Chapter 17.2

Jiang Yishan liked to throw things whenever he read something unpleasant on Weibo. Occasionally, while they were in private and discussed their plots against others, chopsticks had been broken. Wang Deshun didn’t like his pettiness and thought he was such a sissy. He motioned for the driver to start driving.

“Why are you angry? See, I was right in not giving you your phone. I don’t know how many you would’ve already broken these days.”

“I don’t get it. You stained me so black, how do you plan to wash it?” Jiang Yishan was furious. “How will I make a comeback? You left me no path for retreat.”

Wang Deshun confidently pestered him to make a comeback as if he really had the ability to wash him white.

But it was all talk. Still, he said: “Tsk, isn’t this all up to you? Ah, look at you. Just say you’ve been with Qin Shaocheng all these years, ba? He taught you all these. How old were you when you were with him? Only eighteen, what would you know? Your parents are divorced, and you came to a strange city to study alone. A rich young master looked at you and wanted to sleep with you because you looked beautiful. Isn’t this enough to wash you white? Just exaggerate when you talk about Qin Shaocheng.”

Jiang Yishan stared at the cellphone on the ground.

“Brother, don’t you trust me? What did my water army work for? Why don’t you just eat it up? Rest assured, I have written all your articles. After you finish tonight, I will immediately release the news.” Wang Deshun thought and added: “And remember, when you enter Qin Shaocheng’s room, you have to take off your clothes. We would reach the hotel at eight-twenty. Someone in the hotel will tell you when Qin Shaocheng will be carried upstairs drunk. At that time, you will open the curtains in the room and stand by the window, so our people outside can take pictures.”

“What if Qin Shaocheng isn’t drunk?”

Wang Deshun took out a small drug cartridge from his pocket. “I believe in my brother’s ability. You know that.”

“Wang Deshun. Don’t fucking harm me. Isn’t this a drug?”

“I swear it isn’t!” Wang Deshun was getting impatient. “How could I dare?”

“How would you know if the Zhang family wouldn’t be so bold?!”

“Brother, what are you thinking, ah?” Wang Deshun frowned when he saw the sweat on Jiang Yishan’s forehead. He must be scared.

Jiang Yishan was only turning twenty-four this year. No matter how much dirty things he had seen, he had never done it himself. This would be his first time doing this kind of despicable thing, so he was undoubtedly timid. He explained patiently: “The goal of what I just told you is quite simple. Smearing Qin Shaocheng’s reputation will make him lose votes on the right to run the family business.”

Jiang Yishan gradually relaxed. “Which hotel is it?

“What’s wrong?”

“Did you personally prepare the people? Are they reliable?”

“I definitely didn’t make the arrangements. Where can I have such connections in City B? Don’t worry, it was arranged by the Zhang family. We didn’t have a part in it, they weren’t assured to let us handle it.” Wang Deshun promised: “Just think about it: when we get the money, we can have a new future.”

Jiang Yishan reluctantly raised the corner of his mouth and clenched the drug cartridge in his hand.

“Is my brother so afraid?”

“You asked me to give Qin Shaocheng a drug. How could I not be afraid?”

“Have you forgotten how you framed people before by taking pictures of them?” Wang Deshun sneered. “This is so not like you.”

“All the pictures I took were real. They were the ones who did the wrong things. However, giving this drug…” Jiang Yishan’s face was expressionless as he shook the small drug in his hand. “… is a crime.”

Wang Deshun was impatient: “How can you talk so much when things have already come to a head?”

“You fucking shut me up for so many days, can I not talk much?!” Jiang Yishan raised his voice. “You lock me up and then tell me to give Qin Shaocheng a drug and plant him as my gold master. You want me to say that he was the one behind everything and then you’re gonna write an article about him taking drugs. You talk as if it’s so easy! You’ve already released so many fake news on the internet, you think I don’t know what you’re planning to do? You never thought of leaving a way out for me.”

“Then what does my brother want?” Wang Deshun no longer pretended to be kind. “Don’t think that if you back out now, the Zhang family will let you go.”

Jiang Yishan was short of breath. “I can do it.”

Wang Deshun looked at him.

“Just add more money.”

Wang Deshun secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Just now, he was afraid that Jiang Yishan might do something intolerable. When he heard him say he wanted more money, it was only reasonable. In the past, when they took pictures and started discussing the initial price, Jiang Yishan’s eyes opened wide at the sight of profit. Wang Deshun said, “Brother, who do you think you’re talking to? Me? You think it’s too easy. You have to ask the Zhang family for money. You want money?” Wang Deshun sneered. “You have to consider your value!”

Jiang Yishan seemed to calm down a bit. Without looking at Wang Deshun, he said, “I’m not worth anything.”

“What can you be worth for? Without the Zhang family, where would you be now? What would you be doing?” Wang Deshun said, “Right now, just take advantage of your current situation.”

Jiang Yishan didn’t speak.

Wang Deshun saw that they had arrived at the hotel and said, “If I were you, I would earn enough money to live out my life in retirement.”

Jiang Yishan stared at the hotel. “We’ve arrived? This is the Lisheng hotel?”

“Yes, this is it. This is the place where the young man who invited Qin Shaocheng to dinner would come to spend.” Wang Deshun looked at the time on his phone. “It’s eight-eleven now. Just wait a few more minutes.”

To the driver, Wang Deshun said: “Drive under the roadside sign.”

Jiang Yishan stared at the entrance of the hotel.

Wang Deshun thought that Jiang Yishan was still too young and capricious. He advised: “Alright brother, don’t worry. When all these are over, can’t you just take some money from my share?”

Jiang Yishan looked at him with a gaze that was neither hostile nor friendly. “After the water army washes me white, I’ll pay you back.”

Wang Deshun smiled, patted Jiang Yishan on the shoulder and talked about his imagination about the future.

At eight-twenty, someone came knocking on the door. Jiang Yishan got out of the car first.

Wang Deshun also got off the car. He accidentally stepped on Jiang Yishan’s phone on the floor of the car, so he bent down to pick it up and then dusted it off. He was just about to put it away when he noticed that the phone was in the middle of a call.

Jiang Yishan tapped on the screen in front of him. It then displayed an area code followed by a series of numbers starting with 110. Wang Deshun recognized this as the local police’s phone number.

Wang Deshun instantly broke out in cold sweat.

His hand holding the mobile phone couldn’t stop shaking. When he looked up at Jiang Yishan, he saw Jiang Yishan swallowing the pill along with its cartridge right in front of him. He said to him with a smile, “Asshole.”

My translations are not perfect, but I always give it my best effort. I put in a lot of time to research unknown terms and double-check my tl’s. If you appreciate what I do, I hope you consider supporting me (◕ㅅ◕✿)

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