Chapter 2257 - 2257

At this point, Liu Zhizhong's reaction left Zhang Xiaoyang completely dumbfounded again.

After being in a vegetative state for more than two years, did this guy suddenly become enlightened or something?

No no no, he must be faking calm, deliberately acting all philosophical. In reality his heart's being torn to shreds, he probably wishes he could kill me, Zhang Xiaoyang, but he just doesn't have the guts, right? Hahaha...

Zhang Xiaoyang chuckled, nodded, pointed at Liu Zhizhong, and said, "Alright, junior, being able to reach this kind of realm is already pretty good. Okay then, we'll leave it at that for today. Congratulations on getting discharged! From now on, we're square."

With that, Zhang Xiaoyang strode toward the door.

Liu Zhizhong was taken aback and said, "We're really square?"

"Or what?"

Zhang Xiaoyang turned his head, standing at the door, his seemingly mild expression carrying a hard-to-describe gloom.

"Liu Zhizhong, that's enough, don't drag in all that nonsense. It was an accident to begin with. If the Zhang Family hadn't gone all out on your treatment, hadn't kept you alive, you'd have been dead long ago, you get that? Someone like you, being alive or dead in this world—does it really make that much difference? If you still want a political future, you should open up your pattern, don't be this petty, understand?"

As he spoke, he jabbed a finger at Liu Zhizhong from across the room.

Liu Zhizhong took a huge hit to his dignity and was feeling the pressure of local Powerful People, but he wasn't scared at all. He said, "You keep telling me I need to 'open up my pattern', right? May I ask, has Director Zhang opened up his pattern?"

"You..."

Zhang Xiaoyang was struck dumb; he'd really been smacked down perfectly.

He nodded. "Fine, fine, fine, Liu Zhizhong, you're something..."

Then he even gave a big thumbs-up, turned around and walked out.

He had one trait: he'd rather die than lose face.

Under these circumstances, Liu Zhizhong was absolutely the winner.

Deep down, Zhang Xiaoyang was relieved and was actually planning to give Liu Zhizhong some compensation to wrap this up.

But in a direct one-on-one like this, there was no way he'd back down.

Backing down would mean admitting he'd chickened out, and he'd lose every scrap of face.

When has the Zhang Family ever bowed their heads to anyone in Dongnan City?

Their haughty dignity was everything!

Watching Zhang Xiaoyang swagger off, his Shadow disappearing, Liu Zhizhong just let out a cold laugh.

Factoring in how he'd been back in university, Liu Zhizhong had already figured out that Zhang Xiaoyang was scared on the inside, just putting up a tough front.

It wouldn't be long before Zhang Xiaoyang sent someone over with money.

Yes, sent someone.

There was no way Zhang Xiaoyang would bring it himself; that would be way too humiliating.

So Liu Zhizhong didn't care at all about him walking off.

He simply picked up his few belongings and got ready to leave.

His luggage was really as simple as it gets.

One backpack, with a phone and laptop that no longer worked, plus a few summer clothes. A genuine-leather Scarecrow wallet, also very old, with some worn-out cards and a little over twenty yuan in loose cash inside.

As for the suitcase he'd used in college, it was probably gone by now.

When the incident happened, he had just come back to Dongnan City from the Provincial City. He hadn't even checked into a hotel; he'd dragged his suitcase straight to the meetup.

That meetup had been organized by Zhang Xiaoyang. As a Tianchuan University student with some clout in Dongnan City, he was the president of the Tianchuan alumni association here.

So that day, Zhang Xiaoyang had gathered people from his own year and other alumni, especially those in government offices and state-owned enterprises, to have a get-together and welcome juniors like Liu Zhizhong to come to the Southeast, build up the Southeast, and develop the Southeast.

If he remembered correctly, Liu Zhizhong's suitcase had been left at the hotel front desk during that meetup. It'd been more than two years; who knew if it was still there.

There were actually a lot of important documents and materials in that suitcase.

Liu Zhizhong was planning to, after his discharge, go report in at the City Organization Department in Dongnan City, and then drop by the hotel to see if the suitcase was still around.

He slung his backpack over his shoulder and stepped outside, just in time to see Yang Xiang sitting on duty at the nurses' station.

At this point, Yang Xiang was the small team lead for nurses on this floor; she counted as a small-time official, at least.

After these days of contact, Liu Zhizhong had gotten fairly familiar with her; their relationship was pretty good.

After all, once Liu Zhizhong recovered, he was good-looking, gentle, and well-built. He naturally had a kind of charm and appeal to women.

Even more so for a nurse like Yang Xiang—still unmarried but already with a boyfriend, a big-sister type.

With a calm smile, Liu Zhizhong waved at Yang Xiang. Before he could say anything, she had already stood up.

"Hey, Mr. Liu, you're leaving? What did Director Zhang say? Is he giving you any compensation?"

Liu Zhizhong smiled, shook his head, and said, "He might, or he might not. But it's no longer important."

"Huh? How... how is it not important? You had such a bright future, and he delayed you for more than two years! Isn't he supposed to compensate you? The Zhang Family is a big, rich family, they're not strapped for cash, right?"

Heh, just a little nurse, she really was too naïve.

"Precisely because they're big and rich, not short of money, and not afraid of trouble, and because the Zhang Family can blot out the sky in the Southeast, that it's perfectly normal for them to act on impulse. Alright, Ms. Yang, politics is something you don't know much about, and not knowing is its own kind of blessing. Let's leave it at that. Thank you all for your concern and care. I'll be off now."

"Oh... okay then, let me walk you out..."

"No need to be so polite, I'll be fine."

"Come on, let me. Aren't you going into the city? I'll drive you to the bus station."

"Aren't you on duty?"

"Here, hehe... duty isn't that strict; we can have someone cover for a bit."

Faced with her insistence, Liu Zhizhong didn't turn her down.

The warmth and coldness of human relationships, the many faces of the world—these things still mattered.

So Liu Zhizhong actually got into Yang Xiang's little souped-up Audi A3, and she drove him to the bus station.

Shunping County was a pretty big county and had the strongest agricultural economy in all of Dongnan City. The one regret was that every train, bullet train, and high-speed rail line completely bypassed this county town.

Fortunately, from Shunping County to the Southeast City District there were two national highways, two provincial roads, and a fast road. It took less than half an hour to race into the city.

Because of that, most of the top four leadership teams of Shunping County and the various bureaus didn't settle their home in the county town. They worked in the county during the day and went back to the city to rest at night.

The Southeast City District, while not ranking high within the province, was still the city proper, the economic, cultural, and political center of a Prefecture-level City.

At the Shunping bus station, Liu Zhizhong bought a ticket, quickly boarded, and set off directly for the city.

The coach drove a bit slower, so it took roughly forty minutes before Liu Zhizhong got off.

After getting off and checking the time, he first went to get a new phone number, then hailed a cab straight to the City Organization Department...