On Tuesday morning, Jiang Zhihan went to Old Master Yang's house to report the good news. Although Xiaoqian's case had not been decided, it was considered settled. Jiang Zhihan, who had been worried for a long time, felt relieved.
If Jiang Zhihan had only intervened in this matter out of a moment of righteous anger, then he would have been the one to blame. In the past few days, he had been running around on this matter, worried about the lack of news. Slowly, this matter became more and more like his own, and Xiao Qian was like his sister. Unknowingly, he had a strange sense of responsibility in his heart.
Because the end of the semester was approaching, the burden of studying was even heavier. He had to pay back all the debts he owed. Because of Jiang Zhihan, Ni Shang's class notes were more detailed this semester. Moreover, she wrote a brief summary of the notes every week, picking materials that she felt were useful. Starting from this week, Jiang Zhihan had borrowed her notes for every subject, and he had seized the time to apply for the Buddha's Feet.
It was already winter in December. The sky turned dark early, and the drizzle was coming more and more frequently. Due to Ni Jianguo's request, Ni Shang would only attend self-study in the evening for one to two days every week. She would stay at home the rest of the night. Because Jiang Zhihan had to rush his homework, he had been obediently staying in school for the past few days to study at night. Looking at the empty seat beside him, he was really not used to it.
At 9:30 pm, Jiang Zhihan packed his things, put on his backpack, said goodbye to Chen Yimeng and the others, and went straight to his mother's bookstore. Li Rongrong was very hardworking in her business. She would stay open until 10 pm every day, seven days a week. Under normal circumstances, as long as he had time, Jiang Zhihan would go to the bookstore to play and accompany his mother home. Ever since the advertisement was placed on the song request program of the traffic station, the business had improved in the past two weeks. According to Li Rongrong's estimation, it had increased by at least 50%. Looking at her career that was thriving, Li Rongrong's drive was like a bottomless spring that could not be used up.
When Jiang Zhihan arrived at the bookstore, he saw his mother saying goodbye to a middle-aged woman outside the bookstore. The woman seemed to be wiping her tears. When they entered the bookstore, Jiang Zhihan asked his mother who it was. "Auntie Zhang, you don't know her?" Li Rongrong sighed. I watched you grow up. We were in the same shift in the workshop. Later, because of his poor health, he resigned early and did some things outside. She was very good at hooking sweaters. She was the one who hooked a few sweaters for you when you were young.”
Jiang Zhihan was well aware of his mother's style of speaking. She could bring up a lot of related things with whatever she said. He sat down and quietly waited for the rest of the story.
"Do you remember that she has a son who's a year older than you? You even met him in kindergarten." Li Rongrong asked.”
Jiang Zhihan shook his head with a bitter smile. How could he remember what he had seen in kindergarten?
"I've always advised her not to spoil her son too much." Li Rongrong sighed again. It was fine if he did not study well when he was young, but he had to take the right path. Now, he was caught red-handed by the security guards of his father's factory when he went to steal something from his father's factory the night before.”
"What did you steal?" Jiang Zhihan asked.
"I couldn't open the safe, so I stole a video recorder," Li Rongrong said.”After a while, Li Rongrong sighed,"That's why people's good fortune is uncertain. Back then, the person your Auntie Zhang married had a good job and a well-off family. His life was much better than ours. Now, it seemed that the most important thing was to raise a good son. Look, I have a good son, so I don't have to worry about anything.”
Jiang Zhihan was not used to his mother's praise. He frowned and said,""Mom."
Li Rongrong waved her hand and said," I won't say it anymore. I know you don't like it." Speaking of which, your Auntie Zhang and I have been friends for decades. We used to be very close. Can you help me ask how I can make things flexible? Anyway, the stolen goods had already been returned. Could he be fined a little more and admit his mistake?”
Jiang Zhihan said,"Mom, do you really think I'm resourceful? This matter is completely out of the ordinary. How do you want me to help? I'll say something you don't like to hear. It might not be a bad thing for him to be locked up for more than ten days for theft. Only after learning a lesson could he truly turn over a new leaf.”
Li Rongrong said," You're really amazing. This afternoon, Wu Tao's mother came to the bookstore to thank me. She praised you and said that the other party is a bureau chief. Didn't she let you get the job done?"”
Just as they were talking, someone walked in. Jiang Zhihan turned around and saw Lin Suo, whom he hadn't seen for a long time. Jiang Zhihan was very happy and quickly greeted,""Long time no see. Why are you free today?”
