My Dongguan Love Story

After hanging up the phone with Sister Zhao, I turned around and walked back to the stall.

Tang Yan, seeing that I had been gone for a while before returning, asked with a hint of doubt, "Dazhuang, what's wrong? What happened?"

I gently shook my head, suppressing the turmoil in my heart, and whispered, "It's nothing."

After sitting with Lin Tao for a while, they chatted casually for a bit, but the atmosphere became somewhat dull, so they prepared to go their separate ways.

Before leaving, I couldn't help but ask her, "How is Zhou Zhengtao?"

"She's currently receiving treatment at the hospital, and my colleagues have already gone to keep watch over her," Lin Tao replied calmly.

"Okay." I nodded, didn't ask any more questions, got on my motorcycle, and drove off with Tang Yan on my back.

As the evening breeze swept across the car, Tang Yan naturally wrapped her arms around my waist and leaned close to my back.

Lin Tao stood there watching the motorcycle disappear into the distance, and seeing the intimate figures leaning against each other, a faint sense of envy welled up in her heart.

She quickly shook her head gently, secretly chuckling to herself, wondering what she was thinking.

.......

Outside the wrought iron gate of Ichiro Kawada's detached villa, the night was deep. Huang Jingyi's fingertips were clenched so tightly they turned white as she frantically knocked on the door, the knocking sounds urgent and chaotic.

The heavy wooden door swung open with a thud, and upon seeing Kawada Ichiro's cold and indifferent face, Huang Jingyi instantly relaxed, her body went limp, and she threw herself into the man's broad embrace.

She tilted her head back and kissed Kawada Ichiro's lips, her kiss warm with a sense of panic and unease. After a moment, she took a half step back, her brows furrowed with unyielding fear and anxiety, and spoke in a trembling voice, "Zhou Zhengtao and his arsonists failed, and they've been arrested by the police. What should we do now?"

Huang Jingyi had no choice but to panic.

Current laws are strict; arson is a serious crime, extremely heinous, and carries a very heavy sentence if convicted. The true masterminds behind this arson were her and Kawada Ichiro.

If Zhou Zhengtao couldn't withstand the interrogation and confessed everything about the two men, as the mastermind, he would be sentenced to at least ten years in prison. She was used to a life of luxury and couldn't bear the darkness of prison life; she didn't want to step into a cage even once.

Although the two had made an agreement with Zhou Zhengtao beforehand, promising that if the operation was exposed and he was arrested by the police, as long as he kept his mouth shut, he would be given a considerable sum of money to ensure that his family would have no worries about food and clothing.

But human nature is inherently greedy and unpredictable. In the interrogation room, coercion and inducement were used in turn. No one could guarantee that Zhou Zhengtao wouldn't break the agreement and confess everything about the two masterminds in order to get a lighter sentence.

Kawada Ichiro looked down at the woman in his arms, who was anxious and pale. A cold, indifferent smile appeared on his lips. He gently stroked Huang Jingyi's hair with his long, slender fingers, then released her and turned to walk slowly into the villa's living room.

Seeing that he remained silent the whole time, Huang Jingyi's panic surged to its peak, her heart leaped into her throat, and she quickly followed him, sitting down awkwardly next to Kawada Ichiro, clutching the hem of her clothes and waiting for him to speak.

After a moment, Kawada Ichiro raised his eyes, his tone calm and composed, and spoke with absolute certainty: "Don't worry, I have everything under control."

Upon hearing this, Huang Jingyi was taken aback at first, but her tense body instantly relaxed. The fear in her eyes faded, replaced by overwhelming joy. She asked anxiously, "Are you sure everything's alright? We really won't get involved?"

"Hmm." Kawada Ichiro nodded slightly, his expression calm and composed.

A moment later, the phone on the table vibrated, displaying an anonymous text message. He picked up the phone, glanced at it, and without a word, turned the screen directly to Huang Jingyi beside him.

Huang Jingyi took the phone with a puzzled look in her eyes, her gaze falling on the short five words in the text message: "Target cleared".

