A thug in a suit

The Su Family Courtyard.

The two brothers, Tian Nan and Tianyu, rushed into the main house and found their family in the rear hall.

In the crowded corridor, the younger members of the Su Family had gathered together, demanding answers from Su Tianbei inside.

Su Tiannan pushed through the crowd and rushed into the rear hall to look at his younger brother. He was covered in blood, his clothes were torn, and his face was bruised all over. Su Miaomiao was treating his wounds.

"What happened?" Su Tianyu asked with a frown.

Su Tianbei's face was battered and swollen, and the long knife wounds on his body were still bleeding. He heard Su Tianyu's question but said nothing.

"I asked you a question! What happened?" Su Tiannan demanded, his hands on his hips.

"I went after Lu Feng's people. They were ready for me, and I failed." Su Tianbei wiped the blood from his nose with his wrist and answered with his head lowered.

As Su Tianyu looked at his wounded second brother, a flicker of viciousness crossed his face.

Su Tiannan's blood boiled. Forcing down his anger, he turned to the younger members of the Su Family and asked, "Does Mom know?"

"No. She went out this morning to see Dad's friends," Su Miaomiao replied.

"Stop crowding around here. Go do what you're supposed to be doing, and don't tell Mom about this," Su Tiannan instructed them.

"Fuck, they did this to our second brother! We can't just let it slide...!" The younger members of the Su Family always stuck together, putting family before right or wrong. Seeing their second brother beaten so badly had set all their tempers flaring.

"Get back to what you're supposed to be doing!" Su Tiannan roared.

His shout echoed through the rear hall. Seeing that Su Tiannan was genuinely furious, everyone could only disperse for now.

Su Tiannan turned around. "Why didn't you discuss this with me? Who told you to go after Lu Feng?"

"It's fucking obvious!" Su Tianbei shouted, his eyes wide. "Changqing Company won't let this go until they've crushed us. You've been working on this for so long, and you haven't even managed to see Dad. I was getting desperate! I looked into it. One of Lu Feng's managers masterminded this frame-up. If I grabbed him and made him talk, we could break the whole case open. But... but I didn't expect the people I hired to be so useless. Word got out ahead of time."

"You're thinking too simply. After setting us up, do you think they wouldn't take precautions? You failed this time. What if Lu Feng gets pissed off and does something to Dad in custody?" Su Tiannan pointed at his younger brother and snapped, "You were too reckless."

"My ambush failed, but Lu Feng doesn't know I did it. I've already arranged for the people I hired to leave," Su Tianbei replied through gritted teeth. "I haven't caused trouble for the family."

Su Tiannan wanted to scold him some more, but seeing his brother covered in blood, he swallowed the words. He took a couple of breaths, steadied himself, and said, "You're not going out again. You don't need to worry about the rest. Tianyu and I have already thought of a way."

"What way?" Su Tianbei was a straightforward young man from the north. He had only done this because he was worried about his father. Hearing that his eldest brother and Tianyu already had an idea, he immediately pressed them.

"Get some rest first," Su Tiannan replied. He gave Tianyu a look, and the two left the room together.

In truth, when Su Tianyu had seen his second brother covered in blood, his anger had been fiercer than anyone else's. The two had been close since childhood, and much of what they felt for each other went unspoken.

In the Su Family courtyard, Su Tiannan frowned and said to Tianyu through gritted teeth, "Fuck, I can't swallow this. I'm going downtown in a bit..."

"Big Brother, it's time to bring everyone together and make our move," Su Tianyu interrupted. "Call the Bai, Liu, and Kong families. We'll all get this Lu Feng out for a talk."

Su Tiannan paused. "We just finished talking to those three families. Isn't it a little rushed to contact Lu Feng now? I don't think the time is right."

"Our second brother has already made a move. Lu Feng's side must be getting nervous too. The longer we drag this out, the worse our position gets," Su Tianyu said gravely. "Bring everyone together now."

"What if those three families change their minds at the last minute?"

"...We'll see how the talks go. I have a way," Su Tianyu replied decisively.

Su Tiannan considered it for a long moment. "Tell me what you have in mind."

