Chapter 50: Three-person team
After Lin Feng’s disastrous soy-sauce wings were unceremoniously dumped in the trash, Dongfang Cheng sipped milk at the lunch table, a faint ring of milk staining his lips, adding a childlike innocence to his delicate face.
Lin Feng’s gaze lingered on him for a moment, then darted away as if burned, clearing his throat subtly.
“Hey, rich dog,” Dongfang Cheng set down his glass, “how’s the investigation into the Hoshino Group going?”
Lin Feng snapped to attention, his expression turning serious. “Hoshino Group’s collapse was partly their own fault—overly aggressive strategies, too much leverage, liquidity dried up. But the real killer—” He pulled up charts and data on his tablet, pointing to plummeting curves. “Right when their cash flow was tightest, their partner banks suddenly pulled loans, City Investment shorted their stock, and dozens of upstream and downstream partners tore up contracts in unison. That combo punched them into a death spiral, collapsing a commercial titan in days.”
Dongfang Cheng frowned. “So, a bunch of banks and companies ganged up on Hoshino?”
“More like a coordinated hunt under someone’s command,” Lin Feng shrugged. “Someone big is pulling the strings—nobody else could orchestrate that many players.”
Dongfang Cheng sighed, leaning back in his chair. “Any way to fix it?”
Lin Feng grinned, leaning forward, eyes glinting with mischief. “There’s a way, but it’ll cost a fortune. If you can tie a pretty bow on your ‘online girlfriend’s’ bestie, Miss Zero, and deliver her to my bed, I’ll not only save Hoshino Group but buy half of Duhuang City for you.”
Dongfang Cheng’s mind conjured an image of himself as Zero, in that embarrassing black dress, bound with pink ribbons, gagged, lying on Lin Feng’s bed like a gift. His face flushed to his ears.
“You’re lovesick!” he snapped.
Lin Feng doubled over laughing, nearly falling off his chair, raising his hands in surrender under Dongfang Cheng’s murderous glare. “Alright, alright, don’t kill me! Just joking!”
He sobered up. “Seriously, pulling Hoshino Group out of bankruptcy now needs more than money—it takes someone at the top of Duhuang’s power structure, someone who can sway the city’s lifeline.”
Dongfang Cheng’s anger cooled, though his cheeks stayed red. He knew Lin Feng was right—power and money were intertwined, and no one rich lacked influence. If Lin Feng wasn’t volunteering, he couldn’t drag him in.
“Got anything useful besides financial trivia?”
“One tip,” Lin Feng paused, dead serious. “If someone wants revenge, don’t expect a savior. They’ve got to climb up and drag down those who pushed them into the abyss.”
Dongfang Cheng fell silent, knowing Lin Feng was right. He decided to see Hoshino Kirara again.
When Hoshino Kirara opened Dongfang Cheng’s worn apartment door, she rubbed her tired eyes, wondering if stress and sleeplessness were making her hallucinate.
The boy outside—almost androgynously beautiful—was this really the delinquent Dongfang Cheng?
He seemed shorter, shoulders narrower, exuding a neutral charm he never had before. His features, though familiar, were softened to an uncanny degree, his skin almost too fair in the dim light. His messy black hair was longer, silkier.
No, it wasn’t just looks. Kirara shook her head, trying to clear it.
His aura had changed. The old Dongfang Cheng was a volatile storm, radiating “stay away.” Now, though expressionless, his sharp edge felt smoothed, like a stone worn by a stream.
She was losing it. How could Dongfang Cheng become… prettier than most girls in their class?
“Hey, Miss Rich, you look zoned out. Not awake?” Dongfang Cheng waved a hand, snapping her out of it.
“W-What?” Kirara flinched, stepping back, voice trembling unnoticed. “Are… you kicking me out?”
“No.” He brushed past, setting a steaming lunch on the table. “Since you know Ouroboros is behind this,” he turned, meeting her resentful yet helpless gaze, his tone unusually warm, “what’s your plan? Work customer service to pay back 160 billion? Cry and wait for a prince to save your family business?”
“Or—” His voice paused, a cold flame flickering in his dark eyes.
“Get revenge. Make those who dragged you from the clouds, left you with nothing, taste what it’s like to lose everything—family, life, all of it.”
Revenge.
The primal word ignited a spark in Kirara’s dull eyes, a raw instinct even a sheltered heiress couldn’t resist.
“Of course I want to!” Her voice rasped with emotion, fists clenched tight. “I want those who framed Hoshino Group to pay a thousandfold! But… I have nothing left! I can’t even touch a single subsidiary!”
“You at least remember who struck first, right?” Dongfang Cheng guided her. “Or, before your father’s downfall, did he act oddly? Mention anything strange?”
Kirara frowned, digging through painful memories.
She recalled her father, anxious and weary in the months before the collapse. Late nights, she’d seen him in his study, cigar smoke thick, sighing at her grandfather’s portrait, his proud frame slumping under an unseen burden.
“Wait!” Her eyes widened, a realization striking. “A month or two before, Dad came back from the mayor’s office looking awful. He complained to the head maid that several city projects, already finalized, were suddenly shelved for flimsy reasons. He said… the city’s attitude toward him felt… off, somehow.”
She hesitated, voice strained. “I thought it was just business or politics, not Ouroboros… Could the mayor be involved with—”
“If someone at the mayor’s level is in on it, the banks, investment firms, and partners’ sudden betrayal makes sense,” a lazy voice interrupted from the doorway, startling them.
Lin Feng leaned against the frame, hands in pockets, his usual nonchalance masking a sharp glint in his chestnut eyes. “They had the top dog’s blessing, maybe even orders, to act without fear.”
“Didn’t you say you’re staying out?” Dongfang Cheng shot him a confused look.
Lin Feng scratched his brow, grinning awkwardly. “Thought it over. Risky investments are fun. If I go all-in on Hoshino Group’s stock and the truth comes out, prices could soar back… I’d make this much.” He wiggled a finger.
“Hmph, greedy bastard,” Dongfang Cheng muttered, rolling his eyes at Lin Feng’s earlier reluctance.
“Don’t say that. Money moves mountains, A-Cheng.”
Lin Feng hid his real motive. Through his Dragon-class clearance, he’d learned the mastermind behind Hoshino Group’s takedown was the brainwashing and [REDACTED] departments, his fiercest rivals for funding. If their plan succeeded, gaining the Queen’s favor and more resources, their next target… Lin Feng pictured Zero’s stubborn, icy face.
No way. Not my brother. If anyone’s [REDACTED], it’s me!
“So,” he clapped Dongfang Cheng’s shoulder, tone light but firm, “we’re partners now. I’ll handle the business and tech side. You two,” he glanced at Kirara and Dongfang Cheng, “dig up the scum hiding underwater. Deal?”
This isn’t about stopping those freaks from targeting Zero or hogging some cutesy, heart-eyed Zero moment. Definitely not.