Chapter 1268 - Abandoned Chess Piece
Chapter 1268: Abandoned Chess Piece
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Wang Renping didn’t manage to find any valuable clues but had to go back in desperation. He was careful at the moment he left. As he was afraid that the two bodyguards would see his whereabouts, Wang Renping walked around the community area deliberately before he finally came to the place where Yang Ming parked. He opened the door of the front seat and got in the car.
“How was it?” In fact, Yang Ming used the special ability and lip-reading skills to know what Wang Renping and the other bodyguards talked about, but in order not to make himself sound too magical, Yang Ming pretended not to know anything.
“Tian Long has indeed gone out, but I don’t know where he went. The two bodyguards at the door don’t know either.” Wang Renping shrugged helplessly and said, “With their status, it is naturally impossible for them to ask about Tian Long’s whereabouts.”
“I expected this result earlier.” Yang Ming smiled. “How could Tian Long tell his people about his plans?” Yang Ming smiled. “Right now, Tian Long probably wouldn’t come back tonight, but just to be safe, we can wait here. However, we need to pull the window curtains up to prevent us from being accidentally seen by others.
Yang Ming’s car had a reflective film on the glass, but some specialized instruments could penetrate the film and see the insides of the vehicle, so Yang Ming planned to pull the curtains up. The curtains were made of metal fibers. Even those X-ray or infrared instruments couldn’t penetrate it.
The BMW, with its curtains pulled up, was like a small tent, but it wouldn’t attract too many people’s attention. Many little couples liked to make love in the car, having events such as car sex, so pulling up the curtains did not seem out of place.
Although the curtains were pulled up, as long as the reverse system camera in the car was started, the road situation behind the car could be seen through the camera. They could see the passing vehicles clearly so that if Tian Long’s car passed by, Wang Renping could see it at a glance.
Yang Ming did not need this. His eyes could easily see through anything, not to mention the metal curtain. Turning on the reversing system camera inside the car was just for Wang Renping.
…
In the junkyard, Tian Long walked into the room where his son, Tian Donghua, was put under house arrest.
In the afternoon, Tian Long received a call from Zhang Jinguo, saying that Tian Donghua hadn’t eaten anything, and he was in a daze in the room. At that time, Tian Long was also angry, so he ignored him. He told Zhang Jinguo that if Tian Donghua wanted to eat, then he could, or else, just forget about him.
But no matter what, Tian Donghua was Tian Long’s son. After Tian Long had his own dinner, he was more upset the more he thought about it. He thought that Tian Donghua hadn’t eaten yet, and he was worried about it. He finally couldn’t help but decide to go and visit his son to talk to him in the hope that his son could understand his actions and support him.
It wasn’t long before Wang Renping had bid farewell. Tian Long didn’t want to bother and trouble him anymore. In the past few days, Wang Renping was appointed to do many things. Wang Renping was too tired. Since he felt visiting Tian Donghua wasn’t a big deal, there was no need to ask Wang Renping to come back and drive him there.
So Tian Long simply called four bodyguards, had one of them drive, and headed to the junkyard.
Tian Donghua was already numb toward this. When he saw Tian Long come, he just looked up and glanced at him. Then, he lowered his head, minded his own business, and ignored him.
“Donghua, have you had dinner?” Tian Long sat next to Tian Donghua and reached out to touch Tian Donghua’s hair.
Tian Donghua dodged away somewhat in disgust. “Even if I don’t eat anything, it has nothing to do with you. We don’t agree with each other. I don’t agree with what you do, so I don’t bother you, and you don’t bother me. I can’t eat now. When I am hungry, naturally, I will eat.”
Tian Donghua didn’t want to do a hunger strike to scare Tian Long, because he knew that this trick was a bit too childish. If he really did a hunger strike, Tian Long could forcefully inject nutrients and glucose into him. It would be fine as long as he didn’t die.
Therefore, Tian Donghua would not go on a hunger strike. He did not eat anything now because he was choked up with anxiety deep down in his heart. So, he did not want to eat. On the one hand, it was his father. On the other hand, it was his friend. Tian Donghua did not want to shield his father as his father did the wrong thing, but he was unable to change anything, so he felt unusually uncomfortable.
