Chapter 36: Cannon Fodder Hall

This New Year was destined to be anything but peaceful.

First came the news of Qi Zhen’s death.

She finally got her wish to go abroad.

But she accidentally got caught up in a local conflict and, unfortunately, was shot and killed.

When Luo Xiaoman heard the news, she was stunned for a moment, but quickly let it go.

As for Qi Zhen, she could only try not to hate her; any deeper feelings were already gone.

Luo Jianyuan arranged for someone to take care of Qi Zhen’s remains and buried her overseas, at least giving her a resting place after death.

Of course, these were just tiny ripples.

Soon, they would be drowned in the river of time.

The biggest news of the New Year was still the Qin Family.

The Qin Corporation’s stock market value evaporated by nearly two billion.

After Qin Rui’s father heard the news, he suffered a sudden cerebral hemorrhage and was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.

But things were far from over.

As soon as the New Year holiday ended, Department X immediately sent people to arrest Qin Rui for murder.

Qin Rui tried to escape.

But the officers, with their bulging equipment belts, left him no choice but to settle down.

The Qin Corporation was leaderless.

The massive group began to fall apart, chaos everywhere, and everyone at the Qin Corporation was on edge.

Qin Shou appeared at the most opportune moment.

Holding more than half the shares of the Qin Corporation, Qin Shou faced resistance from Qin Rui’s loyalists, but they couldn’t stop the shareholders who switched sides.

As the founder who had built the company from scratch, Qin Shou’s abilities were beyond doubt.

The shareholders weren’t interested in the family’s internal struggles; what they cared about was who could lead the Qin Corporation to make more money.

Qin Shou took over as president of the Qin Corporation without hesitation.

Once in charge, he immediately began sweeping reforms.

In its early years, the Qin Corporation was a family business, but as it grew, it transformed into a joint-stock company.

This had both advantages and disadvantages.

Several major shareholders checked and balanced each other, while the minor shareholders swayed with the wind.

The internal factions within Qin Corporation were complicated, with several major shareholders forming their own camps and competing against each other.

Qin Shou glanced at the shareholders at the meeting, each with their own expression.

This actually saved him quite a bit of effort.

After the shareholders’ meeting ended, Qin Shou prepared to visit his dear uncle.

He’d heard that his uncle had been restless inside.

Qin Rui had already been in prison for a week.

The case was too old, and though there was both witness and physical evidence, many details and doubts were still under investigation.

As a criminal suspect, Qin Rui could only stay in jail for now.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t be released on bail pending trial, but the old patriarch of the Qin Family was still in the hospital, Qin Feng couldn’t possibly bail him out, and Li Zhen shut herself away, feigning illness, wishing she could just cut ties with Qin Rui altogether.

Qin Rui could only suffer in prison.

Qin Rui’s days in prison were not easy.

As the head of the Qin Family, he had always lived a life of privilege and had never suffered like this.

Moreover, Qin Shou had specially given instructions, so everyone in prison treated him strictly by the book, not daring to give him even the slightest special treatment.

In the past few days, word came that Qin Rui was being unruly inside.

It was said that after Qin Rui fell from power, most people turned to Qin Shou, but there were always a few blind fools willing to take a gamble and offer help in desperate times.

After his check-up, Qin Shou strode leisurely on his long legs to visit his “good uncle.”

When he heard someone wanted to see him, Qin Rui was agitated for a moment, but when he sat down and saw Qin Shou’s half-smiling face, it was as if he’d swallowed a fly.

“What are you here for? To laugh at me?”

Qin Shou shrugged, his tone light.

“Naturally, I’m here to see you get what you deserve.”

“Don’t get cocky too soon. You think putting me in here means everything’s settled?”

“Of course not. The people involved back then… it wasn’t just you.”

Qin Rui was startled, then looked at him as if he were insane, “It wasn’t just me back then, your dear father was involved too.”

Qin Shou put on a troubled smile.

“Yes, so what can I do about that?”

“How about this…”

He leaned a bit closer to the glass, his smile widening.

“How about letting him come down here and keep you company?”

“That way, he won’t be able to harm my mother anymore.”

Qin Shou straightened up, his expression still gentle, but the coldness in his eyes made Qin Rui shiver.

“You lunatic!”

Qin Rui stared at Qin Shou in disbelief.

“You think that with the rest of the Qin Family gone, you can take over the Qin Corporation completely? Dream on.”

“Heh…”

Qin Shou looked at him as if he were a fool.

“Who told you… that I want the Qin Corporation?”

Qin Shou spread his hands.

“See, you people will never understand me.”

“I just want the entire Qin Corporation to be buried with you all.”

The smile faded from his face.

Qin Shou’s tone was light and drifting, but it sent a chill down Qin Rui’s spine, making cold sweat break out all over him.

“Lunatic, lunatic, you’re just like your mother, both lunatics…”

Qin Rui threw himself against the bars, staring at Qin Shou, muttering over and over again.

As if only by doing this could he calm the panic in his heart.

They were all wrong.

Qin Shou’s goal wasn’t the Qin Corporation; he wanted the whole Qin Family to be buried with that foolish woman!

Qin Shou put down the phone, looking calmly at the crazed face of Qin Rui, his lips parting in a sinister smile.

