A hundred flavors of life

Chapter 1545 He's definitely not an undercover agent! (Please subscribe!)
Jiao Tao was so anxious that his forehead was covered in sweat, and his voice was hoarse: "Brother, what the hell is going on? You better let Boss Zhang go right now!"

Hua Shier didn't move his hand at all; instead, he turned his head and glared at Jiao Tao with an impatient expression.

"Xiao Tao, are you even listening to me? Let's rob him of his money, take the goods back exactly as they are, and get both the money and the goods. Isn't that better?"

Jiao Tao was so choked by him that he almost passed out:

"Do you think this is a Hong Kong movie from the 1980s? Everything's done through overseas transfers now, you can't rob anyone of your money!"

Hua Shier looked down at the long-haired man whose arms she had tied behind his back, and pressed the gun barrel against his temple by half an inch:
"That's easy. Make him transfer the money, or beat him to death."

The long-haired man, Zhang Anru, had veins bulging on his neck as he tilted his head and glared at Jiao Tao through gritted teeth.

"Jiao Tao, what exactly does Boss Fu mean? We've cooperated before, is he really going to double-cross us?"

Jiao Tao hurriedly waved his hands like a fan:
"No, no, absolutely not! We always value our reputation in business."

He turned his head, his tone almost pleading:

"Brother Tianlong, we can talk this over. First, release Boss Zhang, then we can talk, okay?"

Hua Shier's expression remained completely unchanged:

"Screw you. Jiao Tao, whose side are you on? Didn't you see how many people are lying on the ground? If I let him go, who the hell will let me go? Do you think he won't hold a grudge?"

Jiao Tao grabbed his hair and spun around on the spot, feeling like he was being roasted over a fire. Finally, he pointed sharply at Hua Zai and Fen Zai:

"Can someone please tell me what happened? How did my perfectly good business turn into this mess?"

Zhang Anru sneered and squeezed out a few words: "He brought a note with him."

Jiao Tao's pupils contracted sharply, and he looked abruptly at Hua Shier: "Are you an undercover agent?"

Hua Shier, being an undercover agent, showed no fear whatsoever. He spat on the ground, his tone even more aggressive than Hua's:

"Holy crap! Ask those two thugs, we ran into a cop at the gas station who insisted on stopping our car to check our goods, so I knocked him out and threw him in the truck. I was just going to dump him somewhere and be done with it, but these idiots had to cause trouble and forced me to kill the cop."

"Damn it, do you think he has some serious illness?!"

When Flower Boy and Pink Boy were called out, they both jumped up and nodded frantically, their movements so synchronized it was as if they had rehearsed.

Zhang Anru roared, "If you don't kill the cops, how will anyone know if you're an undercover agent!"

Jiao Tao took a few deep breaths and finally managed to sort things out from the tangled mess.

He pressed his hands down, trying to make his voice sound calm: "It's a misunderstanding, Tianlong, it's just a misunderstanding. Don't be impulsive, please don't be impulsive, I'll call Lao Fu."

He took out his phone and pressed a button, but there was no signal at all on the screen.

Although Zhang Anru still had a cold expression, she still reminded him in a low voice, "There are signal jammers here. If you want to make a call, go outside."

Jiao Tao clutched his phone and turned to run outside, splashing water as he stepped on the door frame.

Less than a minute later, his voice pierced through the wind and rain and came in from outside the window: "Tianlong. Old Fu wants you to answer the phone!"

Hua Shier grabbed Zhang Anru by the back of the neck and dragged her out of the villa.

Jiao Tao quickly shoved the phone into his free hand; the call timer on the screen was still ticking.

"Hey Lao Fu, it's me."

Fu Guosheng's voice came through the receiver, sounding slightly distorted by the wind and rain, but his tone was a shade deeper than usual:

"Brother Tianlong, release them immediately."

Hua Shier didn't respond to that; instead, he moved closer to the microphone and began to entice in a low voice:
"Old Fu, haven't you heard the saying that adults never make choices? I'll take both the money and the goods back with you. You make the money, and you can resell the goods to the next buyer. Isn't that great?"

Zhang Anru was trembling with anger. She yelled into the phone, her voice cracking:
"Boss Fu, is this how you do business?!"

