When men are young, they constantly joke with each other about “impotence,” “premature ejaculation,” and “can you even do it?” But at a certain age, they suddenly find that everyone has tacitly stopped saying these meaningless things.

Lu Yibo had reached that age.

His life followed a very regular pattern—fixed times for waking up, going to work, leaving work, occasional social engagements, working out every few days, and going to bed promptly at eleven at night. But recently things had been different. Ever since Ye Jian’s death, he had developed a sleep disorder. Every night he had to run at least three kilometers to exhaust his body completely before he could fall asleep.

“Yibo, why have you been frowning all the time lately?”

In the largest office on the administrative floor of the Fenglin Wan Hotel, Lu Yibo sat dazed on the sofa, hunched over, his gaze fixed straight ahead at nothing in particular. Zhou Qi shook his arm, and only then did he snap back to attention. “What did you just say?”

“I said—why have you been frowning lately? You’ve been like this since Ye Jian died. You’re not involved in Ye Jian’s death, are you?”

Lu Yibo didn’t answer Zhou Qi’s question, but only asked, “You said that criminal police leader who’s at an even higher rank than Wang Ruijun?”

“Yes, Brother Jun listens to him.”

“Then it can only be him!” Lu Yibo pondered for a long while, then asked again, “Did he personally tell you to keep the club open and to notify them when that man I brought last time comes back?”

“Yes, he said he wouldn’t shut down the club and would guarantee my safety.”

Lu Yibo irritably pulled open the coffee table drawer and took out a cigarette to light.

“Didn’t you already quit smoking?”

Lu Yibo ignored her, took several deep drags to calm his nerves, then slowly said, “This afternoon, send a message to the group chat. Shut down all the club’s operations.”

“For how many days?” Zhou Qi asked. She wasn’t at all surprised by the club closing—whenever things got dicey, the club would suspend operations for a few days.

“I don’t know. Don’t open for the foreseeable future.” Lu Yibo exhaled a breath.

“Not open at all? How much money will we lose every day!”

“At this critical juncture, who cares about money?”

“But…” Zhou Qi looked troubled. “That criminal police leader just told me to keep the place open and notify him when that customer shows up. If we close the club, won’t we offend the criminal police team?”

“What do you know? If you really hand that customer over to the criminal police team, that’s when we’ll be finished!”

“Who is that person?”

“Luo Ziyue, the mayor of San Jiang Kou.”

“The mayor!” Zhou Qi swallowed. “He… he’s Brother Rong’s friend, right?”

“Which VIP customer isn’t Brother Rong’s friend!”

Zhou Qi looked panicked. “Then… then why would the criminal police team go after the mayor?”

“Sigh…” Lu Yibo let out a long sigh. “If he dares to go after even the mayor, he really must be from the province.”

“Yibo, explain it clearly—you keep jumping from one thing to another, I can’t understand.”

“I’m stressed out, so stop asking so many questions.”

“We’ve been together for so long, are you still worried I’ll tell others?” Zhou Qi pouted, grabbed Lu Yibo’s arm, and said coquettishly.

Lu Yibo patted her hand irritably while saying, “These are all Brother Rong’s and Lang Bowen’s business ventures. I’ll explain it to you slowly later. Don’t tell Brother Rong’s people about the criminal police team coming to the door yet.”

Zhou Qi looked at his expression and knew this involved many complications, so she didn’t press further, only advised him, “Yibo, now that the club is closing, why don’t you discuss with Brother Rong about not managing the hotel anymore? Return the hotel to them. We’ve made enough money to last a lifetime anyway.”

Lu Yibo bit his lip, and after a long while, shook his head. “Brother Rong put the hotel under my name because he trusts me. Over these years he’s given us plenty of dividends. That money—it doesn’t come for free…”

At that moment, Lu Yibo’s phone rang. The caller ID showed Hu Jianren. He bit his teeth, sat up straight, and answered the call. He heard Hu Jianren ask, “Is Brother Bo at the company?”

“I’m here.”

“Then Bowen and I will come to your office in half an hour.”

“Sounds good, I’ll wait for you.” Lu Yibo responded with forced casualness. After hanging up, he wore a heavily preoccupied expression again. After a moment of silence, he waved his hand to have Zhou Qi leave first.

Before long, three men pushed through the door.

The first one, tall and large, was Lang Bowen, Zhou Rong’s business partner. Although Zhou Rong always took the largest share, Lang Bowen was also a well-known big boss in San Jiang Kou. Beside him was someone with somewhat similar features but a much more refined appearance—his younger brother Lang Botu, who had always worked at the company helping his older brother. The other man was naturally Zhou Rong’s trusted aide, Hu Jianren.

These three were already quite familiar with Lu Yibo. Without much courtesy, Hu Jianren closed the office door, and the group sat down together with solemn expressions.

“Brother Bo, there’s something I need to verify with you. Did the police come to the club looking for Qiqi?” Hu Jianren got straight to the point.