Lin Suo smiled and said," I'm here today. I passed by after I was done, so I came in to take a look. I didn't expect you to be here too." It was very tiring to be open so late at night.”
Jiang Zhihan said happily,"Long time no see. Let's have supper together." It's my treat."
"I really didn't eat much tonight, but it's already so late. I need auntie's permission to bring you out to eat."”Of course, Li Rongrong agreed. She enthusiastically recommended a restaurant on the street next to them. She said that the price was cheap, the taste was good, the hygiene was good, and the owner was good.
Jiang Zhihan and Lin Suo found the restaurant and sat down to order a Saliva Chicken, a plate of crispy meat, a plate of peanuts, and two bottles of beer.
"Are you drinking now?" Lin Suo asked.
Jiang Zhihan nodded and said,"Just a little."”
Jiang Zhihan asked about Lin Suo's recent work, and Lin Shuo said,""I'm so busy. He worked until this time every day, or even later. He was much busier than when he was in the criminal police department. Your sister-in-law has been very unhappy recently."
Jiang Zhihan asked," I even dragged you out for supper today. Sister-in-law, you don't mind, right?"”
"There's no such thing." Lin Suo waved his hand. The 110 Center was officially opened last week. Several of the main positions were held by the higher-ups. My deputy position was meant to work.”
"You've been promoted to the director of the center?" Jiang Zhihan was surprised.”Although he wasn't sure about the level of these departments, Jiang Zhihan knew that this was definitely a big promotion.
Lin said,"You also contributed to this." After all, I was the one who wrote this in the first place. Although it was in someone else's name, he still returned this favor to me. But now that everyone is staring at us, there are many people who don't want to laugh at us, so the pressure is also very high.”
Jiang Zhihan said that he wanted to celebrate first and drank a glass of beer with Lin Suo. Because Jiang Zhihan wasn't part of the system, Lin Suo didn't tell him the details. When it was Lin Suo's turn to ask about his situation, Jiang Zhihan told him the ins and outs of Xiao Qian's matter. "Why are you treating me like an outsider?" Lin complained. You should have told me if you wanted to help.”
Jiang Zhihan said," That's not what I meant. I asked Old Master Yang for instructions." He said that you've been too busy recently and have a lot of things to worry about. Moreover, it's not within your direct scope of authority.”
Lin Suo ate a few mouthfuls of food and sighed. Although I've been busy, I've heard about this for the past two days. The new Secretary Yan wanted to use this opportunity to rectify the situation.”He pointed at Jiang Zhihan and shook his head.
Jiang Zhihan smiled." How would we know about the things in your government compound?" It was just a coincidence."
Lin said," The Secretary of the Political and Law Committee who made the decision to call the 110 police center came out of nowhere with Secretary Yan. They should have formed an alliance. When Secretary Yan was in B City, he had experience in handling public security. In the past two years, Zhongzhou has indeed become more and more chaotic. Look at the mess around the railway station. Therefore, it was necessary to vigorously crack down on illegal crimes. Secretary Yan was also preparing to light a fire. It would officially begin after New Year's Day. It was divided into several stages. The first stage was to vigorously crack down on vicious crimes, such as robbery, rape, murder, and underworld crimes.”
Jiang Zhihan remembered his mother's colleague and friend, Auntie Zhang's son, so he asked.
"Is it someone you know very well?”
Jiang Zhihan said,"He's my mother's friend. He's just helping to ask about the situation."”
Lin Suo pondered for a moment and said,"Don't tell anyone about this yet, because it's still confidential." I saw the document saying that the Ministry of Public Security is preparing to organize a nationwide strike that will last for a few months. All illegal and criminal acts must be punished quickly and severely. Judging from the guidance documents, the punishment might be three to five times or even higher. Therefore, you'd better persuade his family to close the case as soon as possible and plead guilty seriously. If there's a meritorious deed, do it as soon as possible. It's best to sentence him before the new regulations come out. Otherwise, there might be big trouble.”
Jiang Zhihan was puzzled." A new video recorder is only one or two thousand yuan. It can't be that strict, right?"”
Lin Suo shook his head and said,"You don't understand this." Stealing public property might be more severe than stealing private property. In addition, did he have a criminal record, was he involved in a group crime or even a gang? Would it be considered as destroying economic construction? These things added up, there was no ceiling.”
