Born with Luck

If a person encounters a piece of bad luck, they shouldn’t complain right away, because what follows is often even worse.

In a small hotel room at that moment, Fang Chao and Liu Zhi stared blankly at the floor, where Liu Bei’s corpse lay curled up inside an open suitcase.

After a long silence, Fang Chao slowly raised his head, his throat dry. "What a move, what a move!"

Liu Zhi roared, "Those two bastards killed someone and then switched suitcases with us! I’ll kill them!" Furious, he slammed the suitcase shut, zipped it up, and dragged it toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Fang Chao stopped him.

"To kill those two animals!"

"And where are you going to find them?"

"The bus station!"

"They switched the body with you at the station—why would they still be there?"

"Then they must be nearby!"

"Impossible. They killed someone—they’d have run far away by now."

Liu Zhi, eyes bloodshot, slumped to the floor and smacked his head in frustration. "Then what do we do? What do we do?"

"We’ll settle this score, of course!" Fang Chao’s voice was icy. Having been tricked at the final step of their great escape, his mood was terrible. He was determined to find those two men—whether to reclaim the money or to avenge the switch, they had to die. But his mind remained calm. Though Three Rivers Estuary was only a county-level city, it had over a million people. Finding two strangers wouldn’t be easy—they needed a careful plan. Still, before hunting them down, they had to deal with the corpse.

He pulled back the curtain to survey the surroundings, thinking for a moment. It was still daytime—they’d have to wait until night to dispose of the body before making further plans.

Meanwhile, Gang Ge and Xiao Mao, who had switched the suitcases, finally relaxed. Back at home, they opened the swapped suitcase and found a few thousand in loose cash and three Maple Forest Late Hotel gift cards, each worth ten thousand. Gang Ge pocketed the money immediately. As they examined the three cards, they discussed whether they could cash them out to pay off their credit card debts. But how much could they get for the hotel’s prepaid cards? And were they registered under the other two men’s names?

As they debated, a shout came from the courtyard: "Xia Tinggang, get your ass out here!"

The two exchanged glances—had those criminals tracked them down? Gang Ge quickly tossed the cards back into the suitcase and pulled Xiao Mao behind the door, peering through the crack at the courtyard.

"Who’s that?" Gang Ge didn’t recognize the man.

"It’s… it’s the guy who crashed his Mercedes into a tree yesterday."

In the courtyard, Du Cong stood beside a taxi, glaring furiously at the house.Last night, he borrowed Zhou Rong's Mercedes-Benz to earn some extra cash when Xiao Mao's taxi veered off course and headed straight for him. Reacting instinctively, he swerved to avoid it but ended up crashing into a tree nearby, causing severe damage to the car. When Du Cong got out to confront the taxi driver, the offending vehicle suddenly hit the gas and fled. In the scuffle, Du Cong managed to tear off half of a bank reminder envelope from Xiao Mao's collar pocket, which only had a partial address on it. After spending most of today tracking it down, he finally found the culprit's car in their yard. But seeing the rundown scrap-collecting yard, he almost cried.

After the accident last night, he reported it to the dealership, and the 4S shop immediately called the police. Soon, staff from the dealership and officers arrived at the scene. Du Cong was taken to the police station for questioning. Since there were no surveillance cameras at the scene and the taxi hadn’t directly collided with Du Cong, his account of the incident was just his word against nothing. Meanwhile, the fact that he had stolen the car from the dealership was undeniable, so the legal responsibility still fell on him. The police station temporarily released Du Cong, telling him to negotiate with the dealership. Hu Jianren arrived with his men and gave him an ultimatum: either face prison for theft or pay full compensation.

The insurance wouldn’t cover stolen vehicles, so the total damages and depreciation came to 600,000 yuan—all to be shouldered by Du Cong alone. If he couldn’t pay within a month, he’d be charged with theft while still being liable for civil compensation. That night, a devastated Du Cong returned home and explained the situation to his rural parents. They estimated they could scrape together over 200,000 yuan by pooling their savings and borrowing from relatives. A friend who ran a wedding company, out of humanitarian sympathy, offered to chip in 50,000 yuan. But that still left a gaping 300,000 yuan unaccounted for. After a sleepless night, Du Cong had no choice but to follow the partial address on the envelope to track down the culprit’s car.

