“You’re in deep trouble!”

Zhou Li sounded agitated.

“Do you know who Lin Wan is? She is the Miss Lin from the Lin Family in the South Seas! I’m sure you know Mr. Gou. Everyone in your field does! Well, even Mr. Gou doesn’t dare to offend her. Now that you’ve caused her to divorce, how would she let you go just like that? Her people are looking for you everywhere. You'd better run now!”

“Has she found you?”

“Yes. Mr. Gou is helping her to locate you, too. He found me through Wang Shen and asked me about you. I'm sorry. I didn't dare to offend them and told them everything I knew. Wang Shen was the one who told me about Lin Wan’s true identity.”

“It seems like this woman is now with Wang Shen. Wait. That’s not the point. The point is that even Mr. Gou must listen to Lin Wan’s orders. Gosh. Who on earth did I offend?” Zhou Zijian thought.

“The Lin Family from the South Seas? What do they do for a living?” He asked.

“I heard they were all pirates and were the biggest mafia family in the South Seas. Listen to me and run away now!”

It was over for him. Zhou Zijian's mind went blank and could not listen to what Zhou Li said afterwards at all anymore.

Unaware that he was stunned and in shock, Zhou Li changed the topic and urged him not to tip her off if he was caught. After all, she had provided information about Lin Wan and didn't want to be involved in this mess.

Muddled, Zhou Zijian hung up and slapped himself hard in the face a few times. The intense and sharp pain cleared his mind a little and he came to his senses.

What should he do? Should he go and find his boss in this instance? Zhou Zijian dismissed the idea immediately. If the boss knew about the news, he'd only end up with death!

But he didn't like the idea of just running away without a word. Wait, he could ask for money! He must get a sum of money from his boss! He wasn't that kind enough to take the fall for him for nothing.

“Boss, Zhou Zijian here!”

“What is it?” The boss asked impatiently. Zhou Zijian guessed it right. His boss was now tied up with trivial matters and was too busy to care about other stuff.

“Boss, I want to borrow some money.” Zhou Zijian said calmly.

“Borrow money? Borrow what money?” The boss's tone was a little harsh. The word he hated most now was money. Anyone who mentioned money to him would trigger his anger.

“Hush money!” Zhou Zijian said unhurriedly.

The boss instantly calmed down. He knew something was wrong. Zhou Zijian had never spoken to him like this before. Something was off with Zhou Zijian's attitude. It was as if he was threatening him.

“Zijian, where are you? Let's meet and talk!”

The boss reacted quickly. The first thing that came to mind was to meet this person.

He did this totally out of his instincts. He didn't know what was happening at the moment and had no intention of killing anyone at all.

But in his line of work, he knew one thing very well. No matter what happened, he must be in control of the other party first. Once the person was under control, everything else would be much smoother.

“No, boss. I'm afraid I won't live to see tomorrow's sunrise if I meet you.”

“What on earth happened? Make yourself clear!”

“Boss, do you know who Lin Wan really is?”

The boss's heart dropped. He didn't expect that it was something to do with Lin Wan. Wasn't she divorced already? What was with the commotion? Did she have some special family background or identity?

Regarding Lin Wan's true identity, the boss had sent someone to investigate but in vain. Cheng Feng did not spill a word at all. Hence the boss did not get any useful information.

Who could he blame but himself for being so careless? He did not pay too much attention to this matter. In his opinion, Lin Wan was nothing more than a primary school teacher and the wife of someone insignificant. Sure, she was pretty, but certainly not someone of status or power.

It was these presumptions that made him not put in any efforts to investigate Lin Wan's identity. He always thought that she was nothing more than a normal citizen.

“What did you find out?” The boss asked.

“Seems like you’re really unaware of it. Have you heard of the Lin Family from the South Seas?” Zhou Zijian asked him back.

“Yes, I have. Don’t tell me it’s what I’m thinking.”

“She is none other than the Miss Lin from the Lin Family. We've offended her. Her people are looking around for me. Mr. Gou is also on the hunt for me. Boss, I don’t see anything wrong in me getting hush money from you!”

The boss was so shocked and took quite some time for him to come to his senses. Two words appeared in his head, “Kill him!”

If this was true, everyone who was involved must be killed immediately, including Zhou Zijian, Su and Han. None of them could be spared.

“Zijian, calm down first. Let's meet and talk things out. Things may not be as serious as we think. Where are you? I'll come find you now.”

“There’s no need for us to meet. Boss, for the hush money, all I ask is five hundred million. I'll take the rap for you if they manage to find me. If you don’t agree with the amount, I can't guarantee I can keep my mouth shut by then!”

The boss did not persuade him anymore. He knew very well that Zhou Zijian would not meet up with him. That fellow had been in this business for a long time now and was very clear about the tricks. He would not easily fall for such traps. It was not easy to fool him.

“How do I know if you're telling the truth or not?”

“You can check it for yourself. I'll give you three days. If I don't receive the money in three days, you should know what the consequences will be! I'll leave you an account number. Please transfer the money into this account. I won't contact you again. Decide for yourself!”

After saying these, Zhou Zijian hung up the phone.

