He patted Li Faxian on the cheek and humphed, "I'll stay here for tonight, I quite like it here at your station. I'm a little hungry, though. Why don’t you make me some supper? Noodles and a fried egg maybe, and a bowl of chili – oh, and some sausage would be great. Nothing fancy."
Li Faxian's heart thumped hard at the very thought; his face drained of color. "Nnn-no, Brother Qin, my brother, you c-can't stay here,” he stuttered. “If-If you don't want to go home, you can choose whichever hotel you like in Tianhe and I'll pay for whatever you want. It’s on me! But you can’t stay here tonight. Have mercy, man."
Qin Feng was amused by Li Faxian's pathetic appearance. "Is that what you want?" he said, “What happened to your usual bossy attitude?"
To tell the truth, Qin Feng really pushed Li Faxian's limits. If his backer were someone ordinary, or even one of the city's ordinary officials, Li Faxian wouldn’t need to be so nervous, but Qin Feng had the support of the Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, the highest official in the whole of Tianhe, to whom everyone in the city had to give face. A single word from his mouth could turn a proud police station director into a doorman.
Even if it was difficult and humiliating, Li Faxian had to be for Qin Feng’s forgiveness.
Even if his heart burned with indignation, his entire future depended on it. He could look for an opportunity to retaliate later, but for tonight, no matter what, he had to make peace with Qin Feng.
His haughtiness had finally come back to bite him in the ass.
"Brother, don't be so sarcastic. I am truly sorry, I will never dare to provoke you anymore. From now on, both the Free Man and Zhao Jun’s company can do whatever they want without my interference. I won’t ever put up any more boundaries. Even if you're going to run the soliciting project…"
Qin Feng interrupted before Li Faxian could finish: "To hell with Zhao Jun! What does his business have to do with me?"
After a moment of silence to let that sink in, Qin Feng looked to Sister Flower, "Let it be known that from today on, Sister Flower is my own sister. Whoever messes with her, messes with me."
Li Faxian, Zhang Dali, Jia Dapeng gaped wide-eyed at the hole in the wall. "Okay, okay, okay, I’ll write an official order!" the police chief stammered. "Anyone who provokes Sister Flower will answer to me."
Qin Feng stretched lazily and said, "What did I say just before you answered the phone?"
Li Faxian quickly said, "That you will take good care of Sister Flower, and won’t let her worry and so on."
"After that," Qin Feng said coldly.
"After that...?" Li Faxian glanced around helplessly. He didn’t want to say it out loud.
"Need a hint?" Qin Feng went to the landline phone on the desk, "I’ll let the Municipal Party Committee Office remind you. Maybe this time it’ll make a stronger impression."
Li Faxian trotted after him in a panic, "No, don’t! Brother, please, you’re killing me!"
"Do you remember?" Qin Feng asked with indifference.
"Well... Yeah, I remember."
"Say it."
"You said I would get on my knees and beg you to leave."
Hearing this, Sister Flower, Zhang Dali, Jia Dapeng all held their breath. Did Qin Feng really intend to force Li Faxian to do it?
Wasn’t that going too far? A man should only ever kneel for his parents and for Heaven.
How could Li Faxian ever show his face in public against if he kneeled before Qin Feng?
Xiao Jinhua gently grabbed Qin Feng’s arm and whispered, "I think that’s enough. Showing mercy to other is showing mercy to yourself. You shouldn’t push him too far."
"I have found out that in Tianhe, people will take me seriously if I go all in. Everyone thinks they can push me around because I’m just a nightclub employee. Well today, I declare to the whole of Tianhe that whoever has a problem with me is welcome to come up and try me!"
When Qin Feng did something, he did it with determination. He had no interest in putting a single Li Faxian in his place, but Li Faxian's submission would be a warning to others like him. In this way, there would be a powerful incentive to keep things civil and more conflicts could be avoided. This would not only act as a deterrent but also reduce the need for his direct involvement, thus keeping his true identity concealed. In any case, as long as he could keep Sister Flower safe, he wasn’t interested in getting involved in any other gang war or government dispute.
But tonight, Li Faxian would have to kneel.
The director was trembling on the verge of tears. "Big Brother, just give me a chance, okay? I swear you’ll never heard a word from me again! I beg you, just go home."
"When you were screwing other people over, you never thought you’d end up here, did you?" Qin Feng slowly looked around the room with icy eyes, and shouted, "Kneel!"
The atmosphere in the room froze, as if the world stopped for a moment, waiting to see what Li Faxian would do.
Li Faxian stood firmly in the place. His mad eyes clearly showed how desperately he wanted to fight back. He wanted nothing more than to point his finger at Qin Feng’s face and scream for his subordinates to come in and beat him to a pulp.
But his head was quick to think. He could not afford the consequences of doing so. He couldn’t bear to squander all his hard work over the years.
Li Faxian bent over with the speed of an iceberg melting in spring. Eventually, with a faint thud, his knee hit the tiled floor of the office. Qin Feng loomed above him like an emperor considering the fate of a disgraced general. A sneaky smile flashed across his face.