The reason why Tian Donghua didn’t persuade Tian Long was that he knew that Tian Long wouldn’t listen to anything. At this moment, persuading him would be in vain. There was no meaning to it at all. It was better to save his words and efforts.
“Donghua, why don’t you understand Father’s painstaking efforts?” Tian Long looked at his son, who did not meet his expectations, resentfully, “Think about it. If it weren’t for you, why would I do so many things? How old am I? How many years can I continue working? Can I still work for a few years? Isn’t it for you and Dongguang? Do you want to continue to work for the Sun Family like your father after graduating from college?”
“Is there anything that is not good with it?” Tian Donghua frowned. He felt that his father had a problem with his train of thought. It was already unreasonable. “How many college students are unemployed after graduation? Even getting the job of washing the toilet makes them happy. I have at least something to do after I graduate, and I will be put in an important position. What is bad about it?”
“Even if you are put in an important position, you still have to look at the Sun Family’s face in doing things! Because they are always the bosses, no matter how great you are with power, your position is also given to you by the Sun Family. Don’t think that you are superior to many people but only under one person. Everyone in the group respects you as an uncle, but when the Sun Family people see you as unpleasing to the eye, one sentence will make you become a nobody and lose everything. You will fall from the mightiest position!” Tian Long snorted and said, “Have you thought about it?”
“If I do it well enough with no faults being picked, how can the Sun Family find us trouble?” Tian Donghua naturally did not agree with Tian Long’s theory. Although it couldn’t be said that Tian Long’s theory was wrong, all the people around the boss were afraid of the boss dismissing them according to Tian Long’s words. Do you want to be the first to replace the boss? Then, wouldn’t this world be in chaos?
“Having said that, there are exceptions. Who can guarantee that you will not make any mistakes?” Tian Long said, “And about your brother’s character, he doesn’t know if he offended someone. I heard that he has offended Sun Zhiwei of the Sun Family. After Sun Zhiwei is in power, can he still have a good life? Most probably, he will implicate you!”
What Tian Long said was true. Not only Tian Dongguang, but even Tian Long himself and Sun Zhiwei had grudges. But, in his opinion, Sun Zhiwei was a disappointing Ah Dou 1 [1]. Sun Hongjun simply could not hand over the family business to him. The most likely person to attain the position would be Sun Jie. Sun Jie was a reasonable person. She wouldn’t make things difficult for him just because of his hatred with Sun Zhiwei.
Moreover, with the relationship between Sun Jie and Yang Ming, wouldn’t Yang Ming be the one who has the say in the Sun Family? Who is Yang Ming? Would my good brother, Yang Ming, mistreat me?
Therefore, if it were someone else, he might be persuaded by Tian Long. However, Tian Donghua was not tempted, nor did he think that what Tian Long said would come true. It was just the alarmist’s talk.
“Then, after I graduate, it will be fine as long as I stop doing things for the Sun Family. It won’t be a big deal,” said Tian Donghua.
Tian Long was speechless listening to Tian Donghua’s words. The two people had different opinions, and they couldn’t be unified together. Even if Tian Long spoke until he damaged his throat, Tian Donghua would not budge. Thinking up to this point, Tian Long sighed in disappointment.
Zhang Jinguo was afraid that Tian Long would notice something was wrong, so he didn’t dare to talk too much. He stood by in fear and trepidation and listened to what Tian Long said, and he couldn’t help but smile. At this time, he still advised his son to betray the Sun Family with him. However, his son was still being alert for not getting involved with his father, or he would not know how he would die.
Zhang Jinguo smiled secretly in his heart. In his opinion, Tian Long and Yang Ming were not at the same level at all. Yang Ming could kill two people by merely raising his hands without him seeing how Yang Ming make a move to defeat the two people. But, Tian Long’s methods were nothing more than shouting, fighting, and threatening. In contrast, there was no horror with it at all.
But this couldn’t be said, although Zhang Jinguo believed that Yang Ming would win for sure, he still had to put up an act for the night before dawn.
