The leader of the team seemed to know something in advance.
He hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Li Hongji picked up the phone.
He did not call any lawyer, or any of his past contacts.
He dialed a number that no one would have ever expected.
The call was answered quickly.
A strange smile appeared on Li Hongji's face.
"It's me."
"I know you can't protect me. And I don't need you to."
"I'm just telling you one thing."
"Those things I have."
"If I die, I'll make sure they disappear forever."
"My son must live."
With that, Li Hongji hung up.
Then, he looked at the team leader and smiled.
"I'm feeling a bit unwell. I need to use the restroom."
The team leader didn't seem suspicious.
A few minutes later.
"Bang!"
A gunshot shattered the tranquility of the dusk.
The generation's tycoon, Li Hongji, ended his life of sin by his own hand.
It also drew a bloody full stop to this siege against the Li family.
...
The news of the Li family's collapse swept through Jingzhou like a hurricane.
Some cheered, some sighed, and some felt a sense of shared sorrow.
Lu Mingye learned about it that evening while watching the news.
He watched the footage on TV of the Li family estate being sealed.
He watched the sorry sight of Li Xiujian being handcuffed and escorted into a police van.
What he felt was an unprecedented, immense pleasure.
"He's dead! Good! Hahaha, good riddance!"
He jumped up excitedly from the sofa.
The humiliation suffered at the racetrack, the grievance endured at the nightclub.
At this moment, they were all avenged in the most thorough way.
He felt this was the heavens helping him vent his anger.
In the news, Li Hongji's death was defined as a suicide to escape punishment.
A business tycoon with a long list of sins, at the end of his road, used the most extreme method to put a full stop to his own life.
This was a satisfying, crowd-pleasing ending that fit the public's imagination.
Lu Mingye thought so too.
He raised his glass towards the TV in a distant toast.
"Cheers."
He smiled and drank the wine.
The liquid slid down his throat with a hint of sweetness.
This was the taste of victory.
He even had an absurd illusion.
That he had played a part in the Li family's downfall.
If he hadn't thrown that humiliating punch at Li Xiujian in the nightclub, perhaps all this wouldn't have happened so quickly.
He was the last straw that broke the camel's back.
Carrying this inexplicable excitement, he went upstairs.
He wanted to share the good news with his father.
He wanted to see his father's approving look.
He wanted to tell his father that he, Lu Mingye, was not just a troublemaking waste.
He could also contribute to the family's victory.
The door to Lu Chengsi's study was slightly ajar.
Lu Chengsi was standing by the window, seemingly deep in thought.
His back, under the dim lamplight, appeared exceptionally upright, yet also exceptionally distant.
Lu Mingye didn't knock; he pushed the door open and entered directly.
"Dad! Did you see the news? The Li family is finished! That bastard Li Xiujian has been arrested!"
His voice was full of the excitement of someone seeking credit.
Lu Chengsi slowly turned around.
His face did not hold the joy Lu Mingye had anticipated.
There was only a deep, unfathomable calm.
And a trace of weariness he couldn't quite conceal.
"I saw it."
He said flatly.
"Good riddance! Truly satisfying!"
Lu Mingye waved his fist,
"Their family deserved this ending! Dad, now, our Lu family..."
"Our Lu family, what about it?"
Lu Chengsi interrupted him, his voice still even.
Lu Mingye's excitement suddenly cooled by half.
"We... we've become number one in Jingzhou."
He stammered.
Lu Chengsi looked at him.
That gaze was no longer one of disappointment.
It was a kind of scrutiny, almost akin to pity.
As if looking at a child, naive to the point of being laughable.
"Do you think this was a street brawl?"
"You win, so you're number one?"
"Do you think Li Hongji's death, the Li family's collapse, happened because you threw a drink at his son in a nightclub?"
Lu Chengsi seemed to have guessed his son's thoughts instantly.
His tone grew even colder.
Each of his questions, even each word, was like a slap, striking Lu Mingye's face hard.
The color rapidly drained from Lu Mingye's face.
"Dad... I... I didn't mean that..."
"Then what did you mean?"
Lu Chengsi continued to look at him with a calm expression,
"Tell me, what did you do in this matter?"
"What did you see?"
"What did you think about?"
"I..."
Lu Mingye's throat felt choked by an invisible hand; he couldn't utter a word.
He had done nothing.
He had seen nothing.
The only thing he had thought about was his own gratification.
"You only saw Li Xiujian's disgrace, you only felt your pitiful sense of victorious pleasure."
Lu Chengsi's voice was not loud, but every word struck at the heart.
"You have no idea how many people have put in how much effort behind the scenes for this day."
"You also don't know what price we paid to make the Li family fall."
"You know even less about what Li Hongji's final gunshot meant."
A complex emotion flashed in Lu Chengsi's eyes.
There was resolve, ruthlessness, and also a trace of the bleak sorrow one feels at the death of a kindred spirit.
When the hare dies, the fox mourns...
"Get out."
Lu Chengsi waved his hand, as if looking at his son for another moment was a drain.
"Don't come to see me again until you learn to think with your brain."
Lu Mingye stood rigidly in place like a statue.
Immense humiliation and fear completely overwhelmed him.
For the first time, he realized that his father's world and the world he inhabited were two entirely different dimensions.
The victory he was so proud of was, in his father's eyes, nothing but a laughable trifle.
He staggered out of the study.
In the shadows of the corridor, Lu Mingshi leaned against the wall, having witnessed everything.
He watched his elder brother's utterly dejected appearance.
The corner of his mouth lifted into a cold smile.
Lu Chengsi stood alone in the empty study for a long time.
The night outside the window was thick and impenetrable.
Just then, the encrypted phone on the desk rang abruptly.
Lu Chengsi walked over and answered the call.
"Chengsi."
A steady male voice came from the other end of the line.
It was his old friend "Old Wang," the one who had warned him before.
"It's me."
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
