Chapter 1202: Blood Not Yet Cold

Listening to Zhao Fusheng's plan, Cao Jianguo was actually in a good mood.

Youth is truly a wonderful thing. Whether in danger or in the city, as long as one is young, there remains in the depths of the heart something simple and pure, not yet fully mired in the complex muck of worldly affairs.

If the world were left only with youth, without aging or decay, perhaps there would be much less killing and conflict.

To have warm blood, not cold, and to always fight for one's true heart—this might be the simplest and most beautiful thing in the world.

But unfortunately, everyone grows old, gradually becoming slick and worldly, shouldering more and more responsibilities, bearing the expectations of more and more people. Those heavy expectations and responsibilities bend the once-straight back, teach people to smile, make them diligent in thinking but less and less in feeling.

Even Cao Jianguo himself had to admit that the person he was now, compared to when he first entered officialdom, was more like a wily old fox.

What is a wily old fox? The edges and corners of one's early days in society have long been worn smooth by age and changes in status. When considering matters, one looks not only at right and wrong but also at gains and losses, weighing whether it benefits oneself. That, perhaps, is a wily old fox.

"Fusheng, you need to understand that although your plan is safer than Chen Shijie's, the problem is, once that surnamed Li senses something wrong, do you think he will let you off?"

Cao Jianguo said slowly to Zhao Fusheng.

Compared with Chen Shijie's plan, Zhao Fusheng's was essentially no different, except that the timing of the police operation was changed from the moment Mr. Li entered the country to allowing him to come all the way to the capital.

Simply put, Zhao Fusheng's intention was to ensure that even if Mr. Li went to prison, he would never suspect a traitor among his people. Moreover, Zhao Fusheng considered whether he could shift the blame onto the vanished Tong Zhenbang.

But as Cao Jianguo said, if Mr. Li found out about this, Zhao Fusheng would have tied a time bomb to himself, and one that could kill him at any moment.

In a sense, whether it was Chen Shijie or Zhao Fusheng, their methods and plans, in the final analysis, were using themselves as bait to lure Mr. Li into the trap.

"Heh, Director Cao, don't forget, I'm a businessman." Zhao Fusheng smiled slightly and said to Cao Jianguo, "To me, that surnamed Li is just a business partner. So my demands are perfectly normal. I've already thrown out over ten million US dollars—why would he suspect me?"

Cao Jianguo was taken aback, then heard Zhao Fusheng continue, "Besides, who said we have to act immediately?"

"What do you mean?" Cao Jianguo frowned.

Zhao Fusheng smiled slightly: "Director Cao, the man is coming with a large sum of money. Even if we act, we have to wait until the money is in the account, understand?"

The expression on Cao Jianguo's face was quite interesting, but he already understood Zhao Fusheng's meaning.

In short, Zhao Fusheng was now digging a pit for Mr. Li, tricking him into coming to the country, and only after Mr. Li had invested most of his assets in the Future Fund would the police move in to arrest him.

To lure the enemy into the trap?

These four words flashed through his mind, and Cao Jianguo suddenly felt that Zhao Fusheng was clearly a little fox; otherwise, how could he have come up with such a devious idea?

"So, Director Cao?" Zhao Fusheng, however, did not know that Cao Jianguo had already labeled him a little fox. If he knew—well, if he knew, there was nothing he could do about it.

Hearing Zhao Fusheng's words, Cao Jianguo chuckled: "Alright, let's do it your way."

He too was an old fox in officialdom. Zhao Fusheng's plan was highly feasible overall, and there was no worry about losses. Why not go along with it?

And so, Zhao Fusheng and Cao Jianguo discussed how to proceed with the plan. As for how Cao Jianguo would notify Chen Shijie, that was beyond Zhao Fusheng's concern.

It was understandable that Chen Shijie had been abroad before, with poor communication. But now that he was in the country, if Cao Jianguo, with his means, still couldn't contact him, that would be a real failure.

Hanging up the phone, Zhao Fusheng looked at Zhang Qian: "Contact some of your former comrades these days and see how many are willing to come work for our company."

"What?"

Zhang Qian was startled, looking at Zhao Fusheng in confusion. Clearly, he was thrown off by Zhao Fusheng's leap in thought. Weren't they just talking about Chen Shijie?

"I'm planning to set up a security company." Zhao Fusheng smiled and explained to Zhang Qian.

"Security company?" Zhang Qian was a bit puzzled, then frowned and said, "Guards?"