Inside the enclosed glass partition, Qin Rui stared blankly at Qin Shou’s smiling eyes, unable to digest those final words.

Qin Shou’s eyes were smiling, his lips moving.

He said, You all must die.

The prison guards quickly dragged the dazed Qin Rui away.

Qin Shou put his hands in his pockets, humming an unknown tune as he slowly walked out.

The setting sun gradually sank below the horizon, and the crimson evening clouds painted half the sky red.

Cui Mingbo’s investigation had also made new progress.

After returning, Cui Mingbo flew into a rage.

Although the Xia Family had already washed their hands of the underworld and moved their business above board, the name “Cui Mingbo” still held great weight in the underworld.

The group working with Su Qingwen was quickly exposed.

This group had long been Cui Mingbo’s old rivals.

Back when Cui Mingbo rose to power with ruthless means, he quickly gathered a band of followers.

As his territory grew, he inevitably encroached on the interests of another faction.

That’s when the two sides finally clashed.

Cui Mingbo had always looked down on the people from Qinglong Hall.

Though his own past business wasn’t exactly clean, he had never touched those life-shortening trades.

But Qinglong Hall was different.

They took in anyone, many of them had mixed in the Golden Triangle, their ranks a chaotic tangle.

As long as there was money to be made, they’d take any job.

Cui Mingbo hadn’t expected Su Qingwen to have the guts to mix with people like that.

Frankly, these people lived with their heads hanging on their belts every day.

Looking at the intel his subordinates delivered, Cui Mingbo grinned from ear to ear.

If Su Qingwen was so eager to court death, no one could stop him.

“Keep an eye on them. See what they plan to do next.”

After giving his orders, Cui Mingbo dressed up, happily drove to the Luo Family, and thought to himself, how could he not make the most of such a golden opportunity to brush up his presence?

But clearly, Cui Mingbo had come at the wrong time.

Su Yu had already recovered. It had been a little over a month since he woke up.

At first, lazing around at home was quite enjoyable, but after a while, Su Yu started to feel bored.

He wanted to go back to school.

Su Yu’s grades had never been great; he only managed to get into a second-tier university.

After his accident, Su Qingwen arranged for him to take a leave of absence.

After spending so long recuperating at home, Su Yu yearned for campus life.

But Luo Xiaoman and her uncle from the Luo Family didn’t agree.

Luo Xiaoman thought her son’s body was still too weak and needed more time to recover.

Her uncle from the Luo Family was purely thinking of safety.

The people Su Qingwen had gotten involved with were not good news.

If Su Qingwen could make one move, he could make a second.

They didn’t want Su Yu to take any risks.

As a well-behaved and sensible boy, Su Yu naturally understood his family’s concerns.

But understanding is one thing; being stifled is another.

I know all the reasons, but I’m just not happy.

Cooped up at home, Su Yu had been feeling listless these days.

Every day he had nothing to do at home.

Even Biao Ren had been busy lately; aside from their nightly phone calls, they hadn’t met, nor had he gone out for fresh air.

Su Yu was bored out of his mind.

When Cui Mingbo came to visit, Luo Xiaoman was having a headache.

Having a son who’s too obedient can be a worry too.

He’d listened to everything she said, but seeing her son unhappy made her unhappy as well.

As a proper suitor, this was Cui Mingbo’s moment to help his beloved solve her problems.

“What’s so hard about this?”

Cui Mingbo grinned.

“If Ah Yu wants to go back to school, let him. Don’t worry about safety—I’ll send a few people to watch over him.”

“But—”

Luo Xiaoman still felt uneasy.

“You can’t keep the kid locked up at home forever. If he stays inside too long, he’ll turn rotten.”

Looking at her drooping son, Luo Xiaoman finally let go of her last bit of hesitation.

Seeing how listless her son had been, she felt bad herself.

Now, with Cui Mingbo’s guarantee, her heart ached for her son a little more.

After hesitating a few times, she finally nodded in agreement.

Su Yu, who had been playing the pitiful card, cheered, jumped up, and gave Luo Xiaoman a bear hug.

“Thank you, Mom.”

Luo Xiaoman helplessly pried the sticky “toffee” off her, giving instructions with concern, “If you want to go to school, go, but you must take the people your Uncle Cui arranged for you, and be careful.”

Su Yu nodded like a pecking chick, gave Cui Mingbo a grateful look, and secretly changed Cui Mingbo’s score from -2 to 0.

Cui Mingbo, on the side, grinned even wider than Su Yu, feeling he’d just boosted both his future mother-in-law’s and future son’s favorability, simply brilliant.

Little did he know he was still just at the zero mark.

Light a candle for him.

Cui Mingbo worked efficiently.

That very night, the four men were in place.

Luo Family’s uncle went to check them out.

Compared to his own retired soldier bodyguards, these four were clearly street-hardened, each exuding a fierce aura.

But for protecting Su Yu, they were just right.

The family’s bodyguards were skilled, but they played by the rules.

The people Su Qingwen was involved with could use any dirty trick, so the men Cui Mingbo sent would be better suited.

With the bodyguards now on duty, Su Yu’s range of activity could finally extend outside.

Su Yu rolled excitedly on his bed and called Qin Shou, ready to share the good news.

Tomorrow, he could finally go out.