Chapter 46 She felt that Zhou Jinbai favored her.
Su Li's nerves were always in a tense state, and she dared not relax at all. If she could see her skin on a night like this, she would definitely see goose bumps all over her usually fair and delicate body.
If Zhou Jinbai hadn't come, she might have been finished tonight. A group of powerful people treated her like animals. She didn't feel like she was being treated as a human being at all. She appeared here completely as a prey.
They didn't even take famous figures in the entertainment industry like Chen Yusheng and Zhou Zexi seriously.
In their eyes, ordinary rich people are nothing, worse than trash.
She recalled the uproar a few years ago, when a female star who had just debuted and gained some fame died mysteriously after appearing on a variety show.
The program crew responded that it was a sudden illness, but later someone revealed that the man did not die in the program crew, but in a club.
It was later revealed that this club was full of high-ranking officials and dignitaries, but the trending searches kept failing to make it onto the list, and the matter was eventually dropped.
If Chen Yusheng didn't have a strong background, Chen Yusheng would probably not be able to escape the clutches of the devil. She never dared to be afraid.
Perhaps when a person is extremely frightened, their adrenaline will surge, so she never felt her legs go weak, and even tried hard not to show any fear. Only after she saw Zhou Jinbai did she feel her legs begin to tremble, and she could not even stand steadily.
The entire person's weight suddenly fell on Zhou Jinbai. Zhou Jinbai felt it. Su Li held him with extra strength in her arms and didn't let go.
Zhou Jinbai knew that she was frightened. To be honest, he was also frightened. It was the first time he encountered such a thing. After Zhang Qingchi told him, he started to contact people, fearing that something big would happen if he was a little late.
As an honest businessman, he had never seen such a scene. Although he was rich, he did not act recklessly. He had heard that some rich and powerful people liked to treat people like animals, but he had never come into contact with them. As a result, Su Li encountered this incident.
If it were any ordinary star today, these beasts would have succeeded and it would have been a dead end.
Even Su Li had no choice. Others directly sent a special car to pick her up. Even if she refused the invitation, she would not have a good ending.
Perhaps they had no right to refuse at all, because just as Su Li and Chen Yusheng were taken away, Zhang Qingchi and Chu Zhining were threatened and detained.
Zhang Qingchi kept sending him messages, saying that he and Chu Zhining were detained and could not go anywhere, so they had no way of knowing Su Li's situation.
In other words, if Su Li did not keep the appointment, she would be forcibly taken away. These people did not give Su Li any chance to choose at all.
Zhou Jinbai let out a long sigh, hugged her and comforted her for a while before letting her go, "It's okay, I'm here."
Su Li's eyes were red. She really didn't know what she would do if Zhou Jinbai couldn't come tonight.
She was so scared that her whole body was shaking. After leaving Zhou Jinbai's arms, she felt her legs were weak and she couldn't walk.
Zhou Jinbai helped her take two steps and asked, "Are you okay?"
Su Li slowly exhaled a long breath, "It's okay, it's just that my legs are a little bit out of control."
Zhou Jinbai pursed his lips with a tense expression as he supported Su Li and walked into the villa. As soon as they reached the door of the villa, a large number of police surrounded the villa, and no one present had a chance to escape.
Su Li glanced back, then looked at Zhou Jinbai again, "Did you call the police?"
Zhou Jinbai hummed, "If I don't come, calling the police will be useless. These pests have too strong a protective umbrella."
Su Li felt terrified, so she held Zhou Jinbai's hand tightly and went into the villa with him.
The thin middle-aged man in the Zhongshan suit was sitting in the lobby on the first floor, and several fat men were smiling apologetically.
Zhang Zhiqiang was so scared that he stood outside and didn't dare to go in. Zhou Jinbai took Su Li over and took a look around. They were all fat local officials.
Zhou Jinbai nodded slightly towards the man, "Teacher, thank you for your help."
The man waved his hand and told him to sit down first. "I'll wait for their leader to respond. Director Wu, can you send someone over to explain? What kind of secret activities are you holding in a place like this?"
