A hundred flavors of life

Chapter 1553 Scarred Rat! (Please Subscribe!)

After being interrogated, Zhang Anru was escorted back to his cell, the iron door slamming shut behind him. Looking up, he saw Hua Shier sitting on his bunk, legs crossed, a half-smile on his face, as if he'd been waiting for him to return.

His heart tightened, and he quickly stepped forward, his voice low and filled with trepidation:

"I've told you everything, just like you said, you..."

Hua Shier smiled and raised his hand, gesturing for a stop. His tone was as relaxed as if he were chatting casually, and he said:
"Alright, alright, I hate bullying the weak the most. I was just joking with you before, don't take it to heart."

He lowered his hand, changed the subject, and spoke in a natural tone, as if chatting with an old friend:

"By the way, if nothing unexpected happens, I'll probably be going out tomorrow. Is there anything you want to say or bring to your family? I can help pass it on."

Zhang Anru was stunned upon hearing this, her anxiety replaced by astonishment:

"You just came in, how could you leave so quickly? Oh, and I haven't asked you how you got in yet?"

Hua Shier shrugged nonchalantly:

“It was a fight, nothing serious, but they said they would detain me for half a month.”

Hua Twelve chuckled, his tone carrying that signature ruthlessness, and said:
"But what are we good for? Do you think we can support our underlings for nothing? My underlings may be useless, but they'll definitely go find the person in charge and have a proper 'negotiation' with him."

He emphasized the word 'negotiation' so much that everyone could understand that the meaning behind those two words had absolutely nothing to do with their literal meaning.

Hua Shier grinned and continued:
"If I'm not mistaken, the person involved will have to go to the police station tomorrow and say they mistook me for someone else. Once the misunderstanding is cleared up, I'll be able to get out of here."

He spoke without restraint, his voice not loud, but in the quiet cell, every word was clearly heard by everyone.

The other people in the cell looked at each other, their faces showing a look of utter disbelief—could this even be done like that?

When they looked at Hua Shier again, the fear in their eyes deepened, and they unconsciously lowered their breathing, afraid that even a loud breath would anger their boss.

Zhang Anru understood as well, her Adam's apple bobbed, and she said in a deep voice:

"I don't need you to bring me anything. Just keep your promise and don't go looking for my family."

Hua Shier raised his hand and gave an 'OK' sign, his tone relaxed yet carrying a chilling certainty:
"I promised you, and I will definitely keep my word. However, I have a heads-up."

He leaned forward slightly and lowered his voice:

“Since you’ve already bitten Old Fu, you have to bite him to death. If he recovers and finds out it was you who bit him, I can’t guarantee he’ll leave your family any way out.”

Zhang Anru's face instantly turned extremely ugly, thinking to herself, "Isn't this all your fault?"

However, he only dared to say these words in his heart. He nodded emphatically with a straight face:

"I see."

The next morning, just as Hua Twelve had predicted, the small window in the iron gate was pulled open with a "whoosh," and the guard's voice came in:

"Yu Tianlong, you can leave now."

Hua Shier responded crisply and got up from the bed.

Before leaving, he walked to Zhang Anru's side and patted her shoulder heavily, with a force that was as if he were driving a nail in.

He leaned closer and said in a voice only the two of them could hear:
"Whether I can live a carefree life with Old Fu's girl while I'm out there depends entirely on you, brother. Remember, stick to Old Fu tight, otherwise... hehe."

He didn't finish his sentence, ending with two meaningful, cold laughs.

Zhang Anru sat there without saying a word, her fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles turned bluish-white from the force, as if she wanted to crush the invisible thing in her palm.

After leaving his cell and passing through several iron gates, Hua Shier met the people who came to pick him up in the detention center's office: Xu Pingqiu and Lin Yujing.

Lin Yujing had been holding back a lot of questions, and couldn't help but ask as soon as they met:
"How did you manage to do that? No matter how we interrogated him, Zhang Anru wouldn't say a word. How come he agreed after you said just a couple of words? What did you say to him?"

