The three of them nodded in agreent. However, as they looked around the room again, reality settled in.
They couldn’t just leave all these land certificates and docunts behind. If the Golden Earth group found them, it would be a disaster.
"Before that," Zhao Yiming said firmly, "we need to do sothing with all of these docunts."
He was certain most of them were acquired through illegal ans—or even violence, like what happened at the old shopping street. If he left them here, it would feel like conceding defeat.
"I’m not sure about that, Yiming..." Su ilin said hesitantly. "If we take them, wouldn’t those people get suspicious about what happened to Jin?"
Luo Yanyu nodded. "I agree. It’s better if we ask Madam Ruan first. She’ll know what to do."
Zhao Yiming clenched his fists. He knew exactly what Madam Ruan would say—probably sothing like "just leave it."
But his mind kept flashing to the image of Mr. Wu being kicked to the ground, and Madam He screaming for help, tears running down her wrinkled cheeks.
If he didn’t do sothing now, scenes like that would repeat. He had the chance to deal a serious blow to those bastards—and walking away would feel like losing.
Unfortunately, he was too late.
The call finally connected.
"Yanyu, what’s the matter? If it’s not important, I’m cutting your pay—again! You always call over the dumbest things!" ca Madam Ruan’s voice, sharp and echoing through the quiet apartnt.
Luo Yanyu’s eyes widened. "What do you an, boss? I’ve never—"
"You called once because your cat had a fever!"
Zhao Yiming blinked.
Su ilin covered her mouth, trying not to laugh. "Pfft—"
"T-that was an ergency! Bobo is my family!" Luo Yanyu huffed indignantly.
There was silence on the other end. Everyone could practically feel Madam Ruan rolling her eyes.
"Anyway!" Yanyu quickly changed the subject. "We found the ledger!"
"WHAT?!" Madam Ruan shouted. "Why didn’t you just lead with that?! Co to my office imdiately and—wait!"
She paused.
"...That’s not the only thing we found," Luo Yanyu added, her voice a little more serious now.
"There are a lot of docunts here. Land certificates. Files. Even personal profiles of people we don’t recognize."
A tense silence. Then Madam Ruan spoke again, her voice lower this ti.
"...Leave it there. The important thing is already in your hands."
Zhao Yiming’s jaw tightened. There it was, the exact response he expected.
Just walk away. Let the rest rot. Let the bastards co back and pick it up like nothing happened.
His grip on the ledger tightened. "Can I talk to her?"
Zhao Yiming asked, holding out his hand. Luo Yanyu handed him the phone without a word.
"We can’t just leave all these docunts behind!" he said, gripping the phone tightly. "Once Jin Haolong’s death becos public, they’ll definitely co and sweep this place clean!"
There was a pause before Madam Ruan’s voice ca through, sharp and cold.
"So you do understand. If you don’t want anyone sniffing around, then leave everything and be a good citizen."
Her words made sense. That was the problem. They were harsh, logical... and left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Luo Yanyu sensed the growing tension and quickly tried to think of another way out. As Zhao Yiming and Madam Ruan kept arguing back and forth, she suddenly grabbed Zhao’s shoulder.
"I have an idea," she said, then snatched the phone and switched it to speaker.
"What if we burn the docunts? Just a small fire—not enough to destroy the whole apartnt."
"You could burn the whole place down," Su ilin suddenly added.
Her calm tone made them all glance at her in surprise.
"No one’s here anymore," she explained.
"When the tenants found out Jin didn’t even want to pay respects to Lao Chen’s dead family—let alone give his family any compensation—they all packed up and left. I heard so are still moving, but most are gone."
She continued, her tone resolute. "This apartnt’s under Jin Haolong’s na, and he registered it with ridiculously expensive insurance."
"If I claim it, I could give those tenants so real compensation—maybe even restart my life."
"Whoa, whoa—stop right there, lady," Madam Ruan cut in sharply. "You really don’t know how the world works, do you?"
There was a long pause. Then Madam Ruan’s voice dropped lower, more serious.
"Insurance companies don’t just hand over money when a fire happens. They investigate—thoroughly. You think you can fake a fire accident in a place like this? They’ll know if it was arson. That’s what forensic teams are for."
"And don’t even think about touching that insurance. Once a fire investigation starts, they’ll dig deeper—especially if the owner of the property just died suddenly. You want them to start asking questions about Jin Haolong’s body?"
"But you said you took care of the body," Su ilin said, frowning. "So we don’t have to worry, right? I don’t mind doing five years in jail if it ans people around here finally get justice—"
"Justice?" Madam Ruan interrupted, scoffing. "You think this is a courtroom drama? You really believe the police care about ’justice’? That they’re gonna march in here like heroes and punish the bad guys?"
She let out a long sigh.
"Even if I staged the scene perfectly, an autopsy will speak louder than anything we say. No matter how careful you are, a body doesn’t lie. They’ll know if he was injured before death or during. They’ll know if soone tampered with the scene."
"Stop with the talk about justice. There’s no justice in this world," she finished coldly. "Only money. Money talks. Now get your asses over here with the ledger—and leave everything else."
The three of them fell silent. As much as they hated to admit it, Madam Ruan was right. They couldn’t outsmart the authorities—not with limited ti, resources, and no backup.
And worse, Madam Ruan clearly wasn’t going to help them if things went sideways.
But Su ilin clenched her fists. She wasn’t ready to give up. Just like Zhao Yiming, she couldn’t stand the idea of Jin Haolong and his people getting the last laugh—even in death.
Before they could argue further, the front door creaked open.
Click.
They all froze.
Footsteps echoed from the entrance, slow but purposeful. Heavy. More than one pair.
Luo Yanyu imdiately ended the call and silenced her phone. The apartnt was too quiet—every footstep sounded like a gunshot. They had no idea how many were out there.
"What do we do?" she whispered, her voice shaking.
"Hide!" Zhao Yiming hissed.
Both won scrambled to hide behind the shelves and cabinets. Zhao Yiming glanced around—the place had almost no proper hiding spots.
His heart pounded. He knew this was useless.
There wasn’t anywhere real to hide. Whoever had co in... they were going to find them.
Reviews
All reviews (0)