Chapter 66: Imprisoned

  This is a conspiracy. Ouyang Qing's anger was burning, his eyes staring at the director, while the director had a disdainful expression, seemingly with a mocking tone towards Ouyang Qing's ignorance, thinking that someone like him shouldn't be in the official circle or climbing up the ranks. The content updates faster than a rocket, dare you not believe it?

  Seeing the director like this, Ouyang Qing couldn't bear it anymore, and his clenched fist suddenly struck the director's face.

  The director was originally sitting leisurely, and did not prevent Ouyang Qing from making a move to attack himself, so he didn't even have the chance to dodge.

  Ouyang Qing's fist stuck to his face for an instant, his facial skin was squeezed and distorted, sinking inward, then his big mouth was crookedly opened, his eyes were rounded, followed by his head tilting to the left, bringing his whole body down to the ground, finally letting out a "Ah".

  A strange cry of pain came from the director's office, and a group of people rushed in one after another. They didn't think that Ouyang Qing dared to hit the director, but thought that the director had accidentally fallen and they were coming to help him up. The opportunity to help the director was something everyone wanted to seize.

  As soon as he entered the office, everyone was stunned and blinded. Ouyang Qing stood beside the director who was lying on the ground, kicking him violently several times, and blood flowed out of the director's nostrils.

  For a moment, those who were looking for an opportunity to help the director rushed forward to stop him. In the chaos, someone also kicked the director a few times and then unhesitatingly put the blame on Ouyang Qing.

  After being pulled away, the director covered his face and was supported by someone. He glared at Ouyang Qing with anger, gritting his teeth and saying: "You scoundrel! You actually dared to lay hands on me, and it's so severe... Ah, it hurts to death! Wu Xian, take a look at how many teeth I've lost in my mouth?"

  A young man in a suit, neatly dressed and bright-eyed, looked at Director Zhang's big mouth and shook his head, saying: "My respected director, after my careful and meticulous examination, your precious teeth are still intact."

  "Damn thing!"

  The director slapped the young man, who was hit and spun around in a circle. His neatly combed hair suddenly became disheveled, he shed tears, covered his face and said: "Director, what did I say wrong? Don't use your noble jade palm to slap my humble face, isn't this humiliating yourself?"

  "How dare you say I have buck teeth?!" The director glared at him angrily.

  "Not buck teeth," the young man said with a sense of grievance, "but bao ya, meaning precious teeth."

  "It's like that, and it's also strange that your Mandarin is not standard." The director blinked his eyes, then turned to Ouyang Qing and said, "Good kid, you dare to hit me, do you know what the consequences will be?"

  Ouyang Qing sneered and said, "So what? I'm a public servant, do you have the qualifications to fire me? At most, they can give me a pair of small shoes, but even transferring my job requires a decision from the organization department."

  "You're absolutely right!" The director said, covering his face. "At least you won't have the chance to stay in the municipal government, do you know? My father-in-law is in the Organization Department."

  "Is that so?" Ouyang Qing said, "Whatever!" After saying this, Ouyang Qing rubbed his fist and walked out of the director's office with a cold smile.

  Out of the office, a person followed out behind him. This person was also oily and powdered, but his eyes were full of mystery, as if no one could see what he was thinking or what he would do.

  He rolled his eyes and called out to Ouyang Qing, who walked over to him with a timid expression, looked around cautiously before pulling Ouyang Qing into his own office.

  "Deputy Director Huang," entered his office, Ouyang Qing looked at him with a puzzled expression and said, "Why did you pull me into your office?"

  "Ah Qing," said the person Huang referred to as Deputy Director Ou Yang, "we're all colleagues, I really sympathize with your situation. To be honest, I've never liked Director Li, he's always been arrogant because his father-in-law is in the Organization Department. You beating him up today was like venting the pent-up anger of our colleagues who have been bullied by him for so long. Your actions today, to put it bluntly, were a great deed that brought joy to everyone."

  "It's not that exaggerated," Ouyang Qing smiled slightly and said, "I just feel like I've been deceived, and I'm angry about it. You're not just praising me because I beat up Director Li, are you?"

  The person known as Deputy Director Huang's eyes flickered again, and he lowered his voice to say: "You're right, I do have something else I want to discuss with you."

  "What's wrong?" asked Ouyang Qing.

  "Aren't you friends with a guy named Huo Jucui?" the deputy director said, "I saw you at Old Man Huo's birthday celebration last time. Can you introduce me to him? If you help me out this time, I'll help smooth things over for you and calm down the situation about your promotion to director."

  "Excuse me," Ouyang Qing asked with a puzzled expression, "You want me to introduce you to Jufei, can I know why?"

  The deputy director fell silent for a moment, gritted his teeth, and let out a sigh before saying: "I consider you one of my own, so I'll tell you this - Old Man Huo is a reputable businessman in Haisheng City with connections to the city leaders and even those at the provincial level. If we can get acquainted with him through you, our chances of promotion will be great. I think our common enemy is Director Li, which means that it's inevitable for us to join forces."

  Ouyang Qing shrugged and smiled, saying: "Sorry! I've always relied on myself. As long as we do our job sincerely and wholeheartedly for the people, leaders will notice and promotion is just a matter of time."

  "Naive!" The deputy director sneered, shaking his head. "What you said might be true elsewhere, but in Haizhen City, if you want to get promoted based on ability, the chances are slim. Take Director Li, for example - without his father-in-law's connections, could he have become a director? And then there's Director Zhang, including the police chief... they all have intricate relationships with each other, even with the municipal party committee... I won't say any more, but what I've told you today, don't breathe a word about it. Although everything I said is true, and even if people found out, I wouldn't be afraid. Think about it - would someone like us, who has such a strong sense of justice, be intimidated by power? It's just... you know, sometimes less is more."

