Born with Luck

As night fell, Huo Zheng arrived at an urban village on the eastern side of Three Rivers Estuary.

The tracking device he had hidden in the antique suitcase was an illegal product from the black market. Naturally, its accuracy couldn’t compare to the professional equipment used by the police, so it could only pinpoint a general area, not an exact location. According to the tracker, Liu Bei was hiding somewhere in this urban village.

This was a chaotic cluster of buildings that had been vacated months ago, awaiting demolition. As a fugitive who had also stolen their Chime Bells, it was no surprise Liu Bei wouldn’t dare stay in a hotel and had chosen to hide here instead. The surrounding area was deserted, making it convenient to deal with him later.

Huo Zheng patiently and cautiously began his search from the outskirts of the village, going door to door, checking each house one by one.

Meanwhile, inside a locked residential room in the urban village, Liu Bei sat alone on the edge of an empty bed. In front of him was an open suitcase. He carefully lifted a heavy, ancient bronze Chime Bell—about twenty centimeters tall—from the case and examined it closely, his mind in turmoil.

Stealing from Zhu Yifei had never been his original intention.

He was the most notorious antiquities dealer in Three Rivers Estuary. At first, Zhou Rong’s trusted subordinate Zhang Debing had reached out to him through underworld connections, asking if he could procure a set of Chime Bells. Chime Bells were bronze artifacts, national treasures—like the Zeng Houyi Chime Bells featured in history textbooks—that couldn’t be bought at any price. Even the occasional set that appeared at auctions would cost tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions. Liu Bei had no means of obtaining artifacts of that caliber, but he knew Zhu Yifei had some in his possession.

Zhu Yifei had acquired a set of Chime Bells the previous year—smuggled, unregistered excavated artifacts. Such shady goods could only be afforded by big buyers, but those with status and influence often avoided crossing legal boundaries. As a result, Zhu Yifei had struggled to offload the set. So Liu Bei contacted him, brokering the deal, and Zhu Yifei promised him a 300,000-yuan commission upon completion. That was why he had gotten involved in the transaction.

But who could have guessed that shortly after arriving in Three Rivers Estuary to scope things out and staying at Zheng Yongbing’s place, he had nearly been caught by the police? After killing an officer years ago, he had spent money on plastic surgery to change his appearance and had lived peacefully ever since. Now that the police had nearly exposed him again, his identity compromised, it meant he’d have to go on the run once more.

But being a fugitive required money—300,000 yuan wouldn’t be enough. After much deliberation, Liu Bei decided to take one last big risk.

He knew Zhu Yifei’s set of Chime Bells consisted of nine pieces, each with unique dimensions and patterns, making them extraordinarily valuable. If one went missing, reducing the set to eight, it would no longer be complete, drastically diminishing its worth. His plan was to take one during the transport of Zhu Yifei’s Chime Bells, then contact Zhou Rong and sell his stolen piece for five million. When Zhou Rong negotiated with Zhu Yifei, he could easily slash the price by ten million since the set would be incomplete. Of course, if Zhou Rong wasn’t interested in saving that money, Liu Bei could then extort Zhu Yifei, forcing him to buy back the missing bell for five million.

Liu Bei knew Zhu Yifei had deep connections, but this was Three Rivers Estuary—a Local Tyrant’s territory. Even a powerful outsider like Zhu Yifei couldn’t touch him here.After examining the Chime Bells for a while, Liu Bei took out his phone, removed the original SIM card, inserted a new one, and powered it back on. He dialed Zhang Debing's number, only to hear the automated message that the phone was turned off. It turned out Zhou Rong had already instructed Zhang Debing to use a temporary SIM card to contact Liu Bei and discard it after connecting with Zhu Yifei. Zhou Rong wanted no association with Liu Bei, a fugitive, to avoid leaving any evidence for the future. Left with no choice, Liu Bei searched for Rongcheng Group's company number and called. The front desk had already clocked out, and only an automated voicemail prompt answered. Liu Bei tried every method but couldn’t reach Zhou Rong. He had no option but to place the Chime Bells back into the box and spend the night in this rundown house.

