Since Shen Mengqing "blackmailed" me a month ago, making me treat her to late-night snacks for an entire month, now every time it's time to get off work, the first thing I say to Cheng Minglang and Han Jinlun is "What do you want to eat?"
This is how habit is formed.
This evening, as soon as I got off work, I was about to call Xianyu, inviting him to join me for late-night snacks tonight, and take this opportunity to get closer when...
Before I could even take out my phone, a waiter in the lobby found me and told me that Shen Mengqing was looking for me and asked me to wait for her in the office.
Upon hearing this, I put away my phone and headed straight to Shen Mengqing's office.
Seeing me knock and enter, Shen Mengqing immediately put down the phone and asked me, "Chen Xiang, I have a private job catching cheaters, are you interested?"
As soon as I heard the words "catching cheaters," my mind involuntarily recalled the extremely unpleasant experience of catching cheaters in Longxi a while ago.
For a cash reward of 300,000 yuan, I thoroughly offended Xiao Tianci, a prominent figure in the Longxi Blue Dao!
This unpleasant experience made me inexplicably resistant to the matter of catching cheaters.
If it weren't for Shen Mengqing's status, I would definitely not have even considered it and would have directly refused.
With this in mind, after feigning a moment of deliberation, I frowned and asked, "Since it's a private job, why don't you take it yourself?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Mengqing directly spread her hands and laughed, "Little brother, do you think I don't want to?"
"My face is too well-known in Wenzhou!"
"Are you interested in a reward of at least one million yuan?"
A reward of one million yuan? And that's just the starting point?
Shen Mengqing's words made me freeze on the spot.
Seeing this, she first gave me a look like I was a country bumpkin, then her bright eyes sparkled as she smiled, "No way, little brother? Are you scared already? Your psychological resilience isn't that good either!"
"Let me tell you, as long as the cheating is successfully caught, I can guarantee... the final reward you receive will be no less than one million, and perhaps even an unexpected figure!"
Although a reward of at least one million yuan was tempting, I knew that such a high reward indicated that the job was very hot.
Besides the obvious factors, there must have been other reasons why Shen Mengqing didn't take it.
Ever since I suffered a major setback with Yu Shuang, I have naturally become defensive and vigilant when facing women, especially beautiful women.
There's no other reason, Zhang Wuji's mother said: Never trust women easily! Because the more beautiful a woman is... the more she will deceive people!
So, after regaining my senses, I remained unmoved, standing there silently.
Seeing that I neither agreed nor refused, Shen Mengqing had to continue, "Okay, I'll be upfront! I can't go because Aunt Jin is coming to inspect the work recently, and I have to keep a close eye on those lazy good-for-nothings in Lisheng!"
"But the person who asked me for help is a very good friend of mine! I really can't refuse!"
"So, Chen Xiang, little brother, just do a good deed and help your sister out!"
"Whether the job is successful or not, consider it a favor I owe you, okay?"
Although Shen Mengqing's last sentence carried a hint of strong coyness, it was of no use to me at all!
I came to Ruichi precisely to have more opportunities to get close to Yun Jin.
Now that she was coming to the casino, at such a critical juncture, if I foolishly ran out to catch cheaters, I would be completely brain-dead.
Therefore, I directly replied, "I'm sorry, Mengqing sister, I'm afraid I can't help you!"
"You should try asking Lisheng and the others."
Upon hearing this, Shen Mengqing repeatedly shook her head and said, "If Lisheng and the others were capable, I wouldn't have asked you."
"Never mind, I'll think of another way."
After speaking, Shen Mengqing signaled me to leave.
I originally thought that after I clearly refused Shen Mengqing, the matter of catching cheaters would have nothing to do with me, but what I didn't expect was...
Seemingly facing a situation where she had no one to rely on, Shen Mengqing approached me again the next day.
Having seen all sorts of men in the casino, Shen Mengqing understood men's psychology very well.
She knew that my refusal was not about the money.
Therefore, Shen Mengqing decisively changed her strategy and started to appeal to my emotions.
Although I kept refusing, I couldn't resist Shen Mengqing's persistent persuasion and coquetry.
Of course, these were secondary factors. The main factor that truly moved me to change my mind and agree was Shen Mengqing's sentence, "If you can successfully catch the cheaters, I can fulfill one of your requests unconditionally!"
The gap between ideals and reality exists because ideals, to put it bluntly, are pure fantasies!
For a woman like Shen Mengqing, who became a lantern keeper in a casino at such a young age, expecting her to resign and become a "tijiang" in my team, and follow me around, is simply unrealistic.
Therefore, I wisely chose to compromise and planned to use Shen Mengqing's verbal promise to turn her into a great help on my path of revenge.
For me, avenging Uncle Tuo was essentially a gamble that required meticulous planning and a nine-death chance.
If I won, Uncle Tuo's great revenge would be avenged!
If I lost, I would surely die!
Everyone who can be used by me can be seen as one of my hidden cards.
Including myself!
Besides my face-up card, not every card needs to be a face-up card, directly placed on the table.
Although face-up cards are powerful, it is only when all the cards are still held tightly in my hands that I can continue to move forward and overcome all obstacles and win battles!
After understanding this key point, I decided to prioritize accumulating hidden cards.
So, in the end, I agreed to Shen Mengqing.
Seeing that I had agreed, Shen Mengqing immediately told me the details of the cheating-catching mission.
The location this time was not far, on a gambling ship within Wenzhou.
The time was: tomorrow evening.
Now, there was about a day left before catching the cheaters.
Since agreeing to Shen Mengqing's request, she didn't let me stay in the casino any longer, but directly told me to go back and do some preparatory work.
Thus, a day passed in the so-called preparatory work...
The next evening, Han Jinlun drove me and Cheng Minglang to Wenzhou Port.
As the sun set, hundreds of ships of various sizes were docked at Wenzhou Port.
After parking the car, I called Shen Mengqing's friend.
Not long after, a bright red Mercedes car slowly drove towards me...