The movie is the latest hit Hollywood action blockbuster, scheduled for this Friday night at 8 PM—the perfect time, and the perfect couple’s seat.

The cinema is located not far from Junlin Tianxia, in COCO MALL. It’s just a five-minute walk through the street behind the community.

The original plan was to wait for Ke Mingxuan to finish work, then go to the restaurant upstairs in the cinema to have dinner, and after a short rest, go downstairs to catch the movie. It should have been perfect. But at 5:40, he got a call from Ke Mingxuan, telling him there was an urgent meeting that came up, and asking him to go ahead first.

Since he had informed Zuo Cheng about the plans to meet Ke Mingxuan a couple of days ago, Zuo Cheng automatically kept his distance during these times. With Ke Mingxuan around, he didn’t need to worry about his boss’s safety at all. Even without Ke Mingxuan, as long as there wasn’t an extreme situation, his boss’s skills were more than enough to protect himself. So, the group of four happily gathered for the meetup.

However, today, Bian Yiqiu encountered an unexpected situation. It was almost as if everything had been planned in advance.

The street behind Junlin Tianxia wasn’t a main road, so there weren’t many pedestrians. It was already April, and the banyan trees along the road were in full bloom. The thick tree canopy blocked the faint evening light, making the surroundings seem somewhat dim, but this didn’t affect Boss Bian’s good mood at all.

He hummed a tune that was always off-key, maintaining his usual pace as he leisurely walked down the street toward COCO MALL. From a distance, he saw a black sedan blocking the intersection.

He muttered in his mind that the car owner had no sense of public decency and was about to ignore them and go around when he noticed two people standing in front of the car who looked somewhat familiar.

Bian Yiqiu stopped in his tracks, standing about ten meters away. His expression remained neutral, but his mind was quickly assessing the two people and how to take them down as quickly as possible. If his memory wasn’t failing him, these two were Qian Ying’s bodyguards.

As if to confirm his suspicion, the car door was opened from the inside, and Qian Ying’s annoyingly smug face appeared in his line of sight.

“President Bian, we meet again.”

“Young Master Qian,” Bian Yiqiu said coldly, staring at him. “What’s the meaning of this?”

“I’d like to invite President Bian to dinner, and by the way, discuss some business.”

“The land isn’t for sale.” Bian Yiqiu got straight to the point, then turned to leave.

One of the bodyguards quickly stepped forward, blocking his way. The slightly bulging suit pocket revealed that he was holding a small handgun. If Bian Yiqiu took another step forward, a bullet might fly out of the barrel, hitting his abdomen or thigh.

He turned to look at Qian Ying, his eyes showing no sign of hesitation. “Do you think these two people can trap me?”

Qian Ying smiled. “Of course not. Last time, you disabled two of my men in just three seconds.”

Bian Yiqiu purposely made a face of realization. “So those two rookies were sent by you after all.”

“Tsk, it’s my fault for coming back to the country without understanding President Bian’s capabilities. If I had known you were that powerful, I wouldn’t have sent two ‘rookies’ over to make a fool of myself.”

“That was indeed quite laughable.”

“Being laughed at is fine. The real question is whether you’ll still be laughing in the end.”

“That’s a good point. How about we put it to the test?” Bian Yiqiu raised an eyebrow, already growing impatient with the guy who was ruining his dinner date and movie plans.

Qian Ying feigned a look of frustration. “Are you sure you don’t want to change places and have a proper chat?”

Bian Yiqiu replied, “I’m in a hurry.”

“Alright then.” Qian Ying shrugged, his tone full of regret. “But I’m a civilized person, and I’ll talk things through before resorting to violence.  President Bian, you might want to take a look at this before deciding whether to come with me.”

Bian Yiqiu lowered his gaze to the phone Qian Ying handed over, but as soon as he saw the screen, he grabbed Qian Ying by the collar and slammed him against the car door, raising his fist to strike. “You bastard!”

His arm was immediately seized by the bodyguard, and the cold barrel of a gun pressed firmly against his temple.

Qian Ying pushed him off, gracefully straightened his clothes, and turned to sit in the front passenger seat. Bian Yiqiu, on the other hand, was forced to sit in the back, flanked by two bodyguards on either side.

The driver quickly pulled out of the parking lot, turning onto the bustling main road, leaving the lively COCO MALL far behind. On the massive advertisement screen at Hengya Cinema, the trailer for the movie they were supposed to watch was playing.

