My cousin-in-law helped me achieve my ambitions.

However, now is not the time. He could sense that although Lin Shumei was interested in him, she was more interested in playing with him and trying something new. He had to continue to coax this woman, using even more effort to gradually ensnare her, making her completely his "prisoner" both physically and mentally.

Thinking of this, Su Ming took a deep breath, a hint of determination and ruthlessness flashing in his eyes that was beyond his years.

With a heavy heart, Su Ming finally made it to the end of his shift. As he walked out of the factory gate, he immediately saw that familiar figure.

Yang Tian sat astride her small electric scooter, wearing a clean white dress. The setting sun cast a golden glow on her. Upon seeing Su Ming, she immediately flashed her usual sweet smile and called out crisply, "Su Ming, over here!"

However, when Su Ming saw that innocent and smiling face again, a complex mix of emotions welled up inside him. He could no longer feel genuinely happy and relaxed as before. Lin Shumei's mature charm, Tian Jing's thoughtful care, and the ICs that were suffocating him weighed heavily on his heart like three mountains.

He and Yang Tian can no longer relax and enjoy their relationship as if nothing had happened.

"Get in the car, I'll give you a ride." Yang Tian patted the back seat and smiled, gesturing for Su Ming to get in.

Su Ming shook his head and refused.

Yang Tian's smile froze. She looked at him suspiciously and asked with concern, "What's wrong? You look so pale. Is it because of work?"

Su Ming made no attempt to hide the coldness on his face, a self-deprecating sneer curling at the corner of his lips: "Looks like your brother isn't planning on admitting about those three thousand ICs."

Upon hearing this, the color drained from Yang Tian's face. She remained silent for a moment, as if making a decision, then bit her lip and said, "Don't worry, I'll call my brother right now!"

As she spoke, she immediately took out her phone and dialed Yang Jing's number. As soon as the call connected, Yang Tian went straight to the point, demanding, "Brother! When are you coming back? Can you have someone at the company check on those three thousand ICs? Su Ming is frantic with worry!"

On the other end of the phone, Yang Jing's voice sounded unusually serious, even tinged with a reprimand: "Sweetie! How many times have I told you? Don't get involved in work matters! Don't believe everything that kid says. Just because he says there's less doesn't mean there isn't. I think he was careless in counting and lost the goods, and now he's trying to blame it on me! Let me tell you, you're not involved in this! Also, you'd better keep your distance from that kid; he's not a good person!"

With a "snap," Yang Jing decisively hung up the phone.

Yang Tian stood frozen, phone in hand, her face filled with disbelief and guilt. She slowly lowered her hand, looked at Su Ming, and kept apologizing, "Su Ming, I'm so sorry… my brother… he's not usually like this…"

Seeing her on the verge of tears, Su Ming felt a surge of anger and disappointment. He gave a bitter laugh and forced out a harsh remark through gritted teeth: "Since Yang Jing won't even give you face, then forget it! Consider these three thousand ICs as money I spent to buy him a leg!"

After saying that, he turned around and stormed off toward home.

"Su Ming!" Yang Tian was startled by his harsh words. She quickly jumped out of the car, chased after him, grabbed his arm, and pleaded, "Su Ming, can you calm down? Please don't be like this. Whatever it is, let's talk about it when my brother comes back from his business trip, okay?"

Su Ming stopped, turned around, and stared at her with a chilling gaze, warning her word by word: "Fine, wait for him to come back! If he hasn't found my three thousand ICs by then, I'll have his legs broken!"

After saying that, he angrily shook off Yang Tian's hand and continued walking forward.

Actually, he didn't want Yang Tian to feel bad either. But he knew in his heart that things had come to this point, and unless he was ruthless, there would probably be no turning back. He had to take a gamble, hoping that Yang Tian would convey his threat to Yang Jing verbatim.

