Power and Wealth

Chapter 1766

“Didn’t you hear?”

“Get out here! Where’s the money for the goods?”

“I’m giving you one last minute. If you don’t pay, we’re coming in!”

“Hurry up and bring me one thousand yuan—not a cent less! Otherwise, you won’t be able to leave. If I have to, I’ll stick around for a day or two!”

“Director Zhu, I’m giving you some face, so stay out of this!”

“Hand them over to us right now, or this won’t end well!”

“Fifty-five seconds left! Did you two hear that?”

“If you don’t pay, don’t blame us for turning hostile. It’s only right to pay for what you buy—no matter where you are, you’ve got to pay up!”

People outside continued to shout.

They had probably noticed that the police station, as usual, was taking a passive approach to de-escalate the situation. This only made their expressions more vicious. Each one had a grim look, yelling without the slightest awareness that they were in a police station. They showed no fear of confronting a government institution. On the contrary, they were acting with brazen confidence. It was obvious that this wasn’t their first time doing something like this—storming into a police station. These minority street vendors had likely done this more than once before. Wasn’t it rumored that they had even assaulted police officers before and got away with it? Now, they had reached a point where they were utterly lawless. The more lenient the police station was, the less willing they were to take action and the more arrogant these people became. Now, it wasn’t just Director Zhu of the local police station—they seemed to have no respect for anyone. They knew that the local authorities found it difficult to deal with them as an ethnic minority, so what did they have to fear? They feared nothing.

Robbery.

Coercive buying and selling.

Extortion.

No one dared to stop them, so what did they care?

The shouting grew louder, and several people even started cursing at Dong Xuebing and Fang Wenping, who were behind the window. The insults were as harsh as they could be.

“Old hag!”

“You little brat, come out here!”

“Let’s see if we don’t teach you a lesson!”

“Some outsiders come to our county and think they can act all high and mighty!”

Bang! Someone slammed their hand hard against the police station window, making a loud noise.

Dong Xuebing looked outside and calmly began to take off his jacket, tossing it onto a nearby chair. He stretched his arms and shoulders, rolled up his sleeves, and moved his legs a bit before turning to Fang Wenping. “I’m going out to settle this.”

Fang Wenping gave a slight nod. “Be careful.”

“Don’t worry, nothing’s going to happen.” Dong Xuebing spoke with calm confidence as he turned to head outside.

“What are you doing?” The old police officer immediately stopped him.

Dong Xuebing replied matter-of-factly, “They’ve been challenging me out there. How can I not go?”

Despite having just been scolded by Dong Xuebing, the old officer didn’t want to see him get into trouble. Of course, this might not be entirely out of goodwill—it was also about responsibility. After all, this was their police station, their workplace. If Dong Xuebing went outside and got beaten to death, the police station would have to bear the consequences. If someone died, there would be no way to handle it, and no one wanted to see that happen. So naturally, the old officer tried to stop Dong Xuebing. “You young man, are you crazy? Didn’t you see how many people are out there? Why would you go out just to get beaten up? I know these people better than you do. Don’t think that just because this is a police station, they won’t dare to hit you. I’m telling you, when you step outside that door, they’ll start swinging those sticks at you. It’s happened before!”

Dong Xuebing chuckled. “If they hit me, that’s perfect.”

The old police officer shouted, “Why won’t you listen to reason?”

“Because it’s still unclear who’s going to hit whom. Isn’t it true that your police station can’t handle this? Do you not want to handle it? That you only know how to compromise with criminals?” Dong Xuebing shrugged. “I won’t. I never will. Since you can’t handle it, I’ll have to deal with them myself.”

“You…” The old officer was at a loss for words.

This guy is so damn arrogant, there\'s just no talking to him.

Director Zhu glanced at Dong Xuebing, then turned to his subordinates and said, “If he wants to go out and get beaten, let him. We’ve done our part.” Then he addressed Dong Xuebing and Fang Wenping, “I’ve already given you the best possible solution. If you don’t listen and insist on going your way, don’t blame us later. If anything happens after you step out that door, it’s on you. Don’t say we didn’t try to stop you. Whatever happens, you’ll have to deal with the consequences yourselves.”

Dong Xuebing responded coldly, “All you know how to say is that you’re not responsible and can’t handle this. What else can you say?”

The young officer from earlier shouted, “How dare you speak to Director Zhu like that!”

Dong Xuebing replied, “This is exactly how I’ll speak. You guys are all over the place, not dealing with criminals and instead helping them with their coercive buying and selling. Why should I show you any respect? Get lost! I’ve never seen cops like you! Just because you want to wrap things up quickly, because you want to go home early, you team up with criminals to suppress the victims. You’ve opened my eyes. The victims don’t matter to you at all, do they?”

The police officers were fuming. This guy was being incredibly disrespectful.

Director Zhu, tired of arguing, waved his hand. “Let him go.”

“I don’t need your permission. Whether you say so or not, I’m going out,” Dong Xuebing said without leaving room for the local police to save face.

The officers all looked furious.

Dong Xuebing turned to Fang Wenping and said, “You stay here. I’ll be back soon.”

Fang Wenping followed him toward the door, saying, “I’m just going to the hallway to make a call. Someone needs to deal with this afterward.”

Dong Xuebing asked, “You know someone here?”

“I don’t know anyone in this county, but I do know a few people at the provincial level,” Fang Wenping said calmly.

Dong Xuebing thought that made sense. After all, she was a direct relative of the Fang family, a second-generation elder. Even though she had a reputation for being difficult, she had been with the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection for many years, so it was impossible for her not to know a few people. Of course, the people Fang Wenping knew were provincial-level officials. A regular county magistrate or party secretary wouldn’t be on her radar. They weren’t in the same league.

The police officers couldn’t hear Dong Xuebing and Fang Wenping’s conversation, but they thought these two were overestimating their abilities.