“I’m saying Zhou Zhe is a traitor.”
Su Ran’s voice was soft, yet it struck the deathly silence like an ice-tempered chisel.
The last trace of color drained from Fu Yechuan’s face.
He didn’t even refute her immediately. His pupils merely trembled ever so slightly, the subtle malfunction of a precision instrument receiving an impossible command.
“Impossible.”
The two words were squeezed out through clenched teeth, dry and rigid.
“Ah Zhe has been with me for five years.”
He added the explanation as though trying to convince Su Ran, but even more so himself.
“He was there when I had nothing.”
Su Ran understood.
Trust was the only piece of driftwood a person could cling to in the depths of despair, and now she was trying to take even that away.
It was cruel. But she didn’t have time to soothe his emotions.
“I don’t have proof.”
Su Ran met his bloodshot eyes directly. Rage at being challenged churned within them, along with a trace of fear he hadn’t even recognized in himself.
“All I can do is remind you that from the moment I tore up that check until now, every word we’ve said about Qiming Technology and about your comeback plan…”
She paused, giving the chill enough time to seep into his bones.
“…has very likely already been delivered, word for word, onto Bai Weiwei’s desk.”
Fu Yechuan’s breathing halted.
He wasn’t a fool. Su Ran had accurately predicted the Bai family’s bad check trap.
If so, her accusation against Zhou Zhe could not be baseless.
And if Qiming Technology, his only remaining hope of making a comeback, had already been leaked…
The string of reason in his mind let out a strained hum under unbearable pressure.
He suddenly looked up and locked onto Su Ran.
The gaze was no longer one of scrutiny. It was a dissection.
Like a surgeon peeling back layers of flesh with a scalpel, determined to uncover what lay hidden at the deepest core.
“Go to the pawnshop first.”
Fu Yechuan suddenly spoke. Every trace of emotion had been stripped from his voice, leaving behind only cold, metallic hardness.
“The moment you get the money, contact me.”
Su Ran looked at him without moving.
“What about you?”
“I’m going to verify something.”
Fu Yechuan picked up the wrinkled coat hanging over the back of the chair. A flash of ruthless ferocity crossed his eyes.
In that instant, Su Ran clearly saw it.
The soul hidden inside that defeated shell.
The later Fu Yechuan from the novel, decisive, ruthless, and merciless, had opened his eyes.
He hadn’t been crushed. He had simply been sharpening his blade.
For the first time, Su Ran felt completely at ease.
Fu Yechuan paused and glanced sideways at her.
“I’m going with you to the pawnshop.”
He changed his mind. “Zhou Zhe’s matter is more important than the pawnshop.”
Su Ran’s reasoning was crystal clear.
“But if Zhou Zhe really is the traitor, then the Bai family’s next move will be to completely cut off every source of funding I have left. We have to secure that one hundred eighty thousand immediately.”
Fu Yechuan continued.
“We’re partners now. Splitting up only gives the enemy a chance to defeat us one by one.”
Fu Yechuan stared at her without speaking.
The air tightened. A few seconds later, he tossed out a single sentence.
“Keep up.”
…
Half an hour later.
West City.
Jinbao Pawnshop:
When Fu Yechuan pushed open the door, the worn wooden panels let out a creaking groan.
The shop was dimly lit. A bald man with a fleshy face sat with one leg crossed over the other, picking his teeth. His eyes lit up the moment he saw Su Ran enter.
But when he noticed Fu Yechuan following behind her in a black trench coat, expressionless and imposing, the lewd glint immediately disappeared.
“Well, well. If it isn’t Young Master Fu.”
Brother Bao’s tone carried a trace of mocking sarcasm.
“What wind blew you here today?”
Fu Yechuan ignored him completely.
He pulled out a chair and sat down in a shadowy corner, like a silent statue.
He was handing the stage to Su Ran. It was both tacit understanding and a test.
Su Ran walked to the counter and slapped the pawn ticket onto it.
“I’m here to redeem something.”
Brother Bao picked up the ticket and grinned.
“‘Heart of the Ocean,’ right? I remember it. Want it back? Sure. Two hundred thousand.”
Su Ran smiled. “Brother Bao, the ticket clearly states that the loan amount was one hundred thousand. Redemption within three days requires ten percent interest. Today is only the second day. I’ll pay you one hundred ten thousand.”
“Pretty girl, you must be new around here.”
Brother Bao stood up and leaned forward against the counter. The stench of cheap tobacco hit her face.
“The rules at Jinbao Pawnshop are my rules. If I say two hundred thousand, then it’s two hundred thousand.”
He took out the velvet jewelry box and tossed it casually in his hand.
