After a brief silence, Qi Ran took a deep breath, momentarily pushing all her emotions aside and focusing all her attention on the predicament at hand.
This was a strength of hers—though perhaps it could also be seen as a flaw. No matter how absurd or serious the situation, once she decided to stop thinking about it, she could genuinely fool herself. It was like numbing the nerves with alcohol; she would effortlessly reconcile with herself and rarely obsess over things. The term “carefree” might carry some ambiguity, but there truly was no better word for this state of mind.
Just two years ago, when Qi Jianguo first went to prison, debt collectors would squat by her doorstep every few days, and threats scrawled in red paint marred her door. Many times, she couldn’t go home at all and could only sit on the rooftop, aimlessly staring into space. Any ordinary high school girl facing such a situation would likely be scared, depressed, or overwhelmed by a mess of emotions—but she was the exception. In those moments, she would sit on that long-abandoned rooftop, empty her mind, and gaze idly at the unchanging sunset glow. Her thoughts would drift erratically through all sorts of fanciful nonsense, beginning nowhere and ending nowhere. As for the pounding on the door echoing up the stairwell, or any other chaotic sounds—they were just noisy background noise to her drifting mind.
Tao Xiao never knew about any of this. Qi Ran didn’t want her to know, nor did she want her mother Li Wanying or her elder sister Qi Xin to know. She hadn’t even told Liu Xu or Xu Yan. Perhaps it stemmed from a peculiar pride—like a wild dog that lost a fight, hiding its wounds while holding its head high, pretending it hadn’t lost at all.
Sometimes, she’d imagine suddenly becoming rich, buying lots of houses, and becoming a landlady collecting rent. Other times, she’d fantasize about the apocalypse arriving, with her holding the only way to save the world: her suicide. As long as she died, the world wouldn’t have to. Then she could leisurely watch countless people kneel and beg her to save them, but she’d stay hidden—maybe in some cellar—eagerly waiting as everyone despaired in their final moments, cursing her selfishness and lack of responsibility. That feeling would be absolutely wonderful…
These aimless fantasies usually came to an abrupt halt at the rumble of her hungry stomach. Because it was mealtime, every household began cooking, the fragrant aroma of food drifting throughout the entire residential complex. And she still couldn’t go home, because the debt collectors hadn’t left yet. She could only continue sitting on the rooftop, lost in thought, smelling the food and guessing what dishes could possibly smell that good.
She suddenly realized that even if the apocalypse did come, her fantasy probably wouldn’t happen anyway. Because everyone had families. Perhaps people wouldn’t curse her at all. They would only huddle together for warmth. Fathers would speak words of comfort and encouragement. Mothers would gently caress their children. The children would tightly embrace their siblings. Young lovers would cling to each other. Elderly couples would firmly hold their partner’s hand… Only she would be alone, sitting in that freezing cellar, gnashing her teeth like a rat or cockroach, wanting to destroy all that beauty.
But if she didn’t comfort herself like this, what else could she do? Even if she was angry, sad, or scared—what difference would it make? Who would care? Those debt collectors were merely following orders, after all. Once, a debt collector had even brought his wife and daughter to confront her at school. Upon meeting, he had the daughter—who looked around her age—kneel right at the school gate before a crowd of students, tearfully pleading that she couldn’t continue her education if the debt wasn’t repaid. That debt collector seemed to firmly believe a young student like her, with stronger empathy and greater concern for face than a middle-aged woman like Li Wanying, would fall for this soft moral blackmail.
Unfortunately, Qi Ran never fell for that sort of thing. Not only did she lack morals, she also lacked money. And she had absolutely no expectation of letting Tao Xiao repay Qi Jianguo’s debts. So she didn’t even glance at the debt collector, simply walking away amidst the wailing. The next day, everyone at school knew her family were deadbeats. She didn’t care in the slightest, because it was the truth. Qi Jianguo was a deadbeat, and she, Qi Ran, was Qi Jianguo’s daughter. The daughter of a deadbeat being universally condemned? That was only too correct.