“Brother Long, have you had dinner? Should I go and get some food?” Zhang Jinguo asked carefully.
” En , go ahead and get some food!” Tian Long didn’t eat anything before. He kept thinking about Tian Donghua. Now, he was a bit hungry after being reminded by Zhang Jinguo. It was a good opportunity to eat with his son. Maybe both of them could ease the relationship now.
Zhang Jinguo listened to Tian Long’s words and ran out to get the dishes. He was a little uncomfortable standing next to Tian Long for fear that Tian Long would notice some flaws in him.
What a good chance this was! Zhang Jinguo couldn’t help but sigh. If he had Yang Ming’s voodoo, he could directly put it into Tian Long’s wine, which would save Yang Ming the trouble from acting against Tian Long. When Tian Long was poisoned, wouldn’t he be obedient?
However, since Yang Ming ordered them not to intervene and not to stick their nose into this business, Zhang Jinguo couldn’t make his own decision to poison Tian Long. He didn’t know if Yang Ming wanted Tian Long alive, so he didn’t bother with it. Zhang Jinguo just walked out of the junkyard and got into his own Toyota. Then, he drove nearby to buy food.
The junkyard was located in an empty suburb. There were no buildings and residences nearby, let alone places like restaurants. So, if Zhang Jinguo were to buy food, he could only go to the urban area. Every day when it was almost mealtime, Zhang Jinguo sent one of his own men to buy some food.
He bought some meals in the evening before and had some leftovers, but because it was early spring with chilly weather, it was already cold. If he served such things to Tian Long, Tian Long would not be happy.
Anyway, it was also his last night serving Tian Long, Zhang Jinguo was not afraid of it being troublesome and personally drove to prepare it.
There was an Ivy restaurant nearby, which was just on the outskirts of the road. It provided accommodations for the truck drivers who passed by. It was open twenty-four hours a day, and the food tasted good. Zhang Jinguo placed a meal order at this place every day.
He ordered a few stir-fried dishes and platters for Tian Long. He also asked for a few pounds of dumplings and oil cakes. After Zhang Jinguo finished packing it, he hurried back.
As Tian Long looked at the steaming dishes on the table, his appetite became better, and he praised Zhang Jinguo for the meal. He called Tian Donghua to eat.
Tian Donghua was also hungry, so he did not reject it. Although the father and son had different views, they still had to eat. Starving himself wasn’t worth it. What’s more, Tian Donghua did not eat before because he was angry. He did not plan for a hunger strike.
The father and son ate unpleasantly. In the beginning, Tian Long looked at Tian Donghua’s unpleasant expression and found it not appropriate to speak up. But, after a few glasses of wine, he unconsciously opened his mouth and began to chatter and brainwash Tian Donghua.
“Donghua, have you ever thought about it? The Sun Family’s business has become our Tian Family’s. You will be more bad*ss in Donghai in the future, right? Although the current Tian Family is very good, you will reach a new height as compared to the past!” Tian Long said, “Just like last time, you fought with others because of a girl and beat them up. Even if nothing happened to you, you still had to transfer, right? But now it’s different. If you beat someone up, you just need to pay them, and you won’t need to transfer. This is the power of the Sun Family in Donghai!”
Tian Donghua snorted. If it were a year ago, perhaps Tian Donghua would be tempted. However, in the past year, Tian Donghua had matured a lot and felt that he was really naive previously, especially after getting into a relationship with Wang Xue. He got over a lot of things. Hence, facing Tian Long’s temptation, Tian Donghua was utterly indifferent to it.
Looking up, Tian Donghua looked at Tian Long in a daze and said, “I don’t care. When I was young and frivolous, the fight just happened. Now that I think about it, it was a foolish act.”
“…” Tian Long was stunned, but he had no other way. He thought that Tian Donghua would be interested after he said these words, but he got such a response in the end where Tian Donghua replied to him plainly.
“Even so, you need to think about your younger brother. I have to go further! Look at Tian Dongguang, he is so old and yet immature. He’s the same as a prodigal young master. If your father’s power does not get bigger, how can I wipe his *ss for him?” said Tian Long.
