RNP Chapter 1119 Ah Hu Pleads for Mercy
Chapter 1119 Ah Hu Pleads for Mercy
Hearing the knock on the door, Zhang Li was sitting on the sofa, sulking, his enamel mug clenched so tightly it turned white. He snorted coldly, convinced that it was that rascal Li Jianjun who had somehow gotten wind of the situation and knew that only he could help him, so he had shamelessly asked someone to plead for him—in the entire factory, besides him, the father-in-law, who else could get him out of jail?
He abruptly stood up, strode to the door, and opened it, his face still flushed with anger, his brows furrowed. But as soon as the door opened, he saw a strange man standing there, wearing a faded blue jacket with frayed cuffs and muddy splattered on his trousers. His eyes darted around, revealing a shrewd, street-smart air. Zhang Li immediately frowned, his tone wary: "Who are you? Do you want something?"
Ah Hu's face immediately broke into a smile, a smile that was just right, both warm and not obsequious, and his tone was as polite as could be: "Uncle Zhang, hello, hello! I'm Li Jianjun's friend, my surname is Wang, you can just call me Xiao Wang." As he spoke, he glanced into the house, and seeing that Zhang Li didn't intend to let him in, he quickly added, "I have something I'd like to talk to you about, it'll only take a few minutes of your time, I promise it won't be long."
He knew perfectly well what he could say and what he had to keep to himself. Some things, like the ambiguous affair between Li Jianjun and Lili, or their true motives for setting up this trap, if he were to rush to reveal them now, Zhang Li might get so angry that he'd think Li Jianjun was a hopeless son-in-law and wouldn't even bother to save him, and Lili would have no chance of getting out of there.
Zhang Li sized him up, noticing his ordinary clothes and faint smell of smoke emanating from him. He didn't seem to be from the factory or have a proper job. His tone immediately turned impatient: "You're Li Jianjun's friend, go find him! What are you talking to me about? I'm busy here, I don't have time to entertain irrelevant people." As he spoke, he made a move to close the door, pulling it back half an inch.
Ah Hu quickly took half a step forward, gently blocking the door with his hand. He stopped just as his fingertips touched the door, afraid of appearing rude. He lowered his voice, almost whispering through the crack in the door, "Uncle Zhang, you're Jianjun's father-in-law. How could you not know he's in trouble? Staying in the police station for even a day is torture! I came here to tell you about this. It's a serious matter, not a waste of time. You'll understand why I had to come to you after you hear it." He deliberately emphasized the words "father-in-law" and brought up "police station," trying to remind Zhang Li—Li Jianjun was his son-in-law, and if something serious happened, he would lose face.
Zhang Li frowned, his fingers tapping rapidly on the table as he impatiently sized up Ah Hu. The man wore a faded, coarse cloth jacket with frayed cuffs, mud-splattered trousers, and messy, straw-like hair—clearly a petty hoodlum. Zhang Li thought to himself, what good could a guy like this possibly want? He probably just wanted to use connections to find some odd jobs, or was short on cash and wanted to borrow some money. The thought alone annoyed him.
"Alright, get to the point, I'm busy here." Zhang Li picked up the enamel mug on the table that read "Serve the People," took a sip of the lukewarm tea, and spoke with a tone that carried the condescension of a government official towards the lower classes, as cold as if covered by a thin layer of ice.
Ah Hu rubbed his chapped hands at the door, his eyes flickering. He avoided looking Zhang Li in the eye and recounted the events involving Li Jianjun and Lili, but the tone had been distorted. He only said that Lili and Li Jianjun had helped each other against Gu Nan, but Gu Nan had betrayed them, and now both of them were in jail. He didn't mention any shady dealings or the specifics of their entanglements, simply trying to gauge Zhang Li's willingness to help Li Jianjun.
To everyone's surprise, Zhang Li's temper flared up instantly upon hearing this. Like a lit firecracker, he slammed his enamel mug on the table, splashing some tea and leaving a small damp patch. "That Li Jianjun, what a moron! He's utterly useless and a complete idiot!" he cursed angrily, his chest heaving. "I was trying to get him back to the steel rolling mill. He's out of luck with the deputy director position, so I figured I could start as a workshop foreman and slowly climb the ranks. But now, he's messed things up himself and been taken away by the police. With this stain on his record, how can he go back to the factory? He's a complete pig-brain!"
Ah Hu didn't care about Li Jianjun's life or death at all. His heart felt like it was being branded with a hot iron, burning with the image of Lili. He knew better than anyone that Lili had done more than just this one thing—the foolish things she had done to survive when she was struggling to make ends meet in the slums, stealing grain from the warehouse, helping to hide things of dubious origin. If the police found out, it wouldn't be a matter of just a few days in jail; she could really be sentenced to a heavy prison term, or even… He didn't dare to think about it. He felt he had to find a way to get Lili out before the police dug too deep, otherwise, if something really happened, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
“Director Zhang,” Ah Hu took two steps forward, his voice pleading, almost bending down, “You don’t have to save Li Jianjun; he brought it on himself. But Lili is my girlfriend. She has little to do with this; she was dragged into it by Li Jianjun. You have to save her! Could you… make an exception for her?”
Zhang Li was seething with anger, his carefully laid plans ruined by that idiot Li Jianjun. He had no time to care about anyone else's fate. "I don't have the ability, nor the time!" He waved his hand dismissively, as if shooing away a fly, his disgust undisguised. "Go away. Go find someone else to help you. I can't handle this, and I know nothing about it! Don't waste my time!"
Ah Hu hadn't expected Zhang Li to be so blunt, and he immediately became angry, his brows furrowing and his fists clenched white at his sides. But he couldn't think of any other way out for the moment; Lili was still waiting inside, so he could only grit his teeth and continue, "Lili is your future daughter-in-law! Li Jianjun is your son-in-law. As the saying goes, a son-in-law is half a son. How can you just stand by and watch them get into trouble? Even if you don't care about Li Jianjun, you have to think about Lili!"
Zhang Li remained calm and unhurried, slowly picking up his teacup and taking another sip, leaving a yellowish ring of tea stains on the rim. In his view, the matter between Li Jianjun and Lili was, at most, a minor squabble, and even if they were locked up, they would only be detained for ten days or half a month at most.