When they arrived, Brother Long was still awake. He was greeting guests.

He was wearing the same long gown he'd worn to the club that evening. The last time they came, he'd worn a casual Hangzhou silk jacket and matching practice trousers.

There were two teacups on the table, still steaming, indicating that the guests had been asked to leave when they came in.

"Why did you suddenly think of coming to find me?" Brother Long looked at Chen Ming, then glanced at Xu Keke who was standing next to him.

This was something Xu Keke herself requested to be involved in.

"I'm here to be frank with you about some things," Chen Ming said bluntly.

"Aren't you a reporter from Global Times?" Brother Long smiled warmly. Just by looking at him, you would think he was a kind and approachable elder.

But Xu Keke knew that he was just like those bodyguards outside who concealed their identities; he looked harmless from afar, but you could try to touch him.

“I’m a reporter for Global Times!” Chen Ming paused for a moment. “I’m not lying to you. I have a press card. If you have any friends there, you can ask the magazine or Chinatown. I’m quite well-known there.”

"Oh!" Brother Long was clearly surprised. "Then what do you want to tell me?"

Chen Ming gestured for Xu Keke to stand up, then turned around and lifted the back of Xu Keke's clothes, revealing a dense network of scars.

He then rolled up the sleeves of Xu Keke's arms, and what he saw was equally appalling.

Brother Long kept a serious face and didn't say anything more, waiting for Chen Ming to continue.

"I won't lie to you, she's my friend's niece." Chen Ming told Brother Long about the original owner's background.

"If you don't believe me, you can check with the police department. My friend visited Manager Chen a few days ago. He's feeling better now, but he can't walk. He's been transferred back to the police station from the hospital."

Brother Long nodded. This kind of thing was easy to investigate; a phone call would tell him. He trusted Chen Ming wouldn't lie to him, and besides, the child's injuries couldn't have been inflicted in a day or two.

"Although she escaped from the Guo family's factory, the sisters who helped her were still inside. She asked us for help. You know, we don't have the money to buy the Guo family's factory, and even if we did, Mr. Guo wouldn't sell us his livelihood. So I set up this scheme."

One reason was revenge, and the other was to punish Boss Guo for continuing to make money unscrupulously. Our original intention was to seize control of the factory. Unexpectedly, Miss Guo just contacted me, saying she accidentally killed Boss Guo.

Brother Long wasn't surprised at all, but Xu Keke was shocked. He already knew that Boss Guo was dead, and he also knew that the Guo family's affairs were all their doing.

Xu Keke suddenly felt a pang of gratitude towards Miss Guo; otherwise, things would have been really difficult for them to handle.

Chen Ming relayed Xu Keke's idea from the car to Brother Long.

Silence fell over the room. Brother Long lowered his eyes, his thoughts unreadable.

The clock on the wall ticked away with remarkable clarity. Xu Keke felt as if she could even hear the sound of water dripping from the eaves.

After a long time, Xu Keke was already thinking that if they were to rush out, she could smash the teapot on the table, hold the shards to Long Ge's neck, and force him to rush out.

They didn't bring any weapons, because if they did, they would be confiscated when they came in.

However, there is a major problem with doing this: if one of the bodyguards is ambitious, they will be buried with Brother Long.

"Was it you who caused the death and injury at the textile factory?"

The first thing Brother Long said was to Xu Keke, which startled her. Looking at her pale face, Brother Long thought he had guessed wrong.

Unexpectedly, Xu Keke nodded with difficulty.

Brother Long didn't say anything, he just looked at her, as if he wanted to hear her explanation.

But Xu Keke had nothing to explain. Her rebirth story could be told to good people, but not to outsiders.

She would be devoured completely, leaving not a trace. In their eyes, she would be more valuable than that Guo family's factory.

She misjudged Brother Long; she thought that when faced with such a benefit, he would calculate how much he could gain. She had already discussed with Chen Ming where the bottom line was in the negotiations.

But what Brother Long had in mind was not these things at all. So how much information did he actually have?

Xu Keke calmed down instantly.

Chen Ming wanted to say something for her, but Xu Keke held his hand down.

At the same time, Brother Long also spoke up, "Let her speak."

"I still remember some things," Xu Keke swallowed, appearing somewhat nervous.

"I was going to put up with it, but that foreman was disgusting. So I poured the bucket of hot water on him."

Later, when he was leaving, he asked me to stay there that night, so I poured all the wine on the pillar and then set it on fire.

"You severed his Achilles tendon."

When Xu Keke heard Brother Long say those words, she knew that they had actually succeeded.

Brother Long knows all this because he's been investigating the textile factory. He certainly wouldn't be doing this out of kindness, investigating for Boss Guo's sake.

There's only one reason: he's been interested in textile factories for reasons unknown.

He had actually discovered them during his investigation. That's why he kept urging them to move into No. 28 Xiangzhang Road.

Xu Keke breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the truth was mixed with the falsehood, she would have an 80% chance of success today.

Xu Keke recounted how she killed the woman.

She was calm, like a child driven to the brink of death who was indifferent to the dead.

After listening to her words, Brother Long remained silent for a moment before finally saying, "I killed someone for the first time when I was five years old. It was to steal a steamed bun on the street."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!