Lin Jiayan, carrying a violin case, hurried out of the music store. He couldn’t find a parking spot due to the evening rush hour, so he just parked his car by the roadside, hoping to drive off before the traffic police could issue a ticket—otherwise, he’d be lectured by his father again when he got home.

As he was about to sit down in the driver’s seat, a speeding Mercedes-Benz S-Class zipped past him. Startled, he quickly pulled his other leg back and glared at the black Mercedes, which had been stopped by the red light ahead, muttering, “Crazy.”

Just as the words left his mouth, his peripheral vision caught sight of the car’s highly distinctive license plate—three large sixes that stung his eyes. Anger surged within him.

He drove while dialing a number on his phone.

When the phone rang, a syringe pierced through the fabric of Bian Yiqiu’s clothes and stabbed into his shoulder muscle. The medication inside was quickly injected into his body. He instinctively began to struggle, so forcefully that his two bodyguards could barely hold him down. His tense muscles almost snapped the needle.

“Don’t panic. It’s just a muscle relaxant. You won’t die from it,” Qian Ying glanced at the incoming call, letting it ring without answering.

Bian Yiqiu sneered. “Didn’t expect Young Master Qian to be such a coward.”

His hands were bound behind him, a gun barrel pressed against his head, and two large bodyguards stood beside him. Yet, they still needed a muscle relaxant. He should feel honored to be treated like this.

“I’m used to things going perfectly.” The ringing stopped, and Qian Ying turned around to smile at him. “Also, I think you should be quiet for a while.”

The call he had made wasn’t answered, and Lin Jiayan nearly crushed the steering wheel in frustration. Just as he was about to redial, he suddenly saw a phone fly out of the Benz’s window. It landed and was immediately crushed by the wheels of the car behind.

Lin Jiayan was stunned for a moment, his first instinct being that it was Qian Ying’s phone. He actually threw his phone out just because he didn’t want to answer his call?

The thought made Lin Jiayan so furious that his whole body trembled. He gripped the steering wheel with one hand and without hesitation, hit redial with the other.

If the call doesn’t go through, if it doesn’t go through…

Before he could even think about what to do if the call didn’t go through, the unmistakable sound of the phone ringing through the receiver told him the call had connected.

Lin Jiayan let out a slight breath of relief, but soon another question arose: If the phone thrown out of the window wasn’t Qian Ying’s, whose was it? Was there someone else in the car? Who was that person, and what was their relationship with Qian Ying? Why did they throw the phone away? Most importantly, was Qian Ying in the car? Could it be that his driver took the car out while he was busy with his socializing?

Lin Jiayan’s mind was full of countless questions, but all of them needed Qian Ying to answer. However, each time he dialed the number, the repeated “no answer” told him that no one was picking up. In the end, he didn’t even know what he was holding on to anymore. He just stubbornly followed the Benz, repeatedly dialing the number in a mechanical manner.

Unprecedented anger and disappointment wrapped around him, a feeling even stronger than the one he had when he realized Ke Mingxuan would never like him. This made him feel more out of control and fearful. Because Ke Mingxuan had never deceived him, had never tried to possess him. From start to finish, it was all his own delusion, trapped in a fantasy of his own making.

But Qian Ying was different. This man, the moment he appeared, first took over his body, then gradually dismantled his defenses, coming at him with overwhelming force that was impossible to resist. And just when his body started to crave him, when his heart began to waver because of him, he suddenly realized everything was a lie! This man had deceived him!

Lin Jiayan laughed in anger. He had actually been deceived. This bold, reckless man dared to trick him! It was the first time in his 26 years of life that he had tasted the feeling of being deceived.

Very well, this is perfect. Qian, you’d better not let me find out there’s another man—or woman—in your car, or I’ll make sure we both end up in the same mess!

Qian Ying had set the ringtone to silent and was watching the endless calls with a headache. His finger hovered over the power button for a long time but he didn’t press it. He knew Lin Jiayan’s temper too well. Not answering the call could be excused by saying he didn’t hear it, but if he turned the phone off, that guy would probably go mad.

Finally, when Lin Jiayan had dialed for the umpteenth time, Qian Ying answered the call.

“Baby…”

Hearing his voice, Lin Jiayan’s grip on the phone tightened. He tried his best to suppress the rage that was on the verge of overwhelming his rationality, forcing his voice to sound as normal as possible. “Where are you?”

“Didn’t I say I was accompanying some leaders from the tax bureau for drinks today? You’re already missing me so soon?”

Lin Jiayan really wanted to believe him, but the Benz in front of him, the familiar car that seemed to set his vision on fire, and Qian Ying’s long silence—his attempt to cover it up by not answering the phone—shattered the fragile trust he had left.

