They were led by a police officer with a three-star ranking. The other three were probationary officers with two arrowheads and no police number on their chests. Their armbands said ‘Assistant Police’. They were obviously not official police officers.
Xia Ruofei knew the military rank like the back of his hand, but he didn’t know much about the police rank. However, he at least knew that the official police officer with a three-star ranking was the leader of this group.
Hence, Xia Ruofei frowned slightly and said to the police officer.
“What can I do for you, fellow police officer?”
The policeman’s face was red and his mouth reeked of alcohol. He glanced sideways at Xia Ruofei and said.
“We’ve just received a police report that you’re suspected of assault. Now we’re officially arresting you! Come with us to the police station!”
From the corner of his eye, Xia Ruofei saw a familiar figure in the backseat of the police car. That person was staring at him with hatred. How could he not understand what was going on?
Before Xia Ruofei could speak, Hu Zi’s mother hurriedly said.
“Inspector Li, Ruofei is young and ignorant. Can you make an exception?”
This police officer was also from Little Island Village. He was Zhong Qiang’s uncle, Li Zhengyi, and was now the deputy director of the Linhai Town Police Station in Changping County.
This Li Zhengyi had wasted his righteous name. He was not a righteous person at all. All these years, he and Zhong Qiang’s father, who was the director of the Little Island Village, had colluded with each other and ran rampant in the countryside. They had done many stupid things.
Therefore, Hu Zi’s mother naturally recognized him at a glance.
The appearance of the infamous Li Zhengyi worried Hu Zi’s mother.
Li Zhengyi snorted and said.
“Exception? Do you think the laws of this country are child’s play? That if you break the law you’ll be fine?”
Over the years, Li Zhengyi had done countless illegal things with the Zhong family, but this did not stop him from being arrogant.
Lin Qiao mustered her courage and said.
“It was clearly Zhong Qiang who brought people to attack Brother Ruofei just now! Brother Ruofei was just defending himself!”
Li Zhengyi’s eyes widened. He said sharply.
“Watch your mouth, young lady. Are you questioning me? Are you a cop or am I one? Do we need you to teach us how to work a case?”
Lin Qiao bit her lower lip lightly and wanted to defend Xia Ruofei. Xia Ruofei waved her off and said to Li Zhengyi.
“I can follow you to the station, police comrade. But what happened today has nothing to do with either of them. Can you let them leave?”
Xia Ruofei was not worried that he would be at a disadvantage when he arrived at the police station. The local government would have a record of those who had retired from the special forces. Even if law enforcement authorities wanted to take coercive measures against them, there would be special agencies to investigate and coordinate carefully.
In a situation like that day’s, even if Li Zhengyi wanted to arrest Xia Ruofei, he would immediately be suspended in the internal system. Furthermore, someone would immediately come to the Linhai Town police station to handle and investigate.
The reason was very simple. People like Xia Ruofei were all the most dangerous human-shaped weapons. Once they suffered unfair treatment, they would cause great harm to society. Therefore, the government and the army were very cautious in this aspect.
Of course, if it was really a retired special forces personnel who had broken the law, they would still be dealt with according to the law. However, the level of security and supervision would be raised to a very high level.
Xia Ruofei’s only worries were Hu Zi’s mother and Lin Qiao.
He could long tell that Director Li and Zhong Qiang were in cahoots, and Zhong Qiang had been coveting Lin Qiao for a long time. Once Lin Qiao was also in the police station, how could Zhong Qiang not take the opportunity to touch her? Moreover, Hu Zi’s mother had yet to recover, so she could not withstand such torture and shock.
“It’s not up to you to decide whether it’s related to them or not!” Li Zhengyi snorted. “The fight happened in the Lin family. The two of them are involved in this matter! The three of you have to go to the police station with me!”
Xia Ruofei narrowed his eyes and looked at Li Zhengyi.
‘Inspector Li, are you sure you want to do this?’
The moment Xia Ruofei stared at him, Li Zhengyi inexplicably felt his heart palpitate. It was as if he had been targeted by a ferocious cheetah. He could not help but lower his eyes and avoid Xia Ruofei’s gaze.
Then he immediately raised his head again, as if he was embarrassed by his momentary cowardice, or perhaps he was emboldening himself. He said fiercely.
“That’s right! All three of you have to go to the police station! What? You want to fight the law with violence?”
Xia Ruofei suppressed his anger and said.
“Auntie and Lin Qiao are the families of the martyrs, and I was the one who beat them up. Why are you making things difficult for the two of them?”
Li Zhengyi sneered.
“The family of a martyr? How much is the family of a martyr worth? There’s no one in Linhai Town that I can’t arrest! If you continue to nag, you’ll be resisting the law using violence. When the time comes, you will be sentenced to another crime!”
Xia Ruofei clenched his fists so hard that they produced a cracking sound. His eyes spewed anger as he glared at the smug Li Zhengyi.
Li Zhengyi stepped back, startled, his hand on the handle of his gun. He said.
“What do you want?”
