Only after leaving the building did Zhu Mengmeng weakly ask, "They...they're dead?"
"No," Chu Ge said, "Their mental trauma is more severe than your father's. Unless they have a master like Qiu Qiu to treat them, they'll probably be in a vegetative state for a year or two, or even bedridden for life."
Zhong Yi glanced at Chu Ge, seemingly unfazed.
Bedridden for life isn't necessarily the case; treatment is possible...but Zhong Yi felt that Qiu Wuji's healing techniques were rare and not easily found; a year or two of bedriddenness was almost inevitable.
Zhu Mengmeng was quite pleased: "Serves them right. It's best no one can save them!"
Chu Ge turned to look at Zhong Yi's expression and asked, "Do you think we went too far? We need to intimidate them like this. I doubt even this would be very effective, and further retaliation would be troublesome."
"It's effective." Zhong Yi shook his head: "They're not idiots. Even if they really want revenge, they'll at least find out your background... Actually, if I were in charge, I probably wouldn't do anything more. Du Lianfeng and Qi Chengtian aren't their fathers, what's the point of revenge?"
Chu Ge said, "It's not that simple, is it?"
"Of course not." Zhong Yi said calmly, "With two loudmouths missing from the group, the only sensible thing to do is to seize the opportunity and plunder their interests. That's their logic... And they also have some of their own people, so there will be a brief period of infighting."
Chu Ge nodded: "And after that?"
"Regarding our attitude towards us, the voices for revenge and the voices for recruitment will start to clash." Zhong Yi smiled: "Within an organization, expecting only one voice is unrealistic. If you attack one, another will come, lining up." "Sending them away is less likely." Chu Ge: "Uh..." This feels like an arrow to the knee. Did I ever write something like this in my books...?
"But that means that once you decide to retaliate, it will be a devastating blow, not just sending a few people to deliver them." Zhong Yi sighed: "You two are quite something, like two gourd brothers. They won't be able to figure out your strength for a while, and even the Zhu family will avoid you easily... It feels like I'm the one who should be running away. They know exactly what I'm capable of." Chu Ge laughed. "I don't believe you're that cowardly," Chu Ge said. Zhong Yi smiled slightly. "I'll go to Shanghai in a while." Chu Ge knew he had a plan. Zhong Yi had been navigating both the legitimate and underworld circles for years; he wasn't just a nobody. Even his mother thought he was a prudent person. How could he be so easily fooled? Thinking about the secretary's attitude earlier, Zhong Yi's analysis was probably correct. The other side likely had a lot of problems of their own; how could they possibly be united? Did they really think everyone was a force of nature? This kind of thing was best left to an old hand like Zhong Yi.
Even if the other side really came knocking, Chu Ge felt no longer afraid.
That feeling of controlling the world, once you're immersed in it, it really makes you feel invincible. You always feel like even if the other side sent a whole division, it wouldn't be enough to kill them.
"So why wait a while before going?" Chu Ge asked.
Zhong Yi stopped in front of the car, saying, "I can't rest easy until I figure out why I lost my balance and Old Zhu fell."
Zhu Mengmeng asked, "It really wasn't that group from before?"
Qiu Wuji replied, "It certainly doesn't seem like it. The motive doesn't match, and their abilities don't match either. When they were so confident before, they had no reason to deliberately hide this, but they acted like they knew nothing about it, never mentioning it in that direction."
Zhong Yi pondered, "It feels like there's a third party involved. I think it might be targeting me, since they attacked me first, and after failing, they tried to escalate the conflict between us and Du Lianfeng… Old Zhu was just an innocent bystander. But damn it… I don't have many enemies, but I do have a few groups, and I can't think of any group that would do this right now…"
Zhu Mengmeng felt helpless, thinking that her father might have really been tricked by Zhong Yi. She couldn't bring herself to blame him, after all, Zhong Yi had been very loyal, even fighting on the rooftop for her father.
She could only sigh, "Let's get in the car first. It's not convenient to talk standing outside." Zhu Mengmeng was driving a white Cayenne. Everyone had come here in her car, so their attention wasn't on it when they arrived. Now that they had some free time, Qiu Wuji thought the big frog car was quite cute: "Mengmeng, how much did your frog car cost?" Chu Ge, who had just taken off his mask, covered his face again upon hearing this: "Let's not ask..." Zhu Mengmeng started the car and laughed, "It's just a family car. Dad doesn't want me to be too flashy, he didn't even let me get the turbo version..." Chu Ge: "..." "Just a family car".
But then Zhu Mengmeng continued, "How about I give you one?"
Chu Ge: "!" Sister Mengmeng... Waaaaah... Qiu Wuji could tell from his expression that the car was probably ridiculously expensive again. He said helplessly, "I was just asking for advice when I buy a car later, I didn't ask you to give it to me."
