A new day arrived, and everyone was very busy today.

Early in the morning, Du Cong came to the Maple Forest Late Hotel. He took the bus, not driving the SUV he’d impounded. Arriving at the front desk, he carefully took out the three stored-value cards and quietly asked if they could be exchanged for cash.

“Yes, but there’s a twenty percent handling fee. Are you sure you want to refund them, sir?”

“Uh… yes.”

“Please give me the cards.”

Du Cong handed over the cards. After a while, the front desk clerk frowned slightly, told Du Cong to wait a moment, and called over the lobby manager, quietly informing him that these were welfare cards. These welfare cards were gifts the boss gave to friends and weren’t recorded in the hotel’s accounts, so unlike regular stored-value cards, they theoretically couldn’t be directly exchanged for cash. No one had ever come to refund them before, so they didn’t know how to handle it.

The manager went to the side and called the boss Lu Yibo, but found his phone turned off. He called the hotel’s finance department instead. Finance didn’t know how to handle it either, so they consulted Rongcheng Group’s finance department. Finance then called Hu Jianren for instructions. Upon hearing someone wanted to refund three stored-value cards, Hu Jianren immediately reported to Zhou Rong. Zhou Rong instantly had him call the hotel and tell the lobby manager to find ways to keep the person there—he would immediately send someone to handle it.

Du Cong sat on a nearby sofa waiting for a long time. Seeing the lobby manager make multiple phone calls, his heart grew uneasy. After a while longer, the lobby manager walked over to him, explaining that these were welfare cards that had never been exchanged before. The group would immediately send finance over to handle it—please wait, and please present identification to verify the exchanger’s identity.

“I… I didn’t bring my ID. I won’t refund them after all.” Du Cong hesitated. Welfare cards requiring identity verification—he definitely couldn’t get the money. He grabbed the three cards back from the manager’s hands and immediately left.

The manager had no idea Boss Zhou was sending people to catch this person. Seeing him insist on leaving, she didn’t dare stop him and could only call Hu Jianren.

On Zhou Rong’s side, last night Zhang Debing had used Li Penggai’s car GPS to locate the vehicle in a parking lot behind a shabby complex. He arranged for people to quietly guard the area all night, but no one came near the car. Now Maple Forest Late Hotel reported that a young man had come to refund three welfare cards. Hu Jianren immediately had the hotel send someone to follow him. Staff followed Du Cong all the way home, discovering his home was right in front of the parking lot where Li Penggai’s car was located.

The three cards from the suitcase stolen by the robbers were in this person’s hands, and Li Penggai’s car from last night’s incident was downstairs from this person’s home. Zhou Rong’s side concluded that even if this person wasn’t a robber, he was their accomplice, and their hideout was very likely here.

When the subordinate sent back secretly taken photos of Du Cong, Hu Jianren recognized him at a glance: “Brother Rong, this guy is an employee from our 4S dealership.”

“Our dealership’s employee?”

“Right, the salesman who stole your car the night before last.” Hu Jianren frowned. “This doesn’t make sense to me—why would Li Penggai’s car happen to be parked downstairs from his home? Why would he have those three stored-value cards?”

Zhou Rong lit a cigarette and thought for a while, suddenly having an epiphany: “Could this be a setup!”

“What do you mean?” Neither Hu Jianren nor Zhang Debing beside him understood.

“With my villa’s security standards, forget two robbers—even twenty robbers couldn’t come and go freely. The night before last, those two entered the villa from the back, and all the guards in back happened to be called away. Is that coincidence? No! It was inside-outside coordination.”

Zhang Debing hurriedly said in alarm: “Brother Rong, I absolutely couldn’t betray you. I wasn’t the one who called people away the night before last.”

Hu Jianren also quickly raised his hand to guarantee: “Brother Rong, I’ve followed you all these years—I couldn’t be disloyal.”

“I’m not talking about you! I mean that Li Qian and this salesman. The night before last after Li Qian finished eating, her eyes were fixed on the study’s safe. Oh right, my diarrhea that day was probably from her drugging me. The insider wanted to steal the safe but couldn’t open it, so the outsiders began their operation. That salesman deliberately crashed my car to attract the villa’s guards to handle it, while the other two robbers took the opportunity to sneak into the villa to rob. Drugging, trying to steal the safe, then car crashes and robbery—damn, it’s a chain of schemes!”

Hu Jianren said: “But you said Li Qian was also tied up by those two robbers. They’re working together?”

“Before they knocked me out, I did see her tied up by them. But the front gate guard said she left shortly after. If she was really tied up, is she superman? Untied herself? After untying herself, why didn’t she save me? She even directly blocked me on WeChat. They’re working together—they deliberately tied her up in front of me to clear her of suspicion!”

At this moment, Hu Jianren also thought of a detail: “No wonder the night before last this salesman told police it was a taxi that turned into his lane, and he crashed into the tree trying to avoid it. But police checked on the spot—no taxi with that plate number exists at all.”

With this analysis, all three completely believed this had been a setup by four people working together, with the goal of robbing Zhou Rong.

