THANK YOU szm!! 🫶 here’s the last extra ko-fi chapter (4/4) 
In mid-November, the bidding for the relocation and expansion project of the capital’s Westside was officially launched. However, most insiders knew that the outcome had been determined before the bidding was announced—the Gu family won the bid, while the Wei family lost.
At the same time, a subsidiary company under the Wei family’s name was found to be involved in the development and experimentation of illegal drugs, which led to the extraction of various criminal activities in the Westside underground club. It all seemed to be disclosures made by the Gu family during the project competition to crush their competitor.
But that was as far as it went. In the end, only a few minor scapegoats were implicated, while Wei Lingzhou and Tang Feiyi successfully disappeared and remained unharmed.
Upon hearing these details from Chi Jiahan, Xu Ze remembered something Lu Heyang had once said: It’s easy to deal with Tang Feiyi, but you can’t deal with him alone. He has many businesses and people behind him.
“When the new mayor was appointed, I thought it was some tactic, but it turns out that they are working together.” Chi Jiahan picked the green onions from his bowl, “This is the capital after all. They are acting so boldly even under the Union Chairman’s nose. The Wei family must be planning something big.”
Xu Ze looked at the contents of the insulated lunch box, “Is it because of the arranged marriage?”
“At first, the Wei family benefited a lot from the marriage, but the Chairman can’t just turn a blind eye. I heard that this year the Wei family has gotten close to another group of officials within the Union government, and Wei Lingzhou is even teaming up with Tang Feiyi.” Chi Jiahan finally finished picking the green onions and started eating, “I think the Chairman knows everything, but given his position, the Union government can’t suddenly intervene in the capital’s affairs. So it will take a long time to deal with Wei Lingzhou and Tang Feiyi’s gang. There are too many things involved.”
“Unless they really accomplish serious consequences, things are tricky. Maybe it’s just a matter of setting off a spark that makes the Chairman feel the heat, and he might glance down and intervene. This time, someone clearly deliberately spread evidence to test his stance. I don’t think it’s necessarily the Gu family, they’re too lenient. Project competition requires firmness, accuracy, and speed. This seems more like playing a bigger game.”
Chi Jiahan finished speaking and smiled at Xu Ze with his mouth full of food, “Just some speculation, it’s not necessarily accurate.”
But Xu Ze knew that the accuracy was at least 95%. Chi Jiahan had grown up in a family of high-ranking officials, and every word he said was based on solid information.
“Stop being in a daze. Eat up,” Chi Jiahan lightly kicked Xu Ze under the table.
He no longer mentioned Lu Heyang in front of Xu Ze. Lu Heyang and He Wei had completely stopped coming to school, and the number of students in the two S-level special classes was decreasing. Everyone was being pushed forward and separated, and Xu Ze and Lu Heyang were among those who naturally had to part ways.
Xu Ze had successfully passed the first and second rounds of the three schools he had applied to, and only the final interview remained. Chi Jiahan found Xu Ze’s current state surprisingly stable. Xu Ze was focused on studying every day and had a consistent routine—this was the closest he had come to appearing like a normal person since they first met.
After school, Xu Ze sat in the bodyguard’s car and stared at the rearview mirror. The brown van was still following from seven or eight meters away—neither too close nor too far.
This was the umpteenth day he was tailed but he couldn’t recall the exact number. Xu Ze was sure that those following him were Tang Feiyi’s men. But he didn’t know why Tang Feiyi had suddenly started this routine of just following him without any other actions as if he was deliberately trying to make him uncomfortable.
The bodyguards didn’t act either and maintained a wait-and-see attitude.
After dinner, Xu Ze sat down facing the wall to practice interview questions. He tried his best to concentrate because he wasn’t good at interviews. When his phone rang, it took him a while to break out of the state and answer it.
It was an unknown number; not any of the previously saved contacts. Xu Ze answered.
“Have you been doing well recently, Seventeen?”
As soon as Xu Ze heard the first word, he frowned. He closed his notebook and asked, “What is it?”
“Is your debt of 600,000 just going to disappear on its own? As far as I know, Seventeen has always been a trustworthy person. Why are you being dishonest this time?”
