Ma Da took off the jacket from Lin Tao's body, put it back on himself, and then began interrogating the green-haired troublemaker along with Li Xiaohui and the others.
It didn’t take long.
Li Xiaohui, gnashing her teeth in anger, stormed off to confront the owner of the rival internet café, but Ma Da quickly pulled her back.
"Don’t rush into this yourself. Let these three handle it."
"These idiots caused so much damage to our café. If they don’t make up for it, we’ll just send them away!!!"
Ma Da’s words dripped with menace.
Of course, by "send away," he meant handing them over to the police—their crimes were serious enough for sentencing, and hiring them a top-tier lawyer wouldn’t even be an issue.
But to the already terrified trio—Yellow, Green, and Red—his words took on a far darker meaning.
"Send us away? Where to?"
"Are they gonna dump us in the river...?"
Hadn’t that bespectacled tough guy just mentioned how the Wanlong Society loved feeding people to the fish?
At that thought, the three immediately dropped to their knees, kowtowing and begging for mercy.
"Brother Ma! Sister Hui! Spare us!"
"We’ll do it, we’ll do anything! Just tell us what!"
"Please don’t send us away!"
"........"
Just as Ma Da stepped forward to give them instructions, Li Xiaohui cut in eagerly.
"Brother Ma, let me handle this. I just watched a movie and picked up some interrogation techniques—perfect chance to try them out."
Ma Da nodded. "Fine, go ahead."
Li Xiaohui marched up to the trio, planted her hands on her hips, and slammed the table like an interrogator from the movies. "Talk! Spit it out!"
The three exchanged bewildered glances. "???"
"Uh... what do you want us to say?"
Li Xiaohui scowled. "Useless! Do I have to spell it out for you?!"
"If you can’t figure it out, you’re all getting sent away!"
The trio nearly burst into tears. How were they supposed to answer when she hadn’t even asked anything?
Still, they racked their brains desperately, sweat beading on their foreheads.
Finally, Yellow had a flash of inspiration. Tentatively, he suggested, "What if... we infiltrate the enemy? Sabotage from the inside?"
Li Xiaohui’s eyes lit up. "Good. Keep going."
Encouraged, Yellow straightened up and laid out his plan. "Sister Hui, here’s how we do it!"
"We’ll pretend to defect to Deng Zheyan. Tell him... tell him the Wanlong Society boss is too ruthless, even took out Green Hair, and it traumatized us. Demand compensation—ask to be hired as café attendants."
"Then what?" Li Xiaohui folded her arms.
"Once we’re in, we’ll plant viruses in their computers every day. Or whatever else you want us to do."
Li Xiaohui shook her head. "Too basic. You’d get caught after a few rounds. I have one demand: our Phoenix Reign Café’s monthly revenue must double theirs. Think harder."
The trio wracked their brains again.
After a moment, Yellow had another idea.
"How about this—once we’re inside, we’ll launch a 'promotion' in the café’s name. Sneakily change the discounts on their bulletin board or internal system!"
"First-time top-up: 10 bucks gets you 1000! With a deal this crazy, who’d pay normally? Their revenue would tank!"
Just as Li Xiaohui was about to praise the idea, she frowned.
"No! What if word spreads and tons of people rush to top up? Especially with school starting soon—students would go wild! I need to double their revenue, not just bleed them dry. What if we lose the bet?"
"Then... how about 'first-time free trial: 10 hours'?" Yellow offered.
"Hmm, that could work." Li Xiaohui nodded.
Ma Da couldn’t help grinning, pointing at Yellow. "Kid, you’re devious! Our Wanlong Society has thousands of members—we could take turns flooding their café for weeks."
At the mention of "thousands," the trio’s hearts skipped a beat.
Holy hell—they’d messed with a behemoth!
Thank goodness they were still useful... or they’d be drowned in spit.
What they didn’t know was that Ma Da meant total employees, not just core members.
Li Xiaohui’s eyes sparkled. "Perfect! With that many people, we can occupy their café nonstop for the rest of the month."
That way, Yan Net Café’s earnings would flatline—they might even lose money on electricity. Victory was guaranteed!
"Deal! But remember—this was all your idea. We had nothing to do with it, got it?!"
"Got it, got it!"
............
Yan Net Café, second floor.
From his hidden vantage point by the window, Deng Zheyan had watched everything unfold at Phoenix Reign.
Lately, he’d been thriving.
A hospital stay had serendipitously connected him with an investor, securing him a hefty startup fund.
His café opened smoothly, business boomed, and he’d even expanded with multiple branches. His empire was growing.
The shadow Liu Yutong cast over him had begun to fade.
But he hadn’t forgotten his grudges.
With his power still limited, he wasn’t foolish enough to confront her yet. First, he’d build his capital.
To this day, Deng Zheyan couldn’t fathom why Liu Yutong hated him so much—she’d always tried to destroy him.
Even now, when he’d left her alone, she was scheming to pull the rug out from under him.
Unrelenting. Vindictive.
His plan had been to grow steadily, maybe even take his café chain public. Once he’d made his fortune, he’d settle the score with Liu Yutong.
But then, his investor—the manager at Qixing Capital—dropped a bombshell: they’d made a bet with Phoenix Reign’s owner.
The wager? Which café would have higher monthly revenue.
If Phoenix Reign won, Qixing would withdraw its investment in him.
Deng Zheyan wasn’t about to sit idle. So, he’d orchestrated this stunt to tarnish his rival’s reputation.
If their café became toxic, customers would flee—and he’d keep his funding.
Now, as Deng Zheyan anxiously waited for Green Hair’s "good news"...
The trio of Huang, Lu, and Deng emerged from the Phoenix Power Internet Cafe across the street. The green-haired one walked with a strange gait, his legs slightly apart and his steps uneven, as if he was limping.
Deng Zheyan was just about to pull out his phone to call and ask what had happened.
To his surprise, the three of them crossed the street and then boldly strode straight toward his internet cafe.
Deng Zheyan’s expression instantly darkened.
Had these idiots sold him out?
It was entirely possible!
The more he thought about it, the more his blood pressure spiked. Furious, he slammed his fist against the windowsill.
"Useless! Morons! Absolute failures!"
"Marching over here so openly—do you want the whole world to know you’re connected to me?!"
Back when Deng Zheyan had hired the green-haired guy to stir up trouble at the rival cafe, he’d chosen him precisely because of his tough-looking face, assuming he’d keep his mouth shut.
At the time, the green-haired punk had even thumped his chest and sworn that he’d rather die than reveal who hired him!
And now…
Damn it! Is there no basic trust left between people anymore?
