Chapter 316: Car crash

A rainy night.

Amidst the rain of winter, one would easily feel like the winds were mournful and the rains bitter.

There were few pedestrians and cars out on the roads that night. Besides the sound of the rain, all felt extraordinarily calm.

......

At 8am in the morning, on a cold wintry day without sunlight. The wind blew to the northwest, causing the trees that had lost much vitality to shake in the wind, some scattered, dry leaves falling to the ground down below. The atmosphere was rather severe, gloomy and repressed.

There was little traffic on the road leading from Yanzhou’s city district to Xishan academy city, those public buses aside.

Still, the drivers were mostly careful and vigilant. As the academy city was still partially under construction, it wasn’t rare to see big cargo trucks, lorries and the like on this section of road.

Any driver would be scared when seeing such vehicles.

A dark grey sedan drove over from the direction of the city district, a brand new Nissan Lannia. It could not be considered expensive. Many families used it. These could be seen everywhere.

The car was fast at times whilst slow at others, frequently shifting from side to side as well. The driver was constantly gazing around as if looking for something.

The car passed by Hucheng’s training institute...

It passed by that branch road that was concealed by trees and shrubbery...

The driver of the new Lannia seemed to have seen something he could not comprehend as the car clearly braked abruptly. Still, it did not halt completely as it simply slowed down, continuing forward slowly as if in the process of confirming something.

The heavy lorry which had been awaiting its arrival abruptly sped out from the branch road.

The Lannia had not the time to avoid it, seemingly having never thought of doing so too.

“Bang!”

The heavy truck rammed into the Lannia from diagonally behind. The vast disparity in tonnage and the less thick exterior of Japanese cars...with that, half of the Lannia caved fully inwards...

Along with this, some earth and rocks plummeted down onto the car. The truck rolled forward once more, virtually crushing over the entire frame of the Lannia.

The brand new Lannia was virtually crushed flat, buried beneath earth and rocks and left in an incomparably tragic state. The person within the car...stood no chance at all.

Without any hesitation whatsoever, the heavy truck reversed a distance away before turning left, a portion of its front having similarly caved in as it it sped frantically off for the suburbs...

Car accident, hit-and-run, dead on impact.

......

The most secluded, secretive room on the fourth floor of Starry Splendour.

Xu Tingsheng, Huang Yaming, Tan Yao, Fang Yuqing and Wu Kun were all inside, either sitting, standing, or lying down.

Besides Wu Kun who had the most societal experience, it was Huang Yaming who was calmest here. As for Fang Yuqing, Xu Tingsheng and Tan Yao, their hands would unconsciously tremble at times, their breathing all uneven due to their nervousness and unease.

Right, faced with something like this, even Xu Tingsheng who had a higher mental age was less able to stay composed than Huang Yaming.

This was decided by one’s innate personality.

In his previous life, when the three of them had drunk together at the age of thirty, the trio had concluded: Fu Cheng could be a good guy for his entire life. Xu Tingsheng could be the most normal kind of person for his entire life, remaining ordinary and mediocre aside from all those unrealistic fantasies that filled his mind. As for Huang Yaming? Given the chance, he could be an ambitious and ruthless protagonist, an antihero.

After having heard out Huang Yaming’s plan the previous night, Xu Tingsheng had hesitated for a long time.

Back in the hospital last time, one of his arms broken from the fierce assault, Huang Yaming had told Xu Tingsheng, “No rush. I’ll wait for a chance to render him directly dead not knowing what hit him.” Xu Tingsheng had seen a different kind of smile from him that day. That unscrupulous, scheming Huang Yaming whom he had seen in his previous life had now arrived prematurely.

Unbeknownst to Xu Tingsheng, he had actually been preparing for this all this while.

Wu Kun had been very astonished by Huang Yaming’s performance, seemingly having seen a kindred spirit. Also, despite being just twenty, he seemed even more meticulous and careful in handling matters such as these than he was.

Then, Wu Kun had said only one thing to Xu Tingsheng, “I can’t think of any plan better than Yaming’s...a chance like this doesn’t come often...now, it all depends on your evaluation of Ding Sen.”

