CHAPTER 765: CHAPTER 624: DECEPTION AND MANIPULATION, A RUINED PARTNERSHIP

On his way to confront Hatanaka Ichiro with anger for a beauty, Yoshifu Yamanaka’s beauty, Bai He Tianye, received an uninvited guest.

A young man of average appearance and build looked at Bai He Tianye and said with a smile, "Your acting is quite impressive, you’ve got two men wrapped around your finger."

He was Ogamoto Shinichi, the head of the Theft Division in the Criminal Department of the Police Headquarters. Bai He Tianye’s invitation to Yoshifu Yamanaka and her feigned drunk intrusion into Hatanaka Ichiro’s private room were all orchestrated by him under the orders of Nakamura Shinichi.

"Will he... will he really be okay?" Bai He Tianye asked worriedly, biting her lip.

She didn’t know Hatanaka Ichiro’s identity.

But judging by his bold actions, the luxury car, and the high-end villa, she could guess he wasn’t an ordinary person, and so she was very concerned that Yoshifu Yamanaka would suffer a terrible fate by confronting him.

Bai He Tianye had long noticed Yoshifu Yamanaka’s affection towards her. She didn’t like men who weren’t handsome, but she wanted to use his affection to help with her studies and cover up her sneak-attending classes.

So she maintained an intentional distance.

And when Ogamoto Shinichi approached her, offering a hefty reward and a promise to help her pass the civil service exams in June, in exchange for deceiving Yoshifu Yamanaka, she agreed without hesitation.

Bai He Tianye deeply understood how precious the opportunity to change her life was for a woman of such ordinary background. It was merely deceiving a man she didn’t love and being ravaged by another she didn’t love for a night. It wasn’t a big deal.

After all, she wasn’t some naive maiden.

But when she found out Yoshifu Yamanaka had secretly paid her tuition, a sense of guilt and reluctance arose in her, though ultimately, for her future, she shamefully chose to continue deceiving him.

Ogamoto Shinichi shook his head and said nonchalantly, "It’s got nothing to do with you. Your mission is complete. I guarantee you’ll pass the June civil service exam and get an ideal position."

"You’d better keep your mouth shut, or someone will help you shut it permanently. Also, a friendly reminder: even if you didn’t deceive Yoshifu Yamanaka, there was never a possibility with him. Don’t have pointless fantasies, or you’ll only hurt yourself in the end."

With those words, Ogamoto Shinichi turned and left.

He actually felt a bit sorry for Bai He Tianye. This woman seemed to have seized an opportunity by any means necessary, but in reality, she missed the greatest opportunity of her life. Just a pity she didn’t know Yoshifu Yamanaka’s true identity.

And even if she found out later, it would be too late.

Bai He Tianye sat on the sofa dumbfounded, and after a while, finally reacted. Yes, someone needing such complex calculations couldn’t just be a mere lecturer, right? He wouldn’t have any trouble, and indeed, there was no possibility for her and him. She should be satisfied with the benefits promised by those people.

She realized she had been drawn into a significant conspiracy, and thus didn’t regret not knowing Yoshifu Yamanaka’s extraordinary background earlier. Instead, she was just relieved, clearly a pragmatic woman.

There were many things that could make a young man completely lose his mind, but having a woman he had admired for a long time, who had just shown affection towards him, being taken away during their date by someone he knew and being assaulted and raped.

This was definitely one of them.

It not only made Yoshifu Yamanaka furious but also filled him with self-blame. Even though he saw Bai He was drunk, he didn’t follow her out, leading to her being bullied, and this self-blame and hatred of himself would all transform into hatred for Hatanaka Ichiro.

Always low-key and kind, for the first time, he disregarded traffic rules, speeding to the Tokyo Municipal Government Building where Hatanaka Ichiro worked.

He didn’t know exactly which department Hatanaka Ichiro worked in, but he knew his number, so he called Hatanaka Ichiro’s number directly from the ground floor of the building.

