Planning

In his previous life, his wonderful family had found it in this very place, but the savings inside had been a crushing disappointment. Later, a group of people even came to the door demanding repayment, claiming that his father had owed them money while doing business with them.

In the end, after everything was settled, there were only a little over five hundred yuan left. Though that was no small sum at the time, it was extremely difficult to support a university student with it. He had originally planned to sell the house, but his second uncle said the buyer was only willing to offer 5,000 yuan. Back then, determined to fulfill his father's wish for him to attend university, he agreed without a second thought. Yet just two months after the house was sold, he received notice of demolition.

Thinking about it now, there had been glaring holes in the whole affair. Even those supposed debt slips his parents had left behind—how had they suddenly become loans owed to creditors? There was no need to say it; it had all been arranged by his father's so-called family.

Looking at the iron box in his hands, Xue Chen's eyes grew wet. It had once contained milk biscuits given to his father by a client during a business negotiation. Because the biscuit tin had an unusual shape, he had treasured it dearly. But after he entered middle school, he had long since forgotten where he had tossed it. He never expected his parents to have hidden it away like a precious treasure.

When he opened the round lid, he found neatly stacked banknotes inside. After counting them, he discovered there was over forty thousand yuan. There were also three deposit certificates, each worth one hundred thousand yuan, along with several contracts for projects his father had invested in. They were actually shares in several major corporations that would rise to prominence in the future.

Staring at the immense fortune in his hands, Xue Chen dug his nails so deeply into his flesh that they nearly pierced it. What wonderful relatives. They had not only caused his parents' deaths, but had also seized their assets, then acted as though he owed them something and used morality to pressure him.

He packed everything into his backpack, then found a thick stack of IOUs. They were from people who had borrowed money from his parents. His youngest aunt had borrowed the most, followed by his second uncle and eldest aunt.

Yet he had never seen a single one of those IOUs before. They had clearly been destroyed. In this Household, he was the only one grieving; everyone else was delighting in his misfortune. Seeing him suffer made them happy, and they mocked and ridiculed him in their hearts.

He did not know why they had done this, but when he saw the secret satisfaction and relief on their faces, he felt that his father had truly been a fool. For the sake of so-called family harmony, he had ultimately sacrificed his life.

Knock, knock. A sound came from outside the door. It was the same man's voice as before. "Xiao Chen, are you feeling better? Can you come out for a moment?"

That voice was unbearably familiar. Blood seeped from Xue Chen's palm again, where he had already gripped hard enough to break the skin. Yet he only calmly picked up a handkerchief beside him and gently wiped away the blood before walking to the door and opening it.

A man in a suit stood outside. His clothes looked brand-new and clearly expensive, while his entire bearing exuded the air of a nouveau riche.

"What is it?" Xue Chen asked flatly, his voice distant and even tinged with disgust.

But the middle-aged man seemed not to notice the emotion in his eyes. Rubbing his fingers together, he said, "Well, nephew, you know your parents' funeral arrangements were paid for by us. I was wondering whether your parents left any money for you. Do you know where they might have put it?"

"Second Uncle, you know all my attention usually went to my studies. My dad never told me anything about his business, and whenever I needed money, I asked my mom for it. If you want me to find money, I really wouldn't know where to look." Xue Chen answered coldly, staring straight at the man as though he wanted to kill him with his gaze. But then his tone softened. "Second Uncle, I know these past few days have been hard on you too. Let me look around first and see where my mom might have put the money. How about you come by tomorrow night? Help me search for it?"

The middle-aged man immediately broke into a smile. This was exactly the answer he wanted. He nodded at once. "All right, all right. Then I'll see you tomorrow night."

Not long after the middle-aged man left, Xue Chen went to lock the door. But just before it shut, he left a narrow crack, and the voices of two women and a man drifted in from outside.

"He really said that?" Xue Qing asked excitedly.

Second Uncle nodded, looking completely confident. "Don't worry. He asked us to help him himself."

"That's great." Xue Qing clapped her hands happily, but soon looked worried. "I've searched this place over and over, even that little brat's room, but I still couldn't find anything. I wonder where Xu Shuyuan hid the money. Do you think that little bastard can find it?"

"This isn't the time to talk about that. Hurry up and leave. It wouldn't be good if someone else ran into us here." Xue Chen's eldest aunt, Xue Pan, urged them.

After they left, Xue Chen changed into a set of black clothes and went down through the stairwell on the other side. The bag that had held the cash was slung over his back. His destination was an underground exchange hidden in S City.

Planning

"Kid, this isn't a place for you. Hurry up and get yourself to school with that backpack." When Xue Chen arrived at the entrance of a bar with his bag on his back, two burly men stopped him.

"If I said I came here to give you money, would you believe me?" Xue Chen pulled open the zipper of his bag, revealing the one hundred thousand yuan he had just withdrawn from the bank. Then he quickly zipped it back up. "Don't worry. I'm already an adult, and this money isn't dirty."

The two men at the entrance pulled their stunned gazes away and exchanged looks. "Since you know about this place, someone must have introduced you. But let me make this clear first—if you lose that money, you don't get to ask for it back."

Xue Chen nodded repeatedly. "Of course."

"Come with me." One of the burly men searched Xue Chen first, then allowed him to follow him into the bar. They bypassed the noisy crowd and went all the way to a private room at the back. "Erzi, another one has come to deliver himself up."

The door was quickly opened from the inside. A man with a close-cropped haircut stepped out and took a look. When he noticed Xue Chen carrying a backpack, he said to the burly man, "Didn't Boss make a rule? No new lambs allowed in."