  "I know," said Ouyang Qing, "but as for helping you introduce Ho Jufei, I think I can't do it. I don't need anyone to help me calm down anything. As for the position, I am indifferent wherever I am, as long as I am serving others."

  The deputy director's face suddenly turned gloomy after listening, furrowed his brow and thought for a moment, then raised his head and smiled awkwardly.

  "Suit yourself,"

  He indicated that Ouyang Qing could leave.

  Ouyang Qing stood up and opened the door to walk out. Behind him, the deputy director's pair of extremely sinister small eyes stared at his back, with a profound but vicious gaze.

  He didn't notice this gaze, Ouyang Qing walked out of the deputy director's office and returned to his own office to deal with some matters, and soon got off work.

  The next day, just as he got up and was preparing to go to work, two policemen knocked on his door. When he opened the door, the police told him that someone had accused him of intentionally injuring another person's body and asked him to come to the police station for assistance in the investigation.

  Ouyang Qing nodded in agreement to go with them to the police station, but he didn't expect Director Li to report him. After what happened yesterday, he didn't see any indication that Director Li would report him, even though Director Li was very angry. Maybe he was just planning to find an opportunity to deal with him? How could he have reported him?

  He didn't understand anything about the alarm at first, but later found out that it was because the deputy director had gone to the director and spoken badly of him after being rejected, saying many untrue things, such as he planned to ask Old Man Huo for help in dealing with Director Li; saying that hitting Director Li today was something he had been planning all along; also saying that one day he would snatch the position of director, and everyone who deceived him would die - in short, he said a lot.

  He was taken to the police station, but no one conducted any investigation or asked him to make a statement. He was sent directly to a detention center and placed in a relatively dark room. For an entire day, he wasn't given anything to eat at the detention center, nor did anyone come to ask about his situation.

  Squatting in the guardhouse, he watched the willow catkins flying outside the window and the white clouds drifting in the sky. For the first time, he felt the importance of freedom and the helplessness of life.

  Life is really ridiculous, it's clear that I was the one being deceived, but the one who suffered was him. Clearly, I made an effort to help a backward village become rich, but the credit went to someone else, and I ended up in prison.

  Two days later, Lan Jingqiu and Lan Yutong came to the detention center to visit him after hearing the news. The three of them talked a lot, and Ouyang Qing also carefully explained the situation to them. When leaving, Lan Jingqiu said she would help him and get him out of the detention center.

  Ouyang Qing was very grateful to Lan Jingqiu, but he didn't want Lan Jingqiu to go through any trouble for his sake. He wasn't in the wrong, and if he went to plead with someone because of this, it would only prove that he was in the wrong.

  Lan Jingqiu and Lan Yutong thought that Ouyang Qing was reasonable, but Lan Yutong was somewhat puzzled. Ouyang Qing looked slender in build, with a clear brow and bright eyes, giving off the appearance of a weak and bookish scholar. Yet, such a person actually had thoughts that were so firm and resolute.

  Despite this, Lan Jingqiu still went to find Li Director who was beaten. He brought some gifts and called Lu Xiaoying after work. The two were preparing to go see Li Director in the hope that he would withdraw his lawsuit against Ouyang Qing.

  In the evening, Director Li was waiting for them at a restaurant, as previously agreed.

  After a few people met, Director Li seemed to be very interested in Lu Xiaoying's beauty. He stared at Lu Xiaoying's beautiful face with his triangular eyes, making Lu Xiaoying's face slightly red and angry in her heart. If it weren't for Ouyang Qing, she would have slapped him a long time ago.

  "No wonder Ouyang Qing wanted to beat him up. If I were in his shoes, I'd want to too, and wouldn't stop until he's half dead." She thought to herself.

  "Director Li," Lan Jingqiu looked at Director Li, sneered and said, "I'm really sorry, my brother hit you, now he's being detained in the guardhouse. I think we're all colleagues - oh, I mean between you and him, can't you just let it go?"

  Director Li's eyes returned from Lu Xiaoying's bulging chest, looked at Lan Jingqiu, and smiled: "Don't take it to heart with him. When he was beating me up back then, he was overindulgent and pleased with himself. Now you're telling me not to take it to heart with him? That means I should just let it go after he beat me up, right? Can I really forgive him?"

  Director Li seemed to get angrier as he spoke, slapping his hand on the table and saying: "What's even more hateful is that they actually went to find Deputy Director Huang to discuss how to deal with me, and said they wanted to get rid of me. If Deputy Director Huang hadn't reported it to me in time, I might have died one day without knowing what was going on."

  "Director," Lan Jingqiu said, "maybe it's not as serious as you think, besides, do you really believe what Deputy Director Huang says?"

  "What does it matter?" Director Li said, not directly responding to Lan Jingqiu's words, indicating that in fact he didn't believe Deputy Director Huang at all, and the entire municipal government staff were mutually distrustful of each other, even though they all wore a smiling face.

  Lu Xiaoying remained silent, knowing that talking would have no effect. When dealing with this kind of person, money was the most practical solution.

  "Director," she said, taking an envelope out of her purse and placing it on the desk, slowly pushing it in front of the director while giving him a flirtatious glance.

  The director looked at Lu Xiao Ying and shivered, a smile appeared on his face, his eyes bulged out almost popping out.