The next afternoon, Jiang Zhihan went to the bookstore again before his evening self-study. Business had been good recently, and the bookstore was very busy. Shen Pengfei and Li Rongrong were the only ones there, and sometimes they didn't even have time to take turns eating dinner. When Jiang Zhihan arrived, he asked his mother to take some time off to have dinner. He sat down and looked after the shop with Shen Pengfei. Since last month, with Old Master Yang's approval, Jiang Zhihan had started to teach Shen Pengfei some basic fighting techniques. It was a very basic thing that could be popularized. Of course, it would be beneficial to practice it well in the future. Jiang Zhihan remembered that he had enjoyed being a master for a while. He first used his Tri-Horned Cat's Kung Fu to casually practice with Shen Pengfei. He easily made Shen Pengfei fall twice, which made him admire him. Then, Jiang Zhihan gave Shen Pengfei a proper lecture on martial arts and morality, warning him that if he used what he had learned to bully the weak, the person who taught him martial arts had the responsibility to punish him. Jiang Zhihan was very proud that he had finally put into practice the things he had read about passing on disciples in martial arts books when he was young.
" Brother Jiang, I went out to stock up today," Shen Pengfei whispered to Jiang Zhihan." When I came back and passed by the long-distance bus station, I saw the guy who beat me up last time."”
After the previous revenge incident, two of the guys who had attacked the man (including the ruthless second brother) were sentenced and were still in prison. However, the leader was still at large.
"Did they threaten you again?" Jiang Zhihan asked hurriedly.”
Shen Pengfei shook his head." There are six or seven of them together. No one noticed me." The group of people seemed to be in a panic. They rushed to the long-distance bus with big and small bags, as if they were fleeing.”
Jiang Zhihan frowned. He thought to himself that these guys were not simple. They had gotten wind of it so early. Ever since those people tried to retaliate and beat him up, Jiang Zhihan wanted to catch them all in one fell swoop. It would be best if they could never turn over a new leaf. Jiang Zhihan was a person who would repay kindness and revenge. To a certain extent, he would take revenge for the smallest grievance. He thought regretfully in his heart that these guys ran away quickly. It would be great if he could fall for this strike.
Jiang Zhihan considered Auntie Zhang's matter. He was afraid that his mother would accidentally reveal her relationship with Lin Suo. Although it was not a big deal, it was not good to reveal these things in advance. Jiang Zhihan was still a very cautious person. He asked his mother and Auntie Zhang to arrange a time to talk at home. It was set for the weekend night.
When Auntie Zhang arrived, Jiang Zhihan came out to greet her. He sat down and said,""Auntie Zhang, I have a friend whose father works in the prosecutor's office. According to him, after the new year, some punishments might be increased accordingly. Therefore, if possible, it was better to cooperate with the police and the prosecutor as soon as possible to close the case. The longer they delayed, the worse the situation would be.”
"We're also looking for connections everywhere," Auntie Zhang said worriedly. Now that he was communicating with them, they said that they would be sentenced to six months of hard labor. Six months of hard labor! How could Tong Tong take it? He usually did not do any housework at home and was very picky about what he ate.”
Jiang Zhihan felt that he had already done his best.
"Do you have a classmate whose parents are from the prosecutor's office?" Auntie Zhang asked. Can I ask if I can help?"
Jiang Zhihan replied perfunctorily," He's just an ordinary classmate. I'm afraid his father won't help him."”
Auntie Zhang said,"As long as you are willing to help, we can give you money." Anything can be discussed."
Jiang Zhihan thought to himself that this kind of attitude would only harm his son in the end. Jiang Zhihan said perfunctorily that he could go and ask. When Jiang Zhihan heard Auntie Zhang nagging at his mother about how hard his son was in the detention center, he thought of Xiaoqian for some reason. Different people really had different lives.
Even though he was the son of his mother's friend, Jiang Zhihan could not bring himself to help at all. Jiang Zhihan hated stealing from the bottom of his heart. However, when the verdict was announced a few months later, and the news that Auntie Zhang's son had been sentenced to ten years of hard labor came, Jiang Zhihan could not help but gape in shock. He could not speak for a few minutes.
Stealing a video recorder was equivalent to ten years of hard labor? Jiang Zhihan couldn't believe his own ears, but his mother said that this wasn't the strictest. He heard that someone robbed two yuan on the road and didn't cause any serious harm. He was also sentenced to more than ten years in prison.
This was a story for the future. However, in the days before New Year's Day, most of the people in Zhongzhou had not realized that the storm of the strike was quietly brewing and would soon sweep through the entire city.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]