In his understanding, a security company was essentially about guards.

Zhao Fusheng shook his head helplessly: "Not guards, but security. Simply put, it means bodyguards."

Domestically, the understanding of security was not very clear. Many people thought a security company was just about guards, but in fact, a real security company's business scope went far beyond ordinary imagination.

Security companies are divided into general security and special security. General security refers to guards, such as community guards, factory guards, hotel guards. Special security refers to security services, such as personal bodyguards, leader protection, and special escort.

In Zhao Fusheng's consideration, his security company would naturally target the bodyguard aspect.

Of course, this was mainly for the company's and Zhao Fusheng's own personal safety.

In Zhao Fusheng's view, if used properly, Zhang Qian and his comrades would be a formidable force. Even if he didn't use them for anything else, just having them as bodyguards would be quite useful.

Not to mention anything else, with them around, Zhao Fusheng wouldn't have to worry about his family's safety.

After understanding what it was all about, Zhang Qian nodded and agreed to Zhao Fusheng's request.

His comrades generally came from humble backgrounds and poor family conditions. He had contacted Qian Dongliu and the other three earlier because they were his closest friends. As for the rest, it wasn't that he didn't want to contact them, but at that time Zhao Fusheng was just starting his business, and Zhang Qian felt it wasn't necessary to make them leave their families.

Now that the company was on track, since Zhao Fusheng was considering setting up this security company, Zhang Qian was naturally happy to help.

...

...

Weakness is an emotion of ordinary people. Chen Shijie disliked it. He was a police officer, an undercover cop, and of course he knew what undercover work required.

Cultivating a cold emotion was not easy.

Many people in the world are centrists when it comes to emotions; they are neither cold enough nor truly kind.

It is not easy to make a person abandon their cold side and become purely good, just as it is not simple to make a person give up the kindness in their heart and become completely cold.

Scarcity adds value—that is most people's thinking. Pure kindness and pure coldness are both rare.

The former makes everyone believe that one is human and loves all people, while the latter makes people feel that humans and animals are no different, except that one walks upright and the other uses four limbs.

Chen Shijie felt that his blood was already nearly cold, especially facing death every day. He felt that if not for the clarity deep in his heart supporting him, he might have truly collapsed.

Not long ago, when Tong Zhenbang confessed to him and Xiao Bao that he planned to betray Mr. Li, Chen Shijie had a premonition of doom. He felt that something seemed to have been overlooked, or that everything was going too smoothly.

As it turned out, this premonition was correct.

Xiao Bao was actually Mr. Li's man!

Chen Shijie had never expected this, and neither had Tong Zhenbang himself.

Tong Zhenbang's carefully prepared assassination plan was ultimately exposed. During their escape together, Tong Zhenbang finally saw through Xiao Bao's identity and killed him.

It was a sad story.

Before dying, Tong Zhenbang told Chen Shijie that he couldn't escape, so Chen Shijie might as well take his head to claim credit.

"No matter what, you must survive. If you can avenge me, good; if not, live in obscurity." That was Tong Zhenbang's final request before death.

At that moment, Chen Shijie was truly confused, because he knew that after Xiao Bao's betrayal, Tong Zhenbang had genuinely regarded him as someone he could trust.

Though he did not know that Chen Shijie himself was the biggest traitor.

"A-Jie, what are you thinking?"

At that moment, a gentle voice sounded beside Chen Shijie.

Looking up, Chen Shijie saw Sun Qian's smiling face. In that instant, he suppressed his sorrow and hardened his heart again like a stone.

He had to be on guard against this woman.

To be honest, if Xiao Bao's betrayal was a spiritual blow to Tong Zhenbang, then Sun Qian was the killer who truly stabbed a knife into Tong Zhenbang's heart.

Tong Zhenbang could never have imagined that everything he had in the capital was reported to Mr. Li by Sun Qian. Without exaggeration, although Tong Zhenbang thought he was thriving there, in fact, his surroundings had long been infiltrated by Mr. Li like a sieve.

Sun Qian and Xiao Bao reported almost every detail to Mr. Li. Tong Zhenbang, who prided himself on playing tricks all his life, ended up with only Chen Shijie by his side.

And Sun Qian had once been Tong Zhenbang's bedmate!

Thinking of this, Chen Shijie had only one eight-character evaluation for the woman before him.

Face like a peach blossom, heart like a scorpion.