Zhou Rong had many business ventures. Besides real estate, his second largest industry was car sales.
He had opened dozens of car 4S dealerships across several nearby cities. In Three Rivers Estuary, his stronghold, he held a dominant position. He had opened the first car 4S dealership there and later secured exclusive regional dealership rights for multiple car brands. Competition for 4S dealerships was fierce in big cities, where stores often went bankrupt due to poor management. In contrast, smaller cities like Three Rivers Estuary had less competition and were especially profitable. Zhou Rong took his dealerships very seriously, inspecting a few each month to oversee operations. That day, he visited the Mercedes-Benz dealership.
The car he most frequently rode in was a top-tier S-Class Mercedes worth over three million yuan. The car pulled into an empty spot in front of the dealership, and Zhou Rong stepped out, his face slightly darkened with irritation as he strode quickly upstairs. Hu Jianren followed closely behind, still on the phone.
Once they entered the office, Hu Jianren hung up, and Zhou Rong immediately asked, “Well?”
“Rong-ge, I confirmed with the hotel staff—the police did question Lu Yibo.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
Zhou Rong frowned and muttered, “Why hasn’t Yibo told me about this?”
“Not only did he not tell you, but he also told the police he knew nothing about Ye Jian’s death and directed them to ask you. I can’t make sense of Lu Yibo’s actions.”
Zhou Rong fell silent for a few seconds before saying, “Maybe the police are deliberately trying to drive a wedge between us.”
“Then why didn’t Lu Yibo tell you the police came to see him? Because he didn’t dare—he was afraid you’d press him and he’d slip up.”
“He was probably just nervous at the time and misspoke. You know how the police are with their questioning—Yibo doesn’t have experience dealing with them. Afterward, he didn’t dare tell me because he was afraid I’d suspect him. Can’t blame him for that.” Zhou Rong defended Lu Yibo himself.
Hu Jianren sneered. “But last time the police came looking for Zhou Qi, he didn’t tell us about that either.”
Zhou Rong’s cheek twitched slightly, and he let out a deep sigh. “Stop jumping to conclusions. Yibo is an honest man.”
“Exactly because he’s honest—if he gets scared and spills our business, I’m afraid—”
“There’s nothing to be afraid of. Aside from running a club, we haven’t involved him in anything else.”
“But he still knows about certain things…”
Zhou Rong frowned and looked at him. “What are you suggesting?”
“Bowen and I discussed this before. We both think Lu Yibo isn’t reliable.”
Zhou Rong raised a hand sharply, his voice cold. “Don’t you two go making decisions on your own. I trust Lu Yibo. When I first met him, Lang Bowen was still a thug shaking me down for protection money every other damn day.”
“But if he—”
“No ‘buts.’ If he wasn’t reliable, it would’ve shown by now. I’m warning you—if you touch Lu Yibo behind my back, I won’t let it slide!” Zhou Rong was, relatively speaking, a man who valued loyalty. He had always treated Ye Jian as a brother and Lu Yibo as his younger subordinate. Though Lang Bowen was a business partner, Zhou Rong still remembered how he had bullied him as a kid, making him more inclined to protect Lu Yibo instead.Hu Jianren wanted to say more, but seeing his boss's attitude, he had to hold back and changed the subject: "Brother Rong, after several twists and turns, we finally found the channel to buy the Chime Bells. The seller is a mainlander who has lived in Hong Kong for many years, named Zhu Yifei—his real name is unknown. Zhu Yifei is quite famous in the antique circle, and many big buyers seek him out. He only deals in large transactions. One advantage of doing business with him is that his goods are always genuine. I’ve contacted Zhu Yifei, and he indeed has a set of Chime Bells in his possession. He said trading Chime Bells with mainland buyers is very risky, so he wants to meet you in person first to discuss it."
Zhou Rong nodded: "Then arrange the meeting as soon as possible."
"He’s already in the country and could come to Three Rivers Estuary anytime. He said he’d notify us two hours before the meeting and asked us to accommodate his schedule."
"Two hours’ notice before the meeting? Does he think I have nothing better to do than wait around for him all day?"
Hu Jianren explained: "I think Zhu Yifei must be afraid of mainland police setting a trap to catch him, so he wants to check things out first. His business is entirely underground—once he’s caught by the police, he won’t get out. So I think accommodating his schedule is reasonable. Their line of work is full of all sorts of people, but Mr. Zhu’s reputation in the industry speaks for itself—his goods are definitely genuine. If we don’t buy from him, we won’t find another reliable source anytime soon."
