Governing the country, enriching the people, an unparalleled imperial tutor

Xu Biao was still spouting nonsense when his gaze followed the sound to the end of the corridor. Several men in black suits appeared in that direction, their steps steady. Each wore a tiny bluish-gray badge on their shoulder, with the character "Hu" faintly engraved on it. They stopped at the door without entering, automatically standing on either side like two silent walls. At that moment, Hu Dahai walked in from the elevator. Today he wore a dark gray cashmere coat over a black turtleneck sweater, and the jade thumb ring on his left hand gleamed a deep green under the light.

He didn't look at Xu Biao. His gaze first swept over the broken glass on the floor, the overturned TV cabinet, and the crack in the kitchen door, then landed on Lin Yanzhou, and he nodded slightly: "Young man, are you alright?"

"It's nothing," Lin Yanzhou said. "Just a lot of things were smashed in the house."

Hu Dahai finally turned around, his gaze landing on Xu Biao. His gaze was calm, devoid of anger or reprimand, like that of a person in a high position looking at a servant who had wandered into the wrong place. His voice wasn't loud when he spoke, but the entire corridor fell silent: "You're Xu Biao? And you've been with me for three years?"

Xu Biao's legs began to tremble. The iron pipe slipped from his hand, hitting the floor tiles with a dull thud before rolling to the corner. His lips moved several times before he managed to squeeze out a few words: "Boss Hu... Boss Hu..." His voice was completely different from when he was pointing at Lin Yanzhou and cursing him earlier. "I... I didn't know he was one of your men..."

Hu Dahai remained silent. Xu Biao began to tremble: "Boss Hu, I really didn't know, he never mentioned you—"

"He's not one of my men, he's my business partner." Hu Dahai's voice remained low, but each word carried clearly in the quiet corridor. "I personally invited him for tea to discuss business. I even delivered documents to him last night. You said you've been with me for three years, but in those three years, have you ever seen me invite anyone for tea?"

Biao's knees began to buckle. The two henchmen behind him had already shrunk to the corner. One of them bent over to pick up the iron pipe, but was given a light glance by the man in the black suit standing outside the door. His hand froze in mid-air, and he didn't dare to move again.

"Boss Hu, I was wrong! I was really wrong!" Xu Biao's voice trembled, his knees buckled, and he knelt down, his black leather jacket scraping a gray streak on the floor tiles. "I didn't know he was one of your men. If I had known, I wouldn't have dared to do it even if you gave me ten lives—"

"You just said that you're in charge here?" Hu Dahai looked down at him, his voice revealing neither joy nor anger.

Cold sweat began to bead on Xu Biao's forehead, large beads of sweat sliding down the edge of his buzz cut: "I'm talking nonsense! Boss Hu, you're the one who calls the shots! A nobody like me isn't even qualified to stand on your front steps!" His speech quickened, as if trying to compensate for his crumbling confidence with volume, "I'll do anything you ask, I'll never come here again, I—"

Hu Dahai didn't look at him, but turned to Lin Yanzhou: "Young man, how much are these things worth? Name your price."

Lin Yanzhou glanced at the smashed coffee table, the overturned TV cabinet, and the shattered glass door of the kitchen: "Let's just say it's a million. Um, I'll take the loss."

Xu Biao abruptly looked up, his face deathly pale. This was robbery! Buying all new ones wouldn't even cost a few thousand yuan! But Hu Dahai didn't speak, just stood there watching him, the jade ring on his finger gleaming with a cold, eerie light under the lamp. Xu Biao opened his mouth, as if wanting to bargain, but that thought shattered in less than a second under Hu Dahai's gaze.

"I'll pay!" Xu Biao said. His voice trembled for the first time. "I'll pay a million! I'll pay!" He almost tripped again when he got up, his knees rubbing a gray stain on his trouser leg from kneeling on the ground. He frantically pulled his phone, bank cards, and wallet from his pockets. His hands were shaking as he tried to transfer money on his phone. He failed to unlock the fingerprint scanner twice, only succeeding on the third try.

Two minutes later, Lin Yanzhou's phone received a notification: one million yuan had been deposited into his account. Xu Biao cursed inwardly: "Damn it, all the money I've been saving for years has been taken by this guy in one go! I don't dare mess with Lin Yanzhou, but this Qin guy, I'll definitely deal with him when I recover!"