Fu Guosheng was both amused and exasperated by the two of them on the other end of the phone. He first raised his voice to comfort them:
“Boss Zhang, this brother of mine used to be in the arms business overseas. He’s a bit impulsive and not familiar with the rules of our line of work. Don’t worry, I, Lao Fu, always keep my word when it comes to business.”

He paused, then when he spoke again, his tone had clearly shifted to that half-coaxing, half-coercing style he used specifically with China:
"Tianlong, this is all a misunderstanding. Release him immediately. In our line of work, reputation is the most important thing. If we cheat each other today, who will dare to buy our goods in the future? Hurry up and release Boss Zhang."

Hua Shier glanced down at Zhang Anru, whose face still bore the mark of the slap he had just delivered, her eyes were bruised, and she was glaring angrily with her neck stiff.

"I killed several of his men. What if he still won't let me go?"

Fu Guosheng didn't hesitate, his voice suddenly rising to ensure everyone on and off the phone could hear him clearly:

"Boss Zhang, you can pay 20% less on this deal; consider it a resettlement fee for those brothers. Let's call it a day. How about it?"

Zhang Anru's Adam's apple bobbed several times. He was currently at someone's mercy; what could he say? After a two-second silence, he asked:

"Your men also brought a note. What should we do with that note?"

This time, Fu Guosheng did not answer immediately.

There was a moment of silence in the receiver, with only the sound of wind and rain and the faint static of the electricity remaining.

Then his voice rang out again, this time with a hint of deliberation and caution:
"Brother Tianlong, what do you suggest we do?"

Hua Shier chuckled: "Easy. My original idea was that the officer said he was going to check my car, but before he could, I knocked him out, so he doesn't know anything. I figured after we finish the transaction, I'd just dump him on the side of the road, as long as he's not dead."

“But Boss Zhang insisted on forcing me to kill the cop. I’m used to being law-abiding in China, and I really can’t do this kind of thing. So here’s the deal—I’ll hand the man over to Boss Zhang, and he can decide whether to kill him or torture him.”

No matter where you are, killing a cop is a serious offense.

It's not that the crime is much more serious than others, but rather that this is tantamount to directly making a mortal enemy of the violent authorities.

People usually ban gambling and drugs as part of their job, but if you kill a colleague, then it's a fight to the death, and the intensity is completely different.

In today's situation, if Zhang Anru had witnessed the transaction firsthand, she might have been forced to take action. However, the man had been unconscious the entire time and didn't even know his name. He didn't want to get involved in such unnecessary blood debts.

There was no immediate objection from the other end of the phone.

Zhang Anru remained silent with a sullen face.

Fu Guosheng waited a moment, then spoke at the opportune moment, his tone calm and firm:
"Boss Zhang, give me some face—let's do it the way Brother Tianlong suggested. It's better to avoid trouble. What do you say?"

Zhang Anru's face twitched, as if she felt that agreeing so easily would be embarrassing.

After a three or four-second silence, he finally said coldly, "Fine, I'll give you that face. But not only have people died on my side, but several others are seriously injured. I'll only pay 70% of the payment."

He knew in his heart that the madman on the other side killed without batting an eye, and the ones who were seriously injured were all hit in the groin.

Which cop could be so ruthless? That's why he was certain the other person couldn't be an undercover agent!

Fu Guosheng laughed heartily, his laughter carrying through the receiver and into the wind and rain:

"Okay, if you say 70%, then it's 70%. The most important thing is that everyone is happy."

He casually instructed Hua Shier to release the person, and then hung up the phone.

Hua Shier released his grip, and Zhang Anru staggered a step before regaining her balance. She rubbed her sore arm, which was twisted behind her back, and glared at him.

Hua Shier smiled and extended his hand: "Let's get acquainted, Yu Tianlong."

Zhang Anru, her face dark, reached out and clenched her fist, spitting out three words through gritted teeth: "Zhang Anru."

He withdrew his hand faster than he touched the soldering iron.

He turned around and yelled at his still-alive underlings, "What the hell are you all standing there for! Load the cargo!"

He brought more than a dozen men, several of his trusted confidants were either dead or crippled, but fortunately the group responsible for moving the goods were unharmed, and they all sprang into action upon hearing the news.