Suddenly, a shadow flickered past the window. Liu Bei quickly crouched beneath the windowsill, listening intently. The surroundings were eerily quiet. Then, he noticed the signal light on the phone across the bed was still on—clearly, whoever was outside had spotted it too. He held his breath, waiting until the sound of footsteps outside gradually faded away. After a few minutes, Liu Bei finally exhaled in relief and slowly straightened up to peer out the window. Suddenly, he found Huo Zheng’s face pressed right against the glass, their eyes locking in an instant.

The next second, Liu Bei knew things had taken a turn for the worse. He lunged forward, grabbing a broken chair left in the room. Before he could brace himself, the door was kicked open with a loud bang . Huo Zheng charged in, and Liu Bei swung the chair at him. Huo Zheng blocked it with his left arm— thud —the impact sent a sharp, searing pain shooting through his forearm. Ignoring the pain, he pounced, grabbing Liu Bei by the hair with one hand while pulling out a dagger with the other, slashing straight toward his neck.

A shhk sound—the blade sliced through both the trachea and carotid artery. Blood gushed out in a torrent. Liu Bei staggered back, hands clutching his throat, eyes wide with terror. He collapsed into the corner after a few steps, the arterial blood still spurting out in rhythmic pulses.

Huo Zheng walked to the bed and opened the box. Seeing the Chime Bells unharmed, he sighed in relief. Turning around, he shut the door and asked coldly, "Why did you steal our goods?"

Liu Bei wanted to beg for mercy, but his severed throat left him gaping soundlessly. After a few feeble struggles, he went completely still.

Huo Zheng snorted disdainfully, pulling out a small flashlight to inspect the room. There were no signs of accomplices. Spotting Liu Bei’s phone, he turned it on and checked the call log. Liu Bei had just made a one-minute call to a landline number. Huo Zheng entered the number into a search engine—it belonged to "Rongcheng Group." His brow furrowed.

Could Zhou Rong have instructed Liu Bei to steal the Chime Bells? Liu Bei was from Three Rivers Estuary, and this deal had initially been brokered by Zhou Rong through Liu Bei. Was this all a setup?

The implications were serious. Huo Zheng needed to report this to Zhu Yifei.

He immediately dialed Zhu Yifei’s number. "Brother Fei, it’s done."

"The goods?"

"Safe."

"The man?"

"Dead."

"Clean up. Leave no traces."

"Got it. Brother Fei, Liu Bei called Zhou Rong earlier."

There was a pause on the other end before Zhu Yifei slowly asked, "You suspect Zhou Rong ordered Liu Bei to take the goods?"

"I don’t know. But Liu Bei’s from Three Rivers Estuary, and this deal was originally between Boss Zhou and him."

"That doesn’t make sense, does it?""Missing one bell doesn't just mean the price difference of that single piece. Boss Zhou was very straightforward about the whole deal. Either he's in urgent need of the goods, or he has other motives."

There was another brief silence on the phone: "I doubt it. Boss Zhou doesn't seem that kind of person. Most likely, Liu Bei stole my stuff and tried to sell it to him privately. Just bring the items back first, and we'll talk."

"Alright."

After hanging up, Huo Zheng put on a pair of gloves, dragged Liu Bei's corpse to a corner, and went outside to gather some yellow sand. He poured the sand onto the pool of blood on the floor, carefully mixed it in, then swept the blood-soaked sand into a pile of junk outside. In a few days, once the sand dried, no one would be able to tell it had been blood.

After cleaning up the bloodstains, he emptied the fake artifacts from the crate, leaving only the miniature chime bells inside. Ignoring the excruciating pain in his left hand from where Liu Bei had smashed it with a chair, he struggled to stuff the corpse into the crate and sealed it tightly.

