Left Foot First Through the Gate

Hobbs still couldn't figure out how he had been thrown out like that.

Even though he could tell from Zhou Yi's build that the man was regularly active and definitely not lacking in physical fitness, Zhou Yi's physique was nowhere near enough to send him flying that far!

He was a two-hundred-fifty-pound powerhouse!

How could he have been tossed away so easily with just one move?

"That's more like it," Zhou Yi said with a smile. "So... ready?"

The moment the words left his mouth, Hobbs threw a straight punch at Zhou Yi!

Zhou Yi didn't dodge or evade; he threw a straight punch right back.

Only this time, he dialed back his strength just a little more.

Fist met fist with a dull thud that everyone nearby could clearly hear. From the outside, the two arms looked completely mismatched, yet in the end, it was the thicker one that trembled visibly and then retreated.

Clearly, bigger wasn't always better—being lean and tough was what truly counted.

"About right?" Zhou Yi smiled, waving a hand. "Goodbye, Agent Hobbs. Hope your operation goes smoothly... ah, scratch that..."

"You—" Elena wanted to stop Zhou Yi.

"Don't!" Hobbs called out to Elena and his men, sucking in a sharp breath. "Hospital first."

His hand felt like it had split open!

Watching Hobbs and his team leave, Zhou Yi called Toretto and filled him in on what had just happened.

"So you gave him a good beating?" Toretto laughed.

"Not really. If he hadn't struck first, I wouldn't have fought back, and he wouldn't have gotten hurt. Honestly, this should count as self-defense," Zhou Yi said. "You'd better hurry up, Toretto."

"Of course. Once we figure out the situation around the safe in the police station, we can start the plan," Toretto replied.

"Alright, but you'd better be careful," Zhou Yi yawned. "Toretto, after this job, you should quit. You've got a kid now—time to settle into a normal life."

"I know." Hearing Zhou Yi's words, Toretto answered seriously. "Besides, if everything goes smoothly, we won't need to do this kind of thing anymore!"

Zhou Yi didn't comment further, though he knew Toretto's intentions would inevitably be changed by reality.

Whether he could actually slow down or not, and whether it was to save his wife Letty, Toretto would never stop. At best, he'd take a short break.

Several days passed.

Zhou Yi kept his word—he didn't get involved in Toretto's operations... he just provided some equipment and modification tech support.

Could providing tech support for equipment really count as getting involved?

For Toretto and his crew, having Zhou Yi's technical support made everything much simpler.

Safety was almost a non-issue. With the armored off-road vehicle's toughness, there was hardly any weapon in the city that could threaten them in a short time. After all, Toretto and O'Conner's driving skills were top-notch, and as "favorites of fortune" with full protagonist aura, they'd managed before without his help. Now with Zhou Yi's equipment support, they didn't even need to hit up Rio's underground racetrack for cars. What could possibly go wrong?

Planting flags? Plant them all you want—Zhou Yi wasn't worried!

After all, he wasn't part of the action.

In short, Zhou Yi treated this trip as a real vacation. He either threw parties on the yacht or did activities like surfing, sailing, and skydiving.

Hobbs never showed up again after Zhou Yi sent him to the hospital that day... The hospital report showed a minor bone fracture that would take at least two to three months to heal.

The fracture left Hobbs with his right arm in a cast, unable to lead armed operations, so the FBI sent more personnel for him to command.

Although Elena suggested using Hobbs's injury report to demand Zhou Yi's cooperation in the investigation, and Hobbs was initially tempted, he dropped the idea after receiving a phone call.

If he had handled things from the start—brought Zhou Yi in for questioning first and acted like a fait accompli—he wouldn't have had to worry about the aftermath. The FBI could have covered for him. At worst, he'd get chewed out, do some surface-level damage control, and face no real punishment. But now, he hadn't succeeded, and Zhou Yi had made a few calls, making the situation serious.

Money often meant power. A billionaire carried some weight, especially in this era... At the very least, you had to weigh whether it was worth it before acting. And Zhou Yi hadn't done anything illegal—at least nothing obvious on the surface. Fabricating or forcing charges might work on small-time thugs, but for a businessman of Zhou Yi's status...

Did you want to get sued into the ground?

The investigator who suggested it was reassigned to a cushy dead-end job the next day because he stepped into the office with his left foot first while his boss was fuming.

After getting reamed out and warned by his superiors, Hobbs had to give up on bothering Zhou Yi. Now, even though he knew Zhou Yi was definitely connected to Toretto, he had to ignore that lead and focus on cross-referencing satellite and surveillance footage with facial recognition to track them down.

Actually, he had thought about surveillance. The manpower shortage was solved—the bureau had sent more people because of his injury—but that didn't mean he could spare anyone to watch Zhou Yi...

Surveillance required space to observe!

With the daily yacht parties, sailing races, and skydiving, who could afford that kind of budget?

His boss had already blown a gasket over Hobbs getting a bone fracture from a fistfight with Zhou Yi. If Hobbs asked for more money now... was he asking to get chewed out again?

Hobbs might look like a brute, but he wasn't stupid!

As for other surveillance methods... In this era, to tap a phone, you first needed physical access to install the device!

And what would it take to get close to Zhou Yi?

According to the intel Hobbs had—either a beautiful woman or a business partner.

Among Hobbs's team, only Elena could be considered attractive... Actually, she was the only woman, temporarily assigned as a Rio police auxiliary for guide and translation work, and she'd already met Zhou Yi.

As for a business partner... You'd need the right clothes, the right identity, the right way of speaking...

Even though there was intel that Zhou Yi still took on car repair or modification jobs... did they really think he'd pay attention if they drove up in some junker?

At the end of the day, it still came down to funding.

So, no matter the era, money truly was a hard currency. With it, doing anything became far easier than without it.

And after his superior had explicitly told Hobbs not to cause trouble for Zhou Yi, Hobbs naturally couldn't count on getting funds from higher-ups anymore. That meant if he really wanted to keep tabs on Zhou Yi, he'd have to pay out of his own pocket.

Hobbs wasn't so stubborn as to fixate on Zhou Yi, especially since he still had other ways to complete his mission and wasn't at a dead end. Besides, Zhou Yi had even sent over the medical expenses... Of course, that wasn't the main reason. Absolutely not!

Failed Author's Diary↓

If only there were a Failed Author ranking, I'm sure I'd be number one.