In no time, the truck that Hua Shier had driven was completely emptied, leaving only an unconscious Jie Bing curled up in a corner of the truck.

Zhang Anru took a laptop out of the villa and gritted her teeth as she began to transfer money.

Meanwhile, Fu Guosheng was driving aimlessly through the wind and rain.

Shen Jiawen's phone beeped in the passenger seat. She glanced down at the screen, then turned to the man beside her and said:

"Nine million was received. Even if we calculate it as 70%, it's still 100,000 short."

Fu Guosheng gently shook his head, a smile playing on his lips:
"Send a message to Xiao Tao and tell them to withdraw."

As Shen Jiawen edited the message, she couldn't help but voice her pent-up dissatisfaction:

"What exactly is Yu Tianlong up to? Because of him, we lost four million in profit from this deal out of thin air."

Fu Guosheng smiled faintly, his gaze on the steering wheel showing no hint of reproach:
"Four million is nothing. Trading four million for a talent like this is a win for me."

He recounted the situation Jiao Tao had just reported to Shen Jiawen, his tone filled with undisguised admiration:
"He single-handedly killed and crippled several of Zhang Anru's gunmen. Four million is not expensive at all for someone like that!"

Shen Jiawen's dissatisfaction gradually turned into surprise.

Fu Guosheng watched her change in expression, and his smile deepened.

"With a talent like Yu Tianlong, we're not afraid of failing to break into Southeast Asia. The profits from Southeast Asia will be much greater than those from the entire city of Guangzhou. Most importantly—it's much safer for you and me than to be in the public eye in China."

Outside the resort villa, Jiao Tao received a message from Shen Jiawen, breathed a long sigh of relief, and smiled as he extended his hand to Zhang Anru:
"Boss Zhang, it's a pleasure doing business with you."

Zhang Anru said with a dark face, "I'm fucking happy."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Hua Shier lightly punched him in the chest, making him wince in pain.

The instigator, on the contrary, smiled and leaned closer, speaking as warmly as if he were the one who had just suffered a loss:

"Xiao Zhang, don't be so petty. I said it was a double-cross, but it didn't work out, did it?" "I actually saved you money. Not only did you save four million, but you also lost several brothers, so you don't have to split the money, right? You've made a profit."

He paused here, as if suddenly remembering something, and added with a sincere expression:
"By the way, do you want me to kill those cripples for you? That way we can save on medical expenses."

Those around him who were still breathing fell silent, their eyes filled with fear and disbelief.

Are you a demon?
Zhang Anru and Jiao Tao rarely reached a consensus on the same matter: he was definitely not an undercover agent; how could someone like that be an undercover agent? They would argue with anyone who said he was an undercover agent.

Zhang Anru rubbed her aching chest and weakly waved her hand:
"Hurry up and leave. Jiao Tao, tell Boss Fu to send someone else next time, and I'll give him an extra 10%."

Jiao Tao was both amused and exasperated by these words. He nodded and pulled Hua Shier, who still wanted to argue with him, out of the room.

Pinkie and Flower, who had been huddled by the door the whole time, quickly followed after them, trembling.

After leaving the villa, Hua Shier asked Jiao Tao if he needed a ride home.

Jiao Tao pointed to a car parked not far away:
"No need, I drove here myself. You can take a few days off after you drop the car off. Old Fu said he'll arrange things for you after the typhoon passes."

Hua Shier didn't stand on ceremony with him. He locked the truck door, told his two henchmen to get in, and turned the truck around to head towards the city.

As soon as the car left the resort area, Hua Zi in the back seat quietly reached into his pocket and pulled out a nylon rope.

He swallowed hard and forced a fawning tone:

"Brother Tianlong, can you stop for a moment? I was a little nervous just now, and I can't hold it in anymore. I need to relieve myself."

"You seem pretty nervous too!"

Hua Shier glanced at the rearview mirror and slowly pulled the car to the side of the road and parked it.

As soon as the car came to a stop, a nylon rope was suddenly looped around his neck from behind and tightened abruptly.