“You should not give excuses for your own wild ambitions. If you were an ordinary citizen, Tian Dongguang can’t be arrogant like this now,” said Tian Donghua faintly.
” Hmph ! Even if I have wild ambitions, so what? You and I are father and son. This can’t be changed and can’t be chosen! Even if you don’t support me, it doesn’t matter. After a few years, you will understand!” Tian Long was made helpless by Tian Donghua. He slammed the table and yelled, “My plans are set. If you disagree with me, what about it?”
Tian Donghua didn’t say anything more. The two people didn’t have any common language now. It would be a waste even if he spoke up, so Tian Donghua chose to be silent and continued to bury his head and eliminate the food in front of him.
Just when Tian Long was so passionately and insufferably arrogant about himself, he didn’t know that he had been given up by the behind-the-scenes boss. After the behind-the-scenes boss saw that Qu Daming and Liu Chan were exposed in advance, he did not hold any hope for Tian Long. He even killed Sui Yuejin to frame Yang Ming.
In other words, Tian Long had become an abandoned chess piece. If there were a need, the behind-the-scenes boss would abandon him without hesitation, but now it seemed that Tian Long was of no use at all. Killing him or not had no direct relationship with Yang Ming, so the behind-the-scenes boss was too lazy to deal with him, letting him go to fend for himself.
After Tian Long finished the wine, it was after two o’clock at night. Now, if he wanted to go back to the villa in dizziness, it would be quite uncomfortable to go through the trouble of traveling, so Tian Long decided not to go back tonight. He could find a room here and settle down to sleep for the night here.
“Jinguo, do you have any empty rooms? Prepare one for me!” Tian Long informed Zhang Jinguo.
Even if there were none, Zhang Jinguo had to say, “Okay, Brother Long, I am going to prepare one.”
Zhang Jinguo gave up his room because it was not easy to pick up a room in such a short time. He just found a place to deal with the night and settled the matter.
Yang Ming and Wang Renping waited until the middle of the night, yet they did not see Tian Long. Yang Ming knew that Tian Long would probably not come back. As for where he went, Yang Ming didn’t want to guess. He said to Wang Renping right next to him, “Get some rest. It seems that Tian Long won’t come back.”
Wang Renping nodded. According to Tian Long’s living habits, he must have found a place to rest nearby. It was impossible to go through the trouble in the middle of the night. After all, Tian Long was also a man in his fifties. He couldn’t shoulder the trouble at the level of how young people could.
The next day was sunny. When Yang Ming glanced at the villa, it was still those bodyguards without Tian Long’s presence. Apparently, Tian Long did not return overnight.
Wang Renping was also a bodyguard, so his sleep was not only light but also little. Not long after Yang Ming woke up, he awoke and looked at the yard in the villa. Tian Long’s car was still missing, so he shook his head and said, “Tian Long’s car is not there. It seems that he has not come back overnight.”
“Where is Tian Long generally during the day?” asked Yang Ming.
“Tian Long received the Sun Family’s company, but because things have not settled, the property rights of some things have not been transferred. Hence, Tian Long will not go to the company during the day, but to a former gathering hall of his gang. It’s Ma Qing’s territory…” said Wang Renping.
“Ma Qiang… If Ma Qiang disappears, will Tian Long be suspicious?” Yang Ming frowned after listening to Wang Renping.
“It’s okay.” Wang Renping shook his head with a smile. “Ma Qiang is the senior next to Tian Long. His age is not very young. Under normal circumstances without critical matters, he wouldn’t go to the gang gathering hall. The second-in-command, Shen Miaotu, is in charge of it. He also came here yesterday and took the voodoo. He is considered part of us with a good relationship with me. He should know how to pick his side.”
[1] a disappointing Ah Dou: A disappointing Ah Dou is a Chinese idiom that describes a person as the ultimate loser who can’t achieve great things. It came from the story of The Three Kingdoms whereby Ah Dou is the son of a king who leads the kingdom to its downfall.