Chapter 85: Stumbling Into a Full-Blown Adultery Scandal
Although Yunshe was only eleven or twelve kilometers from downtown Dongzhou, in an era when bicycles were still the main means of transport, the road passed through the broad, gently undulating valley of Suyun Mountain. Psychologically, it felt far away.
Xu Jianqiang had come to Dongzhou in 1992 to develop his business. He sometimes climbed Suyun Mountain, but had never once gone to Yunshe Town on its northern side, despite the mere dozen kilometers between them.
This time, he left Xinhua Tong Tower by car with his secretary, Zhou Hua, and discovered that it took only twenty minutes to reach Yunshe.
For Xu Jianqiang, who had spent part of his childhood in the capital and later studied and worked in Moling, Dongzhou itself already seemed old and rundown. Yunshe could only be described as desolate.
The township road divided Yunshe in two. North of it lay a dense stretch of low, old bungalows, with only three or five five- or six-story buildings standing out. South of the road were a few small, scattered factories built from asbestos tiles, color-steel sheets, and brick walls, surrounded by even larger expanses of farmland and orchards.
The whole town was tiny.
Before setting out, Xu Jianqiang had been curious why Suyun Biotechnology, Xiao Liang’s newly founded company, was still not satisfied after recruiting fifty or sixty salespeople. After seeing the entirety of Yunshe, he became even more curious as to why Xiao Liang would recruit so many salespeople, only to hole up in such a remote corner.
Secretary Zhou Hua, sitting alone in the back seat, was equally curious as to how Xu Jianqiang could have a friend in a place like this.
The Cultural Center building, standing at the junction of the township road and Meimu Old Street, was conspicuous enough. As the car drove onto the narrow concrete bridge over Yanxi River, Xu Jianqiang saw from afar that quite a few people were noisily heading toward the building.
He had not contacted Xiao Liang in advance because he did not want to give him a chance to decline. He wanted to see for himself what Xiao Liang was doing at Suyun Biotechnology.
After crossing the bridge, Xu Jianqiang had the driver stop by the roadside. He and Zhou Hua got out and walked to the outside of the flower bed in front of the Cultural Center. There, they saw a young man in jeans dragging a woman by the hair toward the building while everyone else stood around watching.
The woman’s dress had been torn in the struggle. Her face was covered in blood, making her features hard to distinguish. Her shoes were nowhere to be seen. She was barefoot, dragged several steps by the hair, and the sharp gravel had cut into the soles of her feet until they bled.
Even so, she kept trying to struggle, but the young man held her hair in a death grip. The slightest resistance brought a flurry of punches and kicks.
In no time, many people nearby had been drawn over to watch. Yet no one stepped forward to stop it.
Seeing this, Zhou Hua said indignantly, “In broad daylight, bullying a woman like this—and all these people are just watching?”
Many young men and students from inside the Cultural Center hall also rushed out to watch the spectacle.
With a ferocious kick, Zhou Bin knocked Zhang Feili to the ground. He flung a stack of papers into her face, spat on her twice, and cursed viciously.
“Zhang Feili, you shameless bitch! Now you care about face? You had the nerve to cuckold me, so why don’t you have the nerve to admit it? You’ve already humiliated me completely. I don’t mind letting even more people watch the show. If you’ve got guts, say it in front of everyone today—who’s the bastard you’re sleeping with? Say it, and I’ll give up and divorce you!”
Still unwilling to let it go, Zhou Bin shoved through the crowd, picked up a paving brick, and pointed it at Zhang Feili with a savage glare.
“You bitch! If you want to live with your lover, fine. Say his name. I won’t stop you from chasing your happiness! Today I just want to see which son of a bitch dared dig at my wall!”
Xiao Liang was in the conference room on the east side of the fourth floor, training newly hired employees. He had already heard the commotion when Zhou Bin stopped Zhang Feili on the old street and began arguing with her.
At first, Xiao Liang had not intended to interfere in someone else’s domestic affair. Such matters were messy; if he got involved, he might end up covered in filth.
Besides, he had seen He Hong pass nearby.
But he had not expected Zhou Bin to suddenly start beating people—shoving He Hong, who had tried to break up the fight, so hard she fell, then grabbing Zhang Feili and dragging her toward the Cultural Center.
Xiao Liang had no time to say anything to the others. Taking the west staircase two and three steps at a time, he rushed downstairs.
At that moment, Zhou Bin’s eyes were still fixed on the hall as he shouted curses. From behind, Xiao Liang reached out and clamped his right wrist like iron tongs, then drove a fist hard into Zhou Bin’s temple.
“You dare commit violence in public? You really think the surname Zhou lets you cover the sky with one hand in Yunshe?”
