Last time, the message Feng Baozhu had quietly passed on had already raised alarms. Thus, when Zhao Gang called at this moment, Feng Man felt a sense of relief in her heart, as if he had finally come.
Zhao Gang had gotten the phone number from the village chief. This man was a bully who had threatened that if he did not get the number, he would head straight south and confront Cheng Lang on his turf to get answers. The village chief was advanced in age and could not handle such violent threats, so he only advised them to talk it out properly.
Feng Man and Cheng Lang went together to the gatehouse at the entrance of Liberation Mine District. The gate guard knew Cheng Lang well and called out, “Master Cheng, there’s a phone call for you.”
“Thanks, Elder Yang.” Cheng Lang skillfully handed over a cigarette. Elder Yang understood and stepped out to smoke, leaving Cheng Lang to take the call undisturbed.
Cheng Lang picked up the receiver and was about to put it to his ear when he felt someone poke his arm.
He looked down and saw Feng Man’s slender white fingertip prodding his arm, her eyes filled with a mix of alertness and worry.
Cheng Lang’s hand, hanging at his side, grasped the woman’s hand. The soft skin sent a jolt through his heart. Feng Man was clearly a bit surprised and moved her fingers, but Cheng Lang held her even tighter.
At the same time, Zhao Gang’s rough voice came through the receiver.
“Cheng Lang, let me ask you—on the day I held the wedding banquet, you just happened to drive the truck away. Did you run off with my wife?!”
In the month or so after Feng Man had fled the marriage, Zhao Gang had searched everywhere with his men but had never suspected Cheng Lang. After all, this man was known for not being interested in women; there was not even a female mosquito around him, let alone any meddling in others’ affairs.
It was not until last time, when Zhao Gang heard Feng Jianshe and his wife stir things up, that he first harbored some suspicion.
With no leads from his searches, he turned his gaze to the unsuspected Cheng Lang. Even if there was only a sliver of hope, he had to check it out.
But Cheng Lang was too far away, so Zhao Gang could only call.
Cheng Lang was never one to lie. Zhao Gang had come straight to the point over the phone, waiting for an answer.
The landline crackled with static, but Zhao Gang’s voice was still loud enough to carry through the receiver into Feng Man’s ears nearby.
Her mind raced with worries as she glanced sideways, wondering if Cheng Lang would lie to brush this off.
After all, a bully like him was most terrifying when he lost his mind. Even the crackdown on gangs might not take him down right away.
Perhaps sensing her turbulent emotions, Feng Man felt her palm being squeezed. The man’s callused fingertip passed on scorching heat through their touching skin.
At the same time, Cheng Lang spoke flatly, “Zhao Gang, I am already married.”
His half-hidden, half-revealed words, combined with his overly calm tone, stunned the bully on the other end. After a moment, he replied, “I didn’t expect you to have gotten married. Fine, I’ve known you since we were kids and know your character. I get it now.”
With a bang, Cheng Lang hung up the receiver. He heard the dial tone and then set his own down.
As they left the gatehouse, Feng Man was still surprised. “How did you know that a vague sentence like that would make him believe you?”
He had neither lied outright nor denied it, yet he had fooled the man just like that?
A confident gleam jumped in Cheng Lang’s eyes. “I’ve known Zhao Gang for over twenty years and understand him pretty well. Hearing my calm tone and that I volunteered the fact that I’m married, he would only guess that since I am married, I couldn’t possibly have run off with his…”
Cheng Lang paused, skipping a few words, and continued, “He is arrogant and proud right now, wanting to show off his dominance in town everywhere. He would not keep tangling with me.”
As expected, one’s archenemy knew them best. Feng Man breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at Cheng Lang’s slightly vigilant expression and the tense line of his jaw, she felt a bit guilty.
No matter what, she had dragged him into this mess. They had muddled through today, but if Zhao Gang learned the truth later, there might still be a storm coming.
“You don’t need to worry. We are thousands of kilometers from Nine Mountains Village. No matter how bullying Zhao Gang is, his reach cannot extend here.” Feng Man comforted Cheng Lang, though her mind raced to recall useful information from the book. The crackdown on gangs had to take down this underworld bully for her to feel at ease.
Cheng Lang was surprised by Feng Man’s gentle reassurance. The ruthless look in his eyes vanished in an instant, and he comforted her back. “Don’t worry, there will be no problems.”
