Chapter 366: The way forward

In May, Zhou Ming drove to a garden restaurant in the South Brighton district. The waiter received him warmly and led him all the way to an open-air garden-style dining location.

'Mr. Zhou Ming, this way please, Mr. Anthony has been waiting in the restaurant for a long time,' the waiter said.

A very elegant-looking white man was sitting in this open-air restaurant. This white man was the Mr Anthony that the waiter had introduced to Zhou Ming. He was the Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts and Speaker of the House. Anthony was originally drinking coffee in his seat. He saw Zhou Ming coming and got up to greet him, 'Hello, Mr Zhou Ming, welcome to this luxurious restaurant that is very close to nature.'

Facing the politeness of this white man, Zhou Ming waved his hand and came over to sit down directly, while saying, 'Mr Anthony, you are too kind, but this luxury restaurant is not the first time I have been here. It's just that the last time I ate here, it didn't leave me with any good memories.'

Anthony's face became embarrassed for a moment. Obviously, he knew what Zhou Ming was talking about, but he did not show any signs of panic. He just smiled and said, 'Then it seems to have been a very bad meal. I am deeply sorry about that, so I hope that this time we can have a pleasant meal.'

'Mr. Zhou Ming, don't worry, I will do my best,' Anthony said with a resounding voice.

'I am very confident about this, but I don't know what Mr. Anthony's request is for asking me to come here today,' Zhou Ming asked.

Anthony shook his head and did not directly answer Zhou Ming, but pointed at the surroundings and asked Zhou Ming in return, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, I don't know if you still remember this place?'

Zhou Ming nodded and said, 'Mr Anthony, I don't think my memory is that bad. This is the place where I took my Chinese classmates for dinner last time.'

'That's right, so today I'm going to make up for that meal,' Anthony said.

As he spoke, the waiter already brought a plate of fruit salad up, and Anthony said to Zhou Ming, 'This is a fruit platter, which I asked the restaurant to recreate according to the menu you ordered before.'

The waiter came over to put the fruit salad on the table as usual, but was stopped by Zhou Ming. Faced with the puzzled looks of Anthony and the waiter, Zhou Ming told them, 'Please wait a moment. Mr Anthony, I just have one question for you. Why did you want to take me to dinner today, in such a luxurious restaurant? I don't think there is anything about me that is worth the appearance of the deputy governor or the speaker.'

'That's because you are underestimating yourself, Mr. Zhou Ming. Your great achievements at the press conference are enough for me to invite you,' Anthony said.

'Is that so?' Zhou Ming said with a smile.

Anthony nodded, then clinked his glass with Zhou Ming before saying, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, I heard that you have already contacted the press conference, right? I wonder if Mr. Zhou Ming can tell me the content of your press conference? I can understand that the content of the press conference generally falls under the category of commercial secrets, but this time the situation is different. It involves the face of the entire state legislature.'

Zhou Ming smiled: 'So that's what Mr Anthony is talking about? But as far as I know, it has nothing to do with Mr Anthony, even if you are best friends...'

Before Zhou Ming could finish, Anthony interrupted him: 'If it were me personally, I definitely wouldn't think about it. After all, as a member of society, one must always guard one's bottom line. If one does anything that crosses the line, one must be punished by law.'

Having said that, Anthony paused for a moment and then said, 'There are just some things that are not so simple to explain. Therefore, my request this time is very simple. I hope that Mr. Zhou Ming can overlook this matter and not make a fuss about it, and not to make public the video tape you have in your possession. Of course, if possible, it would be best if you could give us the master tape of this video and ensure that you do not have any more backups.'

Zhou Ming immediately frowned. After thinking for a moment, he decided to play dumb first and said, 'I don't understand what you're talking about, Mr Anthony. Could you please explain more clearly?'

Anthony of course understood that Zhou Ming was playing dumb, but he still answered very assuredly, 'Of course it's fine. In fact, this matter is about the illegal actions of Lao Brook before, sending gang members to intercept and kill you on the road. Once this news is exposed, it will be a huge scandal for the parliament, and as the chairman of the parliament, I think I must persuade you on behalf of the parliament to keep this secret for us.'

Zhou Ming nodded silently and said, 'I wasn't hurt, but both my lawyer and I were shocked, so whether it's exposed or not is not important to me. I'm just a little curious, what will happen if I don't agree?'

