023 Conspiracy

“Hey, what are you two up to?!” At last, one of the guards noticed something was wrong.

“It’s nothing, nothing…” Black Bear sat down beside Lin Qi.

Order returned to the dining hall; everyone resumed their meal or lowered their heads as before. The crowd assumed Black Bear had been stopped by the guards, unable to continue his fight, and sighed with regret.

“Young master, why are you here? What’s Tang Long doing? How could he let you get detained?” Black Bear asked in a low voice.

“Don’t worry about me. What happened to you? Weren’t you pretty tough? How did you end up here too?” Lin Qi retorted.

Black Bear, who had originally escaped from the capital with Lin Qi, was never cut out for business and couldn’t become a commercial giant like Tang Long. Fortunately, he was strong and fierce, so he immersed himself in the underworld.

Haitong City was divided into South and North districts. Lin Qi mostly stayed in the South, while Black Bear made a name for himself in the North.

Scratching his head sheepishly, Black Bear said, “Lately, I wanted to expand south, so I arranged a showdown with Chen Yuanan—on his turf, no less! I thought I was giving him some face, but he turned around and reported me. I have no connections down south, so I got locked up… Fifteen days in detention! Heh, when I get out, I’ll twist Chen Yuanan’s head off for sure.”

Chen Yuanan was indeed a notorious figure in the South’s underworld—even Boss Chai was his subordinate. No one expected him to be so petty and call in the special forces.

“Why didn’t you call Tang Long?” Lin Qi asked.

Tang Long could have handled the matter with a single phone call.

Black Bear pouted, “We escaped the capital together—equals, right? I’m not going to ask him for help!”

Lin Qi frowned, “We’re all on the same side. Why act like strangers?”

Black Bear chuckled, “I’m not being distant. It’s just not a big deal—fifteen days, it’ll pass in a blink. No need to bother him… What about you, young master? How’d you end up here?”

Lin Qi replied, “I wanted to come in. I’ve been troubled lately and needed some quiet.”

Black Bear immediately grew serious. “Young master, don’t let Old Master Lin’s matter weigh on your heart. Everyone’s working hard—one day, we’ll fight our way back to the capital!”

Lin Qi didn’t respond, but sank into deep thought.

Black Bear was about to say more when the guard shouted, “Meal time is almost over! If you haven’t finished, hurry up!”

“I haven’t eaten yet!” Black Bear jumped up and hurried to get his food.

While Lin Qi was in detention, things were far from quiet outside.

First was Ma Xianglin—his life was utterly ruined. Tang Long fired him immediately. With his body wrecked and no job, Luo Yingying lost all interest in him and started searching for a new match for Luo Feifei.

But this time, no matter how eloquent Luo Yingying was, Luo Feifei refused to be fooled.

“Big sister, after what you did, I’m not breaking with you only out of kindness. Please stop introducing men to me! I’m with brother-in-law now, and we plan to marry. Since you don’t like him, can you at least wish us well?”

Luo Yingying was furious. “What spell did Lin Qi cast on you? How could you fall for that loser? He’s just a delivery man—how could he ever be worthy of you? With your looks, marrying into a wealthy family would be easy, and the whole family would be proud!”

Even Father and Mother Luo joined in, criticizing Luo Feifei. They said marrying a delivery man—her sister’s ex-husband, no less—would make her a laughingstock among relatives.

Still, Luo Feifei never wavered.

“When Lin Qi gets out, I’ll marry him!” she declared firmly.

Seeing they couldn’t persuade her, Father and Mother Luo locked her up at home and barred her from work, instructing Luo Yingying to resolve the matter.

“Leave it to me. When Lin Qi gets out, I’ll make sure he’s utterly destroyed!”

After issuing her threat, Luo Yingying went to seek out Young Tong.

Young Tong had already suffered twice at Sun Xiaoyun’s hands—detained three days, then five. He was spooked and shook his head. “No way, no way. That guy’s girlfriend is in special ops…”

“I’ve investigated. She’s not his girlfriend, or my sister wouldn’t insist on marrying him,” Luo Yingying said.

“If she’s not his girlfriend, that makes things easier!” Young Tong slapped his thigh. “Tell me, how do you want to deal with him?”

Luo Yingying spoke gravely, “Earlier, I only wanted to teach him a lesson… but now, my sister’s sunk too deep. Only if he dies will she give up!”

Young Tong jumped in frig