Before he came, he had heard from Zhong Qiang about Xia Ruofei’s terrifying skills, so he looked like he was facing a great enemy.
Hu Zi’s mother hurriedly tugged at Xia Ruofei’s clothes and said.
“Ruofei, calm down…”
Xia Ruofei took a deep breath and said.
“Auntie, I’ll be fine…”
Xia Ruofei forced himself to calm down, then looked at Li Zhengyi without any emotion.
“Okay, we’ll follow you to the police station. I hope you won’t regret your decision later.”
Li Zhengyi sneered.
“Cut the crap! Get in the car!”
After saying that, he gave a look to an auxiliary police officer beside him. The auxiliary police officer immediately walked up with handcuffs. Xia Ruofei did not resist. He only smiled coldly and let the auxiliary police officer cuff him.
As for Lin Qiao and Hu Zi’s mother, they were not handcuffed. In Li Zhengyi’s eyes, only Xia Ruofei was the biggest threat. The weak appearance of the mother and daughter would not worry him at all.
The group arrived at the police car. Xia Ruofei and the other two were escorted into the iron cage used to imprison suspects in the back of the police car. The two auxiliary police officers followed them into the iron cage and stared at Xia Ruofei warily.
Zhong Qiang, who was sitting in the back seat of the police car, saw that Xia Ruofei had been handcuffed and felt relieved. He turned around and revealed a ferocious smile at Xia Ruofei through the iron cage.
“You’ll be dealt with properly later, fellow!”
Xia Ruofei ignored Zhong Qiang’s threat and did not even look at him. Zhong Qiang immediately felt like he had punched cotton. He sized up the terrified Lin Qiao greedily before reluctantly turning his head away.
The police car turned around at the village entrance and sped toward Linhai Town.
In the police car, Xia Ruofei’s handcuffed hands reached awkwardly into his pockets. The two auxiliary police officers were on guard. One of them asked sternly.
“What are you doing?”
Xia Ruofei revealed a mocking smile and took out his phone.
“Can’t I make a phone call?”
“You can’t!” The auxiliary police officer shouted and stood up to snatch Xia Ruofei’s phone.
The space in the iron cage was very small, and Xia Ruofei was handcuffed. The auxiliary police officer thought that he would be able to capture him easily.
However, he did not expect Xia Ruofei to suddenly stand up and hit him with his knee without hesitation. He immediately felt his stomach suffer a heavy blow and almost vomited on the spot.
Immediately after, the auxiliary police officer’s vision blurred. Xia Ruofei had already flashed behind him and strangled him with both hands. The chain between the handcuffs was instantly stuck in his throat.
The auxiliary police officer grabbed the handcuffs with both hands and used all his strength, but he could not move them at all. He only felt that it was getting harder and harder to breathe.
At this moment, the other auxiliary police officer also came back to his senses. However, Xia Ruofei had already occupied a favorable position in the corner of the iron cage and was holding his companion hostage. He did not dare to act rashly for a moment.
Li Zhengyi, who was sitting in the back of the police car, also noticed the situation behind him immediately. He quickly took out his gun and aimed it at Xia Ruofei through the barbed wire.
“Stop now! Or I’ll shoot!”
Xia Ruofei had long treated the auxiliary police officer as his human shield and used the narrow terrain to hide himself well. He was not afraid of Li Zhengyi’s threat at all.
Hu Zi’s mother and Lin Qiao were already stunned by the scene just now. Only then did they return to their senses. Hu Zi’s mother quickly said.
“Ruofei, don’t be rash…”
Xia Ruofei smiled faintly and said.
“Don’t worry, Auntie! I know what I’m doing…”
Then he said to Li Zhengyi with a teasing smile.
“Take it easy! I just want to make a phone call, that’s all. But if you don’t put the gun down soon, this buddy of yours is really going to suffocate…”
At this moment, the auxiliary police officer’s face was already purple from lack of oxygen.
Li Zhengyi was starting to panic too. He put the gun away and said.
“Let go of him! Do you know you’re assaulting a police officer?”
Seeing that he had put away the gun, Xia Ruofei relaxed his grip a little. The auxiliary policeman hurriedly took deep breaths, feeling as if he had just escaped death.
Zhong Qiang was not afraid when he saw this scene. Instead, he felt a burst of ecstasy—fighting was not a big deal. Even if he found some connections to get a serious injury assessment, Xia Ruofei would only be sentenced to a few years at most. Now, this kid was courting death by holding a police officer hostage in a police car. This was a huge crime!
Xia Ruofei was naturally not interested in Zhong Qiang’s thoughts at all, and he did not take Li Zhengyi’s threat to heart at all. He sighed in his heart and dialed the familiar number on his phone, then put his ear to the phone.
He was handcuffed, and the handcuffs were wrapped around the neck of the auxiliary police officer in front of him. It was naturally very awkward to make a call like this.
However, this was not a problem for Special Forces elite Xia Ruofei.
The call was answered on the third ring. A steady voice said with suppressed excitement.
“You’re finally willing to call me, you brat? I thought you’d f*cking vanished off the face of the earth!”