Hua Zai's entire weight was hanging on the rope, his arms pulling back with all his might, his voice trembling uncontrollably from the effort and fear:
"Brother Tianlong, don't blame us. It was Boss Zheng who told us to do this. Fanzi, do it! Hold him down!"

Pinky's shoulders jerked violently, as if he had been whipped. He had already instinctively leaned out halfway, but his gaze froze completely the moment he met Hua Twelve's.

Hua Shier turned his head to look at him, a slight smile playing on his lips. That smile, in his eyes, was like a hunter watching his prey finally step on a trap—full of mockery and barely suppressed excitement.

A series of images exploded in Fenzi's mind: the smoke of gunpowder still lingering in the abandoned villa, Hua Shier standing amidst corpses, casually tucking his gun into his waistband, his tone as relaxed as if he had just finished a game.

The fear of that moment was more effective than any threat; he jerked his hand back, shrank towards the car door, and his voice became shrill and distorted:
"It's none of my business, it's none of my business, Brother Tianlong!"

Hua Zi was stunned, his arms still tightly gripping the rope, and he angrily cursed, "What the hell are you saying! I'm almost strangling him to death!"

Before he could finish speaking, his gaze inadvertently swept across the rearview mirror in the front row.

In the mirror, Hua Shier was looking at him through the small glass pane, his expression unusually calm.

There was no bulging of veins as one would expect when suffocating, no struggle, and not even the slightest panic.

In the instant their eyes met, Hua Shier greeted him in a lighthearted tone, "Hi."

Hua Zai's bladder almost gave way at that moment.

He frantically pulled his entire weight backward, his back pressed tightly against the back of the seat, his arms so tense that his knuckles turned white.

No matter how hard he tried, the nylon rope in his hand was like a steel bar stuck in his hand, and he couldn't budge it.

Hua Shier sighed, then bent his right hand backward at an angle that no ordinary human could possibly do, and firmly pressed his five fingers against Hua Zai's head.

The fingers didn't seem to exert much force; they just twisted it gently.

Click.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was clear enough in the carriage to be like crushing a piece of dry firewood.

Hua Zai's body slumped silently in the back seat, the rope slipping from his loosened fingers.

Pinky stared wide-eyed at the still slightly twitching body beside him, then let out a heart-wrenching scream:

"Ahhhhh—Don't kill me! Please don't kill me!"

He was howling and frantically groping and scratching at the car door. The handle was right within reach, but his fingers were shaking so badly that he couldn't hold on, and his fingernails were scraping against the plastic lining with a screeching sound.

"Shut the fuck up. If you keep yelling, I'll really kill you."

Hua Shier's tone wasn't fierce; it even carried a hint of impatience. But the soft words, spoken in a low voice, chilled Fenzi to the bone more than the howling typhoon outside. He abruptly covered his mouth with one hand, waving the other in front of him, only suppressed sobs escaping his throat.

"Alright, I won't kill you."

Fenzi's voice, trembling with tears, escaped through her fingers: "You...you...you're not going to make me get off the bus first, and then...shoot me in the back, are you?"

Hua Shier was amused by his appearance:
"So, do I have to add the line 'Sister-in-law, I don't kill women'? You've been watching too many movies."

He restarted the car, and the truck slowly accelerated in the wind and rain.

"Tell me, what did Lao Zheng tell you?" His tone was as casual as if he were asking what to eat for dinner, completely lacking the lingering force of someone's broken neck.

The girl was extremely sensible and spilled everything out at once:

"It was Boss Zheng who ordered us to kill you on the way back. Then we found your phone, called 110 (the emergency number), and told Boss Fu that you were planning to call the police, so we did it!"

Hua Shier nodded after listening, one hand on the steering wheel, the other pulling out his phone to start recording, the camera pointed at Fenzi:
“Come on, say it again. I’m keeping it as evidence for Lao Fu.”

Fenzi recited the entire story to the camera again. By the time Hua Shier pressed the stop button and put his phone away, he was completely exhausted.

Hua Shier put his phone back in his pocket, speaking casually:
"I think you're quite clever. You can work for me from now on."

Pinkie nodded repeatedly, finally daring to believe that the other party really wouldn't kill him. His eyes welled up, and tears almost fell.
"Thank you so much, Brother Tianlong! Thank you so much, Brother Tianlong!"

