Chapter 891: Chapter 834: Going Up
After helping Ding Lei with the injection, Ding Lei looked extremely exhausted and immediately fell asleep; seeing this, Liu Hun glanced at Ding Lei, then wrote a prescription and placed it on the table before heading downstairs.
As soon as he got downstairs, an arrogant voice reached Liu Hun’s ears, saying, "Old Man Ding, I don’t care where that kid came from, but since he claims to be your daughter’s boyfriend, the money has to be repaid by you. Otherwise, I don’t mind taking your daughter as compensation."
Following the voice, Liu Hun saw Zheng Lei yelling at Ding Wen without a trace of anger.
Beside Zheng Lei was a middle-aged man in a Zhongshan suit, who looked somewhat similar to Zheng Lei. However, he stayed silent and let Zheng Lei point his finger at Ding Wen.
Despite being somewhat of an elder, Ding Wen was currently being scolded by a junior, which was an incredibly humiliating experience.
"Director Zheng, putting aside whether the other party is indeed my daughter’s boyfriend, but your son forcibly taking my daughter in broad daylight—isn’t that a bit too much?" Ding Wen, with a flushed face, gritted his teeth and stared at Zheng Wuming, asking.
In response to Ding Wen’s questioning, Zheng Wuming calmly said, "It was just a joke between young people. After all, nothing really happened. But my son was beaten up and extorted out of a hundred thousand yuan; that’s definitely not right."
With these words, Zheng Wuming was clearly finding fault on behalf of his son; and Ding Wen couldn’t risk revealing Liu Hun, as Liu Hun was still in the house treating his daughter.
If this incident caused Liu Hun to stop helping, it would ultimately be disastrous for their family.
"So, Director Zheng, what do you intend to do about this? Some matters shouldn’t be taken too far, or even a desperate man will bite back." Ding Wen said solemnly to Zheng Wuming.
"Old Ding, your words have crossed a line. After all these years, you know what kind of person I am; I wouldn’t be unfair. But since Xiaolei likes Leilei, wouldn’t that be perfect? If our families become in-laws, then all these issues would just be misunderstandings, and soon I’d be promoted. When it comes to this director position, it might as well be yours, Old Ding." Zheng Wuming smiled while speaking to Ding Wen.
Confronted by Zheng Wuming’s veiled threat, Ding Wen’s face turned extremely grim. If he disregarded his family, he might have climbed up the ladder long ago, instead of always staying under Zheng Wuming.
But if he didn’t agree to this, based on his understanding of Zheng Wuming, he’d surely demand the hundred thousand yuan back, which was a huge amount they couldn’t afford.
"My daughter already has a boyfriend!" Ding Wen gritted his teeth.
No matter what, Ding Wen would never sell his daughter for personal gain; family was everything to him, work was secondary.
"So, Old Ding, you intend to shoulder this yourself, right? If that’s the case, then I’ll start an investigation to see who extorted that money, then handle it through official channels." Upon hearing Ding Wen’s words, the smile vanished from Zheng Wuming’s face, replaced by a chilling expression.
If that kid was Ding Lei’s boyfriend, Zheng Wuming believed Ding Wen would not want to see the outcome.
"Director Zheng, don’t go too far with some things!" Ding Wen bit his lip hard, angrily retorted to Zheng Wuming.
But he felt helpless, as Zheng Wuming had connections and was his superior, leaving Ding Wen without the background to fight back.
"Old Ding, I’ll give you one night to think it over. If I don’t get the answer I want by tomorrow morning, you know the consequences; don’t end up losing everything over an outsider." After speaking, Zheng Wuming turned to leave with Zheng Lei.
Watching the backs of Zheng Wuming and his son leaving, Ding Wen clenched his fists tightly, veins bulging on his forehead, but his eyes were filled with powerlessness and frustration.
He knew that if they didn’t agree with Zheng Wuming, Liu Hun could face troubles, their family would be in trouble, and even his position wouldn’t be secure.
This situation left him in utter despair.
"Old Ding, if Director Liu cures Leilei’s illness, he’ll be our family’s savior; we cannot repay kindness with ingratitude." Ding Wen’s wife, seeing his state, although feeling frustrated and heartbroken, still reminded him.
"Of course I understand this, but now, sigh..." Ding Wen released his fist, speaking bitterly.
...
"Uncle Yun, go knock those two out and take them to a nearby hotel room, I’ll be there shortly." In a corner, observing the scene, Liu Hun shook his head with a sigh.
"Yes, young master." Uncle Yun nodded, and then completely vanished into the darkness.
Despite engineering all this, Liu Hun felt no guilt, thinking that if Ding Wen chose him, at least they wouldn’t live so oppressed as they do now.
Moreover, because of this incident, he even saved Ding Lei’s life, which can be considered a form of compensation.
