Chapter 41 Disgrace
After that, I tried contacting Chu Xiaoxiao again, but her phone seemed to be switched off still.
Lin Fang was worried sick about what might have happened to Chu Xiaoxiao. She fidgeted about, unable to calm down.
I comforted her, telling her to relax. After all, Chu Huaien was still Chu Xiaoxiao’s father. No matter what happens, he’ll never be too harsh with her.
Lin Fang bit her lips, “But, if Xiaoxiao really does retract her testimony, we won’t be able to hold up to Chen Yuzhou in court!”
“Testimony is the weakest form of evidence. In your case, you have a video recording. The evidence is rock solid. There’s no need to worry.”
Coming out of the police station, Xia Genghuai came and patted my shoulder.
Seeing how the two of us seemed to be rather familiar with each other, Lin Fang asked me, “One of your friends?”
I fell silent in a wave of awkwardness. It looked like Lin Fang had forgotten about Xia Genghuai altogether. Although in a sense, that was to be expected. Much like me, Xia Genghuai was also one of the less popular kids when we were in school together, so it was no surprise that Lin Fang won’t remember him.
But unlike me, Xia Genghuai was the easy going type that attempts to make friends with everyone regardless of how they viewed him. He would actively engage others when he can, it was his personality. Compared to me, he was much more well received by just about everyone.
Xia Genghuai said, “Hey hey, pretty lady, we used to be in the same class in school. I sat right beside Zhang Chao back in the days. I must have become so much more good looking than before if you can’t even tell who I am.”
That brought a giggle to Lin Fang, “Sorry, my memory was kind of bad. I do remember you, but I just couldn’t quite match your face to your name in such a short time.”
“Don’t worry, all is good! But, Zhang Chao, are the two of you hiding something from me? Looking at how you are now, how dare you sully the purity of your once innocent relationship with your classmate? As your friend and as a defender of the people and enforcer justice, it’s my duty to voice my disapproval of such unbecoming behavior. Good job!”
“Come now.” I hushed him quickly, before he made Lin Fang even more embarrassed, “You’re a police officer, don’t be saying nonsense and slandering us good folks now.”
Xia Genghuai straightened his shirt and collar pretentiously, “Not just a police officer. Not anymore. Thanks to you, after I arrested Liu Hu and put him behind bars, since he was a gang member, it seemed to have earned a lot of brownie points for me with the higher ups. After that, they promoted me and reassigned me to the anti-gangster taskforce. I was no longer the same petty cop you knew before.”
“Not bad!” That, I hadn’t expected. Good things do still happen I guess. Liu Hu wasn’t completely useless after all. “Now that’s some celebration worthy news. Got some time tonight? Let’s go eat together! So, what do I call you now? Should I be calling you Inspector Xia from now on?”
Xia Genghuai gave me a mock salute, and got me to do the same to him, and then said, “Thou shalt address me as Sir Xia, the glorious Defender of the People. Anyway, I still got work now, so I’ll see you later at night. And remember, as the honored Sir Xia, I shall grace thy dinner table only if you prepare the most refined cuisine befitting of my newly acquired status.”
Since I didn’t drive, Xia Genghuai went back inside the station and got a little intern officer to drive us back to our home.
That little bastard, only just freshly promoted and he started abusing his privileges already. Good for him.
All along the drive home, Lin Fang was depressed and feeling unhappy. I tried making her laugh a few times, but she was so worried about Chu Xiaoxiao that she couldn’t even force herself to laugh. All throughout, she simply rested her head on the side of my arm, and looked vacantly out of the window.
To be fair, I was also worried about Chu Xiaoxiao. But, I also knew very well that simply worrying won’t do a thing to change her situation.
There was no way to undo what has already happened. With what happened between us and the Chen’s, there was no way that the Chen’s would give in, and I would die before I bow to their tyranny!
As I silently reaffirmed my determination, my phone rang.
I took it out to see who called. With her head leaning against my shoulder, Lin Fang eyed my phone as I took it out, and asked who I think it might be when she saw that it came from a number instead of a saved contact.
I laughed softly. I knew this call would come eventually, but I didn’t expect it to come so soon.
“You little bastard! Must you worry me like this wherever you go? I thought you said you’re going home to do some business, just what kind of business did you do to land your sorry arse behind the gridiron? Did you forget who you are the moment you stripped off your uniform!?”
A well aged male voice bellowed through my phone, and began its never ending lecturing. Though the man behind the phone was in his 60’s already, from the electronic crackling of the speakers on my phone, it wasn’t hard to imagine just how loud he must have been yelling into his end of the phone to cause the unnatural clipping of his voice… and how much louder it would have been if he had been a couple of decades younger.