The couple each harbored their own thoughts but said nothing more.
Elder Yang returned to the gatehouse after finishing his smoke, his gaze landing squarely on their clasped hands, his eyes gleaming.
Feng Man followed Elder Yang’s line of sight downward and saw the wheat-colored skin entwined with jade-white skin. The moment she looked up, her eyes met Cheng Lang’s, who had looked over at the same time.
As if scorched by each other’s gaze, they instantly let go and left one after the other.
Elder Yang watched their retreating backs and clicked his tongue in wonder. “Young people these days are different. They even hold hands while taking a phone call. Tsk tsk.”
The two returned to Red Star Mine District, each with their own concerns, and neither mentioned the interlude.
Cheng Lang was covered in dust. Feng Man instructed him to take a proper bath. The only three-story building in the mine district was the administrative office, where the mine manager’s office had simple furnishings. Due to the nature of the work, it was specially equipped with an enamel basin, towels, and the like.
“Wash up properly. Look at all this dirt on you.” Feng Man suspected his clothes and pants could wash out two pounds of sand and dust. She hurriedly handed over the enamel basin with a towel and soap, urging him toward the bathhouse.
“You rest here. I’ll be back soon.”
“Go on.”
Feng Man carefully examined Cheng Lang’s office. The basic furnishings were leftovers from the previous Boss Wang, and the taste was not bad. The redwood desk and chair formed a matching set, clearly not cheap.
With Cheng Lang’s contracted mine district gradually on track, Feng Man sat in the redwood armchair and recalled the plot from the book. Her “fiancé” had headed south to make his fortune, while the original body had been forced to marry the bully Zhao Gang.
He had thrown in his lot early on with a boss in the city who had started with nightclub business and enjoyed glory for several years, eventually rising to the second-in-command position, lording over Chongling Town. Later, infighting broke out within the group. Zhao Gang was gravely injured in the chaos, his life or death unknown, and he never appeared in the book again.
As for the reason behind Zhao Gang’s downfall…
Feng Man finally recalled the plot related to the original body. Zhao Gang had climbed to power early on by stepping on his boss’s most trusted subordinate, Zheng Er. He had secretly betrayed the brother who had promoted him, framing and selling him out, causing the boss to lose trust in Zheng Er and promote Zhao Gang instead. The betrayed Zheng Er lost power from then on, with Zhao Gang taking over responsibility for the nightclub, leaving Zheng Er to languish below.
In the 1990s, Zheng Er, who had been betrayed and stripped of power by Zhao Gang, accidentally uncovered the truth from three years ago. He carefully planned a counterattack and took Zhao Gang down. It was at that time that the original body finally escaped his clutches.
Rather than sit and wait for Zhao Gang’s unquenchable obsession to entangle her, it was better to stir up some trouble for him.
Once Zhao Gang was tangled in his own troubles, he would have no time or energy to pester her and Cheng Lang excessively.
……
After a thorough bath and scrubbing his work clothes clean, Cheng Lang changed into spare clothes and felt refreshed.
As he stepped into the office door, he saw Feng Man holding a few books left by the previous boss and reading them. For a moment, he suddenly thought of his neighbor Jiang Ping.
The image of Jiang Ping’s honest and simple face flashed in his mind—the neighbor whose personality was completely opposite to his own. From childhood, Jiang Ping had been cautious and timid, lacking courage, and thus the easiest target for bullies like Zhao Gang.
The Jiang Ping he had seen last time had grown into a refined and courteous man, with a neatly pressed shirt, meticulous and refined.
Cheng Lang recalled that when he had enlisted in the army at sixteen, his grades had been average, but Jiang Ping was the one many in the village said had the potential for studies. Sure enough, after junior high, Jiang Ping attended two years of vocational school and was assigned a job at a state-owned factory in town upon graduation—one of the most successful kids from Nine Mountains Village.
This man had no schemes, was honest to a fault, and his biggest flaw was being hesitant and indecisive.
His greatest hobby was reading books.
Now, it seemed they had quite a bit in common.
“Like reading books?” Cheng Lang broke the silence in the room. He could not help but think of the days in Nine Mountains Village, when the bookworm Jiang Ping always had a book in hand.
“Yeah, bored, so reading is just right.” Feng Man put the books away, stood up, and looked Cheng Lang over. Mm, the tall and handsome man was back, just to her taste.
