Zhou Cheng was delayed in Shanghai for several days and didn’t know about Xia Xiaolan’s move.

However, Zhou Cheng wasn’t in a hurry. He had saved Uncle Liu Yong’s life – how could Xia Xiaolan abandon her uncle even if she moved to the ends of the earth?

Liu Yong thought Zhou Cheng and Kang Wei looked like smugglers, but they weren’t – at most, they were involved in speculation and profiteering. Liu Yong was the real smuggler. How much could a mason earn? Liu Yong’s personality wouldn’t settle for mediocrity; he wanted to earn big money quickly.

It took him half a year to learn the trade, and he did indeed make money. He wasn’t just transporting goods – he had invested in the business, putting all his earnings back into merchandise. This recent interception had cost him at least half of everything he’d accumulated over the past six months!

Though the loss pained him, at least he’d kept his life.

After all, the other two people with him had been beaten to death on the spot.

Smuggling brought quick money but high risks. Having experienced it firsthand, Liu Yong refused to let Xia Xiaolan date Zhou Cheng. Zhou Cheng claimed he worked at a classified facility, but Liu Yong wouldn’t believe him no matter what. Zhou Cheng didn’t bother explaining and simply waited for Liu Yong to be discharged from the hospital. When he and Kang Wei were unloading cargo, they brought Liu Yong along.

Zhou Cheng and Kang Wei’s Dongfeng truck had its cargo hold filled with boxes.

They unloaded the goods in Shanghai and loaded new cargo before leaving.

What did they load? Liu Yong’s heart pounded as he watched them inspect the goods.

Cigarettes – boxes and boxes of nothing but cigarettes!

Zhou Cheng and Kang Wei had bought up all the cigarettes that had quotas in Shanghai but weren’t selling well locally, planning to transport them back to the brands’ original locations for sale. The price difference on a single pack might seem insignificant, but they weren’t dealing with just one pack, one carton, or even one box.

The entire cargo hold was full of cigarettes of various brands!

They must have been making more than just ten cents per pack. Zhou Cheng must have established quite a network of connections – they kept loading and unloading throughout the journey, exchanging boxes in the cargo hold. Box after box of cigarettes was unloaded, with new boxes filling the cargo hold again. This business certainly required sharing profits, with Zhou Cheng and his partner acting as middlemen, requiring others to handle both supply and distribution.

But even if they only made ten cents profit per pack that reached their hands, that meant one yuan per carton, and each large box easily held hundreds of cartons. The Dongfeng truck’s cargo hold, if not carrying tens of thousands of cartons, must have held thousands at least. It wasn’t just making thousands per trip – they stopped at every major city from Beijing to Shanghai and back again. Liu Yong couldn’t even calculate how many cartons they could trade or how much money they could make!

Even smuggling wasn’t this profitable.

If this business belonged entirely to Zhou Cheng and Kang Wei, they must be incredibly wealthy!

Liu Yong was dazzled by it all, unable to figure out Zhou Cheng and Kang Wei’s background. Were they desperados or well-connected officials? Without connections, such a business would be impossible. Kang Wei deferred to Zhou Cheng, but what was Zhou Cheng’s true identity?

Liu Yong wasn’t at all reassured. Would someone like this, who had set his sights on Xiaolan, really give up without getting what he wanted?

The Liu family was of humble status and could not oppose Zhou Cheng.

Liu Yong didn’t have high hopes for his niece’s future with Zhou Cheng. Even if Zhou Cheng wasn’t toying with Xiaolan’s feelings, their social standings were too different – they would struggle to make it work.

On the return journey, Liu Yong grew increasingly silent.

Zhou Cheng spoke directly, “This business is quite profitable, but I won’t do it forever. What about you, Uncle? Do you plan to return to your old trade?”

Liu Yong gritted his teeth, “I’ll withdraw what capital I have left. I don’t dare touch that business again.”

Liu Yong wasn’t short on courage and knew the risks before entering the trade. But this brush with death had served as a wake-up call. Nobody is fearless – if he died on the road, leaving behind a family of women and a six-year-old child, wouldn’t they be bullied to death?