Her pupils contracted sharply, and she froze on the spot, her fingertips trembling uncontrollably. She stared at Kawada Ichiro in disbelief, her voice trembling and stammering, "He...he's dead? Zhou Zhengtao is dead?"

Kawada Ichiro smiled detachedly, a cold smile playing on his lips. He nodded slowly, his tone as indifferent as if he had merely eliminated an insignificant ant: "Those who achieve great things do not concern themselves with trifles. Rather than living in constant fear, waiting for him to betray us and leak information, it is the safest approach to eliminate future troubles."

Huang Jingyi shuddered, a storm raging in her heart, a chill running down her spine. She was usually selfish and ruthless, willing to do anything to protect herself, but compared to the cold-blooded and violent Kawada Ichiro, she was nothing.

After the incident, she considered countless ways to protect herself: paying to keep quiet, coercing her family, or running away afterward. She considered all possible escape routes, but she never considered killing Zhou Zhengtao to silence him.

At this moment, looking at the calm-looking man in front of her, she felt a strange, bone-chilling fear rise in her heart.

After all, this is a living, breathing human life!

Huang Jingyi felt a chill run down her spine, her body stiffened, and she was utterly terrified. Kawada Ichiro killed Zhou Zhengtao without hesitation, his actions swift and ruthless. If he could eliminate his accomplice today, what would happen to her if she became useless or disobedient?

Her palms were ice-cold, and her heart was pounding with panic. She held a host of evidence against Kawada Ichiro, knew too much, and was a ticking time bomb.

Fear gripped her tightly, and she couldn't hear a word Kawada Ichiro said afterward; she was completely panicked. It wasn't until a hand with distinct knuckles slapped her hard on the side of her hip, the force heavy and fierce, that she jolted back to her senses.

She looked up and met Kawada Ichiro's deep, cold eyes. He spoke slowly in a low, commanding tone, "You... help me."

Kawada Ichiro spoke casually, leaning back lazily on the leather sofa, his legs casually spread apart, his posture both assertive and unrestrained.

Huang Jingyi's face instantly turned deathly pale, her lips trembling slightly, a mixture of humiliation and fear welling up inside her. Having just witnessed Kawada Ichiro's ruthless murder to silence her, she was utterly terrified, lacking even the slightest courage to disobey or refuse. She clenched her fists, suppressing her inner resistance, and pulled her hair tie to neatly gather her loose hair. She then slowly lowered her head…

Meanwhile, in another residential building...

Lin Tao had returned home, changed out of her police uniform into loose cotton pajamas, and lay wearily on the bed, just relieving the fatigue of the case. Suddenly, her work phone rang urgently. She answered, and hearing her colleague's hurried report on the other end, she sprang straight up from the bed. The sleepiness in her eyes vanished instantly, her expression shifting rapidly, her voice filled with shock and astonishment as she asked in a low voice:

"What did you say? Zhou Zhengtao was beaten to death in his hospital room?"

"Yes, Captain Lin! The murderer climbed in through the window of the outer wall of the ward without making a sound, and shot Zhou Zhengtao, who was fast asleep, dead on the spot. The murderer even used a silencer when firing the gun, so there was no sound at all. When our officers on duty opened the door to check, they found that he was already dead."

Upon hearing this, Lin Tao gripped her phone tightly with her fingers, gritted her teeth, and raged with anger. She muttered coldly, "What are you all good for? You can't even keep an eye on one person!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she hung up the phone, her chest heaving violently, her eyes filled with frustration and anger.

She had planned everything perfectly. She was just waiting for Zhou Zhengtao to finish his emergency surgery and stabilize his condition before immediately interrogating him, following this lead to the very end and bringing all the masterminds behind the arson to justice. But then, a key witness was suddenly murdered, and all the leads vanished instantly.

She suddenly remembered that Dazhuang had warned her before that it was Kawada Ichiro and Huang Jingyi who instructed Zhou Zhengtao to set the fire.

But now that Zhou Zhengtao is dead, the few underlings they arrested were all low-level errand boys who knew nothing about what was going on above, so they couldn't get any useful information out of them.

