novelraw Chapter 29 : The Chang Family’s Troublesome Son
Chapter 29 : The Chang Family’s Troublesome Son
Chapter 29: The Chang Family’s Troublesome Son
Shen Qingzhou did not feel sad that Su Xi had run off abroad without even saying hello to him. After all, they were both ordinary men and women; being together had merely been an outlet for desire. There was certainly some fondness, but nothing particularly deep.
What Shen Qingzhou found regrettable was that she had left too quickly—he had not grown tired of her yet, nor had he extracted more money from her.
He wondered whether she had taken that painting with her. If she had, then she would return sooner or later.
If she had not taken it, then their connection would likely end here.
Seeing Shen Qingzhou sitting there in a daze, Chang Shengli reached out and knocked on the table.
“I know Su Xi has some connection with you. Let me warn you—don’t do anything illegal, or I’ll personally send you in,” Chang Shengli said with a stern expression.
“So she was the one who instructed Zhou Minghan to kill?”
Shen Qingzhou tossed the banana peel in his hand into the nearby trash can.
Chang Shengli was momentarily speechless, because Zhou Minghan killing someone had been purely accidental.
Strictly speaking, Su Xi had not really committed a crime.
Su Xi suspected that Li Yunsheng’s parents knew about the access key, so she used Zhou Minghan to investigate its whereabouts—it was just a blind attempt, whether fruitful or not.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Minghan found Shen Qingzhou and ultimately obtained the access key.
Even more unexpectedly, it resulted in a death, blowing the matter out of proportion.
Moreover, the money was all overseas and difficult to transfer back into the country in the short term.
So she decisively chose to flee abroad. With money, where couldn’t one live?
Although being a lawyer was respectable now, once she had money, she could hire countless “respectable” figures to stand behind her.
“That’s illicit money—it must be turned over to the state treasury,” Chang Shengli said.
“Oh.”
“That’s all you have to say? You seem rather indifferent?” Chang Shengli said irritably.
“If that money is recovered, will it be returned to those who were scammed?”
“Of course it will be returned.”
Although Chang Shengli said so, his tone lacked confidence.
According to legal procedures, it would indeed be returned to the victims, but the number of victims involved in that company back then was simply too large, and 300 million was only a small portion of it.
So returning it to the victims would be a long and extremely complicated process.
So…
“I haven’t asked you yet—according to Zhou Minghan’s confession, when he commissioned you, you asked for ten percent?”
“Not that much. The introducer and the middleman each took three percent from that portion.”
There was no hiding this, so Shen Qingzhou admitted it directly.
“That’s still over twenty-eight million. Didn’t you know that was illicit money? And you still dared to take it?” Chang Shengli scolded.
“I didn’t know. I only took what was due to me. Besides, how can money be divided into clean or dirty? If I put two hundred here, can you tell me which bill is dirty and which is clean?”
“You think I haven’t watched The Message?” Chang Shengli was so angry he laughed.
In The Message, Xie Ruolin had a line: “Now there are two gold bars here—tell me which one is noble and which one is filthy?”
Shen Qingzhou was talking nonsense, completely avoiding any mention of money laundering.
“You brat, not honest. Be careful—I’ll have your accounts frozen.”
“Ha~ I don’t have any accounts. No mobile payments either,” Shen Qingzhou said smugly.
He declared himself completely impossible to target.
Chang Shengli was about to continue, but Shen Qingzhou quickly raised his hand to stop him.
“Alright, alright. You’re the police, not the court. Whether I’m guilty or not is for the court to decide.”
He said this because the police only had enforcement power, while the court held the power of judgment.
“You brat—can’t you just walk the right path?” Chang Shengli stormed off angrily.
But Shen Qingzhou did not care. Ever since he had set up this consulting office, the two of them often argued. After all, this line of work was essentially operating on the edge—on the boundary of the law.
Many investigative actions, in truth, involved infringing on others’ privacy.