He wanted to intimidate Yang Jing! He wanted to show her that he wasn't someone to be trifled with. He wanted Yang Jing to remember how, last time at the restaurant, even the Sichuan gang leader had to respectfully apologize to him. And Fei Ma, the Hunan gang leader, had treated him like a brother. He was confident that Yang Tian would tell her brother about these things. He wanted to use this method to force Yang Jing to hand over those three thousand ICs.

"Su Ming!" Yang Tian caught up again, hugging him tightly from behind, pleading with a sob in her voice, "Please don't do this! My brother would never do this to you on purpose, you have to believe me!"

Su Ming feigned ferocity and sneered, "Only if I'm burdened with nearly 300,000 yuan in debt can a fucking idiot stay calm! Anyone who dares to let me go into debt, I'll break their legs!"

Seeing Yang Tian's tearful face, Su Ming felt a pang of guilt and heartache. After all, it wasn't her fault, and she had always treated him well. But then he thought, if he softened now, those three thousand ICs would be lost forever. Then, he would only have Lin Shumei as an option, and if that didn't work, he might face imprisonment.

No, I can't let my emotions get the better of me anymore!

Thinking of this, he coldly pried Yang Tian's hands away and said icily, "No matter the reason, if Yang Jing doesn't give me an explanation regarding the three thousand ICs, I will definitely take his boots!"

After saying this harsh remark, he walked straight ahead.

"Su Ming!" Yang Tian panicked completely and burst into tears. She chased after him again, grabbing his clothes and pleading, "Can't I even beg you? No matter what, please don't hurt my brother, okay? I beg you..."

Su Ming stopped, but still didn't turn around. He just gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, as long as he hands over those three thousand ICs, I'll still acknowledge him as my girlfriend's brother."

Yang Tian froze, her eyes wide with disbelief as she stared at Su Ming's retreating figure: "You...you mean you want to break up with me?"

Su Ming shook his head, his tone devoid of warmth: "I don't want to break up with you. But I must get those three thousand ICs back. If I can't, Yang Jing's legs will have to be broken!"

"What if... what if my brother really looks for it and doesn't find it?" Yang Tian cried out.

"Then break his legs!" Su Ming said coldly, leaving no room for negotiation.

After saying that, he resolutely pushed Yang Tian's hand away and strode forward. Behind him came Yang Tian's heart-wrenching sobs, but he did not turn back.

He knew that at this moment, he couldn't afford to be soft-hearted in the slightest. He had to get Yang Tian to put enough pressure on her brother. This was currently his only chance to take the initiative.

With a heavy heart, Su Ming dragged his seemingly empty body back to his rented room.

He froze as soon as he entered. The living room lights were on, the TV was on, and the volume was low. His cousin-in-law, Qiu Tong, was curled up on the sofa, wearing loose loungewear, holding the remote control and idly flipping through channels. Her languid demeanor was like that of a cat just waking up from a nap.

She didn't go to work today.

Hearing the door open, Qiu Tong turned around and glanced at Su Ming, a hint of inquiry flashing in her beautiful eyes.

"You're back?" she asked, her tone indifferent, revealing no emotion.

Su Ming grunted in agreement, changed into slippers, and slumped onto the sofa. He closed his eyes, his mind a jumbled mess… three thousand ICs, two hundred and eighty-five thousand, Yang Jing's perfunctory attitude, Yang Tian's tears, and Lin Shumei's deadly allure in bed…

All the images were mixed together, like a stew, making his head ache.

"What's wrong?" Qiu Tong's voice rang in my ears, tinged with concern. "You look so pale? What happened?"

Su Ming opened his eyes and met her gaze. Those eyes were so close, bright, like two bottomless pools of water that could see into one's heart.

He looked away and casually replied, "It's nothing, I'm just a little tired."

"Tired?" Qiu Tong raised an eyebrow, then suddenly leaned closer, her tone slightly mischievous. "You didn't come home all night, and you're back looking like this today... Confess honestly, did you go to a hotel with Yang Tian?"