I laughed a I begged for mercy, “No Sir, of course I didn’t, Sir. I’ll never forget. I’m a soldier. I may have taken off my uniform, but I’ve never stopped holding myself to the same standard. Really. This time, things happened so quickly that I was left with little choice, Sir. Please forgive me just this once, when this is all over, I’ll come in and apologize to you personally. You can even throw your boots at me then, Sir!”
“You little bastard should know better than anyone else in the world to not twist my words like that! You know exactly what I mean! You know full well that you’re framed, so why haven’t you called me? You’re a soldier, you’re one of us, you’re a Snow Leopard! How could you allow yourself to be played by those spineless ingrates!?”
“Sir, please don’t be mad. See, I got myself out didn’t I? And I know that even if I hadn’t called you, you’d come save me the instant you knew about it. You’re my shield, who else in the world could I possibly be afraid of? Though I do find it odd that I was released so soon, to be honest.” Though I was on the receiving end of his angry lectures, I wasn’t at all angry or put off by it at all. I even felt a bit warm and fuzzy on the inside, knowing that the old man still looks out for his own, and that he still consider me one of his people all the same, even after I was officially discharged.
He muttered, “You’re the only one that has ever given me this much headache…” Then he cleared his throat, “Don’t be celebrating just yet. This could very well be a trap. Go on the net and have a look for yourself, there are people leaving anonymous messages that all this was an act that you and that girl pulled together. Some of them even began making up stories using your status as a war veteran. Look, about this stinking mess that you got your boot stuck into, you want me to say a few words through a few certain individuals? You know, silence a few mouths or let them know that you aren’t some pushover that they can afford to play around with?”
I thanked him with all my heart, “Thanks old man, but I’m fine. I got this.”
The old man had always been decisive about his decisions. Hearing my reply, he left it at that, “Alright, you’ve always known what you’re doing, so I’ll keep my hands out of this. But Chao, remember, discharged or not, you will always be one of us, a proud soldier of the Snow Leopard. So in everything you do, you must constantly hold yourself and act in accordance with the honor of your identity. I’ll not allow you to disgrace the uniform that you once wore!”
I’ve heard the last part millions of times over in the five years of my service, and it resonates in my heart just the same as the first time I heard it. Straightening my back and sitting up straight, I answered firmly, “Yes Sir!”
“Good. Well then, at ease, you little bastard. Go on about with your own things.”
Though the call ended, I clutched the phone tightly in my hand still. Hearing the old man’s voice again reminded me of the times that I spent with my war buddies, my friends and comrades until the end of time. With them around me and watching my back, I may be deep in enemy territories but never once did I feel afraid. But now, all I have around me are enemies, hiding in the shadows, waiting for their chance to take a bite at me with their venomous stings.
Lin Fang asked me, “Was that your leader when you’re a soldier? Will he help us? With him around, the Chen’s wouldn’t dare to touch us right?”
I shook my head. With this matter I don’t want to bother the old man if I could help it. First, the old man was stationed at the southwestern part of the country, and Tong City was towards the southeast. No matter how powerful or influential he might be, this part of the area was too far from his area of jurisdiction. Though like he said, he could possibly pull a few strings to swing things in my favor, but I have a feeling that something is bound to come across complications somewhere in the middle of the process.
Besides, the old man spent his whole life on the battlefield, and all his troops and soldiers had been winning wars and skirmishes left and right. I couldn’t possibly bring myself to go crying to him for help for something this small and minute.
“Relax, it’ll be fine.”
The officer was told to drive us to our apartment complex. When we almost arrived at the place, I found a familiar rounded figure fidgeting around at the side of the street where I parked the Land Rover.
“Manager Lu, what’s he doing here, unless…!” Lin Fang breathed in sharply.
“Can’t be good, whatever it is.” I muttered.
I thanked the officer and asked him to let us off here, opened the door of his car, and ran towards Manager Lu. I called out his name as I ran, and he ran towards me as well with his short stubby legs when he heard me.
I invited him to come up to sit for a bit and perhaps have a glass of water, and to explain why Lin Fang and I wasn’t at work this morning.
“Manager Lu, I’ll just go upstairs for a quick shower. We’ll be ready for work immediately.
“Oh, umm, about that, it won’t be necessary.” Manager Lu stammered and wiped at the sweat that formed around his forehead, “In fact, I came specifically to talk to you about that today.”
By now, Lin Fang caught up to us too. She was a little nervous, and half hid herself behind my frame.
