Transaction Complete

It was probably already nine, or even ten, at night.

Cao Ziqian was still sitting in his office. In fact, he had even settled dinner with a boxed meal in the office.

They had hired a very capable nanny at home, so during this period, he could safely leave the child in the nanny's care.

The lights outside the office were still on. Having just finished his work, Cao Ziqian remembered that his secretary had not yet gotten off work, waiting for instructions.

He was a diligent young man too.

Cao Ziqian frowned and pinched the bridge of his nose. Just as he was about to tell his secretary to go home, the office door was suddenly pushed open.

Two people came in: his flustered secretary, and someone Cao Ziqian knew very well... Jin Zifu.

The secretary said in a panic, "General Manager... the chairman, he... I..."

"It's fine. Go out first... go home." Cao Ziqian spoke calmly.

As though he'd been granted a pardon, the secretary hurried out, packed up his things, and left quickly. Only after the sound of his footsteps had faded away did Cao Ziqian say, "dad, why aren't you resting at home? You're getting old. You should go to bed early at night. You don't need to worry about the factory."

Jin Zifu snorted coldly. "Of course you don't want me here. You'd rather I never came again... The chairman is nothing but an empty title now. The factory is already yours in truth. Easy for you to say, isn't it?"

Cao Ziqian frowned, then sat back down. "dad, there's no need to lay certain things out in the open. I've left you enough money for retirement. Don't we still have a villa up north? Maybe you could live there for a while. You don't need to worry about things here."

"Us?" Jin Zifu sneered. "Pah! What 'us'? You have no right to call me dad! I'm not your father! Cao Ziqian, let me tell you this: from the moment you stole my factory, we stopped being family! What a shame. I always treated you well! I promoted you ever since you were just the director of a small workshop in the factory, and I even handed over my daughter to you! But what did you do to me? You actually wanted to steal the factory from me!? Did you think that once the factory was yours, you could pretend I didn't exist?"

Cao Ziqian took a deep breath. "Dad, you know it too... Don't do anything you Shouldn't. The factory guards are still here. I don't want this to turn unpleasant."

Jin Zifu sneered as he pulled out a set of documents. "You haven't dared to release these yet, have you? But they're in my hands now! I'm still the rightful owner of this factory! Go ahead and call the guards up. Let's see whether they listen to you or me! This is only part of it. Take a good look at it!"

With that, Jin Zifu threw the documents onto Cao Ziqian's desk.

Cao Ziqian swept his gaze across them. They were almost all copies... but he knew Jin Zifu could not possibly have copies of these documents.

"Impossible... I clearly locked the documents in a bank safe deposit box!" Cao Ziqian said agitatedly.

"Nothing is impossible in this world." Jin Zifu snorted. "If you're smart, get the hell out right now, and never let me see you again! Considering how much you've contributed to this factory over the years, I'll spare your life!"

"Old bastard... you forced me to do this!"

Cao Ziqian abruptly looked up, his eyes like those of a beast as he charged at Jin Zifu swiftly. Cao Ziqian was in his prime, and Jin Zifu was shoved to the ground at once.

Without hesitation, Cao Ziqian pinned Jin Zifu down and Clutched his neck with both hands. "Spare my life? What life do I have left to live! Fine, you know how much I've given this factory over the years, but how could you treat me like this! Did you think I Didn't know? Every loan you took from the bank was borrowed under my name! You simply had no ability to repay them! And not only that, you're a gambling addict. You gambled away your family's assets long ago! If I hadn't been desperately holding things together all these years, the factory could never have lasted until now! I will never let you take everything from me!!"

"You... you..." Jin Zifu struggled painfully, but one of his hands quietly reached toward his clothes.

Unable to breathe, perhaps about to die the next second, he could no longer worry about anything else... He had never expected Cao Ziqian to suddenly lose his mind and fight back. Jin Zifu suddenly regretted coming up here alone.

He found it—the gun!

