Chapter 121121 Brother

Tu Lanxun couldn't help but ask, "What did they ask you to do?"

Wu Qingchu's eyes were filled with unspeakable emotions. His throat was thick with a knot for a long time before he spoke, "They said Dong Tianlong was involved in some smuggling and illegal transportation business. If I could persuade him to come back, they would let me go."

Tu Lanxun's eyes widened. "Have you ever considered that this would involve you in deeper secrets of theirs, making it impossible for you to leave?"

Wu Qingchu shook his head and replied, "Not really. Smuggling and illegal transportation aren't even considered a big deal in the Dong family. If Dong Yijian and Kris want to force Dong Tianlong to withdraw, they only have two motives."

"The first possibility is that Dong Tianlong is not making any money from this business and is losing too much. This is the most common possibility, because Tianlong doesn't know how to do business at all. He doesn't have the brains for it."

"The second possibility is that Dong Tianlong touched something he shouldn't have touched in the transportation business, causing a lot of trouble, so he had to stop in time."

Combining the words "transport," "shouldn't touch," and "cause trouble" into one, Tu Lanxun's guess was a bit tricky, but Wu Qingchu quickly corrected him, saying, "It's not what you think. Although Dong Tianlong has a bad character, he is deeply opposed to drugs and, in a narrow sense, human trafficking, even to the point of fierce criticism. This may be related to some of his experiences."

Tu Lanxun asked, "What could that be?"

Wu Qingchu said: "After I really investigated, I found out that in addition to smuggling some expensive goods from foreign countries to avoid taxes, he also transported workers from underdeveloped foreign countries to other countries, including my country - all of which were illegal immigrants."

Tu Lanxun frowned: "Isn't this still a human trafficker?"

Li Ao suddenly spoke up, "What he did should be called a human trafficker. But according to past cases, people transported or tricked into working abroad by human traffickers often don't have their personal safety and health rights properly protected. Some return wealthy and even gain legal status; but others die of illness on the road, or suffer abuse from unscrupulous third-party employers in foreign countries, ultimately ending up in dire straits."

Tu Lanxun still didn't understand: "It sounds like a very profitable business. How can Dong Tianlong not make money as a snakehead?"

Wu Qingchu said calmly, "Logically, he should be able to make money, but he just can't. According to my investigation in the last month of my life, strange things often happened on the labor transport ships organized by Dong Tianlong. For example, people often disappeared while on board, so he couldn't receive wages from his employers, and if he encountered a stubborn family, he would have to pay compensation. Moreover, Dong Tianlong's own business was very poor. His ship was much more likely to be hit by storms on the sea than other ships. His other smuggling investments, such as ivory and Central Asian jade, also resulted in large losses."

Xiao Zhang made a vivid analogy: "People like Dong Tianlong were born into a world of money, but unfortunately, money repels him. So no matter how much money flies towards him, it all flows away from him."

Everyone couldn't help laughing. Li Ao glanced at Xiao Zhang and told her to be serious. Then he continued to ask Wu Qingchu, "Did you confront Dong Tianlong afterwards?"

Wu Qingchu nodded: "Yes, I found some evidence, but I just wanted to make sure Dong Tianlong couldn't hide it when we argued face to face, just like when I checked his test papers before."

"But no one expected that Dong Tianlong would be completely enraged."

#

Five years ago, it was not easy for Wu Qingchu to find Dong Tianlong, especially during that period when Dong Tianlong was indulging in a life of debauchery and had not appeared in front of him for more than a month.

So when Dong Tianlong was invited to Wu Qingchu's study, he still smelled strongly of alcohol and powder. His face, which should have been handsome, was swollen, his eyes were cloudy, and he looked over with a smile: "Brother, what's wrong?"

Wu Qingchu took off a piece of glitter from Dong Tianlong's lapel and wiped his collar with a tissue, but the lipstick mark on the top button had already dried up mixed with saliva and could not be wiped off at all.

