Chapter 40 I have to go home tonight

"I'm calling the police! He did it with intent to cause injury, and I'm injured. I want him to go to jail!" The man on the ground, helped to his feet by Li Yasong, shouted frantically, "Shi Zhenglin, I'm going to put you in jail!" The police sternly rebuked him, "What kind of place is this? Disrupting the airport order, provoking trouble! Take him away for investigation!" A fight in a place as special as an airport is no easy task. Both were taken to the police station. During the police questioning, Li Mingpeng said his injuries were serious and needed to be evaluated and treated first. His face was bruised, and large patches of blood were on his body. Shi Zhenglin's white shirt was also stained with blood. Two shallow cuts above his brow, probably from Li Mingpeng's fumbling, were left there. Li Yasong, feeling guilty and aware that if Shi Zhenglin got into trouble, Shi Shi would be a major problem. He made a request to Li Mingpeng, "Shi Shi has a birthday today. Forget it, let's go to the hospital." Li Mingpeng angrily said, "He'll pay the price!" How could he even consider Shi Shi? He knew there was a huge difference between a public security punishment and a criminal offense, and he wanted to charge Shi Zhenglin with a criminal offense. The police station agreed to have his injuries examined. Shi Zhenglin was questioned and not allowed to make phone calls. He was out of touch with those at the company who frequently contacted him. Fang Siyu had called yesterday to remind him of the third-party IPO coordination meeting that morning, but he had asked to reschedule it for the afternoon. Li Xuan also had an important contract for him to sign, and she had texted him this morning, but he said he would come to the company that afternoon to sign. Nearing 2 p.m., everyone called him, but no one answered. "Can you reach Mr. Shi?" Fang Siyu asked Shi Zhenglin's secretary. "No," the secretary shook her head. She made a dozen calls, and while she could get through, the call went unanswered and was now powered off. She called Xiao He, but he said he had no idea where he was. The company was entering the latter half of its IPO preparations. According to Shi Zhenglin's plan, the application period would officially begin in November. Fang Siyu coordinated this third-party coordination meeting, which included the sponsor, law firm, accounting firm, and other intermediaries, as well as relevant internal departments. Shi Zhenglin prioritized efficiency and generally made on-the-spot decisions. Li Xuan came to Fang Siyu. "I just asked the boss for his signature. He asked why he couldn't get through to Mr. Shi. He must have called but couldn't get through. I couldn't get through either. Mr. Shi is in the afternoon meeting, right? I have an agreement he needs to sign today, and he agreed to return to the partner today." She knew Fang Siyu was the one who knew Shi Zhenglin's whereabouts best in the company. "He's talking to a client, so it's not convenient to call. Let's talk later if you have something to say." Fang Siyu made up an excuse. He knew him. This wasn't normal. It was inappropriate to reschedule the meeting. Everyone was already seated...

"I'm going to file a police report. He intentionally injured me, and I'm going to put him in jail!" Li Yasong helped the man on the ground up and shouted wildly, "Shi Zhenglin, I'm going to put you in jail!"

The police shouted, "Do you know what kind of place this is? Disrupting the airport order and provoking trouble! Take him away for investigation!"

In a special place like an airport, it is not so easy to break out in a fight.

Both were taken to the police station.

During police questioning, Li Mingpeng said his injuries were serious and needed to be assessed and treated. His face was bruised and his body was covered in blood.

Shi Zhenglin's white shirt was also stained with blood, and there were two shallow bloody cuts above his brow, probably caused by Li Mingpeng's scratching and struggling.

Li Yasong felt guilty and knew that if Shi Zhenglin got into trouble, Shi Shi would be a big problem. He made a request to Li Mingpeng, "Shi Shi has a birthday today. Forget it, let's go to the hospital and take care of it."

Li Mingpeng said angrily, "He has to pay the price!"

How could he possibly consider Shi Shi? He knew that there was a huge difference between public security punishment and criminal offense, so he wanted to charge Shi Zhenglin with criminal offenses.

The police station agreed to let him have his injuries examined.

Shi Zhenglin was questioned and not allowed to make phone calls. He lost contact with those at the company who frequently contacted him.

Fang Siyu had called him yesterday to remind him of the third-party coordination meeting for the IPO this morning, but he'd asked him to reschedule it for the afternoon. Li Xuan also had an important contract she needed his signature on, and she'd texted him this morning to ask, and he'd said he'd come to the office that afternoon to sign it.

Around two o'clock in the afternoon, everyone called him, but no one answered.

"Can you find Mr. Shi?" Fang Siyu asked Shi Zhenglin's secretary.

"No." The secretary shook her head. She made a dozen calls. Previously, the calls went through, but the call went unanswered and the phone was now turned off. She called Xiao He, but he said he had no idea where he was.

