Blank Charge

Chapter 38

Jin Zhou didn’t apply for an investigation order from Yang Shiyu. He went to the Agricultural and Commercial Bank next to the Paris Temple with the materials. Those small banks often provided better service than the big five banks. When Jin Zhou entered, the smiling branch manager was also very enthusiastic towards him. But as soon as he heard that Jin Zhou was there to check a customer’s account information, his smile immediately faded.

“I’m sorry, but that’s the customer’s privacy, and we can’t disclose such information.”

The branch manager’s face clearly showed rejection, but his attitude in answering was still polite.

“Take a look, these are my credentials, and there’s a case filing certificate.” Jin Zhou’s attitude was also polite. “According to the Lawyers Law, I have the right to investigate Zhang Rui’s account information.”

“Oh, Zhang Rui, huh?” The branch manager rested his elbow on the counter and started chatting with Jin Zhou. “What’s wrong with him?”

Changing the subject couldn’t be more obvious. Jin Zhou decided to play along and counter-questioned, “Are you familiar with Zhang Rui?”

“Not really, just heard of him,” the branch manager quickly denied, as if afraid of getting involved in trouble. “He organizes parties next door, one of our colleague got married, and he was in charge of the bachelor party.”

The branch manager was referring to the Paris Temple next door. According to what Jin Zhou knew, party planning was usually outsourced, so he didn’t expect the bar to have that kind of business. He made a mental note to mention it to Mrs Liu later.

“Have you met him?” Jin Zhou asked again.

“Sure, I’ve definitely met him,” the branch manager said, “after all, he’s right next door.”

“What do you think of him?”

When Jin Zhou asked that question, the branch manager finally realized that Jin Zhou was fishing for information. He ambiguously replied, “He’s okay, we’re not really close.”

The branch manager’s authority was limited, and Jin Zhou didn’t really expect him to help him.

“Well, I won’t trouble you then,” Jin Zhou said, “get your superior out here, I’ll talk directly to your superior.”

“Sir, we really can’t disclose that information,” the branch manager said hesitantly. “Don’t think that just because we’re a small bank, we don’t value customer privacy.”

In other words, don’t think that just because we’re a small bank, we’re easy to bully.

“If you say you can’t disclose, then you can’t disclose. So, may I ask who you are…” Jin Zhou paused, “the bank president? The top person?”

Jin Zhou’s implied meaning was clear, that the branch manager was insignificant.

The branch manager looked displeased and stopped wasting words with Jin Zhou. Instead, he used the intercom to inform a supervisor about the situation. After putting down the intercom, he said to Jin Zhou, “Our supervisor is a bit busy right now. They’ll be out soon.”

Jin Zhou wasn’t a fool. If the branch manager really intended to call the supervisor, he would only say that there was something happening , without going into details.

The branch manager made the situation clear in detail, but he was actually hinting to the supervisor not to come out.

Jin Zhou didn’t mind, found a seat, and sat down. After all, he had plenty of time.

However, after more than ten minutes, he didn’t see the supervisor coming out. Instead, he saw an unexpected figure.

“Big brother, why can’t you stop bothering me?” Zhang Rui entered the bank from the entrance and came straight to Jin.

He had messy hair, and his coat revealed the corner of his pajamas, indicating that he was sleeping at home and was called in abruptly.

Jin Zhou couldn’t help but find it amusing. The branch manager claimed not to be familiar with Zhang Rui, but he even passed on the information. How could that be considered unfamiliar?

“Come on, let’s talk outside.” Zhang Rui took out a pack of cigarettes and signaled Jin Zhou to go outside to resolve the matter.

There were still customers waiting to conduct their business in the bank, so Jin Zhou felt it was not convenient to handle the matter there. He then followed Zhang Rui outside the bank.

“What’s your relationship with Sister Liu?” Zhang Rui lit a cigarette for Jin Zhou and then lit one for himself. “Are you really a lawyer? You don’t look like one.”

No lawyer could gather dozens of friends to create a scene like Jin Zhou had previously done.

Jin Zhou was too lazy to explain and exhaled a puff of smoke. “I am a lawyer, paid to get things done.”

“Are you kidding me?” Zhang Rui, who initially held the cigarette between his index and middle fingers, imitated Jin Zhou’s gesture by turning his hand backward and holding the cigarette between his thumb and index finger, exaggeratedly taking a puff. “Which lawyer smokes like this?”

If there were elegant and inelegant ways of smoking, Jin Zhou’s style was definitely the standard of an uncouth rogue.

Jin Zhou thought that Zhang Rui was somewhat interesting and smiled. “What’s it to you?”

“Alright, alright, smoke however you want.” Zhang Rui placed the cigarette back between his index and middle fingers. “Let me ask you, what will it take for you to let this go?”

“It’s simple.” Jin Zhou flicked the cigarette ash with his middle finger. “You return the watch.”

“You’re joking, right?” Zhang Rui muttered under his breath. “He really is a lawyer.”

“Quickly return it, and don’t cause me any trouble.” Jin Zhou said.

“No, but you have to prove that the watch is with me, right?” Zhang Rui continued, “Everything I just said was hypothetical. If the watch is not with me, what do you expect me to return?”

In fact, Zhang Rui had inquired about the price of the watch from Yu He, which already proved that the watch was in his possession.

