Tit For Tat (Beloved Enemy) - Chap 100
GuQingPei couldn’t stand seeing YuanYang’s berating expression. Feeling defeated, he fled. YuanYang stared at him with bloodshot eyes but didn’t stop him.
The false façade that the two men had tried to preserve for the past two months has undoubtedly collapsed. GuQingPei finally understood. He had not come out of it. YuanYang also had not come out of it.
It was just that YuanYang had changed. He now has a career, has a girlfriend, and has a lot of things that he didn’t have before. Everything with YuanYang now had implied that he had moved forward toward starting a new life. But for himself (GuQingPei), nothing had really changed. Compared to YuanYang, he is much more passive.
Does YuanYang still like him?
GuQingPei thought of all the pictures on the ground that were taken without his knowledge, the scalp on his head started to feel numb.
YuanYang’s attitude did not seem too far-fetched from liking him, but it also seem like he is determined to seek revenge. GuQingPei did not expect YuanYang to have passed the two years with such hatred for him.
He had imagined the many different possible scenarios on how the two of them would meet again, but not one happened as he had imagined.
YuanYang has put on the stance of a hunter on top of his head, constantly watching him and giving him invisible pressure. He has no idea what YuanYang wants. He also does not know when YuanYang will give up.
The current YuanYang, compared to the brat who was defiant and impulsive two years ago, is actually much more difficult to deal with.
When GuQingPei returned home, he felt a sense of security when he closed the door.
He hadn’t even been fully sobered from the night’s drinking and got enraged by YuanYang. Now his head is throbbing. It wasn’t until after he had taken a cold shower that his mind could finally calm down.
Throwing himself on the bed, GuQingPei didn’t want to move at all.
There are so many things on his mind. The issues with the company and with YuanYang. There are no easy resolutions for either, making him inevitably depressed.
He picked up his phone to call his assistant to check on the reaction from WeiShui in regards to his bout of feign “sickness.” He wanted to know how much of a difference their response is in comparing to what he had anticipated.
After a few minutes of talking, it seems that the other party believed it for the time being. The date for the contract signing had been postponed for a week.
Having a week’s time, many things can be resolved.
Just when he hung up the phone, a strange number called.
After GuQingPei picked up the call, a voice from the other end came, sounding neither man nor women. It sounded awful, as if someone was talking with their nose pinched, “Hey, is this GuQingPei?”
GuQingPei immediately became alert. All his friends are civilized matured people; no one will lower their status to play this kind of silly joke.
“Who are you?”
“You don’t need to care who I am. I have a business deal to negotiate with you; you most certainly will be interested.”
“Hmm, I have no interest in negotiating any business deals with crooks like you.”
“Oh, this business deal you must agree to.”
“Say it then. Stop with the bullshit.” GuQingPei could already sense that the other party’s intent was not going to be good.
“Actually, it’s really nothing. I have a few very nice pictures of you in my hand. Each picture 500,000 yuan, there is a total of four, I’ll sell it to you for 2 million yuan.”
GuQingPei’s heart tightened; the color on his face instantly disappeared. Remaining calm and collected, he responded, “The photos in your hands are not the only ones. My employees from back then also have it. Why would I bother to waste money and pay for it? What sense does that make?”
The other person seemed to have anticipated that GuQingPei would ask these questions so he immediately retorted with, “That’s right, the people that would have these pictures are indeed numerous, but how many would dare to put it on the internet and use it to threaten you? We all know this is a crime. They wouldn’t dare to do such things. But I would. If I don’t get the money, I will make a hundred copies of these pictures and disperse it around your company. At that time, there will be even more people knowing about this.”
The more this person spoke, GuQingPei noticed that he has some southern accent and is not very well-educated. But, what he said made sense.
His photos were not widely disseminated at the time. One reason was because his rapport with his coworkers were harmonious. But there was also another reason, and that is, it’s likely that YuanLiJiang or YuanYang got the situation under control. At the time, the people who knew about the photos were many, but none would dare take the risk to disperse it. After all, no one had any hatred towards him. Once this is exposed, it would not do anyone any good.
So the spreading of those photos were probably between a few hundreds to at most a thousand. After all, he was not a celebrity. In the end, it all just disappeared without a trace.