The company entered the latter half of its IPO preparations. Following Shi Zhenglin's IPO plan, the application period officially began in November. Fang Siyu coordinated a third-party coordination meeting attended by the sponsor, law firm, accounting firm, and other intermediaries, as well as relevant internal departments. Shi Zhenglin prioritized efficiency, and he typically made on-site decisions to move forward.

Li Xuan came to Fang Siyu and said, "I just asked the boss for a signature. He asked why he couldn't contact Mr. Shi. He must have called but couldn't get through. I couldn't reach him either. Mr. Shi will attend the meeting this afternoon, right? I have an agreement here that he needs to sign today. He agreed to return to the partner today."

She knew that Fang Siyu was the person who knew Shi Zhenglin's whereabouts best in the entire company.

"He's talking to a client, so the phone isn't convenient. We can talk later if you have anything to say." Fang Siyu tried to cover up. He knew him, and he wasn't normal.

It was no longer appropriate to change the meeting time as everyone had already sat down in the meeting room. Fang Siyu presided over the meeting as usual. He told both the outside and the inside that Shi Zhenglin had some important matters to attend to and that he would follow Shi Zhenglin's usual thinking and style for on-site coordination.

With him on his side, Shi Zhenglin felt relieved.

At around 3:00 p.m., Li Mingpeng completed the injury examination and determined that it was a minor injury. Shi Zhenglin's questioning also ended.

The reason why his questioning was difficult was that he only used the four words "personal grudge" and did not mention any motive for the beating. He could not bring up the family scandal.

After the interrogation, he was allowed to make phone calls, but only a limited number of times. Under police surveillance, he called three people: Aunt Xu, a lawyer friend, and finally his boss, Yang Chengkai.

He told Aunt Xu that there was an urgent matter at the company and that if he couldn't return home that night, he should tell Shi Shi that he was on a business trip. He wanted to talk to Shi Shi, but emotionally, he couldn't convey a single bit of joy to her at that moment. When Shi Shi heard it was him calling, she ran over and called out "Dad" into the phone. He didn't answer and hung up hastily.

He told Yang Chengkai the truth, saying he had assaulted someone for a personal matter and was in the police station. He wanted to send the company's lawyer to help, saying he didn't want anyone in the company to know about his personal affairs. He also expected Yang Chengkai to be worried about the IPO, so he said it was no big deal, a minor personal matter that didn't involve any criminal offenses or personal moral issues, and that he would handle it. He had already found a lawyer.

Yang Chengkai can no longer do without him as his core member. In the past few months, he has laid a good foundation for the listing. Yang Chengkai values him very much and will rely on him for the sprint for listing. He appears to care about him like his own brother. He says it is not a big deal and tells him not to worry and to let him know anytime if he needs help.

After hanging up the phone, Yang Chengkai called the company lawyer.

"If executives are administratively detained, will it have any impact on the listing?" He did not mention Shi Zhenglin directly.

"Why detention?" asked the lawyer.

"I beat someone up at the airport."

"Administrative detention for public security doesn't constitute a criminal record, so there's no problem with a clean criminal record. Regarding listing compliance, intermediaries conducting background checks on executives may require the voluntary disclosure of administrative penalty records. Failure to report such records constitutes false reporting. If disclosed normally, there won't be a major problem, so don't worry. However, if there's criminal detention, there's definitely a problem."

Yang Chengkai thought that if Shi Zhenglin couldn't handle the situation himself, he would step in to rescue him. He wouldn't allow him to have any problems, and in fact, the company couldn't have any problems with its listing.

At the police station, the police first mediated, and lawyers were present on both sides.

The lawyer named Chen, whom Shi Zhenglin hired himself, was his long-time friend and close friend. He also knew Li Yasong. According to Shi Zhenglin's wishes, he would go to Li Mingpeng for reconciliation talks. If they refused, he would sue them for extramarital affairs and for spreading rumors and defamation.

Li Mingpeng asked him to produce evidence.

"Since what happened today could happen, there must be evidence. Not to mention other witnesses and evidence, just the surveillance video at the airport today and the audio recording made by Shi Zhenglin at the airport are all evidence. You should still remember what you said! It's been less than a year since the divorce, and it can be completely traced back." Lawyer Chen said.

When Shi Zhenglin entered a place like an airport, no matter how impulsive he was, he could predict the other party's character and knew that things would get complicated, so he turned on the recording on his cell phone in advance. Every question he asked, every admission Li Mingpeng made, and every shouting and cursing was recorded.

Their property was divided equally during their divorce, and a lawsuit would involve a further division of the property, which would also affect their ability to live freely abroad.

"I will send a complete copy of the mobile phone recording to both of you," Lawyer Chen continued.

Li Mingpeng knew what he had admitted, and he was so angry that his teeth started to ache again. After thinking about it, he decided to accept the settlement.

