0117 126 The Wind Rises
Zhou Xiye didn't get up until almost noon the next day. The bedroom door wasn't closed properly, and she sat up, smelling a delicious aroma coming from the kitchen. She put on her bathrobe and went to the kitchen to find Pei Zhiyu wearing an apron and cooking noodles. Zhou Xiye was leaning against the door watching Pei Zhiyu cook. He heard the noise, turned around, and smiled at Zhou Xiye, "Awake?"
Zhou Xiye nodded, glanced at the noodles in the casserole, and said, "I didn't expect you could make this."
“At least one of us should know how to cook, right? If you don’t want to, then I’ll have to do it,” Pei Zhiyu said as he cooked. Zhou Xiye yawned when he heard this. “It’s okay if you don’t want to, I’m not forcing you.”
Pei Zhiyu straightened up and looked at her. "I know you didn't force me. Go and wait at the table. It'll be ready soon."
Zhou Xiye shrugged, went back to the bathroom in his bedroom to wash up, and then changed his clothes before going to the dining room. Pei Zhiyu was already seated, serving Zhou Xiye noodles. Seeing this scene, Zhou Xiye paused, never having seen the usually aloof Pei Zhiyu with such a demeanor.
Before she had any real relationship with Pei Zhiyu, she saw him as a god from the heavens, noble and unapproachable. The two became husband and wife, and although it wasn't long, it was undeniable that Pei Zhiyu was a good husband—caring, financially secure, and faithful. Every Friday after work, he would fly to Kunming to see her.
There were never any trivial matters in the family. Of course, Zhou Xiye felt that Pei Zhiyu's mother, Pei Weian, would never cause her any trouble.
Thinking about it this way, Zhou Xiye felt that it was quite good. The two of them felt like a home, much like the home she had imagined. Pei Zhiyu put down her chopsticks and looked up to see Zhou Xiye standing to the side. The smile on her lips wasn't big, but it was enough to show that she was in a good mood.
"Eat up, the noodles are best when they're fresh out of the pot."
Zhou Xiye sat down, picked up a spoon, and took a sip of soup. Pei Zhiyu's face was expressionless, but the anticipation in her eyes betrayed Zhou Xiye's feelings. "Delicious!"
"Really?" Pei Zhiyu smiled, picked up his chopsticks, "If it's delicious, eat more. I just learned how to make it..." His voice grew softer and softer, and his ears turned a little red.
Zhou Xiye took in Pei Zhiyu's shyness. The midday news was playing on TV, the volume neither too loud nor too soft. The couple ate noodles face to face, a meal that was neither breakfast nor lunch, enjoying each other's company.
Coincidentally, the news report came at the time when the head of the statistics bureau defined unemployment: "An ordinary person is not considered unemployed as long as they work one hour a week..."
Zhou Xiye wanted to laugh when he heard this, as it contradicted the former premier's statement that 600 million people earned less than 1,000 yuan a month. What was most ridiculous was that the unemployment rate was for urban residents, while rural residents comprised 60-70% of China's total population. To make the data look better, a portion of this population was deliberately omitted; they really would say anything.
Zhou Xiye put down his chopsticks and looked at the person opposite him.
"I heard Jack Ma has returned to China?"
Zhou Xiye suddenly said that she was a little unaccustomed to not talking at the dinner table.
Pei Zhiyu nodded, swallowed what was in his mouth, and then said, "He wanted to give up some money to save his life. Although he is no longer the president of Alibaba, he has not reduced his shareholding at all."
"Shouldn't this be a discussion between the China Securities Regulatory Commission and him, or between the Hangzhou municipal government and him?"
"Of course it's the central government. The timing of his return this time is quite good. It just so happens that the economic task force meeting has just ended, and they want ordinary people to make money from the securities and stock markets... What I mean is, with the economy in a downturn, it's precisely the time when these private business owners need to come out and work. His return also gives him room for negotiation. He can exchange money for his life, which is much better than Bao Ren, who has no news at all, is under house arrest, and we don't even know if he's alive or dead... He and the JD.com boss are both inquiring about news in the Wangbeilou in Hong Kong."
Zhou Xiye paused, his chopsticks still on his noodles. “Bao Ren and Ma Yun are different in nature. Ma Yun can say things like ‘China’s financial system doesn’t really exist, so there won’t be any systemic risk.’ The two are not quite the same.”
Pei Zhiyu also put down her chopsticks. "They're the same, but not the same. Both of them are subject to control. Even the United States is holding meetings to seize control of TikTok in the US. Do you think power will give way to capital?"
He's right. Power is eternal; it is the Egyptian pyramids built of stone, the Great Wall built of bricks, and the mountain peaks that stand firm despite the ravages of time.
Power is everything.
"The crime is too serious."
Pei Zhiyu looked at her, his eyes dark, "If you don't kill your enemies when they are weak, you will regret it every day after you let them go."
“Struggle is only part of power…” Zhou Xiye wanted to say something more. She felt that politicians’ deceit and treachery were just a means to achieve their own goals, not to drive people to the brink of despair.
When Pei Zhiyu saw Zhou Xiye like this, he leaned back in his chair and said sincerely to her, "Zhou Xiye, you are very hypocritical."
Zhou Xiye looked at him, puzzled.
“You have never been kind to anyone along the way, including your parents.”
Zhou Xiye lowered her eyes, looking at the vegetables in the casserole. After a moment, she said, "They blocked my way..." She looked up at Pei Zhiyu, "Perhaps I am a ruthless person."
