Ten Rules to Bind Her Heart - Chapter 32
Kill someone…
Xia Zhiyao’s face went white. The foot she had been about to move froze in place.
“What’s wrong? I was joking. Don’t be so tense.”
Ji Chen raised an eyebrow and casually picked up a fruit platter from the coffee table. “Want an apple? They just arrived from Thailand. Very crisp.”
Xia Zhiyao shook her head. After a moment’s hesitation, she shuffled over and sat in the armchair opposite him.
Because her injuries still hurt, she could only perch sideways on half of the seat.
She studied the coffee table before Ji Chen.
It held more than fruit. There was a stack of colorful banknotes, several coldly gleaming daggers, and loose bags of diamonds tossed about without care.
This was their world.
Money and violence were as ordinary as eating and drinking.
“I honestly never expected it. You look so delicate, but you’ve got impressive methods. You actually made that old iron tree of a brother of mine care about you.”
Ji Chen sounded sincerely impressed.
“Huh? M-me?”
Xia Zhiyao’s eyes widened.
Methods? What methods did she have?
All she could do was bend over and take a beating…
She was utterly bewildered.
“What… what did Mr. Shen go north to do?” Xia Zhiyao asked quietly.
She wasn’t worried about Shen Yu. She only wanted to know when that terrifying man would return and… just how dangerous the situation here truly was.
“Oh? Missing your husband already, sister-in-law?”
Ji Chen grabbed an apple and bit into it with a crisp crunch, teasing her around the mouthful.
After swallowing, his smile faded slightly and a cold light entered his eyes.
“There’s an old bastard in the north named Khun Sa. His codename is Vulture.”
As Ji Chen spoke, he peeled the apple with the knife in his hand. His movements were fluid, and the skin came away in one long, unbroken ribbon.
“The old bastard got started early and has run wild for decades. He wanted to work with my brother. Now, my brother isn’t exactly a good man himself, but he hates people who break the rules more than anything. Naturally, he refused. Vulture took offense and started creating trouble for him.”
Ji Chen twisted the blade. The long ribbon of peel dropped neatly into the trash.
“You know my brother. He’s obsessed with cleanliness and can’t tolerate the slightest grain of sand in his eye.”
“If someone refuses to let him live comfortably, then he has no choice but to make that person’s entire family uncomfortable.”
Xia Zhiyao’s heart pounded.
Ji Chen spoke casually, but she could imagine the confrontations and feuds behind his words, each one impossible to settle peacefully.
“Besides this Vulture…” Xia Zhiyao swallowed and asked tentatively, “are there others?”
She wanted to know whether Shen Yu alone ruled this place.
If he did, her chances of escape were even smaller. If not, then perhaps… chaos might offer a sliver of opportunity.
Ji Chen’s hand paused.
He raised his eyes and gave her an ambiguous smile.
The gaze was sharp enough to pierce straight through her little scheme.
“Sister-in-law, you’re a university student. You should be clever.”
Ji Chen set down the knife and wiped his hands with a tissue.
“You want to understand the power structure? Fine. I’ll give you a lesson, so if you run off one day, you’ll at least know whose hands you died in.”
He poured a little water onto the coffee table and traced a circle through it with one finger.
“This is the area around the Golden Triangle. Order used to be chaotic. Now four major enterprises divide the market.”
He marked four points inside the circle.
“The first is your man, Shen Yu. Most people call him Black Wolf.”
Xia Zhiyao blushed at the words “your man.” She instinctively wanted to object, but could not bring herself to speak and kept listening.
“The second is that old bastard. Everyone calls him Vulture. He has a large organization and plenty of funding, but his technology is backward, and his brain is a little…”
Ji Chen pointed at his head.
“The third is based in the west. His name is Du Tuo, but everyone calls him Cobra. He handles cross-border information consulting and trade introductions. Western partners support him, and he specializes in connecting information and resources.”
Ji Chen paused, then smiled with interest.
“As for the fourth… she’s a woman.”
“A woman?” Xia Zhiyao stared in surprise.
A woman could become a ruler in this man-eating place?
“Yes. Lin Fengqi, known as Phoenix.”
“She’s a Chinese Singaporean businesswoman. Every private bank, casino, and financial network here is in her hands. She has no armed forces, but everyone gives her some respect. After all, no one wants to make an enemy of money.” Ji Chen’s expression was complicated.
Three kings and one queen.
Black Wolf. Vulture. Cobra. Phoenix.
Xia Zhiyao watched the water marks slowly dry on the table as a chill wrapped around her.
This was more than a complicated territory.
It was an arena surrounded by hungry wolves.
And she was merely a white rabbit who had stumbled into the pack—not even enough to fill the gap between their teeth.
“So…”
Ji Chen leaned back and looked lazily at her.
“Forget about running, sister-in-law. In this place, if you leave my brother’s protection and fall into the hands of any of the other three, your fate will be ten thousand times worse than death.”
“Especially Du Tuo. He’s a true pervert.”
Ji Chen leaned closer and lowered his voice, his tone sinister.
“His favorite thing is turning delicate Huaguo girls like you… into specimens.”
Xia Zhiyao shuddered violently, her fingers crushing wrinkles into the cotton dress.
“Enough. Stop frightening her.”
A cool female voice sounded nearby.