While Zhou Bin was still stunned from the blow, Xiao Liang kicked him brutally in the outer thigh. As Zhou Bin cried out in pain, Xiao Liang seized the paving brick from his hand, then grabbed him by the throat and pressed him down into the dirt.
Several thugs who had come with Zhou Bin moved as if to act.
Xiao Liang glared at them and roared, “The police station is right across the street. Who the hell dares move? You think there’s no law here anymore?”
“What’s going on? Gu Wei, you dare make a move?”
Zhang Wei had been in his office when someone told him Zhou Bin had gone mad and was beating Zhang Feili in the street. He rushed out just in time to see Gu Wei—the same man who had a grudge against Xiao Liang and whom he had kicked out of the arcade—picking up a wooden stick, about to swing it at Xiao Liang.
Zhang Wei shouted angrily.
Seeing Gu Wei only hesitate for a moment and not back down, Zhang Wei charged forward and kicked him flying first. Then he pointed furiously at the other thugs who had followed Zhou Bin, stopping them from swarming Xiao Liang.
“Have you all lost your damn minds? Who dares hit anyone here?”
Ordinary thugs had no clear grasp of the town’s shifting situation, but they truly did not dare act arrogantly in front of Zhang Wei. For the moment, they were cowed.
“Zhang Wei, who the hell do you think feeds you in Yunshe?” Zhou Bin struggled and cursed when he saw Zhang Wei had rushed out only to help Xiao Liang. “Zhang Feili cheated on me and made me a cuckold, and you don’t give a damn—you’re helping that Xiao bastard instead? You’re licking Xiao’s boots now? Does that Xiao bastard even look at you properly?”
Seeing that the thugs no longer dared approach, Xiao Liang finally had the leisure to press his knee into Zhou Bin’s chest. His right hand still gripped Zhou Bin’s throat, forcing him to shut up, his eyes coldly fixed on him.
“What nonsense are you spewing?”
Zhang Wei kicked several bricks by his feet aside, then picked up the wooden stick Gu Wei had dropped and ordered the thugs on the outside to back away. Only then did he have time to look at Zhang Feili, her hair disheveled, blood at the corner of her mouth.
He had only managed to lease the first and second floors of the Cultural Center after Zhang Feili began dating Zhou Bin and he used Zhou Jianqi’s connections.
In the past, Zhou Bin had eaten, drunk, and fooled around outside without restraint, and his relationship with Zhang Feili had been poor. Out of consideration for family ties, Zhang Wei had even advised Zhang Feili a few times, saying men were just like that.
He had never imagined that Zhou Bin would one day go so far as to beat Zhang Feili in public.
Zhang Wei was so furious he could spit blood. Pointing at Zhou Bin, he cursed, “What the hell did you take today? Nobody bothers you about what you do outside, and now you have the nerve to turn around and bite her? How has Feili ever wronged you? If you don’t want to stay married, then split up already!”
Seeing a hint of fear in Zhou Bin’s eyes, Xiao Liang loosened his grip slightly, though his hand remained on Zhou Bin’s throat.
His voice was cold. “You picked up a brick and really thought you dared kill someone? Or is it because your father is some lousy deputy secretary, so you think you can run wild in Yunshe and no one will dare touch you?”
Zhou Bin knelt on the ground, coughing until tears and snot streamed out.
Xu Lihuan, Wu Qiyan, He Xueqing, and the others heard the commotion and hurried downstairs.
He Xueqing had even broken a heel on the stairs. Carrying the broken shoe in one hand, she and Wu Qiyan helped Zhang Feili, whose face was bruised and swollen, to her feet.
“What happened?”
“He Hong was beaten by Zhou Bin at the supply cooperative!”
Zhang Feili had no time to tidy her miserable appearance. Barefoot, she grabbed He Xueqing and Wu Qiyan and ran toward the supply cooperative, crying as she spoke.
“I want to divorce Zhou Bin. He brought people to town to drag me away. He Hong happened to pass by the supply cooperative and tried to stop him, but his people beat her unconscious. I don’t know how she is!”
“I’m fine, I’m fine!”
Before Zhang Feili, Wu Qiyan, He Xueqing, and the others could get far from the front of the Cultural Center, they saw He Hong staggering over, her face covered in blood.
Her shoes were also gone.
Although Meimu Old Street was paved with stone slabs, the Cultural Center stood at the intersection of the old street and the township road. Fine gravel was constantly carried onto the stone road and the open ground in front of the building by the flow of people and vehicles.
He Hong walked barefoot, each step stabbing into her soles and making her frown with pain.
In this era—even twenty or thirty years later—when a township man caught his woman in adultery and dragged her out to beat her in the street, most bystanders preferred watching the excitement. Few would intervene lightly.
