National Tide 1980.

The ability to turn former adversaries into new allies is not only a testament to Ning Weimin's competence, but also a reflection of his wisdom.

In reality, everyone is the same. When faced with a life-or-death situation, if it is necessary to kill others to save oneself, probably not many people would hesitate. Of course, self-preservation is the top priority.

Therefore, Ning Weimin's new allies were extremely eager to stab Takahashi Harunori in the back, and once they decided to take action, they did so without any hesitation.

As a result, the retaliation that Ning Weimin wanted was progressing at an astonishing speed.

Moreover, the whole process went extremely smoothly, with almost no difficulties whatsoever.

In fact, he didn't even have to stay overnight. Around midnight that night, Takahashi Harunori, who was drinking heavily at a club in Ginza, was found by the police and arrested at the door.

Because of the unusual time and place, this incident didn't even attract much attention.

However, for Takahashi Harunori, who had just been spending money like water in a glamorous environment, being taken to the police station felt like falling from the clouds, and his situation became extremely embarrassing.

Because the police barely interrogated him or told him why they arrested him, they just wanted to put him in a detention center overnight.

Moreover, not only was his request to see a lawyer denied, but his tie and belt were also confiscated, and his trousers were simply tied up with paper rope through the buttonholes.

This made Harunori Takahashi, who came from a prestigious university and had never had a similar experience before, feel that he had suffered an unspeakable humiliation.

who is he?

He was a prodigy from Keio University, a business genius who turned EIE into a world-class company!

Everyone he knew was a major figure who controlled the lifeline of Japan's economy.
He himself will become the world's richest man sooner or later.

Why should he be treated like this?
In short, Harunori Takahashi had a very high opinion of himself.

He has always been arrogant and unruly, and now he's intoxicated.

Especially since he was filled with resentment at being removed from the board of directors and losing the presidency to someone else, he came to drink today to relieve his depression.

In this situation, he suddenly found himself imprisoned, and to make matters worse, the police treated him this way.

How could he possibly stand that?
So he really got himself into a dangerous situation and actually went so far as to attack the police.

The incident occurred when, during the inventory of personal belongings, Harunori Takahashi, unable to bear seeing his personal items, such as his watch and lighter, being touched inappropriately by others, pushed the police officer in charge of confiscating the items and muttered "Baka!"

Although to him, this might just be a whim, nothing serious.

However, from the police's perspective, this is an unacceptable illegal act.

They had never seen such an arrogant and lawless outlaw who dared to attack police officers on their own territory.

Even professional gang leaders wouldn't dare do this; it's practically blatantly provoking a tiger.

What else is there to say?
We have to take him down.

So even though Harunori Takahashi was dressed in designer clothes and was swaying as he stood, and his speech was slurred, he was clearly drunk.

The police still didn't let him get away with it.

The policeman who had been pushed aside punched him in the chest, and then another officer stepped in and pinned him down.

The two of them grabbed Takahashi Harunori's arm and handcuffed it in an instant.

Moreover, it was purely brute force used, and the handcuffs were put on very tightly. How could Takahashi Harunori, who was immersed in wine and women every day, endure that?
He was screaming like a pig being slaughtered, crying from the pain.

But it was too late. As the saying goes, "If you don't do stupid things, you won't die." Everything could have been fine, so who can you blame?
Since he started it, the police weren't going to be lenient with him.

The two policemen showed him no mercy, dragging him like a dog on a leash, shoving him into a tiny cubicle that was only two square meters in size, while he groaned in pain.

And then, in addition to correcting his posture by beating him with a baton, he was also solemnly told in the tone of a prisoner that he was not allowed to sit cross-legged here and was not allowed to make any noise.

If he dared to talk to the inmates in the next cell, he would be given another "baton lesson" by the patrolling guards.

Of course, he is not allowed to vomit here, otherwise he will have to eat what he vomited up tomorrow.

After he finished speaking, the police released his handcuffs and walked away dismissively, as if he were some insignificant nobody.