Trembling, he slowly pulled it out! Good. Cao Ziqian had not noticed at all. Using all his strength, Jin Zifu laboriously aimed the gun at Cao Ziqian's waist. As long as he pulled the trigger, he could immediately escape death.

But at that moment, his hand suddenly felt empty. The gun had vanished without a trace.

"Mr. Cao, if you strangle him to death like this, you really will end up with nothing. Don't you want to celebrate your child's birthday?"

A slow voice suddenly rang out in the office.

Cao Ziqian froze. As though he had been drenched in cold water, he let go of Jin Zifu's neck with trembling hands, scrambled to his feet in terror, and instinctively looked toward the source of the voice.

"It's you!"

It was not only Cao Ziqian who cried out. Jin Zifu, coughing beside him, did as well. More than that, Jin Zifu looked as though he had seen a ghost, his eyes filled with terror.

He saw Luo Qiu and You Ye... yet he remembered with perfect clarity that Luo Qiu and You Ye should be dead from his gunshots.

The gun! That gun had been snatched away by that woman!

Looking at the USP45 in her hand, Jin Zifu became even more terrified and at a loss.

"Impossible! You two were clearly already... Impossible! Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Jin Zifu trembled as he kept backing away across the floor.

Luo Qiu tried his best to appear composed as he said calmly, "Mr. Jin, have you forgotten that our transaction has not yet been completed? I recall you said you learned of our existence from your grandfather... right? Didn't your grandfather tell you our rules? You failed to fulfill your promise, so I'm sorry, but we will reclaim the goods you requested."

Perhaps overwhelmed by fear, Jin Zifu said in a trembling voice, "Impossible! How could I still have kept those documents? I destroyed them all immediately!"

Luo Qiu gathered the scattered documents on Cao Ziqian's desk one sheet at a time, then smiled. "Are you referring to this pile of blank paper? It's alright, Mr. Jin. It Doesn't matter how much you intend to destroy."

The documents that had clearly been filled with detailed clauses and even signatures had now turned into sheets of blank paper.

Seeing this, Jin Zifu grew even more terrified, almost as if he were going mad. Even Cao Ziqian was staring in shock.

In fact, how had this young man and the woman beside her gotten in here... And he had clearly seen those documents himself, yet they had miraculously turned into sheets of blank paper.

"You... you tricked me!" Jin Zifu seemed to realize something and roared, "From the beginning! You tricked me from the beginning! You broke your word!!"

Luo Qiu said indifferently, "I think the one who broke his word from the beginning was Mr. Jin, wasn't it? The moment you entered the Trafford Buyers Club and stated your purpose, you had already begun weaving a lie."

Looking at the silent Jin Zifu, Luo Qiu slowly said, "No matter how moving your words were or how certain your tone sounded, your eyes could not lie. When you told me that Cao Ziqian had seized your factory and that you wanted justice for the workers, I did believe you somewhat... Unfortunately, I did not sense even the slightest sincerity in your eyes. Besides, when people lie, they unconsciously make many little movements they do not notice themselves."

"Just because of that! You started suspecting me?" Jin Zifu said in disbelief.

Luo Qiu said indifferently, "At first, it was merely suspicion. Until I personally came here. You know, we needed to properly assess the value of this factory... Well, none of that matters anymore."

Luo Qiu turned to Cao Ziqian. "What matters is that I saw this factory's general manager."

As he spoke, Luo Qiu walked to Cao Ziqian's desk again. "First, I saw this photo frame. Mr. Jin said your daughter died tragically in an accident several years ago. Yet years have passed, and this photo is still displayed here."

Luo Qiu turned the photo frame on the desk around.

In the photo, a woman held a newborn child and wore a happy smile.

Luo Qiu said, "Of course, this only suggests that Mr. Cao is a devoted man. But it gave me a favorable impression. So I became even more interested in what kind of person the so-called 'beast' Mr. Jin described actually was."

Jin Zifu did not say a word.

