“Stuff like flying cameras and handheld cams aren’t everyday essentials like phones. We have to drill this idea into consumers’ heads: You’re not buying a gadget. You’re buying a better version of yourself—one that’s prettier, more fun, with moments worth capturing. Nobody turns down paying to prove they’re leveling up.”
The other two stared at her, dumbfounded. Li Li whispered in awe, “Someone got the CEO’s number? Call him now.”
Jiang Zao froze for a second, blinking.
“If we had it, would we be sitting here spitballing?” Kexin caught on and clapped enthusiastically. “No, seriously—you should pitch this straight to the CEO. At minimum, he’ll bump you up to deputy manager of planning.”
Jiang Zao burst out laughing, amused by them. “I’m just talking big. Turning it into a real plan with solid execution? That’s a whole other level.”
Kexin lavished a couple more compliments on Jiang Zao, then perked up at the mention of the CEO. “You guys hear the latest? Word is the boss is blind-dating! Someone spotted President Xie out to dinner with a gorgeous girl—there’s pics in the gossip group!”
“Didn’t think a guy that handsome would need blind dates.”
Li Li pouted. “If he’s super picky with a bad temper, of course he does. Is the intel legit? What’d she look like? Future boss’s wife a total babe?”
Jiang Zao quietly packed up her things nearby, listening without a word.
“I saw the photo—only a side profile, but damn, she’s stunning! Hotter than any influencer!” Kexin twisted around to eye the beat-up cola bucket in Li Li’s lap. “Hold up, you guys that broke? Dinner’s just cola?”
“Li Li and I can’t cook to save our lives. We always eat out,” Jiang Zao said, pushing herself up off her knees. She volunteered without hesitation. “What do you want? I’ll grab it from Snack Street downstairs.”
The two lazybones rattled off their orders right away, watching her head out with the adoring gazes reserved for a goddess, left waiting at home like hatchlings for their feed.
~~~
Qinnan’s summer had fully arrived. Even the evening breeze carried a sticky, oppressive heat.
Jiang Zao made her way toward the lively Snack Street, wiping the thin sheen of sweat from her forehead.
Back upstairs, Li Li’s offhand comment about calling the CEO had given her a real scare. For a split second, she’d worried her connection to Xie Lisheng had slipped out.
She couldn’t help picturing his face, her little aunt’s words echoing in her ears: “Bring him around to see me sometime. We’ll thank him properly together.”
She knew taking his help would tangle things up like this—hard to settle the score cleanly.
The favor he’d done her felt murky, like it could never quite be repaid.
Jiang Zao sighed and joined the line at the famous Couple’s Pounded Chicken Feet stall.
While standing in line, Jiang Zao saw Li Li send another message craving rice noodles, grilled cold noodles, fried chicken cutlets, and more. She was just about to reply when a phone call popped up—
It was a local number she didn’t recognize. Jiang Zao hesitated for a moment before answering. A hoarse voice immediately assaulted her ear—
“You still dare to block me?! Do you know how much money your mom scammed out of me?!”
She shuddered violently, every hair on her body standing on end. Steadying her voice as best she could, she stammered, “Wro… wrong number.”
“Your number was typed into my phone digit by digit by your mom back then!” The man on the other end was livid, his tone laced with threats. “That slutty mom of yours gave me all your info. She said if she couldn’t pay, come to you—you’ve got plenty of ways to get money!”
“Believe you me, hang up and I’ll show up at your door. Can’t find you? I’ll go to your little aunt’s place.”
“None of you are getting away.”
A chill swept through Jiang Zao’s body. She shouted, “She’s not my mom! Call again and I’ll go straight to the police!”
She hung up, trembling as she raised her eyes. The odd stares from the strangers around her made her heart constrict.
~~~
Jiang Zao quickly bought the snacks her friends wanted and hurried back. Her unsteady steps clashed awkwardly with the leisurely bustle of Snack Street.
She walked fast at first, then broke into a jog, her movements radiating panicked escape.
Breathing hard, Jiang Zao scanned the people brushing past her on the street, terrified that the caller might be among them.
Every couple of steps, she’d glance over her shoulder before whipping her head forward and running on—like a stray cat spooked half to death.
She made it back to the Residential Complex jittery the whole way. Just when she thought she was safe for the night, Jiang Zao froze in her tracks.
A group of burly, menacing-looking men stood under her apartment building, huddled together smoking. They were clearly lying in wait for someone.
No hard evidence, but her gut screamed that they were there for her.
That phone call must have been the “final warning.” He’d already tracked her down.
Terror seized her. Jiang Zao held her breath, reacting swiftly. She backed away quietly, feigning nonchalance as she turned and walked off.
Don’t panic. Head to a crowded spot first, then… right, the Police Station.
Clutching her bags, she bolted out of the Residential Complex.
The area bordered lively Snack Streets teeming with activity, but it was still pretty remote overall. The complex lay beyond two asphalt roads under partial repair, a sparsely populated stretch lined only with cars parked haphazardly for lack of better spots.
On the dimly lit sidewalk, she jogged alone in frantic haste.
A gust of wind rustled the nearby grove.
A tall shadow burst from the bushes, blocking Jiang Zao’s path dead ahead.
The man appeared to be in his mid-forties, burly and rough-hewn with an ordinary face, but his bulging eyes gave him a frightening look. Sweat had soaked patches of his T-shirt, and as he emerged, he was yanking up his belt—like he’d just finished relieving himself against a tree.