Xu Ze knew that Tang Feiyi had no reason to call and bring up the compensation now. He didn’t want to waste a second dealing with him, so he asked again, “What is it?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“I’ve heard that our Seventeen is impressive. You passed the first and second exams with high scores, so the interview should be no problem, right?” Tang Feiyi spoke leisurely, “But there seems to be a background check at the end?”
We If gbrf ab tlr offa jiwbra lcralcmalnfis, qertlcu bcf tjcv bc atf vfrx. Lf ofia tlr qjiwr rkfja gjqlvis.
“P qijc ab mbwqlif atf agjcrjmalbc gfmbgvr yfakffc atf miey jcv sbe, jr kfii jr qtbabr bo sbe kbgxlcu lc atf ybzlcu glcu, yjg, jcv mjrlcb, jcv rfcv atfw ab sbeg qgfofggfv rmtbbir rb atfs mjc ufa j yfaafg ecvfgrajcvlcu bo sbe. Qtja vb sbe atlcx?”
Xu Ze should have expected this when Tang Feiyi kept silent about the compensation. This matter wouldn’t be brushed aside easily.
“What do you want?”
“Simple, let’s meet in person.” Tang Feiyi laughed, “Don’t worry, it’s just a chat. If you’re afraid, you can bring the bodyguards with you. Think it over and let me know. I’ll send you the address.”
Xu Ze didn’t answer and hung up the phone.
As the club’s shutdown was still prominent in the public eye, Xu Ze didn’t know why Tang Feiyi was looking for him now—in any case, it couldn’t be good.
He should tell Lu Heyang. The last time he received the anonymous text message he had intended to hide it, but Lu Heyang had found out. Xu Ze struggled to make up his mind. There were too many things he couldn’t do, and keeping them hidden would not only make his life a mess but would also exhaust Lu Heyang over time.
But as luck would have it, he had temporarily lost contact with Lu Heyang. The only remaining link was the bodyguards around him, but they didn’t know Lu Heyang’s situation, and Xu Ze wouldn’t ask.
After standing at the desk for a long time, Xu Ze called the bodyguard.
“What is it?”
“Tang Feiyi asked me to meet him. He has photos of me working at the club, which might affect the background check.”
Xu Ze simply stated the facts without lying. He had a shameful thought; if the bodyguard reported this, Lu Heyang would find out.
Even if Lu Heyang called and said, “I don’t want to get involved in your affairs,” it wouldn’t matter. Xu Ze just wanted to hear his voice.
“You can go.” There was no hesitation or delay. The bodyguard gave an answer right away as if he had been given instructions on how to respond to this question beforehand.
Xu Ze was taken aback. Lu Heyang had previously warned him to stay away from Tang Feiyi, but now he was allowed to meet him. It occurred to him that Tang Feiyi’s intentions might have nothing to do with the breach of contract or him—his target was Lu Heyang.
Lu Heyang and the others should have figured this out, so they agreed to let him go to this appointment.
On Friday, Tang Feiyi sent the location to Xu Ze. It seemed to be a normal restaurant. Shortly after Xu Ze returned home from school, a bodyguard came to the door to deliver dinner and handed him a tracker and a listening bug. Xu Ze put them in his pocket and quickly finished his meal before starting to study.
His phone buzzed with a text message from an unknown number. Xu Ze opened it and saw it contained three pictures.
The room fell silent for one minute, three minutes, five minutes. Xu Ze suddenly rose from his chair and went into the bathroom, seemingly without any particular purpose. At first, he stood in front of the mirror and then washed his hands. Xu Ze stopped in the middle of washing, turned around abruptly, and knelt down in front of the toilet to retch. He had just eaten dinner and vomited the contents of his stomach easily.
After gasping for air for a while, Xu Ze got up with red eyes. He flushed the toilet and returned to the sink. He repeatedly rinsed his mouth and washed his face until his mouth felt numb and his whole face turned red.
Eventually, Xu Ze made his way back to his room with his face dripping wet and called Tang Feiyi.
“I’ve eaten. I won’t go to the restaurant,” his voice was calm but slightly hoarse, “Drive to my place.”
Tang Feiyi didn’t hesitate, “Sure.”
About half an hour later, a car honked downstairs. Xu Ze grabbed his keys and phone before going out.
Even after losing the huge underground club, Tang Feiyi seemed unchanged. His eyes scanned Xu Ze with ill intentions, “You live quite comfortably now.”
