Development zone.

A row of multi-purpose vehicles were stopped by the roadside. A plump person got down from the first car. With small, quick steps, he solicitously opened the door for the person sitting at the back. "It's right here. You can see that there are newly built roads all around this place. The land up ahead that has been fenced off is the very place that I would like to bring you to see today. It's a very good project! Typically, my band of brothers would just let go of something we have to when we're short of capital but we really couldn't bear to. Right now, as long as we can get the starting capital and set up a project, we can immediately get a loan. In the future, we can just lie down and-"

The person in charge from the investment company who had gotten down from the car was supposedly a vice president. He was around forty years of age and he had a polite and reserved smile. He cut off the plump man lightly. "Director Wang, we have seen your feasibility report and building plans, you don't have to repeat them. Lanchuan, come here and see."

The plump man laughed along, his gaze falling on the young man who had just exited the car.

He saw that this person was tall and slender, and had a dignified manner. He wore a light grey shirt and there was a pair of thin metal-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. Who knew what the degree on the glasses was; in any case, the lenses looked very thin. Not only were the lenses thin, his lips were also thin, his nose narrow and straight, and his lower jaw seemed to have been chiseled—even his eyelids seem to be thinner than other people's. Because he was tall, he lowered his eyes a little when looking at others and his gaze that seeped out of the corners of his eyes seemed to carry a hint of a half smile.

The plump man swallowed. It was like the aura of "This one is still the King of Cool^[1]" emanating from this person had given him a blow at the waist and he intuitively felt that this person did not have good intentions.

"Yu Lanchuan. The 'lan' means 'orchid,' as in 'a gentleman is like an orchid.' The 'chuan' means 'river,' as in 'all rivers run into the sea.'^[2] He is the person in charge of our risk management department." The vice president of the investment company pointed at Yu Lanchuan and said half-jokingly to the plump man. "He may look young but this person holds the imperial sword in his hands. Our big boss is cautious. In the whole company, the one with the most power is the risk management department. We can spend the whole day doing business outside but none of it is as useful as a single report from this little master."

The plump man quickly mustered his spirits and dialled up his boot-licking skills. "Director Yu, young and overflowing with talent!"

The King of Cool… Director Yu locked the tablet he was holding and nodded at the plump man. As though he treasured his words like gold, he only said, "Hello."

"I'm not sure how much Director Yu knows about this piece of land of ours," the plump man said as he rubbed his hands together. "In recent years, our city, Yanning, has been developing too quickly. More than a decade ago, this place was entirely a wasteland but now such places in the city are running out. I-"

"I don't know much, so I came to take a look." Right at the moment when the plump man took a breath and prepared to launch into a long speech, Yu Lanchuan interrupted him, making him choke. "In the past, this place wasn't a wasteland. It was a landfill."

The plump man's eyes wavered. Then, he very quickly picked up the conversation. "Hey, so you do know! I was just about to say it but haven't gotten the chance to—the advantage of this project is that it is on top of a landfill! It is a transformation of the landfill, this… landfill reclamation thing now has a very mature technology. After crushing the trash into extremely tiny pieces and pressing it down, it is very stable. It is also good for the surrounding environment. Good for the country and good for the people, the government is very supportive of it! The developers are preparing to use this as a highlight and it should be able to get some support in the form of official policies-"

"Surely not, Director Wang," Yu Lanchuan said mildly. "I remember that this place was specially for handling domestic waste and the smell was exceptionally strong. As far as I know, a lot of liquids and toxic matter will leach into the soil. The decomposition period for some things is very long and it will affect the quality of the soil. Based on your plan, won't there be problems with the foundation?"

The plump man was obviously dumbstruck. He started to avoid the serious topics and focus on the lighter issues. "There… There definitely won't be any problems. My friend has already set up his project company and the plan has been reviewed by professionals. Regarding the technology, I can guarantee it, you don't have to worry about that. Right now, our main problem is still the capital-"

Yu Lanchuan lowered his head and smiled, and said politely, "Who doesn't have that problem? There's a cash crunch this year and everyone has trouble with capital. That's why we need to be even more careful, isn't that so?"

"That, that is…" The plump man followed behind him. Outwardly, he was nodding eagerly and bending over to accommodate but when other people were not looking, he directed a piercing cold gaze at Yu Lanchuan's back, sincerely praying that he would be struck by lightning.

Who would have thought that right at that moment, Yu Lanchuan suddenly twisted his head around, as though he had eyes on his back, and met the plump man's gaze before the latter could look away. "Director Wang, you seem to have something you want to say to me?"

The plump man quivered. Immediately, there was sweat on his head.

Fortunately, someone from the investment company cut in with a joke. "Our Lanchuan has a special ability. When someone stares at him, he can sense it right away. Isn't it amazing? Director Wang probably doesn't like us greasy middle-aged old men and was looking only at the fresh young meat just now."

The plump man forced himself to laugh along. After that, he didn't dare speak carelessly for the rest of the way.

The whole group efficiently completed the inspection of the land. Seven multi-purpose vehicles left the development zone and headed towards the skyscraper forest of the central business district.