He checked everything once more, turned his bloodstained clothes inside out, and dragged the heavy crate containing the body out of the urban village, planning to find a place to dispose of it.

As he reached the main road, a taxi happened to drive by. Huo Zheng waved it down.

The taxi stopped in front of him. He opened the rear door and was about to load the crate when the driver, seeing his movements through the rearview mirror, kindly offered, "Sir, need any help?"

Huo Zheng replied coldly, "No."

"Such a big crate is hard to handle. Why not put it in the trunk?"

Huo Zheng snapped, "My belongings must stay within my sight."

"What could be so valuable?"

Huo Zheng ignored him. Suppressing the pain in his left hand, he mustered all his strength to lift the over-100-pound crate onto the back seat. He tried pushing it further in but failed after two attempts.

The driver glanced back and said, "The wheels are stuck on the seat. Why don't you sit on the other side?"

Huo Zheng had no choice but to close the door and walk around to the other side. Just as he reached the rear of the car, the taxi driver suddenly smirked and floored the accelerator. Huo Zheng instinctively grabbed for the trunk lid, but the driver swerved sharply left and right, sending him sprawling onto the road.

"Goddamn it!" Huo Zheng lay on the asphalt, hands bloodied, watching helplessly as the taxi sped away and vanished from sight.

The taxi raced down the road, its driver, Xiao Mao, humming a tune and occasionally checking the large crate in the back through the rearview mirror, feeling utterly delighted.

After the debt collectors had come knocking, he and Gang Ge had agreed they needed to scrape together tens of thousands quickly to settle their debts. But with no capital or skills, where could they get that kind of money? Fortunately, there was a scrapped taxi in their yard. After some tinkering, they took it out on the road. They only operated at night, targeting passengers with luggage. Many travelers would put their suitcases in the trunk, and the moment they stepped out to retrieve them, Xiao Mao would hit the gas and speed off. So far, they'd snatched a few suitcases, but the haul had been meager—just a laptop and a little over a thousand in cash. The rest were worthless clothes and personal items.

This time was different. The passenger had said, "My belongings must stay within my sight" before even getting in. Xiao Mao was certain there had to be money inside.The taxi drove for a while before Gang Ge appeared by the roadside not far away. Xiao Mao pulled up in front of him, rolled down the window, and reported excitedly, "Gang Ge, we’ve got a big score."

Gang Ge spotted the enormous suitcase through the rear window and quickly opened the door to get in. He tried lifting it but couldn’t budge it. Curious, he asked, "What the hell’s in here? It’s so heavy!"

"I don’t know either, but judging by that idiot’s reaction earlier, it’s gotta be worth a fortune!"

At the mention of "worth a fortune," Gang Ge immediately urged him to drive off before anyone could catch up.

As the car started moving again, Gang Ge dragged the suitcase to the middle of the seat with both hands, his expression solemn. Opening someone else’s suitcase felt like scratching a lottery ticket—he rubbed his palms together, heart pounding with anticipation.

"Let’s see why you’re so heavy, my dear!" Gang Ge patted the suitcase, then slowly unzipped it all the way before flipping the lid open with a forceful tug.

"Whoa—!" Within a second of opening it, Gang Ge shot upright, banging his head against the car roof, yet he barely registered the pain. His eyes widened as he stared dumbfounded at the contents.

"What’s got you so worked up? It’s not a box of gold, is it?" Xiao Mao glanced at the rearview mirror, catching Gang Ge’s expression.

No answer came—Gang Ge was frozen in shock.

Xiao Mao sensed something was off. Keeping one hand on the wheel, he leaned over to look. The sight nearly scared him to death on the spot—Liu Bei’s twisted corpse was crammed inside the suitcase, its wide, lifeless eyes staring straight at him.

Just then, headlights flashed ahead, accompanied by frantic honking. Gang Ge looked up and instantly yelled, "Brake, now!"

