Urban Martial Saint

”Uncle Liu, these children are all very pitiful. In a public orphanage, I really don’t know what kind of life they will lead,” Ye Qing said urgently. ”I also want to take care of them, I don’t want these children to live that kind of life. Uncle Liu, could you please help me out? I will figure out a way to cover all the expenses of the orphanage!”

Ye Qing had never asked anyone for help with his own matters since he was young. But this time, for the sake of these children, he finally spoke up and asked Liu Changping for help.

Liu Changping sighed and said, ”Ye Qing, I understand your feelings. But, concerning so many children, such a big matter, it needs to be researched and decided by several key leaders at the provincial level. I can’t even sit in such meetings to speak, and Old Zhou still has a certain right to speak. However, I think this matter will be difficult to handle because, after all, no one needs to take responsibility for children placed in public orphanages. But if they are placed in private orphanages, any incident would mean that leaders who initially supported the idea must take responsibility. You should be aware that many people are very conservative in their actions!”

”Uncle Liu, is there really no way?” Ye Qing’s voice was somewhat low.

”Ye Qing, it’s not that I am criticizing you. You are really a good person, but you are too stubborn at times. Many things, which are not really your concern, you always feel the need to shoulder them. Like for these children, adopting one or two wouldn’t be a problem, and the state even encourages you to do so. But adopting so many at once is not easy. And, raising a child is not a simple matter. I’ve calculated, and you must have almost seven or eight hundred children. Each year, think about how much it costs. You have to provide for their clothing, food, shelter, find people to accompany them, hire teachers for their schooling, all these expenses. When it all adds up, you must be investing at least twenty or thirty million yuan every year,” Liu Changping paused and said, ”Ye Qing, such a big responsibility, why must you carry it all on your shoulders? The state-run orphanages will take good care of these children. If you really can’t let go of these children and want to do something for them, you can donate money to the orphanages, and that would also be helping the children!”

Ye Qing was silent for a while, shaking his head, he said, ”These children, either they return to their parents or stay by my side. Other than these two options, I don’t trust that others will take good care of the children!”

Ye Qing’s stubbornness made Liu Changping feel somewhat emotional, but he also knew why Ye Qing was so persistent. Because half of the children under Beggar King’s care were abducted from various orphanages. And Ye Qing had seen with his own eyes how those orphanage workers treated the children, he didn’t believe that public orphanages were any different.

However, Liu Changping couldn’t understand how a person could make such a big decision. Ye Qing hadn’t even married yet, and he was already planning to support so many children. Such a sense of responsibility truly impressed Liu Changping.

After a long silence, Liu Changping patted the table and said, ”Since you’ve said so much, I won’t try to persuade you otherwise. I will try my best to help you make connections, looking for acquaintances. However, you shouldn’t hold out too much hope, this matter is not easy to handle. If the approval doesn’t come through, you must be mentally prepared. These children may be taken to public orphanages, and you mustn’t resist the law!”

Ye Qing remained silent, as he had grown very fond of these children. If someone really tried to take these children away, it would be hard to say he wouldn’t have any urge to resist.

After hanging up the phone, Ye Qing leaned back in his car seat and slowly closed his eyes. The responsibilities he bore were growing heavier by the day, and he felt as though he was sinking deeper into a quagmire with each step he took. He had initially just wanted to take good care of the children, but now, he had inadvertently become involved in much more. And he couldn’t avoid these issues because he needed to avenge Tie Yongwen and Gao Shusen. Thus, he must be involved in these matters!

Upon returning to Shenchuan City, it was almost dark. Black Bear was waiting at the station to pick up Ye Qing and drive him directly back to Tian Sheng. Zhao Chengshuang and Li Lianshan were both here. In recent days, following Ye Qing’s instructions, Li Lianshan had not acted against Tianqing Gang and Fu Bang. However, there was constant infighting within Tianqing Gang and Fu Bang, fighting for gang leadership and control rights, which resulted in daily conflicts, much to Li Lianshan’s amusement.

Naturally, Zhao Chengshuang faced more difficulties. The factions within Tianqing Gang and Fu Bang fought daily, worsening the public safety issues in Shenchuan City. As the deputy director, he had to lead his team to deal with these issues daily and face the public’s complaints. Therefore, he really hoped for a resolution to the matter, just as he had previously mentioned, he really hoped that Ye Qing would take over all the underground forces. Firstly, it would improve Shenchuan City’s public safety, and secondly, he trusted that Ye Qing would never do anything morally wrong.

