The traffic was jammed at the red light.
Fang Chao, with a cigarette in one hand and the other on the steering wheel, drove their Limited Edition Xiali while chatting animatedly to Liu Zhi beside him.
"There's a theory in economics that a person encounters at least three major opportunities in their lifetime. Catching just one can propel them up the social ladder. Most people go their whole lives without seizing a single one. Why? Because they aren’t prepared! When opportunity comes, they don’t recognize it, only realizing later that it slipped through their fingers. Opportunity favors the prepared! Looking back over my decades, I’ve already missed my first big chance. My college entrance exam scores were poor, so I planned to study abroad to gild my credentials. Back then, my family sold our homestead to scrape together a few hundred thousand yuan for my overseas studies. If we’d held onto that land till now, I’d be a millionaire from the demolition compensation—no need to be stuck in this line of work. But there’s no use crying over spilled milk; we must keep moving forward. Now, the second major opportunity of my life has arrived—Zhou Rong, this big fish, is swimming right toward us. We must be fully prepared and absolutely cannot let this one pass us by!"
He turned his head and noticed Liu Zhi wasn’t listening at all, instead rummaging through the glove compartment on the passenger side.
"What are you doing?" Fang Chao snapped, displeased.
Liu Zhi pulled out a stack of items wrapped in plastic sleeves from the compartment. Unfolding them, he saw they were IDs belonging to different people. Curious, he asked, "Brother Chao, you prepared so many IDs? The craftsmanship—hmm, these fakes look pretty real!"
"Put those back!" Fang Chao scolded, glancing around warily. "Stop meddling! These are real IDs, bought at high prices online!"
"With so many real IDs, we can stay in hotels openly now—no more worrying about fake ones getting spotted. You’ve really thought this through!"
Fang Chao lifted his chin smugly. "Of course! This time, we’re targeting the richest man in Three Rivers Estuary. Pulling this off will shake the heavens. If we don’t plan our exit early, you wanna end up behind bars?"
Liu Zhi closed the compartment and groaned, "But going after this Zhou guy is too hard! He lives in a manor, with bodyguards front and back, and an entourage wherever he goes. He’s clearly a big shot in the underworld. After tailing him for days, we still haven’t found an opening. If we take him out in the open, it’ll alert the police instantly, and we won’t get a cent of the ransom."
Fang Chao snorted dismissively. "If it were easy, the richest man in Three Rivers Estuary would get robbed every other day! The fact that his manor is guarded means his claim about having piles of money at home is legit. Since the money isn’t going anywhere, we’ll find our chance if we keep watching. Take it slow—making money is never easy! Remember, in this world, aside from foot massage parlors, there’s no such thing as easy money!"
Just then, Liu Zhi noticed a large Range Rover speeding up the bus lane to their right in the rearview mirror. Glancing at their own car, he saw a three-meter gap ahead and urged, "Brother Chao, close the gap! That bastard’s gonna cut in!"
Fang Chao merely snorted, unmoved.
The Range Rover continued forward in the bus lane and, spotting the small, beat-up car with space ahead, predictably swerved to squeeze in front of them."No class!" Fang Chao snorted, suddenly stepping on the gas and surging forward, forcing the big Land Rover to slam on its brakes.
A few seconds later, the left window of the Land Rover rolled down, and a burly man stuck his head out, cursing at them directly: "Fuck you! Do you even know how to drive? Are you fucking blind?"
Fang Chao glanced at him and ignored him, while Liu Zhi burst into laughter, rolling down his own window and flipping the big guy the bird.
"Fuck you, you piece of shit! Get out of the car if you’ve got the guts!" The man’s eyes widened in disbelief—how could anyone be this cocky?
Just then, the traffic light turned green, and the cars ahead started moving. Fang Chao’s car followed suit. Liu Zhi coughed loudly, leaned out, and spat a thick wad of phlegm straight onto the Land Rover’s hood before rolling his window back up as if nothing had happened. The big guy stared in shock for a few seconds, itching to ram them, but the beat-up little car was already speeding away.
The Limited Edition Xiali drove for a while before reaching an open stretch of road. Suddenly, urgent honking sounded from behind. Fang Chao checked the rearview mirror—the Land Rover was closing in fast, blaring its horn for them to pull over.
"Bro Chao, that asshole’s chasing us."
Fang Chao shot Liu Zhi a glare. "Why’d you have to go and spit on him? You know we’ve got guns in this car. If this escalates and the cops show up, we’re screwed!"
Liu Zhi muttered, "You didn’t let him cut in either."
Fang Chao snorted and said, "Hold on tight," flooring the accelerator. But this was, after all, a Limited Edition Xiali. No matter how hard he pressed the pedal, Liu Zhi remained perfectly steady—the expected g-force and acceleration never came. The engine roared loudly, but the speed was still painfully sluggish.
Seeing the junker not only refusing to stop but even trying to speed up, the big guy grew even angrier. He stomped on the gas, and the Land Rover surged forward in a straight line.
