Chapter 7: Lost and Found

“This way, the public will know more about you both—there are gains and losses.”

Chen Hao didn’t say much more, but both Ruonan and Jiewen understood clearly.

Becoming the face of the convenience store meant making their relationship with Chen Hao public, which would bring them more attention and support—but also potential enemies.

They had already anticipated this when they chose to follow Chen Hao.

Every choice comes with pros and cons; the key is weighing which matters more.

As of now, the benefits clearly outweighed the risks—especially since Chen Hao had already stated he wanted them to handle the store’s publicity.

Seeing that it was getting late, and the girls’ arms were sore from massaging him,

Chen Hao waved them off and said:

“That’s enough for today. Go get some rest. Tomorrow, meet me at Jiashang Human Resources Company.”

“Before you leave, ask A-Liang at the bar for the wine.”

This time, Jiewen didn’t argue. She apologized to Ruonan and left Chen Hao’s office.

Ruonan felt slightly disappointed that nothing beyond friendship happened that night.

Even though Chen Hao had promised not to do anything against their will, she hadn’t even gotten the chance to express how she really felt.

Still, Ruonan thought to herself: There will always be opportunities—just wait and see.

They left the office together and found A-Liang at the bar. He told them a few things about Chen Hao.

As the new boss’s loyal employee, it was part of his job to know what the boss liked—especially when it came to the convenience store, including the news that all Hung Hing members would get a 50% discount.

Hearing this, Ruonan and Jiewen were shocked. Such generosity was rare—it seemed Chen Hao was truly a big spender.

Ruonan hugged Jiewen and said worriedly, “The boss is being way too generous. Tomorrow we should try to talk some sense into him.”

Jiewen fully agreed.

Then, A-Liang respectfully handed them two bottles of Lafite wine that Brother Hao had prepared and warmly addressed them both as Sister-in-law.

Jiewen blushed slightly at the term but didn’t object and accepted the wine. Ruonan, on the other hand, smiled and praised A-Liang for his keen eye.

“Smart kid,” she said with a laugh.

A-Liang bowed and nodded. “Take care, Sister-in-laws.”

The younger guys echoed the title loudly.

Surrounded by the sound of “Sister-in-law,” the two women felt like they were floating on air, their steps light as if they were graceful spirits soaring free.

As they walked away carrying bottles of Lafite, A-Liang gave a satisfied smile.

To make all this happen and spread the word about Chen Hao’s convenience store, he had deliberately let news of the “boss’s women” circulate—after all, calling them Sister-in-law was natural among the Hung Hing brothers.

Letting the boss’s women help manage things? A win-win. They didn’t want to see the boss’s money wasted.

As they left the bar, Jiewen whispered,

“Do you think this is okay? What if the boss gets angry?”

Ruonan rolled her eyes. “They called us sister-in-law, and you didn’t stop them either!”

How could Jiewen not want to stop it? But of course, Ruonan understood what was on her mind — they both knew without saying a word.

Ruonan lightly patted Jiewen’s firm buttocks, causing her to yelp in surprise.

“Hey! What are you doing? Don’t joke around like that here!”

Ruonan laughed, savoring the moment, secretly thinking that her sister’s figure really wasn’t bad at all — nearly on par with her own.

Still smiling, she said, “Come on, I know you’ve got a thing for the boss too. Stop pretending.”

“No matter how we compete, we’re still sisters — better to keep it in the family than let someone else snatch him away.”

“Let’s just focus on what to do tomorrow — how can we get the boss to really notice us?”

After hearing Ruonan’s words, the smile on Jiewen’s face vanished, replaced with a cloud of worry.

Late that night, when everything was quiet, Chen Hao returned home. Just as he walked in, the system alert rang in his ears:

[Ding! Today’s income is 1.3745 million HKD. A 10x critical bonus has been applied, totaling 13.745 million HKD. Funds have been automatically deposited into your bank account.]

[Assets: Increased from 2.929 million HKD to 16.674 million HKD]

Chen Hao froze on the spot.