She could see Hua Shier talking to Zhang Anru in the surveillance footage, but she couldn't hear what they were saying.

Xu Pingqiu stood aside without saying a word, but her eyes revealed undisguised curiosity.

Hua Shier didn't rush to answer; instead, he smiled and extended his hand to Xu Pingqiu:
"Director Xu, give me a cigarette."

Xu Pingqiu took out a cigarette case, pulled one out, and handed it over.

Lin Yujing was an impatient person, and seeing him still dawdling, she got angry: "Are you going to tell me or not? A grown man like you is so slow and indecisive!"

Hua Shier lit a cigarette, took a leisurely drag, exhaled a cloud of smoke, and then chuckled:
"You don't understand. It's better for men to go slower. Going too fast makes people look down on you."

After he finished speaking, he saw that she looked completely bewildered and wondered to himself, "No way, is this woman still a virgin who doesn't know anything?"
Seeing that he was getting more and more incoherent, Xu Pingqiu glared at him:
"Xiao Lin is asking you something serious. If you have something to say, then say it; if you don't, then don't. Don't spout nonsense!"

"Then I won't say anything."

Hua Shier chuckled awkwardly, then turned to Lin Yujing, adopting a serious expression:

"I can't reveal what method I used. Anyway, this method works for me, but it doesn't work for you."

Lin Yujing said irritably, "How do you know we can't use it if you don't tell us?"

Xu Pingqiu seemed to have discerned something, glanced thoughtfully at Hua Twelve, and then turned to Lin Yujing, saying:
"Alright, Xiao Lin. Many of our comrades have their own methods when handling cases, and some techniques are indeed not suitable for others. Since Yu Zui is unwilling to talk about it, let's not press him further."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Speaking of which, we have to thank Yu Zui this time, otherwise we would have wasted a lot of time on Zhang Anru."

After speaking, he nodded slightly to Lin Yujing:

"Xiao Lin, please step out for a moment. I have some things to discuss with Yu Zui privately."

Since the leader had spoken, Lin Yujing naturally couldn't ask any further questions.

She turned to Hua Shier, silently mouthed "stingy," then turned and walked out, gently closing the door behind her.

Only the two of them remained in the office. As soon as the door closed, the smile on Xu Pingqiu's face vanished.

He looked at Hua Shier, his expression becoming extremely serious. He didn't speak immediately, but instead let out a deep sigh.

"Yu'er".

Hua Shier, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, replied, "If you need anything, just let me know, boss!"

Xu Pingqiu stared at him for a few seconds before speaking, his tone not like a superior giving a lecture, but more like a veteran policeman speaking earnestly to a junior:
"The reason I chose you to be an undercover agent despite all the opposition was because of your carefree and unconventional spirit."

“You’re completely different from the police officers that ordinary people imagine. When you stand there, you don’t have the aura of a police officer; you’re all about the demeanor of a thug. That’s a natural advantage for an undercover agent. But have you ever thought about what you’ll do when the case is over, when you take off your undercover skin and go back to your regular job?”

He paused for a moment, and seeing that Hua Shier was just smoking and not saying anything, he continued:

"Your drive is an advantage when you're undercover, but as a police officer, if you don't handle it well, you can easily make a big mistake. I won't ask what method you used in Zhang Anru's case, but I can probably guess in my mind."

His gaze was piercing: "This isn't the right way. I hope this is the only time, and the last. Do you understand what I mean?"

Xu Pingqiu reached out and patted him on the shoulder, quite forcefully:
“You’re a promising talent, that’s why I’m telling you all this. Don’t think I’m being too talkative. I’ve seen too many talented young people get into trouble in the end, not because of the enemy, but because of their own character. In our line of work, we have to be upright and steady.”

Hua Shier knew Xu Pingqiu meant well, and immediately became serious as well:
"I understand, thank you for telling me this, Director Xu. Don't worry, I know what to do."

Xu Pingqiu nodded: "That's good."

He turned around, opened the door, and called Lin Yujing in, gesturing for her to bring out the cell phone that Hua Shier had handed over when he entered the detention center.

