Urban Martial Saint

Ye Qing didn’t yet know that He Tao and the others had already been killed. He took Gu Xianping back to the hospital and even took an X-ray for him. This time, his injuries were not light, having sustained some damage to his internal organs; it looked like he would need to stay in the hospital for about half a month.

Seeing Gu Xianping continuously coughing up blood, Ye Qing couldn’t help but feel intensely furious. He gritted his teeth and said, ”This bastard He Tao really went too far, he’s a beast!”

”Big brother, should I go and catch them and beat them up some more?” Da Fei hurriedly suggested from the side.

”No need,” Ye Qing shook his head. He had already struck them hard just now; He Tao and the others would not have the strength to cause any more outrageous harm for a while.

”The more I think about it, the angrier I get. Damn it, I really wish I could just kill those bastards!” Da Fei ranted angrily, unaware that this remark would later be used against him as a handle.

The doctor helped Gu Xianping apply some medicine and set up an IV drip, after which Gu Xianping lay back down on the hospital bed. Ye Qing sat beside him; upon seeing Gu Xianping’s condition, Chen Jun also became greatly distressed. Hearing from Ye Qing about what He Tao and the others had done, Chen Jun also shouted angrily, wishing he could go and beat He Tao himself.

While Chen Jun was raging, suddenly three or four people walked toward the door. The leader was a man in his forties, followed by two men and one woman, all dressed decently and carrying fruits and nutritional products. Standing at the door and looking in, the leading man spoke softly, ”Excuse me for interrupting. May I ask if Teacher Gu Xianping resides here?”

The group exchanged glances; Ye Qing stood up and said, ”Yes, and you are?”

”Oh, I am the Deputy Director of the County Education Bureau, Lin Changlu.” The man immediately came in, spotted Gu Xianping lying on the hospital bed, and hurriedly approached, saying, ”This must be Teacher Gu. We are from the Education Bureau!”

”Ah, Director Lin, hello, hello!” Gu Xianping hurriedly sat up; he had seen Lin Changlu from a distance a few times back when he was a teacher.

”Teacher Gu, please, lie down, just lie down!” Lin Changlu hurriedly helped Gu Xianping lie back down, then turned to Ye Qing with a smile, saying, ”I’m sorry for the disturbance.”

”No problem.” Ye Qing frowned slightly; he had no good impressions of anyone from the Education Bureau. Wang Qing’s brother was the director of the Education Bureau, and that Li Kason, neither were good people. What was Lin Changlu’s purpose for coming to the hospital at this time?

”Teacher Gu, we heard about your injury. On behalf of all the leaders and staff members of the Education Bureau, I specifically came to visit you,” Lin Changlu said with great respect, while also placing all the fruits and supplements beside the bed.

Having worked in the education system for so long, Gu Xianping was always respectful towards people from the Education Bureau. Seeing Lin Changlu being so polite, he felt flattered and hurriedly got up to express his thanks.

”No need to be polite, Teacher Gu, this is the least we could do.” Lin Changlu smiled, then took a card from his pocket and said, ”This card contains five thousand yuan, a small token from all our staff members, for you to buy some nutritional supplements!”

”What?” Gu Xianping was startled, then hurriedly waved his hands and repeatedly said, ”This is too much, too much. You... your visit is already troubling enough, I really can’t accept this money...”

Lin Changlu pushed the card into Gu Xianping’s hand, saying, ”Please, Teacher Gu, don’t be polite. This is a small gesture from all the staff members of the Education Bureau. Although it isn’t much, it represents everyone’s good intentions; if you don’t accept, wouldn’t it be a disappointment to everyone’s kindness?”

”Just visiting me is already more than enough; I really can’t accept this money!” Gu Xianping said.

Lin Changlu and Gu Xianping went back and forth for a while before Gu Xianping reluctantly accepted the card. This act made Ye Qing’s expression slightly softer. After all, from the start, he had harbored hostility toward everyone from the Education Bureau.

”Teacher Gu, the main reason for my visit today is twofold. First, I am here to visit you on behalf of all the leaders and staff. Secondly, I’d like to announce some personnel changes within our department,” Lin Changlu cleared his throat, smiled at Ye Qing, and said, ”Following an investigation by our Education Department, we found that the earlier decision to dismiss you from public office was mistaken. We discovered that those antiques were indeed part of your own private collection and not illicitly kept cultural relics. Therefore, your previous dismissal was completely wrongful, a case of injustice. After discussions with several leaders, we have decided to reinstate your position and retroactively pay you for all the salary losses over the past few years, as well as compensation for the emotional distress you suffered during this time!”

Gu Xianping was stunned for a moment; his greatest wish was to return to teaching, and he knew that Ye Qing could make it happen. However, he hadn’t expected things to move this swiftly or for the leadership of the Education Department to personally make the announcement. He truly felt overwhelmed by the honor.