"Here's what we'll do..." Su Tianyu quietly began explaining to his eldest brother.

About an hour later, Su Tiannan called Lu Feng. "Are you free? Let's talk about handing over the territory."

"Heh, sure. Come to my freight yard. I'll be waiting," Lu Feng replied lazily.

Three thirty that afternoon.

More than a dozen cars stopped outside Changqing Company's Langtong Freight Yard in Dragon City's Zhannan District. Su Tiannan, Su Tianyu, and the representatives of the Bai, Liu, and Kong families were all there.

Everyone gathered together. The second Liu brother straightened his clothes and quietly asked Su Tiannan, "Are you confident about this?"

"I'll handle the talking," Su Tiannan replied expressionlessly. "Everyone just needs to stand by the position we agreed on."

"As long as there's room to negotiate, we'll all back you," Bai Hongbo declared from beside him. The unspoken meaning was that he would tie himself to the Su Family if negotiations benefited him, but if they fell through, his family would immediately distance themselves.

Kong Zhenghui glanced at the second Liu brother and Bai Hongbo, saying nothing.

"Did you bring everyone?" Su Tianyu asked the three of them.

Bai Hongbo gave Su Tianyu a cursory glance and answered casually, "Our family's people are all here. They're in the cars at the intersection."

Su Tianyu nodded and said nothing more.

"Let's go." Su Tiannan led the way toward the freight yard.

The members of each family stayed outside by their vehicles rather than following them in. After all, this was Changqing Company's territory. Bringing that many people inside together would have broken the unwritten rules.

Changqing Company's freight yard was laid out much like the Su Family's. The compound was full of stockpiled garbage. Although it had been sorted into categories, it still looked chaotic. Trucks and cars drove freely through the yard, and the stench from the garbage heaps spread for two or three kilometers around.

At the end of the day, theirs was still an industry at the bottom of society. The people working in it had hard lives, and plenty contracted infectious diseases.

Su Tiannan, Su Tianyu, Bai Hongbo, Liu the Second, and Kong Zhenghui walked through the compound for less than five minutes before reaching the freight yard's main building.

Lu Feng had not come out to greet them. Only an unremarkable young man was waiting. He nodded to Su Tiannan and pointed upstairs. "Brother Feng is on the third floor."

Su Tiannan nodded and led the others upstairs after the young man.

About five minutes later, they reached the manager's office on the third floor. Lu Feng was drinking tea. He looked slightly surprised to see Bai Hongbo, Liu the Second, and Kong Zhenghui there too.

"Heh, everyone's here," Lu Feng said teasingly.

"We had to talk sooner or later, so we might as well settle everything in one go." Kong Zhenghui, who had remained silent until now, answered first, making it clear that he stood with Su Tiannan.

Lu Feng nodded slowly and gestured toward the sofa. "Have a seat, everyone."

Besides Lu Feng, three or four minor Changqing Company bosses were in the room, chatting at a table beside the lounge entrance.

After sitting down, Su Tiannan spoke directly to Lu Feng. "Mr. Lu, have the others leave. There are some things we should discuss in private."

Lu Feng paused. "What is it that other people can't hear?"

"Things concerning the Police Bureau," Su Tiannan replied expressionlessly.

Holding his teacup, Lu Feng lazily instructed the minor bosses in the room, "Go chat outside."

This was Changqing Company's home base, and Su Tiannan had clearly come seeking peace, so the minor bosses said little. They stood up and left the room.

Once the door closed, Su Tianyu casually sat in the chair to Lu Feng's left. Lu Feng frowned at him, but seeing that he looked refined, like a college student, he paid him no further attention.

"Go on, then. How does everyone want to handle this?" Lu Feng ignored the four families' representatives, pouring and drinking his own tea. His manner was relaxed, his speech unhurried.

At his words, the representatives of the Bai, Liu, and Kong families all looked at Su Tiannan.

Su Tiannan paused, then frowned at Lu Feng. "In this line of work, if you've got the bigger fist, you beat other people. If your fist is smaller, you take the beating. Our families aren't strong enough, so we have no choice but to accept it."

