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After hanging up the phone, Zhang Qiu immediately ran to the room with a computer, locked himself inside, and began writing as per Liu Fangfei's request. Half an hour later, he sent the document along with photos to Liu Fangfei's email. When Zhang Qiu came out, everyone looked at him in confusion and asked, "Brother Qiu, where have you been?"
"Secret, hehe."
Liu Fangfei had been sitting in front of the computer waiting. Upon receiving the notification, she quickly opened her email. After briefly browsing through the events, Liu Fangfei felt it was a good angle. Bars seemed to always be associated with underworld forces in people's minds, but this time, the bar staff bravely rescued students, which was a novel theme.
Liu Fangfei clicked on the attached photos, and the first one deeply shocked her. Under the dim streetlight, the display screen in front of White Day Fire boldly stated, "Inside, students are gathering; do not harm them." In the second photo, there were bloodstains all over the ground alongside some sticks. Inspiration struck her at that moment; Liu Fangfei immediately opened a document and typed non-stop, producing a nearly perfect press release in one go. Satisfied with her masterpiece, she sent a text to Zhang Qiu before lying down to sleep soundly.
After receiving Liu Fangfei's message, Zhang Qiu smiled at everyone and said, "Tomorrow or later, you will know."
The next morning, most people took the first bus to leave, while those who stayed mostly wanted to shop during the morning hours. After eight o'clock, White Day Fire had hardly any customers left besides the staff. Zhang Qiu looked at his tired brothers and said, "Everyone should go rest; we are closed for today."
"Brother Qiu, won't anyone else come?" Rui Rui worried that more trouble might arrive while they were resting.
"Don't worry; no enemies will come anymore. Today, only two types of people might show up: brothers from the Stone Dagger Gang or the police," Zhang Qiu paused before continuing.
"The police?"
"That's right; it's possible that the police will come. But it's fine; we should rest as we need to and not worry."
"Since Brother Qiu is resting, then everyone should go rest too. I see Brother Qiu is confident; nothing will happen."
Zhang Qiu glanced at Yang Yu and nodded slightly. The situation developed just as Zhang Qiu had imagined; there were no unexpected incidents throughout the day. During this time, the police did indeed come to inspect White Day Fire once, but leading them was Officer Liu Hua from the local precinct.
Zhang Qiu looked at Liu Hua in surprise and asked, "Are you okay?"
Liu Hua stood straight, tugged at his clothes, and smiled, "Not only am I fine, but I'm even better than before; I'm now a full-time employee."
"Congratulations, please come in." Zhang Qiu stepped aside to let Liu Hua pass. He was genuinely happy for Liu Hua; if Liu Hua lost his job, Zhang Qiu would feel guilty.
"Just sit down. I'm here to check various entertainment venues as part of my routine. I'll leave once I'm done."
"Alright, then I won't keep you. Feel free to look around and come back here to have some fun when you have time."
Liu Hua smiled and nodded, leading three police officers into White Day Fire. The brothers on duty on the first floor watched the police warily, but Zhang Qiu signaled them not to worry. Liu Hua and his team took a quick look around the first floor without going up to the second, then said directly, "Everything's fine. Just be cautious for a while; I'm leaving now."
"Take care!"
Zhang Qiu saw Liu Hua out the door and noticed he was heading somewhere else with his team. Zhang Qiu shook his head with a smile: "Uncle has good intentions, but once it gets implemented down below, it might just be all talk and no action."
Once the police left, no one else came to White Day Fire. A closed sign was already hanging at the entrance, and the Electronic Display Screen announced that they were ceasing operations. Despite the harmonious atmosphere in local news reports, videos of the fierce battle that occurred at night had spread widely among social circles, and no one wanted to visit a bar at this time.
The next day was Sunday, and Zhang Qiu was invited by his uncle to a family dinner at his grandmother's house. Unlike previous occasions, this time Jiang Xue accompanied Zhang Qiu. Standing in front of his grandmother's house, Jiang Xue clutched Zhang Qiu's arm tightly, her heart racing. Zhang Qiu noticed her nervousness and said with a smile, "Relax; they're all family. There's nothing to be afraid of."
Jiang Xue nodded but still felt a bit anxious.
The door opened, and Grandma greeted them warmly: "Come in quickly! This must be Xue'er; she's such a pretty girl..."
"Grandma, Grandfather," Jiang Xue greeted her grandmother and grandfather.
Zhang Qiu led Jiang Xue to sit on the sofa while Grandma had already laid out fruits and sunflower seeds on the Tea Table. His uncle's family hadn't returned from work yet, and his mother was busy in the kitchen since she had the day off. Grandma sat down and held Jiang Xue's hand, chatting amiably with her. Gradually, Jiang Xue became accustomed to the two kind elders and no longer felt nervous. Just then, Zhang Qiu's phone vibrated in his pocket; he took it out to see a message from Liu Fangfei.
"The news has been published; the electronic version just went online, and I've shared it with you."