"Hatanaka Ichiro, this is Yoshifu Yamanaka. I’m at the ground floor of the Municipal Building, I want to see you."

"Ah, Mr. Yamaoka, hang on, I’ll be right down." Hatanaka Ichiro readily agreed. He knew his father was always working on an alliance with the Socialist Party, so despite being annoyed by the commanding tone in Yoshifu Yamanaka’s call, he didn’t show it.

Yoshifu Yamanaka hung up, staring intently in the direction of the elevator. After waiting for about ten minutes, he finally saw Hatanaka Ichiro coming out of the elevator.

"Hey! Mr. Yamaoka!"

Hatanaka Ichiro waved enthusiastically from a distance.

Yoshifu Yamanaka said nothing, his face grim as he briskly walked toward Hatanaka Ichiro, then broke into a sprint, and finally, under Hatanaka Ichiro’s surprised and astounded gaze, leapt up and punched him in the face.

"Ah!"

Hatanaka Ichiro was caught off guard, screaming as he was punched by the rushing blow, falling to the ground.

"Mr. Yamaoka! Are you crazy!"

He covered his face, questioning angrily and in shock.

The Municipal Building, as the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s workplace, had many people coming and going. Upon seeing this scene, they stopped, gathered around, and became onlookers.

"Baka yarou! You bastard, why did you bully Bai He! You damn mongrel!"

Yoshifu Yamanaka, eyes bloodshot, angrily beat Hatanaka Ichiro, swearing aloud.

"Damn it! Yoshifu Yamanaka, you lunatic!"

Being beaten so pitifully in front of everyone, Hatanaka Ichiro also got furious, grabbing the opportunity to get up and wrestle with Yoshifu Yamanaka.

"Baka yarou! You bastard! How dare you hit Mr. Hatanaka, do you know who his father is?"

In the crowd, Xiao Ye, after a brief hesitation, took a deep breath, seemingly making a decision, and with an angry shout, charged forward and kicked Yoshifu Yamanaka to the ground.

"Hatanaka-kun! I’ve come to save you!"

Different from Yoshifu Yamanaka, many people working at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government know Hatanaka Ichiro’s identity. Seeing Xiao Ye taking the lead, those who wanted to curry favor with the vice-prime minister’s son rushed up to beat Yoshifu Yamanaka.

A lone fist can’t fend off four hands; Yoshifu Yamanaka was quickly surrounded, kicked, and beaten, holding his head while taking a one-sided beating.

"Stop! Stop! Everyone, stop!"

Hatanaka Ichiro, finally out of the chaos, was both shocked and anxious at this scene, yelling loudly and rushing in, attempting to pull those beating Yoshifu Yamanaka away.

"Hatanaka-kun, don’t pull me. Let me teach this bastard a lesson for you!" Xiao Ye, very loyal, broke free from Hatanaka Ichiro’s restraint and continued kicking Yoshifu Yamanaka.

Looking at this scene, Hatanaka Ichiro felt like the sky was falling, "You idiots! Stop it!"

Finally, everyone gradually stopped.

Yoshifu Yamanaka had already been beaten into a daze, his face covered with blood and bruises. His clothes were in disarray as he staggered to get up from the ground, nearly losing his balance.

"Mr. Yamaoka, are you okay..." Hatanaka Ichiro asked with a face full of concern, swiftly moving forward to support him.

Yoshifu Yamanaka shrugged off his hand, deeply looked at him, spat out a mouthful of blood onto the ground, said nothing, and limped towards the exit.

Hatanaka Ichiro knew it was over. His father’s plan to collaborate with Yamahana Shigeru was utterly ruined.

At the same time, he felt a little angry; it was all because of that lunatic Yoshifu Yamanaka who inexplicably hit him first, causing things to escalate to this point. That damned fool truly had no sense of the bigger picture. Even if he had offended him somehow, couldn’t he have just called him out privately for a chat? He would undoubtedly apologize.