"I have something to tell you." Wu Qingchu said. Dong Tianlong looked a little impatient, but he still sat on the sofa.

Wu Qingchu looked at Dong Tianlong with disappointment, placing the evidence he had collected over the past month on the table. Dong Tianlong leaned over and took it, flipping through two pages at random, then threw the document bag heavily onto the table, sending papers and photos scattering around like thunder. He leaned back and glanced at Wu Qingchu. "What? Are you investigating me? Blackmail? Who did you take advantage of?"

"Tianlong, your business is not profitable at all and the risks are too great." Wu Qingchu tried his best to persuade him, but he didn't know that he was making a second serious and fatal mistake - the first one was obviously agreeing to do this.

Wu Qingchu recalled the tone he used to teach Dong Tianlong before and said sincerely, "Stop it, don't do it again. Sooner or later, you will lose yourself."

Dong Tianlong raised his eyelids from beneath his tightly-knit hair. His smile was a little crooked, and even if he was happy, it still seemed ironic. There was something dangerous in Dong Tianlong's voice. "Is this just to persuade me to turn back? Are you playing the good guy again, brother?"

Wu Qingchu said subconsciously: "I'm not acting, it's just that you are an adult, with so many resources, isn't it good to do some safe business?"

"You're just pretending." Dong Tianlong took a deep breath and leaned back as far as he could, as if being too close to Wu Qingchu would trigger the anger in him. However, his face and neck were already slightly red. "Don't be a moralist here. Okay, I won't talk to you anymore, and don't mess with me."

Wu Qingchu hesitated to speak, but it was this two-second pause that allowed Dong Tianlong to detect a different emotion. Dong Tianlong suddenly understood, "You're not telling me this to blackmail me... Which old man's orders did you take? Dong Yijian or Kris?"

Wu Qingchu also got angry. He lowered his eyebrows and said in a cold tone, "Those are your father and uncle. Don't call them that."

Dong Tianlong sneered: "You said you don't want to scream, so why do you care about me? Fine, you and them are wearing the same pants and teaming up to suppress me? Great, who do you think you are?"

Dong Tianlong stood up and pushed Wu Qingchu back. He was so angry that he walked around the study twice. Seeing that Wu Qingchu was still dithering and staying where he was, he scolded him fiercely: "Get out! I told you to get out! You slave!"

Wu Qingchu's lips trembled. He had never been treated so roughly and lost the ability to speak for a moment, while Dong Tianlong's emotions fluctuated dangerously.

Dong Tianlong regained some of his rationality, loosened his collar, picked up the water cup on the coffee table and took a sip, then reluctantly walked over and said, "Brother, I'm so excited. I know you're doing this for my own good. You go back first. I'll double the amount they give you, and from now on you and I..."

Wu Qingchu was suddenly seized by fear. He was trapped in the feeling of weakness and meanness, but he still stammered, "Please... just agree to it... even if it's only for two or three months. Considering how I've treated you..."

Dong Tianlong was not good at studying and taking exams, and was even a bit silly, but he had no intellectual disability. With his usual instincts as a high-ranking official, Dong Tianlong discerned the "disrespect" implied in Wu Qingchu's words, and thus used his brain to deduce a more shocking fact.

"Brother." Dong Tianlong walked slowly behind Wu Qingchu and said with a trembling voice: "What did they promise you? It's not money, right?"

He sounded like the insecure teenager he once was, and Wu Qingchu felt a little sympathy for him. However, due to Dong Tianlong's fragility, Wu Qingchu misjudged him again.

Wu Qingchu secretly hoped that Dong Tianlong and he could stand on the same side. They both disliked the Dong family's big mud pit. Perhaps this was an opportunity to form a short-term alliance: let Dong Tianlong come to his senses and return to the right path, and let him go free at the same time, which could be regarded as a good relationship formed over the past ten years.

Since Dong Tianlong hates his father and uncle, he must understand why he has to leave the Dong family, right?

