Li Ze’s anger bubbled up, nearly choking him. If it weren’t for needing something from Ke Mingxuan, he would have turned around and walked straight out of there.

They were all big names in this circle, people with status and influence. Who didn’t have a bit of temper?

But when he thought of Ruan Chengjie’s face, of him drunk out of his mind, laughing and crying as he begged, “Ah Ze, I’m done for. Ah Ze, no one can help me now. Ah Ze, help me, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to go to jail,” Li Ze just couldn’t bring himself to turn around and leave.

Ah Ze, Ah Ze, Ah Ze.

From childhood to now, whenever Ruan Chengjie messed up, the first name he called out was always “Ah Ze.” And Li Ze would never hesitate to help him.

He couldn’t remember when exactly Ruan Chengjie had developed this kind of dependence on him, or when he had started taking him under his wing, naturally protecting him.

Maybe it was when they were three or four, and Li Ze saw him fighting with other kids in kindergarten and rushed in to help. Or perhaps it was when they were six or seven, at the Ruan family mansion, when he saw Ruan Chengjie pushed into the lotus pond by his cousin. He jumped in to save him, though both of them nearly drowned, coughing up water, and were dragged out by the servants, shivering in the cold. But they still looked at each other and laughed, two little fools.

Later, Ruan Chengjie got used to calling out “Ah Ze” first whenever he encountered any problem, instead of calling his parents.

Ruan’s mother once told Ruan Chengjie, “Ah Ze is older than you, you should call him ‘older brother.’”

Li’s mother also told Li Ze, “Chengjie is your younger brother, you need to take care of him.”

Even though their ages were only a few months apart, and Ruan Chengjie had never called him “older brother,” Li Ze always felt a sense of responsibility as the older sibling and cared for Ruan Chengjie like a younger brother.

When Ruan Chengjie was ten years old, his parents tragically passed away in an accident. Li Ze still clearly remembered how he dropped his schoolbag and rushed to the Ruan family home after hearing the news. He was heartbroken when he saw Ruan Chengjie sitting alone on the doorstep.

The servants, busy coming and going, setting up the mourning hall, became a noisy background, yet not a single one of them paid attention to him.

Ruan Chengjie’s grandmother wasn’t his grandfather’s first wife. After years of marriage with no children, his grandfather took a second wife, who soon gave birth to a son—Ruan Chengjie’s father.

No one knew if it had anything to do with superstitions, but after Ruan Chengjie’s father was born, something strange happened. His grandfather’s first wife became pregnant the following year and, from then on, had three more children—a son and a daughter.

Although Ruan Chengjie’s father was the eldest son, his position in the Ruan family was always awkward due to his mother being from the second marriage. Fortunately, he had a kind and cautious nature, so Ruan’s grandfather still liked him. But this favor was met with dissatisfaction from the children of the first wife, which led to Ruan Chengjie and his cousins not getting along.

At the time, Li Ze had no idea about the deep and bitter internal struggles within the Ruan family. It was only much later that he heard rumors suggesting that Ruan Chengjie’s parents might have been killed by his second uncle. Although it was just a rumor, given Ruan Chengjie’s later change in character and his methods of dealing with his second uncle, the rumor seemed to hold some truth.

Ten-year-old Li Ze walked toward the small figure. Ten-year-old Ruan Chengjie looked up at him with tear-filled eyes and, for the first time, called him “older brother.”

He said, “Brother, I don’t have mom and dad anymore.”

Before he could finish speaking, tears started to roll down his face.

Li Ze crouched down and hugged him, saying, “Don’t be afraid, brother will protect you.”

That protection lasted for twenty years.

Li Ze believed he had half the responsibility for Ruan Chengjie turning out the way he did. After Ruan Chengjie’s parents passed away, no one in the Ruan family really cared about him. During those years, when Huarui Group was in its rapid growth phase, Ruan’s grandfather had little time to focus on his grandson, and Ruan Chengjie spent most of his time at the Li family’s house. Out of deep affection for his “younger brother,” Li Ze always tried to help Ruan Chengjie, no matter whether he was in the wrong or not. As long as Ruan Chengjie called out “Ah Ze,” it seemed like everything could be fixed. 

