Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, My Brother-in-Law's Right!
Welcome to Trapped in the Same Day for a Thousand Years, exclusively produced by Feilu Novel Network, written by Sang Ze and narrated by Wang Xiaomo and Lao He.
Wu Chen sounded serious. He had taken Li Ruobing's money to help Li Ruotai, but as the man's brother-in-law, he had to show some authority.
They had a long road ahead. He needed to think about the future.
"What are you doing? He's my brother, which makes him your brother too. We're family. I've already slapped him, so if you have a way to help, just say it."
Li Ruobing gave Wu Chen's shoulder a gentle push.
She even seemed to be acting coy. That part was an act, of course, but her concern for her brother was genuine. The authorities already had a great deal of evidence, and she could not think of a way to save him.
"He doesn't treat me like his brother-in-law."
Wu Chen glanced at Li Ruobing.
"Don't be like that."
Li Ruobing pleaded with him, then pinched him where Li Ruotai could not see.
The pinch was a warning. She had paid Wu Chen, after all, though only for information, not for a solution.
"Brother-in-law, what are you saying?"
"You're my brother-in-law."
Li Ruotai suddenly smiled with breathtaking sincerity.
He stood, offered Wu Chen a cigarette, and said with a beaming smile, "I was wrong just now. Please don't hold it against me. I was only worried my sister might be fooled by some punk."
"Ah, I don't mean you, of course. You've got what it takes, and you're a perfect match for my sister." A real man knew when to bend. Li Ruotai was capable; this crisis had come about not only because he had gone too far, but chiefly because someone had betrayed him.
Wu Chen looked at Li Ruotai, who was bent forward offering him the cigarette. He smiled, took it, and set it on the table.
He did not smoke. Accepting the cigarette had been a way to give Li Ruotai face and accept his apology.
"Smoke less. Those cigarettes will kill you someday, and no amount of money will save you."
"How many times have I told you?"
Li Ruobing chided Li Ruotai, and he did not dare argue.
"First, you need to kill Xie Hu. He knows about the business you two are doing."
"Once he's dead, you'll be in the clear."
Wu Chen got straight to the point.
Li Ruotai, who had just sat down, froze. Xie Hu belonged to the Xie Family, though he was only from a collateral branch.
Around Li Ruotai, Xie Hu had always called him "Brother" and gone out of his way to please him.
Still, he was a member of the Xie Family. If he suddenly died—"Damn it. He dared set me up?"
Li Ruotai slapped his thigh, his face turning fierce.
He had thought it through. Compared with the consequences of killing Xie Hu, escaping this crisis mattered more.
"You know Xie Hu uses drugs, right?" Wu Chen asked.
Li Ruotai nodded. Drug use was strictly forbidden in prominent families, and he had never touched the stuff himself. But he knew Xie Hu had been using for years. Xie Hu had a lover living in Villa No. 17 at Qingshui Hetang Manor, and often went there to use drugs with her.
"Send someone to Qingshui Hetang Manor. He'll die of an overdose there, won't he?" Wu Chen said.
Li Ruotai's eyes widened, then a smile spread across his face.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah! My brother-in-law's right!" A murder was usually disguised as an accident, but a suspicious accident would be investigated. Trouble came when the investigation found something.
If Xie Hu really died from injecting himself, the Xie Family would probably want to keep the family disgrace quiet. They would cover it up rather than investigate.
"Second, all the evidence has been gathered in one person's hands. Get it and destroy it, and you'll be safe," Wu Chen said.
"Director Bao?" Li Ruotai asked.
"Yes. He was transferred here specifically to catch you. He has all the evidence."
"Fine. I'll take care of him."
Li Ruotai gritted his teeth. "Take care of him, my ass!" Wu Chen said. "He's the deputy director. Do you want to make this even bigger?"
"I'm warning you: don't touch anyone working on the case."
"Then... what do I do?"
"Steal it. Steal the evidence!"
Li Ruotai was baffled. How was he supposed to steal it without touching anyone?
He did not even know where the evidence was. And even if he investigated, he might run out of time.