Pei Zhiyu nodded and said casually, "I like you just the way you are."
A jarring ringtone shattered the warm yet realistic atmosphere between the two. Zhou Xiye answered the phone; it was Meng Qinggong calling.
When I answered, his voice was noisy and he spoke very fast.
"Secretary Zhou is in trouble. Last night, a couple was beaten up while having barbecue. The woman was a mistress, and the man was cheating on her. The wife brought people to beat up the mistress..."
Zhou Xiye opened her mouth, but in the end she repeated, "My husband went out to have dinner with his mistress, and his wife caught him. The wife beat up the mistress?"
"...Yes, that's how it is..."
"What's so surprising about that..." Before he could finish speaking, Meng Qinggong continued, "This incident blew up as soon as it was done. Now it's been revealed that this couple has connections to organized crime, and the mistress who was beaten wasn't a mistress at all, just an ordinary woman who was passing by..."
The more Meng Qinggong explained, the more complicated the matter became. "This news is all over Weibo's trending topics. Secretary Zhou, you should take a look..."
"Watching the news?" Zhou Xiye roughly understood what had happened. "Did you call the police immediately after the incident? Did you dispatch officers? What about the follow-up? What about the announcement? Have the people been caught?"
Meng Qinggong paused for a moment, then slowed his speech, "They were fighting at 1:30 in the morning. I asked them, and there were only three policemen in the duty room at the time, and there was a group of burly men across the street..."
Zhou Xiye facepalmed, really wanting to curse the idiot, "Have they caught the person? What were the results of the interrogation? Meng Qinggong, you're the police chief, have you lost your mind?"
Meng Qinggong was also furious. "I'm the police chief. I did what I was supposed to do. It was just a street fight, but now it's blown up online, and the public opinion is saying that the underworld and the police are colluding... I've never handled a situation like this before, so I can only report it to you. You must have gotten to this position by being good at swearing, right?"
Zhou Xiye let out a breath. "So, have they caught him? What's the official announcement? What are the results of the interrogation?"
Meng Qinggong's tone weakened, "The person was caught, but when I received the news, they were released again... Someone posted this information online, saying that the police were not doing their job..."
"..."
Zhou Xiye didn't quite understand, so she patiently asked, "What does 'the person was released again' mean? Translate it for me."
"I don't know the specifics... Someone in the bureau put in a good word for me, so they let him go..."
Zhou Xiye nodded. "Then what about the policeman who ordered the release? Which law did he use to release the person?"
He said the person who was beaten wouldn't pursue the matter, so there was no need to...
Zhou Xiye took a deep breath. "Meng Qinggong, if you can't even handle this small matter, I think you might as well quit being the police chief!"
After she finished speaking, she hung up the phone. Pei Zhiyu stood beside her with a water glass in his hand. "Is it a gang fight? I saw it on the news."
Zhou Xiye took the water, turned to look at Yunnan TV, where the news was a video of someone being assaulted. She drank the water, thought for a few seconds, then picked up her phone and made a call.
Ling Xingzhi was watching the news, keeping track of the public opinion surrounding the whole incident, when Zhou Xiye called. He hesitated for a moment, thought for a moment, picked up the remote to mute the TV, and then answered the phone.
"Secretary Zhou..."
"Go and handle the assault incident. Meng Qinggong has lost his mind. Help him get it out of his head."
Without saying much, and without even giving him a chance to reply, Ling Xingzhi smiled, tossed his phone aside, and Li Qingshan, standing beside him, straightened his back. "What are your orders?"
"First, arrest them. After arresting them, interrogate them. Let Meng Qinggong interrogate them personally."
"Organizational incident?"
Pei Zhiyu looked at Zhou Xiye, who had been sitting on the sofa for half an hour, and finally asked the question.
Zhou Xiye's face darkened. Hearing Pei Zhiyu's question, he looked up at him and said, "Not only that, but it seems like they're coming for me."
Pei Zhiyu walked over and sat down next to her. "Who's dissatisfied with you?"
“Many people,” Zhou Xiye turned to Pei Zhiyu, “How much trouble can organized crime cause? This wave of public opinion and events has been carefully planned. Putting everything else aside, just look at the organized crime itself. How did it come about? It has a lot to do with the local police and officials.”
"Think about it, low-level organized crime starts by beating people up and collecting protection money, doing dirty and hard work. Mid-level organized crime involves prostitution, gambling, drugs, and loan sharking. High-level organized crime involves collusion between officials and businessmen, monopolizing business rights. They are parasites, living off the bureaucratic system and interpersonal relationships in shady industries. Combating organized crime and eliminating evil is only a small part for the people, but a large part is to expose the protectors behind them. In the end, it is still a political struggle."
"How many eye-catching keywords are there in this barbecue-related assault incident? Catching a mistress, organized crime, abuse of power—which of these isn't a minefield for the public to watch? Soon, once the information about the victim and the perpetrator is revealed, an even bigger wave of public opinion will sweep in."
Pei Zhiyu didn't think this was a big deal; it was just a social hot topic that got on the trending searches and attracted attention, a ride on the coattails of the internet age.
Zhou Xiye smiled bitterly, "Once bitten by a snake, twice shy."
"Whatever you say goes," after all, he had a smooth and successful life, and he only ever tried to get what he wanted, never afraid of losing anything.
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