Bullying a Sick Tiger

Take him back!

Director Liang's shout rattled dust loose from the corners of the interrogation room, his flushed face horribly contorted. Chu Dong's attitude had driven him to the brink of madness, and the massive disparity in their expectations left him feeling as though he might suffocate if he didn't vent.

With an expression of absolute ease, Chu Dong stood up and, escorted by the police, was led back to the detention center. The conditions here were actually quite decent; both the living quarters in the cells and the food were passable. If not for the lack of freedom, it could entirely be mistaken for a free vacation. Chu Dong, who had originally planned to spend ten days undergoing trials in Beijing, regretted not thinking of this sooner—he was thoroughly enjoying life here. Of course, he would have been even more comfortable if the handcuffs were removed.

This was done on Director Liang's explicit orders: even inside solitary confinement, Chu Dong's handcuffs were not to be taken off. Such a dangerous individual required special care.

Xiao Rou was extremely anxious, yet she could not show it in front of her younger brother. She took the time to call Chu Dong, but his phone remained unreachable. Lacking Li Tianming's resources, she had no way of knowing where Chu Dong was currently being held. Still, she had caught wind of the nearly bloody conflict outside the hospital. When she had rushed out of the hospital gates and found nothing but splattered blood... Chu Dong had vanished without a trace.

Qian Feng had visited once. It was nothing special; he simply reminded the doctor right in front of her to be prepared at any moment to perform surgery on Xiao Xiaofeng. Xiao Rou felt completely helpless. She had no way to refuse Qian Feng's assistance. If it were her own illness, she would have unhesitatingly shown him the door, but lying on that hospital bed was her only younger brother, the hope and treasure of her family.

Her numb and desolate expression acted like a fuse in Qian Feng's eyes, igniting the powder keg within his heart.

Exiting the hospital, Qian Feng gnashed his teeth so hard they clicked. He glanced back at the lit window upstairs, pulled out his phone, and dialed an acquaintance at the detention center.

"Old Wang, I've got a good gig for you. Flat price of three hundred thousand."

"Second Young Master Qian, why are you being so polite? We're brothers, how could I take your money? What's going on first?" The man on the other end, known as Old Wang, was a slippery character. He wanted to figure out what was happening before committing; he wasn't about to get involved in a capital offense. Forget three hundred thousand; in this day and age, even two million wouldn't last you a few days if you lost your head.

"A new guy just came into your place, named Chu Dong. Find someone to give him a severe beating," Qian Feng said, looking as though he wanted to roll Chu Dong into a ball and trample him underfoot. His hawk-like eyes bulged, and his lower eyelids twitched twice.

"Well now, Second Young Master, you know how it is. We practice quantitative management here nowadays. If a fight breaks out and leads to a disability, it's going to be very hard for me to write a report," slippery Old Wang said, tapping his fingers on his desk while sitting in his office. Being entirely alone in the room, he had no fear of being overheard.

"He's just a street-performing piano player; nothing will go wrong. Besides, isn't your turf run by you, Old Wang? How about this: I'll add another two hundred thousand. Let me warn you, this guy is tough. Don't underestimate him even if he gets hurt, and don't bring in some spineless cowards to embarrass me. Handle it neatly, and I won't treat you unfairly." Qian Feng was determined to win this, completely disregarding the cost.

"Heh, since Second Young Master has given the order, how could I not put my heart into it? Let's see... we actually have a heavy-hitter locked up here right now. I just worry he doesn't know his own strength and might accidentally kill the guy. Fine, I'll go make the arrangements, you can rest easy." Old Wang had originally intended to push for more conditions to extort a bit extra, but since Qian Feng had already volunteered a price hike, he had nothing more to say.

After hanging up, Qian Feng spat on the ground and cursed Old Wang as a foxy old bastard before finally getting into his car and leaving.

Old Wang was the warden of the detention center where Chu Dong was held. Tall and ruddy-faced with a slight, manageable potbelly, he always wore a smile, yet behind his back, everyone called him the Smiling Yanluo, renowned for his deeply malicious nature. In this detention center, his word was absolute law. Thus, if any of Qian Feng's subordinates got into trouble, even if they were convicted, he had ways of getting them out. Money makes things happen—that was the Smiling Yanluo's consistent principle.

Pressing the intercom, he summoned a prison guard. The Smiling Yanluo's eyes narrowed into slits. "Go bring Big Fool Hui over here. I have a matter for him."

The guard turned and left. A few minutes later, a bald, ferocious-looking giant nearly two meters tall, dressed in prison garb, followed the guard into the office, his every step seemingly making the floorboards tremble.

Waving a hand to dismiss the guard, the Smiling Yanluo bade Big Fool Hui to sit. He walked out from behind his desk and patted Big Fool Hui on the shoulder. "How many years have you been in here?"

"Don't know," Big Fool Hui answered in a muffled, rumbling voice, as if something was caught in his throat.

"Want to stop being locked up by yourself?" The Smiling Yanluo kept his smiling expression, lighting a cigarette as he stared at Big Fool Hui.

"Want to."