How did Xu Tingsheng evaluate Ding Sen?

Ding Sen was the first actual threat to Xu Tingsheng’s life that he had met in his two lifetimes, the first person who was adamant on seeing him dead and had also truly acted against him...

Xu Tingsheng’s heart that was ‘soft as a woman’s’ was not to the extent of a saint’s. Also, he was well aware that so long as he missed this chance, it would be equivalent to him constantly having to look over his shoulder wherever he went, the threat of Ding Sen just looming over him.

Also...those close to him would be subject to such a threat as well.

If Xiang Ning, his family members or Fu Cheng was next to him the next time Ding Sen made a move, even if it was anyone else, just a classmate or roommate...

In this post-rebirth life, what Xu Tingsheng treasured the most was not wealth but these people. Now, what he treasured the most was being threatened. This was something that Xu Tingsheng could not tolerate, dared not bear.

“Since he wants me dead, what else can I do?”

Xu Tingsheng made a decision. Huang Yaming made a call.

Facing this sort of thing for the first time, they all could not sleep that night.

Huang Yaming’s phone rang. Everyone jumped and turned to look at him. Huang Yaming waved a hand in dismissal, indicating that it was not about that matter as he answered the call.

Fu Cheng said on the other end of the phone, “Where are the two of you? I haven’t any lessons this afternoon and I’m bored. I’m coming over to hang out. I haven’t even seen Tingsheng since he returned.”

Huang Yaming looked at Xu Tingsheng. The two of them exchanged looks.

“We’ll look for you tomorrow. We’ve something on today. You go have fun by yourself.”

With that, Huang Yaming directly hung up.

For some things, they were already walking further and further away. Still, Fu Cheng...

Xu Tingsheng and Huang Yaming unanimously agreed tacitly that they were unwilling for Fu Cheng to be dragged into this matter in the slightest. If only one of the three bros from senior high could remain pure and carefree in the end, they would leave that for Fu Cheng.

Soon, Huang Yaming’s phone rang for the second time.

Beneath the gazes of the other four, Huang Yaming nodded and answered the call. He listened and said two yes-es, one okay. Then, he hung up, retrieved the phone’s SIM card and broke it, next going to the bathroom and flushing it down the toilet.

Leaving the bathroom, meeting the gazes of the other four, Huang Yaming smiled in a rather strange manner, saying, “It’s over.”

By it’s over, he meant...everything had gone as planned.

Only the sound of breathing could be heard in the room.

“The heck, the day’s so cold and...just so sweaty,” Fang Yuqing muttered aloud, sitting down and lighting a cigarette, next lobbing over the cigarette box and the lighter to the next person. These were passed around so very slowly, one by one...

They were all silent as they silently pulled out a cigarette, lighting it up.

When the cigarette box came to Xu Tingsheng, he took a cigarette and stuffed it into his mouth with hands that were trembling slightly, next working hard to keep them stable as he lit it up and inhaled deeply...

Xu Tingsheng’s mind wavered momentarily as he shook his icy cold hands, holding the cigarette there as he rubbed his face forcefully amidst the ensuing smoke. He tried hard to wrest himself out of fear and unease as he asked, “Who exactly is the other party?”

“Ding Miao,” Huang Yaming said.

“Who?” Xu Tingsheng asked.

“Ding Sen’s elder brother from another mother.”

“When did you get in touch with him?”

“The day after my arm was broken.”

“...is he reliable?”

“The deed was done by him, wasn’t it? We just provided him information. Also, everyone knows that he gave his all for the Ding family, but when Ding Sen returned, he was just kicked aside...”

“And he hates Ding Sen so much because of that?”

“How is it just hatred?! He’s never been willing to give in. He’s been searching for a chance all along. He actually knew about Ding Sen hiring someone to kill you long ago. The underling who found those two men for Ding Sen is actually someone that Ding Miao placed by his side. Even before Ding Sen returned from overseas, he was already making arrangements and preparing.”

“Ding Miao didn’t tell me about this before. I guess that he probably intended to wait for Ding Sen to render you dead before thinking of a way to expose him, making him squat for a good few decades in jail. After I went to find him yesterday, he knew that his original plan couldn’t work anymore, so he didn’t hide anything and just quickly accepted the plan that I proposed.”

