"Hello? Who's this?"
Evan Lin answered the phone while grabbing a can of Coke from the fridge, popping the tab and taking a swig.
"It's me, Selina Wu. Tomorrow at six in the evening, Whitewood County Party Committee Guesthouse. Come have dinner."
"If you don't show up, you're dead meat."
Click.
On the other end, Selina Wu finished speaking and hung up without another word.
It was a fairly spacious hotel-style room, with a temporary clothes rack loaded with all sorts of outfits.
Selina Wu lay sprawled on the bed. After hanging up, she grabbed a piece of gum from the desk and started chewing, while Allen Ju and Warren Wu sat on the floor playing chess.
"Selina, with that attitude, do you really think he'll show up tomorrow?" Warren Wu asked, eyes fixed on the chessboard.
"He'll come whether he wants to or not. If he doesn't, I'll go drag him here myself. Who knows how Kai Chen managed to chase me all the way out here—doesn't he ever get tired?" Selina Wu frowned, her gaze darting between Allen Ju and Warren Wu, looking suspicious. "Which one of you sold me out?"
Kai Chen was Selina Shi's classmate and a family friend of the Shi clan, with serious influence back in Jin'nan City. In their social circle, he'd chased after Selina plenty of times. This time, Selina had tagged along with Allen Ju to the middle-of-nowhere Whitewood County mostly to avoid Kai Chen.
But she hadn't expected Kai Chen to somehow get wind of her whereabouts and actually come looking for her.
"Wasn't me, Sis! I'm totally on your side!" Warren Wu declared quickly.
Allen Ju nodded along. "Not me either. But since I got sent out here, it's not that strange if he heard something."
Selina Wu let out a sigh. "No idea what my family is thinking. Kai Chen just annoys me. If only Jason Jiang weren't such a wimp, I'd have him run interference for me. But now, I guess I'll have to rely on Evan Lin."
"Honestly, I almost feel sorry for that guy. He bumps into you, Sis, and you dig a pit for him to fall in. Tragic, really." Warren Wu shook his head dramatically. Selina Wu's brows knitted; she grabbed a stinky sock and chucked it at him.
Warren Wu dodged, grinning. Then he suddenly remembered something. "Wait a sec, Sis. Isn't Allen's uncle hosting a dinner for a few Whitewood County leaders tomorrow? Are you planning to have him show up then?"
Warren Wu looked genuinely startled.
"So what? It's just dinner. Doesn't matter who you're eating with!"
......
Evan Lin hung up and shook his head. Selina Wu and her crew never played by the rules anyway.
After watching TV at home for a bit, he saw Joy Zheng come in looking worried. "Xiao Yi, maybe you should stay at the hotel tonight?"
"It's fine. Even if those people show up, it won't be a problem." Evan shook his head.
It wasn't hard to guess—after Joy Zheng finished the meeting with Leonard Chu and the others, she probably learned what went down that afternoon. The demolition team from Yang Real Estate, that suit-wearing foreman, definitely wasn't going to let things slide so easily.
Joy Zheng was worried it would be like those news stories, where the house gets bulldozed in the middle of the night. Way too dangerous.
Evan still hadn't gotten the keys to Mooncrest Manor yet. Otherwise, he could've just moved Joy Zheng in directly.
"Your Uncle Chu wants to have people take turns keeping watch tonight. Also, Xiao Yi, where did you learn to fight like that?" Joy Zheng asked, her face serious.
Just now, Leonard Chu and the others had been bragging about how Evan single-handedly took down the whole demolition crew. They were all grinning and giving Joy Zheng a thumbs-up, saying Evan was really making something of himself. But the more Joy Zheng listened, the more worried she got, scared Evan might get hurt.
"Uh, I just picked up a few moves from an old martial arts master. Auntie Lu knows too. I swear I don't go looking for trouble—just learned it for self-defense." Evan made up a story on the spot.
On Auntie Lu's side, she misunderstood and thought Evan had a really skilled old doctor as his master, so it was easy to keep up the lie.
"That's right." Joy Zheng nodded and sighed. "Those people came before, but the terms they offered were basically forcing everyone into a dead end. Be careful tonight. I'll take a turn watching the gate later, just in case they show up again. If they do, I'll call you."
"No need, Mom. You taught all afternoon, you must be exhausted. I'm on summer break and have nothing going on, so I'll do it. Just get some sleep—I promise nothing will happen."
Before Joy Zheng could object, Evan just smiled, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and headed out.
At the entrance to the shantytown, there was a long-abandoned security booth. When Evan arrived, Leo Cai was already sitting inside, looking worried. Leonard Chu and Hank Chu were there too.
Seeing Evan show up, Leonard Chu's eyes lit up and he started praising him. Leo Cai asked if Evan was hurt, then Evan told him to go home and sleep, leaving Evan, Leonard, and Hank to keep watch for the night.
Inside Evan's backpack, the Soul-Sacrifice Beauty Scroll lay quietly.
Evan chatted with Leonard and Hank, though it was mostly them talking. Around midnight, at Evan's signal, the Three Maiden Spirits from the Soul-Sacrifice Beauty Scroll floated out.
They'd all stayed inside the scroll for days, never daring to show themselves without Evan's summons. Sometimes, when bored, they'd help Leo Cai's family catch mice and bugs.
With Evan's signal, the Three Maiden Spirits quickly drifted out of the security booth.
"After the beating Xiao Yi gave them this afternoon, I doubt they'll be back tonight," Hank Chu guessed.
"Can't let our guard down. That guy in the suit is bad news. But with Evan here, I feel a lot better." Leonard Chu smiled, his wrinkles bunching up. "Just don't know if Yang Real Estate will back off. If they really won't... sigh."
With that, Leonard Chu let out a deep sigh.
As Evan listened to them talk, his gaze drifted out the window. The night was deep, the wind was cool—a textbook moonless, windy, and dangerous night.
Out in the darkness, a few lonely streetlights stood along the road leading to the shantytown. Their yellow glow was dim and barely lit up anything.
The usually quiet street was suddenly filled with the roar of engines.
In the lead van, a burly, scar-faced man sat in the back seat, his cold gaze fixed ahead. Driving was none other than the suit-wearing foreman whose face Evan had kicked sideways earlier.