“Uncle, how much capital do you estimate you can withdraw?”

Zhou Cheng wasn’t short of money, so Liu Yong wasn’t worried about him coveting his modest savings and spoke frankly:

“Most of it was lost this time. If I withdraw my share now, at best I might get 5,000, at worst around 3,000 yuan.”

Liu Yong felt quite regretful.

Kang Wei, however, somewhat admired him.

Liu Yong couldn’t compare to Brother Cheng or even himself in natural advantages.

Physically, Liu Yong wasn’t cut out for violence, yet he’d managed to earn a decent sum in half a year through his wits and courage.

If it weren’t for Zhou Cheng’s support, Kang Wei himself would still be working his mundane job in Beijing, earning barely enough to survive, relying on his doting grandmother’s support to make ends meet.

Zhou Cheng’s detailed questioning suggested he wanted Liu Yong to invest his remaining capital in the cigarette business.

“Uncle, you should consider it carefully. I think you and Kang Wei could work well together on this.”

Kang Wei had no objections. Zhou Cheng couldn’t stay away from his proper duties forever, and after Zhou Cheng left, Kang Wei wouldn’t try to take his share. If Xia Xiaolan became his sister-in-law, Liu Yong would be Zhou Cheng’s real uncle – having Liu Yong involved in the business would make Kang Wei feel more secure.

Was Liu Yong tempted?

His heart was racing, and within just a minute or two, his clothes were soaked with sweat!

The sweat irritated his wounds, causing both pain and itching, but through sheer willpower, Liu Yong rejected this tempting offer.

He couldn’t accept money that fell from the sky. Zhou Cheng might not mind, but Liu Yong didn’t want to sell his niece for money. He had become quite wealthy but nearly died in the King of Hell’s palace, losing all but a few thousand yuan that he might not even receive. Didn’t Liu Yong’s heartache? But with those few thousand yuan, he could start another business. It wouldn’t be as profitable as smuggling or Zhou Cheng’s cigarette trade, but he could spend the earnings with a clear conscience.

Zhou Cheng laughed upon hearing this and said seemingly out of nowhere:

“Uncle, you and Xiaolan are truly family.”

What was wrong with being rural folk? Whether it was Xia Xiaolan or Liu Yong, they had their dignity. Wasn’t Xiaolan clever enough to see that she could get rich just by playing along with Zhou Cheng? But when Zhou Cheng invited her to invest, Xiaolan flatly refused.

Now Zhou Cheng invited Liu Yong, who had just suffered a major career setback, to invest – free money, essentially – and Liu Yong firmly refused as well.

Zhou Cheng felt they were family!

Liu Yong found it puzzling, but Zhou Cheng did not explain. Suddenly, Zhou Cheng desperately missed Xia Xiaolan. His longing for her had never ceased, but now it was particularly intense. He didn’t want to stop along the way anymore and drove straight to Anqing County, saying he wanted to send the injured Liu Yong home.

The truck puttered into Qijing Village, and Liu Yong led Zhou Cheng home. Unlike the previous time when Zhou Cheng had saved Xia Xiaolan without taking credit, this time he intended to appear in her life in a more legitimate capacity.

What could Liu Yong do?

He couldn’t refuse and had to respectfully invite his two life-savers home.

When Liu Yong had left, he’d said he wouldn’t return for at least two months, but here he was after just two weeks. Though his skin was dark, the major blood loss had taken its toll – his lips were pale, and his steps were unsteady.

Li Fengmei was worried, “What happened to you?”

Liu Yong looked around the house, “Where’s Xiaolan?”

“Xiaolan moved to Shangdu two days ago. She said the city was more convenient.”

She’d moved away?

Liu Yong’s first reaction was joy – Zhou Cheng, who followed him, had come to see Xiaolan but found her gone.

Zhou Cheng was disappointed, which made Liu Yong happy. Li Fengmei couldn’t understand this mentality; she just wondered who Zhou Cheng and Kang Wei were. They were supposed to be Liu Yong’s friends, but she’d never seen them before.

Liu Yong coughed twice, “I ran into some trouble on this trip, and these two comrades saved my life. I don’t know how to thank them for such great kindness.”