He opened the chat with Assistant Lin, transcribed Si Yin’s plan, and hit send.
Assistant Lin 1: Received. L: If anyone doesn’t cooperate, replace them.
Over the next week, the thugs Lin Wan had hired discovered exactly who Si Yin was. Panicked, they took their deposit and prepared to flee the country. However, Lu Zhou’s men intercepted them immediately and handed them over to the authorities. With multiple charges piled against them, they wouldn’t be seeing the light of day for the rest of their lives. How dare they target the boss’s lady? They must have a death wish.
Assistant Lin then recruited a new group to approach Lin Wan. These actors were far more “reliable” than the ones Bai Lu had found. They quickly provoked conflicts with Lin Wan, using every excuse to extort money from her. Since Lu Zhou had told them they could keep whatever they squeezed out of her, they were voracious.
They soon drained the remaining 500,000 yuan Lin Wan had in her possession. When she tried to stop paying, they didn’t make it easy. If you don’t have cash, there are always high-interest loans, they suggested.
Lin Wan fell into a cycle of debt. She tried her old trick of asking Bai Lu for money, but she couldn’t reach her. Following her recent breakdown, Bai Lu’s parents—who had other children to carry on the family legacy—had shipped her off to a psychiatric hospital abroad. Lu Zhou had obtained her phone from her parents, and Si Yin, feeling playful, took over the task of chatting with Lin Wan.
Bai Lu: “Surprise! Now that I’m abroad, I’m a whole new woman.” She sent a flurry of travel photos.
After sending the message, Si Yin watched the “typing…” status flicker on the screen. She tossed the phone aside, hugged Lu Zhou’s arm, and asked curiously, “How do we get her to go abroad willingly?”
Si Yin had thought her plan was foolproof, but with so many hiccups, she was starting to doubt that Lin Wan would leave just for money. Lu Zhou, however, remained certain. “She will definitely go.”
“How are you so sure?”
“I don’t have to do much. Seeing Bai Lu living such a perfect life while her own is in shambles will drive her mad. She knows those thugs will ruin her if she stays, so she has to pay. But she won’t go alone.”
Following Lu Zhou’s patient analysis, Si Yin spent the following days sharing snippets of a glamorous “overseas life” with Lin Wan. As summer break arrived, the two of them officially headed abroad for a vacation.
Lin Wan couldn’t believe Bai Lu was thriving while she felt like a clown. “Why do you get to live like this?!” Seeing another photo of a sunny beach sent by “Bai Lu,” Lin Wan flew into a jealous rage, smashing things in her dorm. Her phone remained intact only because she couldn’t afford a new one.
When the thugs demanded money again, Lin Wan demanded 10 million yuan from Bai Lu. Si Yin was too busy enjoying her vacation to care, so the phone ended up back in Lu Zhou’s hands.
Seeing the 10-million-yuan demand, Lu Zhou typed: “Fine. Meet me and I’ll give it to you.”
Lin Wan’s hands trembled with excitement. Is she really giving me ten million? She hadn’t realized Bai Lu’s family was that wealthy.
Bai Lu: “You said this is the last time, right?” Lin Wan: “Yes. Once the money hits my account, I’ll never contact you again.” Bai Lu: “Fine.”
Lin Wan looked at the address sent over and felt like she’d been hit with a bucket of cold water. Lin Wan: “You come back to the country to give me the money, or I’m leaking the video right now.” Bai Lu: “Go ahead and try.”
For the next few days, both sides went silent. Lin Wan eventually came up with a plan to have the thugs go abroad with her to collect the cash. Following Lu Zhou’s instructions, the thugs played hard to get: “How do we know you’re not lying? What if you sell us out once we’re overseas?”
After days of “negotiation,” the thugs refused to budge—if Lin Wan didn’t go with them, they weren’t going. To close the net, Lu Zhou sent a video of someone withdrawing cash, clearly showing a bank balance with more zeros than Lin Wan could count.
“Units, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousand, hundred thousand, million, ten million, hundred million…” Lin Wan murmured. She couldn’t stand the life of poverty anymore. She boarded a plane with the thugs.
The moment she stepped off the plane, she was intercepted. A group of men in black suits surrounded her. “Where’s Bai Lu? Tell her to come face me!” Lin Wan screamed, already preparing to pin everything on the thugs.
Just then, Si Yin and Lu Zhou walked out. When the thugs saw Assistant Lin, they trotted over like obedient puppies. “Boss, can we go back home now?” Assistant Lin led them away.
Seeing Lu Zhou and Si Yin walking hand-in-hand while her “accomplices” left peacefully, the realization hit Lin Wan like a ton of bricks. They had known all along. Her plan hadn’t been successful because of her cleverness; it was because Lu Zhou and Si Yin hadn’t finished their game yet. She had planned for so long, thinking she could finally watch Si Yin fall, only to end up with nothing.
Instead of feeling guilty, she felt wronged. “Si Yin!! You played me! You white lotus, you green-tea bitch! It’s all your fault! Why didn’t you help me… Lu Zhou, do you have any idea she approached you on purpose? She kept every other woman away from you…”
Si Yin glanced at Lu Zhou to gauge his reaction, meeting his inquisitive gaze. She had never mentioned her family situation to him, and she felt a pang of guilt. She didn’t know where to start.
“If what she said is true, will you forgive me?”
Lu Zhou didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He pulled her into his arms, knowing Lin Wan was just trying to drive a wedge between them. “Other than this, is there anything else you’re hiding?”
Nearby, Lin Wan’s breathing hitched, her eyes gleaming with the hope that they would fight and break up. When Lu Zhou sees her true face, maybe he’ll thank me. I can slide in and comfort him while he’s heartbroken…
Si Yin was surprised. Was he not angry, or had he already forgiven her? “What if… there is more?” she tested.
Lu Zhou wondered if his baby was keeping secrets. Another man? No, they were together 24/7; she didn’t have the time. He suddenly picked her up and nipped the tip of her snowy-white nose.
“Mmm…”
Si Yin wrapped her arms around his neck as he spoke. “As long as you aren’t cheating and there are no other ‘wild men,’ I can forgive anything.”
“You cling to me every day; when would I have time for other men?”
“Oh? So you do want to find one!”
Lin Wan’s words hadn’t created a rift; instead, she was forced to watch them act even more lovey-dovey. She was so angry she nearly coughed up blood. “I hope you both die! You disgusting couple!…”
Realizing she couldn’t escape, she began a foul-mouthed tirade. Before she could finish, a stinky sock was stuffed into her mouth. She blacked out shortly after—whether from the stench or pure rage, it was hard to tell.
Watching the commotion, Si Yin leaned toward Lu Zhou. “Where are you sending her?”
Lu Zhou had already made the arrangements. Lin Wan was taken away to a secret clinic to act as a test subject for new medications. By the time she was released, she had lost her sight. In a foreign land where she knew no one, she wandered the streets for a while trying to find work, but met only rejection. Unwilling to live a life of destitute struggle, she eventually ended up as a streetwalker.