Zhou Rong snorted coldly. Given his current status, he frankly didn’t want to have anything to do with shady characters like Zhu Yifei. But Fang Yong wouldn’t accept money—only artifacts. If he were to openly acquire a set of Chime Bells through an auction, not only would the price of legally auctioned bronze artifacts be sky-high, but such items would also be well-known in the industry, making Fang Yong hesitant to accept them. It seemed he had no choice but to do this deal with Zhu Yifei.
As they were talking, the office door was knocked, and the after-sales manager of the 4S store walked in, looking uneasy: "Mr. Zhou, your car... your car was scratched."
"My car is parked right outside—how could it get scratched?"
"Yes... it’s parked outside. There were quite a few cars in front of the store today, and a female customer was test-driving a car and lost control... so it got scratched."
"Seriously—what a hassle." Zhou Rong suppressed his temper. After all, it was a customer from his own store who scratched the car, and the customer was always right.
He followed the manager downstairs. The car was still in place, parked next to a small test-drive vehicle. The scratch wasn’t severe—just a patch of paint scraped off the rear bumper, revealing a bit of the primer. Although repainting such a luxury car would be expensive, it was his own 4S store, so the cost didn’t matter.
"Mr. Zhou, she’s the driver."
Zhou Rong’s gaze followed the manager’s indication, and his eyes instantly lit up.
The female driver was about 165 cm tall, with a slender figure and a face that clearly belonged to a girl in her early twenties. She had a small, delicate face the size of a palm, a perky nose, thin lips, and light makeup. Her entire face was natural, without any chemical fillers, like a fresh graduate who had just started working, yet with a hint of spirited charm.
The first impression was excellent. He narrowed his eyes slightly, using a man’s innate X-ray vision to assess further. Yep—pencil legs, firm buttocks, no excess fat around the waist, and the chest... slightly on the flat side, but nothing could be perfect in every way.He nodded to himself—this girl had potential.
The girl with potential was none other than Li Qian!
Ever since the criminal investigation team stopped letting her join field operations, the only thing Li Qian could do was review surveillance footage at the office. Day after day, she tracked the movements of Zhou Rong, Lu Yibo, Lang Bowen, and the others. She knew more about their daily routines—where they lived, their work schedules, their favorite restaurants—than their own mothers did. But what good was that? Surveillance alone couldn’t dig up any solid evidence of their crimes.
If cracking cases were as easy as clicking a mouse in front of a computer, why would detectives even need legs? Might as well chop them off! She was convinced that to uncover the truth about these men, she had to get close to them in person.
Today, while reviewing footage of Zhou Rong again, she saw him get into a Mercedes-Benz and first head to the headquarters of Rongcheng Group. After a brief stay, he drove to a Mercedes-Benz 4S dealership. The shop was just a block away from the police station. Since no one at work was paying attention to her, she seized the opportunity to change into civilian clothes and slip out, heading straight for the dealership to observe Zhou Rong up close and figure out what kind of man he really was.
By the time she arrived, Zhou Rong had already gone upstairs. Li Qian spotted his luxury sedan parked at the entrance but didn’t see her target, so she pretended to browse the cars on display. A salesman named Du Cong approached and greeted her warmly. After a brief chat, he enthusiastically invited her for a test drive. Li Qian declined, claiming she was a novice female driver who had barely driven before and was afraid of damaging their car.
Hearing that a first-time female driver was eyeing a Mercedes, Du Cong took it as a sure sign she was a serious buyer and doubled down on his efforts to persuade her. He thumped his chest emphatically, assuring her that all test-drive vehicles were fully insured. If anything happened, the insurance company would cover everything—she wouldn’t be held responsible. He insisted she give it a try.
After listening to his pitch and confirming it repeatedly, Li Qian glanced at Zhou Rong’s Mercedes parked outside and hatched a plan. She signed the safety agreement with Du Cong, got into the test-drive car, and as they exited the underground garage, she suddenly swerved slightly, scraping the side of the luxury sedan.
While minor accidents during test drives weren’t unheard of, scratching the boss’s car was a first. Du Cong panicked, unsure how to handle the situation, and immediately reported it to his superiors. Li Qian stood by, repeatedly apologizing to the staff while waiting for Zhou Rong to come downstairs.