Just now, Zhou Bin had beaten He Hong so hard her head struck the wall and she fainted. When she woke, she worried something might happen after Zhang Feili was dragged away, so she rushed after them barefoot.
Only when she saw Zhou Bin already under control did she let out a breath of relief.
He Hong had been released on bail pending trial half a month earlier. Her household registration was in Yunshe, so her bail supervision was carried out by the Yunshe police station, and she could not leave the town at will. Xiao Liang had known this for a while, but this was the first time he had seen her since the incident.
Seeing that He Hong did not appear seriously injured, Xiao Liang signaled for the employees who had rushed downstairs to go back, lest it look as if he were bullying others with numbers.
“The police are coming…”
Someone in the crowd shouted.
From the moment Zhou Bin blocked Zhang Feili in town, to He Hong being beaten unconscious when she tried to stop him from dragging Zhang Feili away, to Zhang Feili being pulled by the hair to the Cultural Center to identify her “lover,” less than ten minutes had passed. Even so, more than a hundred people had gathered to watch.
Everyone felt regretful that they hadn’t witnessed a grand spectacle of the “adulterer and adulteress” being beaten. The situation had been brought under control before anyone even had a chance to strip off Zhang Feili’s skirt.
At first, there had been no response from the police station. The officer on duty in the hall had heard that it was Zhou Jianqi’s son, Zhou Bin, disciplining his cheating wife and did not want to get involved.
Only when Yuan Wenhai heard the news in his office did he bring people over from the police station across the street. By then, aside from Zhou Bin, Zhang Wei, Xu Lihuan, and the others had already subdued the thugs who had followed Zhou Bin and joined in the beating.
These young thugs were all familiar faces, people who often came and went through the boxing gym or arcade.
Yet all of them clearly knew Zhang Feili was Zhang Wei’s cousin. Not only had they failed to stop Zhou Bin, they had not even come to inform him. Gu Wei, in particular, had even tried to attack Xiao Liang. Zhang Wei had shown no mercy.
“Cuff them all and take them back!”
For something like this to happen right under his nose, Yuan Wenhai was furious. He walked over and kicked Zhou Bin and the four thugs each in the back of the legs, ordering his men to handcuff them.
“Station Chief Yuan, Zhou Bin is Secretary Zhou’s son. And this is a family dispute…” Du Jiang whispered, afraid Yuan Wenhai did not recognize Zhou Bin.
“Secretary Zhou who? Since when does being someone’s son mean you can commit violence in the street? Since when has Yunshe become this lawless?”
Yuan Wenhai glared at Du Jiang and barked, “Stop your damn chatter and cuff them. Or do I need to teach you how?”
To hold a grassroots post, one needed temper. Only then could one keep people in line.
Was Yuan Wenhai going to let Du Jiang frighten him by invoking Zhou Jianqi’s name?
What a joke.
Even if he were to give Zhou Jianqi face, that would wait until Zhou Jianqi came begging in person.
Seeing Zhou Bin still dare raise his head and look at him defiantly, showing a bit of unruliness, Yuan Wenhai kicked him hard in the calf and slapped the back of his head.
“Squat properly, damn it!”
Although Zhang Feili had returned to Nanting Lake Juice Factory, her main role was to lead Liu Weiwei in handling the specific coordination between the new company and the factory. Yuan Wenhai knew she counted as one of Xiao Liang’s key management people.
Moreover, Zhang Feili’s father, Zhang Qiang, was principal of Yunshe Middle School and enjoyed high prestige in the town. Gu Peijun, Xu Lihuan, and many others had studied under him.
Since taking office in Yunshe a month earlier, Yuan Wenhai had met Zhang Qiang several times. His impression of the man was that he was gentle and refined.
As for Zhou Bin’s character in Yunshe, Yuan Wenhai had also heard about that.
Now the bastard had deliberately come to the Cultural Center right across from the police station to make this scene. Who was he performing for?
Even without Xiao Liang saying anything, Yuan Wenhai wanted to give Zhou Bin a proper beating. Seeing Du Jiang ignorantly try to put in a word for him, how could Yuan Wenhai possibly give him a pleasant face?
After being scolded into humiliation, Du Jiang could only grit his teeth and take the lead in cuffing Zhou Bin.
Zhou Bin had dragged Zhang Feili toward the Cultural Center with clear intention. But now that the situation was under control and Yuan Wenhai had taken over, Xiao Liang had no need to follow them to the police station.
He handed Yuan Wenhai a cigarette and briefly explained that today’s incident had likely started because Zhang Feili wanted to divorce Zhou Bin, though he did not know the specifics.
Then he patted Yuan Wenhai on the shoulder, nodded toward Xu Jianqiang in the crowd, and said, “Contact me if anything comes up. I have no idea how this big shot suddenly appeared here.”