“I’ll drive,” Xu Ze said.
“It seems like you’re really scared.” Tang Feiyi opened the door and got out of the car, grinning frivolously, “What? Are you afraid I’ll take you to be sold?”
Xu Ze silently sat in the driver’s seat, fastened his seatbelt, and closed the door. He didn’t have a driver’s license but could drive because he often drove a van to make deliveries while working at the club.
The old town was close to the suburbs. As the car drove out, the surrounding buildings gradually became sparse. Tang Feiyi folded his hands and leaned back in his seat with a relaxed posture, “Looking at you like this, why do you feel like you have something to discuss with me?”
The car’s air conditioning was on, and the cold air sent chills through his skin. Xu Ze pursed his lips and gripped the steering wheel. His wrist trembled imperceptibly as he asked, “Have you ever killed a police officer?”
It was a completely unexpected question. Tang Feiyi’s expression changed slightly. He chuckled, “Did Lu Heyang make you ask that? He can’t think that he can arrest me if he goes to the police with the recording of my confession? It’s not like him to use such a petty method.”
“Ten years ago at Lushan Villa, did you use a sniper rifle to kill a detective?”
After saying this, Xu Ze frowned and blinked his eyes. In that split second, the three photos from the strange text message flashed through his mind.
The first photo was the same date as the surveillance video screenshot of Shao Ping that he had received the last time. However, it showed an additional person in the frame. It was Tang Feiyi walking in front of Shao Ping with a gun in his hand. The model of the gun, ASG370 sniper rifle, was intentionally marked with a red pen in the blank space.
The second photo was also a surveillance screenshot from the same day. There were several detectives in bulletproof vests going upstairs with handguns. The alpha leading the way was Xu Ming.
The third photo was Xu Ming’s autopsy report, which indicated that he was shot in the neck. The bullet passed through his throat and shattered the carotid artery, causing instant death. Based on the analysis of the bullet’s caliber and model, it was confirmed to be a sniper rifle bullet with the ASG370 sniper rifle being one of the matching gun models.
Xu Ze still remembered the clothes Xu Ming was wearing under the bulletproof vest in the photo. It was an old gray shirt that Qiao Yuan had repeatedly told him to throw away, but Xu Ming couldn’t bear to throw it away because he had worn it on their wedding day.
It wasn’t important. Many things were no longer important, such as who sent the text message and used the evidence to provoke him at such a coincidental moment in front of Tang Feiyi.
All Xu Ze wanted to do now was to get confirmation to learn the truth.
“Ah… as soon as you mentioned the time and place, I remembered.” Tang Feiyi’s fingers tapped his leg one after the other, “At that time, I had just gotten my hands on that gun, so I randomly chose a police officer to test it out.”
Then, he touched his throat and showed a cruel yet triumphant smile, “I remember that I shot with exceptional accuracy, and it hit right on the throat.”
When he finished speaking, Xu Ze’s expression was blank for a split second as if his brain was too slow to react. He kept his foot firmly on the gas pedal, and the car’s speed increased steadily.
“What’s the point of Lu Heyang telling you this? Only a nameless police officer died. Isn’t he still alive and well? You’re not going to avenge him for something that happened over a decade ago.”
However, Xu Ze stepped on the accelerator and made a sharp turn as if he hadn’t heard anything. The car veered violently, kicking up gravel and dust as it headed down a small road.
There was a river not far ahead. The sun was setting and it was getting dark. The car sped toward the riverbank at a terrifying speed, getting closer and closer. Amidst the bumpy ride, Tang Feiyi remained calm and showed no signs of panic.
The gust of air from the car blew away the weeds along the riverbank. Xu Ze stared straight ahead, his face pale as a ghost. The waves surged on the surface of the river. When they were only a few meters from the shore, Xu Ze slammed on the brakes. The car’s tires left two long, deep grooves on the gravel from the emergency braking, stopping just a step away from the shore. Due to the momentum, Tang Feiyi was forcefully thrown forward. When he managed to recover, he realized that Xu Ze had already gotten out of the car and circled the front to the passenger seat.
As Tang Feiyi unbuckled his seatbelt, Xu Ze opened the car door and grabbed him by the collar to drag him out of the car with astonishing strength.
