At nine in the morning, Zhou Rong's villa was jolted awake by a startled cry.
The security guards at the estate had noticed something unusual early that day—the villa's doors remained closed, and even the maids hadn’t stepped outside. Concerned, they tried contacting the maids inside via walkie-talkie, but there was no response. When the guards attempted to open the door, they found both the main entrance and the back door locked. Using a spare key, they entered and quickly discovered the two maids bound on the floor, their mouths sealed with tape. Soon after, they rescued the boss in the study, who was in a similar state—covered in footprints, his pants soiled with urine and feces, beaten so badly he had lost control of his bowels. It was a pitiful sight.
Within an hour, all key members of Zhou Rong’s group had rushed to the villa.
The study door was shut, with only Zhou Rong, Hu Jianren, Lang Bowen, and his younger brother Lang Botu inside. The rest waited in the villa’s main hall.
“Brother Rong, who did this?” Lang Bowen asked.
“I don’t know. From their accents, those two didn’t sound like locals.”
“Why did you tell them not to call the police? We were robbed—we’re legitimate victims here.”
Zhou Rong frowned and sighed with difficulty. “Besides the case of money, they took something from my safe.”
“What was it?” the three asked in unison. They had all seen the safe in the study but had never looked inside—Zhou Rong never opened it in front of anyone.
Pursing his lips, Zhou Rong uttered a few words: “A USB drive.”
“What’s on it?”
Zhou Rong sighed again, glancing at each of them before speaking slowly. “You all know this fortune of mine isn’t mine alone. Uncle Dong and a few others have stakes in it too. I make money for everyone, and often, I have no choice. Hmm… Over the years, all the extra expenses from my company were recorded under legitimate names, but their real purpose was logged on this USB drive. If we report this to the police and they get their hands on it, cross-checking the accounts would lead to unimaginable consequences.”
The three men paled at his words. Lang Bowen pressed urgently, “Brother Rong, all these years of transactions—even the money given to officials—you recorded all of it on that drive?”
Zhou Rong silently confirmed.
Lang Bowen exploded in anger. “Why would you do that? If this gets out, won’t we all end up in prison?”
Zhou Rong shot him a glare, and Lang Bowen quickly lowered his head, breathing heavily as he realized his outburst.
Hu Jianren asked quietly, “Brother Rong, Uncle Dong doesn’t know about this, does he?”
“Of course he doesn’t.” Zhou Rong glanced at them and sighed. “I kept this ledger as a way out—for all of us—in case something went wrong. Think about it. If any one of us gets into trouble, would Uncle Dong, Luo Ziyue, or those officials protect us? No. They’d only try to distance themselves. But with this ledger, we’re all on the same boat. If anything happens, they’ll do everything to save us—because saving us means saving themselves.”
The three nodded. Zhou Rong’s reasoning was sound—except no one had expected the USB drive to be stolen.
After a moment of thought, Hu Jianren asked, “Brother Rong, should we tell Uncle Dong? He could send a team of police to help track those two down and get the drive back.”"Absolutely not!" Zhou Rong flatly refused. "If Uncle Dong finds out about the USB drive, we're finished!"
"Then how do we get it back?"
"Last night, those two plugged the USB into a computer and saw its contents. They threatened me not to report to the police and said they'd come back to extort more money from me. They know how important that USB is to me—they'll definitely try to squeeze a huge sum. When they do, we'll find a way to capture them, retrieve the USB, and silence them for good. What do you think?"
Zhou Rong looked at the three men. Hu Jianren nodded in agreement, his younger brother Lang Botu remained silent, while Lang Bowen didn't express an opinion.
"Bowen, speak up."
Lang Bowen lifted his head. "Whatever you decide, Rong-ge, my men will follow your orders."
His brother Lang Botu analyzed, "Rong-ge, isn't it strange that someone could break into your villa, kidnap and rob you without making a sound?"
"What are you implying?"
"Rong-ge, remember when the police investigated Ye Jian's case and went to Lu Yibo, but Lu Yibo directed them to you? Yesterday, Lu Yibo cooperated with the police again—they asked for his help, and he arranged for Zhou Qi to act as an insider, helping them capture a wanted criminal at their hotel. He never mentioned this to you, did he?"
"He didn't." Zhou Rong frowned slightly. "Are you suggesting Lu Yibo is behind the robbery?"
Lang Botu nodded.
"Impossible. There's no way Lu Yibo would send people to rob my house."
