About ten minutes later, Wang Dachuan, the Squad Leader of the Traffic Police Brigade, hurriedly drove to the scene. Looking somewhat flustered, he strode over to Yang Luo and asked anxiously, “Yang Luo, did you just handcuff a woman?”
“I did. What’s wrong?” Yang Luo replied calmly, meeting Wang Dachuan’s gaze.
“Hurry up and let her go. She’s the girlfriend of the deputy director of the municipal police bureau’s son.”
“So you’re planning to make an exception for her?”
“It’s not about making an exception. We can’t afford to offend someone that important.”
“As the ancients said, ‘The emperor is subject to the same laws as the common people.’ Is the law only meant to be enforced against ordinary citizens? Besides, she’s only the Deputy Director’s son’s girlfriend. Even if the Deputy Director himself broke the law, I’d still handcuff him without hesitation.”
“Yang Luo, that’s not what I mean. I just wanted to…”
Wang Dachuan was about to continue explaining, but Yang Luo cut him off without mercy and roared, “Get lost!”
“Yang Luo, you… how dare you speak to your superior like that!” Wang Dachuan’s face flushed with anger, and the hand pointing at Yang Luo trembled slightly.
A cold glint flashed in Yang Luo’s eyes as he stared at Wang Dachuan like a sharp arrow. “Wang Dachuan, let me make this clear: unless that woman obediently directs traffic for half an hour, even the emperor himself couldn’t change a thing. And if you dare release her behind my back, I’ll make you pay.”
Yang Luo’s razor-sharp gaze seemed almost tangible, making Wang Dachuan shiver. Under the pressure of Yang Luo’s imposing presence, all he could do in the end was turn and slink away.
Another ten or so minutes passed. A BMW X7 pulled up imposingly opposite the young woman. The door opened, and a man in his twenties stepped out.
The moment the young woman saw him get out of the car, her face lit up, all her grievances vanishing. In a sugary voice, she called out loudly, “Honey, come save me! That nasty traffic police officer is bullying me.”
The young man was named Xu Kai. He was dressed head to toe in expensive designer clothes, and his hair was slicked back so meticulously with hair gel that he looked rather oily and foppish.
Xu Kai was average-looking. But he drove a luxury car and came from a wealthy, influential family. How could someone like that not be popular?
In the real world, who doesn’t like someone young and rich? Even if he has no particular merits of his own—not even if he’s bowlegged and cross-eyed.
It was just a shame that this sort of thing was all too common in real life.
Xu Kai hurried over to the young woman. Seeing that her left hand was cuffed to the guardrail, he furrowed his brow and asked, “Who handcuffed you?”
The young woman angrily pointed at Yang Luo, who was directing traffic at the intersection, and exaggerated, “Honey, that bastard over there at the intersection handcuffed me. You have to make him pay for this. He handcuffed me, and even after I gave him your name, he still didn’t take you seriously. That’s what makes me the angriest.”
“This is outrageous! Someone in Xinzhou City dares to disrespect me? Wait here. I’ll get even with him. I’ll make that lousy traffic police officer kneel and beg for mercy.”
Xu Kai’s face flushed with anger as he turned to go pick a fight with Yang Luo. Just then, he saw Yang Luo already walking toward them.
Yang Luo had noticed Xu Kai as soon as he parked. He was coming over of his own accord because Xu Kai had parked in the lane for non-motorized vehicles, seriously disrupting traffic. Yang Luo had come to “pick a fight.”
Yang Luo naturally knew that Xu Kai was most likely the young woman’s rescuer, and might even be the Deputy Director’s son Wang Dachuan had mentioned. But Yang Luo didn’t care about any of that. In his eyes, everyone was equal before the law. A violation was a violation, and even the emperor himself couldn’t change that. He would never give anyone special treatment.
Yang Luo walked up to the car and, out of professional habit, called out in an official tone, “Whose car is this? Please move it immediately. This is a lane for non-motorized vehicles. Parking is prohibited.”