However, Ye Qing himself definitely was not willing to get involved in those affairs. Hence, the task could only be handed over to Li Lianshan. But Li Lianshan was no fool either; he was happy to sit back and watch as others fought among themselves. Once those people had inflicted mutual destruction, he would make his move and would inevitably become the underground ruler of Shenchuan City. However, taking action prematurely was not only risky but also a waste of manpower and effort, which he naturally was reluctant to undertake. Therefore, although Zhao Chengshuang had spent a long time trying to persuade him, Li Lianshan was still unwilling to act and kept insisting on waiting a bit longer.

When Ye Qing returned, Zhao Chengshuang immediately came up to him and first discussed the orphanage issue. The provincial government had issued an order for the public orphanages in Shenchuan City to temporarily take in the children. However, Lin Zhen Nan and the Zhao Family had found a way to delay this order, so the children were still being taken care of by Ye Qing’s people. However, this was not a permanent solution; if Ye Qing’s private orphanage couldn’t obtain official approval, then these children would ultimately have to be handed over to the public orphanages, as Ye Qing’s side simply had no authority to keep them.

Ye Qing himself was also very concerned about this matter and asked in detail about the specifics. In the end, he realized there was nothing he could do about it. This issue could only be resolved by waiting for the provincial government’s decision. The only thing he could do was ask for help from Liu Changping and Uncle Zhou to try and influence the situation.

The second issue Zhao Chengshuang brought up with Ye Qing involved the Tianqing Gang and the Fu Bang. This was a matter that Zhao Chengshuang was very concerned about, and it was urgent.

”Ye Zi, let me tell you the truth,” Zhao Chengshuang sighed, saying, ”Ever since the explosion at the North Huanqian Bay Bar, the provincial government has been very dissatisfied with the public safety environment in Shenchuan City. After that, so many incidents occurred one after another, and now it has even escalated to gangs fighting openly on the streets, with casualties happening every day. Both the provincial and city governments are focusing on this issue, and if this chaos cannot be stopped immediately, the provincial and city governments might join forces to take severe measures. When that time comes, it won’t just be a simple matter of completely wiping out the Tianqing Gang and the Fu Bang; the whole security situation in Shenchuan City will need a major overhaul, and even Old Li’s side wouldn’t be able to stay out of it!”

”Damn, I don’t buy that!” Li Lianshan immediately retorted discontentedly: ”How many gangsters are there in Shenchuan City? Not ten thousand, then surely eight thousand. Those in the gang communities alone add up to at least three to five thousand. A crackdown? How would you even conduct a crackdown? Are you going to arrest all these people? Can Shenchuan City’s prisons even hold them? Even with the detention centers, there’s not enough room!”

Zhao Chengshuang sighed, saying, ”Old Li, I understand what you mean. You think the law does not punish the masses, so you are not worried or afraid. Indeed, it has always been like this. These gangsters are also just trying to make a living; although they are attached to those groups, they won’t engage in illegal activities if they have money. So, we have turned a blind eye to these people in the past. If they commit crimes, we catch them. If they don’t commit crimes, we let them be. But now it’s different, public safety is completely disrupted by them, and the lives of ordinary citizens are also being disturbed. If this continues, where will the dignity of the national government stand? So, don’t doubt the government’s capabilities. If these people really cross the line, even if we have to build more prisons, we absolutely won’t allow them to disrupt the lives of ordinary citizens!”

Li Lianshan disdainfully said: ”Damn, build more prisons, is there even time for that now?”

Zhao Chengshuang ignored Li Lianshan and only looked at Ye Qing, saying: ”Ye Zi, you come from a military background, you should understand what I’m saying. The stable lives of the people are the reason we police exist. If at this time, we still do nothing, then what’s the point of our department’s existence?”

Li Lianshan waved his hand and said: ”Ye Zi, don’t listen to him. If we act now, we’ll still be creating disorder just like those others. Tianqing Gang and Fu Bang are so powerful that even with us, it would probably take two to three months to defeat them, and the result would still be the same. If we don’t intervene, then I’d like to see how they’re going to arrest us!”

”Even if they don’t arrest you, you still need to think about those gangsters. They are merely struggling to make a living, and if they really could be given a job, a stable income, they definitely wouldn’t go out there and commit those acts!” Zhao Chengshuang urgently said: ”Ye Zi, think about the people around you. Da Fei, Mad Dog, what were they doing before? They were all from poor families, and once they had jobs and income, who would want to go out and risk their lives? And once they are arrested, what about their families?”

”Ye Zi...”

Li Lianshan was about to speak, but Ye Qing suddenly gestured for silence and said solemnly: ”No need to say more, I know what to do!”