He stood in the yard shouting for a while, but Gang Ge and Xiao Mao, hiding behind the door, stayed silent. He rushed to the door and started pounding on it with his fists. After several knocks with no response, he leaned in to peek through the gap. Seeing no way out, Gang Ge quickly motioned for Xiao Mao to hide behind the door before yanking it open and barking, “Who the hell are you? What are you yelling about in my house?”

Du Cong had vaguely noticed a passenger in the backseat of the taxi last night but hadn’t seen their face clearly, so he didn’t recognize Gang Ge now. “I’m looking for Xia Tinggang.”

“That’s me!”

“You’re Xia Tinggang?” Du Cong froze.

“Got a problem?”

“Whose car is that outside?”

“Mine.”

“Were you driving it last night?”

“Nobody drove it last night.”

“Then why is it parked in your yard?” Du Cong pointed at the two fake license plates placed beside the car.

“How the hell should I know? What’s it to you? Get the hell out!” Gang Ge snapped impatiently, pretending to slam the door.

Du Cong shoved the door back. “I’ll ask you one more time—who drove this car last night?”

“Who cares who drove it? This is my house, get lost!” Gang Ge shoved him. Seeing his guilty, defensive anger, Du Cong knew the culprits were definitely here. The thought of being saddled with 600,000 yuan in debt because of them made his blood boil. The moment Gang Ge pushed him, Du Cong threw a punch straight at his face. In an instant, the two grabbed each other, tumbling to the ground in a violent brawl.Hiding in the inner room, Xiao Mao saw that Gang Ge was no match for Du Cong and had taken several punches. Unable to stay hidden any longer, he grabbed a stick and rushed out to help beat Du Cong.

Du Cong looked up and saw that the person attacking him with the stick was the driver from last night. Furious, he let go of Gang Ge, got up, and went after Xiao Mao instead. Seizing the opportunity, Gang Ge ran into the house and found a bamboo pole. The two of them together quickly gained the upper hand, forcing Du Cong to retreat.

Standing at the courtyard gate, Du Cong faced off against the two of them. Though he was bigger in stature, he was no match for two armed men while empty-handed. He had no choice but to call the police, informing the officer who had taken his report the day before that he had found the hit-and-run car. Soon, the police arrived and questioned all three. Gang Ge, worried that the fake taxi might lead to more trouble, adamantly denied driving it the previous night, claiming they had acquired the car while collecting scrap and that it had been parked in the yard all along. The fake license plates, he said, had been removed and thrown into the river the night before. The officers could tell Gang Ge and Xiao Mao were being dishonest, but without evidence, they could only say that scrapped vehicles had to be processed at designated facilities and that private acquisition was illegal. They decided to impound the taxi. Gang Ge shrugged and said, "Impound it if you must."

With many officers from the local station reassigned to assist in a major case, the police were short-staffed and couldn’t afford to waste time. They told Du Cong to accompany them back to the station to give a statement and said they would arrange for a tow truck to impound the car in a few days.

After Du Cong and the police left, Gang Ge and Xiao Mao finally relaxed, closing the courtyard gate to keep out any more unwanted visitors.

Huo Zheng was a killer. In all his years in the underworld, he had never felt as humiliated as he had the night before.

It was said that Liu Bei was a fugitive who had killed a police officer, but Huo Zheng didn’t even consider him a threat. Liu Bei had struggled in his grasp for less than three minutes before Huo Zheng effortlessly killed him and retrieved the Chime Bells. But who could have expected that both Liu Bei’s corpse and the Chime Bells would be stolen by a taxi?

When he returned to see Zhu Yifei last night, his boss had berated him harshly, skeptical of his account. "Were you hailing a taxi or a corpse transport? Why would a taxi steal a body?"

For a seasoned veteran like Huo Zheng to be robbed by a taxi was something he could hardly believe himself, let alone convince his boss. To prove his innocence, he had no choice but to track down that taxi, silence the driver, and retrieve the case.