“Or if you don’t have the money…”
His gaze turned vulgar.
“You could have a few drinks with your big brother here. Maybe then…”
He never finished the sentence. Because Fu Yechuan moved.
He merely shifted his sitting posture and crossed his legs, but even that slight motion carried invisible pressure that made Brother Bao’s voice die in his throat.
“Brother Bao.”
Su Ran’s voice rang out at exactly the right moment, cool and pleasant.
“You’ve been pretty strapped for cash lately, haven’t you?”
Brother Bao’s smile froze. “The Longxing Society in South City.”
Su Ran spoke slowly, each word striking his heart.
“You’re familiar with them, aren’t you?”
“I heard you owe three million yuan at one of their gambling dens. Interest keeps piling up. If you can’t pay by next Monday, Boss Wang plans to take one of your legs.”
Brother Bao’s face instantly turned deathly pale.
This matter was the executioner’s blade hanging over his head.
“Who… who the hell are you?”
He stared at Su Ran as though he had seen a ghost.
“Who I am isn’t important.”
Su Ran’s presence completely overwhelmed him.
“What’s important is that this necklace is worth one million two hundred thousand on the market.”
“You wanted to swallow it for one hundred thousand, and now you’re trying to jack up the price. Tell me, Brother Bao, if Boss Wang from the Longxing Society finds out about this, what do you think he’ll think?”
Her eyes sharpened.
“That you’re refusing to repay a debt despite having money?”
The final words struck his heart like a sledgehammer.
Was he afraid of the Fu family?
The Fu family had already fallen. He wasn’t afraid.
But he was terrified of the Longxing Society.
If those desperate criminals learned he was sitting on a million-yuan necklace while dodging gambling debts, he wouldn’t survive until next Monday.
“Don’t! Don’t say it!”
Brother Bao completely panicked. Sweat poured down his forehead.
“We can talk this through!”
“One hundred ten thousand. Give me back the necklace.”
His face shifted between green and white.
Grinding his teeth, he counted out one hundred ten thousand yuan from a drawer and reluctantly pushed the jewelry box across the counter.
Su Ran reached out to take it.
“Hold it!”
A vicious glint flashed in Brother Bao’s eyes.
He shot a signal toward several street thugs playing cards nearby.
“Leave the money, leave the necklace too. Today I’ll teach you what the real rules are!”
His true intentions were finally exposed.
The thugs rushed over with loud shouts.
Su Ran’s heart tightened and she took half a step back, yet her expression remained perfectly calm.
Because in the shadows behind her, the statue had risen.
Fu Yechuan stepped out one pace at a time.
He didn’t even glance at the thugs.
His gaze remained fixed on Brother Bao’s pale face.
Bang!
The nearest thug had barely reached him when Fu Yechuan drove a kick straight into his stomach.
The man folded like a shrimp and flew backward, crashing into tables and chairs.
A scream tore through the air.
Fu Yechuan never paused.
He sidestepped a swinging fist and drove his elbow upward like lightning into the attacker’s jaw.
Crack!
The sound of bone dislocating rang out clearly.
In less than thirty seconds, all four thugs were on the ground, writhing and wailing in pain.
The entire pawnshop fell silent. Brother Bao was terrified out of his mind.
He collapsed onto the floor, his pants already soaked.
Fu Yechuan walked over and looked down at him from above, as though staring at an insect he could crush at any moment.
Bending down, he picked up the jewelry box and the one hundred ten thousand yuan from the floor and handed them to Su Ran.
Then he lifted his foot and stepped directly onto Brother Bao’s outstretched right hand.
“AAAAH!”
The sharp crack of breaking bones and the man’s agonized scream exploded through the pawnshop at the same time.
“My rule is this.”
Fu Yechuan spoke slowly.
His voice was utterly calm, devoid of even the slightest ripple of emotion, yet it was more terrifying than the screams.
“If someone touches my people, they should be prepared to be crippled.”
Only after saying that did he turn around and look at Su Ran.
The hem of his trench coat carved a cold arc through the air.
Su Ran stared at him. At the tiny speck of blood splashed onto his face.
At those eyes, calm and deep as a bottomless abyss.
Only now did she truly understand.
The man she had partnered with was not some fallen young master.
He was the ultimate villain from the original novel, the one who had clawed his way back from hell and ground all his enemies into dust.
Fu Yechuan stopped in front of her.
His deep gaze settled on her face, as if checking whether she had been frightened.
They held each other’s eyes for several seconds.
Then he suddenly spoke.
His voice was low, carrying a trace of hoarseness that was difficult to detect.
“Are you scared?”