The so-called Director Wu was the protagonist of today's banquet, the Deputy Director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, Wu Junrong. He smiled with wrinkles on his face and said with a flattering smile, "Mayor, you are overly worried. I just came here because someone invited me to dinner today. In fact, I don't know anything."
If something went wrong at a banquet like this, naturally someone would take the blame. Before Wu Junrong could say anything, one of the men called out to the door, "Zhang Zhiqiang, come in and explain to the leadership. It's such a small matter, but you're troubling the mayor to come over. Isn't that a complete waste of police resources?"
Su Li felt it was horrible to see these people lying with their eyes open. She grabbed Zhou Jinbai's arm tightly, and Zhou Jinbai felt the pain.
When he turned around, he saw Su Li hiding behind his shoulder. Her usually smart and beautiful eyes now looked scared and wet, as if she would cry at any moment.
Zhou Jinbai held his breath and listened to their unreasonable arguments. After a while, the director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau arrived. He took several police officers upstairs to search. Some people actually wanted to stop the police. Zhang Zhiqiang broke out in a cold sweat.
He felt that he was doomed. If anything was really found out, he would definitely be the one to take the blame and become the scapegoat.
This villa is ten stories high. The doors of the top floor are all locked. It belongs to Zhang Zhiqiang. Nothing was found in the other floors. The director summoned Zhang Zhiqiang to go up and open the door.
Zhang Zhiqiang refused to open the door, his lips turning pale with fear, and he kept trembling. "Boss, it's really not my fault for what happened today. It was Director Wu who fell in love with that woman..."
Before he could finish his sentence, he received a terrifying look from the man. Zhang Zhiqiang swallowed the words in silence, "I organized the dinner, and I will bear all the consequences."
The man then spoke softly, "All the arguments are in our own hands. Even if the mayor comes, so what? He can't see anything with his own eyes. It's only me. But as his subordinates, we still have to give him some results. Don't worry, the sky won't fall."
Zhang Zhiqiang was relieved. "Okay, I feel relieved with your words."
Zhang Zhiqiang opened the door to the tenth floor. The first thing he saw was a normal hall. After the man walked in and pushed open the door of the small room, all kinds of strange props came into view.
Ropes, iron hooks, steel balls strung together in chains...they are all S~M props.
There was also a bathtub as long as an adult man placed under the props. Zhang Zhiqiang took the man for a walk, and the man walked out calmly, signaling the police officers to go down.
He also went downstairs to report to the mayor, saying that there was nothing strange about it, it was just an ordinary manor villa.
Seeing that everyone's testimony was consistent, Zhou Jinbai glanced at the director, raised his lips and smiled, looking at the man in the Zhongshan suit, "Teacher, since you didn't find anything strange, then there's nothing wrong. Since my wife is fine, I'm relieved. It seems that I was worried too much."
The man in the Zhongshan suit glanced at Su Li, then at Zhou Jinbai. "It seems you really like her. Zhuzhu often talks about you and always wants to go to Beijing to find you, but I'm keeping a close eye on you, so she never goes. You've been doing very well in Beijing circles in recent years, and I always hear about your deeds. Now that everything is fine, why don't you come back to my place for a while?"
Zhou Jinbai responded, "Okay, since the teacher has invited me, I will go back with you and stay for one night. I will be back tomorrow."
The man stood up and said, "Let's go." Then he told the people around him, "Disperse. Don't organize this kind of thing in the future. It has a bad influence."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this. Wu Junrong stood up to see them off. "Then take care, Mayor. We're leaving now and will follow your instructions."
In fact, everyone knew that even if the mayor came in person, he would not be able to really arrest anyone at once. They had no idea who was behind these complicated umbrellas of protection.
But he remembered all those faces.
Zhou Jinbai understood what this meant even more clearly. He was very angry and he would keep this account in mind, knowing that he would settle it sooner or later.
Zhou Jinbai took Su Li to live at the mayor's house, which was a little safer. After getting in the car, they didn't talk about business, but chatted about family matters.
Zhou Jinbai didn’t know what happened to the others, but if their target was Su Li, those people should be fine.
