Gu Zhan could feel the heated gaze beside him and turned his head to glare at Fu Yan.

Fu Yan didn’t look away. His lowered lashes framed his dark, deep eyes as the emotions within them gradually grew warmer, until they finally spilled out uncontrollably, enveloping the person before him and filling the entire enclosed car. Slowly, his burning gaze drifted downward, landing on Gu Zhan’s pale-red lips. He gently lowered his lashes and slowly leaned toward them…

“Mr. Chen, why are you contacting me again?”

The sudden loud male voice coming through the earphones instantly shattered the atmosphere inside the car.

The two men came back to their senses and awkwardly glanced sideways at each other.

Fu Yan pursed his lips, still clearly reluctant to give up. Gu Zhan shot him a sharp look and flashed his perfectly white teeth, seemingly reminding him of what he had once said: “If you kiss me, I’ll bite you.”

Fu Yan fought back a laugh. Soon, both of them returned to a serious expression and listened closely as Chang Jian spoke.

“Xiao Wen is already pregnant. Can’t you just let the two of us live in peace?”

The other man’s voice had been distorted slightly by the transmission, but it was still recognizable as Chen Lang’s.

“Listen to yourself. Xiao Wen is my sister. How could I not want my sister to live in peace? But Chang Jian, there’s one condition—you have to give me what I want.”

Chang Jian immediately denied it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! I don’t have anything to give you!”

Chen Lang gave a mocking laugh. “Stop pretending in front of me. Xiao Wen already told me. Don’t you have a USB drive containing some important information?”

Chang Jian shot a glance at his wife. Xiao Wen guiltily lowered her head.

“As long as you give me that USB drive, I can give you another sum of money. Take Xiao Wen abroad and live there. No one will be able to find you, and no one will bother you.”

Chang Jian was silent for a moment before saying, “Mr. Chen, I know exactly what kind of person you are. I can’t give you the USB drive, but I’m willing to take Xiao Wen abroad. I’m nobody important. If I leave my hometown and disappear from your sight, I can’t threaten you in any way. You can put your mind at ease. I’ve done so many dirty jobs for you. Once I’m overseas, it won’t be easy for me to find a decent job. It’s not unreasonable for you to support my wife and me for the rest of our lives.”

“Hahaha.” Chen Lang laughed a few times in frustration, seemingly trying to calm himself down. In the end, he reluctantly agreed.

“Fine. Give me a location. I’ll have someone arrange your visas and send you some money.”

“Okay. Somewhere near the western suburbs. Tomorrow morning.”

“Fine. As soon as the bank opens tomorrow morning, I’ll have someone withdraw the money. Once you get it, take Xiao Wen and leave immediately.”

“That urgent?”

“It has to be.”

Chen Lang had sensed the hidden meaning behind Fu Yan’s words at the teahouse earlier that day and was feeling extremely uneasy. He wanted to get rid of Chang Jian, this ticking time bomb, as quickly as possible.

“All right.”

The call ended. On the screen, Chang Jian began talking with his wife, apparently discussing what they should do.

Gu Zhan frowned thoughtfully before asking Fu Yan, “Do you think Chang Jian will actually go to meet Chen Lang tomorrow?”

“He probably will. My guess is that after finishing this job, Chang Jian plans to disappear for good. His wife is pregnant, so he probably wants to wash his hands of all this and live a peaceful life from now on. Getting some money from Chen Lang and taking his wife abroad is a pretty good option for him.”

“Yeah.” Gu Zhan nodded. “But knowing Chen Lang, he’s incredibly greedy and constantly goes back on his word. I doubt he’ll let Chang Jian leave so easily tomorrow.”

Fu Yan stroked his chin thoughtfully. “That’s true. From their conversation just now, Chang Jian clearly doesn’t want to hand over the USB drive, while Chen Lang won’t tolerate having his secrets in someone else’s hands. He might resort to something extreme…”

“Get rid of Chang Jian?”

“Then we have to stop Chang Jian from going to the meeting.” Gu Zhan rubbed his forehead. “If necessary, we can still call the police. Tsk, but if the police get involved now, we’ll lose any room for negotiation with Chen Lang. If we push him into a corner, he definitely won’t release the Japanese-brand shipment.”

Fu Yan looked thoughtful. “If the Japanese-brand shipment can’t go out on time, will the impact on Slungshot be serious?”

“Yes. The main issue is that this shipment consists of a best-selling Japanese brand, so the sales volume is huge. Even if we refund customers, suspend some projects, or raise financing to fill the funding gap, none of that will solve the shipment problem. Slungshot has always stood out among e-commerce companies because of its quality and service. Failing to deliver would seriously damage Slungshot’s reputation with its customers.” Gu Zhan irritably ran a hand through the back of his hair.

“So the key is getting Chen Lang’s leverage and negotiating with him,” Fu Yan said thoughtfully. “How about this: we get to Chang Jian before Chen Lang’s people do. He wants money, right? We can give him money too, as long as he’s willing to hand over the USB drive.”

“But why would he trust us instead of taking Chen Lang’s money?”

Fu Yan analyzed the situation. “First, given what kind of person Chen Lang is, Chang Jian probably doesn’t trust his character either. Second, we can promise to keep him safe and have Chen Lang brought to justice. Only if Chen Lang is punished by law can Chang Jian and his wife truly live a peaceful life.”

