32: Chapter 32: Competing 32: Chapter 32: Competing “This liquor of mine, it’s not infused with snake gall or deer antler.
It’s just old ‘Bai Gan’ liquor soaked with traditional Chinese dicine at fifty-six percent alcohol content.
It’s not spicy, just bitter, much more bitter than the entirety of my life.
That’s why every ti I encounter a difficult matter, when I feel the bitterness, I take a sip of this bitter liquor.
After drinking it, I know that, well, my own life isn’t even as bitter as a cup of this drink.”
The fluorescence on the surface of the coffee table made the murky yellow liquid in the glass even more apparent, as if it was about to beco transparent.
Ye Tian lowered his head, took a sip of the liquor, and frowned, bitter!
Truly bitter, so bitter that it seed to force everything eaten to be vomited out when it went down to the intestines and flowed into the stomach.
“Bitterness is scarier than death.
A person may not fear death, but one always has to endure bitterness.
Death cannot force a person to die, but bitterness can.” Seeing Ye Tian’s face turning sowhat pale, Old Man Gongsun passed him a tissue.
“Thank you.” He gently wiped his lips, wetting the paper slightly.
A trace of surprise appeared on Old Man Gongsun’s face, then he nodded in agreent, “Maybe it’s true, maybe I’ll et my end at your hands.”
“You’re joking,” Ye Tian folded the tissue in his hand twice into a neat square and placed it on the table, “I’ve heard of your na, Gongsun Muyang, a descendant of the Northern Wei Tuoba Royal Family, the Northern First Blade Man who favors his left hand, whose weapon is a leg fork hidden in a holster strapped to his left thigh.
It’s said that during the counter-attack against Vietnam, you were the first to sever a Vietnase spy’s head.
Later, in the underground money house, you slaughtered a Japanese sword master, terrifying the Japanese to the point where they closed all fifty or so Sword Dojos they had opened in Huaxia and withdrew from the Huaxia market.
Your great feats are unmatched.”
Gongsun Muyang laughed bitterly, “These trivial matters, when spoken of, chill people to the bone.”
Ye Tian ignored him, continuing on his own, “By all accounts, you’re a national hero, but we haven’t heard from you for a long ti in the worldly society.
I’m a junior, and I shouldn’t say this, but the decline of a hero, the weakening of his influence as the day wears on – such matters should not be brought up.
If you really were an old warhorse putting up still, you wouldn’t need to concern yourself with issues thousands of miles away.
The younger generation will handle it, and surely we won’t make a grave mistake.
Getting old and not preserving one’s late-life reputation is a minor issue, but losing one’s life, that’s…”
“Are you trying to say I won’t die a good death?”
Bitter liquor, Ye Tian furrowed his brow again.
“You’re still young.
In this earthly world, despite my age, I dare not claim I have seen through it all.
This place is filled with extraordinary characters, with no shortage of capable individuals.
Stepping back is because I don’t want to provoke trouble.
Stepping forward again is because there are still responsibilities I need to shoulder on my shoulders, to opt out?
I can’t do that.
Whether I lose my reputation and die with my eyes open, in the end, I have to maintain that face.”
“Face?” Ye Tian raised an eyebrow, his gaze becoming sowhat piercing, “For the sake of your face, should my brothers die?
Should I die?
Don’t even ntion beseeching Gongsun Muyang to co out of retirent, even if you mobilized the army in his command, I’d still dare to make a hole through it!”
“…You don’t understand.”
“Hmph,” Ye Tian downed the cloudy yellow bitter drink in one gulp, “I do understand.
Plainly speaking, we’re alike.
You had a master, I had one too, but your master taught you about traditional Chinese dicine, mine taught about tailoring.
He said, life is like a garnt, so are the facade, so the lining.
If you’re bleeding, you can’t be the laughing stock of others; the lining has to be tucked away.
A nice facade with a suffering lining, that’s the logic.”
Gongsun Muyang nodded in agreent, “That’s the logic.”
“In retrospect, you’re better off than .
I thought we were the sa, lining is just lining, at least there’s a place for oneself.
But now I realize, I’m actually the extra needle and thread that has to be cut off with scissors.
Have you ever seen a garnt with excess threads dangling?”
Gongsun Muyang fell silent, his skinny body clothed in a blue robe appearing even more gaunt under the glow of the fluorescent light.
“I’m not one to swallow my teeth and stomach the humiliation.
I’m not magnanimous; I can’t contain a whole ship in my belly, nor can I comfortably ride a bicycle.
Being petty and vengeful suits better.
Last ti soone crossed , I didn’t even give him a chance to light up a cigarette, let alone this ti – it’s a blood debt.
What do you think?
Your liquor is good, cheers.” Ye Tian stood up and walked towards the second floor.
Gongsun Muyang watched his retreating figure and sighed, yet didn’t move to follow.
After sitting for a while longer, he got up to leave, but upon spotting the cup of liquor that Ye Tian had poured earlier, he impulsively took a sip, then couldn’t help a wry smile.
He had been played.
The cold water Ye Tian asked Yellow Hair to get was from the tap, costing one yuan twenty per ton.
In their first confrontation, he lost by a fraction.
More than just a fraction.
It’s undeniable, Song Qian is a highly responsible police officer.
Liu Zhidong, as the head of the Huaizhou City Public Security Bureau, could say ‘left’ and no one would dare to say ‘right,’ of course, that was before Song arrived.
The officialdom in Huaxia, not to ntion the public security bureau in Huaizhou City, was just the sa old story.
However, after the arrival of Song Qian, dubbed “Huaxia’s Number One Female Detective,” these customary rules of the officialdom were disrupted.
In the west of the city, at the office of the Public Security Bureau Chief.
“Song, this case is already being handled by the provincial authorities, so please stop asking about it.
It’s making things difficult for .”
“Chief, it’s not like that, regarding the directives issued by the provincial authorities…
No, let speak directly to you.
I always feel that this bank robbery case isn’t as simple as it seems, and there’s also…”
“Okay okay okay, don’t start with ‘also.’ First, tell what’s so unusual about this robbery case, what are the doubts?”
Liu Zhidong was helpless, Song Qian had been on his case for three days.
Normally, a case like a bank robbery would be a special and important case, and he couldn’t wait to hand it off to soone else.
The thing that pleased him the most was that soone from the provincial authorities did co to take over, but while he could finally rid himself of this hot potato, his head of the criminal police was becoming unbearably insistent.
Song Qian was also frustrated, she couldn’t understand why people in the public security bureau were so averse to dealing with cases.
To them, coming to work seed to only involve drinking tea, holding etings, chatting, browsing the internet, and so on, so simple.
There were thousands of cases piling up in the archives, left unsolved, and she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why they would treat their duties in such a manner, like with this bank robbery case, everyone’s attitude was so indifferent.
She had heard people say that Huaxia’s police were just like those who clean the sewers, equally unappealing.
“Chief, we’ve handled hostage situations in robberies before, but this case seems different.”
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