Needless to say, Takahashi Harunori was absolutely furious. He silently stroked his bruised face and wrists, which were covered in marks from being stabbed, his heart filled with unventable frustration.

That's not all; the terrible environment and limited conditions here are something he, who is used to a life of luxury, simply cannot tolerate.

The bedding consisted of only a very hard pillow and a very thin blanket. The light bulb on the ceiling was on all night, and, more importantly, there were occasional annoying noises.

Besides the numerous prisoners whispering among themselves in the adjacent multi-person room, the sound of police patrolling back and forth struck Takahashi's heart like a hammer.

Even if a prisoner makes the slightest noise, the police will strike their batons and shout at them as a warning.

Under these circumstances, one can imagine how Harunori Takahashi must have felt.

Accustomed to being surrounded by beautiful women, and only able to fall asleep while wearing an eye mask and lying amidst piles of silk and brocade, how could he possibly sleep?
Even though he was drunk and drowsy, driven by physiological needs, he couldn't help but close his eyes and fall asleep.

But each time he dozed off, he would only be able to doze off for a short while before being woken up by the stinging pain in his wrist, the glaring lights, or various noises.

This constant cycle of sleeping and waking up was so disorienting that it was more painful for him than being beaten or even dying.

What bothered him even more was that his throat also started to hurt.

That's because drinking too much alcohol and not drinking enough water in time caused ulcers in the mucous membrane of the throat.

However, even though he called out to the patrolling guards with an unprecedentedly friendly attitude and asked for water, he was still rudely refused.

"Why are you making such a fuss? It's the middle of the night, where are you going to get some water? Go back to sleep and wait until tomorrow morning."

With no other option, he silently endured his thirst and lay back down.

God knows how he got through that night.

Even if you add up all the suffering he's ever endured in his life, it can't compare to the torment he suffered in this one night.

By the next morning, not only were his eyes dark, but his throat was also hoarse and burning with pain. His back was completely stiff, and his handcuffed wrists were swollen.

He also suspected that he might have a low-grade fever.

Otherwise, why would I feel so dizzy in the back of my head?

He knew, of course, that this discomfort wasn't from a hangover.

It must be said that for Harunori Takahashi, that night was truly an unforgettable and heart-wrenching experience. However, even so, these physical injuries could not compare to the devastating blow to his soul.

Because in Harunori Takahashi's heart, he was the most innocent, the most wronged, and the most unlucky person in the world. All these misfortunes were not something he should have had to endure.

He was arrested for no apparent reason. The police simply said they needed his assistance in the investigation before taking him away and locking him up without giving any specific reason.

He felt he had encountered the most unreasonable police officer in the world, and was forced to endure humiliations he could never have imagined in the past.

So when he was alone at night, he only thought about one thing: to find out what was going on, get out of there as soon as possible, hire a lawyer to represent him, and sue the police who had arbitrarily arrested people and abused him.

Was it just a misunderstanding?

Or is someone deliberately framing me?

Why should they lock me up here and make me suffer like this?

No, no! This is too much! No matter what, these people cannot be forgiven!

Takahashi Harunori secretly vowed to sue everyone involved in this matter who had abused him, humiliated him, and made him lose face until they were bankrupt and begging for mercy.

He will make those who have caused him pain feel his pain a hundredfold or a thousandfold, no matter who they are.

However, thoughts and ideas are one thing, reality is another, and what needs to be faced must be faced.

In fact, Takahashi Harunori's nightmare not only failed to end, but worsened, which was something he had never expected.

Especially early in the morning, when the police on the early shift called Takahashi's name, unlocked the door, and released him, ordering him and the other detainees to wash their faces and brush their teeth.

Takahashi Harunori immediately felt that his self-esteem had shattered like glass, completely vanishing into nothingness.

For no other reason than that his name should be loudly proclaimed by the police in this kind of situation.

To be honest, even now, Harunori Takahashi still doesn't fully realize that he's about to go to jail.