"Shen Jiawen called you last night. I had Xiaolin pretend to be a prostitute to answer for you, and she hasn't called back since. Call her now and see what she wants, but remember not to let anything slip when you're talking."

Hua Shier took the phone, staring at Lin Yujing with a dark expression. This was defaming him! Could he really date such a fierce woman? Well, if we're just talking about physique, then maybe we could negotiate. Seeing his eyes darting around, Lin Yujing glared at him and said, "What are you looking at!"

Hua Shier ignored her, took the phone and dialed Shen Jiawen directly, then put it on speakerphone so Xu Pingqiu could hear as well.
"Hey, sister-in-law."

Shen Jiawen on the other end immediately exploded, her voice booming through the receiver:
"Yu Tianlong, you bastard! I just got together with you, and you went and went off to sleep with someone else. How could you do this to me?"

Hua Shier quickly pulled the phone away a little. Facing Xu Pingqiu's mocking gaze and Lin Yujing's disdainful look, he hurriedly said:

"Sister-in-law, don't make false accusations. I didn't even pay, how can you say it's a ladle?"

"That woman is shameless. She thinks I'm handsome and insists on chasing after me. What can I do?"

"You don't know, women these days don't know how to respect themselves at all. Unlike us, our relationship is so pure. I've always called you 'sister-in-law,' and that's never changed!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Lin Yujing stomped hard on his foot.

Shen Jiawen was speechless and spat out:

"Pah, is that pure emotion? You're just after excitement, okay?"

Hua Twelve: "."

Hua Shier felt that his reputation was completely ruined.

He knew that explaining this would only make things worse, so he quickly changed the subject: "Alright, sister-in-law, just tell me what you wanted to talk to me about yesterday."

Shen Jiawen then got down to business:
"Han Fuhu has an old customer who wants to order some goods. He knows we replaced Lao Fu, and he wants to meet with us in person, otherwise he won't feel comfortable. You'll come with me to meet him at noon. This is your first order, so you have to do it well, otherwise you won't be able to convince people and it will ruin your reputation. Understand?"

Hua Shier smiled and said no problem, then arranged a time to pick up Shen Jiawen before hanging up the phone.

As soon as the call ended, Lin Yujing couldn't wait to say:
"A buyer who can get Shen Jiawen to take you to meet someone must be someone important, maybe even a big fish. Find out the situation thoroughly, and we'd better do it again like we did with Zhang Anru!"

Hua Shier glanced at her, as if looking at an innocent child:
"What are you thinking? According to you, I was arrested right after delivering goods to Zhang Anru, and then I was arrested after completing a transaction with a new customer. Isn't that clearly telling everyone that I have a problem?"

Lin Yujing retorted, "Then what do you suggest we do? Just stand by and watch those goods get distributed?"

Xu Pingqiu shook his head, his voice turning somber:

“This is absolutely unacceptable. If it doesn’t work, we’ll have to close the net early, but then it will be harder to catch the rich guy who supplied the factory.”

Hua Shier didn't make any promises or guarantees, he only said:

"I'll just have to improvise. There's always a way to overcome a problem."

After leaving the detention center, Hua Shier hailed a taxi and headed straight for Fu Guosheng's villa.

After entering, he wandered around the villa, looking left and right, as if he were visiting a museum.

Wearing her pajamas, Shen Jiawen glared at him irritably: "What? You suspect I'm cheating on you?"

Hua Shier walked over with a smile, put his arm around Shen Jiawen, and gave her a couple of light squeezes:

"How could that be? I'm just getting a feel for what it's like to take care of my sister-in-law."

He leaned close to her ear, lowered his voice, and spoke with a smug, almost irritating tone:
"Just imagine, I'll be living in the villa that Lao Fu bought for you, driving the nice car that Lao Fu bought for you, and then riding... hehe, just thinking about it is exciting, right!"

Shen Jiawen was a little taken aback by his words, blushing and glaring at him: "You're such a jerk!"

She removed Hua Shier's mischievous hand from her body, walked to the dressing table, sat down, and began to put on makeup, reminding herself as she did so:
"The client you're meeting today is very important, so please keep a low profile and don't offend them."

