Chapter 164 — Who Is the Fool, Who the Innocent?
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
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?"