Even later, when Ruan Chengjie used some extreme methods to seize power, Li Ze didn’t see anything wrong with it. In their circle, survival of the fittest was the rule. Many families had their descendants fighting tooth and nail for power, and it was hardly surprising. Besides, as the eldest grandson of the Ruan family, Huarui was supposed to belong to Ruan Chengjie anyway.

It was his own indulgence, tolerating Ruan Chengjie’s every move without protest, that had led him to repeatedly cross the line and, in the end, stubbornly walk into the dead end he was in now.

And it was only when things had already reached an irreversible point that he finally understood what Ruan Chengjie had done.

He had always thought that the feud between Ruan Chengjie and Bian Yiqiu had ended after their last reconciliation. He couldn’t understand why Ruan Chengjie was so determined to kill Bian Yiqiu.

Ruan Chengjie told him, “Those photos are a sword hanging over my head. As long as Bian Yiqiu is alive, I’ll never find peace.”

Li Ze looked into his bloodshot eyes and felt that his mental state was deteriorating. He couldn’t believe that the photos hadn’t been backed up. He didn’t believe that Bian Yiqiu would give up the chance to use them against him. He didn’t know when Bian Yiqiu would threaten him with those photos, nor did he know whether they would appear directly in front of the Ruan family or be exposed to the media.

He was almost driven mad by his endless speculations. His position at Huarui wasn’t stable—so many people were waiting to pull him down from his current place. Everything he had could crumble at the slightest disturbance, and the best way to prevent it all was to completely eliminate anyone who posed a threat to him.

So he teamed up with Bian Yiqiu’s enemy, Qian Ying, and, due to his distrust of Qian Ying, also brought in Zhou Ming, who hated Bian Yiqiu to the core. His plan was flawless. Whether Qian Ying or Zhou Ming succeeded, they would both have direct interests tied to Bian Yiqiu. No one would suspect him. But he never anticipated that Lin Jiayan would get involved. He also hadn’t expected Ke Mingxuan to use Director Feng’s connections to save Bian Yiqiu, and he certainly didn’t expect the police to locate the Qian family’s arms cache so quickly.

Zhou Ming had originally been lurking around the arms cache. If Qian Ying failed to kill Bian Yiqiu, he would have to seize the opportunity himself. So, when he saw Ke Mingxuan appear with the police, it was purely by chance. Ke Mingxuan was the one who found him in hiding and had Bian Yiqiu break his fingers in the past, so his hatred for Ke Mingxuan was just as intense as his hatred for Bian Yiqiu. He knew the police would save Bian Yiqiu, and that Ke Mingxuan would ensure Bian Yiqiu got into his car. So, while everyone’s attention was on the arms cache, he tampered with Ke Mingxuan’s car.

Ruan Chengjie said, “But Zhou Ming failed. And even after he failed, he still dared to come to me for money…”

“So you killed him too?” Li Ze felt like he was hearing a bizarre story. He couldn’t reconcile the ruthless, vicious man in the story with the pitiful boy from his memories who had once called him “brother.”

“He threatened me. He had a recording. Even if I gave him money, he would keep threatening me. I couldn’t stop myself—”

Ruan Chengjie’s voice was cut off abruptly as Li Ze slapped him hard.

It was the first time Li Ze had ever hit him. Even two years ago, when Ruan Chengjie had gone too far during an SM session and accidentally killed a second-tier celebrity, causing a huge scandal, Li Ze hadn’t slapped him when he came asking for help.

That slap stunned Ruan Chengjie.

Li Ze looked at him, his voice trembling as he spoke, “You killed Zhou Ming, found the recorder in his shabby house, thinking you were foolproof. Then you tried to reach out to that drug dealer through a lawyer. His death sentence was a done deal, so you bribed him enough to get him to quietly kill Bian Yiqiu in prison. Is that right?”

“Yes… I had no choice, Aze, I had no choice…”

Ruan Chengjie looked at Li Ze, tears filling his eyes. For a moment, Li Ze was overcome with a flash of memory, seeing the lonely little boy from twenty years ago sitting on the doorstep.

