Chapter 151: Teaching the Young Master a Lesson

Zhang Rui stopped in his tracks and fixed his gaze on Zhang Zhihao. He could already smell the gunpowder in the air from Zhang Zhihao’s tone. Qiao Man quickly stepped forward and shouted at Zhang Zhihao, "What are you yelling about?"

"He bullied you, so I have to deal with him!"

Zhang Zhihao, a young master with connections to the military district, was the kind of person who could make the ground shake in Bohai City with a single stomp. He didn’t know Zhang Rui personally, but he had heard his father mention that there was a boy who often pestered Qiao Man; this must be him.

"Messing with my woman? You're asking for a beating!"

Zhang Rui couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile. "Why don't you two just have a chat?"

Zhang Rui didn't take Zhang Zhihao’s bluster to heart. It was just the typical temper of a pampered scion—nothing worth getting angry over. He’d consider it a favor to the old commanding officer.

"Chat my ass! Apologize to Qiao Man!"

Zhang Zhihao, however, was relentless. He opened his big mouth and began gesturing aggressively at Zhang Rui.

"Stop pointing at me!"

Zhang Rui was not a man of infinite patience. Seeing how oblivious Zhang Zhihao was, he began to feel annoyed, and his previously smiling face instantly hardened.

Qiao Man, standing to the side, quickly pushed Zhang Zhihao away. "Are you sick? Why are you here? Go back to where you came from!"

She had met Zhang Zhihao yesterday and had a decent impression of him; he had been very well-mannered at her home. She hadn't expected him to show up at the police station today and speak so disrespectfully to Zhang Rui. It seemed that deep down, he was no different from any other arrogant, power-tripping rich kid.

Zhang Zhihao didn't take Qiao Man’s shove to heart. He took a step back and continued to point at Zhang Rui, shouting, "I’m pointing at you! So what? What are you going to do? Hit me?"

His voice was hysterical, and his face wore such a punchable expression that Zhang Rui found it truly unbearable.

*Whoosh!*

Just as Zhang Rui was about to step forward to give Zhang Zhihao a lesson in life, a clattering sound of metal erupted from behind him. Everyone turned to look and saw a decrepit minivan, as beat-up as it could possibly be, wobbling toward them at high speed.

Guo Tao rolled down the window, stuck his head out, and yelled, "Brother Rui, I'm here!"

Before the words were even out of his mouth, one of the wipers beneath the windshield fell off with a clatter and landed on the ground.

"Damn it!"

Guo Tao grunted. He stopped the car twenty meters from Zhang Rui, jumped out, and ran back to pick up the wiper.

"Hahaha... hilarious! Is that your ride? Don't tell me you're trying to show off your sense of humor. If you can't even afford a car, you’d be better off staying home!"

Zhang Zhihao laughed until he was doubled over. He hadn't expected the guy to be so dirt-poor—driving a piece-of-junk minivan so broken that the wipers fell off. If he took that to a used car lot, no one would pay five thousand yuan for it.

It was worlds apart from the Infiniti he had intentionally driven to keep a low profile today, let alone his Lexus L600. If he had brought that out, it would have scared the life out of this guy; it was worth five hundred of those minivans.

*Whoosh!*

Just as Zhang Zhihao was laughing with his teeth bared, Zhang Rui moved like the wind. Before even Chen Qiao Man could react, Zhang Rui had grabbed Zhang Zhihao by the collar and lifted him into the air. The 130-pound young master was dangling thirty centimeters off the ground, his feet kicking wildly in the air. He was flushed with terror, having never imagined that Zhang Rui possessed such divine strength—lifting him above his head with one hand!

Damn, that was brutal.

"Let me go! Let me go!"

Suspended in the air, Zhang Zhihao writhed like a girl, but it was useless. Zhang Rui’s hand was like a powerful clamp, threatening to tear the designer shirt right off his back.

At that moment, Guo Tao walked over holding the rusted wiper. Seeing Brother Rui handling the situation, he raised the wiper, intending to smack it over Zhang Zhihao’s head.

"That's enough."

Zhang Rui seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. Just as Guo Tao was about to swing, Zhang Rui caught the wiper with his free arm. "Don't break our wiper; it's not worth it."

It was a blatant insult, but Zhang Zhihao, still held aloft, didn't have a shred of fight left in him. Although he had grown up in the military district, he was a lazy child who couldn't endure hardship. Zhang Huizhong had tried repeatedly to get him to train with the armed police to strengthen his physique, but he always found excuses to slack off. Over the years, his body remained frail, though he had mastered the art of having a loud voice—usually, one shout was enough to make people who knew his status tremble. It had always worked in the past.

But he hadn't expected to meet his match here at the police station today.

Not only did his shout fail to intimidate anyone, but he had also been manhandled.

How humiliating!

"Alright, alright, Zhang Rui. Put him down."

Qiao Man was also annoyed by Zhang Zhihao's arrogance—what was he acting so high and mighty for? But Zhang Rui’s grip was like a bull’s; if he accidentally hurt him too badly, it would lead to real trouble.

After all, the military district political commissar, Zhang Huizhong, was not a man to be trifled with. If he truly got angry, dealing with Zhang Rui in Bohai City would be as easy as child's play.

"Watch your mouth from now on."

Zhang Rui dropped Zhang Zhihao. The young man’s legs were so weak that he couldn't stand, stumbling and landing hard on his backside.

"Hahaha... and he thought he could mess with Brother Rui with a body like that? I'm impressed."

Guo Tao laughed unrestrainedly. He didn't care who the man on the ground was. He pointed at Zhang Zhihao and shouted, "Kid, keep your eyes open. You'd better behave when you see Brother Rui, or I'll slap that big mouth of yours shut."

"Let's go."

Zhang Rui took the van keys from Guo Tao and turned to leave.

Qiao Man chased after him. "Why don't you take my Captiva instead?"

Seeing the van, which was little better than a tractor, Qiao Man was deeply worried. Could this thing even make it to Xiying County?

"No need. I like the spirit of this van."

Zhang Rui said, hopped into the driver's seat, and roared away.

Guo Tao drove the Audi Q7 straight to the used car dealership.

***

Qing Long and a dozen men had already arrived at Xiaoqiao Village.

The entire village only had a few dozen households. If the car was here, finding it would be simple.

At that moment, the village chief was standing at the entrance, using a megaphone to address a hundred villagers. "Folks, our relationship with the oilfield has always been harmonious. For years, we’ve helped each other out. They’re just doing some pipeline work here; let's not go overboard. We're all locals who see each other every day—it wouldn't look good if things got too tense."

"Other villages have managed to get money from the teams occupying their land to do work. Some even get thousands of yuan—why can’t our village do the same?"

"Exactly! Village Chief, you can't just side with outsiders. Leading the villagers to wealth is your responsibility!"

"We don't care. We must see the money before we let them pass, otherwise, no deal."

The moment the village chief finished speaking, several troublemakers in the village launched their counter-arguments.