The boy who rode the motorcycle side by side with me flashed back to me again. He said naively at that time: "Brother, we are family from now on. Just tell me what you want!"

So Wu Qingchu once again shamelessly "took advantage" of this. He said tentatively with hope: "I want to work outside the city. Tianlong, you've grown up, and I think it's time for me to find a new job."

Dong Tianlong's voice sounded strange, like thunder rolling through a layer of frozen clouds. "Oh, you want to leave?"

Wu Qingchu quickly said, "Yes, it's not right for me to be kept here by (,) every day. I can't help. People of my age should have been..."

Dong Tianlong's footsteps faded away behind him for two seconds before moving closer again. "You should find a quiet job, get married quietly, have children quietly, and live a normal life quietly... The farther away from a rotten toilet like our Dong family's, the better..."

Wu Qingchu wanted to nod when he heard the first half of the sentence, but the second half gave him an ominous premonition. He suddenly turned around and argued: "No, Tianlong, listen to me--"

But when he turned around, he was greeted by a Western sword.

The sword was a genuine antique, its guard carved with patterns Wu Qingchu didn't recognize. It was a heavy piece of iron, unsharpened, but it slashed across Wu Qingchu's chest. He felt a palpitation of emptiness, and then a red flush spread before his eyes, whether from the sight of blood or lack of blood, he couldn't tell.

The last thing that came up was pain. Wu Qingchu fell on his back and tried his best to crawl backwards, but the sofa blocked his way back. Every breath he took tasted of blood.

"Tianlong...don't...call a doctor..."

Dong Tianlong was like a tyrant whose territory was overturned. The disordered stimulation made him lose his already limited rationality. He pressed forward, raising his blunt sword again and again, venting his emotions on Wu Qingchu in order to regain some control.

"Don't call a doctor?" Dong Tianlong looked at him hatefully and laughed strangely. "Okay! I'll listen to you! I always listen to you!"

Another sword struck him, this time landing on his ribs. Accompanied by the crumbling pain of broken ribs, Wu Qingchu no longer had the strength to dodge.

Dong Tianlong almost transformed himself into a tyrant whipping his slaves, or Wu Gang endlessly chopping down osmanthus trees. His voice was drowned by emotion, and he completely ignored the passing of Wu Qingchu's life. "You want to leave too? Leave me here to rot alone. Go, go, I'll take you on! When you die, don't forget to report my name to the King of Hell!"

Wu Qingchu was no longer able to answer. He stared blankly at the ceiling, and the sound of bones, flesh and skin bursting against the blunt sword gradually faded away.

It seems like... it's over?

How long has it been? I don't know.

Is he dying...?

In the out-of-focus vision, the blunt sword fell to the ground. Dong Tianlong gasped for breath and knelt beside Wu Qingchu, his hands constantly closing and closing on Wu Qingchu's body. He seemed to be crying.

"Brother, brother." Dong Tianlong finally came to his senses. He panicked and picked up the phone numbly and mechanically, as if the person who had just assaulted him was someone else. "Hold on, I'll call a doctor now..."

Wu Qingchu could no longer think of anything else: marriage, having children, another city, a quiet job… all of that had lost its meaning. The only thing left in the world was Dong Tianlong's vague figure, and the hand that seemed to be patting his face.

The study door seemed to be pushed open, and he recognized the figure.

Qianniu squatted down beside Dong Tianlong, comforted him, and gently took away Dong Tianlong's mobile phone.

Dong Tianlong dodged reflexively and started yelling and cursing at Qianniu.

Qianniu smiled slightly and said something that sounded like, "You don't want to go to jail, do you? Uncle K and Dean Dong won't protect you this time."

Another line is: "This kind of... if someone dies and no one looks for him... I'll bury him..."

"He won't forgive you..."

Dong Tianlong's cry-like "brother" was still lingering in his ears. Wu Qingchu felt that Dong Tianlong was pushed away, and Qianniu's hand reached out to his neck, and a cold light flashed by.

His world fell into eternal darkness.