"That's right." Lu Feng smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Mr. Lu, we've made some money in sanitation over the past few years. On our way here, we discussed it and decided to pool eight hundred thousand as an offering to Changqing Company," Su Tiannan said bluntly. "Besides that offering, our four families will give Changqing Company five percent of our profits every month. Would that work?"

Dragon City's economic system operated under the European Union Forces, and the euro was its main circulating currency. One euro had roughly the purchasing power of six yuan before the new era. Even that was only because the European Union Forces had increased the money supply several times in recent years to fund their constant expansion of infrastructure, diluting the euro's value. Otherwise, the euro remained a very strong currency. At the beginning of the new era, its exchange rate had been one to ten.

In other words, the eight hundred thousand pooled by the four families was equivalent to nearly five million in pre-era cash. For people working in an industry at the bottom of society, that was an enormous sum, hard-earned money they had saved cent by cent.

After hearing Su Tiannan out, Lu Feng turned to him and asked, "You mean you're not handing over your operations?"

"Mr. Lu, all four of our families rely on these businesses to feed ourselves. If we hand them over, we'll starve," Kong Zhenghui cut in firmly. "Changqing Company has deep pockets and vast holdings. We understand our place now. Can't you talk to Boss Li and leave us a way to survive?"

"Heh." Lu Feng set down his teacup, crossed his legs, and asked, "Do you think that's possible?"

"Even when you kill someone, there's a limit to how far you need to go, Mr. Lu!" Su Tianyu suddenly spoke up beside him.

Lu Feng frowned at him. "Who are you?"

"My name is Su Tianyu. I'm Tian Nan's younger cousin," Su Tianyu replied with a broad smile, adjusting his glasses.

"Were you taught any manners? Is it your turn to speak here?" Lu Feng picked up the teapot and stopped paying attention to Tianyu. He merely said in a low voice, "You still don't understand the key issue! Your operations are the bottom line. Refusing to hand them over isn't an option."

Su Tiannan was about to speak, but Su Tianyu beat him to it again. "Mr. Lu, do you really have to wipe us out?"

Lu Feng frowned in disgust and looked up at Su Tiannan. "Does your Su Family let little brats do all the talking now?"

A smile remained on Su Tianyu's sunny face. Ignoring Su Tiannan's warning look, he watched Lu Feng from the side and asked again, "Mr. Lu, let's be clear. Does Changqing Company intend to wipe us out?"

Thud!

Lu Feng slammed the teapot he had just lifted onto the table. The courtesy and friendliness vanished from his face. He stared coldly at Su Tiannan and said, "You still haven't suffered enough. Your dad's locked up, and your brother took at least three or four knife wounds, didn't he? How have you still not woken up?! Fuck, if the higher-ups hadn't said otherwise, I wouldn't just take your work zones. I'd take every piece of equipment you use to make a living!"

Hearing Lu Feng mention his younger brother, Su Tiannan's anger flared instantly.

"Let me make this clear. Don't think you can band together and weather this." Lu Feng pointed at them and enunciated every word. "Whoever sticks his neck out, I'll make his old man the principal offender and have him shot."

"Mr. Lu, calm down. We can talk this through!"

At that moment, Su Tianyu, who had been sitting beside Lu Feng all along, reached out to restrain his arm and offered a word of advice.

"Fuck off! You don't get to speak here!" Lu Feng swung his hand at Su Tianyu's arm.

Smack! Crash!

Su Tianyu dodged backward, his right arm striking the teapot on the table and knocking it over. Half a pot of scalding water instantly poured over Lu Feng's legs and feet.

"Fuck!"

Lu Feng sprang to his feet, grimacing from the burns. He quickly stamped his feet, then swung a furious slap at Su Tianyu's head. "You little bastard! Are you fucking trying to start something?"

As the slap came at him, Su Tianyu shifted aside and raised his arm, catching Lu Feng's wrist with precision. "Brother Feng, let's stick to talking. But I'm warning you, don't get physical. I've trained. If you hit me, I'll defend myself!"

