After ninety-nine online romances, I finally met my ex in person when school started.

On the steps, two special forces guards lay on the ground, clutching their bleeding wrists and groaning in pain. Chen Pojun gripped the wheelchair handles tightly, his eyes bloodshot with extreme fear and rage.

Zhu Xun Chuan stood at the bottom of the steps, his dark gray suit spotless. He ignored Chen Po Jun's hysteria, his gaze passing over him and landing on the old man in the wheelchair.

The old patriarch of the Chen family was dressed in a neat navy blue Zhongshan suit. Although he was in a wheelchair, his back was straight, and the age spots on his face revealed the coldness of someone who had long held a high position.

He glanced at the wounded on the ground, then looked at the blind spot in the red maple forest a kilometer away, and finally turned his gaze back to Zhu Xun Chuan.

"Shut him up," Zhu Xun Chuan said calmly. "Or I can help you shut him up."

Just as Chen Pojun was about to open his mouth to curse, Old Master Chen suddenly raised his withered right hand and pressed it lightly in mid-air.

Chen Pojun's voice was stuck in his throat. He gritted his teeth, his chest heaving violently, but he dared not disobey the old man's wishes.

"The younger generation is truly formidable. You're the first person in the last thirty years to force me to use my old face to keep you out of the retirement home." Old Master Chen's voice was hoarse, carrying an undeniable authority. "Come in and have some tea."

The old man waved. Chen Pojun pushed the wheelchair, turned around, and retreated into the red brick building.

Zhu Xunchuan stepped onto the stairs. Jiang Yao followed closely behind, her Martin boots clicking on the wooden floor, her thumb never leaving the buckle of the butterfly knife.

The first floor is a Chinese-style tea room.

Before the rosewood tea tray, wisps of smoke rose from the sandalwood incense burner. Old Master Chen sat in the main seat, holding a well-preserved, patina-covered purple clay teapot, slowly rinsing the tea with boiling water.

He didn't look at Zhu Xunchuan, nor did he offer him a seat. The only sound in the entire tea room was the gentle patter of water being poured into the teacups.

This deliberately created coldness and sense of oppression is a psychological warfare tactic that the older generation of powerful figures excels at. If a visitor can't stand this oppressive atmosphere and speaks up, or even stands awkwardly, they've already lost a significant portion of the prestige.

Jiang Yao's eyes turned cold, and she reached back to draw her sword.

Zhu Xun Chuan reached out and casually pressed down on Jiang Yao's wrist, suppressing her anger.

He walked straight to the opposite side of the tea tray, pulled out a heavy rosewood chair, and sat down with an air of authority.

Jiang Yao understood instantly. Instead of sitting in the guest seat next to her, she went directly behind Zhu Xun Chuan. She placed her hands on the back of the chair, leaned down, and her impressive curves, encased in a tight leather jacket, pressed unabashedly against Zhu Xun Chuan's suit shoulders.

She took the pure silver windproof lighter out of Zhu Xun Chuan's trouser pocket.

"Honey, the tea here has a musty smell, it's disgusting." Jiang Yao deliberately dragged out the last syllable, her voice charming yet undisguisedly mocking.

Zhu Xun Chuan chuckled. He picked up the half-cup of chilled tea that Old Master Chen had just used from the tea tray, and with a flick of his wrist, poured the remaining tea directly into a pot of top-quality Jianlan orchids next to him.

"Old Chen, don't serve tea that's been sitting overnight to guests." Zhu Xun Chuan placed the empty teacup upside down on the table.

Jiang Yao leaned down at the opportune moment. With a crisp metallic "snap," the lighter ignited a blue flame and steadily brought it to Zhu Xun Chuan's lips.

Zhu Xun Chuan pulled out a cigarette from inside his coat, bit it, and lit it with the flame. He took a deep drag, and the bluish-white smoke, piercing through the aroma of sandalwood, reached straight for Old Master Chen's face.

Chen Pojun stood behind the wheelchair, his eyes bloodshot. This was the absolute core of the Chen family, and this peasant who had climbed up from the bottom not only showed no respect for the elderly, but also brought a woman here to openly flirt and provoke them.

"You're asking for it!" Chen Pojun suddenly reached out and pressed the red emergency alarm button under the tea table.

That's the highest-level alarm, directly connected to the internal security company of the retirement home. Pressing it will send fully armed guards burst in within three minutes.

Chen Pojun stared intently at Zhu Xunchuan, waiting for the long wailing of the alarm and the sound of hurried footsteps outside.

Ten seconds passed.

A minute passed.

Apart from the rustling of leaves in the wind, the area outside the small building was deathly silent. No alarms sounded, and no guards rushed in.

Chen Pojun was stunned. He refused to believe it and pressed the red button a dozen more times.

No response.

Zhu Xun Chuan flicked his cigarette ash, the cigarette butt glowing faintly. "Don't bother."

He leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers on the wooden tabletop: "Weren't you checking up on me quite frequently last night? You should know that Shen Tianxi was sitting on my lap before I left. With a flick of her finger, the network and communications within a three-kilometer radius couldn't even send a fly's signal."

Chen Pojun's pupils contracted, and his face instantly drained of color. He knew the Shen family's military network technology better than anyone else.

Zhu Xunchuan added, "Also, your rule of rotating defenders every two hours is quite strict. Unfortunately, Meng Wanqing told me last night while leaning on my shoulder that there's a three-minute gap at the forty-fifth minute of every odd-numbered hour in blind spot number two."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Old Master Chen's slightly stiff face. "The Li family was waiting for me at the gate of Peking University this morning, offering up a map of the external defenses of your retirement home. Now, those princelings outside are holding their wine glasses, waiting for your Chen family to die so they can come and divide the spoils."

A few words, spoken lightly, yet like a sharp knife, precisely severed all the major arteries of the Chen family.

The network was paralyzed by the Shen family, intelligence was exposed by the Meng family, and allies were betrayed by the Li family and other hyenas. This was no longer just Zhu Xun Chuan's personal attack, but a joint strangulation of the old order by the entire new generation of power in Kyoto.

Old Master Chen's hand, holding the purple clay teapot, froze in mid-air. Tea overflowed from the rim of the cup, scalding his withered skin, but he did not let go.

"Young people these days are ruthless." Old Master Chen put down his teapot, looked up at Zhu Xunchuan, and said, "You cut off my contact with the outside world and killed my guards. But this is a retirement home. If you kill me, neither you nor any of the women around you will ever leave Beijing."

"Kill you? That would just dirty my hands." Zhu Xun Chuan picked up the brown paper bag on his lap and exerted force with his wrist.

"Snapped!"

The paper bag hit the tea tray. The seal came undone, and the contents slipped out.

A yellowed photograph, several copies of account books, and a miniature waterproof USB drive.

Zhu Xun Chuan exhaled a puff of smoke: "Thirty years ago, there was a fire at the Qingcheng Orphanage. The special fire-resistant suits from the Seventh Military Factory."

Old Master Chen's gaze fell on the photograph, and the muscles in his usually calm face twitched suddenly.

"The details of the Seventh Military Factory's arms resale were obtained by Shen Tianxi from your military region's intranet," Zhu Xunchuan said, pointing to the pages.

Finally, he picked up the USB drive, tossed it twice in his hand, and threw it in front of the old man.

"The UBS dynamic key. Last night, the dark web assassin your grandson hired delivered it to my door in person." Zhu Xun Chuan looked at Chen Po Jun with eyes as if he were looking at a dead man. "Poison Bee has already had its limbs severed by Lu Nian Xi and thrown into the Haihe River to feed the fish. The seventeen overseas money laundering accounts in this key are connected to the very bottom of Guangying Media. Now, they're all mine."

Ironclad evidence.

Each and every one of these acts constitutes a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family. Once these documents pass through the retirement home and reach the Supreme People's Procuratorate, all of Chen's more than one hundred members will be executed. The so-called "get-out-of-jail-free card" is utterly meaningless in the face of this irrefutable evidence that undermines the foundation of the nation's military industry.

Old Master Chen could no longer maintain his composure as a superior. He gripped the armrests of his wheelchair with both hands, the veins on the back of his hands bulging.

The tide is gone.

"What do you want?" Old Master Chen's voice was dry and hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing together. He knew that since Zhu Xun Chuan had come alone with these things, it meant there was still room for negotiation.

Zhu Xun Chuan stubbed out his cigarette on the blue-and-white porcelain tea tray, putting it out completely.

"Two paths." Zhu Xun Chuan held up two fingers.

"First, I walked out of this courtyard, and three minutes later, the information was published online, and the military region's discipline inspection commission reported it directly to the highest level. The Chen family was uprooted, leaving no one alive."

"Second," Zhu Xun Chuan leaned forward, his hands crossed and pressed against the table, an overwhelming sense of oppression washing over him, "Chen Po Jun will stay and serve his life in jail. The Chen family will hand over all their resources and military connections in Tianjin to the Shen family. Before nightfall, all direct descendants of the Chen family will be kicked out of the core area of ​​Beijing. They are forbidden from ever setting foot in Beijing or Tianjin again."

To sacrifice an entire family for the life of their grandson.

Chen Pojun completely broke down. He knelt down beside the wheelchair with a thud and hugged Old Master Chen's legs tightly.

"Grandpa! We can't pay! If we pay, our Chen family will have nothing left!" Chen Pojun cried, tears streaming down his face. "I'm the only son of the Chen family, please save me! Call Uncle Zhang, call Uncle Lin..."

P.S.: Thank you so much [Jia Yezi] for the amazing verification! I'm so silly, I always forget to thank the boss! Wishing the boss great wealth! May everyone who sends small gifts to Ah Yin become rich! May all your wishes come true! (Sending gifts to me brings many benefits, the top-ranked person even gets 520, hehe)