Cheng Mingliang's eyes immediately cleared. The burning pain on his face and the metallic taste in his mouth made him not dare to hesitate for a second. His hand trembled as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. The moment he saw the contact's note, endless joy surged into his heart – it was an official!
It was like a blazing flame in the cold winter, giving him hope. He didn't believe that with official intervention, the two women in front of him could do anything to him. Offending him was equivalent to offending the authorities.
He decisively answered the call, even putting it on speaker, his lips trembling with excitement: "Hello!"
"Hello, is this President Cheng?"
"Yes, it's me. Section Chief, I need your help right now. Two women are threatening my life, trying to get the development rights for the land in the west of the city. Please bring people to save me quickly. I'm at Tianhong International Shopping Mall."
Cheng Mingliang quickly finished speaking, his face full of grievance. Then he stood up and looked at Su Ci and Jiang Su, pointing at his phone and saying, "I'm telling you, the person I'm talking to is Section Chief Qu. If you offend him, it's like offending the authorities. By then, no matter where you run, to the ends of the earth, the authorities will never let you go."
His tone was extremely confident, as if he himself was the authority.
He wanted to see Su Ci's expressions, but they were utterly calm, as if they didn't care about the Section Chief Qu he mentioned, or even the authorities.
"Old Cheng! I was just about to tell you about this. Someone above wants to take over that land in the west of the city. There's nothing I can do. I can only inconvenience you. Didn't you say someone was threatening your life for the development rights to that land? Now your life is safe, which is a good thing for you."
"Ah!?"
Section Chief Qu's words were like a bolt from the blue, striking Cheng Mingliang's head and leaving him stunned on the spot. Shaking his head, he asked, unwilling to give up, "What about compensation? I've already invested four billion, it can't just go down the drain, can it?"
"This... I'm not sure. It depends on what the higher-ups decide."
Section Chief Qu said vaguely.
Cheng Mingliang wanted to say more, but the phone only had a busy signal. He stiffly looked up and met Su Ci's gaze, which was full of amusement. Putting down the phone, he awkwardly rubbed his hands with a smile: "Uh, that was just a joke, please don't take it to heart."
"You heard it, the land in the west of the city is being eyed by the higher-ups. Even if I wanted to give it to you, I can't now! How about you just name a price? Whatever you want, as long as it's within my acceptable range."
Su Ci didn't even bother to look at him, simply waving her hand backwards.
Qin Shiyao in the car had been observing the situation. With Su Ci's signal, she got out of the car and immediately pressed her earbud: "Team One, proceed with the arrest. Team Two, appease the crowd. Acknowledge and respond."
"Team One received."
"Team Two received."
The sound of sirens blared, and the onlookers followed the sound to see four Inspector vehicles completely surrounding the outside of the shopping mall.
In addition, a group of people entered their field of vision, carrying cameras, their lenses pointed at the thugs lying on the ground, as well as Su Ci and the others.
For a moment, they couldn't tell if they were photographers or news reporters. Since there were no reporters, they should lean more towards the former, they thought to themselves.
When Cheng Mingliang heard the sound of the sirens, the bonfire of hope in his heart reignited. This was the first time he had yearned for the Inspector to arrive by his side; normally, he would avoid them.
When he saw Qin Shiyao walking towards him, he immediately recognized her identity.
Most of the wealthy family heads and their children in Sea City rarely interacted, but their appearance and hobbies, if not completely clear, were at least generally known, as they were people he needed to curry favor with.
His impression of Qin Shiyao was the most profound. Which wealthy family's highly sought-after eldest daughter wouldn't take that position, but instead became an Inspector who handled cases regardless of the weather? This was unique in Sea City.
Not only that, they had met not long ago, and he was even a suspect. If it weren't for insufficient evidence, he would have fallen into Qin Shiyao's hands.
At this moment, he couldn't care less. As for why Qin Shiyao came out of the maybach that had been parked for a long time, he didn't have time to think. He directly walked up quickly, as if his former opponent had become his only lifeline.
He pointed at Su Ci behind him and accused.
"Miss Qin... no, Captain Qin, you... please save me quickly.
They... they crippled my son for no reason, and are threatening my son's life to coerce me.
I brought a few brothers to rescue my son, but they were all severely injured by these two. Look at my face, this... this was also inflicted by them."
Saying this, he turned his face to show Qin Shiyao his injuries.
"You... you must uphold justice for us. My brothers and I are all good citizens..."
"Get down, don't move."
Before he could finish, he was interrupted by Qin Shiyao's cold shout.
Hearing this, Cheng Mingliang became even more smug. He wanted to see how long Su Ci and the other woman could jump around in front of the Inspector.
Turning back, he saw that Su Ci and the other woman were standing motionless, with only amusement and mockery in their sharp, beautiful eyes.
Footsteps approached from behind. Cheng Mingliang turned his head, still wanting to accuse Su Ci and the other woman to Qin Shiyao of disregarding the law and disrespecting Qin Shiyao.
Before he could fully turn his head, his hand was seized by Qin Shiyao, and he knelt on the ground with a sharp pain in his knee. A cold sensation came from his hand; his hands were cuffed with cold handcuffs.
Cheng Mingliang suddenly froze, thinking Qin Shiyao was taking personal revenge, and anxiously said, "Captain Qin, the real criminals are over there. I am the victim. You can't be biased against me because of a past minor conflict."
"I haven't made a mistake, Mr. Cheng Mingliang. Someone reported you for suspected charges of disturbing public order and intentional injury. You and your brothers are now under arrest."
Su Ci and Jiang Su leisurely walked in front of Cheng Mingliang: "Mr. Cheng, we are law-abiding citizens. Don't spread rumors. At most, we were acting in self-defense. Be careful, or we'll sue you for defamation."
As she spoke, Su Ci brought the stick in her hand down towards Cheng Mingliang's head.
Cheng Mingliang never expected Su Ci to be so bold, daring to strike him in front of Qin Shiyao. Frightened, he tightly closed his eyes.
"Wait..."
Qin Shiyao reached out to stop her. Although Su Ci was an Ancient Martial Artist and wouldn't be held accountable for this, if Su Ci were to do it in full view of the public, the credibility of the Inspector would be affected to some extent.
Su Ci, of course, knew the seriousness of the matter, but she only wanted to scare Cheng Mingliang. Seeing that her goal had been achieved, the stick landed gently and precisely in Qin Shiyao's hand, and she clapped her hands.
She naturally placed herself in the position of a victim: "As a witness and a victim, I have the responsibility and obligation to accompany Captain Qin to the police station to give a statement."
Qin Shiyao didn't give Cheng Mingliang a chance to argue, waving to a nearby Inspector team member and instructing: "Take him back."
Then she gestured with a businesslike tone: "Misses, this way please."
Su Ci and the two drove away in the maybach, signaling the complete end of the show.