He checked the case’s tracker, which showed it was in a suburban area on the south side of the city. Later, whether due to a dead battery or poor connection, the signal disappeared. By daybreak, Huo Zheng arrived at the last known location and began searching door to door. He found no sign of the taxi. After searching for hours, he spotted a police car driving through the area ahead. Worried that the body in the case might have been discovered and reported, he moved forward to investigate. Passing by a small convenience store, he overheard a group of people talking about how the police had just gone to a scrap collector’s yard to deal with a taxi. The word "taxi" immediately put him on alert, and he quietly made his way to the scrap yard they mentioned. The gate was closed, but through the iron bars, Huo Zheng spotted the taxi in the yard. Though it had no license plates, certain features of the car confirmed it was the same one that had robbed him the night before.Huo Zheng turned his gaze toward the house inside. Through the window, he could see moving shadows. Just as he was about to climb the wall to kill, another thought crossed his mind—the police had just been here. Could this be a trap, waiting for him to walk right into their hands?

After hesitating for a moment, he decided to retreat and observe for a while. A few minutes later, a tall black SUV drove straight toward the house and stopped at the courtyard gate, honking its horn.

Huo Zheng stared at the SUV and its license plate, his pupils suddenly gleaming with recognition. Slowly, he turned and left the scene.

Gang Ge and Xiao Mao heard the car horn outside and went to the courtyard. Peering through the door crack, they saw a black SUV parked outside, with Li Penggai inside. They quickly opened the gate to let the car in.

Although Li Penggai had nearly been subjected to an amputation at Zhou Rong’s house without daring to talk back, he was still a well-known figure in the small underworld of Three Rivers Estuary. He was relatively loyal and had many younger associates. Whenever someone was in urgent need, he would generously lend them a few thousand yuan without charging interest. Gang Ge and Xiao Mao had occasionally done odd jobs for him and always called him "Big Brother."

Li Penggai stepped out of the car, and Gang Ge and Xiao Mao warmly ushered him inside, offering a chair and tea while asking about his visit. Li Penggai was in a hurry today and skipped the pleasantries. He pulled out a stack of photocopied photos, selected a few, and handed them over. "Do you know Zhang Debing?"

The two shook their heads. "Never heard of him."

"Zhang Debing is my boss. Bing Ge was robbed."

"What? Who the hell dares to rob our Bing Ge? They must have a death wish!" Gang Ge immediately erupted in righteous fury.

"The robbers are the two men in these photos. Bing Ge said whoever helps him find them will get a reward of one million U.S. dollars. Even if you just provide a lead, there’ll be a hefty reward afterward. Take a good look—don’t miss this chance to get rich."

"One million dollars?!" Gang Ge and Xiao Mao’s eyes nearly popped out of their heads. They’d never even seen a million yuan in their lives, let alone a million dollars! They hurriedly lowered their heads to examine the photos but frowned after flipping through a few. "Why are these photos so blurry? You can’t make out anything."

"They were taken by a surveillance camera at night. These are the clearest ones. You can’t see their faces, but they took a suitcase from Bing Ge—it had a million dollars inside. Bing Ge said whoever finds the suitcase can keep all the money inside. He just wants the men. Here’s a daytime photo of the suitcase—it’s very distinctive. Black, with a silver border and a circular emblem in the middle. Hmm, looks a lot like yours—wait—"

Li Penggai noticed a suitcase on the nearby table that matched the size and features of the one his boss had lost. He walked over, compared them several times, then opened it. Feeling around, he found a hidden latch at the bottom. Pressing it, the base of the suitcase shifted, revealing neatly stacked U.S. dollars. He quickly pressed the latch again to retract the base, shut the suitcase, and glanced warily at the two men before grabbing it and heading for the door.

"Brother Peng, what’s going on?" Gang Ge still hadn’t processed what had just happened.Li Penggai remained silent, carrying the suitcase as he pushed the door open and walked out. He opened the car door outside, tossed the car keys and the suitcase onto the back seat, then reached under the seat and pulled out a sharp dagger. Concealing the dagger behind his back, he immediately turned around and strode back inside. With a swift motion, he grabbed Gang Ge and pressed the dagger against his neck. "Where's the other USB drive?" he demanded.

Gang Ge stared at him in shock, bewildered by the sudden turn of events. "Brother Chai, what are you doing?" he stammered.

"Where's the USB drive?"

"What USB drive?"

"I'm asking you one last time—where is it?"

"I... I don't know anything about it."

"You don't know, huh?" Li Penggai pulled out his phone with his free hand and dialed Zhang Debing. "Brother Bing, I found those two. They're not talking about the USB drive yet... Got it. I'll bring them back... Don't worry, I know what they're capable of. I've got them under control. I'll bring them in now." After hanging up, he sighed and looked at them with a troubled expression. "If it were anything else, I could put in a good word for you. But this time, you've gone too far. Let's go—get in the car!"

