Chapter 72: A False Alarm

There is a common professional skill among traffic police officers: memorizing license plates.

Every day, they deal with all sorts of vehicles on the road, and a moment’s carelessness could provoke someone they can’t afford to offend. That’s why memorizing license plates is a skill every traffic officer must force themselves to master.

So, when Su Weimin asked over the radio for the license plate number of the Mercedes, someone immediately replied, “That car belongs to Song Liang, the boss of Wanying Company here in Haizhou.”

Su Weimin’s anger flared instantly. He had always disliked real estate developers; these people had their hands in everything, wielded both money and power, and were notoriously arrogant. He’d heard of Song Liang, though he didn’t know him well. Just the thought of his own daughter sitting in that man’s car and being driven home by him set off all sorts of alarms in Su Weimin’s mind—nothing good could come of this!

Li Mu was focused on driving and hadn’t noticed that a Passat had been tailing him all along. It was only when the roar of an engine accelerating suddenly sounded from behind that he realized the Passat was overtaking him. Li Mu didn’t think much of it, but then the Passat suddenly flicked on its indicator and swerved right, pulling up just ahead to block his way.

Su Weimin’s assigned car wasn’t marked as a police vehicle, so Li Mu had no idea who was in it or what its purpose was. But for it to suddenly cut him off like this, it was clearly targeting him.

Li Mu had no choice but to stop the car, resolving not to get out under any circumstances. At that moment, a middle-aged man in a police uniform, his expression stormy, stepped out of the Passat. As he approached, he pulled out a badge and held it aloft.

“Police! Turn off the engine and get out of the car!”

“It’s over…” Li Mu didn’t know Su Weimin, but now he could clearly see the police uniform and the large badge on the officer’s ID. Of all the times he’d driven without a license since his rebirth, he’d rarely been caught. How unlucky could he be to be stopped by the police now? Had he made some mistake while driving?

Though his head was spinning, Li Mu didn’t dare to resist. He switched off the engine and got out. The moment he stepped onto the road, Su Weimin, who had been brimming with anger, was stunned.

He’d almost reached the car, fully expecting the person getting out to be Song Liang, the boss of Wanying Company. Instead, he was faced with a young man.

Suppressing his surprise, Su Weimin strode up with a stern face and demanded, “Show me your driver’s license and ID.”

Li Mu’s heart raced. He looked around nervously for some time before finally pulling out his wallet, extracting his ID, and presenting it with both hands, bowing slightly as he pleaded, “Officer, I’m sorry, I haven’t gotten my driver’s license yet…”

Su Weimin took the ID and saw that the young man had only just turned eighteen a few months ago, about the same age as his own daughter.

Realizing they were peers, Su Weimin’s earlier tension eased considerably.

“Driving without a license? You’ve got guts! Tell me, what do you do?”

“Officer, I’m a student at City No. 1 High School, just graduated from high school.”

“Oh, No. 1 High. Which class?”

“Class Seven…”

Su Weimin paused. His own daughter was in Class Seven too.

“Who’s your homeroom teacher?”

“Pang Dahai.”

Su Weimin knew Li Mu was telling the truth but put on a sterner act, feigning anger: “Are you messing with me? Isn’t that a name from traditional medicine?”

Li Mu hurried to explain, “No, it’s Pang, not Fat. Pang with the ‘dragon’ character underneath.”

Only then did Su Weimin nod slightly and ask, “How did you do on the college entrance exam?”

“Six hundred thirty-six…”

“Well, not bad. With grades like that, don’t you know driving without a license is illegal?”

“Officer, I’m currently learning to drive at Jin’an Driving School…”

At this, Su Weimin finally relaxed. It had been a false alarm! So this kid was his daughter’s classmate, and they were learning to drive together. It seemed his worst fears had been unfounded. Still, he was curious—what was this kid’s background? Was he from a wealthy family? Was he just pursuing his daughter, or were they already seeing each other?

“Learning to drive or not, it’s still illegal to drive without a license. Where did the car come from?”

“A friend lent it to me, just to practice…”

“Quite a generous friend, lending you such an expensive car to practice on?”

Li Mu scratched his head, “Yeah…”

Su Weimin was about to let Li Mu go and head home for dinner, but thinking about how this kid had made him so anxious and had done something so outrageous as to force a confrontation, he felt a bit put out. Still, since Li Mu was his daughter’s classmate, he couldn’t really handle it strictly by the book. With a stern face, he said, “For behavior like yours, I could detain you on the spot and impound this car.”

Li Mu immediately put on a pitiful expression and pleaded, “Officer, it’s my first time. I swear I’ll never drive without a license again. Please, have mercy and give me a chance…”

Su Weimin looked him over and nodded, “Since you’re an outstanding student, I suppose I should give a promising youth like you a chance. Do twenty push-ups right here, then you can go.”

Relieved as if receiving a royal pardon, Li Mu didn’t care about the dirt on the ground and immediately dropped down to do push-ups.

Luckily, he was young and fit; twenty push-ups were no problem.

Su Weimin, fighting back laughter, stood in front of him and watched as Li Mu completed fifteen or sixteen before suddenly asking, “Which university did you apply to?”

“Renmin University…”

“Oh, impressive! Make it fifty then!”

…

With aching arms, Li Mu drove the car to the Eco Park. He was still puzzled—why had the officer doubled his punishment after learning he’d gotten into Renmin University? Was it something personal? Did the officer have a grudge against Renmin? Had he failed to get in himself back in the day?

Though confused, Li Mu bore no resentment. At least the officer had let him off lightly.

After parking, a staff member came up to greet him, “Mr. Li? Mr. Song is waiting for you in the private room. Please follow me.”

Li Mu nodded and followed him to the private room, where four people were already seated at the table: Zhao Kang, Song Liang, Zhang Wanjun, and Lu Yong.

Zhao Kang visibly relaxed when Li Mu arrived. Sitting with these Haizhou bigshots had been so stressful he could barely speak, and only now did he feel he’d been rescued.

Li Mu, however, was calm—he’d mentally prepared himself before seeking Song Liang out. At the table, introduced by Song Liang, he toasted both Zhang Wanjun and Lu Yong.

He then toasted Song Liang separately and introduced Zhao Kang to the others. With Li Mu there, Zhao Kang’s nervousness eased, and he took the initiative to toast the three men.

After several rounds of drinks, Song Liang began asking Li Mu about the specialty store. Li Mu answered truthfully, and Song Liang turned to Zhang Wanjun, “Wanjun, look at my young friend here. At eighteen, he’s put together tens of thousands to open a store. What were we doing at his age?”

Zhang Wanjun hadn’t expected Li Mu, so young, to have already established something of his own. He wasn’t a government official’s son or a rich kid, and yet Song Liang valued him so highly—clearly, this young man was extraordinary. Zhang Wanjun took the initiative to raise his glass, “Li, you’re a promising young man. I can’t compare.”

Li Mu quickly returned the toast, polite but always maintaining a degree of formality and distance.

He understood clearly that while he could befriend Song Liang, their relationship was supported by Ye Tianming and the others from the Simple Plan. But as for people like Zhang Wanjun—a major figure with ties to the underworld—it was better to remain respectful, keep a safe distance, and avoid deeper involvement.