Xiao Mao slammed the brakes instinctively. As he turned to check, a black car was barreling straight toward them. He swerved sharply to avoid it. Seconds later, their car screeched to a stop. They checked—their vehicle was fine, but a black Mercedes had crashed into a roadside tree, snapping it in half. Black smoke billowed from the crumpled hood.

Inside the Mercedes, Du Cong, a 4S shop salesman, pushed aside the deployed airbag and stumbled out. Though dazed from the impact, the sight of the broken tree and the smoking car told him he was in deep trouble.

He had only borrowed the car as a favor to an old friend from a wedding company—a quick 20-kilometer round trip for 2,000 yuan. So he’d taken Zhou Rong’s Mercedes S600, which was in the shop for repairs, out for a spin. Who knew this would happen on the way back?

Du Cong didn’t have time to think about damage control. Rubbing his head, he stormed toward the taxi, pounding on the window and roaring, "Get the hell out here! Do you even know how to drive? This road’s wide enough, yet you swerved right into my lane! Are you blind or just deaf?!"

Xiao Mao rolled down the window and peered at him timidly. "Uh… bro, you okay?"

"Okay?!" Du Cong pointed furiously at the wrecked Mercedes. "Look at my car! What the hell are you gonna do about this?!"

"I…" Xiao Mao panicked, turning to Gang Ge for help.

Gang Ge glanced at the corpse in the suitcase, slowly closed the lid, and covered his mouth, pretending to cough. In a barely audible whisper, he said, "Go. Now."Xiao Mao turned his head and explained to Du Cong outside the window, "Big bro, I didn’t mean to do it. How much do you think I should pay?" Xiao Mao spoke with a sincere attitude while his right hand reached for the gearshift.

"How would I know how much right now? Call the insurance company, and then—what the hell!"

Before he could finish, Xiao Mao suddenly floored the accelerator, and the car lurched forward with a roar.

Du Cong frantically grabbed at the collar pocket of Xiao Mao’s shirt, but Xiao Mao ignored him, gripping the steering wheel with both hands and stomping on the gas. Du Cong’s feet scrambled to keep up with the moving car, but no one can outrun a vehicle. After being dragged for dozens of meters, Du Cong tore off the collar pocket of Xiao Mao’s shirt and was flung hard onto the ground, scraping his skin all over.

Trembling, he stood up and looked back at the speeding Mercedes, feeling as if the entire sky above was pressing down on him.

Meanwhile, Fang Chao and Liu Zhi had been lying in wait outside Zhou Rong’s villa for many days, unable to find an opportunity to strike.

Three sides of the villa were surrounded by walls over six meters high—climbing in or out was simply unrealistic. The remaining side had a river and a tree barrier. The river wasn’t an issue; it wasn’t deep, and given their height, they could wade across easily. To avoid getting wet, Fang Chao had even bought a small canoe and hidden it in the grass. However, beyond the barrier was a security booth, always manned by several guards—an impenetrable defense line.

In stark contrast to the anxiety of the two outside, Zhou Rong inside the villa was in high spirits tonight.

"Xiao Qian, don’t call me ‘President Zhou’ anymore. Call me ‘Rong-ge,’" Zhou Rong said, lowering his seniority as he gazed affectionately at Li Qian across the dining table.

The table was set with exquisite small dishes of Western cuisine, meticulously prepared by a private chef. A row of red wines stood nearby, and a dazzling crystal chandelier hung overhead. Soft, seductive music played in the background, creating an atmosphere even more indulgent than a KTV.

The dinner felt like an eternity to Li Qian. She had no experience dealing with men like him and was preoccupied with finding a way into the study as soon as possible, making her appear nervous and awkward. Fortunately, Zhou Rong was quite talkative. Seeing her like this, he assumed she was an innocent girl untouched by the world, which only fueled his excitement.

