Chapter 63 part 1
It took over two hours to reach the neighboring city by high-speed train. By the time they checked into the hotel, it was already late into the night. Qin Yao opened his eyes in the darkness; beside him, Bai He was sleeping soundly.
Being enveloped in intense brandy pheromones for a long time had an intoxicating effect. Qin Yao had never told Bai He this. Previously in bed, Qin Yao had intentionally kept his pheromones at a milder level so as not to intoxicate him. Tonight, however, he had played a little trick; he needed his Xiao Bao to have a restful sleep.
Qin Yao quietly left the large bed, got dressed, put on a mask and hat, and left the hotel.
4:00 AM.
On the outskirts of the city, the dilapidated streets were deserted. At this moment, it was as quiet as a ghost town.
Qin Yao leaned against the roadside with his hands in his pockets, glancing sideways at an alley not far away where the lights flickered dimly. Deep inside, a door hung with a small rotating colorful light; it was an underground bar, or more accurately, a hidden illegal gambling den.
Qin Yao withdrew his gaze, hugging his arms. The brim of his hat concealed his expression. The streetlamp flickered a few times and then went out, seemingly broken for good. He, too, melded into the darkness.
In the latter half of the night, not even the sound of insects could be heard. It was eerily quiet.
After about ten minutes, the door embedded in the wall of the deep alley creaked open. Then, a man stumbled out, mumbling something incomprehensible, sounding like he was cursing.
Qin Yao slowly tapped his arm with his finger, his gaze following the man’s slow movement.
The man stood at the door for a moment before a hand reached out from inside and slammed the door shut with a bang.
The earth-shattering noise made the drunk man shudder violently. Then, kicking the door and cursing, he suddenly buried his head and began to vomit.
Qin Yao leaned against the wall, watching expressionlessly.
After vomiting, the man steadied himself against the wall, still muttering ceaselessly. He shuffled his feet and slowly emerged, walking up the slope. As he passed the pitch-black alley entrance, a strong arm suddenly pulled him in.
Without a chance to curse, a rag was stuffed into his mouth. Qin Yao clamped his hand around the man’s neck. with just a little force, the other man’s face instantly turned purple-red, his struggles against Qin Yao’s arm practically futile.
Qin Yao reached into the man’s pocket, fished out his phone, lit it up, and aimed the screen at the man’s face.
“Unlock it.”
The man’s eyes bulged as he stared fixedly at the phone, unmoved.
Qin Yao tightened his grip again. “I could kill you right now, and no one would know.”
He repeated, “Unlock it.”
The man’s hands weren’t restrained. Perhaps because of the alcohol going to his head, or maybe because his physique was simply inferior to Qin Yao’s, he had no room to resist. Yet, he remained stubborn, refusing to unlock the phone no matter what.
Qin Yao lowered his eyelids, threw the man to the ground, and stepped on his chest with one foot. He squatted down, grabbed the man’s right thumb, and pressed it onto the phone screen.
Fingerprint unlock successful.
Qin Yao stood up, not releasing his foot on the man. He took out another phone from his pocket—it was Bai He’s phone. Before sleeping, Qin Yao had asked Bai He for his unlock password.
Taking some time, he photographed the important chat records and transfer records on the man’s phone, then checked every account. The remaining money totaled three hundred thousand.
According to Bai He, his mother couldn’t manage money; all the money was with his father. So this three hundred thousand should be the last remaining sum.
Qin Yao squatted down and held the man’s head, presenting the phone before his eyes. “What’s the payment password?”
Seeing the transfer interface, the man immediately erupted, emitting weak muffled shouts from the rag-stuffed mouth, his eyeballs bulging as if about to fall out.
Qin Yao scoffed. This man loved money like his life; even threatening his life wouldn’t make him reveal the password.
He wasn’t in a hurry. He shouted three numbers in his mind.
Then, after a long time, as Zhang Yao had said, a buzzing sound echoed in his brain a few times, followed by a mechanical voice.
[Hello, 007 at your service.]
He had previously learned Bai You Nian’s specific location and gambling debt situation from 007. Back then, he thought having a voice in his head was special, and he still found it marvelous now.
Zhang Yao had only briefly told Qin Yao about 007’s existence. This was the key for Qin Yao and Bai He to return. Of course, he could also call 007 for help at other times.