"In the master bedroom of Unit 3, Room 501, No. 2 Alley, Liuchu Street, there's a concealed safe beneath the wardrobe. The combination is 571564. The evidence is inside. The operation to catch you is top secret, so there's only one copy to prevent leaks. Send someone to take it and destroy it."
Li Ruotai was stunned again.
Even Li Ruobing shot Wu Chen a sidelong look, her expression troubled. He had given them the exact location and even knew the safe's combination.
"Third," Wu Chen continued, "the Crown Entertainment Club needs to shut down as soon as possible. You can't reopen until things have completely blown over."
"That's easy. I can close it today," Li Ruotai said.
"You can't just shut it down. People will get suspicious."
Wu Chen continued, "I'll tell you exactly how to do it later. Fourth, you need to tell your grandfather everything, especially about your business with Xie Hu. Make sure you explain that clearly."
Li Ruotai's face changed completely. He looked deeply reluctant.
"That's... not a good idea, is it? You know what my grandfather's temper is like." He was afraid his grandfather would break his legs.
"The Wei Family is behind this move against you. The Li Family may not be much weaker, but you've given them an opening. They're taking advantage of it to strike at your family. Your grandfather has to know. Understand?"
"The Wei Family..." Li Ruotai murmured.
Relations between powerful families were usually decent. They might fight behind the scenes, but on the surface, they kept things cordial.
The Li and Wei families were an exception. They had been enemies for years and had once fought an all-out battle that sent quite a few members of both families to prison. The fighting had only stopped when the patriarchs on both sides retired from their high-ranking positions.
Even in recent years, the two families still clashed from time to time, with the Wei Family holding the upper hand. That was why the Li Family patriarch insisted Li Ruobing marry Ding Ruilong. An alliance with the Ding Family would let them stand against the Wei Family together.
"I understand. I'll tell Grandfather."
Li Ruotai nodded. This involved a struggle between two powerful families, so it could not be that simple. Even after the main crisis was resolved, plenty of smaller problems would remain. His grandfather needed to know so the Li Family could deal with them quickly.
"Don't mention me," Wu Chen said.
"Huh?" Li Ruotai seemed not to have heard him.
"When you report to your grandfather, don't mention me."
As Wu Chen spoke, he took Li Ruobing's hand.
"It's enough that you know about Ruobing and me. Your grandfather insists she marry Ding. If he finds out I exist, it won't do your sister or me any good."
"Okay. I won't say anything," Li Ruotai replied at once.
"I'll say I discovered it all myself."
Wu Chen nodded. "Brother-in-law, about closing the club?" Li Ruotai asked, looking eager for guidance again.
"That depends on how much you're willing to give up."
"Anything," Li Ruotai said. "I'd tear this place down if I had to."
"Then you should—" Wu Chen began, but Li Ruotai's phone rang. He frowned. Everyone around him knew not to disturb him when his sister visited.
He checked the phone and hung up. Turning back to Wu Chen with a smile, he said, "Brother-in-law, you were saying—" The phone rang again. "What's wrong with you?"
Li Ruotai answered and immediately began berating the caller.
The caller was a trusted subordinate, who forced himself to give his report.
The anger drained from Li Ruotai's face, giving way to shock. His eyes widened. "Something serious happened? How much did we lose?"
"Two hundred million?"
"Fine. I'll be right there."
Li Ruotai hung up and turned to Wu Chen and Li Ruobing. "Sis, brother-in-law, wait for me a moment. There's trouble at the casino. I need to take a look."
He hurried toward the door. "Is it Boss Shen from Fusheng Property?" Wu Chen asked from his seat.
Li Ruotai stopped and turned back to Wu Chen, stunned. Wu Chen was right. How did he know? "Let's go. We'll take a look together."
Wu Chen stood up.
He straightened his clothes and slipped one hand into his pocket.
Li Ruobing stood and adjusted Wu Chen's collar before taking his arm.
Li Ruotai watched it all. He no longer had the slightest doubt that Wu Chen was the man his sister had chosen. There was nothing fake about it.