The man’s face was stern, even carrying a cold aura that kept strangers at bay, which only made Feng Man appreciate him more. In her previous life, she had liked such men, and when browsing online, she favored those with a rugged temperament.
Cheng Lang’s face was cold, but his actions were warm. He took the book from in front of her, poured hot water into the enamel cup, and handed it over with good awareness.
Feng Man sipped the hot water from the enamel cup when he suddenly said, “I’ve almost quit smoking.”
Hm?
The sudden mention of quitting smoking stunned Feng Man for a moment; she had nearly forgotten about it.
Thinking back carefully, in the past month or so, she really had not seen Cheng Lang smoke a single cigarette. His body was clean and fresh, without any smoke smell. Occasionally, when he came home smelling of smoke, her sensitive nose would pick it up, and Cheng Lang would proactively explain that it was from others smoking around him.
She believed he would not lie.
“Very good. You’ve made some progress in this month.” Feng Man was good at encouraging and praising. Quitting smoking required willpower, so it needed emotional support from those around. “But the time is still short. Persist for three months—really hold out without a single one for three months—and you’ll have achieved a phased victory in the revolution!”
Quitting smoking was most prone to relapse if one let their guard down suddenly; one slip would ruin all previous efforts.
Cheng Lang’s deep eyes swept toward Feng Man, his thin lips parting lightly. “You said it?”
“Mm!” Feng Man fully supported it. Smoking harmed health and smelled bad; best if he quit.
“Good.” Cheng Lang’s gaze darkened deeply as he agreed readily.
Cheng Lang still had work on hand. He gathered a few skilled workers for a meeting to discuss the progress of mining the new mountain. Feng Man took the opportunity to leave and went to the nearby small shop to make a call.
She called Feng Baozhu to get the number for Heaven on Earth Nightclub, the biggest one in Chongling Town. Feng Man slightly altered her voice and reached the nightclub’s second-in-command—Zheng Er, whom Zhao Gang had framed and betrayed to rise to power.
“Three years ago, it was Zhao Gang who sold you out, causing your deal to fail and losing the boss’s trust. All these years of his ‘care’ for you were fake. Believe it or not, investigate it yourself.” Feng Man spoke quickly, roughening her voice. With the era’s backward technology, she was not worried about being traced from thousands of kilometers away.
Zheng Er, dejected for years, frowned at the provocative words. “Who are you? What nonsense are you spouting?”
“Whether it’s nonsense, investigate quietly and you’ll know. How did that deal from three years ago just happen to get exposed? How did the nightclub just happen to catch fire, getting you all caught with heavy losses?”
“Gangzi is my brother through life and death. Who the hell are you, trying to sow discord?” Zheng Er valued brotherhood most and was hard to sway.
Feng Man dropped the heaviest bomb. “Think carefully—who benefited the most from your downfall three years ago?”
With a bang, she hung up. Feng Man did not care about Zheng Er’s current tough talk. Once the seed of doubt was planted, the rest would fall into place.
This man was no pushover; he would uncover the clues. Then it would be his grudge with Zhao Gang.
Feng Man was ninety percent confident and felt more at ease. As for using her foreknowledge like this, she naturally could not tell Cheng Lang.
Besides, Cheng Lang had a soft personality; he probably would not dare do such a “bad thing” and could not get past his own conscience. Better for her to handle it.
……
Meanwhile, another call came from Ink River City to Chongling Town.
After Feng Man left, Cheng Lang met with the skilled workers. Half an hour later, when he returned to the office, he stared at the red landline on the desk, silent for a moment, then picked up the receiver and dialed the number.
To deal with a major threat, one must strike first. Cheng Lang understood this principle well.
“Zhao Gang must have committed plenty of crimes over the years, including plenty of betrayals. Help me keep an eye on him and investigate thoroughly, especially focusing on prostitution, gambling, and drugs. There will be a breakthrough. The police might not handle it, so best to make them fight internally. Using someone else’s knife to kill is the most efficient. Since he is in that line, let people from that line deal with him.” Cheng Lang’s gaze was ruthless, showing no mercy.
In the past, he had disdained this person, but now, with Zhao Gang repeatedly keeping his wife in mind time and again, Cheng Lang naturally could not sit idly by.
However, he did not plan to let Feng Man know about these shady methods. Her temperament was gentle and soft; he could not scare her.