'Then I'm afraid I have to say sorry,' Anthony said. 'Perhaps Mr. Zhou Ming doesn't know the power of the parliament. It has legislative power and investigative power. We can also take the initiative to apply for the cooperation of any violent authorities. If you don't do as you're told, I'm afraid we'll have to take a series of coercive measures, which I'm afraid won't be as friendly as we are now.'

Anthony said this and then changed the subject and continued, 'On the contrary, if you are willing to cooperate with my suggestion and cancel the press conference you have prepared, then I will also give you a little of our reward.'

'What reward?' Zhou Ming asked.

Anthony held up one finger and replied, 'One million US dollars.'

Zhou Ming laughed, 'Mr Anthony, are you sure you're not joking with me?'

'Do I look like I'm joking?'

Anthony retorted, and then continued, 'I know Mr. Zhou Ming will think this is not enough, but there is one thing I hope Mr. Zhou Ming can understand first. My one million dollars is just my personal payment of the room fee of one million dollars to you. Because in the eyes of the parliament, you only have a pitiful background. We can use various means against you, but I personally still hope to resolve things within the framework as best as possible.'

Zhou Ming did not answer at first, so Anthony had to stand up and pull open the window to continue. He said, 'The United States is indeed a country that upholds the rule of law, but there are also corruption cases here. Do you know why there are corruption cases? It's because everyone wants to have their own privileges.'

After saying that, Anthony finally looked at Zhou Ming and asked, 'What do you think? Do you want to know what the corruption cases in the United States are like?'

Zhou Ming frowned and looked at Anthony, who was asking him, very curious to know what the result would be. At the same time, there were a few other people who also wanted to know the result.

In the back of Zhou Ming's car, Chen Shuli Yang and Li Ning were anxiously waiting for Zhou Ming to return.

'Chen Shu Ye Ning, who do you think will be treating our teacher to dinner this time? I'm afraid that whoever can afford to eat here must also be someone from the upper class,' Li Yang said uncertainly.

He immediately received a glare from Chen Shu and Ye Ning. Ye Ning said to him, 'Li Yang, can you please control your eyes? Can't you see the luxury car parked over there? According to what I've seen on the news, I very much doubt that it's Mr Anthony who's come to find Zhou Ming this time.'

This made Li Yang take a cold breath: 'Could it be that Anthony? But according to the information I know, this person is the lieutenant governor and speaker of Massachusetts. He usually goes with our teacher in Massachusetts. Will he suffer at his hands?'

'Our teacher has never done anything to take advantage of others, so how could he possibly suffer at someone else's hands?' Ye Ning immediately asked in return.

This rhetorical question left Li Yang a little speechless, because when he thought about it, his teacher was indeed very powerful. And just as Ye Ning had said, it was always him who bullied others, so who could bully her?

After a while, Zhou Ming walked out of the restaurant. Chen Shu, Li Yang, and Li Sisi hurriedly got out of the car and came over to greet Zhou Ming. Li Yang curiously asked first, 'Teacher, I heard that you came here today to meet with Speaker Anthony. You didn't suffer any losses, did you?'

Suffer a loss?

Chen Shu, Li Yang and Li Sisi's words made Zhou Ming recall the situation in the coffee shop just now when he finally agreed to Anthony's request.

At that time, Zhou Ming thought he already had the upper hand, but he didn't expect the other party to suddenly deal him a heavy blow, instead putting him in a very embarrassing position.

'Why did Chairman Anthony suddenly approach you, Professor? Is he going to use his power in the government and do everything he can to prevent you from releasing Mr. Brook's video?' Ye Ning asked.

Zhou Ming nodded and said yes. Ye Ning and the others angrily cursed, 'This damned capitalist, this is clearly their fault, why did you have to compromise with them?'

Zhou Ming did not answer this question. He just stood there, his eyes staring straight ahead. Over there, Speaker Anthony had also left the garden restaurant. Before getting into his car, he seemed to sense Zhou Ming's gaze and waved at him.

Chen Shuli Yang and Ye Ning all stopped talking at this time, because looking at Anthony's relaxed posture, they seemed to have already anticipated the result.

Their gazes were all on Zhou Ming. Ye Ning asked Zhou Ming, 'Teacher, did you lose out to Anthony? We'll do whatever you want us to do, we'll get our revenge from him!'

Zhou Ming smiled and rubbed Ye Ning's little head, saying, "Don't worry, I would have done the same even if you didn't say anything. But today's conversation has made me realize that I have gained a lot. Because from today onwards, I will also know that power is also so useful in the United States. It seems that my future path will have to be adjusted."