At the start, I had to choose one of four options, and I immediately picked the Brahmin from the cou

He didn't know how long he had been sitting there.

It felt like an hour, but it also felt like less than ten minutes.

He did consider running away; someone like him would never be without a backup plan.

He also has an anonymous offshore fund in Hong Kong, and even a luxury apartment next to Victoria Harbour that is held in someone else's name.

He prepared all of this years ago. Back then, he was timid and always felt that engaging in such dangerous and exploitative activities would eventually backfire. So, he prepared an overseas escape route for himself early on.

But later, he became more and more successful. With the help of his brother-in-law's connections in the municipal government office, he could be said to have a lot of influence in the three-tenths of Tianshui City.

Gradually, he succumbed to the arrogance of power and money. In the process, he gradually forgot the fear he felt at the beginning. As he had more and more money, he even blindly believed that he had really become the player in this game.

Looking back now, I realize how utterly ridiculous I was.

What talk of being able to cover up the sky with one hand, or command the wind and rain? It's nothing more than begging for scraps from others.

Now that something's happened, they just kicked him away.

The man he had called "leader" for ten years, the man he had personally sent his own sister to bed, didn't even bother to give a single extra word of explanation when he hung up the phone.

Wang Jianhui was powerful in Tianshui City for ten years, but ironically, in the end he wasn't even a pawn. At least a pawn is held in your hand before you can throw it away, but he was just a piece of wrapping paper to be used and discarded.

They couldn't just wait like this. After a brief moment of panic, Wang Jianhui calmed down.

Waiting any longer will only lead to certain death.

Wang Jianhui has been a tyrant in Tianshui City for ten years. What storms hasn't he weathered? At worst, he can just move to another place and start over.

That apartment in Hong Kong and that offshore fund are enough for him to live comfortably for the rest of his life. As for his younger brother and sister, well, they'll have to fend for themselves.

"Don't blame me. It's not that I don't want to save you, it's just that the Li family is too powerful. They're like a living devil; even if we're tied together, we can't hold them off. As long as I can get out of here alive and well, you'll definitely have plenty of money to offer as incense during festivals!"

Wang Jianhui muttered to himself as if possessed, trying to convince himself.

He rushed behind the boss's counter, tore open the landscape painting on the wall, and saw a safe embedded in the wall behind the painting.

Because his hands were shaking, he entered the wrong password twice in a row. He finally got it right on the last try and successfully opened the safe door.

The apartment's property deed, the confirmation letter for the offshore fund, and a spare passport opened under an alias were all locked in a safe deposit box at the bank across Victoria Harbour. Untouched for five years, the things he had deposited there should still be lying there quietly, waiting for him.

"As long as the green hills remain, there's no fear of running out of firewood..."

He stuffed the property certificate, confirmation letter, and passport into a canvas shoulder bag he had prepared beforehand, and then pulled out two stacks of cash from a hidden compartment in the safe. He didn't dare to carry too much; cash was too conspicuous. He only needed enough for gas and food on the way.

The moment he zipped up the bag, his hands stopped shaking.

That's how people are; the most agonizing time is when things are hanging in the balance, but once a decision is made, they feel at ease.

He even gave a self-deprecating laugh at the dark safe on the wall, laughing at his own ten years of petty scheming, never expecting that he would end up like this.

Just as he was putting cash into his bag, the faces of his second brother and younger sister flashed through his mind, before he ruthlessly pressed them down.

"Every man for himself, or the world will destroy him. Second brother, little sister, I'm so sorry!"

His younger sister's situation wasn't too serious; at most, they could be investigated and she could be released. But his second brother was a different story, since he was the one who did most of the dirty and hard work.

But he couldn't think about that now. If he delayed any longer, he really wouldn't be able to leave. Wang Jianhui slung his bag over his shoulder, took a deep breath, and turned to walk towards the door.

He had even planned out the route in his mind: take the fire escape down to the second basement level, park the Touareg in the third parking space in section C, exit through the back door, turn left onto the national highway, and he could reach the neighboring province before dawn...

Just as he was about to leave, the door was suddenly opened from the outside.

The force was so great that he staggered back two steps, his shoulder bag flew off, the zipper burst open, and his passport and cash scattered all over the floor.

The white light from the corridor rushed in, so bright that he had to raise his hand to shield his eyes. In the backlight, he could see seven or eight figures blocking the doorway.

The leader wore a dark jacket, had a buzz cut, a square face, and an expression as hard as an iron plate.

The people behind him were quickly dispersing. Two blocked the direction of the fire exit, two guarded the elevator entrance, and the remaining few squeezed in from his side and began to inspect every corner of the office.

"Wang Jianhui?" The middle-aged man who was leading the group did not enter the room, but stood at the door, looking at him with a serious expression.

The middle-aged man took out his ID from the inside pocket of his jacket and held it up in front of him.

"We are now taking you into custody in accordance with the law. Please cooperate with the investigation. Please proceed." The middle-aged man stepped aside and gestured for you to proceed towards the elevator.

Two investigators came up and stood on either side of him. Wang Jianhui slowly bent down, trying to pick up the things on the ground, but one of them pressed his hand down as soon as he reached out.

"These items will be inventoried and registered."

Seeing this, Wang Jianhui stopped moving. He knew he was really done for this time. He straightened up and took one last look around the office that symbolized the pinnacle of his power.

The crystal chandelier above his head was still lit. He suddenly remembered that when Wang Jianguang led the team out this morning, he had patted his chest on the phone and said that he would take responsibility if anything went wrong.

He smiled, but the smile looked more like a grimace. Then, he was pulled out the door by the two people beside him.

In the corridor, his subordinates, who usually bowed and scraped before him, were all ordered to stand against the wall, trembling with fear. A few of them, whose names he could still recall, immediately lowered their heads the moment they met his gaze, as if avoiding a plague, for fear of having any connection with him whatsoever.

The corridor wasn't long, only about twenty meters from the office to the elevator. He had walked those twenty meters for ten years—ten years ago he moved into this CEO's office with great ambition through this corridor, and today he was being escorted out of this corridor again.

The brief feeling of weightlessness, lasting only a few dozen seconds from the top floor to the underground parking garage, felt exceptionally unbearable to him.

Li Xiao, Zhou Yanhuai.

Who would have thought that Wang Jianhui, who had toiled for ten years in Tianshui City, going blind and breaking countless bones to build this skyscraper, would ultimately fall victim to a mere eighteen-year-old boy?