Chapter 1 The Interrogation

It was a little after ten o'clock in the evening.

Su Tiannan sat in the interrogation room of the Zhanan District Police Department, logically and calmly recounting the events: "There were four people who carried out the kidnapping. Two had knives, one used a hammer to break the car window, and the other had what looked like a gun, but it was covered with canvas, so I couldn't be sure if it was a gun."

"Can you give us more details about the suspect who you think had a gun?" the police officer asked.

"Yes, he had a tattoo on his right hand. I saw it when he raised his arm," Su Tiannan paused before replying. "It was probably a sun totem-like design, but he was standing to the side of the vehicle, in a poorly lit area, so I couldn't see it very clearly."

"You said earlier that there were three people in the restaurant who were probably with them. Can you confirm that?"

"I can't be sure, but intuitively, I think those three were probably scoping the place out. If the kidnapping didn't go smoothly for the four bandits, they might have gotten involved," Su Tiannan replied.

"You're saying these three people were bandits just based on intuition?" the police officer asked, frowning.

"Yes, there was nothing obviously wrong with them, and they seemed drunk," Su Tiannan said softly. "But I don't believe that a normal person, even drunk, would be able to just call his wife and lie like nothing happened after witnessing an armed kidnapping… Think about it, if he was really too drunk to understand that a kidnapping was taking place, would he even be capable of calling his wife? I think he was faking it, just trying to get out of there."

The police officer nodded and continued taking notes, then asked a few more questions about the kidnapping.

About twenty minutes later, Su Tiannan, because of his clear thinking and calm demeanor, was the first to finish his statement. He pushed open the door and left the room.

…

Meanwhile, Da Bai and Su Miaomiao, who had originally wanted to leave first, were being questioned on the floor above, so Su Tiannan went downstairs alone and arrived in front of the police station.

At the entrance, You Yifan and his followers, as well as Yu Mingyuan and Kong Zhengui, who had arrived later, were all gathered together, chatting.

As soon as Su Tiannan came out, You Yifan noticed him immediately. His face was very gloomy as he stepped forward and demanded, "What the hell were you doing?! There were only four of them, and you had a gun in the car. Why couldn't you even try to stop them?! There are patrol points all over Tianhong Port. The police would have been there in minutes if a shot had been fired."

You Yifan's words were full of anger and out-of-control emotion, which everyone present noticed, so they remained silent.

Su Tiannan had originally wanted to explain a few things to You Yifan when he came out, but he didn't expect him to get so agitated right away.

"Damn it, you guys are always so tough when nothing's happening, talking about starting a union and getting involved on the streets. But when something actually happens, you're all scared shitless!" You Yifan was truly furious, his eyes bloodshot as he cursed, "You can be scared off by a piece of cloth covering someone's face? What are you even doing?"

Su Tiannan stood there awkwardly, not saying a word. Seeing that he was losing face, Yu Mingyuan immediately interjected, "I heard from Da Bai that there might have been more than four bandits. Tiannan was just trying to protect Chengcheng's safety."

If the kidnapped manager hadn't been so important, You Yifan, with his sophistication and shrewdness, would never have lost his temper in such a setting. He had simply lost control of his emotions, so when Yu Mingyuan intervened, he stopped talking and just stood there, taking out his phone and making a call.

The conflict should have ended when You Yifan chose to be silent, but then You Chengcheng, who had just finished giving her statement, came out in a rage, stomping in her high heels, and yelled at Su Tiannan, "The surveillance footage has been pulled up! Those three people at the entrance of the restaurant were just there to drink! Nothing suspicious at all!"

Everyone looked up.

You Chengcheng walked up to Su Tiannan. "There's a patrol point less than two kilometers from the scene. If you had just fired your gun, the police would have been there immediately, and those guys would have had to leave at least two of their men behind!"

Su Tiannan looked at her, unable to contain his anger, and retorted, "Do you know how many people are in the alley? Just because you saw three people drinking on surveillance footage doesn't mean they're not involved! We have to go to Longkou to leave the port, and that's the only road we can take…!"

"Bullshit! You're just a coward!"

"What does my being a coward have to do with anything? My sister was in the car at the time!" Su Tiannan argued.

"Your sister? How much is your sister worth?! Do you know that the manager has our exhibition price list and many of our company's trade secrets? If he's caught, we'll be at a disadvantage! Your sister?! Eight hundred of your sisters aren't worth as much as that manager, got it?!" You Chengcheng was the actual head of the company, and she was completely beside herself since the manager had been kidnapped. "You're so stupid, you still can't figure out your place! What are we paying you guys for? Why are we giving you so much freedom in Tianhong Port? You're our henchmen, you're supposed to solve problems, understand?!"

"What henchmen? What's going on?!"

Su Tianyu, who had been talking to Wang Daolin in the car, heard the commotion and ran over, his eyes coldly sweeping over You Chengcheng. "What's going on?! We give you a ride, and we get ourselves into trouble? How much are you paying us to take bullets for you?!"

Hearing this, Yu Mingyuan reached out and tugged at Su Tianyu, signaling him to say less.

"I see you're trying to kick us to the curb after we've served our purpose? What's wrong, you know Mayor Li…?!" You Chengcheng was like a powder keg, ready to explode as soon as Su Tianyu confronted her.

"Alright, say less!" You Yifan roared from the side.

You Chengcheng pouted and calmed down for a while before turning to glare at Su Tiannan. "Damn it, you're useless!"

After saying that, You Chengcheng stormed off towards the car.

Su Tiannan stared at You Yifan and You Chengcheng's retreating figure, clenching his fists slightly, but said nothing.

"Don't be like her. She knows the exhibition is about to start, and the competition is fierce, and she's not prepared. Who can she blame when something happens?!" Su Tianyu pulled his brother aside and whispered to him.

Su Tiannan took out a cigarette and turned to look at Tianyu, saying softly, "It's not that I didn't want to chase them, but Miaomiao was in the car. There were definitely more than four of them. If we had fought, she would have been in danger."

"I know," Su Tianyu replied softly. "It's right to be cautious."

Su Tiannan smoked his cigarette, looking at You Yifan and the others, and said nothing more.

Below the steps, You Yifan walked to the car and pointed at You Chengcheng inside, saying, "Lay off the employees of the trading company and liquidate the company as quickly as possible."

"If we do that, we'll lose too much. We still have a lot of accounts receivable."

"You still don't understand?! The exhibition hasn't started yet, but it has already begun," You Yifan whispered. "Someone wants to find something on me!"

…

In the Golden Triangle, in an antique villa, a middle-aged man was running on a treadmill while saying, "Take out Little Double Cow Island next to Salt Island and let the Gui family hold the exhibition there."