They headed out, followed by more than ten bodyguards, and walked toward the stairwell.
The East Sea Crown Entertainment Club might not have been the largest in the East China Region, but it was certainly the most upscale.
The building had eleven floors. It was not especially tall, but its enormous footprint made every floor vast.
The First Floor held the biggest bar and KTV in all of East Sea. Floors two through seven housed the sauna and bathhouse, the Eighth Floor was for staff, and the Ninth and Tenth Floors held the casino and its luxury suites. The top floor, the Eleventh Floor, was the restricted core area.
The Crown Entertainment Club's main business was saunas and massages—though not the respectable kind.
Leaving aside its other employees, the club had a thousand beautiful attendants. It had more than 1,200 guest rooms, including the casino suites.
By Wu Chen's exacting standards, the Crown Club's attendants probably averaged 7.5 out of 10 in looks, an astonishingly high standard. Apart from a small number blessed with natural beauty, though, nearly all had undergone cosmetic surgery.
In truth, the sauna and bathhouse were only the club's main business on the surface. Its real money came from the casino on the Ninth and Tenth Floors.
The casino served regular patrons and kept everything strictly confidential. New customers came through introductions from friends.
The group took the elevator. A bodyguard swiped a card before pressing the button for the casino.
"Brother-in-law, how did you know it was Boss Shen from Fusheng Property?" Li Ruotai finally asked.
"He arrived in East Sea yesterday. He even hired a gambling expert from Macau, determined to avenge his earlier loss."
Wu Chen glanced at Li Ruotai as he spoke.
"You arranged for someone to win three hundred million from him. That's where your trouble began. His father-in-law is close to the Wei Family."
Li Ruotai's current predicament had not begun because the Crown Club was too conspicuous. Nor was it because he had secretly filmed certain important guests during their visits, or because he had threatened anyone.
It had begun in the casino.
Li Ruotai's business with Xie Hu was simple: Xie Hu used his connections and social skills to bring wealthy people to the Crown Club to gamble. Li Ruotai arranged for them to win at first, then lose astronomical sums. It did not require any high-tech cheating.
Li Ruotai had paid a fortune to hire expert gamblers. The wealthy guests were businesspeople, not real gamblers. Relying on luck, they won when he wanted them to win and lost when he wanted them to lose.
So far, more than ten wealthy bosses had lost over a hundred million at the Crown Club. Even more had lost tens of millions.
Li Ruotai knew when to stop, though. He would not let a wealthy guest lose their entire fortune there and make an enemy of them.
Some, however, refused to listen. Their urge to gamble was too strong.
Shen Guangjun, the boss of Fusheng Property, was one of them. After losing two hundred million at the Crown Club, he ignored advice to stop and gambled away another hundred million. He only quit because his accounts were empty.
Li Ruotai did not allow guests to gamble on credit.
Fusheng Property had a market value of several billion, but market value and cash flow were different things.
Shen Guangjun had gambled away nearly all of his company's cash at the Crown Club. With nothing left in its accounts, Fusheng Property ran into operational trouble.
After his loss, Shen Guangjun did not dare make trouble for Li Ruotai. He could not afford to offend the Li Family, so he went around trying to raise money.
While seeking funds, he told people about his gambling losses. He discovered that he was not the only one who had lost so much at the Crown Club, and word reached the Wei Family.
At first, the Wei Family thought Li Ruotai was merely fleecing people. But a brief investigation revealed much bigger problems at the Crown Club. Taking money from wealthy gamblers was the least of them.
Li Ruotai was clever. He avoided truly top-tier magnates. The people he preyed on had money and influence, but were not at the very top—nouveau riche types with deep pockets. He did not provoke the truly powerful.
The bigger problem the Wei Family found lay in the sauna and massage business. Li Ruotai had secretly filmed important people with attendants in private rooms, giving him leverage over them. Used well, that leverage could make those people protect the Crown Club and even help the Li Family. Used badly, it could make enemies of far more than one or two people.