“What is this guy’s payment password?” Qin Yao asked in his mind.
007 was silent for a moment before reciting a string of numbers.
Helpless. The mess created by his host, he had to clean up. As a diligent and conscientious system, he had only taken a one-day vacation, only to come back and find the sky had fallen. That led to the incident of serving as a system for someone else, even helping this Qin Yao investigate a payment password, deducting points from his cheap host.
Creating karma.
With the password in hand, Qin Yao transferred all the remaining money in batches right in front of the man.
Then he opened the man’s blocklist and released all the numbers inside. Within seconds, a call came in.
Qin Yao answered the call under the man’s furious gaze and put it on speaker.
Angry cursing came from the other end of the phone.
“Bai You Nian, you f**king pay me back! Don’t think I can’t catch you! If you don’t pay back the money, I’ll find someone to hack you to death!!”
Qin Yao narrowed his eyes, his voice indifferent. “Looking for Bai You Nian? He’s hiding in District 3 of Z City. I tied him up in the alley at the intersection of Liuhe Street.”
“Who are you?” the person on the other end asked.
“Same as you,” Qin Yao said. “A debt collector.”
Then he hung up and answered the next one. Until dawn broke, he listened to no less than ten calls.
Qin Yao stretched his neck and squatted down. The man was stiff from the midnight chill, his face pale.
“Over two million. My Xiao Bao risked his life to earn that money. You didn’t use it to pay off debts, but said you wanted to enroll the little one in school?” Qin Yao smiled humorlessly. “What? Does schooling cost hundreds of thousands? What does installment repayment mean? The debt collectors are still collecting? You only have three hundred thousand left? Where is the other money?”
He patted the man’s face with the hot phone, his voice growing cold. “Calling the police to send you to prison is just dodging debt in disguise. That’s too easy on you. Just wait here for the debt collectors to come.”
Qin Yao stood up, took a bundle of hemp rope from his pocket, and deftly tied the man up securely, throwing him next to the trash can in the corner.
He clapped his hands, turned around, and walked out of the alley into the morning light.
Vendors selling breakfast were appearing on the street. Qin Yao adjusted his clothes and walked towards a stall.
The breakfast seller was an old auntie. She greeted him warmly, “Young man, what would you like to eat?”
Qin Yao pulled down his mask. “One steamer of soup dumplings, one steamer of shiumai, two eggs, and two bowls of rice porridge, to go. Thank you, Auntie.”
“Alright.” The auntie smiled. “Young man, you’re very handsome. Do you have a girlfriend?”
“I have a boyfriend,” Qin Yao said calmly. “By the way, Auntie, do you have tissues? I want to wipe my hands.”
The auntie paused. “Then you must really like your boyfriend, coming to buy breakfast for him so early. Here, have some wet wipes.”
“Thank you, Auntie.” Qin Yao wiped his hands clean, picked up the packed breakfast, turned around, bypassed two streets, walked into the stairwell of a building, climbed stairs up to the roof, went to the edge, and looked down at the deep alley below.
Qin Yao glanced at his phone. 5:53.
A few minutes later, several people suddenly rushed out from the distance. Moving hurriedly, they searched every alley, finally swarming into the deep alley where Bai You Nian was.
Qin Yao withdrew his gaze and looked at the horizon, counting in his mind. One second, two seconds, three seconds.
“Bang—”
A resounding crash came from the bottom, followed by the man’s wretched screams.
Insults, beatings, cries of pain, chaotic confusion. These noises mixed together were particularly piercing in the quiet early morning. Pedestrians not far away all stopped, looking into the alley with horrified expressions.
Qin Yao counted the time, reaching out to touch the breakfast in his hand. It was still hot. Time to go back and feed Xiao Bao.
He glanced downstairs one last time. In the deep alley, a group of people surrounded the beaten-up Bai You Nian, continuing the gang beating. Bright red blood flowed on the ground.
Self-inflicted sins are unforgivable.
Qin Yao coldly withdrew his gaze and turned to go downstairs.
Bai He woke up early. He had slept very well last night, even feeling a rare urge to stay in bed. He opened his eyes and slowly closed them again. Suddenly not sensing Qin Yao’s presence, his heart sank. He reached out to touch the side, and Qin Yao’s spot was cold.
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