Chapter 56

(Second update!~~~~~~~~~~)

Du Peng? Du Zhongyuan?

Hearing these two names, Zhou Ming suddenly realized who this young man was. He was a major internet tycoon twenty years in the future, heavily involved in the development and operation of online and mobile games. However, due to family reasons, he couldn't be as prominent as the internet companies in Nanjiang and Binhai, and had to hide his assets. Even so, his publicly known wealth easily surpassed ten billion.

Zhou Ming had once paid attention to him in his previous life when he was bored, and had looked up his relevant information, so he had an impression of him and a certain understanding of his affairs. As for Du Zhongyuan, he was Du Peng's grandfather, a distinguished founding general.

Compared to over twenty years later, Du Peng was much younger now, but not too different, so Zhou Ming felt a sense of familiarity at first glance. He just couldn't think of who it was until Du Peng called out his name, which made Zhou Ming suddenly remember.

Then Zhou Ming glanced at the woman beside him, a woman he didn't recognize at all. She was standing there in a daze, wanting to help but not knowing how, clearly not the shrewd and capable wife he would have in the future, who was also the granddaughter of a founding hero.

He never expected that Du Peng, who would speak confidently about future development to hundreds of billionaires at a domestic entrepreneurs' summit over twenty years later, would now be pressed against the counter glass by a thug from the mall, unable to fight back, and even resort to mentioning his family background, which could only make Zhou Ming sigh at the unpredictability of life.

"Brother Ming, do you know him?" Tang Ran asked Zhou Ming curiously.

Zhou Ming nodded and said, "If I'm not mistaken, everything he said is true."

Tang Ran blinked and looked at Zhou Ming, not quite understanding what he meant. Zhou Ming explained, "I mean, I think we should help him."

"Help him? Why? We don't know him, and this has nothing to do with us! Besides, that bald guy is really scary," Tang Ran said worriedly.

"Ranran, you might not know, but just before I returned to Nanjiang, I met a world-class billionaire in Gangcheng. His approach to investing in relationships greatly moved me, so I think I need to do some relationship investing too," Zhou Ming said.

Zhou Ming wasn't lying to Tang Ran. After seeing Li Cheng's philosophy, he was indeed greatly moved. Not only that, Zhou Ming was also very clear that to truly achieve something in the country, having a friend from a red family could make many things much easier. Now, he had just caught such a person, and it was a red family member who was currently in trouble. After all, helping someone in need always leaves a deeper impression than adding to someone's success. With such an opportunity right in front of him, Zhou Ming felt he had to do something to make the most of his rebirth.

Zhou Ming recognized Du Peng, but the bald man didn't. When he heard Du Peng mention his grandfather, the bald man laughed, "What? You're saying your grandfather is a general? My grandfather was the president of the country!"

"Damn! I'm serious, let me go now, or I'll tear down your lousy store!" Du Peng shouted.

"You're still so arrogant in this state? You want to tear down my lousy store? Do you believe I'll tear you apart first?"

The bald man lifted Du Peng's hand, which was twisted behind his back, causing Du Peng to cry out in pain, "Damn! Come on, if you have the guts, tear me apart now. If you can't cripple me today, I'll definitely cripple you in the future!"

The bald man didn't have the patience to argue with Du Peng. He looked at the woman and said, "Hey? The little girl hasn't left yet? Are you planning to stay and have some fun with us, or are you going to help your man pay ten thousand yuan to settle this?"

The woman, who had never experienced such a situation, screamed and ran away.

The bald man was taken aback for a moment, then teased Du Peng, "Looks like your woman isn't very loyal, huh?" Then he said seriously, "Alright, I don't have time to waste here. Just give me a straight answer: are you going to pay, or are you going to let us strip you and throw you out on the street?"

Du Peng shouted, "Bastard, if you dare to touch me, I'll make sure you don't live to see another day!"

"Alright, you've got guts, I like people with guts."

As the bald man was about to act, Zhou Ming stepped forward, "Brother Dao, is it? Do you really need to go this far?"

The bald man was surprised that someone would dare to intervene, and turned to look at Zhou Ming, "Who are you?"

"This is my friend. He's someone with a bit of status. Can you let him go?" Zhou Ming said.

"Of course, we follow the rules here. Money first, then we let him go," the bald man said.

Zhou Ming took out ten thousand yuan and gave it to the bald man, "Here's ten thousand yuan. Let him go now."

"Hey, you got it wrong. It's twelve thousand yuan!" the bald man emphasized.

Zhou Ming smiled calmly, "Brother Dao, ten thousand yuan is not a small amount. It's better to leave some room for maneuver. After all, your store is still here, right?"

