Two in the morning. The phone vibrated.

Su Cheng woke from a light sleep.

He hadn't been sleeping deeply. Ever since changing locations, he'd never fully let down his guard.

Sixth Senior Sister's name flashed on the screen.

He answered. Before he could speak, she was already talking.

"Little Junior Brother, still awake?"

"Just fell asleep." Su Cheng sat up and leaned against the headboard. "Sixth Senior Sister, still working at this hour?"

"I called you after I was done." Her voice was kept low. But it couldn't hide the excitement underneath. "That Zhao Rui — you guessed right."

"How much?"

"On the surface, twenty-three million."

Su Cheng didn't respond.

"Off the books is separate. At least forty percent more." Sixth Senior Sister said. "His methods are pretty sloppy. He transferred money from the company account to a shell company. Then moved it from the shell company into his own name. The books are full of holes. He didn't even do the most basic hedging."

"The financial director didn't notice?"

"The financial director was the one he pulled down with him." Sixth Senior Sister laughed. "When I got the internal accounts, the chat logs on that computer weren't even fully deleted. The way those two split the spoils was like school kids sharing candy. You get thirty percent, I get seventy. They didn't even dare write a proper ratio."

Su Cheng didn't laugh.

"What about the Economic Crimes Division?"

"The files are organized and ready. I can submit them anytime." Sixth Senior Sister said. "But I also looked into Zhao Zhenguo while I was at it. He hasn't heard anything yet."

"Okay."

"What do you think? Submit it directly? Or let Zhao Zhenguo know first?"

Su Cheng thought for a few seconds.

If he submitted it, Zhao Rui would be in custody tonight. Zhao Real Estate would blow up by morning.

But Zhao Zhenguo was not Zhao Rui.

Fourth Senior Brother had sent his background once. Self-made for thirty-five years. Went from a small construction crew to a real estate company ranked top five in South China. Three financial crises and two policy adjustments in between. He survived them all.

A man like that shouldn't be caught off guard by his son's stupidity.

"Let him know first."

"Give him face?"

"Give him time."

Sixth Senior Sister was silent on the other end for two seconds.

"Understood," she said. "I'll have someone deliver the accounts to him. He'll see them before tomorrow morning."

"Good."

"Alright, get some sleep."

"Sixth Senior Sister."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for the hard work."

Sixth Senior Sister laughed. "Save that. Next time you find good stuff like this, remember to call me first."

The call ended.

After the screen went dark, the room fell back into darkness.

Su Cheng didn't lie back down.

He leaned against the headboard and looked out the window. City nights had no real darkness. Distant neon lights cast a dull red glow across the ceiling.

He was thinking about Zhao Zhenguo.

A veteran who had weathered half a lifetime in the business world. What would his reaction be seeing what his own son had done?

Anger?

Pain?

Or — he'd known all along, and had just been fooling himself?

Su Cheng had seen too many people like that. On the mountain, off the mountain. Same thing. A person reaches a certain position through ruthlessness and precision. But facing their own flesh and blood, even the toughest person turns a blind eye.

No father wants to admit he raised a failure.

He took out his phone and sent a message to Fourth Senior Brother:

"How fast can Zhao Zhenguo figure out what's going on with Zhao Rui?"

Half a minute later, Fourth Senior Brother replied:

"The accounts are already in his assistant's hands. With his connections, he'll know everything before noon tomorrow."

Su Cheng finished reading and put the phone on the nightstand.

Sleep was gone.

He sat up straight and began cross-legged breathing meditation.

Outside the window, a car passed by occasionally. The sound of tires on pavement was especially clear in this quiet city.

The next morning, Su Cheng felt the change the moment he walked into the office.

Little Lin at the front desk smiled at him. "Morning, Su Cheng."

Before, she wouldn't even look him in the eye.

In the elevator, he ran into Liu Wei. Liu Wei nodded at him. "About yesterday — thanks."

Su Cheng replied with a "no problem." The elevator stopped at the twelfth floor.

At his desk, the stack of reports he'd organized yesterday had been gone through. A sticky note sat on top. Sister Lin's handwriting: "Team Leader Liu says you don't need to move files anymore. Follow the project."

Su Cheng tucked the note away.

He spent the whole morning going through project materials.

Nobody bothered him.

People in the pantry looked at him differently now. Not the same as three days ago. Before, he was "the new intern." Now, he was "that intern."