He fixed his gaze on Jiang Zao, clearly recognizing her face.
She realized it too and halted, not daring to take another step.
“I figured you’d run.” He didn’t carry the air of a gangster, but the rage he’d bottled up for so long burned plain in his eyes.
Ordinary folks driven to desperation could be the scariest of all. He closed in step by step and announced himself. “I’m your mom’s boyfriend.”
“I footed the bill for every damn thing she did in Chongjing—eating, drinking, shitting, pissing. She conned me, saying we could make bank messing with Hetian Jade, dragged me into it.” He jabbed a finger at her, eyes nearly popping out. “Now I’ve sold the family Hutong Supermarket! Where’s your mom?! Where the hell is she?!”
His roar sent goosebumps rippling across Jiang Zao’s skin. She stared at him, drowning in a suffocating sense of helplessness.
From childhood onward, she’d dealt with countless boyfriends of Pan Yu. Time had blurred their faces into a hazy collective, leaving behind only a generic label—and the scar that had built up layer by layer, time and again.
She clenched her fists slowly, mustering a feeble retort. “What does it have to do with me?”
“What she does to you—what does that have to do with me…”
The man bristled and lunged forward. “How is it none of your business! She bolts, I come to you! Your whole family’s gonna pay!! Give me my money back! My money!!”
He closed in aggressively, the threat igniting her fight response. Jiang Zao flung her bags aside, darted to a nearby construction site, snatched up a shovel, and swung it at him. “Stay back! I told you, I can’t help! I’ve got no money! Can’t find her? Call the cops! What good does cornering me do?!”
“Calling the cops is going to get my house back?! Is it going to get all my money back?!” The man’s voice cracked with sobs for just an instant before exploding into a ruthless fury, the kind born of mutual destruction. “You say you have no money and that’s that? The guys I brought in are professionals at this sort of thing! Let’s see how tough you talk now!! Even if you have to borrow it, you’re paying me back!!”
Jiang Zao froze in terror. She raised the shovel and swung it at him—
The man, built tough from years of hard labor, grabbed the top of the shovel with one hand. With a yank, he dragged the shovel—and Jiang Zao with it—toward him.
She let go immediately, losing her only weapon. She spun around and pulled out her phone to call the police.
She tapped the emergency button twice before a dark shadow loomed over her. He snatched the phone away, and she let out a terrified scream.
Crack—the man smashed her phone to the ground.
He wasn’t leaving any room for mercy. Even if he couldn’t get his money, he’d take it out on his girlfriend’s daughter. He grabbed Jiang Zao and shoved her hard. She flew backward.
Thud!
She crashed onto the hood of the sedan behind her.
The impact with the steel jolted her insides, sending pain shooting through her organs. Jiang Zao pushed herself up from the hood, her hand brushing over the sleek purple-black gradient paint job. Her expression changed abruptly.
Wait—this car was—!
Once the curtain of violence lifted, the primal instinct to bully the weak shattered all moral restraint. The man glared at the face so similar to Pan Yu’s, his rage boiling over. He swung the shovel down without a second thought.
There was no time to dodge. Jiang Zao hugged her head, squeezed her eyes shut, and gritted her teeth.
The shovel struck flesh with a dull thud—a violent, deafening crack.
She snapped her eyes open. She was in someone’s arms, looking up.
Xie Lisheng braced his left hand on the car hood, his right shielding her head as he held her close in his embrace.
Jiang Zao’s heart and breath stopped in that instant. She stared at him in shock.
Xie Lisheng winced in pain, his brows furrowed tight. The first word out of his mouth trembled faintly. “…Fuck, that actually hurts.”
He held her steady as he slowly turned back, fixing the equally stunned man with a raised eyebrow. “You two want to fight? Fine, but can you not trash my car?”
No ordinary peacemaker could pull that off. Pan Yu’s boyfriend figured these two were in cahoots. He swung the shovel at Xie Lisheng.
Xie Lisheng took the full blow on his right hand, then snaked his left arm past the man’s and clamped down on his throat.
Jiang Zao barely saw him move before Pan Yu’s boyfriend hit the ground from a sweeping leg throw, Xie Lisheng’s knee slamming into him for good measure.
A massive thump echoed out, like bones cracking.
Cold sweat broke out all over her from the sheer terror of it. Her eyes reddened as she scrambled up and lunged at the writhing man on the ground. “Have you lost your mind?! You trying to get yourself killed?!”
Before she could reach him, Xie Lisheng scooped her up by the waist and carried her back.
He held her in one arm like a handler wrangling a feral cat. Despite the pain, a chuckle escaped his lips as he warned her, “That wouldn’t be self-defense anymore, Miss Jiang.”
Pan Yu’s boyfriend lay there, unable to get up, too wracked with agony to even breathe.
Xie Lisheng stared down at him when a choked sob suddenly bubbled up from his arms.
He froze and looked down—
Jiang Zao was crying from sheer frustration, pounding her own leg with her fist. “Look at me…”
She stared at her hands, inflamed by the impulse to slap him that she’d almost given in to. She laughed bitterly through her anger. “Look at how I always…”
“Drag other people down with me… make them suffer too…”
Her sobs cut right through him. Xie Lisheng’s gaze grew calm. He wiped the blood from the back of his hand, then reached up and brushed her cheek.
“It’s fine. We won, didn’t we?”
“I was just messing with you earlier. Doesn’t hurt a bit.”
~~~