“Yeah, I miss you. I want to see you right now. Where are you meeting them? I’ll come to you.”

“Baby, be good. It’s a bit inconvenient for me right now. Once I’m done, I’ll come find you, okay?” Qian Ying’s tone was gentler than it had ever been before. But it was precisely this unfamiliar gentleness that made Lin Jiayan’s heart sink bit by bit.

Qian Ying was lying. He was deceiving him. He was afraid that if he really went to find him, his lies would be exposed.”

“Not okay.” Lin Jiayan gritted his teeth and spat out those two words, just as the two cars had already left the city and were speeding toward the eastern coast.

There were more vehicles in the city during rush hour, so the driver didn’t notice the car following them. But once they were out of the city and the roads were quieter, it became strange that the car kept following them so persistently.

“Young Master Qian, that car behind us seems off.”

Qian Ying glanced at the rearview mirror and warily asked into the phone, “Where are you?”

Lin Jiayan obviously heard the driver’s words. He sneered, “Wherever you are, I’ll be there.”

Qian Ying’s temples throbbed. Then he heard Lin Jiayan say, “Pull over.”

“Lin Jiayan, get the hell back!” Qian Ying suddenly exploded in anger.

“I said, pull over!”

Furious, Qian Ying hung up the phone and ordered the driver to shake him off.

With the call disconnected, Lin Jiayan became even more convinced of his suspicions. There must be someone else in Qian Ying’s car!

The driver accelerated, shooting down the coastal highway like a bullet from a gun, but no matter how fast he drove, he couldn’t shake off Lin Jiayan, who slammed his foot on the gas pedal, staying right on his tail.

Qian Ying watched the car behind him chase relentlessly, his fist tightening with veins popping. With a loud thud, he slammed his fist onto the control panel and picked up the phone, dialing Lin Jiayan’s number. “Don’t fucking follow me anymore!”

Lin Jiayan’s vision blurred from those words. “You’re the one chasing me, and now you want me to stop following you? Qian Ying, what the hell do you take me for?”

Before Qian Ying could answer, Lin Jiayan added, “I’ll count to three. If you don’t pull over, I’ll let go of the wheel.”

“You’re crazy!”

Ahead, not far off, was a sharp bend. If they didn’t turn in time, the car would crash through the guardrail and plunge into the sea in less than ten seconds.

“One.”

“Lin Jiayan!”

“Two.”

“Fuck you!”

Qian Ying roared, and the black Mercedes screeched to a halt, its brakes letting out a piercing shriek that seemed to tear through the air, leaving a horrifying black skid mark on the highway before coming to a steady stop.

At the same time, Lin Jiayan slammed on his brakes.

Due to the high speed, the sudden brake caused a strong inertia, and his head slammed hard into the steering wheel, making him dizzy and disoriented.

He leaned against the wheel, eyes closed, trying to ease the dizziness, but soon he heard the sound of Qian Ying’s fist pounding on the car window.

He opened the door, and Qian Ying grabbed him, yanking him out. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

Lin Jiayan froze at his shout, but then remembered why he had lost control. He shrugged off Qian Ying’s grip and strode toward the Mercedes.

“Lin Jiayan!” Qian Ying reacted, rushing to stop him, but Lin Jiayan was already running to the front of the car and yanked open the door.

“…” Lin Jiayan stood frozen, staring at the unconscious Bian Yiqiu, who was being held up by two bodyguards. His mind seemed to freeze, unsure of how to process what he was seeing.

What’s going on? Why is Bian Yiqiu the one in the car? How does Qian Ying know Bian Yiqiu? Why is Bian Yiqiu unconscious? What’s Qian Ying’s purpose in kidnapping him? Who exactly is Qian Ying?!

Qian Ying pressed his fingers to his temples, sighed, and slowed his steps as he walked over to him.

“Baby, I didn’t want you to get involved in this, but you just wouldn’t listen.”

Lin Jiayan instinctively took two steps back. “Who the hell are you?”

“Your man.” Qian Ying reached out and pulled him into his arms, ordering the driver to move the car first while he restrained the struggling Lin Jiayan and dragged him into the car behind them.

Locking the door, Qian Ying started the engine and followed the Mercedes. The acrid smell of burning rubber quickly disappeared into the wild sea breeze.

Meanwhile, Ke Mingxuan, frantic and desperate, was on the brink of turning Z City upside down in his search, growing increasingly agitated as the minutes ticked by, unable to find any trace of Bian Yiqiu.