Zhou Rong stepped forward to inspect the damage. The service manager explained that the base coat had been scratched and would require several days to repaint. Turning to Li Qian, he added that while the accident wasn’t major, repainting a car worth over three million would cost at least five thousand—and she’d have to foot the bill.
Li Qian gasped in shock, protesting that Manager Du had assured her the test-drive car was insured and she wouldn’t have to pay.
The manager frowned. Eager to win favor with the big boss, he quickly backtracked, saying the damage could indeed be claimed through insurance. However, since the Mercedes was less than six months old, depreciation costs were unavoidable—and insurance wouldn’t cover that.
Zhou Rong watched the high-potential girl argue with the manager and smiled faintly, saying nothing.
Seizing the moment, Li Qian turned to Zhou Rong with a flattering smile. “Big brother, are you the owner?”
Zhou Rong gave a reserved nod.
“What should I call you, big brother?”
“My surname is Zhou,” he replied coolly.
“Brother Zhou, could we step aside for a quick word?”Zhou Rong smiled faintly and followed her to the side. She whispered, "Brother Zhou, I'm a newbie. I'm really sorry for accidentally scratching your car, but don't you think this shop is way too shady—"
"This shop is my investment."
"Ah, I see... Well, that makes things easier. Brother Zhou, since this is your own shop, how about letting it slide? I'm really poor. I’ll treat you to a meal, okay?"
"How many meals are you going to treat me to?" Zhou Rong asked with an amused grin.
"Ah... How many meals do you want me to treat you to?"
"Then treat me to ten meals."
"Ten?!"
Zhou Rong chuckled. "Don’t worry, I’ll pay. How could I let a girl like you foot the bill?"
"Really?!"
Zhou Rong curled his lips. "Of course. If you’re willing, let’s pinky swear on it!"
Du Cong had initially been worried that the customer’s test drive had scratched the big boss’s car, and as the salesperson in the passenger seat, he’d inevitably get an earful from the higher-ups. But in just a few short minutes, the big boss and the female customer were already pinky-swearing—what a shameless pair!
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Zhou Rong strode over, waved his hand grandly, and ordered Du Cong to arrange for the car to be repainted. Then, in high spirits, he had someone book a restaurant and took Li Qian out for a meal.
Du Cong fumed inwardly. The big boss had taken the reckless female driver out to eat, while the manager came over and chewed him out as if he were the one who’d crashed the car. What kind of world was this?!
Helpless, he could only obediently head to the repair shop to arrange for the boss’s car to be repainted. Just as he finished, his phone rang. He picked it up, and a strange smirk crept onto his face. Answering the call, he jogged to a secluded corner outside.
"Got another job?"
The caller was his old classmate, who ran a wedding planning company—though "company" was a stretch. It was more of a middleman operation, outsourcing everything from venues and props to wedding cars, photography, and even the emcee. Take the wedding cars, for example: renting from a car rental company would cost a pretty penny. Later, when his classmate found out Du Cong worked at a 4S dealership, he reached out to secretly borrow cars from the shop. Du Cong had only been at this dealership for less than three months but had already ingratiated himself with the staff. Whenever a job came up, he’d make excuses to take out a test-drive car and lend it to his classmate, pocketing some extra cash on the side. He’d even lent out customers’ cars that were in for repairs a few times.
This time, his classmate was in a bind. He’d signed a wedding contract stipulating that the entire motorcade had to be Mercedes-Benz, with the lead car being an S600. But as the wedding date approached, the S600 owner had driven the car out of town and couldn’t make it back. The classmate tried renting from car rental companies, but the wedding date happened to be a peak day, and all the S-Class Mercedes at several rental agencies were booked—no cars left, even with premium pricing. When he asked the client if they could switch to another Mercedes model, the bride refused, demanding a refund of 10,000 as compensation if the car was changed. So, he turned to Du Cong.
Hearing that an S-Class Mercedes was needed, Du Cong was hesitant. "We don’t have test-drive cars at that level in our shop."
"Can you check if other dealerships have any?"
"Even if other shops have one, it’d be hard to transfer it over."
"Try your best to figure something out. It’s just 20 kilometers round trip—I’ll pay 2,000 this time!""Two thousand!" Du Cong gasped. Earning two thousand just for driving twenty kilometers! Money was the source of all motivation. Squinting his eyes, Du Cong racked his brains for a solution. Their shop indeed didn't have any S-class test drive vehicles, but there happened to be one in the repair workshop right now.
Boss Zhou's Mercedes-Benz S600 was scheduled for a three-day paint job there!
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