That debt collector’s daughter was a student, a girl. So wasn’t she, Qi Ran, also a student? Also a girl? Even moral blackmail shouldn’t work like that. The newly appointed Teacher Xia, along with Liu Xu and Xu Yan—they actually spent considerable effort explaining Qi Ran’s family’s true situation to the other students at school, even though Qi Ran said it wasn’t necessary. So sometimes, Qi Ran felt her luck wasn’t actually all that bad. After all, ordinary girls had their way of living, and a weed in the muck like her also had her own way. It was all fate, nothing to complain about.
Now, the middle-aged driver had made her understand that none of this was fate. So what needed to be done was even less about complaining. What she needed to do now was to take revenge. Revenge on every single person involved in this matter. Qi Jianguo was no exception. Repaying resentment with kindness was always a principle for people of high morality. Fortunately, she, Qi Ran, had never possessed any morality. Striking back and exacting revenge suited her kind of person’s code of conduct far better.
She swiftly readjusted her emotions and asked, “…What happened to them in the end?”
“Are you asking about the people in the video besides Qi Jianguo?” The middle-aged driver glanced at her through the car’s rearview mirror. “They’re all dead. Qi Jianguo was the sole survivor. He hid all those recorded videos. He kept it from everyone for nine years. It wasn’t until 2015 that someone finally discovered something was off about him. That person, though full of schemes, is truly spineless. Before they even started pulling his fingernails, he was already crying buckets, revealing every location where he’d hidden the videos. Some were already destroyed, but what they obtained was more than enough.”
“2015?” Qi Ran paused slightly. That timing happened to coincide with Qi Jianguo going to prison. If so… then why did Li Siwen only come looking for her until now, after the car accident?
As if seeing through the doubt in her expression, the middle-aged driver merely shook his head. “This video was only released a short while ago. The forum’s Administrator held it back for a full two years before passing it through review, and it was even a censored version. If my guess is correct, the first batch of people who interrogated Qi Jianguo are probably all dead by now.”
“What is that place? Why is it so important?”
“It’s a mountain near Xilin, called Nine Hut Mountain. Of course, nowadays we mostly call it Ghost Mist Mountain. In 1980, the Tao Family hid there, taking the entire Tao Family Ancient Mansion with them,” the one who answered her was Jiang Zhique. She unwrapped a lollipop and popped it into her mouth, seemingly intending to use it as a substitute for a cigarette. “Although the true Tao Family members are all dead now, it once had its glory. Nearly three hundred years of rich heritage, unsurprisingly, would all be hidden within that old mansion. That’s a vast treasure of precious wealth impossible to calculate with money. No matter which Family it is, they all want to obtain it. And no matter which Family, they don’t want anyone else to get it. We are no exception.”
“You guys?”
When she asked this question, Qi Ran was just testing the waters, without much expectation. Because in her view, a mysterious organization like this wouldn’t normally reveal their name to a victim—unless they had decided to silence her immediately.
Beyond her expectations, Jiang Zhique glanced hesitantly at the middle-aged driver. After confirming his nod, she spoke with a solemn expression: “We are Wen Hongyuan Construction Engineering Technology Consulting Co., Ltd.”
Upon hearing Jiang Zhique’s answer, Qi Ran couldn’t muster any response for a moment. A sense of absurdity surged up within her. It was as if an alien monster was telling her “My boss exploits me, my wife cheated, my daughter is rebellious and dating early, my life is so miserable,” or like a Magical Girl saying to her “Study hard and make progress every day, don’t be like me, not studying will make you regret it when looking for a job later”—come on, after all the chaotic developments before, suddenly getting all serious just left people completely unable to understand, alright?
She cleared her throat lightly and asked again, “What I mean is, what do you call yourselves… within that Circle? Not the outward cover.”
Jiang Zhique shook her head. “I understand what you mean, but that’s exactly how it is in The Circle nowadays. Everyone exists in the form of companies. For example, take the Bai Family—they exist as a family-run business. We’re the same. With the outer layer of a company, many things become much more convenient.”
“We’re nearly there,” the middle-aged driver suddenly spoke up, cutting off their conversation. With an amiable smile, he said, “Zhique, help put Miss Qi’s hood back on. Once we get out of the car, support her and follow me.”
