I bought a secret manual of the Hehuan Sect for ten yuan.

After learning the whole story that day, Hong Zhendong gave Zhu Yanghe a severe dressing down, and then sent someone to contact the Zhu family, extorting five million yuan from them before they would take Zhu Yanghe back.

Fearing the power of the Qingshan Chamber of Commerce, the Zhu family could only accept their bad luck, pay money to avoid trouble, and dared not report it to the police afterwards.

Just when Hung Chen-tung thought the matter was over, his bad luck began the very next day.

While eating dumplings in the morning, an oil painting on the wall behind him suddenly fell down, startling him so much that he impulsively stuffed the dumpling into his mouth.

The scalding hot dumpling slid down my throat and then got stuck, I couldn't spit it out or swallow it.

Hong Zhendong opened his mouth but couldn't speak, his face turned red, and waves of burning pain made his eyes and nose run.

The underlings, not understanding what was going on, still thought he was possessed by a ghost when they saw him twisting his body strangely.

"Clang—"

Hong Zhendong finally managed to swallow the dumplings and was panting heavily when the crystal chandelier above his head suddenly fell down, hitting him on the head and causing him to bleed profusely.

His underlings gave him a hasty bandage and then took him to the hospital.

On the way to the hospital, the car had a flat tire.

The car went out of control and crashed into an old locust tree by the roadside, fracturing Hong Zhendong's arm.

His underlings helped him out of the car, and before he could even catch his breath, a huge hornet's nest from the old locust tree landed squarely on his head.

Lying on the hospital bed covered in bandages, Hong Zhendong suddenly remembered what Qin Ge had said before leaving the day before.

Is this what it means to be plagued by evil spirits and plagued by misfortune?

That's just too awful!

After breaking out in a cold sweat, Hong Zhendong wanted to find Qin Ge to get some answers, but he discovered that he didn't have Qin Ge's contact information.

They asked Yaoji, but Yaoji only knew that Qin Ge was a student at Donghai University, but didn't know which department, class, or where he lived.

Left with no other option, Hong Zhendong had to call the Zhu family.

To everyone's surprise, the Zhu family didn't dare answer the phone and were so frightened that they moved out overnight.

He did have Xia Siyuan's phone number from the Xia family, but he dared not make that call.

If Hu Qingshan finds out that I'm bothering Xia Siyuan over something like this, he'll definitely give me a good scolding.

Most importantly, Hong Zhendong is still not entirely sure whether his bad luck is really due to being haunted by evil spirits, as Qin Ge said.

How evil!

......

Champs-Élysées Villa.

"I have a social engagement later, will you come with me?"

Qi Yingzi was getting dressed, her pretty face still flushed.

"Socializing?" Qin Ge was taken aback. "That seems beyond the scope of our agreement. Is that included?"

Qi Yingzi retorted angrily, "Do you still think our relationship is just a transaction?"

Qin Ge was taken aback again. "What else could it be? You haven't fallen for me, have you?"

"I didn't!" Qi Yingzi's face turned even redder, feeling embarrassed that her thoughts had been exposed.

She thought she could be very rational, but after giving herself to Qin Ge, her mindset quietly changed and she couldn't control herself at all.

"Aren't you already on vacation? You've got nothing else to do anyway, why don't you keep me company?"

"Come here first," Qin Ge beckoned. "What time is your engagement?"

"Eight o'clock."

There's still time.

"I just finished getting dressed..."

"If I fulfill your request, you have to fulfill mine too, right? That's called fairness! Remember what I told you before? Come on, let me teach you."

"..."

As dusk fell, Qin Ge changed into the clothes Qi Yingzi had prepared for him. "How is it?"

"Not bad, looks presentable!" Qi Yingzi's eyes lit up. She had good taste; this guy really did look good when he dressed up.

"It's just that his character is questionable. I'm starting to doubt myself; how can someone so young know so much about that kind of thing?"

"Even if you haven't eaten pork, haven't you seen pigs run?" Qin Ge said without batting an eye. "Which man doesn't have some learning materials?"

"Either you can't find it, or you're just being stubborn."

"Being stubborn is a sign of poor character; if you can't find someone, that's even worse—your ability and intelligence are questionable."

"Nonsense!" Qi Yingzi spat at him. "Let's go!"

Qin Ge asked, "Why do you insist that I go with you? Who are the people you're socializing with?"

Seeing Qi Yingzi's displeasure, he added, "Let me rephrase my question: In what capacity should I accompany you?"

"A man." Qi Yingzi replied without hesitation.

"Isn't that obvious? Do you think I'm a woman?"

"I mean, my man!"

Qin Ge smiled knowingly. "Is someone lusting after your good looks?"

"That's not surprising, but with your status, dealing with them shouldn't be too difficult, right?"

"Is the other party someone with a powerful background?"

Qi Yingzi sighed, "They're coveting the assets of my Tianying Group!"

"Xu Yang, the boss of Jianyang Engineering Company, is not worth mentioning, but the person behind him has some influence."

A few months ago, Qi Yingzi signed a contract with Jianyang Company, awarding the construction of a factory of Tianying Group to Jianyang Company.

She has a lot to deal with every day and doesn't pay much attention to this matter.

Who knew that the workers at Jianyang Company would frequently cause trouble, demanding higher pay, early settlement of wages, and even going on strike several times.

Originally, these should have been Xu Yang's responsibility. Tianying Group only needed to put pressure on Xu Yang and let him handle it himself, since the final payment was still in Tianying Group's hands.

But Xu Yang started to renege on his promise, saying that it was a spontaneous action by the workers and that he had no way to stop it. He claimed that even if Tianying Group didn't pay him the final payment, he was powerless to do anything about it.

Unfortunately, that factory is crucial to Tianying Group. If the progress is delayed and it cannot be completed on time, Tianying Group will suffer heavy losses.

If the people at Jianyang Company are replaced, Qi Yingzi won't be able to find suitable replacements in a short time, and this would likely waste even more time.

The project is large and urgent, requiring a large number of construction machines and workers. In Donghai, only the Qingshan Chamber of Commerce can assemble these people and equipment in a short period of time.

Qi Yingzi was not familiar with the Qingshan Chamber of Commerce, and since she initially contacted Jianyang Company, she had already offended the Qingshan Chamber of Commerce.

After weighing the options, Qi Yingzi chose to compromise, deciding to wait until the factory was completed before making any further decisions.

To her surprise, even though she was willing to compromise and had increased the money twice, the project still could not proceed smoothly.

Qi Yingzi then realized something was amiss; Xu Yang had clearly come prepared!

After a thorough investigation, Qi Yingzi learned that Xu Yang was a member of the Zheng family of Beidu.

Now Qi Yingzi understood everything. No wonder Xu Yang was so confident. He knew in advance that Tianying Group needed the factory urgently and that the Zheng family was backing him up, which is why he dared to be so reckless.

Qi Yingzi had dealt with Zheng Shaoqing, the eldest son of the Zheng family, before, and could roughly guess his purpose in instructing Xu Yang to do this.