Chapter 558 — Revenge Has Come

"Brother An, listen to this recording first." Wei Zhao handed him the voice recorder in his hand.

An Jianwen took the recorder at once, pressed play, and listened carefully. But before he had heard more than a few sentences, his expression turned ugly, and right there in front of Wei Zhao he began to curse: "Motherfuckers—which little bastard is this? He dares put a green hat on me? I'll kill him!"

"Heh heh, Brother An, rest easy. I already got Yao Yao out of there. He didn't have his way—he was only trying to threaten Uncle Chu..." Wei Zhao then recounted to An Jianwen the analysis he had made at the time.

He had to set An Jianwen's mind at ease. Otherwise, if An Jianwen decided Gu Mengyao was secondhand goods and gave up on her, what then? This way, with his confidence restored, he would throw himself heart and soul into dealing with Gu Mengyao's rival.

"Brother Wei Zhao, you truly came in the nick of time! A great kindness needs no thanks in words. This time we owe it all to you—without you, the consequences would have been unthinkable. Rest assured, I will not treat you shabbily!" An Jianwen clapped Wei Zhao on the shoulder, excited. By now he had settled it in his mind: after Wei Zhao took his payment last time, there was no grudge left between them, and he was helping him sincerely. Nor was An Jianwen to blame for thinking so. After all, Wei Zhao was merely one of Gu Mengyao's close bodyguards, and he had a girlfriend of his own; there was no conflict of interest between them, and he had paid Wei Zhao a handsome sum besides. Why then would Wei Zhao not help him with all his heart?

"Ah, but Brother An, this rival of Gu Mengyao's really must be taught a lesson, and soon. Next time I can't promise you such luck." Wei Zhao gave him the reminder.

"You don't need to tell me that. I mean to do him in. Daring to lay hands on Yao Yao—he is truly tired of living!" An Jianwen sneered. "What is his name? Tell me, and tomorrow I'll finish him!"

"This man is called Zhong Yongliang. I have his photograph here; I'll send it to you from my phone." As he spoke, Wei Zhao transferred the photo of Zhong Yongliang, prepared well in advance, to An Jianwen by Bluetooth.

"Brother Wei Zhao, I had meant to treat you to a meal, but with something like this happening, you ought to be at the villa, keeping Yao Yao safe." An Jianwen said, "I have to go and get ready to teach this Zhong Yongliang his lesson, so I'll head back today. Another day I will certainly treat you!"

"Never mind the meal. As for the activity funds, why don't you see whether..." Wei Zhao smiled faintly and looked at An Jianwen.

"No problem!" This time An Jianwen was far more forthcoming than the last. After all, this time Wei Zhao had truly done something for him, and the money was really not spent in vain! So An Jianwen said cheerfully, "Tomorrow I'll wire you another million!"

"Heh... then I thank you, Brother An." Wei Zhao smiled and did not refuse. A million was nothing much to him, but whatever he could gouge out of An Jianwen, he would. Who complains of having too much money?

Gu Pengzhan, for the first time in living memory, stayed the night at the villa. And the next day, Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu stayed home to rest properly and did not go to school. In fact, Wei Zhao also intended to let them show themselves only after An Jianwen had dealt with Zhong Yongliang.

Zhong Yongliang, as usual, took a taxi to school by himself. Outwardly he betrayed nothing, but inwardly he was rather anxious. Why had Gu Pengzhan still not sent him any word after two days? Whether he agreed or not, he ought at least to say something.

Stepping out of the taxi, Zhong Yongliang had just started toward the school gate when four burly men blocked his way. One of them asked, "Zhong Yongliang, is that right?"

"You... do you have some business with me?" Zhong Yongliang was startled. He did not know what these four wanted with him, but plainly it was nothing good, and so by instinct he wanted to run.

But the four of them had already closed him in from front, back, left and right, leaving him no way to escape. And the burly man who had spoken compared the photo in his hand carefully once more, then nodded to the others. Without another word they seized Zhong Yongliang and hauled him into a minivan not far away.

An Jianwen sat in the front passenger seat of the minivan. Only when he saw Zhong Yongliang taken did he speak, viciously: "Daring to set his sights on Gu Mengyao—if I don't deal with him, he'll never know his place! I'll cut out your kidney, and then we'll see if you're still so cocky."

Behind a garbage disposal station on the western outskirts of Songshan City, the four burly men shoved Zhong Yongliang into a basement. The basement was thick with the smell of disinfectant, which made Zhong Yongliang sneeze despite himself.

"Who are you people? What do you want with me? Do you know who my father is? Zhong Fabai! Let me go while you still can, or you'll be sorry!" Zhong Yongliang bellowed, fierce in word but craven at heart.

"Damn it! What are you yelling for? You want to die?" A tattooed man came over and slapped Zhong Yongliang across the face. "Still shouting your head off in a place like this—I'd say you're tired of living!"

"You... you..." Zhong Yongliang was shocked and furious, yet dared not provoke the tattooed man too far. The fellow looked like a gangster through and through. True, his own father was a gangster as well, but for now he was a tiger fallen to the flatlands, bullied by dogs. Who knew whether these men meant to take his life?

"Take him inside first and give him a checkup." The tattooed man waved to the four strong men, and they took Zhong Yongliang into a room.

The tattooed man turned and walked into another room, where An Jianwen sat, gloom in his eyes, toying with a sharp scalpel.

"Brother Wen, are you going to do it yourself?" the tattooed man asked respectfully.

"Yes. I'll make the first cut myself in a moment. Give him the kind of anesthetic that leaves him conscious but unable to move. I want him to remember this lesson, and to see whether he dares touch my woman again!" An Jianwen said coldly.

"Brother Wen, he said just now that his father's name is Zhong Fabai..." the tattooed man said cautiously.

"Zhong Fabai? What does he do?" An Jianwen asked.

"He's a big local thug in this city. Under him he has an entertainment center and a large hotel..." The tattooed man began to lay out Zhong Fabai's background.

"What kind of ragtag nonsense is that? Is a character like him even worth bringing up?" Hearing that the man was only a thug, An Jianwen lost interest at once and waved his hand impatiently. "Go and get it done."

"Yes, sir!" Seeing that An Jianwen did not care in the least about Zhong Fabai's background, the tattooed man said no more, turned, and went off to make the arrangements.

After Zhong Yongliang was given an injection of some unknown drug, he felt every last ounce of strength drain out of him, and he collapsed onto the bed...

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