"I won't write a report on this matter. It doesn't have the value we discussed previously." Back at the office, Yu Lanchuan stuffed the tablet into the driver's hand and spoke to the vice president who was leading the team as they walked. "That Wang guy is not reliable, he's a ruffian. My guess is that he will first tell the developer, 'I have a good project, it's just that I can't get all the necessary requirements at the moment. I will provide the start-up capital. You guys go with an asset-light strategy—you just need to send a team, give it a name and help me set up operations. There is no risk at all to you. Let's all earn money together.' Then, he'll tell the investor, 'The developer is an established name and their projects have always been very steady. This time, even if their source of capital cuts off, they won't let go of this piece of fatty meat. Luckily, they are short of money, so we have a chance to get a bowl from this pot of soup. We can't miss this opportunity.' After deceiving both sides, when the capital's in place and the project is set up, he can turn on his heels and disappear. Without spending a single cent, he swindles everyone."

"That mouth of yours." The vice president leading the team smiled, then looked at him meaningfully. "Ruffians have their uses. After all, it was Director Li's friend who introduced him. Even if it's just to give face to Director Li, we still have to make this trip. When it comes to work—for the sake of giving face to our colleagues and because that's how the world works—there are times when we have to sacrifice a bit of our precious time and do some useless tasks. It's normal."

Yu Lanchuan smiled. He did not answer.

Right now, there were rumours that the big boss wanted to retire. There were no ripples in the corporation yet but the few vice presidents in the company were already battling like chickens in a cockfight. Every day, they sabotaged each other and all of them wanted to wield the risk management department like a large blade to slay demons. As this busy blade, Yu Lanchuan was right at the center of the carnage and he had not had a weekend off for an entire month.

He angled his body to the side and helped his colleagues hold the elevator door open. "I still need to discuss some things with other people in the meeting room. Everyone, please go up first."

"Thank you for your hard work, Director Yu."

"It's the capable ones who have the most work."

The elevator door closed. Yu Lanchuan dropped his smile and his face turned impassive as he headed towards the meeting room. His assistant who had long since been waiting by the meeting room door caught up with him and passed him a cup of coffee and a stack of papers. Yu Lanchuan's eyes swept across the stack and he passed it back to her. "I don't have time to read it. Just tell me what it says."

The young assistant was well-trained. In a low voice, she immediately explained the contents of the papers in a systematic manner right beside his ear. Yu Lanchuan listened without speaking. Every now and then, someone passed by and nodded at him in greeting. On the brightly gleaming marble floor, these immaculately groomed men and women bustled to and fro in a hurry.

According to society stereotypes, those whose hair was like a bird's nest on their head, whose face gleamed with oil, who depended on meal deliveries to survive every day, must be poor and sorrowful. They were simply eating and waiting for death, and were doomed to be failures that had been eliminated from the race. On the other hand, those who wore bespoke western-style suits, who swaggered across the CBD every day with their phones in their hands, must be the elites of the city. They had a promising future, with a battalion of flatterers hanging on to them.

However, the 'wretched hermit' could be the owner of a demolished building and held in their hands a few houses. They might be living happy days of lying down and waiting to collect rent.

Meanwhile, the 'city elite' could be a slave to their house loan who had nothing left by the end of the month. The perfume they used were all samples. At the end of every month, they faced the danger of being unable to eat. They worked overtime every day, and then were stabbed in the heart by the articles such as "Sudden death due to overwork" shared on large social media accounts.

Nothing was constant in the world. Nothing was certain.

For example, Yu Lanchuan, who had an exceptionally aloof image and aura, was exactly one of those splendid yet disheartened "city elites."

On a Friday evening in the peak of summer, Yu Lanchuan, who had already spent the whole day working tirelessly, held on to his last breath and endured a four-hour video conference. It was so noisy that his head was buzzing. Amidst the cold wind from the central air conditioning that could make a person shiver, he returned to his own office, closed the door, and sprawled on the chair. A pile of emails had again accumulated in his inbox, waiting to be read and reviewed. He didn't want to open even a single one; he only wanted to go home and lie down like a corpse.

When going through his emails, he saw an email from the previous day that was marked unread. His eyes skimmed past the subject and his heart sank even more—that was the reminder from the bank to pay his credit card bill.

Yu Lanchuan downed the remaining half of a mug of hot tea. With the help of this little bit of warmth, he finally opened his own personal "financial planner."

"Daily planner", "financial planner" and "fitness planner"—all together, these three belonged to "the standards of the elite." Not a single one could be left out. These orderly planners were like a safety net, as though if one could contain their life in them, they would then be able to control the rhythm and avoid being trampled.

And, on Mr. Yu's financial planner, the item that stood out the most was "house loan."

A house was a modern-day young person's Demon-Revealing Mirror.

Before they bought a house, each young person felt like they were standing above the crowd and that they could one day reach the sky and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the godly Marshal Tian Peng.

