Chapter 192: Protest!
Chapter 192: Protest!
At this time at the New Junyue construction site, Boss Pang and Chen Laosan had already met. Boss Pang told Chen Laosan about Tang Chen’s instructions, and Chen Laosan agreed readily. Then he took his brothers to get things done.
Boss Pang did not stay idle either. He waved his hand grandly and said to Xiao Kuan, “Xiao Kuan, find a few people and come with me to the street to order a banner. Then gather all the workers and tell them to go to the street. No overtime tonight; we’re stopping work. If you work outside, your pay will be doubled.”
Xiao Ruiqi walked over worriedly at this moment and said, “Boss, let me go too. I also want to do something for Young Master Tang.”
Boss Pang thought for a moment and said, “Ruiqi, I’ll handle this kind of thing with the men. Young Master Tang has another mission for you. You know how to use a computer, right? Do this and this. Got it?”
Xiao Ruiqi hummed in agreement. She clenched her small pink fist. She nodded and said, “Don’t worry, Boss. I’ll go use the computer to post online right away.”
Boss Pang acknowledged with a hum. Then he led the migrant workers and started the operation.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Liu Yanran was driving frantically with Yang Mi to the Police Station. She had been at home preparing to sleep when she received Yang Mi’s call. Yang Mi told her in a tearful voice over the phone that Tang Chen had been arrested. At that moment, Liu Yanran panicked.
She never expected Tang Chen to get into trouble, and she did not dare delay. She picked up Yang Mi and drove straight to the Police Station.
“Yang Mi, don’t worry. Everything will be fine,” Liu Yanran comforted Yang Mi while pushing the car’s speed to the limit. She had already run more than a dozen red lights.
When they arrived outside the Police Station, Liu Yanran stopped the car, and she and Yang Mi walked toward the station. From a distance, they saw more than a dozen Special Forces soldiers standing guard at the door with real guns and ammunition. Anyone who didn’t know better would think an emergency had occurred.
“Halt! This area is under lockdown. No one is allowed inside,” one of the Special Forces soldiers shouted at Liu Yanran and Yang Mi, stopping them from entering.
Liu Yanran was furious. She directly pulled out her police officer ID and snapped coldly, “I am Deputy Captain Liu Yanran of the Criminal Police Brigade. What, are you not letting me in either?”
The Special Forces soldier did not even glance at the ID in her hand. He said rigidly, “I don’t care who you are. We are following orders from our superiors to guard this place. No entry means no entry.”
“How absurd! I want to know who your superior is. How dare you block even me, a captain in the Criminal Police Brigade, from entering!” Liu Yanran lost her temper. What kind of logic was this? She had never encountered such a situation before. She, a captain in the Criminal Police Brigade, couldn’t even enter the Police Station. If this got out, wouldn’t everyone laugh their heads off?
“Comrade Liu Yanran, I hope you calm down and watch your words,” Liu Jiangnan said as he walked out from inside. The Special Forces soldiers immediately saluted him when they saw him.
“Bureau Chief Liu!” Liu Yanran stood her ground without fear. She took a step forward and said seriously, “I need an explanation from you. Why am I, a deputy captain of the Criminal Police Brigade, now barred from entering the Police Station?”
Liu Jiangnan laughed coldly. “No explanation is needed, Comrade Liu Yanran. You really are disobedient. I clearly gave you all a break, yet you insisted on coming back here. And you brought the suspect’s relative with you. What are you trying to do? Cause a scene at the Police Station?”
“Tang Chen is not a suspect! You are framing him!” Yang Mi shouted loudly. She believed wholeheartedly that Tang Chen could not have done something like drug trafficking. So when she heard Liu Jiangnan say that, she naturally spoke up to refute him.
“Nonsense! Whatever you say is useless. The Police Station is under complete lockdown tonight. None of you are allowed in. If you want to enter, you can—unless you get authorization from higher-ups!” Liu Jiangnan’s attitude was extremely rigid, leaving no room for argument.
“You want authorization? Fine. I am definitely getting in today,” Liu Yanran was completely enraged. She directly took out her Mobile Phone. She did not bother stepping aside to make the call but directly dialed Chen Mingdi’s number.
After a series of busy tones, Chen Mingdi answered the phone. The first thing he said was, “Yang Mi, I know you’re calling about Tang Chen, right?”
Liu Yanran was only taken aback for a moment, then nodded and said, “Exactly, Uncle Chen. Can you tell me what’s really going on? Not only can I not enter the Police Station now, but Tang Chen was also arrested for no reason!”
