Chapter 28: Winning Hearts

“This way, the public’s understanding of you two will grow—it comes with both gains and losses.”

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

Becoming the spokeswomen for the convenience store meant publicly acknowledging their connection with Chen Hao. That would attract more attention and support, but also potentially stir up envy or hostility from others.

But when they chose to follow Chen Hao in the first place, they already anticipated this.

Every decision comes with pros and cons—the key is to weigh which side matters more.

As things stood, the benefits clearly outweighed the risks, especially now that Chen Hao had officially asked them to take on promotional duties for the convenience store.

Seeing it was getting late and both girls’ arms were sore from massaging him, Chen Hao waved a hand, signaling the end of the night.

“That’s enough for today. Go home and rest. Tomorrow, come find me at Jiashang HR Company.”

“And before you leave, get some wine from A-Liang at the bar.”

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

Ruonan, however, was slightly disappointed. Nothing happened tonight… nothing beyond just being friends.
Even though Chen Hao promised never to act against her will, she didn’t even get the chance to voice her feelings.

Still, she thought to herself, The opportunity will come. I’ll take it slow.

The two of them left the office together and went to the bar counter, where they found the bartender, A-Liang. He happily chatted with them about Chen Hao.

As the new boss’s close employee, A-Liang made it his job to understand his superior’s preferences—especially regarding the convenience store’s operations. He even revealed that all members of Hongxing would get a 50% discount.

This left Ruonan and Jiewen stunned. Such generosity was almost unheard of—it really made Chen Hao seem like a big spender.

Ruonan, concerned, hugged Jiewen and said, “Boss is being too generous. Tomorrow, let’s try to talk him out of it!”

Jiewen nodded in agreement.

Then, A-Liang respectfully handed them two bottles of Lafite red wine, carefully packaged by Hao-ge himself. He affectionately called them both “sister-in-law.”

Jiewen blushed at the title but didn’t deny it as she accepted the wine. Ruonan, on the other hand, just laughed and praised A-Liang for his keen sense.

“So smart, you really have a good eye.”

She giggled as she said it, while A-Liang bowed repeatedly.
“Take care, sister-in-laws!”

Other younger men chimed in as well, echoing the term “sister-in-law.”

Surrounded by the chorus of that title, the two women felt like they were floating—light on their feet, like free-spirited fairies.

As they walked away carrying the bottles of wine, A-Liang smiled in satisfaction.

In order to spread the word about Chen Hao’s convenience store, he had deliberately spread rumors about the two new women. Calling them “sister-in-law” was only natural—it made the brotherhood accept them faster.

And letting “the boss’s women” help manage things was a win-win. After all, the brothers didn’t want to see the boss’s money being carelessly wasted.

On the way out of the bar, Jiewen whispered:

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

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

Of course Jiewen had wanted to stop them—how could Ruonan not know what she was really thinking? The two of them shared a tacit understanding.

Ruonan gave Jiewen’s firm butt a gentle pat, causing her to shriek in surprise:

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

Ruonan chuckled, savoring the moment, thinking to herself that her bestie really had a great figure—almost on par with her own.

Still smiling, she said:

“Alright, I know you like the boss too, so stop pretending.”

“No matter how we compete, we’re still sisters. It’s better to keep the ‘fat water from flowing into outsider fields,’ right?”

(meaning: keep good things within the family)

“Let’s focus on tomorrow—how can we get the boss to really notice us!”

Hearing this, Jiewen’s smile instantly turned into a troubled frown.

—

Late at night, in the quiet of his home, Chen Hao returned and heard a system notification in his ear:

[Ding! Today’s income: HK$1.3745 million with a 10x critical hit bonus. Total: HK$13.745 million, automatically deposited into your bank account.]

[Assets: increased from HK$2.929 million to HK$16.674 million.]

Chen Hao froze when he heard this.

He had expected a decent profit today—but not to this extent.

After thinking it through, the numbers made sense: every restocking run to the convenience store cost about HK$100,000, but since Hongxing’s people sold everything at half price, that meant actual sales were HK$50,000 per batch.

After four large-scale restocks, the accumulated return was no surprise.

Normally, a convenience store pulling in HK$5,000 a day in sales would already be considered great.

But today’s surge was due to the half-off promotion, and ironically, Liang Kun and Babi’s attempt to mess things up had only helped Chen Hao make even more money.

That made Chen Hao curious: how would Liang Kun and Babi react when they realized they weren’t bankrupting him but actually making him richer?

He could already picture their angry faces.

—

Sai Wan District.

Early morning.

Bucky was still asleep when urgent knocking and crying woke him.

Half-dazed, he opened the door and was shocked to find his old flame, Cuilian, standing there, sobbing uncontrollably.

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

She cried.

“He was beaten so badly he’s in critical condition at the hospital.”

“If he dies… I won’t want to live either…”

She choked through her tears, unable to speak clearly as she imagined her brother Fei Biu lying there, broken and crippled.

Bucky sighed with helpless frustration.

He knew Fei Biu all too well. The guy had been riding on his sister Cuilian’s relationship with Bucky, using Bucky’s name to throw his weight around Sai Wan, ruining Hongxing’s reputation.

People only refrained from beating him up out of respect for Bucky—but even then, Fei Biu had nearly gotten himself killed multiple times.

Fei Biu wasn’t completely stupid—he knew his name didn’t carry much weight outside of Sai Wan, so he only dared to act recklessly on his home turf.

Whoever taught him a lesson this time was probably just doing the world a favor.

Still, Fei Biu was Cuilian’s younger brother.

Back in the day, Cuilian had been his “white moonlight”—the woman who made him feel like a man for the first time.

Unfortunately, fate was cruel. Her father disapproved of his poverty and married her off to a rich old man.

After that man died, she and Bucky reunited—briefly. But by then, Cuilian had lost her youthful charm, and their renewed romance was just an attempt to make peace with the past.

Who knew she’d become like a shadow he couldn’t shake, constantly haunting him.

Feeling irritated, Bucky waved her off.

“Fine. Go back first. Let me figure out what happened.”

Cuilian was reluctant. “Brother Ji, he’s my real brother!”

“I know you’ve never liked him, but for the sake of our past, can you help him get some justice?”

Bucky’s face twisted in anger as he shouted:

“If Fei Biu weren’t your brother, I would’ve taught him a lesson myself a long time ago!”

“He’s been using my name to bully others, almost making me a laughingstock!”

Seeing him lose his temper, Cuilian dared not say another word and quietly turned to leave.

She knew full well that Bucky no longer had interest in someone like her, aging and past her prime.

She had once married a crusty old tycoon, and when he died, his children tried to kick her out with nothing.

Luckily, by then Bucky had risen to become a Hongxing leader. It was only with his backing that she managed to get a portion of the inheritance.

From that moment on, Cuilian realized: in a place like Hong Kong’s underworld, a powerless woman could only survive by clinging tightly to a man like Bucky.

Even though he was growing colder toward her now, she refused to give up their connection.

After sending Cuilian off, Bucky returned to his domain, agitated. As soon as he walked in, he saw Brother Qiang busy working.

He waved him over.

“Ah Qiang, come here a sec.”

Qiang responded with a smile and walked over.

“Ah Qiang, help me look into what happened with Fei Biu last night.”

Bucky asked directly.

But Qiang hesitated, looking a bit awkward.

Seeing this, Bucky was puzzled. “Why haven’t you moved?”

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

Bucky’s eyes lit up. “Tell me—who was the hero who took him down?”