Chapter 24: Restless Hearts

“This way, the outside world will also learn more about you—there will be gains, but also losses.”

Chen Hao didn’t say much more, but Ruonan and Jiewen both understood clearly, as if a mirror had been placed in their hearts.

Becoming the spokespersons for the convenience store meant publicly tying themselves to Chen Hao. It would bring them more attention and support—but also possibly attract hostility from some people.

When they had first chosen to follow Chen Hao, they had already anticipated this.

Every choice comes with pros and cons. The key is knowing which side matters more.

And right now, the benefits clearly outweighed the risks—especially since Chen Hao had personally assigned them the role of advertising ambassadors for the store.

Seeing that it was getting late, and both girls’ arms were sore from the massage work,

Chen Hao waved his hand lightly and said:
“That’s all for today. Go home and rest. Tomorrow, come find me at Jiashang HR Company.”

“When you leave, remember to find Ah Liang at the bar to get some wine.”

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

Ruonan, meanwhile, felt a bit disappointed.
Nothing had happened tonight to bring her and Chen Hao’s relationship beyond friendship.

Even though Chen Hao had promised never to do anything against her will, she hadn’t even gotten the chance to express her feelings.

Still, Ruonan told herself—opportunities always come. Just wait and see.

The two of them exited the office together and found the bartender, Ah Liang.

He started chatting about Chen Hao—
As a loyal employee to the new boss, it was only natural that he knew his superior’s preferences, especially regarding the convenience store.

He even shared the news that members of the Hongxing gang would now get a 50% discount.

Hearing this, Ruonan and Jiewen were both stunned speechless.

Such generosity was incredibly rare. It really seemed that Chen Hao was a bold and big-hearted man.

Ruonan hugged Jiewen worriedly and said,
“The boss is being too extravagant. Tomorrow let’s talk to him together, okay?”

Jiewen nodded in agreement.

Then Ah Liang respectfully handed them two bottles of Château Lafite, carefully packaged by Hao-ge himself, and warmly addressed them as “Sister-in-law.”

Jiewen blushed slightly at the title but didn’t correct him—she just accepted the wine.
Ruonan, on the other hand, smiled and praised Ah Liang for having such good judgment.

“So clever, you really have an eye for people.”

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

The nearby younger members all echoed the title in unison.

Surrounded by the respectful calls of “sister-in-law,”
the two women felt like they were floating, their steps lighter—like free-spirited fairies soaring through the clouds.

As he watched them walk off with their wine, Ah Liang smiled with satisfaction.

To help make this happen and promote Chen Hao’s convenience store,
he had deliberately spread word of these two women’s “new status.”

After all, for the brothers, calling the boss’s women “sister-in-law” was only natural.

Having the boss’s women manage his affairs? That was killing two birds with one stone.

None of the boys wanted to just stand by and watch their boss’s money be wasted for nothing.

As they left the bar, Jiewen whispered,
“Is this really okay? What if the boss gets mad about it?”

Ruonan rolled her eyes. “When they called us sister-in-law, why didn’t you stop them?”

How could Jiewen possibly not want to stop it? Of course Ruonan knew what she was thinking—neither of them said it out loud, but both understood.

Ruonan gave Jiewen’s firm butt a light pat, prompting a startled squeal from her.

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

Ruonan grinned, savoring the moment. She thought to herself, My sister really feels quite nice—almost comparable to myself.

Then she continued with a teasing smile:

“Alright, I know you’re also into the boss, so stop pretending.”

“No matter how we fight, we’re still sisters. Better to keep the goodies in the family rather than hand them to outsiders.”

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

Hearing that, the smile on Jiewen’s face quickly faded and was replaced by a worried look.

---

Later that night, as the city fell into silence, Chen Hao returned home. A system notification chimed in his ear.

Ding! Your income for the day is HKD 1.3745 million, including a 10x critical reward. Total has been automatically deposited into your bank account.

Balance: Increased from HKD 2.929 million to HKD 16.674 million.

Chen Hao was stunned.

He expected decent income today, but the actual numbers were beyond anything he imagined.

After thinking it through, he realized it made sense: each convenience store restock cost around HKD 100,000. With Hongxing’s people selling at half-price, the actual daily sales became HKD 50,000.

After four major restocks, such a massive return wasn’t surprising.

Normally, a convenience store making HKD 5,000 in daily sales would already be considered good.

But today’s exceptional performance came from the 50% discount, plus the fact that Liang Kun and Babi, who originally planned to cause trouble, actually ended up helping Chen Hao earn more.

This made Chen Hao wonder: What will happen the day Liang Kun and Babi realize they didn’t bankrupt him but instead made him richer every time they tried to mess with him?

He could already picture their furious expressions in his mind.

---

Western District.

Early morning. Bucky was still asleep when a loud knock and crying woke him.

He groggily opened the door and saw his former lover, Cuilian, crying her heart out.

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

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

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

She choked up, unable to form full sentences as she pictured her brother Fei Biao’s broken limbs.

Bucky felt a surge of helplessness.

He knew Fei Biao all too well—that guy relied on Bucky’s past relationship with Cuilian and threw Bucky’s name around to act like a tyrant in the Western District, tarnishing Hongxing’s name.

Some spared him out of respect for Bucky, but many knew he had repeatedly risked his own life with his recklessness.

Fei Biao was cunning too—he knew his name carried no weight outside the Western District, so he only dared to act wildly within the territory.

This time, someone had clearly done the community a favor.

Still, Fei Biao was Cuilian’s younger brother.

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

But fate played its hand. Her father disapproved of Bucky’s poverty and married her off to a wealthy old man.

After the old man died, she and Bucky reunited, but their rekindled relationship didn’t last long.

By then, Cuilian had lost her youthful charm, and Bucky’s attraction had waned. Their reunion was more about patching up old regrets. But she turned into a lingering shadow he couldn’t shake off.

Feeling annoyed, Bucky waved his hand.

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

Cuilian refused to give up. “Brother Ji, that’s my real brother!”

“I know you’ve never liked him, but for the sake of what we had, can’t you just help him out and get revenge?”

That set Bucky off.

“If Fei Biao wasn’t your brother, I would’ve dealt with him a long time ago!”

“He’s always throwing my name around like a thug, almost made me a laughingstock!”

Seeing Bucky explode in anger, Cuilian didn’t dare say more. She turned and left quietly.

She knew very well—Bucky no longer had any affection for her as a faded woman past her prime.

Back then, after marrying that old man, his children even tried to kick her out with nothing when he died.

Luckily, by then Bucky had become a big boss in Hongxing. Thanks to his influence, she managed to secure part of the inheritance.

That moment made Cuilian realize: as a powerless woman, her only chance to survive in Hong Kong’s underworld was to cling tightly to Bucky.

Even if he was getting colder toward her, she wasn’t going to give up on him so easily.

---

After sending Cuilian off, Bucky returned to his turf, irritated.

Just as he walked in, he saw Brother Qiang busy at work.

He waved him over.

“Ah Qiang, come here.”

Brother Qiang came over smiling.

“Ah Qiang, help me check what happened with Fei Biao last night.”

Bucky got straight to the point.

Brother Qiang hesitated, a troubled look on his face.

Seeing him not move, Bucky frowned. “What’s the delay?”

After a pause, Brother Qiang finally said, “Brother Ji, I already know what happened.”

Bucky’s eyes lit up. “Tell me—who did the public a favor and took him out?”