Chapter 80:

On this day, Zhao Chunjun headed to the hospital as usual. Before leaving, he took a shower at his usual time, grabbed his briefcase, and walked out precisely on schedule. Not only his shoes and car, but even his glasses were spotless, not a speck of dust on them.

Neighbors in the community saw Zhao Chunjun stepping out of his building, yet despite being nearby, none of them greeted him. He, in turn, completely ignored them. As he passed by like a gust of wind, two neighbors watering plants began whispering to each other.

“There goes Doctor Zhao again,” one remarked.

The other clicked his tongue and said, “Poor soul. I bet someone’s going to have a bad day today.”

As Zhao Chunjun drove past the garden, he overheard their conversation. He slowly rolled up the car window, and just before it shut completely, he turned to the two with a smile and said, “If you two have time to gossip about who’s going to have a bad day, you should be grateful it’s not you who’s about to land in my hands. Have a pleasant chat.” With that, he sped off in his pristine white Porsche.

The two neighbors stood there, stunned, then sighed deeply. “I wonder how old Doctor Zhao could have left behind such a son. He wasn’t this bad as a kid. A person like this being a doctor, only a psychiatric hospital would take him.”

The other replied, “Well, let’s not talk too much. The hospital hasn’t said anything, so why should we get involved?”

Indeed, why should outsiders care so much? What others do, how they live, what they do—what does it have to do with them? Why do they feel the need to comment on others’ lives? On what basis? By what right?

Zhao Chunjun sped down the relatively empty roads in the early morning, pondering these questions. His speed reached up to a hundred kilometers per hour. On a highway, that wouldn’t be much, but in the city, it was already speeding. It was only because it was too early and the traffic police hadn’t started work yet that he hadn’t been pulled over. Even without police, he would still likely get caught by cameras and fined.

The psychiatric hospital where Zhao worked and his residence were at opposite ends of Beijing. He had to cross the entire city every day for work, but over the years, he had never been late once. He always arrived earlier than anyone else and left the latest.

He only slept four to five hours a day, and five hours was actually on the generous side. Most days, even four hours wasn’t enough, which was why he always had heavy dark circles under his eyes.

Driving at such a reckless speed, Zhao soon arrived at the hospital. The sun had just risen, and the morning had officially begun.

Grabbing his briefcase, Zhao walked into the hospital as usual. As he passed the first-floor reception area, however, the receptionist called him.

“Doctor Zhao!” she called out, her expression not particularly pleasant.

Zhao turned slightly and asked, “What’s the matter?”

The receptionist hesitated for a moment before saying, “Nothing much, except that someone has been waiting for you here since four or five o’clock this morning.”

Zhao frowned slightly and asked, “Who?”

After a pause, the receptionist replied, “I don’t recognize the others, but one of them came to see you before. I think his surname is Shen. I told them to come back during the day, but they insisted on waiting here until now. They’re probably waiting at your office door. I wanted to stop them, but that man…”

“I see,” Zhao said calmly. “Thank you.” He then quickly headed upstairs with his briefcase.

The surname Shen could only refer to one person—Shen Qingzhou.

At this critical moment, Shen Qingzhou coming to find him could only mean one of two things: either he had nowhere else to turn, or he had come for revenge. Based on Zhao’s recent contact with Fang Mingjun and his understanding of their relationship, the former was more likely.

Feeling confident, Zhao strode up to the fifth floor and walked toward his office with a self-assured smile. However, when he saw who was waiting with Shen Qingzhou outside his office, his smile immediately vanished.

Zhao tightened his grip on the briefcase, quickly ducked behind a wall, and began to ponder what was going on.

The people with Shen Qingzhou were all unfamiliar to him, but from his instincts as a doctor, he could tell they were there for him. Some of them were talking, and from their lip movements, Zhao could read the dangerous signals.

He didn’t have time to think further. Fearing discovery, Zhao immediately rushed downstairs and fled the hospital. The receptionist had never seen Doctor Zhao in such a disheveled state. It was always him who drove others to run in panic. This was the first time she had seen him like this.

Upstairs, Shen Qingzhou suddenly glanced at his watch and frowned slightly. “Go down. He must have arrived and probably saw us. He’s probably already run off in his car by now.”

One of the men accompanying Shen Qingzhou said, “You’re truly a master at predicting things, Master Shen. Is feng shui really that miraculous? Don’t worry, I’ve already arranged people at the checkpoints as you instructed. Once he passes by, we’ll definitely catch him.” He paused slightly, then raised his eyebrows with a sarcastic smile. “Especially since his car is so eye-catching.”

Shen Qingzhou looked at him and said, “Officer Liu is right, but I feel that he’s cautious enough. Just from the fact that all of you are strangers, he can probably tell you’re police officers. Once he realizes the situation and understands that he’s been tricked, he might not be foolish enough to escape in his Porsche.”