Hua Twelve then asked, "Where can we find Zheng Chao?"

The boy betrayed his former boss even faster than when he confessed earlier, without even a moment's mental preparation:

“Boss Zheng… no, that’s not right, it’s Zheng Chao! That little bastard Zheng Chao, he spends all his free time at the toy factory.”

Hua Shier laughed heartily and floored the accelerator in the wind and rain: "I didn't expect you to be so interesting."

The truck sped along the flooded road, drifting around a bend, its tires tearing a white spray across the water.

Inside the carriage, Jie Bing, who had just struggled to regain consciousness from the brink of unconsciousness, was thrown into the air by inertia. Her head slammed against the iron wall of the carriage with a thud, and she fainted again.

The Dahua Toy Factory shut down completely during the typhoon. The workshops were empty except for the office floor, where the lights were on.

Zheng Chao was playing mahjong with a few of his underlings around the card table. The ashtray was full of cigarette butts, and the air was polluted yet comfortable.

Outside, the wind and rain howled, while inside, the sound of cards being rubbed echoed loudly. The group was so focused that they didn't even hear the footsteps approaching from the corridor.

Until a cold gun barrel pressed against the back of Zheng Chao's head.

Hua Shier's slap followed immediately, sending Zheng Chao sprawling from his chair, half of his face swelling up instantly.

The mahjong tiles on the table were scattered all over the floor with a clatter. All the henchmen stood up, but because their leader was being controlled, none of them dared to move!

"Damn it, Lao Zheng, I'm delivering your goods, and you want to kill me?!"

Zheng Chao covered his face and glanced at Fenzi, who was standing behind Hua Shier with a pale face. He knew that the truth had been completely exposed.

He reacted extremely quickly, instantly switching to an expression of shock and injustice:

"Tianlong, don't be impulsive, don't be impulsive! Let's talk this out—I don't even know what happened. What made you so angry? Whatever happened, it's my fault. I'll apologize to you, okay? I'll do whatever you say!"

Hua Shier slapped Zheng Chao again with a backhand, this time with even more force. Zheng Chao was knocked off his chair and onto the ground, a tooth sticking out from the corner of his mouth, spitting out blood and foam.

"Fenzi said you had Huazi and him kill me on the way. Is that true?"

Zheng Chao struggled to his feet, his eyes darting around rapidly, before he opened his mouth and splashed dirty water onto the dead body:
"It must have been that bastard Hua Zai who acted on his own! He loves doing things like this, trying to curry favor with me! Brother, you're so capable, how could their skills compare to yours!"

Hua Shier crouched down and slapped him again across the face, the sound crisp and deep:

"Fuck you—stop talking nonsense. Tell me, how do you plan to resolve this?"

Blood trickled from the corner of Zheng Chao's mouth. His eyes were fixed on the gun barrel pressed against his forehead. His Adam's apple bobbed, and he rattled off the price for his life in a rapid-fire voice:

"One million! No, no, I still have three million in my account. It's all yours! All of it!"

After listening, Hua Shier tilted his head and looked at him for a moment. Then he gently placed the pistol on the card table, personally helped Zheng Chao up, and his tone suddenly became as if he were catching up with an old friend:
"Good brother, it's all a misunderstanding. How could I possibly misunderstand you when we're on good terms, right?"

When Zheng Chao was released, his gaze swept across the gun on the table.

The next second, his hand was already gripping the gun handle tightly, and he raised his hand to point at Hua Shier, a ferocious look flashing across his face.

This is the moment Hua Shier has been waiting for.

He fired much faster than Zheng Chao pulled the trigger.

One hand gently rested on Zheng Chao's chin and the back of his neck, the movement so subtle that it was almost imperceptible, just a light twist.

A snap. The sound of a neck bone breaking echoed in the suddenly quiet office, dull and short.

Zheng Chao's eyes still held the fierce glint of the last moment before he fired, but he had already collapsed onto the floor like a puppet with its strings cut, and the gun in his hand clattered and flew far away.

Hua Shier is an undercover agent, how could he kill people randomly? But if the other party threatens his life, then it's a different story, and that situation is called self-defense!

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