Feeling frustrated and helpless, Lin Tao pondered for a moment and decided to tell Da Zhuang the news that Zhou Zhengtao had been silenced. She immediately opened her contacts and dialed Da Zhuang's number.

The phone rang repeatedly for a long time, but no one answered. Lin Tao gripped the phone between her fingers, her brows furrowed, watching the call about to automatically disconnect.

Just then, the call connected, and a soft, sweet female voice came from the receiver: "Feed?"

Lin Tao was startled, then instantly realized that the voice was familiar; it was most likely Tang Yan. Suppressing her unease, she asked, "Tang Yan? Is Dazhuang there?"

"Dazhuang? Yeah, what's up?"

Tang Yan had deliberately snatched Da Zhuang's phone to answer it, with no intention of handing it back to him. She casually asked a question, a sly glint in her eyes, and then deliberately raised her voice, letting out a sudden, sweet cry:

"Ah, Dazhuang, be gentle."

I was speechless as I listened from the side. I immediately stopped what I was doing, reached out to her, and said in a deep voice, "Give me the phone."

Tang Yan rolled her eyes at me, deliberately twisting her body, her voice soft yet with an intentional tremor: "No, don't stop, I want more."

Lin Tao's face gradually darkened on the other end of the receiver.

She might not have understood such ambiguous noises before, but during the day, while investigating a case, she had kicked down the door and broken into a couple's room. Later, Li Fang explained to her what they were doing inside. Now, hearing Tang Yan's words, she instantly understood what the two were doing.

A vague sense of unease and bitterness welled up inside her. She suppressed her emotions, her tone turning cold as she spoke softly:

"Please tell Dazhuang that Zhou Zhengtao has been silenced."

After saying that, she hung up the phone immediately.

A blush rose uncontrollably to Lin Tao's face. Her heart was filled with bitterness and disappointment, and the complex emotions made it difficult for her to calm down.

I heard the busy tone coming from the receiver, knowing that Lin Tao had hung up. I glanced helplessly at Tang Yan, got out of bed, took out a cigarette, lit it, and leaned against the wall to smoke quietly.

Seeing my cold expression, as if I were really angry, Tang Yan quickly smiled and hugged me from behind, pleading in a soft voice, "Okay, okay, I was wrong. I won't cause trouble on purpose next time, okay?"

I sighed softly. Tang Yan is jealous and prone to tantrums, but ultimately it all stems from her concern for me. It's hard to criticize her for that, so I naturally won't hold it against her.

I exhaled a puff of smoke and turned to ask, "What did Lin Tao just say to you?"

The phone was a bit far from me, so I couldn't hear it clearly, only vaguely catching the three words "Zhou Zhengtao".

When I asked her a question, Tang Yan's eyes darted around quickly. She deliberately recalled what she had heard through the receiver before stammering, "It seems like... Zhou Zhengtao was silenced."

As soon as she finished speaking, her eyes widened, her face turned pale, and she instinctively cried out in alarm, "Ah, I've been silenced!"

This was a living human life. Tang Yan never expected that these evil forces would be so ruthless. She was so frightened that her body trembled slightly, and she wrapped her arms tightly around my waist, snuggling behind me.

I looked up at the deep night outside the window, a chill settling in my heart. To cover up their crimes, Kawada Ichiro and Huang Jingyi had acted with ruthless cruelty, resorting to murder without hesitation. Such a vicious and reckless opponent was far more difficult to deal with than I had imagined.

Seeing me staring out the window in silence with a serious expression, Tang Yan mistakenly thought I was still angry about what had just happened. Her heart sank, and a wave of guilt washed over her. Lin Tao had clearly called to report on the case, but she had acted out of jealousy, making wild guesses and deliberately interrupting, thus delaying the important matter and putting me in a difficult position.

She tightened her arms around me, gently shaking my body, her soft voice filled with regret as she muttered:

"Dazhuang, please don't be angry with me, okay? I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have caused trouble on purpose."

As she was speaking, seeing me turn to look at her, she immediately tiptoed and quickly kissed the corner of my mouth. Her big, watery eyes stared at me, she grinned, and said softly, "I'll give you a reward, as compensation, okay?"