After the meal, Li Qian discreetly took out a powdered substance from her bag and poured it into her glass while Zhou Rong wasn’t looking. Swirling the wine glass twice, she stood up and walked over to Zhou Rong, thanking him for his hospitality and offering a toast. Naturally, Zhou Rong wouldn’t refuse a drink from a beautiful woman. He took her glass, deliberately positioning the rim where her lips had touched, and downed it in one gulp. The wine tasted slightly bitter, but he didn’t pay much attention. He then returned the glass to her, intentionally brushing her hand. Li Qian giggled and pulled away.

After the meal and drinks, Zhou Rong’s ultimate goal was still to sleep with Li Qian. But this wasn’t a straightforward transaction—he wanted her to be genuinely charmed by him. So, he took her on a tour of the villa, subtly flaunting his wealth in a low-key manner to make her admire him even more.

Li Qian played along, using the opportunity to scout the layout of Zhou Rong’s home.

After touring the massive villa, Zhou Rong had deliberately avoided showing her the study. Feigning curiosity, she pointed at a closed door and sighed, "Your home is so huge! By the way, what’s this room for? Can I take a look inside?"

"That’s the maid’s room. No need to see it."

"Oh… What about this one?" Li Qian pointed to the next room.

"That’s also a maid’s room.""Oh, oh," Li Qian said, sweating nervously as she looked around. Suddenly, she noticed a closed door across the way and thought, "This one can't be the maid's room too, can it?" So she asked, "What's that room for?"

"Study," Zhou Rong replied, completely oblivious to the gleam that lit up in Li Qian's eyes upon hearing his answer.

"Could you show me around?"

"Oh..." Zhou Rong hesitated for a second before quickly saying, "Sure."

Zhou Rong led Li Qian to the door, which was different from the others—it had a fingerprint lock installed. He pressed his finger against the scanner, and the lock clicked open. Standing at the doorway, he gestured inside and said, "My study is pretty simple, not much to see."

Just as he was about to close the door, Li Qian walked straight in and gasped at the sight of the bookshelves. "Wow, you have so many books!"

The shelves were packed with hefty tomes—"Das Kapital," "Marxism-Leninism," "Selected Works of Mao Zedong," "Building Socialism with Chinese Characteristics"—all pristine from cover to cover, clearly never opened. Yet Li Qian stared at them with keen interest.

Zhou Rong found her reaction slightly odd and said, "There's really not much to see in the study. Let's go upstairs—there's a big balcony with a great view."

Just then, Zhou Rong's phone rang. He glanced at the screen—it was Hu Jianren calling. Apologizing to Li Qian, he left her alone in the study and stepped outside to take the call.

"What is it?"

"Rong-ge, your car was stolen and crashed—badly."

Zhou Rong looked bewildered. "What car?"

"The Mercedes that got scratched by Li Qian the other day at our 4S shop. It just got repainted, and today one of the sales guys took it out without permission to earn some extra cash as a wedding car. Ended up hitting a tree—the whole front is smashed."

"I—" Zhou Rong was furious, but remembering the leading lady of his evening was still in the study, he suppressed the urge to yell curses and hissed, "The audacity! My own 4S shop, and the employees dare to take my car out? What about the customers' cars? How is this place being run? Who'd dare do business with us after this!"

"Yeah, this is serious. I didn’t want to handle it alone—what should we do, Rong-ge?"

"How’s the salesman?"

"He’s fine, but the car’s totaled."

Zhou Rong took a deep breath and growled, "Deal with this strictly—it’s a management issue. I’ll send some guys over to teach that bastard a lesson. Make him pay until he’s broke. Let this be a warning to everyone!"

After hanging up, Zhou Rong stormed to the entrance and called for the security captain on duty, ordering him to take more men to the 4S shop immediately to meet Hu Jianren.

Liu Zhi lay in the car, staring blankly at Zhou Rong’s villa, while Fang Chao snored loudly in the backseat.

After days of waiting for the right moment to strike with no luck, both were physically and mentally exhausted. They had agreed to take turns keeping watch for a few more days. If nothing came up, they’d have to turn back and target Fang Yong instead—ransacking his home for antiques and artifacts, then figuring out how to sell them later.

