Red Hair shoved the woman in his arms away and leaned toward the computer screen.
He checked the string of digits showing the incoming payment three times, making sure there wasn't an extra zero or a missing one.
He grinned.
When he picked up the phone again, his tone was even more contemptuous than before.
"Oh, you actually sent it? Pretty quick."
He crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair, picking a strand of meat from between his teeth with a fingernail, his voice languid.
"Got the money. I'm giving you one day for the rest."
"If I don't see the money by this time tomorrow-"
He paused, as though considering an amusing turn of phrase.
"Get ready to collect your brother's corpse. Actually, no, there won't even be a corpse. I'll just mail you an urn. Save on shipping, too."
On the other end of the line.
Chen Lin's lips moved slightly, forcing out a few trembling words.
"Boss, one day isn't enough..."
"Beep-beep-beep-"
The busy tone.
The man hadn't even given him a chance to finish.
No one in the courtyard spoke.
Wang Guihua's body shook. It wasn't fear. It was what happened when a mother was told her son was about to be dismantled for parts, and every structure holding her together collapsed at once.
Liu Desheng opened his mouth, but no sound came out. His fists were clenched, his knuckles white, veins bulging from the backs of his hands all the way up his forearms.
But there was nothing he could do.
Two million.
To them, that number was no different from two hundred million.
Chen Lin lowered the phone from his ear.
No one noticed that, from the moment the call ended, every trace of panic and helplessness on his face had been