Li Ze closed his eyes for a moment and continued, “You thought that with Bian Yiqiu and Zhou Ming dead, Ke Mingxuan would never find out what role you played in all this. He would hate Qian Ying, because everything started with Qian Ying kidnapping Bian Yiqiu. And with Qian Ying’s arms smuggling charges, he wouldn’t be out in less than ten or eight years. Maybe, in his anger, Ke Mingxuan would even push for a life sentence. Even if he says you were behind it, there’s no evidence. You thought you’d be in the clear, right?”

“Ha, yes,” Ruan Chengjie laughed nervously. “But the heavens aren’t on my side. That idiot Zhou Ming… he actually backed up the recording. Now it’s in Ruan Chengfeng’s hands. The heavens are out to get me… Aze, I’m done, I’m finished…”

Li Ze cruelly reminded him, “Bian Yiqiu isn’t dead. Even without that recording, do you really think they would let you off?”

“Yes, Bian Yiqiu isn’t dead. Why hasn’t he died after everything that’s happened?” Ruan Chengjie’s voice suddenly rose, almost hysterical.

Li Ze replied, “You should be glad he’s still alive.”

Because as long as he’s alive, there’s still a chance with Ke Mingxuan.

That’s why he came to see Ke Mingxuan today. He hadn’t called ahead, knowing that with the current situation, Ke Mingxuan wouldn’t want to meet him. It was more straightforward to show up at his office.

The two sat facing each other on the sofa. Li Ze didn’t waste time and got straight to the point. “You know why I’m here.”

“I know, but I won’t agree. That’s why I didn’t want to see you earlier.” Ke Mingxuan didn’t beat around the bush either. “Aze, I consider you a friend, but if you’re going to defend Ruan Chengjie, our friendship ends here.”

Li Ze had expected this attitude from him before he even arrived, so it wasn’t much of a surprise.

“I’m not here to defend him. I just want to ask you—do you really have to go so far as to destroy him completely?”

Ke Mingxuan smiled, his expression unreadable. “You shouldn’t be asking me that. You should be asking Ruan Chengfeng.”

Ruan Chengfeng was Ruan Chengjie’s cousin, his long-time adversary. A few years ago, when Ruan Chengjie seized power, he had sent Ruan Chengfeng’s entire family to South Africa for menial work, and even caused Ruan Chengfeng’s father to lose a leg. Now that Ruan Chengfeng had returned, there was no way he would let any opportunity to crush Ruan Chengjie slip by.

Ke Mingxuan had given him the recording for two reasons. One, because he had been too occupied with dealing with Bian Yiqiu’s hospitalization to handle Ruan Chengjie himself, and two, because he knew Ruan Chengfeng’s methods would certainly be far less merciful than his own. Why get his hands dirty when he could achieve his goal by using someone else? Besides, he had no desire to lay eyes on Ruan Chengjie ever again.

” Mingxuan, you know what kind of blood feud Ruan Chengjie has with his uncle’s family. Ruan Chengfeng will destroy him, make him suffer worse than death. Can’t you, for the sake of our brotherhood over the years, spare him?”

“When he targeted Bian Yiqiu, did he think about our brotherhood?”

“But Bian Yiqiu is still alive…”

“Yes. Because Bian Yiqiu is still alive, Ruan Chengjie hasn’t died yet.” Ke Mingxuan’s meaning was clear—if Bian Yiqiu had died, Ruan Chengjie would already be buried alongside him.

Li Ze opened his mouth, and after a long pause, said, “Then, for my sake, can you let him go just this once?”

“Ah Ze, you’re asking the wrong person.” Ke Mingxuan’s expression was sincere. “The thing’s in Ruan Chengfeng’s hands, and I can’t do anything about it.”

Li Ze knew very well that this was just an excuse. In Z City, was there anything the Ke family couldn’t manage? If Ke Mingxuan truly wanted to spare Ruan Chengjie, no one would dare go against his wishes.

“Mingxuan, I know Chengjie has done many wrong things. He became like this because of me. I can’t just watch him be destroyed by Ruan Chengfeng. As his brother, I’m begging you…”