"Also, remember, if you two cause trouble again, or if the children are involved, we will always be able to trace back to the mistakes made before marriage and the mistakes that caused the trouble," Lawyer Chen warned.

Lawyer Chen replied to Shi Zhenglin, "Even if the two parties reach a settlement in a special place like an airport, they will inevitably be held responsible for public security. They will probably be detained for a few days and fined."

"I must go home tonight. Please think of any way. I must go home." Shi Zhenglin was anxious.

"We'll try to get a stay and a review."

Lawyer Chen advised him to prosecute the two for their premarital infidelity and sabotage, saying he was confident he could handle the case. Shi Zhenglin said he didn't have the energy to pursue the case for now, so he decided to warn them first, lay a trap for them, and deter them from messing with the children. Anyone who touches the children will suffer the consequences.

Feeling so embarrassed, he leaned back in his chair and laughed at himself facing the white wall of the police station.

He is strong and tough in the business world, and can handle all kinds of situations. Unless he is willing to make concessions, no one can get anything from him, but he does not guard against the person next to him.

After beating Li Mingpeng, he just wanted to quickly eliminate these two people in his own world. He thought it would be a huge waste to spend any more energy, and he didn't have time.

The other two people kept appearing in his mind, one was Shi Shi and the other was Long Weihe. He felt very uncomfortable sitting here because innocent people had been harmed.

For Long Weihe, it felt like he was being pulled on a steel rope, its two ends violently tugged at each other, one end repelling, the other attracting. This dark tug-of-war had always been lurking within him. Now, the rope had snapped completely and instantly, and he felt a sudden emptiness within him.

He knew why it was empty, it was definitely not because of any debt.

The debt is easy to make up.

As Lawyer Chen noted, this wasn't simply a matter of reconciliation. Police retrieved airport video footage and collected evidence from witnesses and airport staff. While the incident didn't cause any damage to the airport or harm anyone else's interests, it was determined to have disrupted order in the airport lobby. They were sentenced to five days of administrative detention and fines.

Lawyer Chen helped him get a temporary stay of administrative detention and acted as a guarantor. After completing the application procedures for reconsideration, he had to wait for approval and could not leave for the time being, which was very troublesome.

The big trouble caused was with Shi Shi.

Shi Shi was anxious in the evening. She couldn't find Shi Zhenglin, so she wanted to find Li Yasong and asked Aunt Xu to call Li Yasong.

Li Yasong also arranged for a suspension of administrative detention for Li Mingpeng. His luggage was still stranded at the airport, and all his plans were disrupted. She was running around and the whole thing was a mess.

She was used to having others take care of everything, so she couldn't handle the situation, nor could she take care of the injured. She was in a very bad mood and got angry at Shi Shi on the phone, "I don't have time! Don't bother me!"

Shi Shi was yelled at and cried. Aunt Xu felt distressed when she saw this. She thought something had happened to Shi Zhenglin, so she took her cell phone and asked Li Yasong if she knew what had happened to him.

Li Yasong said, "He committed a crime and is in the police station!"

This scared Aunt Xu a lot.

Qian Duoduo looked at Shi Shi who was crying, and no matter how he tried to comfort her, it was useless this time.

Later, Aunt Xu asked him to eat cake with her. He said to her, "Making a wish and blowing out the candles is very effective. You have to be good and make a wish well. Shi Shi, if you have any wish, just make a good wish."

Shi Shi believed him, made a wish, ate some cake, and felt much calmer. Afterwards, the two of them played games and watched TV together, which was relatively stable.

Long Weihe and Lin Yao planned to come and pick her up in the evening. They called Qian Duoduo, but he refused to leave, saying that Shi Shi's father had not returned home yet. Shi Shi was crying and he wanted to play with her.

The two of them felt they had accidentally ruined their child's birthday, and blamed themselves, promising him to come back whenever he wanted. It wasn't until after nine o'clock that evening that Aunt Xu called, "Don't worry, can you let me take care of the children for one night? They wanted to play a little longer, but it's too late and too tiring. Can they just stay here overnight? We'll take them back tomorrow morning."

She pleaded.

Another little girl from the same neighborhood got bored playing and called out to go home, but an adult had already come to take her home. Shi Shi still had trouble getting along with other children and only played well with Qian Duoduo. Aunt Xu was worried that Shi Shi would be lonely, so she coaxed Qian Duoduo to stay with her for a while.

"Didn't Shi Zhenglin go home?" Long Weihe took the opportunity to ask.

Aunt Xu didn't know what to do when she heard that the person was in the police station. In exchange for her agreement that Qian Duoduo could stay here for one night, she said a little miserably, "Alas, something happened and I can't come back for a while. The child is unhappy, so I wanted to let your baby play with us for a while longer."

"What happened?"

"I don't know the situation either. Something just happened. I don't know if I can come back tonight. What a birthday the kid had. Sigh."