Chapter 16: Keep a Low Profile

“With this, people will get to know you better—there will be gains, but also losses.”

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

Becoming the faces of the convenience store meant making their relationship with Chen Hao public. That would bring them more attention and support, but naturally, it could also attract envy or hostility.

When they decided to follow Chen Hao from the beginning, they had already anticipated something like this.

Every choice comes with its pros and cons—the key is weighing which side matters more.

And at this point, the benefits clearly outweighed the risks. After all, Chen Hao had just asked them to lead the store’s advertising campaign.

Seeing that it was getting late—and both girls were sore from massaging him—Chen Hao waved a hand and said:

“That’s all for today. Go back and rest. Meet me tomorrow at Jiashang Human Resources.”

“Before you go, don’t forget to get the wine from Ah Liang at the bar.”

This time, Jiewen didn’t object. She apologized to Ruonan, then quietly left Chen Hao’s office.

Ruonan felt a bit disappointed. Nothing had happened tonight to bring her relationship with Chen Hao beyond just friendship. Even though he had promised not to do anything against her will, she hadn’t even gotten the chance to speak her feelings.

Still, she told herself silently: The opportunity will come. One step at a time.

The two women left the office together and headed to the bar, where they found the bartender Ah Liang. He began chatting with them about Chen Hao.

As a loyal employee of the new boss, it was naturally Ah Liang’s duty to know his boss’s preferences—especially anything related to the convenience store, including the news that Hung Hing members would enjoy a 50% discount.

Hearing this, Ruonan and Jiewen were so surprised they didn’t know what to say. Such generosity was truly rare. It really seemed Chen Hao was the kind of person who didn’t hold back when spending.

Ruonan, holding onto Jiewen with concern, said, “The boss is being way too extravagant. Tomorrow we should try and talk him out of it!”

Jiewen agreed completely.

Ah Liang then respectfully handed them two bottles of Lafite red wine, specially packed by Brother Hao himself, and kindly addressed the two as sister-in-law.

Jiewen blushed slightly when she heard it, but didn’t object, simply accepting the wine. Ruonan, on the other hand, grinned and praised Ah Liang for being sharp.

“You’re a clever one, you really are.”

She laughed, and Ah Liang bowed and replied, “Take care, sister-in-laws.”

The younger guys around also started echoing the greeting.

Surrounded by calls of sister-in-law, the two women felt as if they were floating on air. Their steps became light and joyful, like fairies soaring freely in the sky.

Watching them leave with the bottles of Lafite, Ah Liang gave a satisfied smile.

In order to make this happen and help spread the word about Chen Hao’s convenience store, he had deliberately leaked the rumor about the two women—after all, in a brotherhood, calling the boss’s women sister-in-law was only natural.

And letting the boss’s women help manage his spending? That was a win-win. Nobody wanted to see the boss’s money wasted.

As they walked out of the bar, Jiewen lowered her voice and said:

“Do you think this is alright? What if the boss gets mad?”

Ruonan rolled her eyes. “Back then, they called us ‘sister-in-law,’ and you didn’t stop them, did you?”

How could Jiewen not want to stop it? But Ruonan knew her thoughts all too well—they both understood each other without needing to say a word.

Ruonan gave Jiewen’s perky butt a light pat, making Jiewen yelp in surprise.

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

Ruonan chuckled, savoring the moment. She thought to herself how nice her sister’s figure felt—almost as good as her own.

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

“No matter how we fight, we’re still sisters. Better to keep the ‘fat water’ from flowing into an outsider’s field, right?”

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

Upon hearing this, Jiewen’s once cheerful face darkened immediately.

---

In the quiet of the night, Chen Hao returned home. Suddenly, a system notification rang in his ears.

[Ding! Today’s income: HK$1,374,500 with a 10x critical bonus. Total: HK$13,745,000. Funds have been automatically deposited into your bank account.]

[Assets: Increased from HK$2.929 million to HK$16.674 million]

Chen Hao froze in place upon hearing the system prompt.

He had expected decent earnings today—but nothing this shocking.

Thinking it through, it made sense: each convenience store restock cost about HK$100,000. But because the Hongxing guys were selling at half price, that equated to HK$50,000 in real turnover.

After four major restocks, the huge profit wasn’t so surprising after all.

Normally, a convenience store making HK$5,000 in a day was already good.

But today’s sales boomed, thanks to everything being half-off—plus Liang Kun and Babi, who had originally tried to cause trouble, ended up helping him make even more money.

Chen Hao couldn’t help but imagine: if one day Liang Kun and Babi realized that not only did they fail to bankrupt him, but also helped him get richer—what would their faces look like?

He could already picture them fuming in his mind.

---

Sai Wan District.

In the early morning, Bucky was still asleep when loud, urgent knocking and crying woke him.

Groggy, he opened the door—and to his surprise, it was his old flame, Cuilian. She was crying uncontrollably.

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

She sobbed.

“He’s been badly beaten and is in the hospital… in critical condition.”

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

She choked on her words, overwhelmed by thoughts of her younger brother, Fei Biao, lying in the hospital with broken limbs.

Hearing this, Bucky felt a wave of helplessness.

He knew Fei Biao too well. The guy relied on his sister’s relationship with Bucky, using Bucky’s name to throw his weight around in Sai Wan and tarnish Hongxing’s reputation.

Some people held back from touching him out of respect for Bucky, but they all knew that guy had nearly gotten himself killed several times.

Fei Biao had a bit of street smarts too—he knew his name didn’t mean much outside Sai Wan, so he only acted tough within his turf.

This time, someone had likely done the public a favor by taking him out.

Still, Fei Biao was Cuilian’s blood brother.

Back then, Cuilian had been Bucky’s “white moonlight”—the woman who made him a man.

But fate had other plans. Her father disapproved of his poverty and forced her to marry a rich old man.

After that man died, she and Bucky rekindled their relationship—but it didn’t last long.

Now, aging and no longer beautiful, Cuilian no longer held the same charm. Their reunion was more about nostalgia than passion. But Cuilian clung to him like a shadow—one he couldn’t shake off.

Irritated, Bucky waved his hand.

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

Cuilian protested:
“Brother Ji, he’s my real brother!”

“I know you’ve never liked him, but for the sake of our past, can’t you help him out—just this once?”

That made Bucky snap. He shouted:

“If Fei Biao weren’t your brother, I’d have dealt with him a long time ago!”

“He goes around causing trouble in my name—I’m becoming a laughingstock because of him!”

Seeing Bucky furious, Cuilian dared not say another word and silently turned to leave.

In her heart, she knew Bucky had lost interest in her now that she was older and no longer alluring.

She had married that stubborn old man, and after he died, his children had tried to force her to leave empty-handed.

Luckily, Bucky had already risen to the top of Hongxing. With his influence, she managed to get a portion of the inheritance.

It was then that she realized: as a woman with no power of her own, she could only survive in Hong Kong’s underworld by clinging tightly to Bucky.

Even though he was growing colder to her, she wasn’t ready to let go of their connection.

---

After sending her off, Bucky, feeling agitated, returned to his base. Just as he walked in, he saw Brother Qiang hard at work.

He waved him over:

“Ah Qiang, come here for a sec.”

Brother Qiang came over with a smile.

“Ah Qiang, help me look into what happened to Fei Biao last night.”

Bucky asked right away.

Brother Qiang didn’t move, looking hesitant.

Seeing this, Bucky frowned in confusion and asked:

“What’s the holdup?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Brother Qiang replied,
“Brother Ji, I already know what happened.”

Bucky’s eyes lit up. He quickly asked:

“Tell me—who did the public a favor and cleaned him up?”