Chapter 21: Twenty Million in a Single Night

At this moment, a kilometer away from the scene, a BMW was parked by the roadside. In the driver’s seat, a middle-aged man in a suit lounged back with both feet propped on the steering wheel, puffing leisurely on a cigar. This was Ma Bozhong.

Hearing the distant gunshots, Ma Bozhong felt a burst of satisfaction. Damn it, just because of that brat, I lost tens of millions tonight! Killing him would be letting him off easy! Yet, the kid did look somewhat familiar—he even bore a striking resemblance to the eldest son of the Lin family from years ago.

Still, Ma Bozhong cared little for such details. The Lin Group had long since collapsed, and even if it still existed, anyone who dared ruin his plans would receive the same treatment.

Just as Ma Bozhong was basking in his pleasure, a sudden muffled crash sounded—“Boom!”—and a dark figure plummeted from above, landing heavily on the hood of his car.

The figure crouched and peered into the car at Ma Bozhong, who instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

“It’s… it’s you?!”

“Long time no see, Boss Ma…”

With a sharp crack, Lin Le smashed the windshield with a single punch, grabbed Ma Bozhong by the collar, and yanked him bodily from the vehicle.

“You’re Young Master Lin, aren’t you? Don’t you remember me? I’m your Uncle Ma—I used to be friends with your father!” Ma Bozhong stammered in panic.

“Oh? Now that you mention it, I do recall something. But since we’re old acquaintances, isn’t it a bit unseemly for you, Uncle Ma, to send assassins after me?” Lin Le’s lips curled in a faint smile, but it sent a chill down Ma Bozhong’s spine.

“No, no, there’s been some misunderstanding, I’m sure of it…” Ma Bozhong protested desperately.

“A misunderstanding? Then if I kill you now, shall we call that a misunderstanding too?” Lin Le picked up a shard of sharp glass from the ground, his voice calm.

“No! Young Master Lin, I was wrong, I swear I’ll never dare do it again!” Ma Bozhong trembled from head to toe in terror.

To have taken down Heishan with a single punch was already beyond ordinary men. And to have escaped his gunmen’s ambush was simply unfathomable. This Young Master Lin was no mere mortal!

How could Ma Bozhong not be afraid?

“I nearly died at your hands just now. Do you think I’ll let you off so easily?” Lin Le’s tone was indifferent.

“I—I can give you money, just please let me live!” Ma Bozhong pleaded.

“Oh? Now that’s interesting. How much can you give?”

“Three million! Just let me go and it’s yours!”

Lin Le snorted softly. “With assets worth billions, your life is only worth three million? Seems you’re not sincere.”

Ma Bozhong shuddered violently. “Name your price! Whatever Young Master Lin wants, just say the word!”

“Twenty million. Write me a check right now.” Lin Le never showed mercy to people like Ma Bozhong.

“This…” Ma Bozhong winced in pain. He’d thought the fallen Lin family could be settled for three million, but never expected this punk to ask for twenty million right off the bat.

Damn, that’s ruthless. Wasn’t he supposed to be down and out?

“What, not willing?”

“No, no! I’m willing!” Ma Bozhong dared not hesitate again. He hurried to fetch his checkbook from the car, wrote out a check for twenty million, and handed it to Lin Le with trembling hands.

“Thank you, Mr. Ma.” Lin Le took the check and began to walk away.

Only then did Ma Bozhong finally breathe easy. But just as he relaxed, Lin Le stopped a few steps away.

“Boss Ma, you’re not planning to send anyone after me again, are you?” Lin Le asked with a smile.

“No, no, no! I swear to heaven, I’ll never trouble Young Master Lin again!” Ma Bozhong meant every word. Having survived so long in the gray world and navigated the business arena for years, he knew well whom he could and could not afford to offend. And Lin Le was most definitely the latter.

All he hoped was that this devilish man would never cross his path again—he wouldn’t dare provoke him for anything.

“Haha, that’s good…” With that, Lin Le’s figure flickered and vanished into the darkness almost instantly.

Lin Le was quite pleased with the night’s harvest. In just a few hours, he’d earned over twenty million—nothing made money faster than plundering.

By the time Lin Le got home, it was already past eleven. At the entrance to the street, he let Ji Xiaorui go her own way; his house was far too shabby, and he was embarrassed to invite such a refined lady inside.

It was so late that Lin Le assumed his father, Lin Tenghui, would already be asleep, but to his surprise, the light in the room was still on.

Lin Tenghui was draped in a jacket, bent over under the lamp as if calculating something. The sight reminded Lin Le of the days when the Lin Group was at its zenith, when he’d often see his father deep in thought in his study late at night.