The mayor's name is Li Changji. He has a son and a daughter. His son has also entered politics, starting as a grassroots civil servant.
He is in his fifties. His daughter is about the same age as Su Li. She just returned from studying abroad and studied fine arts. She is planning to set up her own studio, named Li Zhuzhu.
When Zhou Jinbai was about 35 years old, his career was just starting to pick up. He participated in the city's government bidding and helped Li Changji overcome the major difficulties in building the city, so the two met.
Li Changji admired Zhou Jinbai's character very much. He never procrastinated and always completed projects on time. It was also at that time that he met Li Zhuzhu.
Li Zhuzhu was only a teenager at that time, and she followed him around every day, calling him uncle. Later, when Zhou Jinbai was leaving after completing the project, Li Zhuzhu cried for a long time.
Li Changji thought Zhou Jinbai was a talented person and advised him to take the civil service examination. However, Zhou Jinbai's career had already taken off at that time, and if he took the civil service examination, his business would be ruined.
So he politely declined Li Changji's kindness, but the two of them often kept in touch, and Zhou Jinbai would often visit him when he was free.
Li Changji was an honest man. The most expensive gift Zhou Jinbai gave him was Mingqian Longjing tea. He almost never accepted gifts to avoid being reported.
Li Changji always thought that Zhou Jinbai was not married, and in the past two years he had been trying to match him up with Li Zhuzhu from time to time. Almost ten years had passed, and Li Zhuzhu was still obsessed with Zhou Jinbai.
Zhou Jinbai would just smile and tell him every time, "My son is the same age as Zhuzhu. You always try to match me up with her. It's not proper."
Li Changji waved his hand and said, "You are not my biological child, and you have grown up now. You should live for yourself."
Zhou Jinbai wanted to live for himself, but at that time Su Li had married into his family. His heart was with Su Li and he had no thoughts about anyone else.
Li Zhuzhu has been studying abroad in recent years and they have no chance to meet. This year she returned home and wanted to open a personal studio in Beijing. Li Changji also wanted Zhou Jinbai to take care of him, but before he could say anything, this happened.
Li Zhuzhu is at home now. Her father suddenly went out in the middle of the night, saying that he had something urgent to do. She was still thinking about what the urgent matter was and wanted to join in the fun. Only after being scolded by her father did she calm down.
Before leaving, Li Changji said, "Zhou Jinbai is here. I don't know what's going on. I'll go take a look first."
When Li Zhuzhu heard Zhou Jinbai was here, her eyes lit up. "Then can you bring him home? I haven't seen Uncle Zhou in a long time, about four years. I haven't seen him since I went abroad to study."
Li Changji ignored her and rushed out to meet Zhou Jinbai. Zhou Jinbai came by private plane, which shows how serious the situation is.
I thought something big happened, but it turned out to be to save a woman.
Seeing Zhou Jinbai still hugging Su Li, Li Changji couldn't help but ask, "Is it really that bad?"
Su Li was too frightened to speak. She looked up at Zhou Jinbai, who was heartbroken. He touched her face with his big hands and said, "If it's not convenient to talk about it now, you can talk about it when we get to the teacher's house."
Su Li nodded in his arms, wanting to hide like an ostrich, because she didn't know who she could trust except Zhou Jinbai.
Li Changji called his family in advance, saying that he was on his way back and asked them to clean a guest room.
As soon as Li Zhuzhu heard it, she knew Zhou Jinbai had arrived. Seeing that it was already evening, she even went to put on makeup.
Her mother, Lv Yanan, couldn't stand it any longer. "It's just Zhou Jinbai. You're obsessed with him like this. I don't know what you're thinking. Zhou Jinbai is about forty-two or forty-three this year, less than ten years younger than your father, and yet you still think about him every day."
Li Zhuzhu retorted, "You don't understand. My dream since I was little has been to marry Uncle Zhou. My dad said he's always been single. This time when I came back, I was ready to strike. I had to chase him."
Lu Yanan shook his head. "It's hopeless, but Zhou Jinbai is a caring person. He visits your father from time to time. If he had listened to your father and taken the civil service exam, he would probably have been promoted by now."