Luo Qiu continued on his own, "His desk was piled with documents. When I came to see him this afternoon, he had been diligently working as well. Also, do you see that sofa? There are neatly folded blankets and pillows on it, which shows Mr. Cao often rests—or even stays overnight—in his office. Hmm, the secretary is male... Don't get the wrong idea."

Luo Qiu glanced at the others, who seemed uninterested in his cold joke, and acted as though nothing had happened. "I think there was no more plausible reason than that he regularly worked here until late into the night, lost track of time, and simply stayed the night."

Luo Qiu expressionlessly looked at Jin Zifu again. "I cannot understand why a man who deeply loved his deceased wife, worked overtime until late into the night for the factory, had an office so plain it contained almost no decorations, and even sat in a cracked leather chair despite being the general manager... would become, in Mr. Jin's mouth, a despicable villain plotting to seize your family fortune."

Perhaps Jin Zifu had been terrified beyond his limit, or perhaps his vicious nature had finally been exposed after being found out. "That's right! I lied to you! So what! How could I casually believe what you said... Besides, you never had those documents, did you?"

Luo Qiu shook his head, his patience remarkable. "No, the documents Mr. Jin required truly are in my possession."

He extended his hand. A flash of clear light passed, and an intact document bag appeared in his palm. "I had indeed intended to properly complete this transaction with Mr. Jin... It was simply that Mr. Jin did not trust me."

Jin Zifu froze as sheets of documents flew out from the bag into the air, appeared In Front Of him, then strangely flew back into the document bag. He immediately began trembling again in fright.

He... he had actually shot at this terrifying person!

Only then did he remember what his grandfather had said when entrusting that Black Card to him before his death: never attempt to deceive the Trafford Buyers Club, or you would bear a price you could not afford!

He had clearly been shot dead, yet now he stood alive In Front Of him.

Jin Zifu's legs suddenly gave out, and he dropped to his knees in terror. "I know I was wrong! Boss! I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have deceived you! I'll properly complete this transaction! Eighteen years and six months! Take it! Take it!"

"No." Luo Qiu said indifferently. "Although this factory is run-down and even on the verge of bankruptcy, it would still amount to a considerable sum after liquidation. But you are a born gambler, ambitious yet incompetent. Even if you were given another eighteen years, you would never earn this much. Therefore, if you want this factory, you must pay a total of thirty-six years and ten months. Since you are the holder of a Black Card, I'll give you a discount... thirty-three years, one month, and fifteen days. That is the payment Mr. Jin must make for this transaction."

"Thirty-three years, thirty-three years..." Jin Zifu muttered to himself.

Without thirty-three years, how much longer could he live?

Even if he got the factory back, he would have no life left to enjoy it... This was clearly not what he had wanted.

"No! I won't trade anymore! I don't want it! I don't want it!"

Like a madman, Jin Zifu rushed out toward the door!

Just then, a black flame formed out of thin air In Front Of him, frightening him into abruptly stopping. Within the black flames burning in the air, the Black Card he had thrown away at the Trafford Buyers Club gradually reappeared.

"Rule Eight of the Trafford Buyers Club: a transaction for which a Black Card has already been offered cannot be canceled."

Accompanied by Luo Qiu's voice, the black flame instantly crashed into Jin Zifu's body.

He only had time to let out a scream before collapsing to the floor.

As for the Black Card, it slowly flew into Luo Qiu's hand, while the golden mark engraved on one side of it gradually faded away.

Luo Qiu threw the document bag Beside Jin Zifu and said indifferently, "Transaction complete."

The office suddenly became deathly silent.

Cao Ziqian's face was pale, and his breathing was rapid... because Luo Qiu was now looking at him.

PS1: I originally planned to split this chapter into two, so I could update twice! I'm such a damn genius... Then I couldn't figure out where to split it, so I just didn't.

PS2: So please bookmark, recommend, and donate. Everyone else is asking anyway, so I'm happy to go with the flow. Heh~