Chapter 295: Encountering Injustice on the Road

When Factory Director Hu received a call from Secretary Song, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of envy. Who would have thought that a mere seatbelt could be so important, to the point where Minister Gao would personally invite Zhou Yimin to dinner at Bian Yi Fang?

In Chinese culture, dinner holds great significance. It’s not only the final meal of the day, but also a cherished time for family reunions and friends to gather.

He also found out that the dinner was arranged by an important patriotic Chinese figure who had specifically requested to meet Zhou Yimin.

How prestigious was that?

If he could, he would’ve wanted to tag along. But since Minister Gao didn’t extend an invitation, he didn’t dare to shamelessly show up. If he failed to deepen their connection and ended up offending someone instead, it’d be a big problem.

Even though Minister Gao wasn’t his direct superior, who wouldn’t want to establish some ties with a big shot from the Ministry of Commerce?

Factory Director Hu personally sought out Zhou Yimin to deliver the good news.

When he arrived at the Procurement Department, he noticed there weren’t many people there. That was understandable—procurement officers had to go out for purchases in order to get their tasks done.

He knocked on the door and found that Zhou Yimin happened to be in the office.

Seeing the factory director himself walk in, Zhou Yimin quickly stood up. “Director, is there something you need?”

“Yimin! I’ve got fantastic news for you—Minister Gao from the Ministry of Commerce has invited you to dinner tonight at Bian Yi Fang. Take it seriously, speak less, and listen more…” Factory Director Hu couldn’t help but offer some advice.

He was worried this young man might offend someone on impulse, which wouldn’t just be bad for Zhou Yimin—it would reflect poorly on the entire steel factory.

After all, Zhou Yimin was representing them.

Zhou Yimin was a bit puzzled. Why would a minister from the Ministry of Commerce suddenly invite him to dinner?

Then it hit him—could it be because of the seatbelt? But there was no point speculating here. He’d find out for himself once he got there.

“Director, don’t worry. I won’t embarrass the steel factory,” Zhou Yimin replied promptly.

Knowing Zhou Yimin’s character, Factory Director Hu didn’t say much more and left after explaining the situation.

Zhou Yimin went home and changed into a fresh set of clothes. After all, he was going to meet an important official—he couldn’t dress too casually. Leaving a bad impression would be a huge mistake. He pushed his bicycle out of the siheyuan and headed toward Bian Yi Fang.

On the way there, he suddenly heard a cry for help.

Zhou Yimin couldn’t pretend not to hear it. He pedaled toward the source of the voice.

He reached a secluded alley and saw two sleazy-looking men surrounding a young, pretty woman.

She was crying out, “Help! Somebody help!”

Her heart was filled with regret—if she hadn’t taken the shortcut home to save time, this wouldn’t have happened.

The two creeps kept letting out disgusting laughs.
One of them said, “What luck! A beauty like this—I’ve never even seen someone like her in the Eight Great Hutongs.”

“You’re right. A woman this pretty must be a lot of fun,” the other chimed in.

The Eight Great Hutongs had been brothel districts since the Ming and Qing dynasties. Though much had changed by the 1960s, remnants of those trades still lingered there. Some prostitutes continued to conduct business discreetly, and it wasn’t easy to eradicate entirely.

Zhou Yimin couldn’t believe these two had the guts to pull this off—in broad daylight, in the capital city, no less.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” he called out.

The two creeps were startled by the sudden voice, worried it might be the authorities. They quickly turned around—only to see it was just one man.

The young woman’s eyes lit up with hope when she heard Zhou Yimin.

One of the men pulled out a small knife and threatened, “Kid, I’d suggest you mind your own business. Otherwise, this knife’s going in clean and coming out red. You won’t even have time to regret it.”

They weren’t too worried. After all, this alley was their turf—they knew every corner. Even if the cops came, they could easily escape.

Zhou Yimin glanced at the guy with the knife. He was scrawny and clearly lacked strength. The only thing to watch out for was that blade.

Besides, Zhou Yimin had a gun.

Of course, drawing it was a last resort. There was no need to expose it just to deal with two punks like this.

He slowly walked forward, pushing his bicycle.

The sleazy guys didn’t expect him to be so fearless and undeterred. One of them gave the other a look.

The second man understood instantly. They spread apart and started moving toward Zhou Yimin from both sides, knives in hand, ready to attack.

They got within five meters.

Suddenly, without any warning, Zhou Yimin grabbed a nearby brick and smashed it straight at one of the men.

No matter how good your skills are, a brick to the head still wins. Not that these guys had any skills to begin with.

One hit, and the man went down.

The other hadn’t even reacted before taking a brick to the head as well.

His head was spinning.

Ruthless. Not even a hint of hesitation.

Zhou Yimin shook his head and said, “Comrade, please run to the local police station and bring the officers over. I’ll keep an eye on these two.”

The young woman snapped out of her shock and immediately did as he said, dashing off toward the police station.

The two sleazy guys, upon hearing this, began to come to their senses.

They immediately tried to escape in different directions, but Zhou Yimin saw through their intentions. Calmly, he picked up the brick again and dealt out a few more strikes.

With people like this, you don’t show mercy. Even if you cripple or kill them, you won’t be held responsible.

This was the city, and it was broad daylight. With witnesses around, Zhou Yimin couldn’t go too far.

If this had happened on the road back to the village—especially somewhere isolated—he would’ve drawn his gun right away. A death like that wouldn’t mean much in this era.

The two men kept begging for mercy, knowing full well what awaited them if they were caught. If they were lucky, they’d just get sent to a reeducation camp. If not, they’d be “remade” from scratch.

They were filled with regret.

About fifteen to twenty minutes later, the young woman returned with the police.

Leading the group was an old acquaintance. Zhou Yimin looked closely—it was none other than Director Zhang.

Zhou Yimin smiled and greeted him, “Director Zhang, long time no see!”

Director Zhang spotted Zhou Yimin and quickly asked, “Yimin, are you alright? Are you hurt?”

(End of Chapter)