BPIFC -Volume 1 – Chapter 201 Be Friends

When this father and son started arguing, no one in the Polls Bureau dared to step in and break it up. If it had been ordinary people, separating them would have been simple. But neither of these two had an ordinary temperament. The son was like a mad dog—ignite him and he would immediately bite anyone in sight. The father was even worse. Who knew whether he might actually tell you to beat up his son, only to ask afterward, “Tell me, who told you to hit my son?”

In the end, Sun Desheng dragged Shen La along, and the two of them managed to pull Che Qianzi out of the room. Back in Fatty Sun’s office, the boss sighed and said to his third brother, “Ancestor, can’t we just talk nicely? Couldn’t you just go in and say, ‘Dad, give me an immortality pill. I’ll trade it for candy beans…’ Is that really so hard? If Director Wu were my old man, I’d go to the Sixth Office every day shouting ‘Dad!'”

Although Shen La had just lost his girlfriend and was feeling depressed, he could only help persuade Che Qianzi:

“Third Brother, listen to your two big brothers. We’re doing this for your own good. Don’t make things so tense with your father. Everyone in the Polls Bureau is watching the two of you. If you two don’t settle down, nobody’s going to have an easy time.”

“Then let nobody have an easy time! You want me to acknowledge that pretty boy as my father? Bah! Maybe in the next life!”

Still furious, Che Qianzi spat on the ground and continued cursing: “You two go tell that pretty boy this—don’t even dream about having a son to take care of you in your old age!”

Seeing that they couldn’t persuade him, Sun Desheng smiled bitterly.

“Brother, strictly speaking, with your father’s immortal body, it’s hard to say who’ll be taking care of whom in old age…”

At the same time, Wu Rendi was rolling his eyes in anger. In more than two thousand years, no one had ever angered him this much. Who would have thought that the person most capable of hurting him would turn out to be his own son?

Just as Director Wu was looking for someone to vent his anger on, Tu An gathered his courage and cautiously approached him.

“Kong Dalong has arrived. He wants to see you. What do you think…?”

Hearing that Kong Dalong had come, Wu Rendi rolled his eyes again.

“Let him in. I happen to have something to say to him.”

Moments later, the smiling old man entered Wu Rendi’s office. After seeing the furious expression on Director Wu’s face, Kong Dalong chuckled.

“I heard about it the moment I entered the Polls Bureau. Now you know how hard I had it, don’t you? Things are much better now. When he was sixteen, he once chased me all over the place with a kitchen knife.”

Wu Rendi looked at him with his trademark gaze. He had intended to blame Kong Dalong for not raising the boy properly, but after hearing that, he couldn’t help asking: “He was like that at sixteen? What terrible thing did you do?”

“Oh, nothing much. I gambled away the Taoist temple. Creditors came to throw us out.”

Kong Dalong spoke as though it were nothing and then laughed as he recalled something amusing.

“But speaking of it, that kid Che Qianzi really is loyal. He beat up the creditors first, then chased more than a dozen of them around with a shovel all by himself. After driving away the outsiders, he came back and beat me up.”

Wu Rendi’s face darkened.

“He really laid hands on you?”

“How could he bear to?” Kong Dalong burst out laughing.

“He only waved a kitchen knife around to scare me and forced me to swear never to gamble away the temple again. Makes sense—if we lost the temple, where would the two of us sleep?”

After hearing this, Wu Rendi finally understood why his son had such a temperament. Part of it was inherited, and part of it came from being raised by this old man. But he couldn’t blame him. A lone old Taoist priest had managed to raise the child to adulthood. Deep down, Wu Rendi was already grateful, but his personality prevented him from expressing words of thanks.

Seeing Wu Rendi remain silent, Kong Dalong smiled.

“I knew things wouldn’t go smoothly when you two first met. That’s why this old man came to act as a peacemaker. Nephew-in-law, you’ve owed that child nearly twenty years of fatherly companionship. You can’t always stay high above everyone else. You have to learn to lower yourself. If you want to be father and son, you must first become friends.”

Wu Rendi smiled faintly.

“So you and your father treated each other like buddies? Do I look like your father?”

Kong Dalong laughed.

“Whether you look like him and whether you do it are two different things. If we’re talking about understanding Che Qianzi, let me boast a little—I know him ten times better than you do. Listen to me.”

As he spoke, Kong Dalong took a photograph from his pocket. It was a picture from Che Qianzi’s infancy during his “grabbing ceremony,” and on the back were the blood-written words left by Wu Rendi himself.

Placing the photograph in front of Wu Rendi, the old man continued, “This is my wish. Lower yourself and become friends with Che Qianzi first.”

Wu Rendi hadn’t expected the photograph he had just given away to return so quickly. He frowned and stared at the smiling old man.

“This can only be used once. Are you really going to use it now?”

“Now is the best time.”

Kong Dalong smiled.

“Being able to see that child accept you as his father is my greatest wish. You said that as long as I didn’t ask you to kill yourself, you’d grant any wish of mine. Now I’m asking Wu Rendi to lower himself and become friends with Che Qianzi. It’s not difficult. You can do it.”

Wu Rendi looked at the old man silently for a long time. Then he took the photograph and wiped away the blood writing on the back. Cutting his finger once more, he wrote another character—Che.

Returning the photograph, he said: “This is your second wish…”

Ten minutes later, in an ICU ward, Yang Xiao lay covered in tubes while video chatting with his girlfriend.

“You need to study properly, or your homeroom teacher will come looking for me again… The tutor doesn’t know either? Then ask me. I’m not boasting, but there aren’t many things in this world I don’t know… By the way, I probably won’t be able to attend your parents’ meeting…”

“No, I don’t have another woman outside. It’s just that I don’t dare leave…”

Just as Yang Xiao was chatting enthusiastically, a hand suddenly reached out from behind and turned off the video. There was only one person who could appear behind him so silently.

Without even thinking, Old Yang shut his eyes. Instantly, the heart monitor beside him displayed two straight lines.

A harsh voice sounded behind him: “So eager to die? Need me to help you?”

Only then did Yang Xiao awkwardly open his eyes. Sure enough, standing behind him was Director Wu Rendi.

Before Old Yang could say anything, Wu Rendi spoke first: “Stop pretending to be dead here. I need your help with something.”

After much effort, Sun Desheng and Shen La finally calmed Che Qianzi down. By then, work hours had long since ended. Fatty Sun planned to take his two brothers out for a drink and continue persuading them. One had just lost his girlfriend, and the other was at odds with his biological father. Even thinking about it gave Fatty Sun a headache.

Just as they were about to leave, they received a call from Director Ren.

“Desheng, a case has come up. There’s nobody left in the bureau right now, so help take a look. Is Shen La and Che—Wu… that fellow still with you? Bring them along.”

Normally, there were personnel on duty, but shortly after work they had all been dispatched to deal with an incident at the Northwestern oil fields. Director Ren wanted the three brothers to make a preliminary assessment so they could determine who should be called back to handle the case.

With no other choice, Sun Desheng led his two brothers to the small conference room on the second floor.

What they had not expected was that, the moment they entered, the first person they saw sitting beside Director Ren was none other than Wu Rendi…