Just then, Liu Zhi saw cars driving out of Zhou Rong’s villa—one, two, then a third. After exiting, they turned and headed straight in their direction.Liu Zhi quickly shook Fang Chao awake. Just as the two were bracing themselves, they saw the three cars drive straight past them. Breathing a sigh of relief, Fang Chao started grumbling at Liu Zhi for disturbing his sleep over nothing. Suddenly, through the green tree barrier across the river, he noticed the lights in the security room behind the villa had gone out. Immediately alert, he pulled out a telescope to carefully verify the situation.

After instructing Hu Jianren to handle the 4S dealership matter, Zhou Rong suppressed his anger, took a deep breath, and forced a smile back onto his face before returning to the study. There, he found Li Qian standing idly, looking around the room with apparent boredom.

"Sorry about that, just had some company business to take care of," Zhou Rong said with a smile. Suddenly, his gaze caught on a circular object on the wall, causing his brow to furrow slightly as a hint of suspicion arose. He glanced at Li Qian's innocent expression and his wariness eased. Testing the waters, he asked, "What were you up to while I was gone?"

"Nothing much, just waiting here bored. Everything in your house looks so expensive—I didn't dare touch anything," Li Qian replied coyly, playing the part.

"Haha, you're so timid," Zhou Rong said as he approached her, gazing at her affectionately before murmuring, "Stay the night."

"Uh..." Li Qian hesitated, unsure how to respond.

"Is that okay?"

"I..." Li Qian scrambled for a way to stall. "Rong-ge, I'm thirsty. Could you get me some water?"

"Of course." Zhou Rong chuckled and was about to turn when his stomach let out an embarrassingly loud gurgle. He looked at Li Qian awkwardly, only for another thunderous rumble to follow.

The worst possible timing—his body was demanding an urgent bathroom trip. Zhou Rong considered holding it in, but the urge was overwhelming. Before he could react, an uncontrollable release of gas escaped, followed by a warm sensation in his underwear. Muttering an apology, he clenched his legs together and bolted from the study.

Once he was gone, Li Qian finally exhaled in relief—the laxatives had taken effect.

After receiving Zhou Rong's invitation, Li Qian had pondered how to handle the situation and eventually landed on an unconventional solution: laxatives. A heavy dose of potent laxatives would leave Zhou Rong too weak to act on any improper intentions.

While Zhou Rong rushed to the bathroom, Li Qian hurried back to the circular object on the wall and twisted it. She recognized it as a wall-embedded safe, with the circular piece serving as the combination dial—but cracking the code was the challenge.

She spun it several times, pressing her ear against the wall to listen for any clues, but heard nothing. Attempting to force it open proved futile—the safe's seams were too tight, not even a needle could slip through. After multiple failed attempts, she heard footsteps approaching again and quickly moved to the bookshelf, pretending to browse casually.

Zhou Rong's time in the bathroom was nothing short of catastrophic. In all his decades of life, he had experienced occasional stomach troubles, but never anything this violent. Even his recently eaten dinner made a clear reappearance in the toilet. Just as he pulled up his pants, another wave hit. He spent over ten minutes in the bathroom, drained and pale, until his body had nothing left to expel. Still, a faint discomfort lingered in his gut.

Weak and exhausted, he cleaned up, changed into loungewear, and had the housekeeper bring him anti-diarrheal medication. He dared not drink much, only taking a small sip. Realizing tonight was a lost cause for enjoying Li Qian's company, he returned to the study to explain, arranging for security to escort her out and rescheduling for another day.After returning to the study, he explained to her that he might have eaten something bad earlier, and Li Qian expressed understanding, saying it was only natural. As they were talking, Zhou Rong suddenly noticed the dial on the safe. His expression instantly darkened, and his attitude toward Li Qian took a complete 180-degree turn. He directly demanded, "Who are you?"

"I... I'm Li Qian."

