Chapter 30

“Not bad, you got most of the answers right, pretty impressive!” Wang Tiejun closed the duty roster in his hand.

“That’s good! Thank you, Captain Wang,” An Xiaohai sighed in relief. He had been pretending for almost an hour, and was exhausted.

“You don’t need to thank me; I should be the one thanking you. The information you provided was invaluable. Someone did plan to rob the city’s precision instrument factory, and at the time, there was nearly 500,000 yuan in cash in the factory’s safe.

The two criminals were from the security department of the neighboring mine factory, and they were armed with heavy weapons. If you hadn’t provided the tip, the consequences would have been unimaginable! On top of that, our team solved the drug trafficking route last time, earning us a collective second-class merit.

I’ve issued 600 yuan in bonuses, and I’ll find a way to make sure you get your share.”

“Thank you, Captain Wang…” An Xiaohai felt a little moved.

He had read Pan Zhuangzhuang’s letter. The 400 yuan he had received last time, 300 yuan came from Wang Tiejun, while his family only managed to gather 50 yuan, and another 50 yuan came from Lin Xuan’er.

Lin Xuan’er probably gave him all her living expenses from school; he didn’t know how she would manage on her own.

“Can you tell me honestly? Why do you need this so badly?” Wang Tiejun asked again, pointing at the duty roster.

“Captain Wang, I’ve already told you. I just need it to stay alive, that’s the truth.”

“Alright,” Wang Tiejun nodded. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“Not for now.”

“Okay, then I’ll be leaving. I probably won’t come personally next time. I have a big target, and once I show up, the noise can’t be small. Understand?”

“Understood. If I hear anything, I’ll pass it on to Pan Zhuangzhuang.”

“Good. Be careful, I’m leaving now. If you need any help, make sure to tell me.”

“Okay, goodbye, Captain Wang.”

Wang Tiejun left, and An Xiaohai slowly closed his eyes.

A collective second-class merit and a 600 yuan bonus! It’s really ironic!

An Xiaohai let out a long breath.

Wang Tiejun and his team walk on the edge of life and death every day, solving two major cases with nearly a million yuan involved, and yet they only received a certificate and 600 yuan.

This amount of money might not even be enough for some corrupt officials to have a meal. How ironic is that?

And that 600 yuan, Wang Tiejun was giving it all to An Xiaohai—money earned with his life!

It wasn’t clear how long had passed, but just as An Xiaohai was in a half-sleep, he suddenly heard some noises outside the room, and the door was gently opened.

An Xiaohai’s heart tightened!

Could someone be here to harm him? That couldn’t be, right!

He desperately resisted the urge to turn around and see who it was, lying still in bed and trying to control his breathing.

An Xiaohai decided to take a chance. He bet that the person wasn’t here to kill him, after all, this was the prison infirmary, and no prisoners could come and go freely. Those who could enter here likely wouldn’t harm him themselves.

Besides, if something happened to him here, the prison would be implicated. As long as he was in prison, his enemies had a thousand ways to deal with him, so there was no need to take such a big risk.

It should be safe.

The strong smell of alcohol hit his nose, and all of An Xiaohai’s muscles tensed up. His left hand slowly moved toward the edge of the bed. Under the mattress was a folding knife that Xu Tianyou had given him.

The person didn’t do much, instead, they pulled out a chair and sat beside An Xiaohai’s bed. The sound of the chair being dragged was normal—there was no attempt to hide the noise or make it louder.

An Xiaohai’s heart instantly calmed down. Whoever it was, they didn’t seem to be here to harm him. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be behaving this way.

An Xiaohai cautiously withdrew his hand, trying to relax his body, pretending to be asleep.

The person’s breathing was heavy, and the smell of alcohol in the room became even stronger, but the person didn’t turn on the light or speak. They just sat there quietly, creating an eerie atmosphere.

Just when An Xiaohai was about to lose his composure from holding the same position for so long, the person finally reached out and nudged his shoulder.