But the matters weighed in those days were worlds apart from now.

“Dad, it’s late. Why aren’t you in bed yet?” Lin Le asked.

“Oh, just working out the shop’s costs. I’ll sleep soon.” The initial investment had already been considerable, but to set up a shop that met all their standards, they were still stretched thin.

Lin Tenghui’s plans and designs were always impeccable, but with their current situation, much was difficult to achieve.

At the root of it all—money was the problem.

Seeing his father’s furrowed brow, Lin Le could guess what troubled him.

“I’ll head to bed, then. Here, take this as pocket money.” Lin Le feigned nonchalance, tossing the crumpled check from his pocket to Lin Tenghui.

With that, he strolled back to his room, grinning as he waited for his father’s reaction.

Lin Tenghui, thinking Lin Le was up to mischief again, took the check with a look of annoyance. “What’s this nonsense?”

But as his eyes landed on the numbers, his eyes grew wide.

“Twenty million?! Good heavens, Le, am I seeing things? Where did you get so much money?” Lin Tenghui burst into Lin Le’s room, elated.

“No need to worry about that, Dad. I’m not about to rob a bank! You used to give me pocket money—now it’s my turn to honor you.”

“You rascal!” Lin Tenghui was so overjoyed he had no mind to question where the money had come from. He knew his son had matured greatly after three years of hardship, and didn’t need to worry about him anymore.

“But Dad, we’ll have to put off the renovation for now, because we might be moving our shop to a better location.”

“Moving? Where do you plan to go?”

“With this money, buying a shop at Hongqiao Plaza downtown and renting a place to live should be enough, right?” Lin Le had thought all this through when he demanded the money from Ma Bozhong.

“Hongqiao Plaza? That’s the most bustling place in Haizhou! If our noodle shop opens there, it’s bound to be a huge success!” Not even at the founding of the Lin Group had Lin Tenghui been this excited.

“All right, it’s late. Get some sleep. Tomorrow, call Qiangzi and have him show you around Hongqiao Plaza.”

In Lin Le’s blueprint, the Lin Noodle House was a mere spark—he hoped to use it to ignite a grander enterprise.

Having spent the day at Longyuan Lake and then fighting in the underground arena, Lin Le was exhausted and soon fell asleep.

Meanwhile, in the dark alley below, a few shadowy figures lurked, moving furtively. Among them was Lei Gang, who had earlier come to collect debt from Lin Tenghui.

“Kui, this kid’s tough. Are we really going to take him on?” Lei Gang asked, his tone deferential toward the man with a long braid beside him.

The man addressed as Kui was clearly of a higher rank. Lei Gang, after all, was only a bronze-level thug under Xiong, commanding just a handful of men. But Kui was Xiong’s top enforcer, overseeing a dozen neighborhoods—a true kingpin. If Lei Gang hadn’t warned that tonight’s target was trouble, Kui would never have bothered to come.

“Cut the crap. Anyone who crosses us dies or ends up crippled!” Luo Kui’s expression was vicious.

Luo Kui was infamous for his ruthlessness—his hands were stained with countless lives, and even Lei Gang was deeply wary of him.

“Is everything ready?” Kui asked.

“All set!” Lei Gang and his men brandished several glass bottles.

Luo Kui flicked away his cigarette and said coldly, “Do it!”

Lei Gang and his crew lit the rags dangling from the glass bottles and hurled them straight at Lin Le’s residence.

With a series of deafening crashes, the bottles shattered, gasoline ignited, and the storefront was instantly engulfed by flames, the blaze quickly swallowing the entire building.

Lin Le had just drifted off when the sound of breaking glass jolted him awake.

Acrid black smoke filled the air immediately. Glancing out the window at the roaring fire, Lin Le instantly realized—someone wanted them dead.

“Dad!” Lin Le’s first thought was of Lin Tenghui.

He rushed to his father’s room, where Lin Tenghui had already been awakened.

“Le, what’s happening?”

“We need to get out—now!”

Together they dashed downstairs, but found the rolling shutter had been locked from the outside and couldn’t be forced open.

By now, the entire shop was ablaze.

“Upstairs!”

Outside, Luo Kui and Lei Gang watched the inferno, grins of satisfaction on their faces.

“So what if he’s trained? He still gets burned to death! I’m out of here—got a drink with Xiong to catch!” Luo Kui sneered, turning to leave.

Just then, a thunderous crash erupted as the iron bars outside the second-floor window were blasted aside.

Lin Le, clutching his father, burst out of the inferno, landing directly in front of Luo Kui and his crew.

“Holy shit…” Luo Kui gasped in disbelief.