Li Zhuzhu said as she applied her lipstick in front of a small mirror, "Not everyone's ambition is to become an official. Uncle Zhou is very famous in Beijing circles now. I often see news about him abroad, but I can't even imagine how rich he is. As for my house, I guess it means nothing to him, right?"
Lu Yanan admitted, "He is indeed rich, so your father doesn't object to you liking him. It's mainly because he has good character."
Li Zhuzhu said proudly, "Of course. I thought he was very nice when I was a teenager. He often bought me gifts. As a result, I never had a boyfriend. I just wanted him."
Lu Yanan didn't object. "If you can catch him, then you can get married. But I think it's uncertain. He doesn't even have any intention of getting married."
Li Zhuzhu replied, "When he sees me, he wants to get married."
Li Zhuzhu was waiting for Zhou Jinbai's arrival with great anticipation. After hearing the sound of the car, before she saw anyone, she had already run out of the door.
They also lived in a detached villa, but it only had three floors and was not very big. The area was not even as large as Su Li's villa in Jiangshan Film Studio.
Li Changji has spent all his savings over the years here, so he can be said to be penniless.
Li Zhuzhu waited for the car to stop ecstatically, holding her cheeks with both hands, excitedly, "Uncle Zhou?"
Zhou Jinbai heard her voice, got out of the car and helped Su Li down, and asked her with a smile, "Zhuzhu is back home?"
Li Zhuzhu was very happy to hear his voice, but in the blink of an eye he helped a woman down from the car.
Her smile froze on her face and she looked at Su Li for a long time without saying anything.
Su Li also looked at her, and Zhou Jinbai took Su Li's hand and followed Li Changji.
Li Zhuzhu was stunned for a moment, then asked Zhou Jinbai, "Who is she?"
Zhou Jinbai took Su Li's hand and introduced her, "This is my wife."
Just one sentence made Li Zhuzhu's world collapse.
Her originally lively expression instantly drooped. She was so angry that she turned around and ran into the house without saying anything.
Lu Yanan smiled at the door and said, "Come in, Xiao Zhou. Zhuzhu is just like that. Don't worry about it."
Zhou Jinbai pulled Su Li into the room, "Master's wife."
Su Li also followed him and called out, "Hello, Master's wife."
Lu Yanan greeted her with a smile, "You look so young. Xiao Zhou is really attractive to little girls."
Zhou Jinbai smiled and said nothing.
After Li Changji entered, he motioned for Zhou Jinbai to sit down first. He pointed at Su Li and said to Lu Yanan, "This little girl was a little frightened tonight. Please arrange for her to rest in her room first. I'll talk to Xiao Zhou."
Lu Yanan responded, "I understand."
Su Li felt that she would not be safe anywhere without Zhou Jinbai, so she held his fingers tightly and refused to leave. Seeing that she was afraid, Zhou Jinbai did not let her go either.
He told Lu Yanan not to bother, "Master's wife is very thoughtful. She hasn't recovered yet. I'll take her with me later."
Lu Yanan noticed Zhou Jinbai's thoughtfulness and smiled, "Okay."
Then she went to find Li Zhuzhu.
Li Changji held it in for the entire time before finally explaining to Zhou Jinbai, "I can't do anything to them. I can't completely eradicate this umbrella of protection by myself. I need the help of the provincial government. This matter needs to be made as big as possible. I need someone to push it forward, so that people at higher levels can see it. Only then can I take action. Otherwise, there's no way I can do it."
Zhou Jinbai understood, and this was why he didn't get to the bottom of it. "I know the teacher's difficulties, so leave this matter of pushing hands to me. We have been cracking down on gangs and evil for years, but the cancer is still deeply rooted."
Li Changji sighed, "That's right. You can't imagine where the trouble started. Judging from what happened tonight, I doubt anyone in the Municipal Public Security Bureau can be trusted."
Zhou Jinbai shook Su Li's hand and said, "I will do everything I can to help you, teacher. Please take care of yourself and don't get into any trouble."
Li Changji laughed. "Although I don't have many confidants, they still have to think carefully before they can touch me. Don't worry."
