Chapter 185 (Bitter)Sweet 16 (Part 3)

"Young Master Wu, are you sure this is wise? How do you know he won't report you?" Zi Long asked worriedly after they left the estate. Judging by the tight look on Shang Jing's face, Jingwei must have discovered his misdeeds and had not taken the news well.

If Sun Jingwei had been the type of person that delighted in the degradation of people, Zi Long would need to reconsider his skill at reading people.

Shang Jing laughed, but there wasn't much humour in it. "Zi Long, tell me, what kind of person do you think Jingwei is?"

"I…" Before Zi Long could reply, Shang Jing confidently answered his own question.

"This friend of mine isn't someone that is a brave hero. He likes his comfortable life, and hates to do anything that'll upset it. I'm his only friend, and our families are allied, so all the more he'll be reluctant to stop me. What's more, do you think he has the courage to go against me and his father? Just wait and see. Nothing will happen."

And Shang Jing was right.

Jingwei knew that deep down, reporting would be futile. When your family was as powerful as Sun Jingwei's and Wu Shang Jing's, most illegal activities became legal with the right amount of money. Sun Jingwei was the only one that knew the dirty secrets hidden in Shang Jing's computer, and that knowledge ate at him day after day, like a greedy parasite.

He couldn't help but keep hacking into his computer daily, just so he could see what new depravity his best friend was up to in addition to the illegal filming of sex acts.

What he found was worse. Brokering arms. Selling drugs. Dabbling in human trafficking.

Jingwei was horrified, but he still kept his silence. He didn't know how to stop him. The Wu family was powerful enough to cover up any misdeed.

Unless he had his father's support. That would make all the difference. Swallowing his fear and reluctance, Jingwei decided to seek advice from him. His father definitely wouldn't want to have business dealings with someone so twisted!

"Father, may I speak with you?" Jingwei asked hesitantly, actually knocking on his father's home office door before entering. Such a polite act immediately attracted Sun Haowei's attention. His youngest son was two steps away from delinquency, with his poor grades and truancy; clearly he wanted something from him which is why he's bothering to play nice.

"What trouble did you cause now?" Sun Haowei asked with a raised eyebrow. He crossed his arms and looked at Jingwei suspiciously. His son looked uncharacteristically nervous.

"You can't be out of money; I just deposited a million into your savings account last month. Did you already crash the Ferrari I bought you? I told you to be more careful! Why are you always so careless?!"

"Father! I didn't crash the Ferrari! I'm a good driver!" Jingwei argued, upset that his father's first thought was about him causing trouble. "It's not about that!"

"Don't tell me,YOU GOT SOME GIRL PREGNANT?!" Sun Haowei roared angrily. "I knew it! Who asked you to keep spending time with girls instead of focusing on your studies?!"

"NO! There are no pregnant girls!" Jingwei protested hotly. His father really thought he was that kind of careless idiot. How could he always assume the worst about him? How infuriating! This time, he was actually trying to do the right thing!

"Father! It's about Shang Jing."

"What about him?" His father asked. "Are you guys going on holiday together alone? Do you know what kind of rumours will fly around if you do?"

"No Father, we are not going on holiday." Jingwei said tiredly, rubbing his forehead. Great, his father didn't want him to spend time with any girls, but also didn't want him to spend time with Shang Jing alone for fear of gay rumours.

Jingwei took a deep breath, and decided to just tell him everything before his father accused him of something more ridiculous.

"Father, I found out that Shang Jing is taking spy cams of naked women having sex. He's also selling drugs! And humans! And weapons! I want to report him to the authorities -" Before Jingwei could continue, his father held up a hand to stop him.

p "STUPID BOY!" His father barked out, slamming that same hand on his table. "Have I taught you nothing all these years?"

"Pretty much," Jingwei couldn't resist making the smart quip was just on the tip of his tongue. Indeed. His father didn't teach him anything.

His father gnashed his teeth, but took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Do you think that anything will come out of reporting Shang Jing's crimes to the police? We are all cut from the same cloth. It will achieve nothing and get our family pulled into his mess too!"

"But if we used our resources we could punish - "

"And why would we want to punish him?" Sun Haowei retorted. Jingwei fell silent in surprise.

"Because he's committing crimes?!"

"And how is that our business?" Sun Haowei spoke slowly, as though lecturing a particularly dim-witted child. "As long as it doesn't affect our corporate partnerships with them, why should you care?"

"I -"

"In fact, you should be thinking about how to contribute to the family business like him. At least he's creating income from his activities, but you? All you do is sit around all day doing nothing! Don't bother me about this again, and don't interfere in Shang Jing's business. Do you understand me?"

Jingwei stared at his father blankly, not comprehending the words that came out of his mouth.

"Do you understand me?" His father repeated, more seriously.

"Yes father," Jingwei replied dimly, too shell-shocked at his father's reply to fight. Maybe he'd have better luck turning to his brother for help. Surely his brother wouldn't be so heartless to just let things go like that! And he was smarter too - if anyone could think of a way to get Wu Shang Jing arrested for his crimes and yet have them escape unscathed, it would be him.