"Uncle, I’m really sorry, if it weren’t for me, there probably wouldn’t have been that scene just now." Just when Ding Wen felt somewhat helpless, Liu Hun slowly approached the two; he spoke with an apologetic expression.
"Little... Liu Hun, how did you come down here?" Seeing Liu Hun’s figure, Ding Wen kept his emotions inside and asked Liu Hun with some surprise.
"Uncle, Aunt, please rest assured, Miss Ding’s illness is already half cured. Next, she only needs two more acupuncture sessions, and I have prescribed medicine for her. As long as she takes it for a month, there will be no problem." Liu Hun nodded to the two and said.
"I’ll go check on Leilei." Ding’s mother glanced at the two and then said.
Ding’s mother also knew that when facing Zheng Wuming’s threats, their family could do nothing. Since Liu Hun had seen what happened just now, she hoped Liu Hun would voluntarily return the money. In this way, at least temporarily, Zheng Wuming would have no way against their family.
"Liu Hun, Uncle has a request for you. I hope you can help Uncle. If Uncle had any other choice, he wouldn’t have come to you..." Once Ding’s mother left, Ding Wen looked somewhat embarrassed and spoke to Liu Hun.
"This card has at least a million inside. If Uncle needs it, you can take it now, as if I lent it to you. As for when to repay, whenever you have the money is fine, it doesn’t matter to me." Hearing Ding Wen’s words, Liu Hun remained calm, directly taking out a gold card from his pocket and handing it to Ding Wen.
Looking at the gold card in front of him, Ding Wen was shocked. He only intended for Liu Hun to return the ten thousand yuan, not expecting such a large sum.
"No, no, Liu Hun, Uncle only wants to borrow ten thousand yuan..." Ding Wen hesitated for a moment, and quickly pushed the gold card back to Liu Hun.
"A man can be without money or power, but he must never lose dignity; while I am partly responsible for this incident, Uncle you should understand that even without me, this was inevitable sooner or later. I am very glad you didn’t accept that one million, otherwise I would look down on you for the rest of your life." Liu Hun put the card back into his pocket, looked seriously at Ding Wen, and said.
Ding Wen didn’t expect Liu Hun to say such words. At Liu Hun’s age, achieving such success is already impressive, but some things require life experience.
At this moment, Liu Hun’s words did not seem to match his age at all.
"Liu Hun, perhaps you’ve been in a high position for long, completely unaware of the hardships people like us go through. Some things are helpless." Ding Wen shook his head, his wrinkled face full of bitterness.
Dignity is something everyone wants, but reality can sometimes force someone into situations without dignity; Ding Wen was exactly such a person.
"If I help you take down Zheng Wuming, can you then become the director?" Liu Hun stopped beating around the bush and gradually revealed his intentions.
"You... what are you trying to do?" Ding Wen’s expression changed dramatically, looking at Liu Hun with disbelief.
"Although my roots are not in Huaihai Province, and I am no longer the chairman of Tianhe Company, since I am in Huaihai now, some people have offended me, I can’t give them a chance for revenge; that’s my principle. I can create opportunities for you, but whether you can seize them is your matter; if you refuse, I’ll pretend I never said anything today, and I’ve already left ten thousand yuan at your home." Liu Hun’s eyes were peaceful.
Making Ding Wen unable to understand what Liu Hun truly wanted.
He couldn’t believe that for such a small matter, Liu Hun would want to take down a police director.
"Why do you want to help me?" Ding Wen gritted his teeth and stared at Liu Hun.
If Liu Hun showed even a hint of hesitation in his eyes, he would immediately refuse; but unfortunately, Liu Hun’s eyes remained unruffled.
"Because you are a good partner, I want to crush the underworld forces in Huaihai; and Hongxing Gang is my first target. Once you rise to power, you can better help me suppress the Hongxing Gang." Liu Hun pondered for a moment, then replied frankly to Ding Wen.
"Hiss!" This time, Ding Wen couldn’t help but gasp; he never expected Liu Hun intended to take action against Hongxing Gang.
Liu Hun was just a businessman, so this approach was beyond his understanding.
"Your ambitions are too big. Hongxing Gang is not as easy as you think, even if I become director, I can’t help you suppress it." Though his heart was already shook up, Ding Wen had spent years in officialdom and managed to suppress his emotions.
"What if I add this?" Liu Hun knew if he didn’t show something now, Ding Wen might not agree.
Out of so many officials in Huaihai Province, Liu Hun chose Ding Wen not only for his integrity, but also because he had no background, making him less likely to be suspected later.
Ding Wen looked at the red certificate Liu Hun presented, scrutinized it closely, and in the next moment, his mouth opened wide, almost enough to fit an egg, his eyes full of shock.