Xu Kai strode up to Yang Luo, his face full of anger, and sneered, “This is my car. Stay away from it. If you scratch it, you couldn’t pay for it with a lifetime’s worth of your lousy traffic cop salary.”
Yang Luo ignored Xu Kai’s words completely. He couldn’t be bothered even to look at people like him, much less take anything he said to heart. He replied bluntly, “Parking is prohibited here. Move your car immediately, or I’ll deal with it according to the law.”
“I’m not moving it. Let’s see if you dare write me a ticket.” Xu Kai looked smug, not taking Yang Luo’s official warning seriously at all.
Yang Luo stopped wasting his breath and took out his camera to photograph the car. Seeing this, Xu Kai flew into a rage and reached out to snatch it from Yang Luo’s hand, swearing, “Fuck your mother! Do you know who my father is? You lousy traffic cop—do you even want to keep your job?”
Xu Kai’s insult about his parents touched Yang Luo’s deepest taboo. In his heart, his parents were his idols, and no one was allowed to show them the slightest disrespect. If they weren’t in the country, Xu Kai would probably already be a corpse.
Xu Kai’s hand had barely risen to snatch the camera when Yang Luo caught it with perfect precision. Xu Kai struggled desperately to pull his hand back, only to find that it was clamped in an iron grip and he couldn’t move it at all.
“I fucking—” Xu Kai tried to keep cursing, but Yang Luo wasn’t about to give him the chance. Gripping his hand tightly, Yang Luo twisted it slightly. Xu Kai cried out in agony, wailing, “Ah… oh…”
Yang Luo ignored Xu Kai’s pig-like squeals of pain, twisted his arm behind his back, then spoke into the radio on his shoulder. “Calling the Command Center…”
“Received, 009527. Go ahead.”
“A tow truck is needed on Haining Road…”
“You bastard, let go of me! You’re even towing my car? My father is the Deputy Director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau. You just wait—you’ll be disciplined!” Xu Kai struggled and threatened him viciously.
Yang Luo held Xu Kai’s hand and raised it slightly. In a low voice, he said, “If you dare say one more word, even if your old man were standing right here, I’d still break your hand. Go ahead and test me if you don’t believe it.”
“It hurts, it hurts… P-please let go. I won’t, I won’t do it again.” Xu Kai was drenched in cold sweat from the pain. He couldn’t believe a mere traffic police officer could be so strong. Even more unbelievable was that Yang Luo hadn’t been moved or intimidated in the slightest when he revealed his father’s position.
The young woman, still handcuffed nearby, couldn’t help feeling afraid as she watched Yang Luo’s show of force.
Yang Luo looked at Xu Kai and shook his head helplessly. The guy was obviously a coward who preyed on the weak, throwing his weight around in society by relying on his father’s power. There were far too many people like him, and ordinary citizens often dared to be angry but not speak up.
Yang Luo let go, and Xu Kai immediately lost his balance and pitched forward, landing flat on his face.
“Just you wait. I’ll make you regret this right now.” Xu Kai got to his feet awkwardly, enduring the pain, and immediately turned hostile. He quickly pulled out his phone and made a call.
“My police id number is 009527. I don’t care who you know. If you want to come after me, I’m ready.”
Soon, the call connected. Xu Kai said into the phone, “Uncle Gao, is traffic police officer number 009527 in your police force? He’s impounded my car. Get him fired right away.”
After hearing the number Xu Kai gave, the person on the other end fell silent for a few seconds, then replied urgently, “Xiao Kai, whatever you do, don’t provoke this traffic police officer. He was introduced to the brigade by your father’s superior…”
Before the person on the other end could finish, Xu Kai was so startled that his phone slipped from his hand and hit the ground. He hurriedly picked it up and said, “Uncle Gao, I understand.”
This was bad. Xu Kai realized he had run into someone he couldn’t handle. The country was cracking down hard on this sort of thing, and if he caused a major scandal, his father definitely wouldn’t let him off easily.
This traffic police officer was incredibly strong and seemed utterly unafraid. Maybe his family background was no ordinary one. Xu Kai couldn’t beat him, and he might even land himself in serious trouble. He decided that discretion was the better part of valor and that he should leave first.
