Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

Lou Yufan roared in exasperation, "I can't even come up with ten thousand yuan right now, where am I going to scrape together one hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars?"

"I don't care what method you use, you have to get the money!" Lou Bancheng's tone left no room for argument. "This money is to keep Zhang Dabiao in check, understand?"

"Keep him calm? Why should we!" Lou Yufan was filled with resentment and indignation. "Why should our Lou family need to keep a peasant calm? Are we giving him face?"

"On what grounds?" Lou Bancheng sneered, his voice tinged with helplessness. "Just because he went to the Ministry of Foreign Trade to file a complaint, our Lou family is completely finished!"

He paused, then continued, "You think that's all? Zhang Dabiao also gave us 100,000 RMB, a three-courtyard house, and ten small yellow croakers! Even your Aunt Tan's family heirloom, that glowing white jade bracelet, was pawned with him!"

"What?!"

Lou Yufan was stunned, nearly dropping the receiver: "Aunt Tan pawned her jade bracelet? Old man, are you crazy! That's Aunt Tan's precious treasure! How could she bear to part with it?"

"Crazy? I'm saving the Lou family's lives!" Lou Bancheng's voice deepened. "I've thrown so much stuff at them just to get him to temporarily drop the matter. I still have to keep bribing the department, and it's agreed that I have to pay him 100,000 yuan in interest every year!"

"One hundred thousand a year?!"

Lou Yufan exploded like a firecracker that had been lit. He gripped the receiver so tightly his knuckles turned white, his voice shrill and piercing: "One hundred thousand a year? Dad, are you senile?! We can't even keep the factory, where are we going to get the money for him? One hundred thousand! I can't even come up with ten thousand right now!"

He shoved the receiver in front of him as if it were a microphone and yelled, "Why give him money?! Just kill him!"

These words were like a thunderclap, instantly silencing Lou Bancheng on the other end of the phone.

Zhang Dabiao, standing outside the window, also held his breath, waiting for Lou Bancheng's reply.

Lou Yufan, panting heavily, a crazed glint in his eyes, spoke with a venomous malice: "Since you can't pay back the money you owe him, then deal with Zhang Dabiao! That way, all the old debts will be wiped clean!"

Lou Bancheng on the other end of the phone was stunned for a long time before hesitantly speaking: "Kill him? Yu Fan, do you know what you're saying?"

"We are businessmen, and we operate on the principle of integrity!"

"Of course I know!" Lou Yufan sneered, his face full of disdain. "I'm barely surviving, what's the point of talking about trust with him? Merchants value profit over parting; what's the value of trust? Can it put food on the table?!"

He became increasingly agitated, kicking over a chair that slammed against the wall with a loud bang. "Anyway, I've already embezzled all of his $720,000! Let him come to Hong Kong and sue me if he dares! Let him appeal!"

His voice was filled with arrogance and madness: "If he dares to come to Hong Kong, I have nine ways to kill him! Nine ways!"

"I'll make sure no one knows what happened, he won't even know how he died!"

Lou Bancheng fell completely silent on the other end of the phone, only heavy breathing could be heard. Zhang Dabiao could imagine that the old man was frowning, weighing the feasibility of the matter.

After a long silence, Lou Bancheng sighed heavily, his voice weary and helpless: "You think I haven't thought about it? But have you considered the consequences? If Zhang Dabiao gets into trouble, the mainland will definitely hold me responsible! At that point, our Lou family will forget about escaping to Hong Kong! Our mainland businesses will be completely wiped out, and we'll be doomed!"

"Utter ruin?" Lou Yu Fan laughed hysterically, as if he'd heard the biggest joke in the world. "What difference is there between our current state and utter ruin?!"

He yelled into the receiver, "I don't care! I can't hold on much longer. The factory can only last another month at most! Old man, if you don't help me, the Lou family's businesses in Hong Kong will be completely finished! Whether you do it or not is up to you!"

After saying that, he slammed the phone down, the receiver hitting the phone with a loud bang.

Lou Yufan stood there, his chest heaving violently, like a raging wild beast. He looked around the messy office, his madness growing stronger, and he muttered curses under his breath, speaking rapidly.

"Give Zhang Dabiao money? Give him my ass! Who does he think he is? Just a poor kid! He only invented a broken lighter, and he can make so much money? What makes him so special?!"

"I came to Hong Kong with a few hundred thousand dollars, and after 10 years of hard work, my net worth is only $50. He's some mentally challenged idiot who just invented a lighter and some kind of mop, and he sold the patent for $105 million? How is that fair?"

"I even helped him apply for that patent, and I paid for it! Our Lou family even gave him a house, and he only gave me 20%?"

"The old man's gone senile! What's the point of cooperating with that bastard? He should just snatch the lighter and register it himself, wouldn't that be much easier? Saves all this trouble!"

He grew increasingly agitated, grabbing the documents on the table and tearing them to shreds. Amidst the flying paper scraps, his voice was laced with a sinister murderous intent: "The old man killed Zhang Dabiao in Beijing, and I'll kill Zhang Yaoyang in Hong Kong! Wouldn't that settle everything?"

"That $720,000 was already misappropriated. How can it be paid back? It's impossible to pay it back anyway! Their deaths will solve everything!"

"If you can't solve the problem, then solve the person who raised it."

"Young Master Lou, your idea is quite professional."

A cold voice suddenly came from outside the window, like a dagger chilled to ice, instantly piercing the madness in the room.

Lou Yufan's movements suddenly froze. The ferocity and madness on his face hadn't faded yet, and he stood frozen in place as if he had been frozen in place.

He immediately turned his head and looked at the half-open window.

The window was gently pushed open, and a tall, slender figure leaped in from the narrow eaves, landing silently.

The man, dressed in a black short-sleeved shirt, was tall and imposing. He wore a half-smile on his face, his eyes cold and sharp as knives, staring intently at Lou Yufan.

Who else could it be but Roy Cheung?!

"Zhang...Zhang Yaoyang?!" Lou Yufan's voice was dry and hoarse, as if it had been sanded, filled with disbelief and terror. "You...how did you get here?!"

His gaze shifted downwards, landing on the man's hands.

Moonlight streamed in through the window, falling on the gleaming watermelon knife, its sharp blade reflecting off his deathly pale face.

"How did you get up here?" Lou Yufan trembled uncontrollably, staggering backward until his back slammed heavily against the desk, scattering files all over the floor. His teeth chattered, his voice filled with fear, "You heard...you heard everything I just said?"

Zhang Dabiao leaned against the wall where the window was located and said, "What do you think?"

His smile deepened, but his eyes grew colder, radiating an aura of malevolence that seemed to devour one.

He raised his hand and weighed the watermelon knife in his hand, slapping it repeatedly, making a loud cracking sound.

Lou Yufan broke out in a cold sweat: "I was just saying that in anger, Zhang Yaoyang, believe me, it really was just said in anger..."

"Guess whether I believe you or not?"

The night wind blew in through the open window, swirling up scraps of paper and shards of glass. Lou Yufan stared at the gleaming knife and Zhang Dabiao's icy gaze, then suddenly his legs gave way, and he stumbled and collapsed to the ground.

The night outside the window grew even darker.

Suddenly, Lou Yufan flung open a drawer, as if to reach for something, but Zhang Dabiao, without a word, dodged and swooped down—

He cleaved down with a single stroke!