Why did he immediately start a fight in front of so many colleagues? Who the hell could endure that?

Suddenly, Hatanaka Ichiro recalled Yoshifu Yamanaka mentioning someone named "Bai He." He grabbed Xiao Ye’s collar, "Investigate right now who Bai He, whom Yoshifu Yamanaka just said I bullied, is."

"Hatanaka-kun, the woman you were with last night was named Bai He, Tian Ye Bai He," Xiao Ye whispered a reminder.

Hatanaka Ichiro’s face changed drastically. He muttered a curse through clenched teeth and, ignoring the onlookers pointing fingers, turned and walked swiftly towards the elevator. But he hadn’t gone far before he heard a loud crash from behind.

Yoshifu Yamanaka had been beaten by so many people for one or two minutes, severely injured. He forced himself into the car, but had barely driven ten meters before fainting, causing the vehicle to lose control and crash into a passing car.

"Damn it! Call an ambulance immediately!" Hatanaka Ichiro rushed back to the doorway, nearly going crazy when he saw the accident scene. He ran up, seeing Yoshifu Yamanaka in the car, eyes closed, life or death unknown, and shouted, "What are you looking at! Help me get him out of there!"

Only then did the others snap out of it and went forward to help.

After watching the ambulance take him away, Hatanaka Ichiro let out a brief sigh of relief, but once back in the office, he immediately called his father, Hatanaka Zizi.

"Father, I’ve gotten into trouble."

"What have you done this time?" On the other end, Hatanaka Zizi, hearing this, instantly stood up. His son often got into trouble, but it was the first time he had proactively called saying he’d messed up. This surely meant a major catastrophe.

Recognizing the gravity of the situation, Hatanaka Ichiro dared not hide the details and confessed everything, from taking away a drunken woman last night to today’s fight with Yoshifu Yamanaka, leading to his car accident.

"You idiot!" Hatanaka Zizi nearly blacked out from the shock. Hatanaka Ichiro might have assaulted a woman Yoshifu Yamanaka liked, which was minor.

But he and his cronies in the Municipal Government Building publicly beat Yoshifu Yamanaka, and he got into a life-threatening car accident, that was the real disaster.

Yoshifu Yamanaka was the eldest son of Yamahana Shigeru, bound to inherit his political career. Losing face and possibly his life, how could Yamahana Shigeru let it go?

If he continues cooperating with the new party, how could he swallow this anger, let alone save face?

"Father, I’m sorry for letting you down! Please lead me to beg Uncle Yanakaha’s forgiveness!"

Hatanaka Ichiro said sincerely, no longer considering his face and only hoping to restore the possibility of Yamahana Shigeru collaborating with his father.

As for the face lost by begging for forgiveness, once his father becomes prime minister, there will be plenty of opportunities to restore it.

Hatanaka Zizi was about to speak when the urgent ringing of the phone interrupted him. He grabbed it and answered, "Speak..."

"Hatanaka-kun, well, well, you’re truly a chip off the old block!" Yamahana Shigeru said word by word.

His son’s accident naturally had someone from the Municipal Government notify him at the first moment and inform him of the specific details.

Hatanaka Zizi hurriedly said, "Mr. Yamaoka, it’s all a misunderstanding. I suspect it’s a trap set by Yanchuan Shilang deliberately to provoke us!"

He decisively threw the blame on a third party.

"Is that so? Then let it be. But the fact that my son Yu Fu’s life or death is unknown remains! Take care, Hatanaka Zizi." Yamahana Shigeru said coldly before hanging up.

The animosity between the two families had already been established with a deep grudge that neither could simply pretend never happened nor cooperate again.

"Father..." Hatanaka Ichiro called out.

Feeling suddenly very tired, Hatanaka Zizi didn’t respond to his son’s call. He hung up the phone and slumped into his chair, staring blankly ahead, motionless.