“Thank you! You’ve worked hard!”

Xia Xiaolan didn’t know how to address him, as Pan Bohua hadn’t made any introductions.

The short man in the floral shirt scratched his head but turned to Pan Bohua and said, “Third Brother, when we were in Los Angeles, we ran into an American fat guy. He was being chased by Zhang Jiandong’s people, so we helped save him.”

A fat guy?

Xia Xiaolan brightened up, “Was his name Jim?”

“Yeah, I think that was his name. He’s a detective.”

The floral shirt man pursed his lips, clearly thinking American detectives were too weak.

Xia Xiaolan hadn’t heard from Jim in a long time and had been worried about him. Now hearing that Jim had been rescued, she was overjoyed: “Thank you so much. I thought Jim had already been killed.”

Oh, so the weakling was on their side.

The floral shirt man felt increasingly embarrassed, “If I’d known, I would have brought him back. He’s still at the hospital now. He’s injured but probably won’t die.”

Let him recover then – at least he’s alive.

Pan Bohua called the floral shirt man aside and gave him some instructions, after which he left, swinging his legs as he walked.

Xia Xiaolan opened the envelope.

Several old photographs fell out.

Zhang Jiandong’s background wasn’t as checkered as Xia Xiaolan had expected. He came to America in 1960, first settling in San Francisco. Unlike Xu Zhongyi’s misfortune, Zhang Jiandong was quite lucky. Shortly after arriving in San Francisco, he married a local single lady. Zhang Jiandong was probably only in his twenties then, while his bride was over forty.

Through this marriage, Zhang Jiandong obtained American citizenship without much effort.

“Third Brother, look – Zhang Jiandong came to America in 1960, and San Francisco police say Rat Qiang also came that year. Our guess wasn’t wrong – they’re not just similar in name.”

Even if not blood brothers, they must have come to America together.

Pan Bohua clicked his tongue in wonder.

Councilman Zhang and Cui Yiru were known as a model couple in Los Angeles.

Yet few knew about Zhang’s previous marriage.

Xia Xiaolan wasn’t surprised – just as young women married old men for green cards, it was normal for young men to marry middle-aged women for the same reason.

What was unusual was the fate of Zhang Jiandong’s first wife.

Young women who successfully obtained citizenship would at most divorce their elderly husbands.

But in this case, two years after marrying Zhang Jiandong, the lady died of a heart attack. Since she had no children, Zhang Jiandong inherited all her assets.

“This is how he got his start – an inheritance of several thousand dollars wasn’t a small sum over twenty years ago.”

With American citizenship, a deceased wife, and money, Zhang Jiandong didn’t go wild living it up. He used the money for further education. In 1966, when Xu Zhongyi and Cui Yiru came to America with their son, Zhang Jiandong was running a modest trading company in San Francisco.

Xia Xiaolan had to marvel at how far those thousands of dollars had stretched.

Enough for both education and starting a business.

“Third Brother, it says here that by the mid-60s, Zhang Jiandong had already built up some wealth.”

Pan Bohua took the documents, “You find it strange that his background looks so clean, right? Except for the convenient timing of his first wife’s death, he appears to be just a lucky Chinese immigrant.”

Yes, too clean.

Arrived in America in 1960, then married for citizenship.

Then his wife died leaving him an inheritance, he got further education and started a business.

After the arson case, Zhang Jiandong didn’t immediately marry Cui Yiru. In January 1968, Cui Yiru gave birth to their daughter Tina. In 1969, when Tina was just one year old, Cui Yiru and Zhang Jiandong married in Los Angeles, after which Zhang Jiandong settled there with Cui Yiru and moved his business to Los Angeles as well.

So Tina was also Xu Zhongyi’s daughter.

Councilman Zhang was a magnanimous man who loved both mother and child.

Suspiciously clean!

Zhang Jiandong had no criminal record and no accusations against him.

“That’s why he could become a city councilman, right? You say he came to America with Rat Qiang – look how Rat Qiang ended up, trying to rob Xu Zhongyi and getting burned to death in the house. Everyone knows Rat Qiang’s evil reputation, but Zhang Jiandong was the one who benefited in the end.”

Pan Bohua trusted his instincts.

Zhang Jiandong gave him a bad feeling – appearing gentle but dangerous.

Zhang Jiandong’s disguise was too perfect.

But his early years in San Francisco revealed some clues. Actions always leave traces – how could there be so many coincidences? Both arrived in America in 1960, both settling in San Francisco.

“Third Brother, are you saying Rat Qiang was just a frontman that Zhang Jiandong put forward?”

Pan Bohua nodded, “He had more than just Rat Qiang as his enforcer. Of the gang members Rat Qiang worked with, some died, some went to prison, and others have achieved success today. They all share one trait – intricate connections to Zhang Jiandong’s import-export company… Look at the Zhang family’s lifestyle – could a single import-export company support that kind of living?”

“I understand. Third Brother, you’re saying Zhang Jiandong is the real boss behind the scenes. His record is spotless because he never needs to do the dirty work himself – whatever he wants done, his subordinates handle it. And his wealth comes from more than just an import-export company.”

Xia Xiaolan couldn’t help but shudder.

This man was terrifying.

If her and Pan Bohua’s speculation was correct, Zhang Jiandong was a formidable figure.

Lacking neither cunning nor ruthlessness, capable of both cruelty and patience – Xu Zhongyi was truly unfortunate to have such a person targeting him.

“Now there’s just one question – does Cui Yiru know about all this or not?”

This was something Pan Bohua’s people couldn’t determine.

He couldn’t answer Xia Xiaolan.

Did a woman know her bedmate’s true face?

If she didn’t know, Zhang Jiandong’s acting skills surpassed any Oscar winner.

If she did know… was she complicit with Zhang Jiandong, or just playing along?!

…

New York.

The Zhang family had few properties in New York, just one apartment in the Upper East Side that had been transferred to Tina’s name.

Tina had the apartment renovated, so Cui Yiru could only stay in a hotel when she came to New York. Mrs. Wilson had invited Cui Yiru to stay at her home, but after Fern and Harold’s fight disrupted Mrs. Wilson’s party, Cui Yiru couldn’t face staying there.

Three days had passed since the party ended.

According to Cui Yiru’s original plan, she should have returned to Los Angeles.

But now, she remained stuck in New York, caught in a dilemma.

Fern saw her lost in thought while holding that photograph and went to put an arm around her shoulders:

“Why are you distressing yourself over this? I told you that Xia Xiaolan had ill intentions – she deliberately got close to Tina… We really shouldn’t have let Tina come to New York for school, Los Angeles has excellent schools too. If she hadn’t come to New York, Tina wouldn’t have been captivated by an aging playboy, nor would she have made friends with people who have ulterior motives!”

Cui Yiru’s expression showed both grief and pity:

“Do you not remember anything? About this photograph – do you still recognize the people in it?”