Money.
Just the thought of it made Fang Ming break out in a cold sweat.
A shiver ran down his spine.
Then, he thought of his bank card.
Tang Ran had his card, his ID, his phone… Did that mean she also had his PIN?
Would she take the money from his account?
Fang Ming was terrified!
The first thing he should probably do now was report the card lost.
But to report it, he’d need ID, right?
He didn’t have the card, didn’t remember the card number, didn’t have his ID, didn’t even have his phone. He wasn’t even sure where his student ID was.
How could he prove who he was?
How could he report the loss?
He couldn’t even check if his account had already been emptied!
So, he should go to the police!
But he couldn’t.
Dead end.
Fang Ming curled up in the back seat of the car, trembling in pain and despair…
All he could do was pray that Tang Ran would show him some mercy—that she was just venting her anger, not truly bent on revenge.
That desperate self-comfort, knowing full well that a series of terrifying consequences might be closing in on him while being utterly powerless to stop them, tormented him like a thousand claws scratching at his heart. He was on edge, restless, and consumed by unbearable anxiety.
In stark contrast, Tao Ran had just finished her morning tea and was now at the airport’s duty-free shop, picking up the items she had purchased the day before.
Her luggage was admittedly a bit heavier now, but her mood couldn’t have been better. This story is hosted at g.com.
Fang Ming’s laptop and phone were now in her possession. Once she returned home, she planned to have someone crack the encrypted folders on his computer, recover the deleted data from his phone, back everything up—and then sell them off. They were the latest models, easily worth ten thousand yuan in total.
As for his bank card, she had already cut it into pieces and tossed them into an airport restroom trash bin. His passport and visa had also been flushed down a toilet, now on their way to the Pacific Ocean… No special reason—just to annoy him, to make his life harder.
Poor man. Without those documents, he was going to have a miserable time. He’d have to run around to get new proofs, beg people for help, and wait endlessly for results. Until he managed to replace all his documents, he could forget about returning home.
Tao Ran had also visited the city’s largest secondhand market.
There, she bought a camera and other essentials while selling off everything in the apartment that could fetch money—Fang Ming’s desktop computer, his sound system, his mountain bike, even the new furniture they’d bought just last year.
The day before yesterday, Sunday, the landlady had gone to church and then to her daughter’s house for lunch. Tao Ran took advantage of her absence to call a secondhand furniture company for an at-home pickup—and made another tidy profit.
She wasn’t planning to leave Fang Ming a single thing.
Even his secret stash of cash had been found and sold off.
As for his clothes and shoes—some were donated, some given away.
The homeless people downstairs got quite a few items from her too. That’s how she became acquainted with them. Since there was profit involved, they were happy to help her get rid of the things she couldn’t sell.
When they asked why she was doing all this, Tao Ran frowned and made up a story about an abusive, cheating husband.
The homeless men were furious on her behalf. They immediately promised that, if they ever got the chance, they’d “teach that beast in human skin” a good lesson.
To make sure they could recognize him, Tao Ran even left a photo of her and Fang Ming in one of the boxes she gave away. She knew that if Fang Ming ever showed up in that area again, it was only a matter of time before he got beaten up—if not today, then tomorrow or the day after.
So far, her plan had gone perfectly.
She had exploited every one of that scumbag’s weaknesses, playing him like a puppet.
And right now, she wasn’t even the one he hated most.
At this moment, the person that bastard Fang Ming loathed most had to be Xiao Ai.
Logically speaking, Xiao Ai was the one to blame for his sudden downfall—the one who had “betrayed” him without reason.
And with Liu Jie’s so-called “truthful confession,” Fang Ming would be absolutely convinced that Xiao Ai was the true mastermind behind all his misfortune.
Once that seed of distrust was planted, their once “loving” relationship would only end in mutual destruction. “Love stronger than gold”? What a joke—it had never existed between them.
Tao Ran could already picture what came next: Xiao Ai feeling wronged, Fang Ming being ruthless, their relationship shattering. Then Xiao Ai would demand her money back, and Fang Ming, convinced she was to blame for everything, would refuse. The two would turn against each other completely.
How amusing.
Well, they’d see.
For now, Tao Ran was waiting at the airport.
There was still one last act in her revenge play.
Yesterday morning, she had already come here—partly to avoid the landlady, partly to scout the area.
She had checked the layout of the terminal and found a perfect spot from which she could observe both the security checkpoint and the arrival and departure gates.
Yesterday, she had even bought a pair of binoculars—using Fang Ming’s credit card, of course—to make her “observation” easier.
Now, as boarding time drew near, she finally spotted a familiar figure rushing out of a taxi in the drop-off zone.
Perfect.
Tao Ran took out Fang Ming’s phone and made a call.
“Hello, I’d like to report something. At the security checkpoint, there’s a man wearing a dark blue jacket, black pants, gold-rimmed glasses, around 175 cm tall. He has black hair and eyes, looks disheveled, smells strange, and keeps looking around nervously.
I think he might be carrying something illegal. When I passed by, I heard him mention the word ‘deal.’ He seems dangerous. He even bumped into an elderly man and a child—he looks violent. You should check him carefully.”
Yes, Tao Ran was calling airport security.
She had written down their number during her “scouting trip” yesterday.
Three minutes later, a commotion broke out near the security checkpoint. Tao Ran turned off the phone, tossed out Fang Ming’s SIM card, watched the chaos for a moment, then headed to board her flight.
In a crowd of Western travelers, a black-haired, dark-eyed Asian man already stood out.
And Fang Ming, in his current disheveled state, looked even more suspicious. With the detailed description Tao Ran had provided, the officers at the checkpoint identified him within thirty seconds.
He really did look suspicious.
He was glancing around nervously, acting furtive—clearly up to something.
His clothes were filthy, stained with dirt, his hair messy beyond belief. He looked every bit the image of a vagrant.
His face was bruised, a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth, scratches on his hands—like someone who’d just been in a fight.
He was gritting his teeth, twitching with rage, his expression full of hatred—exactly like a criminal.
He shoved and bumped into several people, seemingly searching for someone—just as the tip-off had described. Was he looking for a “contact”?
His disoriented state, wild eyes, and jittery movements made him look like someone who had just taken drugs.