Chu Ge: Waaaaah... Qiu Wuji glared at him.
Chu Ge immediately sat up straight: "I will never give in to a rich woman!"
Zhu Mengmeng glanced at the rearview mirror and chuckled: "You saved my dad and solved a huge problem for us. Even if it were up to him, he would still give you a gift to repay you. If you don't even accept a car, that's disrespecting our family."
Qiu Wuji said: "Well, it doesn't necessarily have to be a car..."
"Oh right, you want a wedding house, right? Okay..."
"No..." Qiu Wuji covered her face: "Don't change the subject, Mengmeng."
Zhu Mengmeng sighed: "You guys... alright, we'll talk about it later."
Qiu Wuji had always been somewhat interested in cars, and had previously considered Zhang Qiren's G-Class. It wasn't that she liked cars themselves; she couldn't even name three car brands. Nor was there any particular reason she needed a car. It was just the difference between travel in this world and the world in the book—she wanted to experience everything.
However, the world is realistic; if you don't have money, you can't experience it.
Seeing her expression, Chu Ge started thinking about when he could actually buy a car. Their neighborhood was a few ring roads away, so parking wasn't too crowded. If she really needed a car, it was relatively convenient, and the issue of expensive parking spaces being a lie wasn't a problem.
If he were to support himself, he should really think carefully about what kind of car to buy. The brand didn't matter; the key was high cost-performance, good features, a nice appearance, and a large size… He knew Qiuqiu would definitely want a large one, one that could hold a lot… Zhong Yi, sitting in the front passenger seat, kept watching Chu Ge's expression through the right side mirror, and suddenly smiled slightly.
It's really not easy. Even with his supernatural abilities reaching such a powerful level, he still wanted a car and was still figuring out how to support himself.
If everyone were like that, what's wrong with the birth of supernatural abilities?
Unfortunately, there are too few people like that…
…Back at the hospital, Cai Zhijian was helping Old Zhu walk on the grass, doing rehabilitation exercises, looking like a very dutiful son-in-law. It seemed that this care had eased Old Zhu's resentment towards him considerably, as a smile was on his face.
Meanwhile, bodyguards appeared around them, protecting them. It seemed Old Zhu, having suffered a calamity, had abandoned his previous carefree attitude of strolling through the park, playing chess, and taking photos, and was now mobilizing protection.
Zhu Mengmeng, seeing her father and husband so happy together, was also delighted. She rushed over to support her father on the other side, smiling, "Dad, are you feeling better today?"
Old Zhu said, "Aside from being a little tired, I'm generally fine… Zhijian, did you go to see Du Lianfeng? Did they bully you? I've decided, I'll sell the mine and be done with it, and then…"
"Dad, they were driven away."
"Hmm?" Old Zhu looked at Zhong Yi, who nodded.
Old Zhu instantly thought of the god-like Third Brother and Sixth Brother, staring at Chu Ge for a long time with a twitching expression before sighing to Zhong Yi: "What kind of 'Black House' thing is this? In the end, it's all their doing helping the Black House."
Zhong Yi retorted confidently: "Aren't they people from my Black House?"
"Damn."
"So you didn't make a mistake joining the Black House, did you? From now on, just take off your masks. What are you pretending to be with with your meager skills?"
Old Zhu ignored him, turning to Chu Ge with a bright smile: "Third Brother is loyal beyond measure. If you need anything from Old Zhu in the future, just ask! Oh, by the way, you ride that little electric scooter every day, how about getting a nice car?"
Zhu Mengmeng laughed.
Chu Ge covered his face: "How come you and your daughter think alike? Can't I just not take this?"
"Oh, then the house..."
"No, Old Zhu..." Chu Ge put his arm around his shoulder: "If you really want to thank me, I have a favor to ask, I don't know if you'd be willing..."
"Marry Mengmeng to you?"
Cai Zhijian: "..."
Zhu Mengmeng: "..."
"???" Qiu Wuji roared: "You old thief, I didn't get a share of the money for saving you!"
"Just kidding, just kidding..." Old Zhu hurriedly smiled apologetically. Everyone in the dark room knew that although Sixth Brother was quiet, Third Brother was actually the one who was henpecked...
He sighed with some regret: "That's the gist of it. I'll even give you my daughter, nothing else, okay? What do you want?"
"I don't really want anything, I just want to go to your mine to do some research." Chu Ge carefully observed Old Zhu's expression, wondering if this would be a sore spot. After all, it was all caused by this thing. What if Old Zhu thought he was up to no good... But Old Zhu just smiled nonchalantly: "I thought it was something else. Actually, if it weren't for troublesome matters like property division, I could give you my mine."