Chapter 60#

Chapter 60: Spring Festival and Confrontation (2)

This leisurely New Year lasted until the seventh day of the first lunar month. Early on the morning of the eighth day, Wei Xiangjin got on the car back to the army ahead of schedule.

As soon as Wei Xiangjin left, Gu Chenzhou, who had been playing games and watching dramas with him, put away his leisurely lifestyle. He dug out the information about He Hailou that he had collected during their confrontations in the past few months, read it repeatedly, combined it with various messages, and broke it down bit by bit for analysis and research.

Wang Cong, team leader of the third police team.

Zhao Liang, detention center guard.

Tian Junguo, administrator of the police station archives.

Zhao Linlin, clerk of the physical evidence section.

Fang Chang, Lin Yue, Li Michun…

Name after name, position after position corresponding to the name—these people at the bottom might not even know He Hailou, but obviously, their superiors, or the superiors of their superiors, were the tentacles of He Hailou’s power.

Gu Chenzhou printed out these collected and sorted materials, pulled a pen from the desk, and began to circle and write links on the paper. Not long after, a rough relationship deduction map came out.

It should be six or seven out of ten… Gu Chenzhou looked at the things he had sorted out and pondered, when he suddenly heard a gentle knock on the door.

He looked up and saw the person coming, stood up and said, “Dad, why did you come up?”

Gu Xinjun walked into the room with a cup of tea: “Nothing, just checking what you are doing.”

“Sorting out some things.” Gu Chenzhou said, “About He Hailou.”

Gu Xinjun nodded lightly, not showing much interest in this. Of course, he couldn’t be unaware that his son and He Hailou had been making trouble for several months over a case, but his attitude towards this matter was the same as He Nanshan’s: let the children handle the children’s affairs themselves. As for them, there were plenty of political wrestling matches.

“Dad, please sit.” Gu Chenzhou picked up the coat on the small sofa in the room and hung it on the hanger, and turned the chair in front of the computer around—Gu Xinjun generally wouldn’t come up to chat with him for no reason. If it was just idle talk, or even some not particularly important things, Gu Xinjun would save it until they watched the news every night.

“I heard from your grandfather that you are not very optimistic about that person from the Wang faction?” Gu Xinjun was indeed not here for idle talk. His first sentence after sitting down went straight to the point, without even the idea of a casual opening.

But as soon as this sentence came out, Gu Chenzhou breathed a sigh of relief.

The result of showing a clear attitude in front of his grandfather several times finally appeared at this moment: with his current status and age, of course, it was impossible for him to have the final say on such a major matter of taking sides, but his successive obvious inclinations were enough to make his family take it seriously.

“Dad, I always feel that the Yu faction is more likely.” Gu Chenzhou said softly.

“Why?” Gu Xinjun leaned back in his chair, holding a glass teacup filled with strong tea. He unscrewed the lid and took a sip, looking like he planned to have a long talk.

This question was not easy to answer. Gu Chenzhou first recalled the recent events, then thought about the dream he was all too familiar with, and then chose the same opening as he had said to his grandfather before: “That person from the Yu faction has been operating long enough, and has both prestige and power.”

“But not absolutely.” Gu Xinjun interjected lightly. If he absolutely had it, what would be the point of Wang Boyuan now?

“But undeniably, the big tree has taken root.” Gu Chenzhou said.

Gu Xinjun waved his hand: “Your grandfather has already told me this—just based on this, you think the Yu faction is stronger than the Wang faction?”

“Dad, I’ve been thinking, why does He Nanshan insist on pushing us towards the Wang faction?” Gu Chenzhou continued.

This was of course not a simple question. Gu Xinjun grunted and nodded, signaling Gu Chenzhou to continue.

“He Nanshan wants to be a member of the Standing Committee, wants to be the Premier. His own strength is sufficient, and his status in the Yu faction is not low. The fear is that the current administration will intervene and suppress him in order to weaken the strength of that person from the Yu faction. So He Nanshan wants to take this opportunity to eliminate us, who are most likely and most capable of impacting the Standing Committee,” Gu Chenzhou paused, “Pushing us towards the Wang faction, pushing us under the big wheel of the change of term, is a good move, and also a risky move. Why is he so sure that the Gu family and the Wei family joining the Wang faction will not affect the result of the change of term? And that person from the Yu faction, it’s impossible for him not to see through this game, but why does he allow He Nanshan’s actions? —Is it because he is already confident, or does he think that our joining the Wang faction will not bring any changes?”

Gu Xinjun had long thought about and even verified what Gu Chenzhou said through some political maneuvers.

—How old is Gu Chenzhou, and how old is Gu Xinjun? How could Gu Xinjun, who had been floating in the officialdom for forty years, not think of what Gu Chenzhou could think of?

“Being able to think is a good thing. So what do you think?” Gu Xinjun asked, “Is he confident, or does he think that what He Nanshan did will not have any impact on the final outcome—or even have some benefits for him?”

“He is already confident and believes that our joining the Wang faction will not bring any changes to the final result. Then our joining is just a shift of power on the surface, reassuring the current administration and that person from the Wang faction, allowing them to focus on continuing to develop their power, while ignoring…” Gu Chenzhou suddenly stopped, realizing that he might have discovered a very key point.

