The news of Xinghui Group’s bankruptcy was like a bomb, completely shattering the Zhou family’s last bit of dignity.
When the court's execution notice was delivered, Lin Man was sitting on the European-style sofa in the living room, holding a cup of cold black tea in her hand.
She stared at the bright red official seal on the document, her fingertips trembling slightly - all assets under the Zhou family's name, including this villa worth hundreds of millions, have entered the judicial auction process.
"Mrs. Zhou, you'll have 48 hours to vacate," the legal officer said businesslike, handing over a list. "You may take any personal belongings not on the list with you."
Zhou Ziqian kicked over the blue and white porcelain vase in the entrance hall and said, "Bullshit! My grandfather bought this vase at an auction. Why is it considered a company asset?!"
Fragments flew, slicing through the officer's trousers. He took a step back, his tone colder: "Master Zhou, violent resistance to the law can result in additional detention."
Lin Man stood up suddenly, her silk robe drawing a sharp arc in the air: "Ziqian, go upstairs and pack your things."
Her voice was like a string stretched to its limit. "Now."
Zhou Yuan sat on the carpet in the cloakroom with her knees hugged, watching her mother mechanically stuff the Hermès scarf into the suitcase.
Those limited editions that were once the envy of celebrities are now piled up like cheap rags.
"Mom," Zhou Yuan suddenly said, "Did Dad really...embezzle money?"
Lin Man paused.
The spotlight in the cloakroom cast a deep shadow on her face, making this once radiant lady suddenly look ten years older.
She slowly took out a gold-embossed account book from the secret compartment, with the Starlight Group's logo embossed on the cover.
"This is the dowry your father left you." Lin Man's voice was so soft it sounded like a sigh. "The key to the Swiss bank safe is sewn into the eyeball of your teddy bear."
The sound of a door slamming downstairs interrupted the conversation. Zhou Ziqian rushed in, reeking of alcohol, clutching a half-empty bottle of Hennessy. "Mom! The Gu family sealed the garage! My dad's Mirage—"
He suddenly saw the account book in his mother's hand, and his pupils shrank suddenly: "Is this... Xinghui's secret account?"
Lin Man quickly stuffed the account book into the compartment of the suitcase, but Zhou Ziqian had already pounced on her to grab it. Mother and son wrestled in the mess until Zhou Yuan screamed and pulled them apart.
A crack appeared in the suitcase, revealing a bloody fingerprint on the cover of the account book - it was left by Zhou Hui on his last night.
The old apartment building on the outskirts of the city has no elevator.
By the time Zhou Ziqian reached the sixth floor carrying his suitcase, the back of his suitcase was drenched in sweat. He angrily kicked open the rusted security door, and the smell of mold mixed with cockroach poison hit him in the face.
"This is such a shabby place?" He stared at the yellowed wallpaper in disbelief. "The toilets are all squat toilets?!"
Lin Man walked silently into the kitchen and turned on the faucet - brown rusty water gushed out and splashed on her cashmere shawl worth 30,000 yuan.
Zhou Yuan was standing at the door, hugging her teddy bear, when she noticed dried blood on the inside of the threshold. The previous tenant had probably been a drunk, and there were cigarette burns on the wall.
On the first night, Zhou Ziqian did not return home all night.
At three in the morning, Lin Man received a call from the police station. She rushed into the rain in her pajamas and saw her son at the police station, his face covered in blood. He had been detained for drunkenly assaulting a Gu's employee.
"Why would you want to mess with Gu Yuxiao?" Lin Man said, her voice trembling after paying the bail. "We can't afford any—"
"Because I want him dead!" Zhou Ziqian suddenly leaped up, his handcuffs clanging harshly against the interrogation chair. "He forced my father to death! He ruined Xinghui!"
The policeman held him down hard: "Be quiet!"
As Lin Man signed the transcript, she noticed the name badge of the officer who interrogated her—Shen. The name made her fingers tremble, and the ink spread like a smudge on the paper.
In the school corridor, Zhou Yuan's locker was covered with red paint with the words "Death to the Corrupt".
She wiped it silently with a wet wipe, and her classmates were talking openly in her ears:
"I heard her father transferred 50 million to his mistress before he died?"
"The skirt she's wearing is from last year..."
"Stay away from her, it's bad luck."
The homeroom teacher called her into the office and tactfully suggested transferring her to another school: "Student Zhou Yuan, considering your family situation...it might not be appropriate for you to continue here."
Outside the window, a gym class was underway, and the sound of laughter could be heard faintly. Zhou Yuan stared at the newly placed Gu Group-sponsored fountain pen on the homeroom teacher's desk and asked softly, "Was this Gu Yuxiao's idea?"
The head teacher's face suddenly changed: "What nonsense are you talking about!"
That afternoon, Zhou Yuan found torn school uniforms in the girls' restroom cubicle.
When she returned home wrapped in a sports jacket, she saw a familiar black Maybach parked downstairs of the apartment building - Gu Yuxiao's assistant was handing a stack of documents to her mother.
"This is Mr. Gu's final warning to your son." The assistant pushed his gold-rimmed glasses. "Next time, it won't be as simple as detention."
Lin Man's hands trembled as she took the document, but her back remained straight. "Tell Gu Yuxiao that the Zhou family is not completely dead."
Late at night, Zhou Yuan used tweezers to remove the glass bead from the teddy bear's left eye.
The microchip glowed coldly under the desk lamp. She plugged it into her computer, and the Swiss Bank login screen popped up on the screen. The account balance showed: $82,376,419.17.
There is an account for monthly transfers in the transaction record, and the remark column has only one letter - [S].
The latest transfer occurred on the day Zhou Hui died, and the amount was US$1.
Zhou Yuan suddenly remembered her father's last phone call: "...The Shen family wants to silence us! Yuanyuan, remember, there's more than one Night Owl—"
Car lights flashed outside the window, and she quickly closed her computer. In the alley below, a man in a black windbreaker was looking up at her window, playing with an eagle-shaped cufflink.
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