Zhang Qiu opened the link sent by Liu Fangfei, and the page automatically redirected to a news article. The bold black headline read, "Bar Staff Brave Against Evil Forces, Unwavering in Protecting Students." Just below the headline was a colorful image, which was a photo taken by Rui Rui's phone at the entrance of the bar. The red text on the electronic display screen stated, "Students are gathering inside, do not harm them," clearly visible in the newspaper.
"June 10, 2012, Sunday. Two days ago in H Province City’s Beilan County..." Zhang Qiu read through the entire article. The gist was similar to his own account, but Liu Fangfei's writing added more dramatic flair. After finishing the article, Zhang Qiu felt a surge of excitement. At that moment, he just wanted his uncle to arrive quickly.
Just past noon, family members began to return home, and his sister arrived holding Teddy. As soon as Teddy entered the house, he leaped onto Zhang Qiu. When Zhang Qiu stood up, Teddy barked loudly; when Zhang Qiu sat back down, Teddy quieted down. His sister looked at the lovely girl sitting next to Zhang Qiu and smiled, asking, "You must be Jiang Xue?"
"This is my sister," Zhang Qiu introduced Jiang Xue. Teddy began to whine again as Zhang Qiu stood up.
The family's warmth was fully expressed during lunch. Grandma moved dishes around, eager to place every dish in front of Jiang Xue. During the meal, Zhang Qiu's gaze collided with He Jun's several times; he could tell his uncle had something to say. After finishing lunch, Zhang Qiu asked Jiang Xue to chat with his sister for a while and went to his room to wait for He Jun.
Before long, He Jun pushed the door open and fixed his gaze on Zhang Qiu, saying directly, "That news article is related to you, right?"
"Which one?" Zhang Qiu feigned ignorance.
"The one from D City Urban News! How could the sudden report about Beilan County not be related to you?" He Jun squinted his eyes as if he had already seen through Zhang Qiu's tricks.
Zhang Qiu smiled without answering. He Jun continued to press on: "How could they know so much about the White Day Fire? Where did they get that photo? Don’t you want to explain any of this to me? If I remember correctly, the article was signed by Liu Fangfei, the journalist who reported on Wang Guodong's case for you."
"That's right; this Liu Journalist is indeed that same Liu Journalist. But Uncle, you don't want to end up like Wang Guodong, do you?"
"Nonsense!" He Jun couldn't help but exclaim upon hearing himself associated with Wang Guodong.
He Jun continued: "I'm not here to investigate this matter; I just want to remind you that you are not like Liu Fangfei. She has people backing her up when she offends someone; you do not. You just graduated and don't understand society yet; young people can be impulsive and might do something irreversible..."
"Uncle!" Zhang Qiu interrupted He Jun. "It's true that I just graduated, but I absolutely cannot agree that we both don't understand society. I know all too well that those in power can act with impunity; I know that the weak can only be bullied; I know that in front of power, the law is like a piece of torn paper; I also know that money can make people greedy and corrupt. Isn't that deep enough?"
Zhang Qiu recalled the past as scenes replayed in his mind. Liu Xiaolong injured his father, Wang Guodong sent people to capture Liu Fangfei, and the Relocation Office pressured through relatives and friends to force relocations. In short, the more one desires to live honestly, the more one is bullied; there is no place to hide from trouble, and living at the bottom means being oppressed.
He Jun did not expect Zhang Qiu to react so strongly. After a moment of silence, he said, "What you said is true, but it's not everything. You can't forget the light just because of a bit of darkness."
"No, no, no, I have never forgotten the light. On the contrary, because I have seen so much darkness, I yearn for the light even more."
Zhang Qiu and He Jun locked eyes. He Jun had a thousand words to say, but every time he opened his mouth, he felt powerless. Indeed, too many stories had unfolded in Zhang Qiu's life in just six months. During this half-year, Beilan County underwent tremendous changes, and Zhang Qiu's life also experienced upheaval. Zhang Qiu's experiences were a microcosm of countless individuals during urban redevelopment. The difference was that Zhang Qiu's desire to resist was incredibly strong.
He Jun turned to leave when Zhang Qiu shouted, "Uncle!"
"Mm?" He Jun turned back.
"I can promise you that I won't do bad things."
He Jun nodded and left, a hint of despair showing on his face. He felt deeply powerless; no matter what he did, he could not understand Zhang Qiu because Zhang Qiu was not wrong. Despite being Police Chief Wang Guodong, he was still a person. What He Jun could do was to practice the dreams and vows he made when he first entered the police academy in Beilan County, hoping to reduce the number of people like Zhang Qiu.
Zhang Qiu also went out afterward. Not doing bad things was the only promise he could make to He Jun. No matter what happened, he would not give up on Hall Society; instead, he would continue to develop it until it became something formidable. Now that the college entrance examination was over and the biggest turmoil within the club had passed, Zhang Qiu thought it was time to head to Africa.
In the living room, Grandma and Grandfather leaned on the sofa chatting while Jiang Xue sat with her sister holding Teddy. Zhang Qiu smiled as he sat down next to Jiang Xue, and Teddy turned his head to sniff and rested his head beside Zhang Qiu's leg.
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