Chapter 164 — Who Is the Fool, Who the Innocent?

This man, then, must be Li Cihua. As he opened his mouth to speak, Wei Zhao was studying him closely. Li Cihua's first impression on Wei Zhao was one of overweening dominance: the arrogance and self-assurance of a man used to sitting at the top were on full display, and one had to admit he had built a very successful public image for himself.

This was what people called an aura of kingly dominance. Anyone whose own presence was the slightest bit weaker would likely find himself treading carefully and timidly before him.

But Wei Zhao had seen plenty of men with this kind of kingly aura. Few of them were still alive; of those who had been his enemies, most had either transmigrated or been reborn elsewhere.

Wei Zhao simply ignored Li Cihua, wandered casually once around the office, glanced at the skull-faced man, and asked, "Is this your little sweetheart?"

"..." Li Cihua was speechless. He glared, on the verge of cursing aloud. Why wouldn't Wei Zhao play by the rules? His original plan had been to get Wei Zhao seated, then apply pressure and offer inducements, see whether the man could be won over; if he could be recruited, recruit him, and if not, dispose of him.

But Wei Zhao had simply refused to sit, and instead posed a question that infuriated Li Cihua. What kind of eyes did this man have? Did a sweetheart look like that?

Li Cihua coughed twice. "Mr. Lin's eyesight would seem to be rather poor. This is my secretary. My male secretary."

"Oh, so Brother Cihua is into that sort of thing!" Wei Zhao nodded as if a great truth had dawned on him. "I am trembling with fear, little me. Tell me, fatty, you don't have designs on me, do you?"

"Fuck!" Li Cihua was about to go mad. When he had first heard Wei Zhao call him "Brother Cihua," he had actually been rather pleased, thinking the young fellow was sensible enough to know he was a "brother." But the words that followed did not sit quite right. What did he mean, he was into that sort of thing?

And then, from "Brother Cihua," Wei Zhao had gone straight to "fatty." At last Li Cihua could contain himself no longer and let out an oath.

"Heh, just a joke, don't be angry." Wei Zhao sat down with a smile on the sofa opposite Li Cihua. That earlier speech had been deliberately calculated to provoke Li Cihua and test the limits of his patience; only when a man's head was muddled would he be likely to reveal more of his true thoughts in the conversation to follow. And now it seemed his goal had been achieved, so naturally Wei Zhao did not waste more words on him.

"..." Li Cihua frowned. "Mr. Lin, since you were willing to come here, let us speak plainly and keep no secrets."

"Say what you have to say." All of Wei Zhao's earlier groundwork had been aimed at making Li Cihua speak plainly and not beat around the bush with him. Those earlier words had also been a warning to Li Cihua: if he wanted to circle about and spout nonsense, Wei Zhao was better at it than he was.

"Straight to the point!" Li Cihua said. "Let us speak frankly, then. That bank kidnapping case earlier, were you stirring up trouble behind the scenes?"

"Did it need me to stir up trouble?" Wei Zhao said with some contempt. "Those men were trash. What, were they your people?"

To Wei Zhao's surprise, Li Cihua nodded quite readily. "Indeed. I failed to take Mr. Lin's existence into account. Sending those men was a genuine miscalculation on my part."

"Oh? You mean you were the mastermind behind the bank kidnapping?" Wei Zhao was somewhat puzzled that Li Cihua would so directly admit to having done it.

"I was merely one of the interested parties..." Li Cihua said. "The specifics, Mr. Lin need not know. The more you know, the faster you die."

"Ha, are you trying to frighten me?" Wei Zhao was utterly unimpressed by Li Cihua's threat. "Aren't you afraid I will report you to the police?"

"Haha!" Li Cihua looked at Wei Zhao as though he were an idiot. "Since I have said it aloud, naturally I am not afraid of you going to the police."

"Is that so?" Wei Zhao looked at Li Cihua with a half-smile.

"If you don't believe me, you can try..." Li Cihua waved a hand. "Evidence. There is no evidence! Words without proof are nothing, and I leave no evidence of any kind! Wei Zhao, I must say you are quite stupid and rather naive. At our level, in the struggles between people like us, the only ones who can be dragged out are the small fry. Do you think the police don't know what I am doing? No, they know. They know better than you do! But they cannot touch me. Why? Because they cannot afford to offend the people behind me, and they have no evidence sufficient to move against me!"

"You mean that if I killed you, and the police had no evidence, you would have died for nothing all the same?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Though your analogy is rather laughable, I can tell you this: if you really did kill me, and you were clever enough to leave no evidence whatsoever, then so long as Gu Pengzhan stands behind you, no one could do anything to you either." Li Cihua said, "This is the rule of struggle in high society. No one goes out of his way to break the rules."

"Heh, I understand." Wei Zhao nodded, cursing inwardly: You fool, and you are smiling so happily? I could snuff you out as easily as playing a game. But since you have said as much, I cannot snuff you out after all; once you were dead, the one behind you would certainly not let the matter rest. What Wei Zhao was weighing now was the overall situation. Until Gu Pengzhan launched a full-scale offensive, Wei Zhao would not act rashly either. Striking at a few key figures on the other side to give them a warning was one thing, but killing them... that was a little too early.

"I am glad you understand that much. Then I will not waste words with you, nor beat about the bush!" Li Cihua said. "As the saying goes, 'He who knows the times is a wise man.' I take it Mr. Lin has also grasped this: finishing you off is in fact a very easy thing for us. While you live, Gu Pengzhan may still have some use for you, but once you are dead, do you think he would step forward for a mere guard... or even for his daughter's lover? If he knew about you and his daughter, he would wish you dead all the sooner, would he not?"

Watching Li Cihua spit as he spoke, Wei Zhao felt only contempt in his heart. This fellow's mind was far too foul; he had actually imagined the relationship between Wei Zhao and Gu Mengyao to be something filthy and complicated. Did he look like the sort of man who would steal a young lady's heart?

Looking at Li Cihua, so smug in the belief that he had seen through to the inside truth, Wei Zhao found him pitiful, and lamentable, and thoroughly foolish.

The kind of person who thinks he has seen the truth while knowing nothing at all is the most foolish kind there is.

"What are you trying to say?" Wei Zhao did not refute Li Cihua's words; let him misunderstand however he pleased. Since he had misread the relationship between Wei Zhao and Gu Mengyao, so much the better: it would give Wei Zhao all the more justification for moving against him later. You lay hands on my woman, I lay hands on your whole family.

"Work with us." Li Cihua said this with great confidence.

"Work with you?" This time Wei Zhao was rather taken aback; he had not expected Li Cihua to say such a thing.