The bald man was taken aback, looked at Zhou Ming, and said, "Alright, since you asked, I'll give you this face."

The bald man let go, and Zhou Ming said thanks, then led Du Peng out. After regaining his freedom, Du Peng rubbed his hand and was about to fight the bald man, but Zhou Ming stopped him. Zhou Ming took the clothes and walked out of the store with Du Peng.

"Hey! What did you bring me out for? I still need to deal with that bald guy!" Du Peng said to Zhou Ming.

Before Zhou Ming could speak, Tang Ran couldn't help but say, "Hey, why are you so ungrateful? You clearly can't beat him. My Brother Ming spent ten thousand yuan to save you! You didn't even say thank you, and you're still complaining about my Brother Ming. What kind of person are you?"

Tang Ran's words made Du Peng blush, but he had never experienced such a situation in his life and wasn't used to saying thanks, so he scratched his head awkwardly and said to Zhou Ming, "That... thank you for earlier. Give me half an hour, and I'll show you a good show and get your ten thousand yuan back!"

Du Peng then went to make a call. Seeing his attitude, Tang Ran, who was already dissatisfied with him, pouted and said, "What kind of attitude is this! Brother Ming, you really shouldn't have helped him. It was a waste of ten thousand yuan."

Zhou Ming, however, smiled and said to Tang Ran, "Not necessarily. He might really show us a good show."

Tang Ran looked at Zhou Ming with wide eyes, suddenly remembering something, and asked, "Brother Ming, do you really think he's the grandson of a general?"

"I think so. After all, your Brother Ming dreams of being a big capitalist, not a hero from Liangshan," Zhou Ming joked. "But let's see how this Du Peng performs. The bigger and more exciting the show, the more meaningful it will be for me."

As they spoke, Du Peng finished his call and said to Zhou Ming, "I'll tell you, I'm going to make that bald guy pay tenfold, a hundredfold for what he did to me!"

Zhou Ming looked at him without speaking and waited with Tang Ran. Less than five minutes later, they heard the sound of rapid footsteps in the corridor. Zhou Ming looked over and saw dozens of police officers running toward them. Tang Ran, who had never seen such a scene, hid behind Zhou Ming. Du Peng said to Zhou Ming and Tang Ran, "Don't be afraid, I called them."

"Did you call the police?" Tang Ran asked.

"My call is more effective than the police!" Du Peng said proudly.

Tang Ran pouted, showing her dissatisfaction with Du Peng's arrogance, while Zhou Ming patted her hand and whispered in her ear, "We're just spectators now. Let's just watch the show."

The dozens of police officers, led by an officer, stopped in front of Du Peng. Du Peng stood up and said, "I'm Du Peng. Are you Uncle Zhao's men?"

The officer stepped forward and saluted Du Peng, "Hello, I'm Deputy Director Liu of the Dongmen District Public Security Bureau. I was dispatched by the City Bureau Chief Zhao to investigate a serious extortion case."

Hearing this, Zhou Ming raised an eyebrow. He had to admit that Director Liu's words were very skillful. Although they were called by Du Peng's connections, his words didn't imply any special treatment for a red family member. They were just following orders to investigate a serious case.

Du Peng, lacking Zhou Ming's decades of experience, but having grown up in a prominent family, nodded and pointed to the Pierre Cardin store, "That's the store. He extorted ten thousand yuan from me and used violence. It's completely lawless!"

Du Peng then led Director Liu and the officers to the Pierre Cardin store. The bald man was still there. Seeing Du Peng return, he said mockingly, "Why are you back? Do you think ten thousand yuan isn't enough, and you want to give us another ten thousand?"

Before he could finish, Director Liu and the officers entered. The bald man was taken aback and shouted, "Little brat, you actually called the police?"

Then, with a forced smile, he said to Director Liu, "Director Liu, what brings you here? We were just..."

"Light Head Dao, you are suspected of illegal business operations and extortion. Come with us," Director Liu said, taking out handcuffs and cuffing the bald man.

The bald man had intended to ingratiate himself with Director Liu, as he had connections to run a luxury store here, and Director Liu wasn't unfamiliar with him. However, seeing how firmly Director Liu cuffed him, he was stunned and asked, "Director Liu, what's going on? How am I involved in illegal business and extortion?"

"You are operating illegally and extorted ten thousand yuan from my friend!"

Du Peng stepped forward, looked at the cuffed bald man, and patted his face, "How does it feel, Light Head? I told you, if you have the guts to cripple me, I'll definitely cripple you!"