Pushing open the dilapidated door, the first thing that hit them was the strong smell of alcohol and sourness.
The entire room was piled high with garbage. Ashtrays and leftovers littered the tables and floor; the food had long gone bad, and beer bottles and baijiu bottles were scattered everywhere.
This was Qin Gang's living space. Although the house was not small, a two-bedroom, one-living-room layout, it was completely ruined.
The scene made everyone frown.
"I... I'll clean it up right away. You guys wait outside first."
Qin Gang felt a bit embarrassed and said with a fawning smile.
Qin Chuan frowned, "No need to clean. Let's go outside and find a place to sit!"
"Hurry up and change your clothes. Our car is right at the entrance."
With that, he led Qin Yang, Bai Xiaoguang, Chen Jinyu, and Hong Jinlong away.
A few minutes later, the Hummer parked in the alley started up and disappeared around the corner.
From the windows of the residential buildings, many heads peeked out, watching the expensive car's rear disappear. They started to whisper amongst themselves.
People living in big cities, even laborers, had sharp eyes from years of observation. Many had already recognized the Hummer, worth over a million yuan.
Qin Gang having such a wealthy brother made everyone who had been feeling anxious relax a little. Perhaps the money would indeed find its way back into their pockets.
In a private room at a high-end restaurant, everyone was seated.
"Hurry up and take off your hat and mask. It's the middle of summer; aren't you hot?" Qin Chuan said.
Qin Er Ge, sitting next to him, quickly took off his hat and mask, his face showing guilt and shame, like a child who had made a mistake.
It was already eleven in the morning, almost lunchtime.
Qin Chuan ignored Qin Gang and first asked everyone to order their food. They would discuss everything after the meal, so as not to spoil everyone's appetite.
"Tell us. After so long, you should have sorted out your thoughts and explained the whole story to us," Qin Chuan said, putting down his chopsticks and leaning back in his chair, lighting a cigarette. Seeing this, the others also put down their chopsticks and listened intently.
Qin Gang's expression flickered. Finally, he slapped himself on the face and gritted his teeth, "I'm such a stupid donkey. There's no one in this world more foolish than me!"
"I clearly realized she was deceiving me, that she had been deceiving me all along, yet I stubbornly held onto a sliver of hope. I am truly too stupid! Hahaha..."
As he spoke, Qin Gang began to laugh heartily, but his laughter was hoarse, and tears had already streamed down his face.
"The 'she' you're talking about, is it your girlfriend, Cao Yuqing?" Qin Chuan asked calmly.
Qin Gang trembled violently. He quickly wiped his tears and looked at Qin Chuan with disbelief.
Qin Yang, Bai Xiaoguang, and Chen Jinyu, sitting around them, were also astonished, wondering why Qin Chuan would say Cao Yuqing was the one who deceived Qin Gang.
Only Hong Jinlong seemed to be pondering something.
"Lao... Lao San, how did you know?" Qin Gang asked incredulously.
Qin Chuan's lips curled. He couldn't be bothered to tell them that when he entered the rented room, he saw a broken photo frame on the floor. The picture inside was of Qin Gang and a woman named Cao Yuqing.
They were both smiling brightly and making heart shapes with their hands, radiating the sickly sweet scent of love.
However, the photo frame had been destroyed by a knife, with countless holes. Qin Chuan had thus inferred that Cao Yuqing was likely the biggest scammer.
He knew his family best. Although Qin Gang possessed a sense of pride and strong self-esteem, he was by no means foolish. On the contrary, he was quite shrewd; otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to venture out alone with a large sum of money to start a business.
Anyone who could deceive Qin Gang so badly would have to be someone he trusted implicitly. Cao Yuqing fit the bill perfectly. From the way Qin Gang acted like a sycophant when he visited home in the past, Qin Chuan had always frowned and hadn't thought highly of their relationship. Now, it had come true: Cao Yuqing had been using Qin Gang all along.
"I told you long ago that in this world, suck-ups never get a good ending. You didn't listen, hehe!"
"Can you still find that woman?"
Qin Gang's face was full of bitterness. He slowly shook his head, "I can't find her anymore! I've been looking for her for a week. Her workplace said Cao Yuqing resigned a long time ago, and they can't contact her either."
Qin Chuan asked again, "Did you only realize the biggest scammer was right in front of you after you couldn't find Cao Yuqing?"
Qin Gang lowered his head guiltily, remaining silent.
BANG!!
A loud bang as a table was slammed echoed through the room. It was Qin Yang, who usually had a good temper, but now his face was contorted with rage. He pointed a finger at Qin Gang's forehead and scolded him with a look of disappointment, "You idiot, I really want to smash your head in, you know that?"
"What's wrong with your head, did it get caught in a door or kicked by a donkey? What kind of love potion did that woman give you, that you spent so long with her and never noticed anything unusual about her?"
"You lost seven or eight hundred thousand yuan last time and still haven't learned your lesson? This time you were scammed out of even more?"
Seeing his eldest brother's anger, Qin Gang became terrified and dared not utter another word.
"How much debt have you accumulated? Tell us honestly!" Qin Chuan said coldly.
Qin Gang finally slowly raised his head, his expression struggling, as if he wanted to speak but dared not.
"Speak... SLAP!!"
Unable to contain himself any longer, Qin Yang finally lost control and slapped the back of Qin Gang's head, almost making him stumble and fall under the table.
"Big brother, calm down. Hitting him now won't solve anything," Qin Chuan said, still relatively calm.
Under Qin Yang's threat, Qin Gang finally slowly raised three fingers and mumbled timidly, "Ab... about... three... three million!"
"How much?!" Qin Chuan was also startled. The others were left dumbfounded.
The previous two million had been shocking enough, but now there was an additional million. Three million yuan! That was an astronomical figure, an amount many people couldn't even dream of.
Qin Chuan took a deep breath and said to his eldest brother, "Brother, you do it. If I hit him, I'm afraid I won't be able to control my strength and might kill him!"
Qin Yang came back to his senses and could no longer tolerate it. He directly grabbed Qin Gang's collar with his strong arm, his face contorted.
Qin Gang was terrified and quickly begged for mercy, "Big brother, don't! Don't! I really know I was wrong! I was wrong... Ah!"
Screams echoed throughout the private room. Qin Yang was truly furious. He pinned Qin Gang under the table and proceeded to beat him, cursing him with every punch, spittle flying.
Qin Chuan also couldn't help but stand up and deliver a few kicks, cursing under his breath. Damn it, three million yuan! He couldn't even afford to pay such a large sum right now, and it wasn't the end of the year for settlement. His private savings had been depleted by an MP3 project, and he had also borrowed a million yuan in advance from the Xinhua Electronics Factory.
Currently, Qin Chuan was like a paper tiger. Although his assets seemed substantial, his cash flow was extremely limited, as every factory and company required daily expenses.
Bai Xiaoguang and Chen Jinyu, acting wisely, opened the door of the private room and stood guard outside, preventing the waiters from entering. They only said they were resolving a family dispute.
Hong Jinlong was also quick-witted and followed them out.
When the commotion inside the room subsided, the three cautiously re-entered.
Inside the private room, tables and chairs were overturned. Qin Gang lay on the floor groaning like a dead pig, his face contorted in pain.
As for Qin Chuan and Qin Yang, they stood there, panting heavily, taking deep drags from their cigarettes, their faces grim, ready to erupt in anger again at any moment.