The tone was the same. The meaning was completely different.

At lunch, Liu Xin sat down across from him with his tray.

"Su Cheng."

"Yeah."

"I heard you took a call yesterday."

Su Cheng looked up.

"From Zhao Rui's father." Liu Xin lowered his voice. "How do you have his number?"

"An auntie gave it to me."

Liu Xin stared at him for a long while. "Which auntie?"

"One who cooks really well."

Liu Xin's expression was exactly the same as Sister Lin's that day.

He looked at Su Cheng for ten seconds. Finally, he put down his chopsticks. "Fine, I won't ask. But let me be honest with you — Zhao Zhenguo is not an easy man to deal with. If you really have some connection with him, be careful."

"I know."

"Good that you know." Liu Xin stood up. He walked two steps and turned back. "Also — someone from Zhao Group called the office this morning asking about you."

"Asking what?"

"Whether you were at work." Liu Xin said. "They said nothing urgent. Just confirming."

Su Cheng nodded.

Liu Xin didn't ask anything more. He picked up his tray and left.

In the afternoon, Su Cheng passed an unfamiliar sales rep outside the meeting room.

The man glanced at him and whispered to the colleague next to him: "Is that him?"

"Yeah, that's him."

"Doesn't look like it..."

Su Cheng walked past them. He didn't look back.

Two days slipped by just like that.

Sixth Senior Sister sent no more messages. Fourth Senior Brother had no new materials.

Everything felt like it was on pause.

But Su Cheng knew — the pause button hadn't been released because Zhao Zhenguo needed time to process.

On the afternoon of the third day, the message came.

From Sixth Senior Sister on WeChat:

"Zhao Zhenguo got the accounts. After reading through them, he said he wants to meet you."

Su Cheng stared at the words on the screen for three seconds.

Then he typed two words in reply:

"Let him come."

Three in the afternoon. Company lobby.

Su Cheng sat on the sofa in the rest area, flipping through a real estate magazine.

The lobby was large. Two stories high. The floor was paved with light gray marble. Behind the front desk hung the company's metal logo. It cast a cold gleam under the lights.

Security guards stood on both sides of the entrance. They tapped their toes on the floor out of boredom.

Little Lin at the front desk was on a phone call. Her other hand was twirling a pen.

Everything was normal.

Then the revolving door turned.

A middle-aged man in a dark suit walked in.

His graying hair was cut short and neat, combed without a single strand out of place. Leather shoes polished to a shine. Trouser creases razor-straight. A dark gray suit tailored perfectly — clearly custom-made.

The moment he walked in, the air in the lobby seemed to get sucked out for a second.

The security guards instinctively straightened up. They didn't know what to do with their hands.

Little Lin hung up her phone, looked up, and froze.

The man stood in the center of the lobby.

Alone.

No driver. No assistant. No entourage.

He stood there, out of place with everything around him. The light gray floor tiles couldn't match his leather shoes. The ordinary front desk looked cheap in his presence. This office building lobby, built for hundreds of people coming and going, suddenly felt small the moment he stepped in.

Like a lion walking into a cat shelter.

The security guards exchanged glances. Nobody went up to ask him anything.

Because there was no need. His aura said everything. This man wasn't here to sell. Wasn't here to run errands. Wasn't here to cause trouble.

He was here to find someone.

And the person he was looking for had to be in this building.

Su Cheng stood up from the sofa.

Zhao Zhenguo saw him.

Across twenty meters of space, their eyes met for one second.

Zhao Zhenguo's gaze didn't sweep around. Didn't hesitate. The moment he saw Su Cheng, his focus locked on.

Then he walked toward him.

Steady steps. Not too fast. Not too slow. Leather shoes tapping against the marble floor. Each step clearly audible.

Su Cheng stood where he was. Magazine still in hand.

Zhao Zhenguo stopped in front of him.

Half a head shorter than Su Cheng. But the man standing before him controlled billions in assets. A man whose stomp could shake half the real estate world.

He looked at Su Cheng.

A young man in a white shirt and black trousers. No different from any office worker in this building.

But his eyes —

Zhao Zhenguo had read countless people in the business world. He saw it in one glance.

No fear in those eyes.

No nervousness.

No fawning.

Calm as still water.

"Friend Su?"

"Uncle Zhao."

End of Chapter 4: Favors