The situation quickly spiraled out of control. Tang Feiyi didn’t have time to figure out Xu Ze’s intentions. He instinctively reached for his gun behind him but Xu Ze reacted instantly, restraining his wrist and folding his entire arm. Tang Feiyi grunted as the gun fell to the ground and was kicked away by Xu Ze.
Tang Feiyi didn’t lack skills. He quickly raised his other hand and aimed at Xu Ze’s temple. However, Xu Ze was highly skilled in close combat, having experienced countless bloody boxing matches, making his offense and defense as precise as a machine. Xu Ze caught Tang Feiyi’s fist with one hand and grabbed his neck with the other. He flipped him over, and the two of them fell to the ground. Next, Xu Ze got up to straddle Tang Feiyi and ruthlessly delivered several punches to his eyes and nose with an expressionless face.
Blood spurted from Tang Feiyi’s nose. Xu Ze stopped, grabbed his collar, and pulled him up from the ground. He stared at him and finally said, “He is not a nameless police officer.”
“His name is Xu Ming.”
Tang Feiyi panted heavily. After looking at Xu Ze for a while, he burst out laughing.
“Xu Ming… Don’t tell me that the dead cop was your dad…” Blood continued to flow from the corner of Tang Feiyi’s mouth, but his laughter grew louder, “So, you went crazy over this… Hahaha… Then do you know why he died? Did Lu Heyang tell you?”
A strange and indescribable premonition appeared in Xu Ze’s mind. He whispered, “Drugs.”
“He really didn’t tell you…” Tang Feiyi laughed so hard that he was shaking all over, “It wasn’t drugs, it was a kidnapping.”
He leaned close to Xu Ze’s ear and lowered his voice, “Do you know who the kidnapped person was? Do you?”
“I don’t need to know,” Xu Ze replied calmly. Whether it was a drug bust or a kidnapping, it was Xu Ming’s job and duty. It made no difference. He just needed to know who the killer was.
“You’re going to want to know, Xu Ze.” Tang Feiyi lay back on the ground, despite his bloody face, he looked satisfied, “You’ll definitely want to know.”
As if something had struck his body, Xu Ze’s shoulders suddenly shuddered. The sound of the flowing river faded away. He unconsciously held his breath. About a minute later, he abruptly released Tang Feiyi’s collar. He trembled slightly as he took a breath. The wind tousled his hair. His lips opened and closed, but no sound came out.
“Still want to kill me? Dare to kill me?” Tang Feiyi licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, “Don’t want to go to university or take care of your grandma anymore? Some things aren’t as simple as killing someone. You kids.”
Xu Ze showed no reaction and slowly stood up. His body felt unusually heavy, and his back seemed unable to straighten. As he walked forward, he even lost balance and staggered a step. Eventually, Xu Ze raised his head mechanically to look around. It was an unfamiliar place, and he seemed unable to find his way home.
He walked aimlessly for a while, shivering from the wind. Xu Ze turned around. Tang Feiyi seemed to be still lying there, or maybe he had already gotten into a car, it was too dark to make out.
Xu Ze didn’t have the strength to walk any further. He stopped and reached into his pocket to get the tracker and bug. He struggled to distinguish them for a long time before he finally identified which one was the bug.
Xu Ze held the bug in his palm. His body couldn’t hold up and he fell to his knees, surrounded by the overgrown weeds around him. He lowered his head and brought his face closer to his palm. His lips moved, making a low, hoarse sound.
He asked softly, “Was it you?”
The bug wasn’t a phone, so there would be no immediate response. The only thing he could hear was the constant wind in his ears.
In the rest area of the training base, Lu Heyang quietly looked at the water glass on the table. After a few seconds, he took off his headphones.
Jiang Wen sat on the couch opposite him and remained silent for a while before picking up his phone to make a call.
“Release Tang Feiyi’s men and take Xu Ze home.”
Author’s note:
Driving without a license is not encouraged.
How should I put it, the previous chapter was just meant to give them a better date, not a real breakup. The dog blood hasn’t finished spilling yet, so suggestions that cannot be accepted should be avoided (making the sign of the cross)
it’s coming 🥲
Oh no the angst about to come😭 I’m not readyyyy
Thank you for the chapter ~💓
I have a bad feel about you….
Wait im processing it. If lu heyang was the one kidnapped and the officers were trying to find him, then what’s wrong??? It’s none of their fault :’)