Seeing Xu Kai about to leave, the young woman panicked and hurriedly called out, “Honey… you can’t just leave me here!”
Xu Kai heard her and flew into a rage. He walked up to her and, without a word, slapped her. “You made me lose face today. I’ll settle the score with you when we get back.”
The young woman started crying after being hit. “Honey, don’t leave me!”
Xu Kai was barely able to look after himself, so how could he care about the young woman’s cries? He turned to leave, but Yang Luo’s voice suddenly came from behind him. “Wait.”
Thinking Yang Luo was going to cause him trouble again, Xu Kai flinched. “Y-you want what? You’ve already impounded my car.”
People like this needed to learn a lesson. Yang Luo pointed at the young woman and said, “Since you came here to help her, you can direct traffic alongside her for half an hour.”
“Y-you’re going too far!” Xu Kai was both shocked and furious.
“If you don’t direct traffic for half an hour, you’re not going anywhere today.”
“I won’t—” Xu Kai started to resist, but when he saw the knife-sharp intensity in Yang Luo’s gaze, he swallowed the rest of his words.
At the same time, Xu Kai noticed that quite a few people nearby were watching. If someone filmed him and uploaded the video online, the matter would blow up. The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became. After weighing the pros and cons, he had no choice but to reluctantly join the young woman in directing traffic.
Before long, a tow truck hauled Xu Kai’s BMW X7 away. Watching the pair directing traffic at the intersection, Yang Luo couldn’t help sighing, “They really are birds of a feather.”
The sun gradually sank in the west, and the last rays of dusk slowly faded as darkness spread over the city. The streetlights flickered on one after another, illuminating the city’s streets and alleys, yet seeming unable to dispel the deepest, most hopeless emptiness in people’s hearts.
Yang Luo went to a snack shop on the street and ordered a serving of fried rice noodles. That was his dinner for the day. Though the kitchen at home had everything they needed, ever since he and Ye Zhihan began living together, they had never cooked a meal at home. They usually ate out.
At that moment, Ye Zhihan was sitting on the sofa at home, still holding a book, though every so often she glanced at the clock on the wall.
It was already eleven, and that bastard still hadn’t come home. He must have gone out fooling around. Ye Zhihan thought this to herself, then shook her head.
No, what does it matter to me whether he fools around or not? I just have some things I want to discuss with him.
Ye Zhihan picked up the phone on the table and found a number in her contacts that she rarely called. The contact name was unmistakably “Bastard.”
Ye Zhihan hesitated for a while but never made the call. About a minute later, she put her phone back on the table.
Hmph, I’m not calling him.
Ye Zhihan was used to going to bed early and getting up early. If she hadn’t wanted to discuss something with Yang Luo, she would already have been asleep.
It was getting late, and she had an important meeting tomorrow. She needed to get enough rest. Ye Zhihan glanced at the clock on the wall once more, then rose helplessly and headed for her room.
However, once Ye Zhihan lay in bed, she suddenly couldn’t sleep. In the past, marriage had seemed like a beautiful dream far beyond her reach. But time had flown by, and before she knew it, she had become someone’s wife. It was just that her married life was nothing like she had once imagined.
As a child, Ye Zhihan had dreamed of marrying a great hero of the modern age. As she grew older, she gradually realized that in this peaceful era, there was no such thing as a great hero.
Even if there was no hero like the one she had imagined, her future husband certainly wouldn’t be someone as useless as Yang Luo.
Back in reality, Ye Zhihan had to admit that no matter how awful Yang Luo was, he was now her husband—and perhaps he would be for the rest of her life.
Perhaps this was fate. Perhaps she would never be able to escape the confines of this marriage.
As Ye Zhihan lay in bed, her thoughts drifted back to all the moments she had shared with Yang Luo over the past six months. As she thought about them, she suddenly made up her mind: she wanted to get to know Yang Luo little by little, even if she only learned a little more about him.
Since it was already a fact, and there was no changing it, she might as well try to get along with him.