“An Xiaohai, wake up.”

It was Yang Yuanbing’s voice!

At this point, An Xiaohai finally relaxed completely. However, he didn’t respond immediately. He waited until Yang Yuanbing nudged him twice more before pretending to slowly wake up.

This was a necessary act. Wang Tiejun had just been here. If he acted too awake, it might raise suspicions.

“Section Chief Yang, what are you doing here? What time is it?” An Xiaohai pretended to ask sleepily.

“It’s almost dawn,” Yang Yuanbing reeked of alcohol, but his tone was very clear. “I came here to tell you something.”

“What’s going on?” An Xiaohai still pretended to be half-asleep, but his heart was already racing, feeling an ominous premonition.

Yang Yuanbing coming here in the middle of the night, drunk, to tell him something—it was probably not good news!

“I’ve recently heard some rumors. Someone in the prison is spreading a rumor that you were the one who hurt Liu Jun.

I came to warn you. Liu Jun is the second in his family. He has an older brother and a younger brother. All three of them are notorious troublemakers in the area.

If this rumor reaches his brothers, they might come after your family.”

Upon hearing this, An Xiaohai’s heart sank, and then a surge of anger rose uncontrollably from deep within him.

Troublemakers may sound insignificant, but to ordinary people, they are far more dangerous than someone like Xu Tianyou!

Once you get tangled up with troublemakers, it’s the beginning of a nightmare. They usually don’t make overtly violent moves, but they can create endless trouble in your life.

Dealing with troublemakers is almost impossible for ordinary people. Even if you call the police, it won’t help much since they haven’t caused any substantial harm. The police will just scold them a little and might take them away, but as soon as they’re out, it’s back to square one.

Even if the police detain them, it’s only for a few days, and when they come out, it’s the same—only this time, they’ll retaliate even more fiercely.

These troublemakers don’t care because they’ve long given up on their own lives. They have criminal records, they have nothing left to lose, and they don’t fear the consequences.

They can harass you for a long time, until they achieve their goal, while normal people can do nothing about it.

You can’t just ignore them, because they’ll keep buzzing around you like flies, making your life miserable.

And for An Xiaohai’s family and friends, the situation is much worse. It’s no longer something that can be solved with a little money. If left unchecked, the consequences could get very serious.

There are only two ways to deal with these troublemakers: either send someone they fear to intervene, or make sure they can never cause harm again.

The people troublemakers fear are either those tougher than them or powerful enough police officers. An Xiaohai knows he can find both of those.

Xu Tianyou is the tougher one, and Wang Tiejun is the police officer with enough authority to stop them.

But, he can’t involve Wang Tiejun. If Wang Tiejun gets involved, their relationship would be exposed. Xu Tianyou would definitely help, but An Xiaohai wasn’t too keen on asking him for help.

First, An Xiaohai didn’t want to get too entangled with Xu Tianyou, and second, Xu Tianyou was known for being unpredictable and uncontrollable. If he handled the situation, who knew how much chaos would ensue?

The bigger the mess Xu Tianyou caused, the worse it would be for An Xiaohai. After all, Xu Tianyou would be causing the trouble for his sake.

So, once Xu Tianyou steps in, An Xiaohai is done for.

An Xiaohai felt a sense of helplessness, something he hadn’t felt since his rebirth.

The collapse of social order often starts with the bad guys not being punished and the good people—or those who follow the rules—left unprotected.

An Xiaohai thought his heart was tough enough, but facing this situation, he still felt at a loss.

If these troublemakers were after him, An Xiaohai wouldn’t be afraid, but if they were targeting his family and friends, then he truly felt uneasy.

His grandparents, his maternal grandparents, were all in poor health. If they were constantly harassed by these people, would they be able to handle it? If these troublemakers went to Lin Xuan’er’s school or Pan Zhuangzhuang’s company to make trouble, how much harm would it cause them?

“Dammit, you guys are forcing me into this!” An Xiaohai gritted his teeth in frustration.