“With that brain of Ding Sen’s, he doesn’t know how to be vigilant at all even with such an elder brother behind him...even if this never happened, things would never have ended well for him.”

Wu Kun patted Xu Tingsheng’s shoulder.

Xu Tingsheng knew that he was actually consoling him.

......

The unexpected news was soon broadcasted.

The second son of the Ding family, Ding Sen, who had just returned from overseas not long ago as he had successfully inherited his family’s power and also represented the Ding family in cooperating with the Jinxiong Corporation in real estate, reigning at the height of glory...

Had met with a car accident that morning, having been crushed by a heavy truck in the suburbs of Yanzhou and died on the spot.

“The heavens have unpredictable winds, humans face the fickleness of fate...untimely death...”

The eldest son of the Ding family, Ding Miao, immediately rushed to the scene, crying and snivelling as he bore his grief and consoled his parents, surveying the scene with the traffic police and helping to keep the articles of his deceased younger brother to be dealt with later.

Ding Sen’s three phones were already in terrible condition, all having fallen apart somewhat.

Traffic police were not investigators at the end of the day. Those three phones along with the remaining items like keys and wallet were all passed to Ding Miao, smoothly changing hands. No one noticed that soon, one of the phones...was discreetly thrown by Ding Miao into the swiftly onrushing Yanzhou river following that night’s heavy downpour.

The remaining items were carefully sorted out by him and handed to his parents.

“Ding Miao should actually secretly be over the moon right now, right?!”

The local television stations reported the scene of the incident.

A car crash, the car driver dying instantly in a hit-and-run...the incident having been confirmed, the police was currently out in full force trying to apprehend the two drivers of that heavy truck.

......

The truck was parked at the foot of a hill not far away from the scene of the incident. A distance away from the vehicle, shrubbery had been trampled and pushed apart, the signs extending all the way to the top of the mountain.

The police dispatched manpower to surround the slope, searching around while yelling loudly.

The tracks leading to the top of this hill had indeed been left behind by Old Dog and Dongzi. They had really gone up this hill. Still...that had been a matter of the previous day.

The two of them had already long since meticulously planned out their escape route, including setting up false trails...

Currently, the two were over the Yanzhou river.

The river was flowing swiftly, its waters turbid. Still, having been seamen for many years, Old Dog and Dongzi were adept within water. The two of them had reed tubes through which they could breathe, moving along with the flow of the river. Where there were people along the river segment, they would sink down into the water.

At the point where the Yanzhou river flowed into the ocean, the two crawled onto the shore at the harbour that they were incomparably familiar with, finding a public phone and giving Ding Sen a call. Failing to get through to him, Old Dog called a friend for news. While the two had taken a quick glance after the deed had been done, being quite certain that they had succeeded, they still wished to confirm that Xu Tingsheng was indeed dead.

His friend mentioned before he could ask anything, “Hey, do you guys know? Bro Sen’s dead.”

“Bro Sen’s...dead?”

Old Dog turned to look at Dongzi. Having heard it too, Dongzi looked back at him...

Their friend said, “Yeah! Around 8am this morning, he was rammed to death by some big truck. He was totally crushed to shreds...the police are currently out looking for the truck drivers! How unlucky is he! Suddenly going to the suburbs for some reason early in the morning, even driving a new Japanese car that he just bought, some Lannia or something...”

The phone slid down from Old Dog’s hand.

“This...”

Dongzi looked at Old Dog.

Old Dog looked at Dongzi.

“We...killed Bro Sen,” Old Dog slowly said.

“..Why? Wasn’t it that Xu Tingsheng? What, what happened?”

“...I, I have no idea too!”

“Then, the money...”

“What money...the one paying it...we killed him dead.”

Was there anything more ludicrously mind-blowing than this in this world?!

Ding Sen had asked them to ram Xu Tingsheng, but in the end...they had rammed Ding Sen dead instead.