After listening to him, Officer Liu stood there for a moment, then suddenly took off running. “Let’s go!”

Shen Qingzhou followed them downstairs. Five or six people marched out of the psychiatric hospital, went around the back of the white building, got into an unmarked car, and quickly chased off in the predetermined direction.

Zhao Chunjun drove his Porsche through back alleys for a while, his hand gripping the steering wheel sweating. The neighbors’ daily sarcasm from this morning floated in his mind. He kept thinking about how Fang Mingjun could bear the hatred of his only son being arrested and imprisoned, and then cooperate with Shen Qingzhou to strike back at him. Truly ruthless. Even a tiger wouldn’t eat its own cub. Fang Mingjun, chairman of the Fangshi Group, had certainly earned his reputation for reaching such a position.

Zhao Chunjun’s expression seemed calm, but the sweat on his forehead and palms betrayed him. He kept cursing Fang Mingjun’s cowardice and shamelessness in his heart, but wasn’t that also a sign of his own twisted values? Fang Zheng had committed crimes and deserved to be punished according to the law. The people he had harmed were numerous. Even as his biological father, how could Fang Mingjun close his eyes to all his illegal and criminal acts? As a father, all Fang Mingjun could do was help reduce his son’s sentence and properly educate him after his release.

“A son’s failure to be taught is the father’s fault.” Fang Mingjun’s choice was absolutely not wrong.

Sitting in the black SUV with plainclothes police officers, Shen Qingzhou chased along the route they had planned. They had waited for Zhao Chunjun at the hospital because they were worried evidence might be destroyed. If they had gone directly to his house, Zhao’s caution might have led him to discover their intentions and destroy all the evidence before they even entered.

Zhao Chunjun wouldn’t be foolish enough to leave evidence in the well-known psychiatric hospital. The best place to store evidence would be at his home. Shen Qingzhou and the police had gone to great lengths. One group chased him, while another waited at his doorstep to search for evidence once he left. It was truly a carefully thought-out plan.

After driving about twenty kilometers, Zhao Chunjun suddenly turned into an alley near the roadside. In a deserted place, he got out, locked the car, and, with a secret key and wallet, started running on foot.

Shen Qingzhou’s prediction was correct. Even though he had initially acted recklessly out of panic, Zhao Chunjun was ultimately a cautious wolf. He quickly realized that escaping in his expensive Porsche would make him too obvious a target. He abandoned the luxury car and fled on foot, looking for an unmarked vehicle. Soon, a silver Hyundai pulled up beside him.

The driver of the Hyundai was cautious. He rolled down the window and casually asked, “Sir, are you going somewhere?”

Zhao Chunjun didn’t say a word and got into the car, coldly saying, “Drive.”

“Where to?” the unmarked driver started the car and casually asked.

Zhao Chunjun said, “The farthest and most remote place you can think of. You decide, it doesn’t matter where.”

The driver cautiously glanced at Zhao Chunjun. Zhao, expressionless, said, “Don’t worry, I’m not in the mood to rob you.” He took out a stack of hundred-yuan bills from his wallet and threw them to the driver, urging him, “Drive faster.”

Seeing the money, the driver couldn’t help but feel tempted. He immediately stepped on the gas and drove toward the remote, uninhabited areas as Zhao Chunjun requested.

During the drive, Zhao Chunjun took out his phone and discarded the SIM card. He then searched his body for any devices that might emit GPS signals. Only after confirming there were none did he relax slightly, holding the phone without a card (which could only dial emergency numbers) and fell into deep thought.

The driver was curious about what had happened to Zhao Chunjun and why he needed to go to such a desolate place. In Beijing, such places were extremely rare.

Filled with curiosity and concern, the driver couldn’t help but ask, “Sir, why do you need to go to such a place?”

Zhao Chunjun raised his eyes and looked at the driver, who seemed determined to get an answer. Zhao’s lips curled into a dark, sinister smile as he said, “Because I stole my friend’s wife, and now he wants to kill me. I’m on the run.”

The highest level of lying is to mix truth with falsehood, making it easier to be believed.

After saying that, Zhao Chunjun continued, “I hope my friend here can keep this a secret. After all, it’s not something to be proud of.”

The driver laughed knowingly, “Don’t worry, it’s a small matter. I’ll definitely act like I’ve never seen you, brother.”

Zhao Chunjun politely smiled with his lips slightly closed, then lowered his head again in silence.

The driver turned on the radio and listlessly listened to the news. Everything seemed to be running normally, as if the previous panic had been just a dream.

Zhao Chunjun slightly relaxed, leaning back against the car seat. His forehead’s sweat gradually evaporated. The loss of moisture brought with it a tightness that matched the tension in his heart.