Chen Mingdi sighed and said reluctantly, “Yanran, don’t get involved in this matter. You can’t handle it. This is a direct order from the Provincial Governor’s wife. No one can intervene. I’ve already been dismissed directly by the Provincial Governor. There’s no way I can get involved in this now.”
“An order from the Provincial Governor?” Liu Yanran was slightly stunned, then asked doubtfully, “Why would the Provincial Governor do this? Is it because of the Young Master Ha incident last time? Wasn’t that matter already resolved?”
Chen Mingdi gave a bitter laugh. “Yanran, you’re too naive. Do you think someone as petty as the Provincial Governor’s wife would let Tang Chen, you, or me off so easily? Not long after the matter ended, Young Master Ha was sent abroad. Then, just two days ago, the Provincial Governor’s Secretary came to me, saying I was incompetent and such, and directly removed me from my position, ordering me to suspend and reflect. Not only that, they also sent people to take over the Police Station affairs. I have no power to intervene at all. I expected they would move against Tang Chen, but I didn’t think it would be so soon. I didn’t even have time to warn you.”
Liu Yanran understood. It seemed the Provincial Governor’s wife still held a grudge over having to apologize to them last time. Plus, Tang Chen had hit her, which made her lose face. So she first sent Young Master Ha abroad, then used some method to make the usually kind Governor Ha listen to her. She had people deal with Chen Mingdi and arrested Tang Chen. The next target was probably her!
Liu Yanran weakly put down her Mobile Phone. Yang Mi quickly asked, “Officer Liu, how is it? Can we save Tang Chen?”
“Save him? How? It’s the Provincial Governor’s order. We can’t do anything,” Liu Yanran said angrily. Now she understood what it meant when a higher official could crush you. The Provincial Governor’s status was right there—how could you fight against that?
If he were still here, maybe she would have some chance. But thinking of that person, her heart once again grew restless.
Hearing Liu Yanran say this, Yang Mi felt somewhat despairing. Her heart ached with pain. Was there really no way?
Liu Jiangnan laughed coldly, extremely arrogantly. “Liu Yanran, oh Liu Yanran, did you really think you could turn the world upside down? At this point, I’m not afraid to tell you the truth. This time, I’m following the Provincial Governor’s order to directly arrest Tang Chen. Once we take him to the provincial capital, we can pin any crime on him, and he won’t be able to escape. But I advise you not to grieve over Tang Chen here, because you’re the one who will be in trouble next!”
Right at that moment, sudden deafening shouts came from the street in the distance. Liu Yanran and the others looked over and saw a large crowd walking down the street, holding big red banners that read: Crooked Bureau Chief, arrested our Boss, Heaven won’t tolerate it, return our Boss!
Not only that, with each step they took, they shouted in unison: “Return our Boss, return our Young Master Tang! Return our Boss, return our Young Master Tang!”
This group was naturally the migrant worker army led by Boss Pang. Such a protest group suddenly appearing in the middle of the night inevitably attracted all the passing citizens, who gathered and discussed among themselves.
“Outrageous! Someone, arrest these people!” Liu Jiangnan was furious when he heard Boss Pang and the others shouting. He waved his hand and sent people to capture them.
“Ouch, don’t touch me! Ah, my shoulder is broken! Soldiers are hitting people! Police are hitting people!” Boss Pang’s acting was Oscar-worthy. A Special Forces soldier had just approached him and hadn’t even touched him yet, but this guy immediately lay on the ground, wailing in apparent pain.
Several Special Forces soldiers were exasperated, nearly spitting blood in anger. Damn, so shameless! Couldn’t you at least wait until we touch you before falling down? You were almost twenty centimeters away and you’re shouting your shoulder is broken? So shameless!
“They’re hitting people! Soldiers are hitting people! There’s no law and order!”
“Damn it, they say if officials don’t serve the people, they might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes! This Bureau Chief arrested our Boss for no reason. So shameless!”
“Everyone, don’t be afraid! They’re afraid we’ll expose the truth, so they want to arrest us all. We can’t give in! We must appeal! We must save Young Master Tang!”
These migrant workers were all fired up. Each of them acted as if the Special Forces soldiers had truly done something to provoke public anger. Some of them were paid heavily by Boss Pang to act as extras. Others had previously been in the same Construction Team as Xiao Ruiqi and the rest. Their impression of Tang Chen was extremely good, so when they heard Tang Chen was in trouble, they quickly came to help on their own initiative.