Big Fool Hui was slightly intellectually impaired, yet fiercely violent and brutally cruel. Having been sentenced to ten years for assault, he had committed another violent offense inside the detention center, severely disabling two cellmates to the point of near-death. Consequently, his sentence had been extended and he had been placed in solitary confinement. Though not very smart, he knew that getting out was practically impossible. Having spent several years entirely alone, even his dull mind struggled to endure the crushing loneliness. After so many years in prison, he knew who he could cross and who he couldn't; even the smallest man in a police uniform commanded his absolute obedience, while he revealed his true nature to fellow inmates. The Smiling Yanluo's words acted like an injection of pure adrenaline into his dull, listless life, and he nodded in agreement immediately.

"I'll behave, I won't hit people anymore..."

Big Fool Hui's words were cut off by the Smiling Yanluo. "Just listen to my instructions, and I'll grant your wish. Come here..."

Enduring the strange odor emanating from Big Fool Hui, the Smiling Yanluo whispered a long stream of instructions into his ear. As he listened, Big Fool Hui's mouth split open into a wide, grinning laugh.

At the Li family villa, Li Tianming felt there was no longer any way to keep the truth from Li Lanlan and Tan Xue. When Chu Dong had gone missing, he had managed to shield the two girls during his search; now that Chu Dong had been found but taken into custody, keeping silent would only lead to unimaginable chaos once the girls found out. Thus, after dinner, he intercepted the two young women as they headed upstairs.

"Sweethearts, wait a moment. Xue, you should listen too. Come sit over here." Li Tianming sat side-by-side with the old patriarch, his expression grave.

"What is it? Dad, is there news of Brother Dong?" Li Lanlan had taken to calling Chu Dong "Brother Dong" alongside Tan Xue; otherwise, the lack of intimacy in her address might easily expose them.

"Mm. Sit down first, don't rush, listen to me slowly." Seeing how tense Li Lanlan and the other girl were, Li Tianming suddenly hesitated to speak.

"Dad..."

"Uncle Li, what on earth has happened to Brother Dong? Tell me, where is Brother Dong right now?" Tan Xue was visibly more nervous than Li Lanlan. In Li Lanlan's eyes, Chu Dong was not only capable of solving any problem, but he was also an undying cockroach—someone who could never come to harm. But Tan Xue was different; even if Chu Dong were invincible under heaven, she couldn't help worrying, especially after days of losing all contact.

"Sigh, Chu Dong is inside," Li Tianming sighed. "He's been arrested."

"Inside? Why was he arrested? What happened to Brother Dong?" Tan Xue's heart skipped a beat; she feared that the incident on the high seas had somehow been exposed.

"Fighting. I heard he single-handedly took on a hundred men with a machete, injuring dozens of them with his own hands." Even as he recounted it, Li Tianming felt a shudder of fear, making the sheer brutality of the battle easy to imagine.

"Then what about Brother Dong? Was Brother Dong hurt?" At that moment, Tan Xue could no longer bother concealing her feelings. Ignoring the slight astonishment on the faces of Li Tianming and the old patriarch, she asked anxiously. In her eyes, nothing else in the world mattered as long as Chu Dong was safe.

"He probably sustained some injuries, but nothing severe." Li Tianming still shared what little information he had gathered. Seeing both girls press their small hands to their chests in relief, he quickly turned solemn again. "Don't celebrate too early. I hear the footage of Chu Dong injuring those people was clearly recorded. Moreover, this involves a very powerful individual. None of us can even see Chu Dong right now, and the situation is unclear. With people actively plotting against him, I'm afraid it will be very difficult for Chu Dong to get out of this unscathed."

"How can that be? Brother Dong isn't someone who resorts to violence for no reason! I don't believe it, I'm going to go find him! We're not playing this game anymore, we're going home..." Tears streamed down Tan Xue's face. This wasn't fair—they had just been having a normal competition, and now someone had gone and lost a person. If not for the old Li patriarch's advanced age, Tan Xue might have flown into an even greater rage.

The old Li patriarch remained silent. The rules of the competition had been set by him, and the idea had been his as well. Now that disaster had struck, he bore a measure of responsibility. Seeing Tan Xue so heartbroken, he felt deeply unsettled in his chest. He cleared his throat twice and finally spoke.

" Lass, don't panic. Since he's still alive, everything else can be managed. Tianming, go handle this. No matter how much money it takes, get that young man Chu Dong out."

"Dad, I understand." Li Tianming could only nod in agreement, though he smiled bitterly inwardly. It wasn't as simple as that; if throwing money at the problem could solve it, he wouldn't have needed the old man's instruction.

Li Lanlan half-embraced the tearful Tan Xue as they headed upstairs, leaving the two Li men staring at each other in dismay. Yet, any lingering misunderstandings were the furthest things from their minds; the affair of Chu Dong weighed upon everyone's hearts like a heavy stone, and no one felt at ease.

At the midnight hour, no matter how well-appointed the detention center was, it could never compare to home. Chu Dong had been struggling to fall asleep for a long time, and just as he began to drift off, the door to his solitary cell swung open.

"Get in!" Following the prison guard's harsh command, a massive figure blotted out the hallway light, stepping into the cell like a heavy battle tank.

Chu Dong did not get up. Like the others, his cell contained six bunk beds, and he had chosen a top bunk while leaving the rest vacant. A new arrival was entirely normal; he narrowed his eyes and watched the uninvited guest who had suddenly barged in.

Seeing the ferocious glare in Big Fool Hui's oversized eyes, Chu Dong instantly understood: this was a case of someone assuming the tiger was sick and seizing the opportunity to take him down.