However, the people who have kept them are definitely not less.
Just as this person said, who would dare to use it to the threaten him? Most certainly, no one. After all, this is considered blackmail and is a crime.
There are not many of these kinds of daring people, but they are exactly the kind of people he is most worried and fearful of running into.
GuQingPei adjusted his emotions, trying not to reveal the slightest panic, “What you said make sense. But if I give you the money today, you will use these photos to blackmail me again when you run out of money. This is a bottomless pit. How can I get the assurance that you’d never come back for me?”
“Heh heh…when did I guarantee that I won’t come back to look for you again? Director Gu, you are so rich. It is certainly not too much for you to help the poor and needy.”
GuQingPei squinted his eyes. This guy has insatiably greed. If he really gave the money, it would never end. He thought for a moment, then suddenly asked, “Did we have any grudges before?”
The crook was stunned. He didn’t even think and carelessly responded, “No.”
Sure enough, it is a person that he knew. Who could it be?
The people that GuQingPei knew, that aren’t very cultured and educated aren’t many. His friends do not need to be very rich, but at the very least, they won’t have any difficulty in social interactions.
However, the people he come into contact with on a daily basis are numerous. He pondered over this but still couldn’t think of it.
“Your brother(T/N) I, is short of money. I need some spending money from you. If you think it’s too much, then give me 1 million yuan? When I run out, I’ll find you again. Director Gu, don’t be so stingy. The more you give; the more money you earn. Why are you not willing to? Otherwise, once your pictures get disseminated around your company, money won’t even be able to resolve it.”
T/N – in this case, this is used as a slang for him and his crook accomplices
GuQingPei was quiet for a moment and then said, “You’re right. But right now I can’t take out that much cash.”
The man laughed coarsely, “Who are you trying to deceive? A big boss like you can’t even take out 1 million yuan?”
“I really can’t get it. I’m going everywhere trying to get a loan right now. You need to give me at least a few days to get it ready.”
“How many days do you want?”
“One week.”
“Bullshit!” The man shouted loudly, “At most you get is two days. I’m telling you. Don’t play any tricks with me. There is such a saying, each profession has its specialty. Director Gu, your ability is to make big money. Your brother, I, my ability is to have no fear in these kinds of situations. Don’t even think about reporting this to the police. Let me tell you. For one, it’s no use. For two, it will only bring you more troubles. Think about it carefully. Using money to evade this crisis is definitely a good deal.”
GuQingPei responded feebly, “Fine, you say two days; then two days it is. How do I give you the money?”
“Get the money ready first. When the time comes, I will contact you again.”
Hanging up the phone, GuQingPei sighed heavily. He couldn’t even get angry.
Life is nothing more than a process of constant struggles and resolving these struggles. He will not let this small crisis defeat him. He must think of a way…
GuQingPei pondered for a long time and gave his lawyer friend a call. Because there are many lawsuits related to his business all year round, he had gotten to know many people in the law profession. These people have many alternate methods to handle things and have the guts. They can certainly give him some good advice.
His lawyer friend was furious after hearing this incident. He said he will have someone immediately find this person. Once this person is captured, everything will be easily taken care of.
GuQingPei is still not at ease. He warned that when capturing the crook, restrain from using violence. He wanted to talk to that person.
Right now he is at a disadvantage. All these negotiations are detrimental to him. But if he can control this crook, using both gentle and forced methods, throwing some money, it can ensure that the crook will not seek revenge and would never dare to come back to bother him again.
The instant he ended the call, YuanYang’s call immediately came. GuQingPei disconnected the call immediately and blacklisted his number. Right after he did that, his home phone started to ring.
The rage that GuQingPei had been suppressing had not yet dissolve. He quickly rushed to pick up the home phone and coldly asked, “What else do you want?”
YuanYang’s voice was gloomy and blunt, “Don’t do anything, let me handle it.”
GuQingPei was shocked for a second, then yelled, “You tapped my phone!”
“Yes, if you have the ability, sue me.” There was no sense of guilt in YuanYang’s tone. After saying that, he hung up.