Zhou Rong stepped closer, grabbed her arm, and shoved her toward the safe. "Why were you turning this?"

"I didn't touch it," Li Qian defended herself in panic.

"Didn't touch it? Both times I came in, I saw the dial had moved. The first time, I thought you were just curious and fiddling with it. But this time?"

"Stay... stay back!" Realizing she had been exposed and unable to explain, Li Qian retreated, her right hand subtly reaching for the back pocket of her jeans, where she had hidden a folding knife—her self-defense weapon prepared before coming here. If both the laxative and the knife failed, her last resort would be to reveal her identity as a police officer to force Zhou Rong to let her go.

Her reaction confirmed Zhou Rong's suspicions. Unhurried, he calmly walked to the safe and smirked. "Go on, tell me who you are and why you're targeting me. If you don't speak the truth, you won't leave here safely today. The villa is surrounded by my bodyguards—you won't get out."

"I..." Li Qian was flustered, at a loss for words.

Zhou Rong ran his fingers over the dial and chuckled. "By my count, you've been turning this for about twenty minutes now. Still couldn't crack it, huh? Well, of course you couldn't. Even the best thief in the world wouldn't be able to open my safe. Because—" He gripped the dial and yanked it hard—the entire dial came off in his hand.

"Because this thing is just a decoration, meant for idiots like you to play with. It's actually a voice-activated safe. Without my voice password, no one can open it. Forced attempts will trigger the self-destruct mechanism and destroy everything inside."

"Wow, that's high-tech!" A male voice suddenly called from the doorway.

"Of course it is—cost me a fortune to import. Who—?!" Zhou Rong snapped to attention, turning toward the door to see two masked men entering. The one in front held a gun, aimed squarely at him.

"Don't call for help, or I'll have no choice but to shoot us all dead," Fang Chao sneered from behind his mask.

With the gun trained on Zhou Rong, Liu Zhi closed the study door and approached Li Qian. Before she could react, Liu Zhi struck the back of her neck with a swift chop. She went limp and immediately feigned unconsciousness, allowing Liu Zhi to bind her tightly with rope.

"Who... who are you?" Zhou Rong stammered, seeing one man armed and the other knocking out Li Qian with a single strike. These were clearly no ordinary petty thieves.

"Relax, Boss Zhou. We're just here to borrow some money," Fang Chao said coolly.

"Money? That's easy, easy," Zhou Rong forced out, swallowing hard.

Liu Zhi walked over to the safe, examining it curiously. He had never seen such an advanced model—he couldn't even locate the lock. "A voice-activated safe, huh? Fancy! Let me give it a try." He cleared his throat and enunciated clearly, "Open sesame!"

The safe, of course, remained unmoved."Idiot, such high-end equipment still uses this password?" Fang Chao scolded, pressing the gun directly against Zhou Rong's temple and threatening, "Give me the password, now! I'll count to three and shoot. One—two—"

"Open sesame!" Zhou Rong blurted out.

With a "click," a door popped open from the wall, and the safe swung open in response.

"Truly high-end!" Liu Zhi gave Zhou Rong a thumbs-up and immediately leaned in to inspect. The safe wasn't large, filled only with stacks of contracts and a small USB drive on top.

After searching, Liu Zhi reported back to Fang Chao: "There's no money inside."

"No money?" Fang Chao kept his gun trained on Zhou Rong, craning his neck to peer into the safe. "Such a high-end safe, and there's no money inside?"

"Bro, I... I don't keep cash at home," Zhou Rong stammered in explanation.

"Bullshit!" Liu Zhi kicked Zhou Rong hard, knocking him to the ground, then delivered several more brutal kicks before pulling out a rope to tie him up tightly.

Zhou Rong pleaded for mercy, but Fang Chao pressed on: "I'll ask you one more time—where's the money hidden in your house?"

"I really don't keep cash at home." Zhou Rong was telling the truth. Though wealthy, his money was all in bank accounts—who kept cash lying around these days?