The reason Chang Shengli frequently gave Shen Qingzhou investigative tasks was precisely to keep him from going astray for the sake of money.
Shen Qingzhou understood his good intentions, but felt that Chang Shengli was too rigid and inflexible. So whenever they met, they would inevitably argue and exchange sharp words. He was like the Chang family’s troublesome son, making the old father worry endlessly.
After Chang Shengli left, Shen Qingzhou took out his phone and made a call.
“Aunt Chen, will you be home tomorrow evening? I’ll come over for dinner.”
“Of course. I’m off tomorrow—you can come over at noon,” a gentle female voice came from the phone.
“Will Uncle Chang be back at noon?”
“No, he’s busy at the bureau. He definitely won’t make it back.”
“Then I’ll come in the evening. I’ll keep Uncle Chang company for a drink.”
“Alright, then I’ll prepare a couple more dishes tomorrow night.”
“Deal. I’ll hang up now.”
After saying that, Shen Qingzhou hung up directly.
Aunt Chen was Chen Ruomei, Chang Shengli’s wife—the woman he had almost called “Mom” back then.
Arguing with you and still eating the food your wife cooks—just to piss you off, Shen Qingzhou thought mischievously.
He lay back in his chair, propped his legs up on the desk, lit another cigarette, and blew smoke rings while pondering where to eat lunch tomorrow.
Should he look for Xiaodan, or Jiaru, or perhaps Technician No. 88, Xiao Li…
Xiaodan was a great cook, but since tomorrow was Saturday, her husband might be home.
Jiaru could not cook, but she was rich, young, and still a university student. However, after a meal, she would cling to him for at least two days—too attached.
Xiao Li was the best—beautiful and kind. Though poor, she was skilled at “understanding how to undress people,” but the only downside was that she always wanted to marry him, which absolutely would not do.
…
Just as Shen Qingzhou was troubled, Xiao Qiu suddenly poked her little head over and took a deep sniff.
Shen Qingzhou could not help but laugh. He reached out and rubbed her little head.
“This is a cigarette, not incense. Why are you sniffing it?”
“I want to taste it,” Xiao Qiu said seriously.
“How does it feel?”
“Not tasty. It stinks.”
“Right? So don’t try random things next time.”
“Mm~ mm~” Xiao Qiu nodded obediently, then asked curiously, “Gege, why do you like ‘eating’ stinky things?”
Shen Qingzhou: …
He found himself unable to refute that.
“Xiao Qiu, do you have any plans for the future?”
“What are plans?”
“It means—what do you want to do in the future? Just keep drifting like this?”
“I want to keep playing, hehe~” Xiao Qiu said loudly, her face full of happiness, completely without the gloom of being a ghost.
“And then? Just keep playing like that?”
“Mm, play until I become Old Qiu.”
Xiao Qiu nodded her little head, looking completely serious, not joking at all.
Shen Qingzhou looked at her and asked, “Can your mom cook?”
“Of course! My mom’s cooking is super delicious. I can eat three big bowls every time—this big!”
As she spoke, Xiao Qiu stretched her arms wide. If it were really that size, it would not be a bowl—it would be a feeding trough.
“Grandpa even calls me ‘Three Bowls, Full Three Bowls.’”
At first, Shen Qingzhou did not react, but then he remembered her name was Qiu Xiaoman, and burst into laughter.
“Have your mom come over tomorrow and cook for me. I’ll treat you to incense.”
“Okay~” Xiao Qiu was delighted.
Shen Qingzhou was also pleased—tomorrow’s meal was finally settled.
Then he began considering what to eat the day after. Maybe he should consider Jiaru—though clingy, her spending level was high, and the quality of consumption was good.
Her best friend seemed pretty good too. Ah—no, no, stop thinking nonsense…
Just then, there was a knock on the door from outside.
Shen Qingzhou put his feet down, feeling a bit puzzled about who would come looking for him at this hour.
“Come in.”