The Wei Family saw an opportunity: they could join forces with other factions to send Li Ruotai to prison and perhaps throw the entire Li Family into turmoil.
So the Wei Family quietly set things in motion, contacting many people, including influential figures Li Ruotai had threatened.
Wu Chen had investigated the siblings Li Ruobing and Li Ruotai in great detail. He knew all this, and he knew even more about what happened in East Sea on July 7.
Shen Guangjun had arrived in East Sea the day before and hired a gambling expert. Wu Chen knew he would likely return to the Crown Club within days to win back his money.
That was why Wu Chen had realized, when Li Ruotai took the call upstairs, that Shen Guangjun had probably arrived with his expert.
Under normal circumstances, Shen Guangjun would not dare bring an expert gambler to the Crown Club. It amounted to a direct challenge, and he would not risk provoking Li Ruotai. But now, he clearly no longer feared retaliation. He knew what was coming and that Li Ruotai would not have much time left. Most likely, Shen Guangjun wanted to recover his losses—and win more—before the club came under investigation.
Ding. The elevator doors opened at the casino. It was lavishly decorated, with gambling tables everywhere, but few guests. It was still morning, and the Crown Club normally opened for business at night.
The casino was an exception. Regular guests could come up in the VIP elevator. Some were already staying there and came to play cards early; others had gambled all night and still had not left.
At the sight of Li Ruotai, a stocky middle-aged man in a black suit hurried over, sweating profusely and wiping his brow with a handkerchief.
"Boss, you're here. They're in the Imperial Suite."
After speaking quickly, he nodded to Li Ruobing and greeted her as "Miss Li."
He was Bao Wei, the casino manager, one of Li Ruotai's trusted subordinates and a longtime retainer of the Li Family.
Bao Wei had barely greeted Li Ruobing when he noticed she was holding a man's arm. Startled, he did not recognize the man and had no idea how to address him.
The group headed farther inside. Bao Wei hurried ahead and led them to the private room. A bodyguard opened the door, and Li Ruotai went in first. His hearty laughter rang out from inside.
"Hahaha! Boss Shen, it's been months. You're looking well today."
Wu Chen and Li Ruobing entered. Li Ruotai was shaking hands with a balding middle-aged man—Shen Guangjun.
"You're the one looking as fine as ever, Young Master Li!"
Though Shen Guangjun shook Li Ruotai's hand, his smile did not reach his eyes. In the past, he would never have dared treat Li Ruotai this way.
Wu Chen gave them a glance, then turned his attention to the gambling table.
Two men were playing against each other. On the left sat a refined-looking, bespectacled middle-aged man with a mountain of chips: the gambling expert Shen Guangjun had brought from Macau.
On the right sat a hook-nosed middle-aged man with only a few million in chips left. He was the Crown Club's best gambler.
From the look of things, every expert gambler at the Crown Club had already taken a turn. Its best player was at the table now, and he was still losing.
The hook-nosed man studied his cards, sweat beading across his face.
He was under too much pressure. He had lost big this time.
After looking at his cards, Brother Ying muttered, "Damn," turned them facedown, and stood up.
Wu Chen took one look at the situation, walked over, and got up. "Let me take a shot!"
The man looked up, startled. He did not know Wu Chen, but Wu Chen knew him.
Li Ruobing, who had followed Wu Chen over, also stood and made room, though she shot Li Ruotai a puzzled look.
Li Ruotai was exchanging insincere pleasantries with Shen Guangjun. When he noticed what was happening, he was stunned too. What was going on?
My brother-in-law knows how to gamble?
He gave his older sister a questioning look.
Li Ruobing shook her head slightly. She really did not know whether Wu Chen knew how to gamble. This seemed like a long shot.
"Oh, another change of players?"
"Why bring in someone else?"
Young Shen Guanglin spotted it and grinned. "Young Master Li, you're being too generous! You've already lost over two hundred million to me today, and now you're deliberately handing me more money. That won't do!"
"Hahaha!" His words sounded like a joke, but the barbs in them were unmistakable.
Li Ruotai had no one left to play.
That concludes this episode. Please keep listening!