Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

Hearing this, Liu Minggui breathed a sigh of relief and hastily promised, "I won't—I won't do anything foolish, I swear. I'll do exactly as you say. Whatever you tell me to do, I'll do."

What Liu Minggui did not know was that even without Yang Yongjin undoing it, the acupoints on his legs would release themselves automatically after a certain time. But he knew nothing at all about acupressure, so how could he possibly know that?

What was more, Liu Minggui was growing more and more afraid of Yang Ce. In his eyes, Yang Ce was a man utterly ruthless and merciless. He felt rather bitter—why had he ever chosen to make an enemy of a man like this?

In his heart he began to curse the boss. Damn it, you big shots fight your battles and make a nobody like me the front-line foot soldier—that's really damn low. A conflict between people at your level—is that something I could ever be part of?

Liu Minggui had no thought of resistance or escape left at all. He hung his head and sat there woodenly, hoping only that when he went back he would be handed over to the law—otherwise Yang Lanxu might take it into his head to do something else to him.

"Where did you get this motorboat?" Yang Ce suddenly asked Liu Minggui as they neared the dock.

"It—it was the boss who gave it to me," Liu Minggui answered hastily.

"Oh." Yang Yu nodded. "Once we dock, I'll release the numbness in your legs. You behave yourself—otherwise, hmph."

"Brother Yang, rest assured. Unless I'm an idiot, how would I dare go against your wishes?" Though Liu Minggui's face wore a pained look, inwardly he was overjoyed. Yang Ce was finally willing to release the binding on his legs—it lifted a great weight from his heart.

Yang Yu nodded and casually rubbed Liu Minggui's legs a couple of times. At once Liu Minggui felt his legs return to him, and he nearly burst into tears of gratitude.

Yang Ce brought the motorboat alongside the dock and then led Liu Minggui off the boat. Liu Minggui was obedient enough, following properly at Yang Ce's side—one step for every step Yang Ce took, stopping when he stopped, never daring to overstep in the slightest.

"Boss, sorry about this—your boat didn't make it back," said the man who ran the rental outfit where Yang Minlan had done business.

"Ah, well. If it didn't make it back, never mind." The boss thought it a shame, but the money Yang Ce had paid up front was more than enough to buy a brand-new speedboat. All told, he had come out ahead.

"That said, this motorboat is yours now—should be about the right price." With that, Yang Yanzhou tossed Liu Minggui's motorboat keys to the boss.

The boss looked up at the motorboat moored over at the dock and nearly whooped with joy. Liu Minggui's boat was brand-new, while his own was old and worn—an old-for-new swap like this was reason enough to celebrate, wasn't it?

Yang Shuoxuan paid him no mind and walked off with Liu Minggui. Only then did the boss come back to his senses and shout after Yang Juehuan's receding back, "Thank you!"

The whole way to the police station, Liu Minggui behaved himself properly, and Yang Minlan was fairly satisfied. At the station entrance he said to Liu Minggui, "Smart of you. What happens next depends on how you perform."

"Don't worry, I'm ready to confess." Liu Minggui nodded, then added hesitantly to Yang Ce, "Brother Yang, can I ask you a favor?"

"You think you're in any position to bargain with me?" Yang Puqi glared, scaring Liu Minggui half to the ground.

Liu Minggui said hurriedly, "No, no—I'm fine, never mind."

"Go on, say it. Let's hear what this favor is," Yang Jiyan waved a hand and said.

"I won't say it—really, it's nothing." Liu Minggui had been scared badly enough; how would he dare speak now?

"I told you to say it, so say it. Or do you want another beating?" Yang Moyi frowned impatiently.

"Mother of God!" Liu Minggui nearly rolled his eyes at Yang Juehuan's words and hastily said, "I'll talk, I'll talk. I just wanted to discuss something with you—when we get to the station, could we say I turned myself in?"

"That works. Doesn't matter to me. Just say I found you, your conscience got the better of you, and you came back with me to turn yourself in." Yang Ce considered it briefly and agreed to Liu Minggui's suggestion. Yang Shuoxuan was worried the police might ask how he had caught Liu Minggui, and how he had gotten Liu Minggui to follow him back to the station willingly—which would inevitably touch on the methods he had used. He might even be interrogated about it. Yang Yongjin did not want any complications, so he agreed to Liu Minggui's proposal.

"I understand. Thank you," Liu Minggui said gratefully. Turning oneself in and being dragged in were two entirely different things—a voluntary surrender meant a far lighter sentence.

Yang Xu waved his hand dismissively, but wasn't that also Yang Duo wanting to hide a few things himself? Of course, none of this could be told to Liu Minggui.

Once they reached the station, Liu Minggui walked straight up to the officer on duty at the door and said, "I'm here to turn myself in," then stood there obediently.

The duty officer did not dare be negligent and promptly asked Liu Minggui what he was surrendering for. Liu Minggui recounted the whole matter from beginning to end—including how Yang Ce had come looking for him and reasoned with him, appealing to his conscience until he decided to come to the station and confess.

Hearing this, the duty officer hurriedly brought Liu Minggui to Officer Wang, who was handling the "Zhang Bin murder case." Officer Wang had been at his wits' end over the case—too many suspicious points, no way at all to establish that Zhang Bin was the killer—and was fretting over it when suddenly someone showed up to confess. He was overjoyed.

The moment Officer Wang came out, he saw Yang Ce standing with another unfamiliar man. He greeted Yan first, then asked the duty officer, "Who's the one turning himself in?"

"This man here, named Liu Minggui," the duty officer said, pointing at Liu Minggui.

"All right, come with me, both of you." Officer Wang led Yang Ce and Liu Minggui into his office and had Yang Ce sit on his side, while Liu Minggui was seated on the other side, in a separate seat of his own.

"Go on, why are you turning yourself in?" Officer Wang said to Liu Minggui.

Liu Minggui had already been frightened badly enough by Yang Ce, so he cooperated readily, repeating to Officer Wang exactly what he had told the duty officer.

Hearing Liu Minggui's account, Officer Wang was somewhat surprised. "You're saying Yang Ce grew suspicious of you, went to find you, talked you around, and then you came to turn yourself in?"

"That's right." Liu Minggui nodded hurriedly and said, "Honestly, I don't think my crime is all that serious, and Brother Yang Ce laid out a lot of reasoning for me, so I figured I'd better turn myself in. That's why I came over with Brother Yang Ce."

Officer Wang was overjoyed. A case that had been at a dead end had suddenly taken a turn—and who would have thought that young Yang Cenbin was such a fine fellow, brave and resourceful enough to go after a suspect alone and persuade him to confess?

To be continued

859. You've Got a Good Brother

859 You've Got a Good Brother "Young man, you've done well," Officer Wang said approvingly. "Once the case is closed, I'll put in a commendation for you myself and confer on you the title of Outstanding Public Order Citizen."

"No need for that," Yang Hengye said with a smile. "I just wanted to clear my friend's name as quickly as possible. Besides, I'll be heading back to the mainland soon—I can't stay here long."

"That doesn't matter. We can contact the police in Songjiang and have them pass the commendation on to you," Officer Wang said.

Yang Shuoxuan stopped declining and asked, a little anxiously, "Then, Officer Wang, when can my friend leave?"