However, if Jin Zhou mentioned it now, Zhang Rui would find various ways to destroy the evidence.

“You never learn.” Jin Zhou stubbed the cigarette in the trash bin. “ If the watch was worth a few thousand yuan, maybe I would let it go. But for several hundred thousand ,I don’t think so?”

“Then present the evidence showing I took it.” Zhang Rui struck a defiant pose. “No evidence, no further discussion, alright?”

That was the thorny issue of the case. Regardless of whether it was a gift, custody, or loan, Jin Zhou could make Zhang Rui return the watch.

But the condition was that he had to prove the watch was in fact with Zhang Rui.

Finally, the supervisor of the Agricultural and Commercial Bank came out, but Jin Zhou couldn’t retrieve Zhang Rui’s account information.

He had to go back and write an application for an investigation order, not knowing if it would be approved.

He had to ask for Yang Shiyu’s help again.

Jin Zhou was really annoyed. Recently their relationship had become somewhat sensitive, and he didn’t want to ask for Yang Shiyu’s help again.

Especially after what happened last night, when he almost lost everything. If he asked for Yang Shiyu’s help again, wouldn’t he completely lose the chance to turn the situation around?

But on the other hand, it wasn’t good to keep dragging the case on.

Even if it wasn’t Liu Sister asking for his help, he didn’t want to see Zhang Rui’s smug face.

When he returned home, Jin Zhou couldn’t help but take out his phone, intending to send a message to Yang Shiyu.

However, after hesitating for a long time, he put the phone away again.

He realized why he didn’t want to ask Yang Shiyu for help. It wasn’t because he was afraid of Yang Shiyu making excessive demands—after all, he wouldn’t comply—but because he vaguely felt that Yang Shiyu had the upper hand in whatever their relationship was.

Yang Shiyu was taller, older, and even stronger in physical strength. Where did he get the confidence to suppress Yang Shiyu?

Perhaps it was because ,since long ago Yang Shiyu had always given in to him—just like last night, it was Yang Shiyu who gave in to him. So subconsciously, he always felt that no matter what he wanted, Yang Shiyu would fulfill it.

Now, thinking about it, this mentality was really strange. Why did he naturally assume that Yang Shiyu should unconditionally dote on him?

What if Yang Shiyu didn’t want to compromise?

Clearly, on matters of principle, Yang Shiyu didn’t want to back down.

So Jin Zhou didn’t want to ask Yang Shiyu for help anymore because he clearly felt that he had already fallen behind in momentum. If he continued like this, he would completely lose his position for a counterattack.

At home, Jin Zhou wrote the application while lost in his thoughts. As a result, he didn’t manage to write anything significant.

A while later, his phone suddenly received a message from Yang Shiyu, saying that he would be working late and would come back later.

That’s good, Jin Zhou thought. It would give him more time to write the application, so he wouldn’t have to embarrassingly ask Yang Shiyu for help.

He ordered takeout for dinner and finished writing the application. After organizing the facts, when Jin Zhou closed his laptop, the window outside had turned into night, and the moon was hanging high in the sky.

There were several unread messages on WeChat, none of them particularly important. But at that moment, Jin Zhou’s gaze was suddenly drawn to the word “Golf” in the conversation.

He opened the chat box, and it was a message from one of his brothers.

[Brother: Image ×3.jpg]

[Brother: Jin Zhou, is this Golf?]

Jin Zhou didn’t feel like correcting the person’s statement. In the three photos, the entrance of the city’s top luxury five-star hotel was displayed. Yang Shiyu was walking out of it with a well-dressed man and getting into a parked Maybach at the entrance.

That was the classic model with a price tag of over ten million. Let alone riding it, Jin Zhou hadn’t even touched one.

No, that wasn’t the point.

The man next to Yang Shiyu looked mature. He was about the same age and, perhaps due to the enhancement of the suit, gave off an air of elegance and class.

“You bastard,” Jin Zhou gritted his teeth, “weren’t you working overtime?”

He immediately replied to the message.

[Jin Zhou: Is this just now?]

[Brother: Yes]

Jin Zhou didn’t know how his brothers recognized Yang Shi Yu, but he forwarded the photos to Sun Yi and gave him a call.

Sun Yi was skilled in handling divorce lawsuits and was especially good at catching infidelity.

Jin Zhou believed that it wouldn’t be long before he had all the information about that man in the suit. However, at that moment, a WeChat group suddenly becomes active.

[Sun Yi: Image.jpg]

[Sun Yi: Oh my god, Yang Shiyu is having an affair!]

Jin Zhou picked up his phone and stared at the screen, looking like an old person on the subway looking at their phone.

[Xiao Wu: Really? Did you take the photo?]

[Hu Zi: Yang Shiyu looks so handsome in a suit. No wonder Jin Zhou fell for him.]

[Yu He: Who is the person next to him?]

[Sun Yi: I didn’t take it. Jin Zhou sent it to me and asked me to investigate.]

[Sun Yi: I’m good at investigating, you all know that.]

[Yu He: Catching an affair?]

[Hu Zi: Let’s not jump to conclusions. What if it’s just a normal dinner?]

[Xiao Wu: If it’s a normal dinner, Jin Zhou definitely wouldn’t ask Sun Yi to investigate.]

[Sun Yi: That’s right. Jin Zhou definitely doesn’t know who that man is.]