After finishing his speech, Lin Changlu took out a card from his pocket and solemnly handed it to Gu Xianping, saying, ”Teacher Gu, this card contains your salary for the past four years, amounting to seventy-eight thousand. Additionally, we have included compensation for your emotional distress and losses related to medical and pension insurance during this period, totaling up to one hundred ninety-three thousand seven hundred yuan.”

”Ah?” Gu Xianping was dumbfounded. He had never seen such a large sum of money in his life.

”How... how is it so much money?” Gu Xianping looked at Lin Changlu in astonishment and said, ”My salary wasn’t even that high; wasn’t it just over eight hundred a month? Also, for these emotional losses, where... where does it need so much...?”

Gu Xianping might have been the first to complain about receiving too much compensation. This honest man’s main aspiration was to return to teaching and live a stable life like before. He never considered reclaiming his past salary, let alone compensations for emotional distress. Not only could he return to work now, but he also received such a significant amount of compensation—something he never dreamed of!

Chen Jun promptly added from the side, ”Teacher Gu, this decision is from the county bureau, so it must be correct!”

”Yes, Teacher Gu, since it’s a decision made by the county bureau, you should accept it!” Ye Qing took the card and placed it in Gu Xianping’s hand. He felt that Gu Xianping truly deserved these compensations.

Lin Changlu hurriedly laughed and said, ”Teacher Gu, this decision was discussed and made by several leaders from our bureau. You were our veteran teacher, and indeed, your salary was only a little over eight hundred. However, upon reviewing your personal data, we found that you fully qualify for a higher professional title, which means your salary should be over one thousand five hundred. Hence, the leaders collectively decided to pay your salary based on a standard higher than one thousand five hundred. The salary for four years amounts to about seventy-four thousand. With the money stored in the bank, there are interests accumulated each year, which reaches around seventy-eight thousand. As for the compensation for emotional distress, it was issued based on legal standards, which all have legal bases. If you have any doubts, you can consult a professional lawyer, and if there are any issues, you can make a request to our bureau, and we will try our best to arrange everything for you!”

”I... I had never thought of so much...” Gu Xianping holding the two cards, couldn’t help but tear up. Being able to teach again and receiving a significant salary increase, followed by so much compensation, had elevated his life from the lowest point to the peak—a change too big for him to accept all at once.

”You truly deserve all these,” Lin Changlu replied with a gentle smile, fully aware of the actual circumstances.

The Education Department’s director was Wang Qing’s brother, who had been arrested yesterday along with Wu Anping. This morning, the deputy director and several principals from the county high schools were arrested by the police, under direct orders from Huang Feiming. These arrests of top leaders in the Education Department had greatly shocked the remaining leaders. The leaders who had not been arrested immediately gathered to discuss how to resolve the situation.

These people were not foolish; with such significant events, they started using their connections to investigate the reasons behind them. They quickly got wind of Ye Qing and also Gu Xianping, understanding that the two directors had been ensnared because of Gu Xianping.

The leaders were quick to react, recognizing Gu Xianping’s current stature was vastly different from before. They knew his student had a good relationship with Huang Feiming and were also very close to the military. Such a person was not to be offended.

Therefore, they didn’t even take a lunch break but immediately started a meeting to discuss resolving Gu Xianping’s situation. Their first step was to overturn Gu Xianping’s case, followed by deciding on compensation. Several leaders, to appease Gu Xianping and build a good relationship, decided to increase the compensation. The several hundred thousand for emotional distress emerged from this decision, and that was how Gu Xianping’s salary had also increased. Moreover, these people had already made up their minds to arrange for Gu Xianping to work at the Education Department after he had taught for a while because forging a good relationship with Gu Xianping was akin to connecting with Ye Qing. Behind Ye Qing stood influential figures like Wu Anping and Huang Feiming!

Of course, Gu Xianping was unaware of the many machinations behind the scenes and was immensely grateful to Lin Changlu, expressing his profound thanks. Only Ye Qing saw things more clearly, but he said nothing. As long as Gu Xianping could return to work peacefully and these people didn’t make any serious mistakes, he was not inclined to intervene too much.

Lin Changlu and others sat here for over half an hour, offering many soothing words to Gu Xianping, who was moved to tears. Lin Changlu was very pleased with the evident effect; they had indeed seized the opportunity.

It wasn’t until near dusk that Lin Changlu and the others stood up to leave. Ye Qing saw them out, and at the door, Lin Changlu stopped and turned to Ye Qing, saying, ”Mr. Ye, tomorrow we plan to hold a grand return ceremony for Teacher Gu and will invite several main leaders to attend. I wonder if you would be free to come for a while?”