Chapter 374: A Classic Case

SLAM!

The heavy thud of the door closing echoed through the room.

The next second, Wang Chao’s mother, who had been watching TV, couldn’t help but turn to look at him.

“Laugh, laugh, laugh. All you know how to do is laugh.”

“Can’t you make friends with some successful people? What future is there in hanging out with your friends all day?”

“I’m not saying you have to cut them off, but you should at least have some decent friends.”

Any good mood Wang Chao had instantly vanished. He sighed inwardly, his brow furrowing with a hint of impatience.

“What’s wrong with Brother Huo? He’s a great guy!”

“Brother Huo? You’re still calling each other ‘brothers’?”

The Queen Mother’s brow furrowed at once, her face filled with displeasure.

“You’re 24! By the time I was your age, your older brother was already born!”

“But you don’t even have a decent job. Can’t you just buckle down and find one?”

“Some people are dead by 24!”

A sudden burst of anger surged through Wang Chao.

“So should I just go die then?!”

The moment the door was closed, the argument began.

Wang Chao was already used to this life.

Arguing was one thing; at least he could fight back. The worst was when he couldn’t, which often happened at family dinners. All his aunts and female relatives would criticize him one by one, led by his own mother…

“What nonsense are you talking, you child?!”

Wang Chao’s mother was furious at his lack of ambition.

“I’m only doing this for your own good!”

“Why don’t you look around? Do I talk to anyone else like this?!”

Wang Chao was rendered speechless. His face flushed red as a ball of frustration churned inside him, but he couldn’t find the words to let it out.

「A moment later…」

“All right, all right. That’s enough. This is endless.”

Wang Yu suddenly spoke up.

“‘Successful people’… What kind of successful people do you want my little brother to befriend?”

“Tell me, what is someone supposed to accomplish at 24?”

“At 24, I already had…”

Wang Chao’s mother began to say instinctively.

“Fine. Let’s go, Chao. I’ll take you to a club tonight.”

Wang Yu’s face was suddenly expressionless as he grabbed his coat and threw it on.

“It’s just about having a kid, right?”

“Let’s go, let’s go. We’ll get you a kid in twelve months. Having a kid is so promising. It’ll make the ancestors’ graves emit green smoke, and our forefathers will jump out of their coffins to do a dance for you.”

The Queen Mother was speechless and quickly shut the door.

“You’re always going on about having kids. But when I offer to take my little brother to get one, you won’t let us. If that’s not a double standard, what is?”

Wang Yu let out a heavy sigh, a trace of impatience in his eyes.

He shot Wang Chao a look.

Wang Chao’s face filled with gratitude, and he quietly slipped out of the room.

It had been like this ever since they were kids. If it weren’t for his older brother, he probably would have completely cut ties with his parents by now.

Every argument eventually ended with Wang Yu taking Wang Chao’s place, arguing with their parents on his behalf.

“Still, he can’t just do nothing all day long…” his father mumbled sullenly.

“Doing nothing?”

Wang Yu laughed in exasperation.

“Look around you. This apartment costs at least two thousand a month. Are you the one paying for it?”

“He’s 24, renting his own place, has savings, and is toughing it out on his own. Isn’t that enough?”

“What more do you two want?”

“Does he need to be the richest man in the world? Fine, let’s make it a new family rule: anyone who isn’t the world’s richest person by 24 has to jump off a building and die. Now that’s what I call promising! Not even the number one family in the world could compete with that.”

This time, his parents were left speechless.

Their tone softened unconsciously.

“That’s not what we meant…”

His mother relented, trying to explain.

“We just want to see some change. He’s not a kid anymore. He can’t be like this forever…”

“At least, he should get to know some better friends, not just laze around all day.”

“Better friends?”

Wang Yu laughed. He didn’t know why he was laughing anymore—maybe out of speechlessness, maybe out of anger. In any case, he just felt a little tired of it all.

“That middle-aged man who came in earlier, the one you both gave the cold shoulder to—you didn’t think he was just some retired old man, did you?”

The two of them froze.

They immediately recalled Chu Linhai, who had scanned the room before sitting quietly on the sofa to observe.

“His presence was extraordinary. Based on my experience, he’s definitely a government official, and one with the authority to manage people!”

“I chatted with him for a bit. The first thing he asked me about was ‘Zhang Jian’.”

“In all of Linlan City, there’s only one Zhang Jian I know,”

Wang Yu said, a hint of irritation in his voice.

In his line of work—property development—he naturally had to cooperate with the police long-term. And while he wasn’t at a high enough level to meet with Director Zhang regularly, he had still seen him a few times.

“In the entire official system of Linlan City, there’s only one person named Zhang Jian.”

“The Director of the Linlan City Public Security Bureau!”

Wang Yu said with certainty.

“A few months ago, a bunch of strange things happened in Linlan City. I happened to be at the police station on business and saw his face then. He was in uniform.”

“And for someone to refer to Director Zhang by his full name…”

“This man… he has to be at least at the division-chief level!”

How many division chiefs in Jiangsan City wear a police uniform?

There are a few, actually.

But, someone who can call Zhang Jian by his full name, implying at least an equal rank…

There’s only one person.

“The Director of the Jiangsan City Public Security Bureau?”

Hearing this string of titles, Wang Chao’s parents were utterly stunned.

“It can’t be anyone else.”

Wang Yu nodded.

He had recognized the man while they were chatting earlier.

But he had to pretend he didn’t.

“The Director of the Public Security Bureau personally comes to our house for a New Year’s visit, even if it’s just to check in, to see how things are…”

Wang Yu snorted irritably.

“And that young man next to him—he was the official’s equal.”

“But for someone in his twenties to be on equal footing with a Director… that in itself is not equal at all!”

Here’s an example.

Let’s say you’re forty years old. You’ve been playing a game for decades and finally reach the highest rank.

And then there’s a thirteen-year-old kid who hits that same highest rank as you, but it only took him two days.