"Now that it's finally quiet, tell me, what other conditions will your general agree to?"
The person who spoke earlier timidly replied, "Just name your conditions. Our general has said he'll pay any price to get these two back."
He stammered, clearly intimidated by my action of sending Principal Sun to accompany a female dog in heat. The image of Principal Sun was enough to send shivers down one's spine.
In reality, I didn't have a female dog in heat. I just wanted him to shut his foul mouth and stop causing trouble.
I said, "These two people injured my people, and my two sisters are still in an uncertain state of life or death. If it were your general, how would he deal with it?"
They looked at each other, neither able to answer. Murder calls for a life, a principle that holds true everywhere. What right did he have to take them away?
I declared, "These two are guilty of capital offenses, not something to be exchanged for any condition. Go back and tell your general that we have no past enmity and no recent grudges. He has provoked and caused trouble for me repeatedly. I will settle all these accounts with him, and he should wait for me in his lair. This is not a place where he can do as he pleases. No matter how powerful he is over there, he has no influence here! I am determined to have these two lives. Let him send his forces if he dares!"
One of them asked, "Can we see them?"
I replied, "Unfortunately, they are not here. We have a secret base deep in the mountains, over a hundred kilometers away. I've sent them there. The terrain is treacherous, and it's impossible to get there at night. But don't worry, there are plenty of wild chickens and monkeys there, so they won't be lonely."
They looked at me incredulously. First, I sent Principal Sun to accompany a female dog in heat, and now I claimed to have their companions consorting with wild chickens and monkeys. They must have thought I was a complete degenerate.
I continued, "Take your general's gold bars and tell him that if he needs money, he can find me. I have more ways to earn money than that Principal Sun. But if he chooses to deal with me using such tactics, there's only one answer: I will fight him to the end! Now, see yourselves out!"
I had my subordinates return the two packages of gold bars to them and dismissed them.
The two wanted to say more, but I waved them away.
After they left, I called Wen Siqiang and asked him how he had dealt with Principal Sun.
Wen Siqiang said that according to my instructions, he had indeed put Principal Sun in a dog cage, but unfortunately, it was filled with male dogs, not a female in heat.
Principal Sun was currently confronting some wolfdogs.
I had bought these wolfdogs from a kennel just yesterday. They hadn't undergone any training yet and were not entirely obedient, even biting our own people. Wen Siqiang was truly audacious to have put Principal Sun in there directly.
I asked, "Did they bite him?"
Wen Siqiang replied, "They are just puppies a few months old and not very fierce. But Principal Sun has already wet his pants, and the water is flowing down his trouser legs."
He told me this with a tone of relishing the drama, and I felt a sense of satisfaction. I had wanted to deal with this Principal Sun for a long time but never had the opportunity. Today, he had come to my doorstep acting tough, and getting dealt with was his own doing.
I went downstairs. Since I had prepared such a grand reception for Principal Sun, it would be remiss of me not to be present.
The dog cage was located behind the office building, to the right of the factory area.
As I descended the stairs, I heard the growls of the wolfdogs and Principal Sun's hysterical shouts. I walked over. Several powerful incandescent lights illuminated the scene brightly. I saw an iron cage about ten square meters and over a person tall by the wall. Five or six black wolfdogs were jumping around, barking at Principal Sun.
Principal Sun was huddled in a corner, his back hunched, staring at the wolfdogs that were about to pounce. His face and body were covered in mud, his meticulously styled hair was disheveled, and he was staring fearfully at the wolfdogs, afraid they would rush forward and tear him apart.
I took a whip from a security guard and cracked it in the air. The dogs immediately stopped barking and took a step back, staring at me.
This whip was used for their training, and they knew the pain of being struck by it, so they feared it greatly.
I walked up to Principal Sun and said with a smile, "I never expected that you, a dignified middle school principal, who always preaches about propriety and shame, would turn out to be a hypocrite who has committed all sorts of evils. You bear the mission of educating people, yet you collude with drug dealers across the border to poison the populace. I originally intended to put you in the female dog's cage today, but I made a mistake. The female dog's cage is still on the mountain and hasn't been brought down. So today, you'll have to make do with these little black brothers for the night. Tomorrow, I'll find a female dog in heat for you to enjoy a romantic evening. Don't blame me for not hosting you properly; I've done my best."
He looked at me with dead fish eyes and said in a hoarse voice, "Li classmate, for the sake of you and your father being colleagues, spare me this once. I promise we'll mind our own business from now on. You go your way, and I'll go mine, and we'll not interfere with each other."
I whipped the cage in anger and said, "Don't mention my father, or my anger wouldn't flare up so much. My father was such a dedicated person. You turned him into something less than human, causing my family to be broken and ruined. Since you brought it up, I will, for my father's sake, let the dogs coach you again!"
As I was about to urge the dogs to continue, Principal Sun quickly said, "That wasn't me. It was all Zhou Yingying. She insisted that your father tried to molest her. It has nothing to do with me."
This Principal Sun is a despicable scoundrel. To think that Zhou Yingying risked her life for him, only to be utterly betrayed in the end.
I replied, "Good, that's what you say. Today, we will clarify things. If it was you, it was you. If it was her, it was her. Every grievance has its cause, and every debt has its debtor. If I wrongly accuse you, I will release you immediately, apologize, and make amends. We will handle things one by one. If it was you, I am sorry, but I will have you stay in this dog cage every day, guarding my premises."
As I waited for him to argue, I said to Wen Siqiang, "Go and bring Zhou Yingying here. We will confront each other directly!"
Wen Siqiang acknowledged and rushed off to drive.
Principal Sun looked somewhat flustered. He said in a low voice, "Let me go, and I promise I won't do anything detrimental to you again. I'll also give you Wu Guodong's contact information."
I replied, "What do I need to contact Wu Guodong for? I don't want any dealings with him. Today, I'm here specifically to deal with you. You are the top priority right now."
He lowered his head, looking like he had no will to live, and slumped to the ground.
Perhaps accustomed to his presence in the cage, one or two of the dogs even tried to approach him to sniff his foul odor.
Dogs have a peculiar affinity for smells, and I believed that if he stayed long enough, the dogs would surely accept him and associate with him.
It remained to be seen if he would eventually accept them.
This was truly a marvelous scene. I genuinely wished for him to live here, to eat dog food every day, and to frolic with the dogs. Such a serene spectacle was something I truly looked forward to.