Both Lang Bowen and Hu Jianren shook their heads, dismissing the idea. However, Lu Yibo's recent behavior did suggest he might have defected to the police. But right now, the USB was the priority—Zhou Rong had no time to deal with Lu Yibo.
After further discussion, the four men opened the study door and returned to the living room.
A row of security guards knelt with their heads bowed at the front of the room. The moment the study door opened, Zhang Debing began slapping them one by one, cursing furiously as he struck.
Zhou Rong sat on the sofa, watching coldly, completely unmoved by their swollen faces.
After over ten minutes of relentless beating, Zhang Debing's hand grew sore, and he paused to shout, "Who was the team leader last night?!"
This was a rhetorical question—the villa's security worked in three shifts, with only three team leaders. Zhang Debing, as head of security, knew exactly who had been on duty. He was just putting on a show for the boss.
Gradually, the men's gazes turned toward the one in the middle, who lowered his head, legs trembling uncontrollably.
Zhang Debing deliberately repeated, "Who was the team leader?!"
"Ch-Chai-ge," a few whispered in reply.
The young man in the middle, nicknamed "Chai-ge," swallowed hard, shaking all over. His real name was Li Penggai, but because of the nationwide urban renewal projects—commonly referred to as "demolition and relocation"—his friends in the underworld had given him the nickname "Chai-ge" (Demolition Brother).
Without another word, Zhang Debing pulled out a switchblade from his waist. "Standard procedure—lose a pinky. Do it yourself, or should I help?"
At the sight of the blade, Li Penggai nearly collapsed in fear. "Bing-ge, it's my fault, I take responsibility! But yesterday... Rong-ge told me to take more men out. When we got back, we had no idea... no idea something had happened inside, so—"
"You dare blame Rong-ge?! Did Rong-ge tell you to empty the rear security post?!"
"We... we were short-staffed for the night shift, so—""You're asking for death!" Zhang Debing kicked him to the ground and roared at someone nearby, "Go get the anesthetic!"
Hu Jianren couldn't help but ask, "What's the anesthetic for?"
"To cut off his fingers."
Li Penggai immediately broke down in tears, kowtowing to Zhou Rong. "Brother Rong, I was wrong, please spare me this once. I’ll go through fire and water for you, I swear! Brother Rong, have mercy!" The other underlings also pleaded for him in unison.
"Enough!" Zhou Rong was already furious about the stolen USB drive, and now these guys had the nerve to stage an amputation drama in front of him. It was obviously a prearranged act between Zhang Debing and the others—cutting off a finger with anesthetic? Why not just go to a hospital? He waved his hand angrily. "Stop the double act! Zhang Debing stays. The rest of you, get lost!"
The row of kneeling men scrambled away in panic, leaving only Zhang Debing standing before him, his face full of shame. After all, he was a well-known figure in the underworld with his own reputation and methods. Yet, his boss had been robbed right in his own home, beaten to a pulp—it was utterly humiliating.
Zhou Rong took a deep breath, steadying his emotions to regain his composure. "Those two bastards yesterday didn’t just take the money—they also stole a USB drive that’s extremely important to me. The money is nothing, but that USB must be recovered. And those two need to be dealt with cleanly."
Zhang Debing nodded quickly.
"Those two were professionals, not amateurs—definitely underworld figures. You figure out a way. Mobilize people from Three Rivers Estuary and the surrounding cities. Spread enough eyes and ears to find them as soon as possible. Whoever gets it done gets the entire case of U.S. dollars. Remember, aside from our own people, don’t tell anyone else about the USB. Once they’re found, our own people handle it. And no one looks at that USB before it’s back in my hands!"
Zhang Debing agreed firmly. He knew this matter was of utmost importance to his boss—otherwise, he wouldn’t have offered an entire case of a million dollars as a reward. It wasn’t a difficult task, really. Every city had its own underworld, filled with all sorts of shady characters, with eyes and ears practically covering every street. Offering an excessive reward to mobilize the entire underworld to find two men would be far more effective than a police wanted notice!
Without wasting time, Zhang Debing immediately set about arranging the search. By reviewing the villa’s surveillance footage, they had clear images of the two men’s builds and a black suitcase filled with cash. These photos—of the men and the suitcase—were key identifying features. Of course, they couldn’t tell outsiders that Zhou Rong had been robbed. They’d just say Zhang Debing was the victim.
In no time at all, Fang Chao and Liu Zhi found themselves hunted by both the police and the underworld.
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