conference table constantly shook from the hands slamming on it, and n.o.body counted how many teacups were smashed.

Zheng Cunzhi banged his fist on the table for the last time and bellowed, "Investigate! Investigate this right now, and you'd better be thorough!!!"

Qunnan Province went through an upheaval because of this meeting. The members of the Cultural Relics a.s.sociation were immediately detained and interrogated. Deputy Commissioner Liu and his cronies lost their positions, and by no means was it the end of their troubles. Deng Mai's father, Deng Fengshou, was appointed to be in charge.

The door of Lin Jingzhe's house was opened wide, and the members of the museum delegation carefully removed the antiques from the warehouse. Elder Fang and Zheng Cunzhi stood in the front yard (which the people dispatched by Du Kang fixed up in express time), chatting while they supervised the whole operation.

Zheng Cunzhi opened a box that was about to be placed in the car and gently caressed the intricately patterned bronze vessel inside.

Influenced by Elder Fang, he also took a bit of interest in antiques. While he didn't collect them, he knew enough to have some discerning ability.

"The late Shang dynasty, a fine thing." He sighed, shook his head, then returned to Elder Fang's side. "This is the grandest donation of cultural relics ever made in Qunnan Province. I never would've imagined the donor was barely eighteen years old."

His words were true enough though he didn't elaborate—not to mention Qunnan Province, even if one looked at the whole country, the number of antiques' donations as large as this could be counted on the fingers of one hand. For some people, these irreplaceable, invaluable treasures, thousands of years old, were nothing more than symbols of wealth. They were willing to do anything to obtain them.

The gazes of the two men fell on Lin Jingzhe, who leaned against the door, expressionlessly watching the numerous boxes being carried away.

Both of them were used to dealing with people of all backgrounds and walks of life, and as such, were shrewd and astute observers. They easily caught the nostalgia and slight reluctance in Lin Jingzhe's eyes, hidden under his chilly exterior. Elder Fang let out a sigh and said, "That child isn't simple. You're in his debt, you know? Though it was unintentional, he still did you a great favor."

Zheng Cunzhi nodded and smiled. "I didn't expect the opportunity I've been waiting for would come so quickly. And to think that someone from the provincial government is actually the mastermind behind this case."

Elder Fang shook his head. "Money can move people's hearts. He's an adult, yet a child is more principled than him."

After signing the donation agreement and sending away the car surrounded by security personnel, Lin Jingzhe let out a long sigh. His chest felt both light and hollowed-out as if the heart disease tormenting him for a long time was cured. He was relieved, yet his relief was tinged with sadness.

Lin Jingzhe closed the door to the warehouse. In this life, he would never open it again.

Somewhat at a loss, he knelt in front of his grandfather's memorial tablet. The fragrant smoke filled the room. Before leaving, Elder Fang and the people accompanying him solemnly lit incense for his grandfather.

Amid the faint curls of smoke, he quietly kowtowed three times.

His eyes, irritated by the incense, teared up, but he refused to close them, staring at the black and white photo of his grandfather.

The old man's familiar face looked as kind as ever. He seemed to gaze at Lin Jingzhe silently, his smile infinitely patient and gentle, as if there was nothing in the world he couldn't forgive. 

It's finally over.

Lin Jingzhe knew, from this moment on, his life headed in a completely different direction.

Gao Sheng and Zhou Haitang came to pick him up for school as usual.

Because of the antiques, most of the students in Cla.s.s 5, including Lin Jingzhe, were absent for two days, which was pus.h.i.+ng it this time of the year. So, Lin Jingzhe quickly dealt with his grief and adjusted his att.i.tude. His current appearance notwithstanding, he was, after all, an adult, and had long learned how to set his priorities straight. He knew what should be most important right now.

The antiques' case was handled as quietly as possible. For the time being, not even a whisper of it could be heard in Liyun Town. Hu Yu didn't know why Lin Jingzhe missed school for two days, but she didn't pursue this issue too hard—her attention was occupied by a much more joyous matter.

The results of the second mock exam were announced.

And, Lin Jingzhe placed first in the whole school.

After all the exams were corrected and the results came out, all the teachers were shocked, including her.

Translator: Eques

Editor: Bet

Eques:

I had trouble translating this chapter. Why? Some of the comments posted by the Chinese readers under the original chapter might ill.u.s.trate the problem:

“Why are there so many misspellings???”

“Emmmm, why are there so many mistakes? It's uncomfortable to read”

“The errors are annoying”

“What the heck is with all these mistakes?!”

“All these misspellings… People who're listening to this chapter are crying, ha ha ha” [through an app or read-aloud website]

“I'm going crazy because of all the unintelligible words. Good G.o.d.”

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