Chapter Eight: I Will Avenge Xiaoqiang

Han Ning felt her heart clench violently. She did indeed hate Lin Wenjie to the core—not out of fear of him, but because she dreaded the old patriarch of the Lin family. Although the Lins bore a different surname than the Hans, even her own great-uncle would show that old man respect. Now that Yang Jiekai had twisted Lin Wenjie’s leg until it broke, the situation had grown far more serious.

“Tell me, what about my Little Strong? Are you going to pay up or not? Believe it or not, I’ll snap your other leg too!” Yang Jiekai was relentless, still harping desperately on the fate of his goldfish, “Little Strong.”

Lin Wenjie was sweating cold from the pain. He had never experienced anything like this before; he was always the one breaking others’ legs, never the victim. Only now did he learn the true, unspeakable agony. But greater than the pain was a deep and mounting terror, for Yang Jiekai had already grabbed hold of his other leg.

“No!” Han Ning and Lin Wenjie shouted in unison. Only then did Yang Jiekai seem content to release his grip, though he continued to fixate on his goldfish. “So, what’s your plan for Little Strong?”

“I’ll pay, I’ll pay…” Lin Wenjie was utterly terrified.

“Alright, then this house and all the cars in the garage will be collateral. When you bring me two hundred million, you can take them back,” Yang Jiekai declared.

Two hundred million?

Lin Wenjie’s eyelids twitched madly. Hadn’t they said twenty million just now…?

“It seems you’re unwilling. Fine, I’ll break your other leg and call it even.” As Yang Jiekai reached for him again, Lin Wenjie, panic-stricken, cried, “No, I’m willing! I’ll do it!”

Only then did Yang Jiekai stand up in satisfaction and turn to Wang Ma, who stood by, petrified. “Wang Ma, go fetch me some paper and a pen.”

Though Wang Ma had just been badly beaten, she could still stand. She didn’t understand why Yang Jiekai suddenly wanted paper and a pen, but she quickly brought them.

Yang Jiekai scribbled a few lines in a bold hand and had Lin Wenjie sign and stamp it.

When Lin Wenjie read the note, he nearly burst into tears. The debt had grown from twenty million to two hundred million, and now, on the IOU, it had ballooned to two billion.

“Are you going to sign or not?” Seeing Lin Wenjie hesitate, Yang Jiekai said seriously, “If you don’t, I’ll keep seeking revenge for Little Strong!”

“Don’t…” Lin Wenjie stammered, shuddering. “I’ll sign, I’ll sign…”

Having just had his leg broken, Lin Wenjie would have signed for twenty billion, or even two hundred billion.

Once everything was done, Yang Jiekai ordered the few men who could still walk to hurry and get Lin Wenjie out. With fear gripping their hearts, they supported Lin Wenjie as they fled in panic.

“Here, take this!” Yang Jiekai stuffed the IOU for two billion into Han Ning’s stunned hands, yawned, and said, “I’m going to sleep. If that guy ever comes back to repossess the house, just tell him to pay up.”

With that, he yawned his way into his room, collapsed without even showering, and fell fast asleep. After a night spent weathering lightning, Yang Jiekai was exhausted, and the events just now hardly seemed worth a second thought to him.

Han Ning stared at the enormous IOU in her hand and the chaos around her. She didn’t know what to feel. Was the man who had just come to her rescue really the same one who had robbed her of five million last night?

She glanced at the IOU and secretly let out a breath of relief. Although there was no way such a massive debt note would hold up legally, as long as she had this in hand, no one would dare to reclaim the house or the cars in the garage for now, and she wouldn’t have to move.

“Wang Ma, are you alright? Do you need to go to the hospital?” Han Ning took a deep breath and looked at the bruised, battered Wang Ma with concern. Wang Ma waved her off, insisting the injuries were minor, and, after a little self-care, began tidying up the house.

“I never thought our son-in-law would turn out to be such a forceful man!” Wang Ma exclaimed as she cleaned, her heart echoing Han Ning’s doubts—could this really be the same menacing man who’d robbed her mistress last night?

After staring at the IOU for a while, Han Ning found her hatred for Yang Jiekai had ebbed a little, but she felt no gratitude or warmth. She remained convinced that scoundrel was no good and mentally kept him on her list of people to watch out for.

The rest of the day passed peacefully, without incident.

Yang Jiekai slept the entire day. When he finally woke, it was already dark, and he was ravenous. Sticky and uncomfortable, he grabbed some clean clothes and headed for the bathroom.