Lu Yibo couldn’t help but be shocked. His thoughts raced. The police who came looking for Zhou Qi wore plainclothes, and the matter was quite secretive—even he only learned about the situation from Zhou Qi, and Zhou Qi naturally wouldn’t have told anyone else. Yet Hu Jianren actually knew about this, which meant—they had arranged other informants in the hotel. Zhou Rong had entrusted the hotel to him to manage, but probably didn’t completely trust him either.

Being stared at by three men, Lu Yibo couldn’t consider for too long and had to nod in acknowledgment. “It should have been Director Zhang from the province that Brother Rong mentioned who came personally, along with three plainclothes criminal police.” He paused, then hurriedly explained, “I was out on business the past couple days. I also just found out about this and haven’t had time to tell Brother Rong yet.”

Lang Bowen smiled and waved his large hand. “No problem, we’re all brothers here, no need to be nervous. By the way, what did Director Zhang want with Qiqi?”

“He asked about Ye Jian’s matter, asked if Qiqi had seen Ye Jian come to the club. Qiqi said she hadn’t.”

The three men looked at each other. Hu Jianren asked strangely, “They’re investigating Ye Jian—why would they ask about the club?”

Lang Bowen frowned. “Right, that kid Ye Jian didn’t have that kind of interest. Last time you forced a VIP card on him, I don’t think he came even once.”

Lu Yibo shook his head. “I don’t know why Ye Jian’s matter would lead them to the club either.”

The younger brother Lang Botu stared at Lu Yibo. He always gave people the impression of being sinister and gloomy, and even his voice carried a sharp edge. “Brother Bo, is Ye Jian’s matter really connected to you?”

Lu Yibo froze for a moment, then shook his head emphatically. “How is that possible? Why would I kill Ye Jian?!”

Hu Jianren smiled. “Brother Rong said that if he finds out who killed Ye Jian, he’ll definitely avenge him!”

“I…” Lu Yibo looked at the three of them. “I really have nothing to do with Ye Jian’s death!”

Lang Bowen laughed heartily. “Why are you nervous? We’re all brothers here. Hu Jianren was just joking with you.”

Lu Yibo pressed his lips together.

The younger brother Lang Botu stared at him, observing for several seconds, looking at him with some suspicion. “When police investigate cases, they don’t just crash around randomly without basis. The police came to the club because of Ye Jian’s matter, so most likely Ye Jian left behind something related to the club before he died. Brother Bo, think carefully—is there anything?”

Lu Yibo looked tense. “I… I don’t know. He never came to the club.”

The younger brother Lang Botu gave a cold laugh and said ominously, “Or maybe the police’s target isn’t the club—but you, using the investigation of the club as a pretext to find you. Don’t misunderstand, I’m not saying you’re connected to Ye Jian’s death, but does Ye Jian have something of yours on him, or perhaps, did Ye Jian contact you about certain matters before he died?”

“No… really, no.”

“You’re certain?”

“I… of course I’m certain.” Lu Yibo swallowed.

“Then besides asking about Ye Jian’s matter, what else did the police ask?” The younger brother Lang Botu continued pressing, while the other two stared at him together.

“Nothing.” Lu Yibo didn’t mention the matter of investigating the mayor.

“Are you sure?”

Lu Yibo took a breath and said angrily, “What do you mean by this? I could suspect that you killed Ye Jian!”

The younger brother Lang Botu gave a cold laugh, crossing his arms over his chest. “Why don’t you tell us what reason we would have to kill Ye Jian?”

“Because… it’s nothing.” Lu Yibo lowered his head.

The atmosphere became somewhat awkward. The older brother Lang Bowen clapped his hands, putting on a magnanimous manner. “Yibo, if you have any thoughts, say them out loud. We’ve all been brothers for so many years—we absolutely must not harbor mutual suspicions.”

Hu Jianren chimed in, “That’s right. Brother Bo, what you just said was only half a sentence—I don’t understand.”

Lu Yibo looked embarrassed. After quick thinking, he could only counter, “Then why do you suspect I would make a move against Ye Jian?”

Hu Jianren smiled. “We’re not suspecting you at all.”

Lu Yibo bit his teeth, straightened his body, and said angrily, “In any case, I’ve said it—I have nothing to do with Ye Jian’s matter. Is that enough?! If you don’t believe me, you can ask Qiqi.”

The younger brother Lang Botu sneered. “How can a whore’s words be reliable?”

“You—” Lu Yibo immediately glared furiously at Lang Botu.

Lang Bowen quickly reached out to block him. “Xiao Tu, don’t talk nonsense. Qiqi is Yibo’s girlfriend. If Yibo says no, then it’s no. If we can’t trust brothers of so many years, then who can we trust?—All right, Yibo, don’t be angry at Botu either. You know what his mouth is like.”

The confrontation between the two sides gradually subsided under Lang Bowen’s mediation.

Lang Bowen clapped his hands and finally offered reassurance. “Yibo, don’t worry. With Uncle Dong around, a small-time vice director of San Jiang Kou can’t stir up trouble. Just now we heard that Qiqi closed the club—you did the right thing. Before we came, Uncle Dong already told Brother Rong that the club operations should be shut down immediately. Money is secondary—Uncle Dong is the foundation for all of us.”