"Fourth Brother, are we taking Baldy to collect that bastard’s debt?" Li Qiuzhe asked with a frown, puzzled by Qin Fan’s words.

"With your background, age, experience, and temperament, it won’t be easy to establish yourself on Jinling’s streets. Baldy is a force multiplier for you—an indispensable asset. But I still respect your opinion, Boss. If you want, he’ll disappear from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang region forever, starting tomorrow. That will be his punishment for setting you up," Qin Fan said earnestly, looking intently at Li Qiuzhe.

"Forget it! Fourth Brother, I was just hot-headed for a moment! You’re right. To hold my ground on Jinling’s streets, Baldy is very valuable to me. So, let’s do it your way!" After pondering for a moment, Li Qiuzhe shook his head and spoke firmly.

"Alright, I’ve built the platform and paved the way for you. That’s about all I can do. After today, you’ll have to walk the path on your own. But I trust my instincts, Boss. It won’t be long before the name ’Brother Ze’ echoes throughout the Jiangsu and Zhejiang region!" Qin Fan nodded with a light chuckle, placing his hand on Li Qiuzhe’s shoulder.

"Heh..." Li Qiuzhe could only scratch the back of his head and let out an awkward chuckle, clearly not quite convinced by Qin Fan’s so-called intuition. "By the way, Fourth Brother, can you answer a question for me?" he continued.

Qin Fan laughed nonchalantly, unsurprised. "I know what you’re going to ask. You want to know who I am, right? And why Baldy is so afraid of me?"

"Mhm!" Not just Li Qiuzhe, but Li Yunzhe also nodded vigorously. Both of them stared intently at Qin Fan, awaiting the answer.

"That Chang Yuanyi you mentioned and I have a bit of a connection. After that incident where Baldy tried to grab someone from school, Young Master Chang and I taught him a lesson. You understand, in the eyes of someone like Chang Yuanyi, a guy like Baldy is nothing. That’s why he’s afraid of me, and that’s why he went to campus to make that humble apology to you. Alright, I’ve confessed everything. No more questions, right? Haha!" Qin Fan laughed, easily brushing the question aside.

To be honest, Qin Fan didn’t want Li Qiuzhe and the others to know too much about his true identity at this stage. Knowing too much wouldn’t be good for them. It would undoubtedly put them under a lot of pressure, and might even create distance between them.

"A bit of a connection?" Li Qiuzhe and Li Yunzhe stared, wide-eyed, clearly not buying that answer.

"That’s right, just a bit of a connection, nothing more. So stop overthinking it," Qin Fan said.

Just as Qin Fan finished speaking, Baldy emerged from the bathroom. His face was still bruised and swollen, but the blood had been washed away. "Boss Qin!" he called out, his cheeks puffed up. He then turned to Li Qiuzhe and added awkwardly, a hint of guilt in his voice, "Brother Ze!"

The greetings broke Li Qiuzhe from his train of thought. He decided not to dwell on Qin Fan’s identity and simply responded with a stern hum of acknowledgment.

"Alright! Let’s go!" Qin Fan said with a smile, slipping his hands into his pockets and starting to walk.

"Boss Qin, where are we going? Should I call for more men?" Baldy asked obsequiously, trailing behind Qin Fan.

"No need!" Without another word, Qin Fan briskly led the way downstairs.

"Boss!" When Baldy’s followers saw his bruised and swollen face, they cried out in surprise and started to swarm him, but they were quickly waved away by a terrified Baldy.

Amidst a sea of gawking onlookers, the four men filed out of the teahouse.

The flashy red BMW roared to life, with Baldy’s large SUV following close behind. They sped off toward the west side of the city.

「Outside a card room.」

When Qin Fan and his group stepped inside, the lookouts’ expressions changed instantly. They frantically reached for their walkie-talkies.

"Brother Tao, Baldy and that fucking idiot who got stabbed in the ass last time are here again!"

"Good! Hold your positions! Don’t do anything rash. I’m going to get Boss Fu. Wait for my signal," came a low voice through the crackling static, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!

The knocks came from the door of a lavishly decorated room. Hearing a voice permit entry, a young man pushed the door open. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Xiao Tao, what’s happened?" the middle-aged man inside asked with a frown.

"Boss Fu, Baldy from the east side and that kid who got stabbed in the ass are back! I saw them on the monitor. There’s another guy with them, and he gives me a bad feeling. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I came to get your orders," said the young man, Xiao Tao.

"So they’re here to collect their debt again! Heh!" The middle-aged man sneered sinisterly. "Looks like they didn’t learn their lesson last time. Shit! Follow me!" He gestured dismissively and strode out.

Down in the card room’s first-floor lobby, Li Qiuzhe was completely baffled.

What’s going on? Why isn’t anyone stopping us? Did they already forget about me and Baldy? That’s impossible! I got stabbed right here! Plenty of people saw it happen!

"Looks like we’ve come at the right time. The big boss is in," Qin Fan remarked with amusement, stopping in his tracks.

As he spoke, slow, deliberate applause rang out from the top of the staircase. CLAP, CLAP, CLAP!

"Baldy, Baldy, you really don’t know when to quit, do you? Don’t fucking think you can strut around just because Chang Yuanyi slept with your sister! Others might fear you, but in my eyes, who the fuck are you?" The middle-aged man with tied-back hair sneered, slowly clapping as he walked toward them.

"Oh, and you, kid! You were lucky last time, just a knife to the ass. What’s it been, a few days? Has the scar not even healed, and you’ve already forgotten the pain? Or do you think you’ll be even luckier this time?"

With that, the man pulled a folding knife from his pocket. With a light press—CLICK!—a blade nearly thirty centimeters long sprang out.