After a long, hot shower and humming a tune, he felt thoroughly refreshed. Having slept the day away, he wasn’t the least bit tired now and decided, since he had nothing better to do, to find something to occupy himself.

He tiptoed up to the third floor and knocked gently on Han Ning’s door.

Han Ning, who was reading over some documents, thought it was Wang Ma and got up to answer. The moment she opened the door, her pupils contracted sharply. “What do you want now!”

Seeing Yang Jiekai standing bare-chested, Han Ning worried he was here to rob her again.

Yang Jiekai hurried to explain, “Relax, I’m not here to rob you. I just want to borrow a laptop—if it’s not too much trouble…”

“No!” Han Ning refused crisply and moved to shut the door.

“I can already see it!” Yang Jiekai blocked the door with his hand, grinning at the open laptop on Han Ning’s desk. “It’s late, you should get some sleep. Let me use your computer tonight.”

He ignored her protests and strode in to grab the laptop.

“Stop!” Han Ning trembled with rage. He had the nerve to say he wasn’t robbing her—last time it was money, now it was her laptop.

“Don’t be stingy. It’s just for one night, I’ll return it.”

Perhaps Han Ning was imagining things, but the phrase “just for one night” made her blush furiously. In a fit of embarrassment and anger, she pulled a brand-new laptop from the drawer and thrust it at him. “Just leave, now!”

“Heh, the latest model!” Yang Jiekai beamed as he took the laptop and headed out. After a few steps, he suddenly remembered something and spun around.

Unfortunately, Han Ning, who was following him to shut the door, collided with him—her face meeting his mouth squarely.

“You… You scoundrel!” Han Ning’s face flushed red with anger. Yang Jiekai, rubbing his lips, replied innocently, “Sorry, I didn’t mean it. Actually, I just wanted to ask for your Wi-Fi password…”

“Get out! Get out now!”

At that moment, Han Ning could have torn Yang Jiekai to pieces. Her face burned with shame and fury as she shoved him out and slammed the door.

Yang Jiekai, looking innocent, could only shrug helplessly—and ran right into Wang Ma, who had rushed over after hearing the commotion, brandishing a broom as if ready to fight.

“Don’t worry, Wang Ma. I only came to borrow a computer.”

He waved the laptop in his hand and returned to his room as if nothing had happened.

Once inside, he cracked the Wi-Fi password with ease, quickly typed in a complicated web address, and a blood-red page popped up with a single word: KILLER.

“Damn, after all this time, the prices have gone up so much!” Yang Jiekai clicked on the rankings and gaped at the numbers.

He used to frequent this website back when he was a mercenary. It listed targets by price, and anyone who completed a hit would get the posted reward. The killers with the most completed missions made the leaderboard. Yang Jiekai looked at the familiar names and couldn’t help but laugh wryly—most of them were people he used to know, small fry who wouldn’t have been fit to carry his shoes, now all strutting about with impressive reputations.

Yang Jiekai reminded himself to stay calm, swallowing hard as he reluctantly closed the site.

After returning to the country, he had sworn never to step foot in the mercenary or assassin world again, even if it meant death. No matter how enticing the sums on that site, he could only look and not touch.

He forced himself to resist temptation and instead opened the national police’s public database of wanted criminals.

This database was open to everyone, listing profiles of fugitives with posted rewards. The figures were nothing compared to the assassin site, but Yang Jiekai had been living off these bounties since his return, making a living as a bounty hunter for the state.

The database was vast, but he’d already memorized most of it. There are fugitives everywhere in society—anyone passing you on the street could be one. To make a living as a bounty hunter, you need a massive mental database; fugitives don’t walk around with labels on their foreheads.

Yang Jiekai spent half the night memorizing hundreds more mugshots, then stretched and crawled into bed.

At dawn, he was up and about, riding buses aimlessly around the city, with no fixed target. Such was the life of a bounty hunter—so much depended on luck. If a fugitive didn’t show, no amount of skill would help.

Luck seemed to be on his side today. He hadn’t gone far when he saw a man hurrying past with a black briefcase.

Yang Jiekai’s memory was extraordinary. The moment the man brushed past him, a face from the database surfaced in his mind.

Zhao Gang, male, wanted for causing grievous bodily harm some years ago, still at large. Reward: ten thousand for useful information, twenty thousand for direct capture…

Yang Jiekai touched his forehead and thought to himself: Even a mosquito is still meat.

With that, he turned and began to tail the man discreetly.