"Trained, my fucking ass!" Whether Lu Feng wanted to assert his authority on his own turf or his feet and calves simply hurt too much from the burns, he furiously grabbed the ashtray on the table and smashed it toward Su Tianyu's head.

"Tianyu!" Su Tiannan shot to his feet and stepped forward to intervene.

At that tense moment, Su Tianyu tilted his head out of the way. His right hand held Lu Feng's left wrist, and he pulled backward with the movement. With a thump, Lu Feng fell sideways onto the sofa.

Bang!

Su Tianyu suddenly drove his left knee up like a cannonball into the back of Lu Feng's head. The blow pitched Lu Feng forward, sending his forehead crashing into the hard coffee table.

Caught completely off guard and dizzy from the blows, Lu Feng instinctively reached for the fruit knife on the table.

Shhk!

Su Tianyu beat him to it. He grabbed the fruit knife and stabbed downward, piercing Lu Feng's right ear and pinning the blade firmly into the wooden tabletop.

Everyone stared at Su Tianyu, shocked and speechless.

Liu the Second reacted first. He leaped to his feet and shouted, "Are you fucking crazy? Why did you attack Lu Feng?"

"Are you blind? Didn't you see him hit me first? He was going to stab me too! I was defending myself!"

Su Tianyu released the fruit knife, removed his bloodstained glasses, and sat down on the sofa. He took a spotless white glasses cloth from his trouser pocket and gently wiped the blood from his face and glasses, saying softly, "I told you. I've trained."

"You're completely out of line!"

"Clearly, we weren't going to reach a deal!" The smile had vanished from Su Tianyu's face.

"You fucking attacked Lu Feng! Doesn't that make a deal even more impossible?! You little bastard, you're completely out of line!" Liu the Second's mouth twitched as he pointed at Su Tianyu and cursed him. Then he turned to Su Tiannan. "This won't work. You stay here and talk. I'm leaving."

Bai Hongbo immediately stood up too. "Su Tiannan, why did you bring a hotheaded idiot to handle business? I'm telling you, if my dad can't get out because of this, you'll answer to me!"

Diagonally across from them, Kong Zhenghui, who had remained silent, glanced at Su Tianyu. Surprise still lingered in his eyes, and he did not rush to take a position.

The second Liu brother and Bai Hongbo turned to leave, clearly unwilling to stay another minute.

Su Tiannan glanced at his younger cousin, then reached out to stop the two men. "You can't leave. We came together, and we'll bear the consequences together."

"Are you fucking sick in the head?! My dad's still locked up! Why the fuck should I bear anything with you?" Bai Hongbo reached out to shove Su Tiannan.

Su Tiannan lifted the hem of his clothes, revealing the "thing" he had gotten from Tianbei. "If you leave now, I'll kill Lu Feng, then turn myself in at the Police Bureau."

"All four families got into this together, and we entered Changqing Company's freight yard together. If you tell people I was the only one who attacked Lu Feng, nobody will believe you." Su Tianyu put his freshly polished glasses back on and spoke with a smile.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Meanwhile, Su Tianyu slowly stood up and walked to the window.

Everyone watched him, having no idea what he meant to do.

Su Tianyu opened the window, looked out beyond the freight yard, and suddenly screamed, "Get the fuck in here! Lu Feng attacked us! He's beating us up! We can't get out!"

After a brief silence outside, the members of the various families waiting at the freight yard entrance all looked up toward the compound.

Su Tianyu craned his neck and shouted again, "He's pulled a knife! We can't get out!"

At the gate, a burly man from the Bai Family threw away his cigarette butt, raised his arm, and shouted, "Brothers, Changqing Company is attacking our people! Follow me in!"

At his shout, more than thirty people outside grabbed the assorted work tools stashed in their vehicles and rushed into the compound. One of the burly men leading the Bai Family group was still shouting into a radio, "Our eldest brother's in trouble! We need backup! Brothers at the intersection, come help save him!"

Inside the room on the second floor, Bai Hongbo stared blankly at Su Tianyu. "What are you trying to do?"

Hearing that, Liu the Second flew into a rage and cursed at Bai Hongbo. "Are you a fucking idiot? You still need to ask that? He's forced us into this! Can't you see?!"