He had expected today to bring in a decent income, but this… this was beyond anything he’d imagined.

Thinking back carefully, the numbers actually made sense. Each restock of the convenience store cost about 100,000 HKD. Since the members of Hongxing were getting everything at half-price, it amounted to about 50,000 HKD in real-time turnover.

With four major restocks, the massive return wasn’t that surprising after all.

Normally, a convenience store pulling in 5,000 HKD in daily sales would already be doing quite well.

But today, thanks to the half-price promotion — and ironically, thanks to Liang Kun and Babi’s failed attempt at causing trouble — business exploded. Instead of hurting him, they helped Chen Hao earn even more.

He couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought — what kind of expression would Liang Kun and Babi make when they found out their sabotage attempts actually made him richer?

The image of their frustrated faces was already forming in Chen Hao’s mind.

Western District.

At dawn, Baki was still fast asleep when he was jolted awake by frantic knocking and crying at the door.

Half-awake, he opened it and was stunned to see his old flame — Cuilian — standing there, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Brother Ji… you have to help my little brother!”

She wept as she pleaded.

“He was badly beaten and is in critical condition at the hospital!”

“If anything happens to him… I don’t want to live either…”

Her voice broke, overcome with emotion, as she pictured her brother Fei Biao lying broken in the hospital, his limbs shattered, clinging to life.

Baki could only sigh helplessly.

He knew Fei Biao too well — the guy relied on his relationship with Cuilian and used Baki’s name to do whatever he wanted in the Western District, dragging Hongxing’s reputation through the mud.

Though some people spared him out of respect for Baki, everyone knew this guy had nearly gotten himself killed multiple times.

Fei Biao was somewhat cunning too. He knew his reputation didn’t carry any weight outside of the Western District, so he only dared act recklessly within his own turf.

This time, someone had finally done the public a favor.

Still… Fei Biao was Cuilian’s blood brother.

Back then, Cuilian was Baki’s first love — the woman who made him a man.

But fate played a cruel hand. Her father looked down on Baki for being poor and married her off to an old, wealthy man.

After that man passed away, she and Baki got back together briefly, though the relationship didn’t last.

Cuilian, now past her prime, no longer had the same appeal. Their reunion was more about settling past regrets — yet she clung to him like a shadow, bringing him endless headaches.

Feeling annoyed, Baki waved his hand and said:

“Alright, go home for now. Let me figure out exactly what happened.”

But Cuilian was unwilling to leave. “Brother Ji, he’s my real brother!”

“I know you’ve always disliked him, but for the sake of our past, can’t you help? Teach those people a lesson for him?”

Baki’s face darkened with rage. He shouted:

“If he wasn’t your brother, I would’ve already taught him a lesson myself!”

“He goes around acting like a thug under my name — I’ve nearly become the laughingstock of everyone!”

Startled by his outburst, Cuilian didn’t dare say another word and quietly turned to leave.

Deep down, she knew that Baki had long lost interest in her now that she was no longer young or beautiful.

She had once married an old man who died and left her behind — and his children even wanted to kick her out without a dime.

Luckily, by then, Baki had risen to become a big boss in Hongxing. With his influence, Cuilian managed to secure part of the inheritance.

From that moment, she realized: as a powerless woman in this Hong Kong underworld, her only chance of survival was to cling to Baki.

Even though he now treated her coldly, she refused to let go of that relationship so easily.

After sending Cuilian off, Baki returned to his base, his mind in turmoil. As he stepped inside, he saw Brother Qiang busying himself with tasks.

He waved him over.

“Ah Qiang, come here a sec.”

Qiang smiled and walked over.

“Help me check what happened to Fei Biao last night.”

Baki asked without hesitation.

Qiang didn’t move right away — a troubled expression on his face.

Seeing the hesitation, Baki frowned and pressed, “Why aren’t you doing anything?”

After a brief silence, Qiang replied, “Brother Ji… I already know what happened.”

Baki’s eyes lit up. “Tell me — who did the public such a great favor and cleaned him up?”