Actually, Old Dog and Dongzi would surely come to realise what had happened sooner or later. Still, there would already be no meaning to this. Having killed someone, could they expose the truth of the matter, reporting the actual turn of events?

Even if they were really captured in the end...for a premeditated killing, it would still have been premeditated even if the wrong person was killed...a premeditated killing or an accidental one?

In the former case, they would be shot dead. In the latter case, they would just be locked up for a decade at most.

They would surely choose the latter then, no matter how many grievances they had to swallow.

And as for the money...how could they still ask Ding Sen for it?

He had already been killed by them.

Was there anything more ludicrously mind-blowing than this in this world?!

The two just stared blankly at each other for a long time.

Dongzi shivered as he wept, “What do we do now, Bro Dog?”

Old Dog calmed down, pointing at a seafaring ship not far away in the distance, “On the ship, to wherever it leads us.”

The two were both incomparably familiar with the harbour and ships. They easily sunk into the water, climbing onto the deck and finding some consumables before they found a good hiding spot.

In the afternoon, the seafaring ship left Yanzhou for distant lands.

......

Returning to the rainy night of the day before.

At around 4am in the morning, someone had infiltrated Ding Sen’s villa, changing the number plates of Ding Sen’s two most inconspicuous cars.

At 6am in the morning, Dongzi and Old Dog had assumed their positions, continuing to wait for that Mercedes-Benz G500.

At around 7.10 am, Huang Yaming had sent a text to Ding Sen’s secret number using the phone that Tongtong had obtained.

Ding Sen had been awoken by the text by Dongzi and Old Dog. The text read: The deed’s done. Still, I can’t confirm if he’s dead. The two of us have already run off. How about you just casually drive by and take a look, Bro Sen?

Ding Sen hesitated for a moment. Imagining the tragic scene of Xu Tingsheng’s death, he cheered up at once, being incomparably excited as he laughed happily and got out of bed. Without even taking a shower, he changed his clothes and left his villa.

Ding Sen was going to drive by and confirm it. He believed that there should not be a problem. Also, he truly wanted to see the tragic scene of Xu Tingsheng’s death. That would really lift his mood greatly, putting him in high spirits. Ding Sen could not wait to see it...

Entering his garage, he thought for a moment before choosing an inconspicuous car. The two inconspicuous cars had both been prepared recently by him. He had driven the Toyota before when meeting with Old Dog and Dongzi previously. This time, he drove away the Lannia.

The brand new Lannia drove out of the villa at 0730 hours.

The person stationed outside the villa had confirmed this, quickly transmitting this news.

At 0750 hours, as Dongzi and Old Dog had been feeling rather dismal from waiting, someone of Ding Sen’s, Bro Zhao who had introduced this job to them, had suddenly appeared.

“Bro Zhao...what is it?”

Old Dog had not finished his sentence when Bro Zhao directly threw a punch at him, “Bro Sen’s unable to get through to that phone of yours. What’s the matter with you?”

Old Dog looked at Dongzi, “How come?”

“I, I lost it. That day...” Dongzi began stammering.

Bro Zhao directly interjected, “Forget it, there’s no time. I won’t pursue this matter. Just hurry up and get ready, you two. That Xu guy came by yesterday. He’ll probably come by again today...”

“Impossible. Our eyes were on the road the whole time...”

“He freaking changed his car! A grey Lannia, license plate...”

“Why isn’t the license plate local?”

“He isn’t a local in the first place.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

“I’m off. Remember that license plate!”

Bro Zhao left. Old Dog had still yet to fully digest the information as he was about to rebuke Dongzi a bit, asking about the matter of the phone. However, Dongzi now opened his mouth, pointing at a brand new Lannia with tinted windows which was passing by on the road outside as he asked, “Look, Bro Dog! Isn’t it that car?”

Old Dog hurried looked, matching the license plate numbers.

Very ‘cooperatively’, the Lannia slowed down.

The plate number was confirmed.

Old Dog sucked in a deep breath.

Dongzi shivered, reaching out and grabbing the gear tightly.

“Ahh...on we go! Life or death, rich or poor-it’s all on this!” Old Dog howled loudly.

The heavy truck revved its engines, charging forth at its highest ever horsepower.