Hua Shier's heart skipped a beat, but he casually asked:
"Which client is so important?"

Shen Jiawen, unsuspecting, continued applying her eyebrows in front of the mirror as she spoke:

"He's a local bigwig, much more powerful than Zhang Anru. You might have heard of him, he's known as Scarred Rat."

"Scarred Rat? Is that the one who killed the cops?"

Hua Shier was genuinely surprised.

He had just reported the information about Scar Rat, and today he was going to meet him in person. What's that saying again? "You can search high and low without finding it, but it comes to you without any effort."

Shen Jiawen paused in her eyebrow makeup. She put down the eyebrow pencil, turned around, and stared at Hua Shier with a wary look, asking:
"Only Old Fu and I, a handful of people, knew about Scarface killing the cop. How did you find out?"

Hua Shier spread his hands without changing his expression:

"What, you suspect me? My guy, Fanzi, used to work for Scarface. He only joined me after Scarface ran away. He told me this, is there a problem?"

Hearing his explanation, Shen Jiawen's wariness slowly eased, but she was not completely at ease. She asked him to call Fenzi over right away so she could ask him herself.

Hua Shier didn't say anything, but with a cold face, he took out his phone and called Fenzi, giving her the villa's address and asking her to come over as soon as possible.

Shen Jiawen noticed his displeasure, took his hand and placed it in front of her, softening her tone to coax him:
"What, are you angry? Let me tell you, in our line of work, you can never be too careful. If one day you doubt me, I won't be angry. Understand?"

Hua Shier was only pretending. Seeing her groveling and coaxing him, he withdrew his cold expression and gave her a couple of firm squeezes, pretending to still be sulking:
"I can doubt you, but you can't doubt me!"

Shen Jiawen was amused by his unreasonable and petty temper, and she giggled.

"Little man, I love how domineering you are to me."

"Then you're really despicable."

Hua Shier spoke from the heart. But to Shen Jiawen, it sounded like flirting, and she didn't mind at all; instead, she smiled even more charmingly.

An hour later, Fenzi arrived at the villa.

Shen Jiawen didn't ask any further questions, but simply instructed, "Fenzi will drive with us later."

At noon, in a private room of a restaurant.

Hua Shier put his arm around Shen Jiawen and pushed open the door to enter, where they saw two people sitting in the private room.

One was Han Fuhu, whom he had known for a long time; the other was a bald man with a face full of scars and eyes that exuded a fierce aura that could only be cultivated through years of licking blood off the edge of a knife.

Upon seeing Hua Shier and Shen Jiawen enter, Han Fuhu stood up to greet them:
"Boss Tianlong, sister-in-law, let me introduce you."

Hua Shier laughed loudly and stretched out his hand, speaking before Han Fuhu could:

"No need for introductions. This handsome man must be the infamous Scarface Rat!"

Scarred Rat stood up and shook hands with him, a smile on his face, but his eyes were sizing him up:

"Boss Tianlong, have you heard my story?"

Hua Shier chuckled and looked at him meaningfully: "Your eyes are full of stories."

After saying that, he stopped teasing and called Pinkie over to reunite with Scarface. He explained the whole story in a few words, completely dispelling any lingering doubts that Shen Jiawen and Scarface might have.

During the meal, as they toasted each other, Scarface talked about his various "deeds" outside, becoming increasingly proud as he spoke, especially about killing special agents.

Hua Shier verbally expressed his admiration, giving a thumbs-up and saying "Brother, you're awesome!" but in his heart, he had already sentenced him to death.

Scarred Rat, in high spirits after drinking, slapped the table with a flushed face, leaned closer, lowered his voice, and winked at the table, saying:
"This is nothing. I just got back today and caught a little female cat. I'll call Boss Tianlong tonight so you can see for yourself."

Thank you to 08a, Little Tiger of the Demon Realm, and God of Death Li Meng for their generous donations. Thank you also to the brothers who voted with monthly tickets and recommendation tickets. Thank you so much!