Director Clark's cheeks were swollen and bruised, his eyes black and blue, his glasses long gone, his lower back aching as if it were broken. He looked at Eric Carter, this deputy political commissar of the Public Security Bureau—wasn't he a bit too young? In his heart, there was regret, anger, and even some anxiety. He had no idea how this matter would end.

Eric Carter rubbed his slightly sore wrist and gave Brian Howard a look, signaling him to release the man.

Actually, what Eric Carter found amusing now was that the little girl had disappeared, and so had the basket of eggs. Clearly, in the chaos, that clever little rascal had slipped away. Still, wasn't that a bit disloyal? What a crafty kid.

Brian Howard took out the key and unlocked the handcuffs on Director Clark's wrists, saying, "If it were up to me, you guys would be charged with assaulting a police officer!"

Director Clark wanted to retort, but when he saw Brian Howard glare at him, the words shrank back down his throat. He was truly scared after the beating. Who would have thought that Brian Howard, who usually acted like a brother, could turn so ruthless and terrifying?

Damn those Public Security guys—they really do turn on you like flipping a page!

Brian Howard continued, "But our Commissar Lu is generous, so we'll let today's incident slide. Old Zhou, you have no objections, right?"

Director Clark nodded. Though he was fuming inside, the situation was beyond his control. If this escalated, he'd be a laughingstock at work. Besides, the Public Security Bureau was always tough, and it was a crackdown period. If relations soured with them, nothing would go smoothly.

"You all get up," Brian Howard gestured. Director Clark's group looked at each other, and only after someone took the lead did they slowly get to their feet.

At this moment, Eric Carter smiled and said, "I heard that back in the day, the Xiaqiying and Qianfengying units in Beijing often got into fights. This little misunderstanding of ours is about the same—just a bit of fun, nothing like those old brawls. Really, it's just a difference in law enforcement perspectives between me and Director Clark, nothing major. It's just that the way we resolved it in the end was, well, not very civilized."

After Eric Carter finished, a young officer from the police station laughed, and several of the industrial and commercial enforcement officers also found it funny. In their hearts, they thought Commissar Lu from the Public Security Bureau was really cultured. He could turn a group brawl into a work-related issue. And after hearing him out, the enforcement officers' sense of humiliation faded. It didn't feel like they'd just been bullied and beaten up by the police. Instead, it all seemed rather amusing, like a case of the Dragon King's temple being flooded by its own waters.

Eric Carter added, "Director Clark, another day, I'll treat you all to a meal. For now, we're all injured—let's go get ourselves patched up?"

Director Clark knew a good exit when he saw one. Seeing Eric Carter extend his hand, he shook it and said, "We'll talk another day." He wanted to say more, but couldn't swallow his pride, so he led his bruised and battered companions out the back door of the barbershop to his place to clean up and tend to their wounds.

Eric Carter then said to Old Mr. Miller, "Sir, I'll cover all your losses. I'll find someone to fix things and compensate you."

Old Mr. Miller stammered, not daring to say much.

Opening the wooden door to leave the barbershop, they saw a few people in the distance watching the commotion. Even though the wooden boards had gone up later, someone must have seen the brawl.

Eric Carter thought to himself, thank goodness this isn't the era of camera phones. Otherwise, if someone snapped a few photos and posted them online, he'd be in serious trouble.

Scott Dawson and the young officer from the police station helped Old Mr. Miller put up the boards from outside. There was no way to do business today, and closing up would save them from further questions.

Eric Carter patted Brian Howard on the shoulder and said, "You'd better head back."

Brian Howard glanced at the scattered onlookers in the distance and knew it wasn't good to linger. He nodded and said, "Alright, if anything happens today, I'll take responsibility." Actually, Brian Howard felt a bit of regret—not for the fight itself, but for betting on the wrong horse a year ago when Eric Carter had just arrived at the county bureau. He thought Eric Carter was destined for a meteoric rise, so, lacking any real backing himself, he quickly got close to Eric Carter. But now, a year later, Eric Carter had become a marginal figure in the county bureau, and as a result, Brian Howard was also sidelined, often criticized by the now all-powerful Deputy Director Gao. Every day felt suffocating.

Watching the three-wheeled motorcycle belch black smoke as it drove away, Scott Dawson stood behind Eric Carter, worriedly saying, "Commissar, did I cause trouble?" When he started the fight, Scott Dawson never imagined things would turn out like this.

Eric Carter smiled and said, "It's fine."

Scott Dawson said anxiously, "How can it be fine? If Kevin Grant finds out, he'll definitely stir up trouble and blow this out of proportion."

Kevin Grant? When Eric Carter heard the name, his eyelid couldn't help but twitch, and his fist clenched unconsciously.

Scenes of past and present, of life and death, flashed before his eyes. That name had once been his nightmare.

Kevin Grant, five years his senior, was now the deputy director of Guangning County Bureau and captain of the criminal investigation team. Before Eric Carter came to Guangning, Kevin Grant, a police academy graduate, had been the fastest to be promoted to deputy section chief in the county bureau.

Now, from the central government down to the provincial and municipal committees, there was a push for cadres to be "younger, more professional, more educated, and more revolutionary." Kevin Grant was undoubtedly a model of this new "Four Modernizations" cadre.