Fang Chao gritted his teeth. "You're telling the truth?"

"I swear, I swear!" Despite being a big boss, Zhou Rong was still flesh and blood. Under the threat of desperate criminals, all his authority vanished as he hurriedly replied, "There's no cash here. There might be a few thousand in the desk, but if that's not enough, I can transfer money directly from my bank account."

Liu Zhi snapped, "You think we're stupid enough to accept a bank transfer?"

Furious at the thought of their days of stakeout ending in nothing, Liu Zhi kicked Zhou Rong viciously, making him howl in pain. The stress triggered another wave of bowel urgency, and under the assault, Zhou Rong soiled himself.

Fang Chao studied his expression for a few seconds, noting the mess. Though he'd beaten many people in his life, this was the first time he'd seen someone literally scared shitless. If the man had been beaten to the point of losing control, he must be telling the truth. The realization filled Fang Chao with despair: "You tricked us! You said your house was full of money, but—but—!"

Liu Zhi, even angrier, growled, "Let's just kill him. I've had enough!"

Zhou Rong, unable to recall when he'd ever claimed his house was full of cash, focused solely on survival. Hearing the death threat, he suddenly remembered Zhu Yifei's suitcase left at his place—containing the $1 million he'd prepared for Zhu Yifei. "There is money! I just remembered—there's money in that suitcase over there!"

Liu Zhi stopped beating him and followed Zhou Rong's directions to a massive travel bag in the corner. Opening it revealed only clothes, but after rummaging, he found three spa gift cards worth 10,000 each. Holding them up, he sneered, "This is what you call money?!"

Zhou Rong quickly explained that a hidden button inside the suitcase opened a secret compartment containing $1 million.

Liu Zhi found it, and Fang Chao verified the cash—$1 million, equivalent to over 6 million RMB. A huge sum. They continued threatening Zhou Rong, who, under the stress, lost control of his bowels several more times but could produce no additional money.Seeing this, they realized Zhou Rong wasn’t lying and had no choice but to give up.

Still unsatisfied, Fang Chao went to the safe and rummaged through it. Inside were only contracts—useless to them—except for a lone USB drive placed oddly to one side.

Fang Chao picked up the USB drive and asked, “What’s on this?”

Zhou Rong panicked at the sight of it. “Just some work files, nothing important.”

Fang Chao stared into his eyes for a few seconds, sensing something amiss. He took the USB drive to the computer, turned it on, and inserted the drive. After opening it, he found several files and clicked on a spreadsheet filled with dense rows of names, numbers, times, and locations. After a moment’s thought, Fang Chao understood and looked at Zhou Rong. “This is your bribery ledger, isn’t it? Records of who you paid off?”

Li Qian, lying dazed on the floor, heard this and forced herself to focus, quietly observing them.

Zhou Rong lowered his head, not daring to meet Fang Chao’s gaze, and stammered, “Th-this thing is useless to you. Just take the money.”

“The money in this case, of course, we’ll take.” Fang Chao pulled out the USB drive. “But I’m keeping this too. If Boss Zhou wakes up and thinks about calling the police, this drive will end up in their hands.”

“Wakes up?” Zhou Rong was confused.

Liu Zhi sneered and chopped the back of his neck with a sharp strike.

“Ow! Ow!” Zhou Rong cried out in pain but didn’t pass out. Frantically, he said, “Take my number. Tomorrow, I’ll pay to get the USB back.”

Fang Chao noted his number and gave Liu Zhi a look. Liu Zhi struck Zhou Rong’s neck again, eliciting another cry of pain. Frowning slightly, Liu Zhi adjusted his aim and struck several more times until he finally got the position and force right, knocking Zhou Rong unconscious.

Fang Chao tucked the gun into his waistband, impressed by the suitcase’s hidden compartment design, and told Liu Zhi to take the entire suitcase as they left.

The entire scene was heard by Li Qian, who had been pretending to be unconscious nearby.