“While ignoring a big move by that person from the Yu faction?” Gu Xinjun continued Gu Chenzhou’s words. Although he was usually very serious, this time, he had indeed kept a straight face since he came in, looking like he was in a bad mood—this was very similar to Gu Xinjun’s demeanor when the Gu and Wei families were forced to take sides on the Shi Shan matter.

Gu Chenzhou was also thinking about Gu Xinjun’s words.

A certain big move was obviously a killer move that could settle the universe in one fell swoop. This was not because of power, so… was it a fatal weakness of Wang Boyuan?

If that’s really the case…

Gu Chenzhou was silent for a long time: “Dad, besides developing power, does Secretary Wang have any special moves?”

Gu Xinjun shook his head with the cup in his hand.

“None at all?” Gu Chenzhou was a little unwilling to give up.

“Secretary Wang is a very confident person.” Gu Xinjun said, “Chenzhou, I have already done what you can think of; would Secretary Wang not notice what I can do?” He bent his fingers and knocked twice on the armrest of the sofa with his knuckles as a reminder, “If you want to walk this path, never be complacent, and never treat others as fools, that will only make you a fool yourself.”

Gu Chenzhou nodded to show that he understood. After a pause, he still asked: “Dad, the Yu faction and the Wang faction…”

“That person from the Yu faction has always been very low-key. How much power do you think he will show?” Gu Xinjun asked back, “As for whether he has it in his hand…” He said slowly, “Neither the Chairman nor Secretary Wang found out, what can your father, a small Organization Minister, find out?”

Gu Chenzhou said: “Then—”

“I know what you want to say,” Gu Xinjun said, “We are already on this boat. If this boat breaks, we are destined to sink.”

“We can choose how to sink.” Gu Chenzhou said.

“That’s something for after the voyage begins,” Gu Xinjun stood up, signaling that today’s conversation was over, “Let’s not talk about this. When will that case be heard in court?”

“Ten more days.” Gu Chenzhou paused briefly and cooperated with the other party to change the subject.

Gu Xinjun nodded and left Gu Chenzhou’s room with his teacup.

Sitting alone in the room, Gu Chenzhou leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes for a while, and when he opened them again, he was completely calm.

Take it step by step.

There is still some time before the change of term. The key now is He Nanshan and He Hailou.

Ten more days.

Ten days later, it was the court hearing.

This case, which lasted for more than two months until the New Year, was finally held in a closed court hearing at the Beijing Intermediate People’s Court.

Of course, Gu Chenzhou and He Hailou were not among those excluded, but although the series of twists and turns in this case were the result of their mutual game, the two still did not show too much concern. He Hailou appeared in the second half of the trial, and Gu Chenzhou simply waited until the end to show his face.

“…The court’s verdict is as follows: the defendant Zhang Yonglin is guilty of trespassing, negligent homicide, and several other crimes, and is sentenced to six years and six months in prison.”

The judge’s voice came from the open door.

Gu Chenzhou didn’t go in, firstly because the verdict was over, and secondly because He Hailou was leaning against the wall in front of him smoking.

In the faint smoke, He Hailou’s features were as handsome as in a painting. He smiled slightly at Gu Chenzhou, took the initiative to put out the cigarette butt and walked towards the other party: “Young Master Gu is here, I’ve been waiting for you here.”

Gu Chenzhou also smiled: “Young Master He is waiting for me, is there something wrong?”

He Hailou looked at the other’s face and felt that the other party had mastered his smiling face very well: he could show a friendly smile, a distant smile, or an indifferent and careless smile—the most amazing thing was that in these different smiles, the height of the corners of Gu Chenzhou’s lips was always about the same.

He had an urge to reach out and touch it, and almost realized it—in the second before realization, Gu Chenzhou’s gaze cut across his palm like a knife.

He Hailou’s palm paused unconsciously in mid-air. The next moment, regret almost surfaced on his face: I should have known to move faster… Damn it, why is Gu Chenzhou’s reaction so fast? Given their current distance, as long as he raised his hand, he would have touched the other’s face—

Sometimes, Gu Chenzhou really felt that every time he met He Hailou, the expression on his face was either stiff or cracked. He took a deep breath secretly and silently reminded himself that this was a public place, a public place. The other party didn’t want face, but he still wanted face… After repeating this several times, he finally flattened the corners of his mouth that were pulled down and said sarcastically: “Young Master He, isn’t your hand tired holding it like this?”

He Hailou withdrew his hand nonchalantly: “It seems a spider is about to fall, I’ll block it for Young Master Gu.”

“…” Gu Chenzhou.

At this time, the sound of the door opening came from beside them, and the escort walked out with the suspect.

Gu Chenzhou and He Hailou both moved their gazes over. The suspect being escorted was wearing a gray top, his hands were locked in shackles, and his neck and head were pressed down by the escort, walking forward with his head down all the way—

“Young Master Gu,” He Hailou watched the group of people gradually approaching and then gradually walking away, and whispered to Gu Chenzhou standing beside him, “This matter won’t end like this.”

Gu Chenzhou also watched the group of people disappear around the corner: “Don’t forget what you said,” his voice was also light and slow, “He Hailou, I’m waiting to see what you do!”