Therefore, in his mind, having his name called out by the police and heard by other prisoners was a stain that he could never wash away from in his life.

It's incredibly shameful and infuriating.

Besides, it had been many years since he was addressed by his given name like that.

The last person to call him by his full name was probably the discipline director from Keio High School who expelled him. He never dreamed that he would encounter someone in his life who would dare to offend him so much.

That's not all; because he didn't have a belt, Harunori Takahashi's pants kept slipping down.

He had to constantly hold up his trousers with both hands to walk to the narrow, dirty washroom.

Moreover, during this process, Harunori Takahashi also had to be interrogated by other suspects, which made him even more ashamed and indignant.

He, who was staying in a single room, was assigned to wash up in a group of four or five people from the multi-person room next door, and he was last in line.

His unique attire immediately aroused the curiosity of these people, and almost everyone who went to wash up with him stared at him.

Whenever the police weren't looking, they would turn to look at him and whisper among themselves.

Who are these people anyway?
Without exception, they were all hoodlums and poor men from the bottom of society.

Some of them even had tattoos showing on their arms, making them look like real Yakuza.

Being surrounded by these inferior people and being stared at by them made Takahashi Harunori feel utterly depraved.

Like a rat that has fallen into a pile of ash, pitiful and pathetic.

So much so that while he was waiting in line, the person in front of him turned around and asked, "Hey, what are you doing? You look like you're doing pretty well! What did you do to get yourself in here?"

These few words immediately ignited an unnamed anger in Harunori Takahashi.

Indeed, although Takahashi Harunori, who was imprisoned, had learned his lesson and dared not disrespect the police again, he still considered himself of high status and felt that he did not need to be polite to this slacker young man in front of him.

He believed from the bottom of his heart that it was unnecessary to even glance at such a lowly person.

So he held his head high, wiped his face with a towel cut in half, and completely ignored the other person with an extremely rude attitude, as if he hadn't heard anything.

Completely unaware, he was digging his own grave.

Needless to say, his arrogant attitude naturally displeased the young man who asked him the question, and even successfully aroused public anger.

After all, few people who get brought here by the police are good-tempered, and those at the bottom of society are usually reckless.

Honestly, if the police hadn't been there watching, the guys in front of him probably would have beaten him up and given him a piece of their mind.

However, Takahashi didn't care much anymore. After all, he still naively believed that as long as he met his lawyer, he could easily get out of there and return to high society.

Although he is no longer the president of EIE, he still holds a significant number of EIE shares and remains EIE's largest individual shareholder.

Moreover, he has many honorary titles and memberships in various organizations in high society, possesses Keio University's network of connections, and has a wife from a prestigious family who has fully inherited her father's estate.

Regardless of whether he will have a chance to rise again in the future, at least he will not be poor, nor should he suffer in such a place.

So when breakfast was served not long after, he didn't cherish the opportunity to eat and didn't even touch it.

Hmph, in his eyes, how could someone like him eat breakfast like this?
The rice was mixed with inferior foreign rice, topped with only two pieces of pickled vegetables and radish. Even the paint on the chopsticks had peeled off. Only the poorest and most despicable people would touch such pig swill.

So aside from asking for a glass of water, he returned everything to the police untouched.

However, it wasn't long before he regretted his actions.

This was not only because his stomach was not as noble as he had imagined; it would still throb, cause discomfort, and convulse during famines.

It was also because he had finally gotten the long-awaited opportunity for interrogation, and was able to explain the misunderstanding to senior police officers and complain about the police officers who had mistreated him.

But things didn't go as he had hoped.

In reality, he neither met with his lawyer nor succeeded in filing a complaint to make those police officers who treated him roughly suffer, thus venting his hatred.

On the contrary, when he faced a police inspector who treated him like a criminal, and heard a lot of horrifying bad news, he realized that his situation was far worse than he had imagined.

This was no misunderstanding; he was finally beginning to realize he was in big trouble. (End of Chapter)