After buying a house, these "deities" would one-by-one descend to the mortal world, fall into a pigsty and become filthy and grimy Er-shixiong^[3].

Due to certain reasons, Yu Lanchuan bought a house at the start of the year. When he was viewing properties, he was first blinded by the dilapidated houses in the urban area that fulfilled the trifecta of old, rundown and small. Then, he nearly lost his way in the faraway suburbs of Yanning. At the start, he had been very confused. How was it that in a city full of apartment buildings with thousands of houses, not a single one was for people to live in?

Later on, he found that the answer laid with him. He understood this problem could not be blamed on market supply; he could only blame himself for being poor and picky.

In the end, after making a lot of compromises, he finally settled on a place he could make do with in all aspects. He spent his entire fortune on the deposit and became a glorious slave to his house loan.

The monthly loan payment was nearly 20,000. The term was thirty years.

The longest prison term was only twenty-five years.

Banks were more vicious than prisons.

On top of that, what was even more outrageous was that there was one more year to go before this "luxury home" that had made him penniless would be handed to him. Within this year, he still had to pay his house loan and also pay another 7,000 plus for the rental.

Other than that, his other big expenses for the week were the 8,500 parking fee for the second half of the year, two portions of "wedding tax" worth 2,000, and his superior's mother who just had to have her funeral at this time^[4]…

Yu Lanchuan faced his screen and spaced out. He let out a long breath and touched his waist, feeling that his kidney was trembling in fear from its precarious situation.

Right at that moment, his phone rang. The caller ID was "Salted Fish."

Salted Fish's real name was Yu Yan. He was Yu Lanchuan's primary school friend. Back then, the class teacher's standard Mandarin wasn't very good and didn't differentiate between the two Yu's, and had always joked that the two of them were biological brothers. As time went by, the two boys with completely different personalities and temperaments somehow got along and became childhood friends.

Yu Yan's dream since he was young was to become a true salted fish, ambitionless and idle. Unexpectedly, things did not go as he wished—perhaps someone with a dream wasn't suited to become a salted fish. In summary, due to various reasons and circumstances, he became a police officer. Even if the matters under his jurisdiction were all minor and petty issues, he was frequently so busy he had no time to breath. It had been quite a while since he last disturbed Yu Lanchuan.

"Speak if you have something to say, get lost if you don't." With his childhood friend, Yu Lanchuan had never had the image of an idol. He decisively peeled off his pretensions and revealed his true evil nature. Half-dead, he snapped out a few words. "No drinks, no meet-ups, no going anywhere."

Officer Yu quickly said, "Wait a minute, Master Lan, your younger brother is with me."

"Oh." Hearing that, Yu Lanchuan pinched the bridge of his nose, his face expressionless. "I have a very good discount on younger brothers. 10,000 for one, no bargaining. Transfer the money to my account and from now on, he's your younger brother."

"Stop joking. He's not at my house, he's at my workplace. The police station!"

Yu Lanchuan paused. He snorted. "What did he do?"

Yu Yan very justifiably chastised him, "You asshole, what kind of big brother are you? Can you not be the littlest bit optimistic? He's a good kid, eager and ready to help others. He was supporting an old lady but the old lady turned out to be a porcelain scammer^[5]. If a passerby hadn't called the police in time, he would nearly have been beaten up by a few hoodlums. Stop talking rubbish, come over quickly!"

"That is good?" Yu Lanchuan raised a brow. "That's what you call dim-witted."

Yu Yan, "..."

"Also, didn't you say 'nearly'? So it means he wasn't beaten up. I still have some things to take care of. Let him wait there for a while." Yu Lanchuan capped his pen. "Feed him some food. I'll pay you back later."

"Hey, you scumbag, you-"

Scumbag Yu had already hung up.

T/N:

[1] King of Cool, 逼王 - An example of a "King of Cool" is Sakamoto from 'Sakamoto desu ga?' Basically, someone who is perceived (by others and themself) to be cool but does a lot of ridiculous things to maintain that image.

[2] 喻兰川，君子如兰的‘兰’，海纳百川的‘川’

I couldn't avoid doing so in the translation, but the vice president isn't actually explaining the meaning of Yu Lanchuan's name here. What he's doing is specifying which characters are used to write Yu Lanchuan's name and Yu Lanchuan could have been named that for different reasons.

[3] "Marshal Tian Peng" and "Er-shixiong" are both referring to Zhu Baijie from Journey to the West. Originally a god, he was banished to earth and was reincarnated as a man-eating pig-monster. In Journey to the West, he is Tang Sanzang's second disciple, hence "Er-shixiong" (which literally means "second senior brother").

[4] It is customary to give a sum of money to the grieving family at funerals. It is also customary to give a sum of money to relatives, friends or acquaintances who are getting married, the "wedding tax" mentioned here.

[5] Porcelain scam 碰瓷 - Also known as pengci. Lit. means "bumping porcelain." It's a scam where the scammers purposely place fragile porcelain in a spot where it's easily knocked over, and they would demand compensation when that happens. Also applies to scams where scammers feign accidents or injuries to demand compensation.