Gu Zhan thought for a moment. “Seems feasible. Even if negotiations fail, we can still call the police. Chen Lang won’t be able to escape this time anyway. So should we go find Chang Jian now?”

“Wait.” Fu Yan blinked. “It would be better to go tomorrow morning after Chang Jian leaves. Think about it. We don’t know whether he’ll take the USB drive with him tomorrow. If he happens not to bring it, we can split up. One of us can persuade Chang Jian, while the other goes to his house and gets the USB drive. If we’re lucky enough to get it, then whether we successfully negotiate with Chang Jian or not won’t matter anymore.”

“Fine. But what about the safe? How do we open it?”

“You forgot that Chuyin hacked into the camera. He just messaged me saying there’s footage of Chang Jian opening the safe before. He’s confident he can crack the combination.”

“Okay. If he cracks it before tomorrow morning, we’ll follow this plan and split up.”

“Mm.” Fu Yan nodded. “Tonight we’ll have to rough it out in the car and keep an eye on Chang Jian in case anything happens.”

He slowly reached out and gently massaged the spot between Gu Zhan’s slightly furrowed brows.

“Don’t worry about it. Get some sleep first. I’ll take care of everything.”

Gu Zhan pulled his hand down and looked at him with warmth in his eyes.

“You sleep first. Aren’t you tired after driving for so long? Look at those dark circles under your eyes.”

If Gu Zhan was exhausted from dealing with company affairs while worrying about Gu Ru, then Fu Yan was even more exhausted. Fu Yan had his own company to run, had gone to Suzhou to take care of Gu Ru, and was now helping investigate Slungshot’s financial crisis. Gu Zhan could completely understand how exhausted he must be.

Fu Yan caught the trace of concern in his eyes and felt that everything he had done was worth it. The corners of his lips curved upward as he smiled at Gu Zhan.

“Okay. I’ll sleep first, and you can take over during the second half of the night.”

“Mm.”

Fu Yan turned sideways, resting his head against the seatback as he stared intently at the man beside him.

Gu Zhan asked, “Aren’t you going to recline the seat? It’ll be more comfortable.”

“No need.”

Fu Yan tilted his head, his eyes half-lidded as he tried to summon sleep, yet continued smiling at the man beside him as though he could never get enough of looking at him.

Gu Zhan could feel his gaze from the corner of his eye, but this time he didn’t tell him to stop. Instead, he pulled out his laptop and began going through some documents to pass the time and keep himself from falling asleep.

Before long, Gu Zhan heard steady breathing beside him. He turned his head slightly.

Fu Yan had folded his arms across his chest and curled himself into a ball. He was already fast asleep.

Moving slowly, Gu Zhan quietly took off his wool coat and gently draped it over Fu Yan.

For a moment, the tiny, square confines of the car seemed to freeze into a single beautiful frame, as though it might last forever.

The next morning, Gu Zhan was awakened by his phone ringing.

“Hello?” he answered sleepily. Outside the car window, everything was gray and hazy. Dawn had not yet fully broken.

“Hello, is this Mr. Gu?” The caller sounded extremely anxious. “I think something happened to my brother.”

“Hm? You’re… Fu Chuyin?” Gu Zhan looked around the car. Fu Yan was nowhere to be seen. Where had he gone?

“Yes, Mr. Gu. Two hours ago, my brother entered Chang Jian’s villa. He probably wanted to sneak in and retrieve the USB drive while no one was paying attention, but Chang Jian discovered him. The two of them are now on a hillside about two kilometers away from you. My brother has been taken hostage by Chang Jian!”

Gu Zhan’s brow furrowed sharply.

“What do you mean, taken hostage? Fu Yan is pretty capable. Chang Jian shouldn’t be able to overpower him. Does Chang Jian have a knife?”

“Not a knife.”

Fu Chuyin’s tone made Gu Zhan’s heart jolt.

“A gun.”

“What? Why would he have a gun?” Gu Zhan’s expression changed instantly.

“When Chang Jian decided to quit, Chen Lang initially refused to let him go. So Chang Jian planned to flee with his wife. He was worried Chen Lang might come after them, so he found someone to buy a handgun from overseas, just in case.”

“That’s too dangerous. I’m calling the police right now.”

Gu Zhan shoved open the car door and hurried out, about to hang up.

“Mr. Gu, wait!” Fu Chuyin stopped him. “I don’t think my brother wants you to call the police just yet. The reason he secretly went to get the USB drive by himself was because he wanted to get the leverage you need to negotiate with Chen Lang. If you call the police now, all his efforts will be wasted.”

Gu Zhan was furious.

“We agreed to act together tomorrow morning. Why did he go off on his own while I was asleep?”

“Probably because I previously hacked into Chang Jian’s overseas email and saw his record of purchasing a firearm on the dark web. My brother knew Chang Jian had a gun. He didn’t want you to be in any danger, so he lied to you and went ahead by himself.”

Gu Zhan cursed furiously.

“Has he lost his mind? He knew there was a gun and still went in?”

Fu Chuyin paused, his voice choking slightly.

“My brother said… he wanted to help you protect Slungshot.”

“No matter how important the company is, how can it be more important than a person?!”

Gu Zhan hurried up the mountain as he spoke to Fu Chuyin.

“Please call the police immediately, and send me your brother’s exact location. Until the police arrive, I can’t let him face this alone.”