“You fucker…” GuQingPei didn’t know what else he could do. Beating and scolding never worked in dealing with YuanYang.
He didn’t want YuanYang to be involved in this matter at all. The root cause behind this incident is directly related to that offense YuanYang did to him back then. From the beginning, the existence of those pictures was already a constant reminder of everything from their past. At this moment, if he is forced to face the real culprit of the incident, then this is the biggest irony right before his eyes…such big irony.
This is definitely not a good feeling, so he didn’t want YuanYang’s interference.
Before the two days was even up, the person who had blackmailed him was found. The speed was much faster than GuQingPei thought.
There are not many highly intelligent people committing crimes in the world. Most of them are desperate because they needed money. They are just very lucky. When they commit their crimes, they would usually make some fatal mistakes. GuQingPei can hear on the phone that this crook is not educated. So naturally, he (crook) won’t have the ability to anticipate or prevent himself from being traced. As such, they were able to find this crook from tracking the phone call quite easily.
The person that his lawyer friend got to help him has connections to the mafia and is a person that is well-connected and well-informed. Very quickly, they discovered that this crook was originally a security guard for the company. He was later detained for 15 days for causing trouble and then subsequently dismissed. But he certainly had connections to someone inside the company since the photos are in his hands. Later, he had just been aimlessly muddling along. Most recently, he had lost money so he thought of using GuQingPei’s photos to his advantage.
GuQingPei tried to recall again. It seems that there was indeed such an employee from the past. But he had too many things going on and couldn’t remember clearly.
After driving for more than half an hour, GuQingPei came to an old-fashioned dormitory area where the security guard was detained, waiting for him.
GuQingPei put on his sunglasses and lowered his cap. He quickly found the building using the address provided. He pressed the doorbell on the first floor but nobody responded.
Didn’t they say they were waiting for me?
GuQingPei doubted for a few seconds and suddenly noticed that the door was somewhat hidden and not locked.
GuQingPei hesitated for a few seconds, but nevertheless he pushed the door to go in. What he didn’t expect was that there were people in the house. Not only that, but there were five to six of them, in two groups directly facing each other. No one spoke a word.
GuQingPei immediately spotted YuanYang sitting on the sofa with two big men around him.
The other side should be the little gang leader from the underworld. Then the guy with his arms tied behind his back with a rope looping around his neck, his mouth stuffed with cloth should be that security guard.
GuQingPei swept a glance at that person. He really did look a bit familiar. After the initially shock, he restored to calmness and looked at YuanYang and the other people, “What’s going on here?”
The little gang leader pointed at YuanYang, “Director Gu, he said that he is your friend and for me turn the person over for him to handle. Do you know him?”
More than merely knowing him, GuQingPei bitterly laughed.
He nodded his head, “I know him.”
The little gang leader shrugged, “Alright! This guy (YuanYang) does not look like he can be provoked. We’ve helped you captured the guy. I’m going to turn him over to you now. However you want to handle this is up to you. If there is nothing else, I’m going to leave.”
GuQingPei smiled and took out an envelope from his pocket and stuffed it into the little gang leader’s palm, “Appreciation for all the hard work.”
The man grinned, “Need not be so courteous.” After saying that, he took the envelope and left.
GuQingPei and YuanYang looked directly at each other. GuQingPei then opened his mouth to say, “I’ll deal with this matter myself. You leave.”
YuanYang glared, “With this, I will always take full responsibility.”
“You don’t need to.” GuQingPei ignored him and walked in front of the security guard to pull out the cloth stuffed in his mouth, “Can we talk about this now?”
The green veins on the security guard’s forehead protruded. He looked like he had no intention to easily admit defeat, “I dared to do this, I’m not afraid of what you do.”
GuQingPei raised his eyebrows, “I’m a civilized person. We can talk about the conditions. But don’t be too greedy. China is so big, a hole can be dug anywhere to hide people, you…”
He hadn’t even finished talking, but YuanYang could no longer stand it. YuanYang lifted the guy’s arm to pull him up.
GuQingPei only saw a silver glimmering flash from YuanYang’s hands, then followed by blood-curdling screams from the person now on the ground. After that, all the screams were muffled by YuanYang.
End of the Chapter
