Not Living Anymore

Bang!

A glass smashed into the corner of the wall and shattered.

The clattering noise echoed in the large, empty house, sounding exceptionally piercing.

"Die! Die! All of you, go to hell!" Zhou Nianqian swept everything off the table onto the floor.

Zhou Nianqian panted heavily, the buttons on his shirt already torn off.

This apartment was one of the few clean assets left under his name. As for the Zhou family mansion? There was no going back.

He had been expelled from the Zhou family.

If it were possible, even his surname, Zhou, would have been taken back.

That old geezer at home had calculated everything perfectly, pushing him out to take the blame when things went wrong.

An abandoned pawn? No, this was called recycling trash.

As long as Zhou Nianqian was still wandering outside, all the firepower would be concentrated on him, and the Zhou family would remain safe and sound.

That was why he had a large sum of money and could still move freely in Yangcheng.

This way, no matter who came looking for trouble with him, the Zhou family wouldn't pursue it.

At the same time, he would no longer implicate the Zhou family.

What a great deal.

Two burly Caucasian men stood there expressionless. These were mercenaries he had hired from an overseas security company at a high price; they only recognized money, not people.

As long as they were paid enough, they would even blow up the Zhou family's old mansion.

Zhou Nianqian kicked away the broken glass at his feet and picked up his only suitcase.

"To the airport."

His flight was for tonight.

As long as he left the country and hid in some small nation without an extradition treaty, the money in his overseas accounts would easily allow him to live like a wealthy man for a few years.

Once the heat died down, he could change his identity and perhaps even make a comeback.

In the past, he always traveled in a Gulfstream G650; today, he could only take commercial first class.

Even if he was down and out, he still had to maintain a noble posture.

There was a sense of disparity, but he didn't care.

Only by staying alive could he deal damage.

The elevator went straight down to the underground garage. The black commercial vehicle started up, its tires making a faint sound as they rubbed against the ground.

Just as they exited the garage gate, a blinding high beam flashed over without any warning.

Screech!

The bodyguard slammed on the brakes, and the inertia nearly sent Zhou Nianqian crashing into the front seat.

A heavy-looking Cullinan was blocking the way ahead.

The car door opened, and a young man wearing a student shirt stepped out. His hair was slicked back smoothly, and his smugness could be smelled right through the windshield.

Zhou Nianqian's face darkened.

Wasn't this his good half-brother?

This piece of trash who used to not even dare breathe loudly in front of him now actually dared to block his car.

Zhou Nianqian pushed the door open and got out, straightening his collar.

Even if he was on the run, he had to look decent.

"Oh, isn't this big brother?"

The young man leaned against the car door, unable to suppress the smile on his face. It was the unique arrogance of a villain who had gotten his way. "Oh, wait, Dad just announced in the main hall this morning that whoever calls you big brother from now on is going against the Zhou family. So... Zhou Nianqian, I'm here to see you off. After all, we were once brothers."

"See me off?" Zhou Nianqian didn't even look at him, his gaze sweeping over the driver's seat.

A driver was sitting there, craning his neck to look over.

"Of course, after all, you are my dearest... former big brother."

The young man waved his hand with a grin. "Blood is thicker than water, after all. I just came to see you looking like a stray dog... looking so down and out. We might never see each other again in this lifetime, so taking a few extra looks makes me feel great."

This kind of low-level mockery didn't even qualify to make Zhou Nianqian angry.

He just found it noisy.

Looking at his brother, whose mouth was twitching upwards, Zhou Nianqian glanced again at the man sitting in the driver's seat.

He changed his mind. Since they wouldn't let him have it easy, then nobody would have it easy.

Zhou Nianqian turned his head and tilted his chin at the Caucasian bodyguard beside him.

No nonsense.

No need for eye contact.

The bodyguard on the left suddenly sprang into action, crossing the distance to the car in two steps. He yanked the door open and punched the driver squarely in the neck.

The other bodyguard also stepped forward directly, circling behind the younger brother. A massive hand, like a palm-leaf fan, clamped onto the back of his neck.

A simple choke.

The young man didn't even let out a groan. His eyes rolled back, and he went limp like a dead snake.

The world became peaceful.

The whole thing took less than five seconds.

Zhou Nianqian walked over and nudged his unconscious good brother with the tip of his shoe, his face expressionless.

Looking at the fainted person, a hint of ferocity flashed in Zhou Nianqian's eyes.

"Since you don't want me to have a good time, I won't let you have a good time either."

Saying that, he waved his hand.

"Take him away! We're not taking the plane anymore."

He had originally planned to just leave, but since things had come to this, he might as well blow it out of proportion.

Both cars were driven away.

In the car, Zhou Nianqian dialed a number.

It was a contact from his own channels, just like these two bodyguards, whom he had found himself.

Of course, these people might not have enough loyalty, but their moral standards weren't high either. They would basically do whatever they were told, as long as it wasn't too dangerous.

"Hello, it's me."

"Find me a group of people, good fighters, not afraid of committing crimes. About ten of them. I'll give you a hundred thousand headhunting fee for each one. You don't need to worry about how much I pay them."

The headhunting fee naturally wasn't worth a hundred thousand each.

But he needed secrecy right now. This hundred thousand each wasn't just a headhunting fee; it was also hush money.

The other party understood this logic as well, so they didn't press him on what the people were needed for.

Anyway, there were plenty of people willing to do this kind of thing.

Zhou Nianqian, who originally just wanted to survive, no longer wanted to live at this moment. Since he didn't want to live, there was a way to play when one didn't care about living.

Everything seemed to return to peace.

It was just that both the Zhou corporation and the Ye corporation were shrinking, and many mid-to-high-level executives had even been taken away by the police.

Many shares had also been swallowed up by Jiang Chengshan.

Many shareholders were thinking of washing their hands of it and transferred their shares out.

The strange thing was that Jiang Chengshan actually had enough capital.

Now the scale of both the Zhou and Ye corporations was much smaller than before. Although they had cut off their own flesh in many areas, a loss was a loss.

Both families chose to turtle up and hide.

The Ye family also directly sent Ye Minghui abroad, promising that without Jiang Chengshan's nod, Ye Minghui would never return.

It would probably be a long time before Ye Minghui realized that he had ended up in such a state all because of a single phone call.

A week passed, and the school side had long since put these two people out of their minds.

Wang Qin's father's new job had also been finalized, and the salary and benefits were very good.

As for Jiang Yunlu, she had also asked Lin Mo if he had exerted any effort behind the scenes.

This time, Lin Mo did not deny it. However, he was a bit dissatisfied as to why Jiang Yunlu hadn't told him, and he only found out about the matter because Fang Jun told him.

Jiang Yunlu didn't tell him that, in fact, the first person to know all of this was Xie Yuling.

She was still agonizing over a problem: how to thank Xie Yuling.

How to express goodwill without appearing to be at a disadvantage.

So, she set her sights on Chu Miaomiao.