......

Mrs. Hong found that the old couple was taking a nap, and Li Mu was not at home. On the other hand, Lin Wan was busy preparing dinner in the kitchen.

Lin Wan’s face was full of anger and she gritted her teeth as if she was fighting with someone.

“What's wrong? Who has offended you again?” Mrs. Hong asked curiously.

“Who else could it be? He Xiaoyu is such a bitch. She’s too much!” Lin Wan was so angry that she couldn't help but curse.

Mrs. Hong covered her mouth and laughed gently. She then asked in a low voice, “I rarely see you curse at someone! What did she do for you to get so mad?”

“Well, she threw everything in the fridge! Thank God I came back just in time that day. If I had been just a little later, she would’ve replaced everything that had anything to do with me!”

Mrs. Hong exclaimed and couldn't help but curse, “Such a shameless bitch. Does she really think she's the lady owner of this house? She needs to be taught a lesson so she’ll be more sensible!”

“Yeah. It's time to teach her a lesson. Mrs. Hong, I've thought it over. I agree with your first suggestion. Help me arrange a job.” Lin Wan whispered the instructions to Mrs. Hong.

Mrs. Hong couldn’t help but giggle gently after hearing what Lin Wan said.

“We’re a family after all. It's amazing that we have the same thoughts! I was also planning to train Li Mu this way and ruin He Xiaoyu’s career in the process. Wasn’t she so proud and boastful? Let’s leave her in shame.”

Mrs. Hong agreed with Lin Wan’s idea. Sometimes, taking revenge didn’t necessarily require the use of a knife or a gun. Destroying her life, her career or her marriage could do just as much damage to the other party. In fact, it would hurt them even more than a physical injury caused by a gun or a knife.

After agreeing with her, Mrs. Hong couldn’t help but worry again.

“Lin Wan, you’d better think carefully. Revenging He Xiaoyu is only one of our motives. Our main purpose is to train Li Mu. Are you really determined to do this?”

“Yes, I’ve thought about it. Don’t worry. I did not make this decision because of He Xiaoyu. I’ve considered your advice and agree that both of us are not mature and wise enough when it comes to handling matters. The two of us lack experience.”

“I’m happy and relieved that you think this way. Alright, leave this to me. All you have to do next is to train yourself along with Li Mu. Make yourself more mature thinking with this challenge.”

At this point, Mrs. Hong gave her a gentle reminder. “But don’t cross the line. Take it easy! Don’t ruin your relationship with him.”

Lin Wan said confidently, “Don't worry. I know what to do. Who knows? I might even get closer to him. Haha!”

Smiling, Mrs. Hong nodded. She took the opportunity to change the topic upon seeing Lin Wan being in a good mood.

“I’ve met Mr. Gou just now!”

“Okay. What did he say?”

“He has asked Zhou Li. And the person who forced her to lie in the first place was Zhou Zijian. She was yet to divorce at that very moment. Hence Zhou Zijian who had evidence of her affair with Wang Shen used it to force her to frame you.”

Lin Wan nodded. This was what she expected hence she wasn’t surprised at all.

“Mr. Gou asked me to ask for your opinion on how to settle Zhou Li. He will order Wang Shen to get rid of her immediately if you don't want to spare her!”

“She’s with Wang Shen?”

“Yes!”

Lin Wan hesitated for a moment before shaking her head. “Forget it. All she did was just lying. What she did didn’t really make a huge impact anyway. I’ll let her go!”

“Alright. There’s another thing though.” Mrs. Hong hesitated.

Lin Wan glanced at her and frowned, “Is it related to Lu Fangliang?”

Mrs. Hong nodded and said to her, “Lu Fangliang is the son of Mr. Gou's deceased friend. He’s not someone from our circle. So he doesn't know about your true identity. Mr. Gou begged you to spare their lives, both the father and the daughter.”

Lin Wan stopped what she was doing and bowed her head in silence.

Mrs. Hong lowered her voice and said, “It’s totally up to you. To spare, or not to spare. All you need to do is to give me an answer.”

Lin Wan wiped her hands on her apron and leaned against the cupboard. She couldn’t make up her mind.

Without rushing her, Mrs. Hong took off Lin Wan’s apron and put it around herself. She took over Lin Wan’s dinner preparation and continued to prepare the ingredients for dinner.

After some time, Lin Wan sighed and told Mrs Hong, “Spare their lives. But only their lives!” 

“Alright. I know what to do!” Mrs. Hong answered without looking up.

.…..

Li Mu sat in his office with He Xiaoyu who was frowning profusely beside him.

“Li Mu, come up with something!”

“What can I do? Who’d expect my father to fall sick at this very moment? I can’t help it if he’s sick!”

Actually, Li Mu was secretly delighted. What perfect timing it was for his father to fall sick! He really saved his son’s life.

Although it did seem pretty unfilial for him to think that way, it was what he truly thought of the current situation.

“Can’t you move out then? We’ll find a place to live together elsewhere.” He Xiaoyu was giving random suggestions at this point.

“My dad is still bedridden and you’re asking me to move out just like that? I’m his son!”