Zhou Jinbai nodded, "If the teacher wasn't here tonight, I don't even dare to think about the consequences."
Li Changji was also afraid. "You saw it today. That group of more than a dozen people were all local officials. How can anything good happen with people like them in the local area? I'm only telling you this once tonight. It's up to you what you do next. Of course, you can also choose to keep quiet. After all, nothing serious has happened."
Zhou Jinbai shook his head. "I can't choose to keep quiet. I'm holding my breath and don't know how to get out of this."
Li Changji sighed helplessly, "The road to cracking down on organized crime is long and arduous. When I asked you to take the civil service exam, you had to give up your business. If you had taken the exam and entered politics, you would have definitely been able to benefit the people."
Zhou Jinbai didn't say anything.
Li Changji finished his business with him and then looked at Su Li. He asked Zhou Jinbai, "Are you really married? And you found someone so beautiful? You are really special."
Zhou Jinbai was a little embarrassed, "I made the teacher laugh at me."
Li Changji waved his hand and said, "What a joke! It shows that you are capable. But Zhuzhu has been thinking about you all the time. I guess she is sad tonight."
Zhou Jinbai's expression was calm. "She's still young, and she'll definitely want to find someone of equal status and someone the teacher will like. I'm just a rough man, and I don't dare to delay her."
Li Changji told him to stop being polite. "You know I've always valued you and have been trying to bring you two together. You need a backer, and I need one too. Wouldn't it be better if we supported each other?"
Zhou Jinbai said, "Even if I don't marry her, you will always be my teacher in my heart. I'm always here for you whenever you need me."
Li Changji still felt regretful, but didn't say much.
Lu Yanan asked if they wanted to eat, Li Changji asked Zhou Jinbai, and Zhou Jinbai in turn asked Su Li.
"Litchi, are you hungry?"
Su Li shook her head, "I'm not hungry."
I was so scared that I had no mood to eat.
Seeing that they didn't want to eat, Li Changji said, "You've been frightened. Rest up. We can talk again tomorrow at noon. It's getting late."
Zhou Jinbai stood up and said, "Okay, Teacher, you should rest early too."
Lu Yanan took them to the guest room, which was next to Li Zhuzhu's room.
Actually, it’s not a guest room, but her brother’s room. However, her brother moved out after he got married, so the room became empty.
Li Zhuzhu lay on the bed in anger, tears falling from her eyes.
Lu Yanan arranged things for Zhou Jinbai and Su Li, gave them new toothbrushes and new towels, and then went to see Li Zhuzhu.
Li Zhuzhu lay on the bed and cried, "I hate him so much. He came to my house and brought a woman with him."
Lu Yanan was helpless, "That's his wife. He found someone who looks younger than you."
Li Zhuzhu cried even louder after hearing this. "Why is he like this? Didn't he say he was single all his life? He didn't even tell us when he got married."
Seeing that he couldn't coax the boy any more, Lu Yanan simply gave up and went out to close the door.
Su Li sat on the edge of the bed and heard crying from next door.
Zhou Jinbai took a basin from the bathroom, filled it with hot water, placed it at Su Li's feet, and squatted down to wash her feet.
Su Li didn't want to take a shower. She didn't even want to take off her clothes. She was so scared.
Zhou Jinbai understood everything.
"If you don't want to take a shower, just wash your feet. I'll do it for you. It'll help you feel better."
Su Li lowered her eyes to look at the top of his head, tears welling up in her eyes.
"If you hadn't come, my life might have been over."
Zhou Jinbai looked up at her eyes and saw that she wanted to cry at this moment, so he stood up and bent down to wipe the corners of her eyes.
"As long as you need me, I will come no matter where I am. Don't cry, I will help you get revenge sooner or later."
Su Li sniffed and held his hand. At this moment, she really felt that she was favored.
No one cares about her more than Zhou Jinbai.
After choking in her throat, she looked into his eyes for a long time, blinked, and pointed to the next room.
"Why is she crying all the time? What is she crying for? I'm not crying at all. Does she like you that much?"
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