Hu Dahai nodded: "You only smashed things today, you didn't hit anyone. If you had hurt even a hair on this young man's head, your family would be burning paper money for you next year. Let's leave it at that for your sake. Remember, don't let me hear about you around here again."

Xu Biao scrambled towards the door, shrinking back as he passed Hu Dahai. His mouth, which had been spouting nonsense just moments before, was now tightly shut, and he even tried to breathe softly. The two henchmen who had helped smash things also took the opportunity to squeeze out through the crack in the door. A few men in black suits remained standing quietly in the corridor. One of them bent down, gathered up the broken glass, put it in a plastic bag, and carried it out.

Qin Li's family was also preparing to escape when Lin Yanzhou coldly said, "Qin Hao, you still owe Haozi 30,000 yuan. You can't leave yet."

Qin Hao swallowed hard and glanced at Qin Li. Qin Li didn't look at him. He looked down at his mobile banking app, his fingers trembling slightly: "I...I'll transfer it to you, what's your WeChat ID...what's your bank account number?"

Haozi opened the QR code for receiving payments, his phone screen facing Qin Hao. Qin Hao operated it for a while, and the transfer notification sound was particularly crisp in the quiet living room: "Qilu Bank received, 30,000 yuan." Haozi put away his phone and handed the IOU back to Qin Hao: "The debt is settled, I don't want the interest."

Qin Hao took the IOU, clutching it tightly in his hand, the pages crumpled into a ball. He glanced at Lin Yanzhou, then at Haozi, his voice laced with suppressed resentment: "Fine...you guys are..."

Hu Dahai stood at the doorway, glanced at the mess in the living room and kitchen, then turned his gaze back, his tone returning to his usual unhurried manner: "If you're free tomorrow, come to the shop. I'm very interested in the batch you mentioned. If you can't stay at home right now, I can have someone reserve a room for you at the hotel on the next street; it's all my property, so it's very convenient."

Thanks.

Hu Dahai waved his hand, turned, and left. The footsteps in the corridor quickly faded away, followed by the engine sounds of more than a dozen cars starting and leaving one after another, like a tide that rolled in from afar and then receded. When Hu Dahai walked to his black Bentley, the car door had already been opened. As he got in, the man in the black suit on the other side bowed slightly and closed the door for him. The whole process was quiet and orderly, just like the position that Xu Biao desperately tried to reach but could never reach—for Hu Dahai, it was just an ordinary daily routine.

The living room fell silent, save for the shards of glass remaining from the kitchen sliding door, reflecting faint light on the floor. Haozi stood in the doorway, still clutching the manila envelope. The IOU inside had already been returned to Qin Hao, but the edges of the envelope still bore traces of folding. He glanced at the mess on the floor, then at Lin Yanzhou: "Was today's situation planned out last night?"

"I gave them a heads-up beforehand." Lin Yanzhou bent down to pick up the shards of the spare phone from the cracks in the floor tiles. "Some things, once they happen, it's too late to ask for help."

The sunlight outside the window was slowly brightening. Lin Xiaoya finally came out of the bedroom. She glanced behind the door—which was still closed and quiet inside—then walked into the living room, squatted down, picked up a piece of broken glass, examined it in her palm, and let out a soft sigh: "Your friend came really fast."

"Fifteen minutes." Lin Yanzhou tossed the broken phone into the trash can. "He happened to be running errands nearby."

Haozi put the envelope in his pocket and added, "I wasn't originally planning to take Qin Hao's 30,000. But seeing his attitude today, I couldn't let it go unpaid."

Lin Xiaoya raised her head, turned slightly to the side, and looked at Lin Yanzhou's face as if confirming something. After a few breaths, she whispered, "You've changed a lot."

Lin Yanzhou didn't reply. He bent down and straightened the tilted TV cabinet, testing whether the hinges could be secured back in place. The file folder on the coffee table was still there, a corner torn, revealing neatly folded contracts and filing stamps inside. He looked at those things that had been there since last night, waiting for this scene to begin today.

"I'll get a cleaning service to do a thorough cleaning later, and this afternoon I'll buy new ones and have them installed. This house needs a complete overhaul." As Lin Yanzhou spoke, he picked up his phone and transferred 100 million yuan to Xiaoya.