Deng Zheyan watched as the three idiots downstairs drew closer, taking a deep breath to force himself to stay calm.
"Calm down… calm down… Anger won’t solve anything."
"If they’re bold enough to come here so openly, they’re either complete morons or the other side already knows. I need to figure out how to handle this."
Of course, neither possibility was one he wanted to face.
Because if either turned out to be true, he’d have to endure the wrath of that woman, Liu Yutong.
Soon enough, Deng Zheyan came up with a plan. He called over one of the internet café employees and instructed, "See those three at the entrance with the yellow, green, and red hair? Don’t recognize them? Good."
"Those guys are about to come in. Stop them—don’t let them use the main entrance. Find a way to lead them around and sneak them in through the back."
"Got it, boss." The employee immediately turned and headed downstairs to intercept them.
Not long after, Deng Zheyan met the trio—Yellow, Green, and Red—in a private room on the second floor.
All three looked shaken, especially Green, who was walking with an awkward, unsteady gait.
Deng Zheyan didn’t mince words.
"What the hell happened? Green, what kind of bullshit guarantee did you give me before?!"
"Do you even have a shred of professionalism?!"
Seeing that Green still hadn’t recovered, Yellow quickly jumped in to explain, "Boss Deng, it’s a misunderstanding—we really didn’t say anything!"
Deng Zheyan raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You’re telling the truth?"
"Swear on our lives! But the Dragon Society bastards are ruthless! They rounded up everyone causing trouble in the internet café, including us, and dragged us into a private room for interrogation!"
"Yeah, the Dragon Society… they’re not human! Their methods are brutal!"
Both pointed at Green. "Especially him—he got the worst of it! They… they violated him!"
Deng Zheyan’s eyelids twitched. He glanced at Green again, noticing how he was clutching his backside, and his expression softened slightly.
This guy had clearly suffered.
Still, that wasn’t enough.
"So, you ratted me out?"
Yellow frantically waved his hands. "No! Absolutely not!"
"Boss Deng, we live by the code of the streets! We’d rather die than betray you!"
"They saw how tough we were—how we wouldn’t talk no matter how much they hurt us—so they figured we weren’t involved and let us go. The second we got free, we came straight to warn you!"
"Really?" Deng Zheyan pressed, skepticism still in his eyes.
"Every word is true!" Yellow even raised a hand to swear. "I swear! If we’re lying, may Green turn gay!"
Red nodded vigorously beside him. "Yeah! And if we’re lying, may Green fall for a real man like you!"
Deng Zheyan shuddered, suddenly feeling as if something unclean had brushed against him. He immediately cut them off. "Enough! Enough! Fine, I believe you!"
He even instinctively took a step back, putting more distance between himself and Green.
Then, Deng Zheyan pulled out his wallet and took out a pre-prepared bank card. "This is the final payment. Take it and disappear."
But Yellow and the others refused. "Boss Deng, we don’t want money."
Deng Zheyan was stunned. "??? No money?"
"Then what the hell do you want?!"
Yellow explained, "Boss Deng, the truth is, we’ve been drifting around with no real income. Since we’ve worked hard for you this time, could you take us in?"
"Yeah, just give us a place to stay."
Red chimed in, "Your internet café is huge, business is booming—you must need extra hands. Just let us be junior staff. We’ll sweep floors, wipe tables, watch the machines, make instant noodles for customers… we’ll do anything! Just give us a spot, and we’ll stay out of trouble!"
Green, still clutching his backside, nodded and made muffled sounds of agreement.
Deng Zheyan fell silent for a moment, weighing the pros and cons.
After a long pause, he finally spoke. "Fine. You really don’t have anywhere else to go, and I’m not heartless. But…"
Yellow immediately caught on and assured him, "We get it, we get it. What happened today? We’ll take it to the grave—not a word to anyone!"
Deng Zheyan nodded. "Good. Remember what you promised. You start tomorrow."
The trio quickly agreed. "We’ll be here on time."
With that, they left.
Deng Zheyan watched them go, reluctant but resigned.
After all, if he didn’t take them in, they’d definitely rat him out to the other side.
Then he’d be in real trouble.
"Whatever. Consider it hush money. Just three more mouths to feed."
Over the next few days, Deng Zheyan made a point of personally overseeing the internet café.
Aside from keeping an eye on the trio, his main goal was to monitor the competition across the street.
First, he wanted to see if the virus attack on their systems had any lasting impact.
Second, he wanted to gauge their reaction—did they know he was behind it?
But after four or five days of observation, the rival internet café remained eerily calm, showing no signs of retaliation.
Gradually, Deng Zheyan’s tension eased, and he shifted his focus to preparing his next marketing strategy.
As long as his revenue matched or surpassed theirs, he’d win the bet and secure Qixing’s investment!
………………
Imperial Elite Club.
Zhao Weixiang, who usually maintained a refined demeanor in public, was now in a rare fit of rage, smashing things in his office in front of his subordinates.
"Damn it!"
"It has to be that woman—she must’ve put Lin Muyang up to this!"
Not long ago, Lin Muyang had gone to see Liu Yutong. Zhao Weixiang had been confident that his carefully laid plans would succeed.
But instead, Zhao Tianxing and his useless crew had been crushed before they even got close to Liu Yutong!
Hong Jiao hadn’t even had a chance to get near Lin Muyang.
Then, Lin Muyang had delivered a "gift" to him.
The man had done a complete about-face—not only abandoning the fund project but offering to hand it over to Zhao Weixiang for free.
It was a trap.
If he refused Lin Muyang’s "generosity," the carefully crafted image of the dependable older brother would crumble.
Lin Muyang would grow suspicious, trust Liu Yutong even more, and distance himself.
All of Zhao Weixiang’s efforts, his meticulously designed scheme to secure that powerful backer, would be ruined!
So he had no choice but to accept—and act grateful.
However, the negative impact of taking on this mess was significant, because resolving it completely meant he would have to cough up a huge sum of money.
Either he could dig into his own pockets to fill the massive financial hole left by the fund project and then shut it down for good.
Or… he could find a scapegoat to take the fall, repackage the project, and dump it onto someone else, leaving it to sink or swim on its own.
But the second option was completely blocked by Liu Yutong.
That woman’s cunning and ruthlessness ran even deeper.
After Zhao Weixiang took over the mess, Lin Muyang would drop by every few days to "check on the project’s progress." Between the lines, his words carried the weight of warning—this project involved countless ordinary investors, and mishandling it would tarnish Bright Pearl City’s reputation. His father, too, wouldn’t want any scandals plaguing the city…
This was far from genuine concern.
It was more like cracking a whip behind his back, making it clear—not only was he forced to carry this ticking bomb, but he had to hold it steady. If it exploded, the blame would land squarely on him.
Zhao Weixiang could only grit his teeth and promise to handle it properly.
And this only strengthened his resolve to deal with Liu Yutong once and for all.
