The moment the sign of the Tian Shang Club came crashing down, the several bosses watching from a private room in a distant restaurant collectively drew a sharp, cold breath.
"He actually had it demolished? Even the sign was taken down. This is about completely uprooting Master Jiu!"
"Ruthless! This method is too ruthless!"
"It seems we all severely underestimated this young lady's methods and audacity. She really dared to do this!"
"Madmen! Everyone in the Wan Long Hui is a complete madman!"
"No, no, I need to call my men for a meeting immediately. From now on, when you see anyone from Wan Long Hui—no, anyone in a black suit—you all steer clear. Don't you dare provoke them!"
"I need to hold a meeting too. These people... I truly cannot afford to mess with."
"Thank god I washed my hands of this business. From now on, whoever wants to mix in these circles can go ahead!"
"........"
They discussed the matter with lingering fear for a while.
Just then, a junior brother they had sent to gather information knocked and entered the private room, his face filled with terror as he reported the latest news.
"Something huge happened at the Tian Shang Club! The Wan Long Hui people are too fierce... they completely flattened Master Jiu's stronghold!"
"Mm, we saw. What are the specifics?"
"Master Jiu's Tian Shang Club was completely smashed to rubble. The losses are no less than seventy or eighty million!"
"Those people are too savage!"
"We're not blind. Can you tell us something we don't know?" one boss finally interrupted impatiently. He'd been spouting nonsense all this time.
Only then did the junior brother notice that the bosses here had a perfect view of the club's entirety. What he had said was indeed useless.
But he immediately remembered a piece of news he had just received.
"Yes, there's new news. Just now, my distant cousin's second uncle's neighbor passed by an alley behind the club. He said he saw the club's owner, Master Jiu."
The men immediately became serious. "Master Jiu escaped?"
The junior brother shook his head. "He didn't get away. Said he was cornered right there by those Wan Long Hui men in black."
"My distant cousin's second uncle's neighbor said Master Jiu was done for right then. He was beaten until he vomited blood, then just gasped and passed out. Later, the Wan Long Hui people dragged him away like a dead dog. He also said when Master Jiu was dragged out, his face was deathly pale, not a sound from him. Chances are nine out of ten he's gone!"
Before his words faded, another boss's phone rang. It was a call from his subordinate, corroborating the news.
"Boss, Wan Long Hui is too ruthless, even more vicious than we were back in the day. We absolutely must not offend them from now on. It's terrifying!"
"Get to the point!"
"Master Jiu is probably really gone. My buddy saw him being dragged out of the alley with his own eyes, face covered in blood. Definitely not okay. He also overheard the men in black saying something about 'humanitarianism,' probably meaning they're going to handle Master Jiu's... final arrangements."
"That's one thing Wan Long Hui does with some propriety, at least they'll take care of the body."
"Boss, we really have to be careful from now on."
Everyone: "........"
After hanging up, deathly silence fell over the private room, broken only by the bubbling of the hot pot.
The men looked at each other, seeing fear and retrospective dread in each other's eyes.
"We still underestimated Wan Long Hui. Originally thought they wouldn't dare be so brazen in broad daylight... no, on a night like this. Never imagined they'd actually finish off Master Jiu."
"Tell me, what kind of powerful backing does Liu Yutong have behind her to dare do something this outrageous? If it were me, even at my most arrogant and reckless ten years ago, I'd never dare casually off someone. Getting caught means eating a lead peanut."
"Stop talking. From today, Da Nan City belongs to the Liu family. We'd all better watch our step."
Everyone present nodded silently, each deciding to go back and... well, not enshrine Liu Yutong's portrait, but definitely put her at the very top of the absolute "do-not-provoke" list.
................
On the other side.
Liu Yutong was listening to Gu Yebai ramble on about the pressure he was facing because of her.
"Sis Yutong, you have no idea. Word that I helped you smooth things over got to my old man's ears. What you guys did was way too big! In my opinion, if you catch someone, take them to a deserted place and do whatever. But you just brazenly smashed the place up right there. My dad is really angry."
"He says this matter must be accounted for to him, but how am I supposed to account for it?"
Right then, Yaya, sitting in the back seat of the car, stretched out her tiny, tender hand, holding a small roll of transparent tape.
"Big brother, you don't even have any tape? I have some here, you can have it."
Gu Yebai took the tape, utterly confused, and turned to look at Liu Yutong. "Just... just give me this tape? To go directly and seal my dad's mouth with it? Wouldn't that be suicide? Besides my mom, who in this world has the guts to do that..."
Liu Yutong was caught between laughter and tears. "Don't worry, I will definitely give you an account."
As soon as the words left her mouth.
Zhao Tianyi had someone bring over the signed contract. When Gu Yebai saw the contents of the contract, he couldn't help but give Liu Yutong a thumbs up. "As expected of Sis Yutong. Brilliant!"
"Now my dad will have nothing to say."
Liu Yutong: "I told you we are a legitimate company, only doing legitimate business, never engaging in illegal activities. Why don't you believe me?"
Hearing this, Gu Yebai glanced out the window at the dense crowd of men in black who had finished their tasks and were now boarding vehicles one after another. He thought to himself, "I'd like to believe... but this scene makes it really hard to believe!"
But now that he had the "account" in hand, he could go back and report to his old man.
Only after Gu Yebai left did a large number of police officers begin to arrive on the scene.
Far from arresting any of the men in black who had just participated in the demolition, they directly sealed up the Tian Shang Club with official notices and took all the club employees and hoodlums away for investigation.
The scene looked as if they had come specifically to clean up after Wan Long Hui.
This final act left the bosses who had just walked out of the hotel speechless once more.
After a long while, someone finally spoke.
"Let's go home and sleep. The sky... has turned dark."
