“Who?”
Zhou Yannan took the cigarette Zong Lei handed him and lit it slowly.
A faint smile appeared in Zong Lei’s eyes as he leaned closer and lowered his voice.
“Qiao Chu.”
Hong Kong had not been peaceful recently. Just after he got off the plane, as his car entered the main road, he witnessed a robbery with his own eyes.
The woman who got robbed looked increasingly familiar. When the car brushed past her, he finally realized it was Qiao Chu.
Thinking of the Zhou family’s connection, he did a good deed and played the hero to save the beauty.
However, he did not personally intervene—he sent his bodyguards to retrieve her bag. Her phone, though, had been lost.
Still, there was cash in her bag, so she would not end up on the streets tonight.
After hearing this, Zhou Yannan lowered his gaze to the wedding ring on his finger and showed no reaction.
“Let her be.”
“You don’t resent her?” Zong Lei had been ready to enjoy some drama. “She ran away from the wedding and made a fool of you. If you want to deal with her, now is the perfect chance.”
“I’m not that petty.”
The man in the main seat smiled faintly and flicked off ash from his cigarette. “She’s my aunt now. Why would I deal with her?”
“Aunt?”
A hint of surprise flashed across Zong Lei’s face before he quickly returned to his gentle expression. “Looks like you’re getting along quite well with her niece.”
Zhou Yannan did not deny it.
From their first meeting to the wedding ceremony, he and Qiao Shuran had only met twice.
Yet he did not regret marrying her at all.
In fact, he even faintly looked forward to their married life.
Zong Lei, however, felt that he was increasingly unable to understand him.
The famously ruthless “living Yama King” of their circle had suddenly learned mercy—this was not his style.
Based on his usual temperament, making Qiao Chu suffer beyond endurance would have been entirely possible.
But since the parties involved did not care, he had nothing more to say.
The two men sat smoking in silence.
The first to break the quiet was Zong Lei’s phone.
He glanced at it and smiled. “My girlfriend. I’ll go take this outside.”
Zhou Yannan lifted his eyelids slightly, displeased. “It’s the middle of the night. Don’t they sleep?”
“No choice,” Zong Lei said with a hint of pride. “We’ve been together for years. Every time I go on a trip, she can’t sleep at night.”
Without waiting for a response, he added, “I’m off—need to coax her.”
The room immediately became empty.
Almost unconsciously, Zhou Yannan took out his own phone and idly played with it between his fingers.
But the screen was quiet—no calls, no messages.
Still, that was fine. He disliked being chased and questioned.
If she really called him, he would only find it annoying.
He put the phone back into his pocket and looked up, noticing Zhou Bingchen still waiting outside.
Snuffing out his cigarette, he called him in.
“Fourth Uncle.”
The young man was at the age of pride and ambition. Having failed this assignment, he was inevitably filled with guilt.
“Fourth Uncle, I take full responsibility for this mistake. Punish me however you see fit—I accept it.”
“Punishment is inevitable.”
Zhou Yannan glanced at him coldly.
“This was a joint operation with multiple parties watching. If I don’t punish you, I won’t be able to convince others.”
“Yes.” Zhou Bingchen stood properly, waiting for judgment.
Zhou Yannan lit another cigarette, his tone indifferent.
“I’ll have someone take over your responsibilities here. You go back to Hancheng for now.”
“Fourth Uncle…”
Zhou Bingchen’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You don’t trust me?”
“I never said I didn’t trust you. But the Zhou family has been in export trade for decades and has never suffered a loss like this.”
He lifted his eyes, cold and sharp. “No one doubts your ability. Your only weakness is that you’re too soft-hearted.”
“Fourth Uncle…”
“Are you still not telling me the truth?”
Zhou Yannan suddenly raised his voice. A teacup was thrown and smashed at Zhou Bingchen’s feet.
Several Southeast Asian countries had always been chaotic, but their medicine shipments had long-established exclusive routes.
This shipment was robbed immediately after crossing the border—there was a high chance of internal betrayal.
So on the way here, he had already sent people to investigate.
As expected, several new people had recently been inserted into Zhou Bingchen’s team.
And those people were all direct relatives from his maternal uncle’s family.
Not to mention—his uncle Song Haibo was a well-known gambling addict…
“Fourth Uncle, my uncle was momentarily confused. He’s heavily in debt in Macau and had no choice but to do this.”
Zhou Bingchen stepped forward and knelt beside him.
“Fourth Uncle, I will retrieve the shipment. I promise I will.”
“Enough. Tell your uncle to come see me tomorrow.”
Zhou Yannan stood up and grabbed Zhou Bingchen’s chin, forcing him to look up.
“Young man, a man’s knees have gold beneath them. Don’t kneel so easily.”
Before dawn, Qiao Shuran was sleeping soundly under her blanket when she was suddenly awakened by a ringing phone.
Half-asleep, she grabbed her phone and answered.
“Hello?”
“Shuran! You have to save Aunt! I’ve been kidnapped by Zhou Yannan’s people!”
Qiao Chu’s miserable scream nearly pierced her eardrums through the phone.
Qiao Shuran jolted awake instantly. “Aunt, where are you right now?”
“I’m in Hong Kong.”
“Zhou Yannan also went to Hong Kong last night, but he wouldn’t—”
“How wouldn’t he?!” Qiao Chu cut her off angrily. “Last night my bag got robbed, my phone was gone. Then it started pouring rain, so I hid in a bar. Next thing I know, his people found me and locked me in this broken room!”
“A broken room…”
Qiao Shuran forced herself to stay calm and think.
With someone like Zhou Yannan, if he wanted to deal with someone, a single sentence would be enough. There was no need for him to personally go all the way there.
“Aunt, there must be a misunderstanding.”
“What misunderstanding?! The one who kidnapped me was that guy with the ponytail by his side—Liu Yunting or whatever. He said he’s acting on Zhou Yannan’s orders!”
“I know him,” Qiao Shuran said quickly. She remembered him from the wedding—he had been drunk and even praised her looks shamelessly.
“Aunt, don’t panic. I’ll call Zhou Yannan right now and have him release you.”
“Will he even listen to you?” Qiao Chu sounded uncertain. “I can’t hold out much longer. That ponytail guy went off to have fun and said he’ll come back at dawn.”
“I’ll try. He can’t possibly offend the entire Qiao family just to vent personal anger.”
Just as she was about to hang up, she suddenly remembered something.
“Aunt, your phone was lost. Whose phone are you using now?”
“One of that ponytail guy’s subordinates. He’s watching me.”
Qiao Chu’s voice sounded desperate. “I gave him my watch before he agreed to let me make one call.”
“My watch? That’s the one I gave you—it’s worth several million!”
“Who cares about a watch or my life?! Which one is more important?! You don’t even know how to prioritize!”
“Alright, alright, I’ll call Zhou Yannan now. Wait for me!”