Zhang Debing ground his teeth and hummed, saying quietly: “Brother Rong, now that we’ve found them, how to handle it is up to you.”

Zhou Rong pondered: “That salesman has been found, but it’s unclear whether the other three are home. With the USB drive out there, every minute is more dangerous. Well… looks like we’ll have to take a risk. You personally take a few reliable people, go upstairs, and control everyone in the house. If the USB drive is there, great. If it’s not, use the lives of people in the house to exchange for the USB drive. After we get it, kill all four and dispose of them cleanly. Remember, this absolutely cannot alert the police.”

Zhang Debing nodded crisply: “Brother Rong, I’ll definitely handle this cleanly.” After speaking, Zhang Debing went to arrange a few reliable junior associates, personally taking people out in two vehicles.

“The most dangerous place is the safest place.” Fang Chao’s lips curved smugly. “Police could never dream we not only didn’t run but came back. We’re right at Zhou Rong’s doorstep. They’d never imagine we have a new means of transportation!”

“I don’t think this means of transportation is very suitable.” Liu Zhi sat in the back seat, looking worriedly at this disabled mobility vehicle.

They’d stolen this vehicle last night from an unguarded suburban roadside. A disabled mobility vehicle was just a three-wheeled motorcycle with a metal shell—stealing a motorcycle was child’s play for them.

“This vehicle’s biggest advantage is safety. Who would think we’re tailing someone in a disabled vehicle?” Fang Chao patted the steering wheel, quite satisfied, thinking that after finishing this business, the disabled vehicle could also be sold for two or three thousand yuan.

“But this vehicle can’t go fast.”

“Obviously—would it be called a disabled vehicle if it went fast?”

“But if Zhou Rong gives us the money then chases us, where can we go in this vehicle?” Liu Zhi’s mind conjured an image of Zhou Rong in his Mercedes chasing their disabled vehicle from behind. They’d already floored it, and Zhou Rong pulled alongside, rolled down his window, and sneered at them: Run! Keep running!

Fang Chao shook his head dismissively: “You think I’d directly contact Zhou Rong to get the ransom?”

“What else?”

“This transaction is critically important. We can’t take more risks—we’ll need to go through many circles.”

Just then, they saw Zhou Rong’s manor’s six-meter-high gate slowly pull open. Immediately after, two large SUVs drove out. After reaching the road, both vehicles accelerated and sped away.

“Hold on!” Fang Chao barked quietly and floored the accelerator to follow. Though he didn’t really need to say “hold on”—he’d already floored it, which was only slightly faster than electric scooters on the road. After the two SUVs turned a corner in the distance, they vanished from sight.

Fang Chao angrily slapped the disabled vehicle’s steering wheel and could only park the car to the side first to organize his thoughts.

Those two vehicles seemed to have quite a few people in them. Were they going to the bank to withdraw money to prepare the ransom? That wouldn’t need so many people. Were they going to catch the two of them? Even more impossible—the two of them were right here.

Unable to figure it out, he decided to directly probe Zhou Rong. He found a brand-new SIM card, inserted it into his phone, and dialed Zhou Rong’s number: “Hello, Boss Zhou?”

Zhou Rong sat on the sofa. Hearing this voice, he immediately stood up: “It’s me.”

“Where are you?”

“I… I’m home.”

“Then why did you send so many people out? Don’t tell me you’re still thinking about finding us?”

Zhou Rong’s heart panicked. His every move was actually completely within their grasp. He suddenly didn’t know how to answer.

“Say something.”

“No, I’m going to prepare the money.”

“You need that many people to prepare money?”

“You want ten million in cash—it’s not a small amount. Each person has daily withdrawal limits. I’m arranging more people to go to different banks, partly also for safety.”

Fang Chao laughed coldly: “If that’s the case, good. Remember, don’t test us. We’re watching your every move.”

Zhou Rong swallowed: “I can have the money ready today. How do you want to make the exchange?”

“Very simple—you set the time and place for the exchange now, and we’ll naturally come.”

“I set the exchange time and place?” Zhou Rong was somewhat surprised.

“Right, you have full authority to decide.”

Zhou Rong thought this was probably a scheme. Anyway, the other side already knew he’d sent people out. The explanation about withdrawing money was just a temporary excuse. Since the cards were on the table, there was no need to hide. He might as well set the exchange location near their hideout. He said: “How about Jiade Square in two hours?”

“Two hours from now, Jiade Square—no problem!” With that, Fang Chao hung up and removed the SIM card.

Zhou Rong looked at the disconnected call, sat back on the sofa, thought for a moment, and immediately called Zhang Debing: “Where are you?”

“Already downstairs from them. I’m looking for an opportunity to go up.”

“No need for now. They’ve discovered your movements. We’re in the open, they’re in the dark. They want to make an exchange.”

“What should we do?”

Zhou Rong thought for a moment: “You stay nearby and watch carefully. Have everyone else withdraw.”

At this moment, Zhang Debing said again: “Brother Rong, I see that salesman coming downstairs again. Should we have someone follow?”

“Don’t follow. Before the exchange, I don’t want to alert them.”