Realizing the situation was serious, Fang Chao gripped the wheel tightly, swerving left and right to shake off the pursuer. But the difference in performance was too vast—it was like a kid trying to outrun an adult. Even when he suddenly turned onto another road, and the Land Rover momentarily lost track, it only took a quick U-turn before it was hot on their tail again.
Within minutes, both vehicles had abandoned their original routes and were racing down a remote road in the outskirts.
By now, there were no other cars in the way. The Land Rover, relying on its superior power, pulled up alongside them, forcing the little junker into the far-right lane. The Land Rover’s front end aggressively swerved, trying to push them onto the shoulder. Seeing no way to avoid it, Fang Chao slammed on the brakes, but the paper-thin brake pads—even with the handbrake—couldn’t stop them in time. As the Land Rover kept closing in, Fang Chao had no choice but to yank the wheel hard to the left.
BANG!
They collided with the Land Rover’s rear.
The sound of crumpling metal echoed as both cars came to a stop. Fang Chao frowned, already thinking about how to handle the aftermath.
The Land Rover’s door swung open, and out stepped a hulking man, easily six feet tall. He first inspected his car’s rear—the bumper was broken, and the back end was dented in. Already furious before, the rear-end collision only stoked his rage. He slammed his palm on the junker’s hood and bellowed at the two inside: "You idiots, get the hell out of the car right now!"Liu Zhi couldn't stand being called an idiot more than anything in life. Furious, he opened the glove compartment to pull out a gun and teach the other guy a lesson, but Fang Chao reacted swiftly, pressing him down with a low, angry hiss: "Are you insane?!" He snatched the gun and shoved it back into the compartment, jabbing a finger at Liu Zhi's forehead as he warned sternly, "You stay put in this car and don't you dare step out, got it?"
Cowed by Fang Chao's intensity, Liu Zhi reluctantly nodded.
Fang Chao took a deep breath, plastered on an ingratiating smile, and stepped out of the car, offering a cigarette as he greeted the man: "Hey, bro, you alright?"
"Alright? Alright my ass. Look at this!" The man smacked the cigarette out of Fang Chao's hand and pointed at the rear of his own car, spreading his arms wide. "Save the bullshit. Pay up!"
"Pay up? Bro, look—you were the one cutting us off the whole way. We couldn't brake in time, that's why—"
"Fuck you, you've got some nerve! I was honking at you to stop—are you deaf? If it weren't for that bastard next to you spitting on my car, why the hell would I cut you off?"
Fang Chao didn’t want trouble. Swallowing hard, he mustered every ounce of patience he’d ever had and forced a smile. "Bro, let's keep things separate here. My buddy spitting on your car—that was wrong, and I'll make him apologize. But the car thing—you cut us off first, so let's just forget about the money, alright?"
"Forget about it? You're a real comedian. My car's wrecked like this, and you think you're off the hook?"
"Look, it's not like that. The rear-end collision was your fault for cutting us off, and the spitting was my buddy's fault. Both cars took damage, so how about we each handle our own repairs?"
"You think you're slick, huh?" The big guy stepped forward and shoved Fang Chao hard.
Fang Chao stumbled back, dodging. He weighed his options—better to let this go. Zhou Rong was the real priority. Just endure it a little longer! He pulled out his wallet, glanced inside, and reluctantly pulled out a wad of cash. "I've only got three thousand. Take it all, okay?"
From inside the car, Liu Zhi saw Fang Chao handing over money and couldn’t hold back a shout. Fang Chao shot him a glare fierce enough to shut him up.
But the big man didn’t even touch the cash. "Three thousand? You know how much it’ll cost to fix my car like this? Won’t be less than thirty grand."
"Thirty?!"
"Don’t go thinking I’m scamming you—scamming a piece of junk like yours isn’t worth my time. Call your insurance, you won’t have to pay out of pocket. And I’ll let the spitting thing slide."
Fang Chao hesitated, then came clean. "Bro, truth is—our car’s not insured, and we don’t have thirty grand. How about this? Take the three thousand under the table, you claim full responsibility with your insurance, deal?"
"I claim full responsibility?" The man let out a dry laugh. "You wreck my car, and now you want me to take the blame? How about I just hand you the car too?"
"This—" Fang Chao faltered, glancing back at Liu Zhi, who was nodding eagerly, already unbuckling to jump out. Fang Chao turned back, resigned. "Fine, we'll take it."An hour later, in a vacant, unused parking lot nearby, the burly man was gagged and tightly bound, completely immobilized in the back of the Land Rover. The license plates had already been swapped out. Fang Chao and Liu Zhi transferred everything from the beat-up car into the Land Rover and then drove the old car to another hidden spot to stash it away.
With everything packed and ready, the two of them stared at the high-performance Land Rover, their blood boiling with excitement. Now that all their gear was set, it was time to go straight for Zhou Rong!
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