Chapter 65: A Scale in the Heart

Haizhu Substation, Interrogation Room.

Wang Zhengzhi had claimed credit with his superiors in advance and was personally interrogating Lu Feng, eager to pin the charges on him definitively.

“Stop sizing up your surroundings. Outside this interrogation room, I’ve stationed a squad of special police. If you try to escape or make a move, that’s just fine. The camera’s right here—if you dare act, I’ll have them gun you down on the spot.” Wang Zhengzhi sneered.

“Not enough,” Lu Feng replied, seemingly out of nowhere.

Wang Zhengzhi frowned. “Not enough? What do you mean?”

“A squad of special police isn’t enough,” Lu Feng said.

“So you’re saying a squad of special police, with a dozen guns, can’t restrain you?” Wang Zhengzhi scoffed.

“Yes.” Lu Feng nodded firmly.

“Hahaha…” Wang Zhengzhi burst out laughing. “I don’t have the patience for your nonsense. You’re suspected of gang fighting, causing serious injury, seizing firearms and assaulting police. Each of these charges could get you twenty years. If you confess honestly, I might plead for leniency with the judge.”

…

In the monitoring room, separated from the interrogation room by a one-way glass wall, Ye Wuhua pressed close to the glass, carefully observing Lu Feng’s expression.

Kanglong Pharmaceuticals and Wang Zhengzhi were on excellent terms. Ye Wuhua had lost face last time because of Lu Feng, and so he hated him bitterly. He’d hired people from Lianhong Society to ambush Lu Feng, but failed. This time, however, he’d managed to get Lu Feng into the police station, which pleased him greatly.

The glass wall between the interrogation room and the monitoring room was one-way: only the monitoring room could see the interrogation room; those inside couldn’t see out.

Ye Wuhua was now elated. The thought of Lu Feng going to prison filled him with vindictive satisfaction.

…

“Don’t hold out. The tide is against you. Alone, you’re as insignificant as an ant, destined only to be crushed under the wheels. Right now, you’re that ant—someone above wants to crush you, so just lie down and wait for the wheels, struggle less, and maybe it’ll hurt a bit less,” Wang Zhengzhi said, wearing a look of mock sympathy.

It was hard to imagine sympathy and a smile coexisting so seamlessly on a person’s face, yet that was exactly the expression Wang Zhengzhi wore now.

Whenever he saw a powerless nobody crushed like an ant, he showed that same sympathetic smile—sympathy for the ant’s misery, amusement at his own seat atop the wheels.

“Why can’t things be fairer?” Lu Feng was genuinely perplexed. Couldn’t the scales of this world tilt a little less?

…

“Pfft…” Wang Zhengzhi sneered, “How naïve must you be to even hope for fairness?”

“Actually, what saddens me isn’t that you see me as an ant, but that the scales in my heart and the scales in reality are so far apart. That’s what really hurts,” Lu Feng confessed, speaking frankly before Wang Zhengzhi.

Unfortunately, Wang Zhengzhi didn’t quite understand.

If the scales in Lu Feng’s heart were skewed too, then no matter how tilted reality’s scales became, he wouldn’t feel so wretched.

Perhaps the cruelty of reality lies in how the scales always tip toward greed, money, and power; fairness only exists in dreams. The powerless, who only know self-deprecation, lie awake in pain, afraid the wheels will crush them the moment they close their eyes.

“These rambling words are pointless. Let me be blunt: someone above wants you behind bars, and not even gods can save you,” Wang Zhengzhi said, unwilling to indulge Lu Feng further.

He only cared about how much money he could pocket and when he’d get a promotion.

The key to promotion wasn’t doing good for the country or the people, but whether the leaders favored you. So Wang Zhengzhi only did what would please his superiors—like making Lu Feng confess.

Lu Feng suddenly wondered if the old man living on Cloud Mountain had chosen reclusion for the same reason—because of the scale in his heart.

After more than ten years living on Cloud Mountain, Lu Feng realized he understood his master less than he’d come to understand him in this single month since descending.

…

Lu Feng pondered for a long time. Youthful and spirited, he decided to let the scale in his heart clash head-on with reality’s scale, win or lose—at least he would have tried.

He lifted his head, a sharp light in his eyes, and stared firmly at Wang Zhengzhi. “I will walk out of here, no matter what it takes! Maybe everyone else has given up, but I won’t!”

“Accept your fate,” Wang Zhengzhi shook his head with a smile. “Some are born to wealth, others to poverty. Offend the wrong people and you must be ready for the consequences.”

…

Just then, Wang Zhengzhi’s phone rang.

He had two phones—one he could switch off when he didn’t want to take calls, the other had to stay on around the clock.

Upon entering the interrogation room, he’d switched off the first; so if this one rang, it could only be a call from a superior.

As soon as he heard it, Wang Zhengzhi quickly pulled it out, stepping outside the interrogation room while nodding and bowing, his tone deeply respectful.

“Yes, yes, sir, understood…”

…

Three minutes later, Wang Zhengzhi returned to the interrogation room, looking at Lu Feng with a complicated expression. “You can leave now.”

Lu Feng was puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“If you’ve got such powerful backing, you should’ve said so sooner. Now everyone’s embarrassed—so unnecessary.” Wang Zhengzhi forced a stiff smile. “Go on, there’s a car waiting outside. Tomorrow, have your lawyer come by to finish up the paperwork.”

Lu Feng was still bewildered, but was escorted by Wang Zhengzhi out of the interrogation room, out of the station, and into an Audi 7.

…

Wang Zhengzhi respectfully sent Lu Feng off, then swaggered back to his office.

Ye Wuhua rushed out from the monitoring room and grabbed Wang Zhengzhi. “Why did you let him go? I told you he must go to prison! You took the money, now you won’t do the job?”

Wang Zhengzhi glared at Ye Wuhua. “Let’s talk outside. You leave first.”

“Leave? Hell no! Call someone to get Lu Feng back, or I’ll have your relatives fired from Kanglong Pharmaceuticals!” Ye Wuhua threatened.

“Get lost!” Wang Zhengzhi exploded, shoving Ye Wuhua aside. “Have your father talk to me. You good-for-nothing princeling—if you want to keep eating, drinking, whoring, gambling, then get the hell out!”

Ye Wuhua was stunned by Wang Zhengzhi’s outburst. Pointing at him, he said, “Just you wait!” and stormed off.

…

In the Audi 7, Lu Feng settled into the back seat, where a woman was already waiting—a woman he knew.

Zhou Fuqu sat in the car, looking at Lu Feng with a smile. “It’s only been a few days, Doctor Lu, and you’ve lost weight.”

“Was it you who pulled strings behind the scenes?” As soon as Lu Feng saw Zhou Fuqu, he knew what had happened.

“I just lent a little help. No need to thank me,” Zhou Fuqu replied.

“Then I won’t thank you. In exchange, I cured your grandfather’s illness—no consultation fee required,” Lu Feng said with calm assurance.