He set the box down on the coffee table, then happily fetched a pair of scissors, his face beaming with a smile so wide it might as well have been in full bloom.
In a bit, he’d order some spicy crayfish, a Buddha Jumps Over the Wall soup, and a roasted lamb leg—the perfect feast to go with the two bottles of Moutai tonight!
Truth be told, two bottles of Moutai weren’t exactly a rarity to him. He could afford them, even at a marked-up price.
But getting something for free and buying it yourself were two completely different feelings.
Nothing beats the joy of getting something for nothing—that saying holds true no matter the time or the person.
He carefully sliced open the outer packaging, peering at the box’s contents all wrapped up nice and tight inside. Zhang Songyang paused for a moment, then chuckled to himself. “Packed so carefully, you can tell they were afraid of breaking it.”
“Heh, that kid really is dumber than a bag of rocks. Oh well, consider this a little lesson for him. Once I’ve finished off the Moutai tonight, I’ll start thinking about how to squeeze every last bit of value out of him.”
Just as he reached out to pull the two well-wrapped bottles of Moutai out of the box—
Knock, knock, knock!
A heavy pounding at the door rang out.
Zhang Songyang froze, his brow instantly knitting into a frown.
This place of his was usually empty, and none of his friends even knew about it. So at this hour, who on earth could be at his door?
Cautiously, he got up and walked over to the security door. Instead of answering, he peered through the peephole to see what was going on outside.
Knock, knock, knock!
The pounding came again, this time sounding like it was about to escalate into full-on banging.
Through the peephole, he could see a middle-aged man with an expression of pure fury.
“Open up! I saw you come back, so open the door right now! Your place is leaking and it’s flooded my ceiling. Let me tell you, if you open up now, we can talk this out nicely. But if you don’t, then this isn’t going to end well!”
Leaking?
You’ve got to be kidding me!
He hadn’t even lived in this place—how could there possibly be a leak? This guy was clearly looking for trouble.
Zhang Songyang thought about just pretending no one was home, but that would just keep the guy pounding away, and if it drew any unwanted attention, that wouldn’t be good either.
After mulling it over for a moment, he unlatched the security door.
“There must be some mistake, buddy. I haven’t even lived in this—”
The moment he opened the door, before he could even finish his sentence, he saw five burly, rough-faced young men standing at the entrance alongside the middle-aged man.
Before he could react, the five young men barged into the room, grabbed him, and tossed him onto the sofa.
Then the middle-aged man strolled inside, casually sizing up the place.
Zhang Songyang glanced at the five burly men surrounding him, then looked back at the middle-aged man, panicking. “Who the hell are you people? I’m warning you, this is illegal! This is breaking and entering! I—I can call the cops!”
“The cops?” The middle-aged man smirked. “Sure, go ahead. Call them right now, and I’ll have them arrest you, you con artist.”
Zhang Songyang’s face went pale. A sudden realization hit him, and he quickly tried to stop him. “Wait, big brother, no—I’m not a con artist! You—you’ve got the wrong guy, don’t you?”
The middle-aged man didn’t respond. He just sat down on the sofa, crossed his legs, and looked down at him with contempt. “Zhang Songyang, male, thirty-six years old, founder of Dream Network Company—but really just a scammer who ran back from northern Myanmar.”
Zhang Songyang’s face drained of color, his pupils trembling.
The middle-aged man chuckled. “Kid, do you remember last month when you went to an underground casino, lost a bunch of money, and then got so pissed off you reported the place to the authorities?”
It suddenly hit Zhang Songyang—yeah, that did happen.
He’d been tricked into going to northern Myanmar before, all because he’d blown all his money on online gambling. In a panic, he’d taken a job there, and after going through hell and high water, he’d finally managed to escape.
But even after getting out, he still couldn’t shake his gambling habit. So after pulling off his scams, he’d always go blow some money at small-time gambling dens. Last month, he’d indeed gone to an underground casino and lost several hundred thousand there.
So after leaving, he’d reported the place in a fit of rage and then hightailed it out of there.
He’d figured they wouldn’t be able to trace it back to him, since he’d used anonymous info. But somehow, these people had still found him…
Right now, begging for mercy and offering to pay up was his only option. After all, he didn’t want to die, and he sure as hell didn’t want to spend the rest of his life crippled.
“Big brother, big brother, I’m so sorry! I had no idea that was your place. It was a moment of stupidity, a moment of sheer idiocy. I deserve to die, I deserve to die…” Zhang Songyang started slapping himself across the face as he spoke, each smack ringing out loud and clear, his cheeks quickly turning beet red.
The middle-aged man let out a cold laugh. “Now because of you, I’ve lost tens of millions, my connections are shot, and the casino’s shut down. That place alone pulled in tens of millions in profit every year, easy. How exactly are you planning to pay me back for that?”
The ferocious shout sent a jolt through Zhang Songyang. He threw his dignity out the window, dropped to his hands and knees, and started banging his head on the floor, blubbering with tears and snot streaming down his face. “Big brother, I really messed up! How about—how about I pay you in installments? I can make good money too! I—I only have two million on me right now, but I’ll pay that to you first, okay?”
“Two million? Let me tell you something—I didn’t come here today for money. I don’t need your chump change. I brought my boys here to teach you a lesson, to make sure you understand what happens when you report something you shouldn’t have.” The middle-aged man smiled.
Then he waved his hand. “Break his limbs and sew his mouth shut. Make sure he can never gamble again. And make sure he can never con anyone else either.”
“No, no, big brother! Please, no! I’m begging you, I—I really know I was wrong, big brother…” Zhang Songyang kept pleading, but the thugs surrounding him didn’t care one bit—they closed in on him.
Just then, one of the thugs looked Zhang Songyang up and down, licking his lips with a grin. “Hey boss, before we break him, how about letting me have a little fun first? This kid’s got soft skin—I bet he’d feel pretty good.”
“Damn, you’re still as twisted as ever. But don’t take too long. Oh, and make sure you record it, then send the video to his family and relatives.” The middle-aged man smirked.
“You got it, boss!”
With that, the guy grabbed Zhang Songyang and started dragging him toward the bedroom.
Zhang Songyang completely lost it. Struggling with all his might, he scrambled frantically on his hands and knees until he reached the middle-aged man. “Please, big brother, no! Look, I—I have two bottles of Moutai here. Please, just take them. I’m so sorry, really, I’m so sorry! If you just don’t cripple me, I’ll give you anything you want…”
Money could always be scammed again, but if his arms and legs were broken, his life would truly be over.
The middle-aged man glanced at the box on the coffee table, then at Zhang Songyang, who was bawling his eyes out in utter remorse. He sneered. “See? This is why being a con artist pays off. Even a piece of trash like this is drinking Moutai. Hahaha.”
With that, he stood up, grabbed the box off the table, and hurled it straight at Zhang Songyang with all his strength.
“Drinking Moutai? Drink this, you bastard! I’m gonna wreck you today!”
The box slammed hard into Zhang Songyang, knocking him flat on the ground. Its contents scattered across the floor.
Foam padding flew everywhere, but the expected sound of shattering glass never came. Instead, a dull, heavy thud caught everyone’s attention.
They all turned to look—and there, half-hidden among the foam sheets, lay a gleaming yellow pistol, lying on the floor less than two meters in front of Zhang Songyang.