"Brother Chai, what the hell is going on?" Gang Ge cried out in panic.

Li Penggai ignored him. Towering and muscular, with the dagger in hand, he handled Gang Ge as easily as if he were a chicken. He shot a glare at Xiao Mao, signaling for him to walk ahead. Xiao Mao lowered his head and shuffled forward obediently. But as soon as he reached Li Penggai's side, he suddenly whipped out a large hammer and swung it straight at Li Penggai's head. Instinctively, Li Penggai raised the dagger to block, but the hammer smashed into his hand with a sickening crunch. Xiao Mao didn't hesitate—he struck again, this time landing a brutal blow to Li Penggai's skull. Three or four heavy swings later, Li Penggai's head was caved in in several places, and he collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

Gang Ge stared in stunned silence at Li Penggai's motionless body, his eyes rolled back, then at Xiao Mao, who stood gripping the hammer with a ferocious expression.

After a long pause, Xiao Mao dropped the hammer and slumped to the floor, his face flushed red from tension as he gasped for breath.

Gang Ge cautiously checked Li Penggai's pulse—there was none. His skull was shattered, brain matter oozing out. He was undeniably dead.

"What... what did you do?" Gang Ge whispered.

Xiao Mao's expression turned eerily calm. "Those two guys we switched suitcases with this morning—they're the ones Zhang Debing is after. The suitcase we took has a hidden compartment with a million dollars in cash. I saw the money when Li Penggai opened it earlier."

"What?!" It took Gang Ge a moment to process the revelation. "But... but that doesn't mean you had to kill him!"

"He thought we were those two guys. If we went with him, we'd be dead for sure. Better to kill him and take the million for ourselves."

"If Zhang Debing finds out about this, he'll kill us both!"

"He won't. Li Penggai didn't mention us in that call. Gang Ge, this is worth it. When else are we gonna get our hands on a million dollars?"

Gang Ge frowned, glancing between the gruesome corpse on the floor and the thought of a million dollars. Slowly, the thrill of the money began to outweigh the horror of what they'd done. A grin crept onto his face. Seeing his expression, Xiao Mao grinned too. The two of them burst into forced laughter, trying to drown out the fear gnawing at their insides.

"Laugh all you want, you bastards! Get the hell out here!"Suddenly, the laughter of the two men was interrupted by Du Cong in the courtyard.

They quickly hid behind the door and peered outside. Du Cong had already returned from the police station, now gripping a long metal pipe as he stood in the middle of the yard, hurling curses.

Exchanging a glance, they knew they absolutely couldn’t let Du Cong inside at this moment. So Gang Ge suddenly adopted an overly polite tone and shouted outside, "What do you want this time? If you have any demands, I suggest you take legal action."

"Legal action my ass! Get the hell out here!" Du Cong charged forward and began banging on the door with the pipe.

In the past, Gang Ge would have rushed out to fight him, but now the door absolutely could not be opened. Gang Ge and Xiao Mao huddled by the entrance, trembling in fear, unsure what to do.

After a round of shouting and cursing, Du Cong started kicking the door. The lock was already old, and after two or three kicks, the screws loosened. Panicking, the two behind the door quickly dragged an old sofa to block it, then moved a workbench over as well, jamming an iron rod into the door’s latch for extra reinforcement. They hurriedly lifted the corpse from the floor and carried it to the back room.

Du Cong soon broke the lock, but the door still wouldn’t budge. Peering through the crack, he saw a pile of objects barricading it from inside. Furious, he kicked it a few more times before turning around—only to notice the rear door of the black SUV outside was open. He pulled it open and spotted a suitcase and a car key tossed on the seat. Snatching the key, he climbed into the driver’s seat and started the engine.

Hearing the car roar to life, Gang Ge and Xiao Mao rushed to the door to look outside. They saw Du Cong driving off and instantly remembered the suitcase was still in the vehicle. Desperate, they yelled, "What the hell are you doing?" Du Cong rolled down the window and shouted back, "If you won’t pay up, I’m taking the car! Get 300,000 ready if you want it back!" With that, he floored the accelerator and sped out of the courtyard.