Ou Yunchen spent three days staking out the Wanxin Leather Factory.
Every morning at 6 AM, Wan Jianguo would arrive at the office building. At noon, Wan Jianguo's wife, Lu Qing—also Huang Xiaotian's mother—would punctually arrive with a thermal bag to deliver lunch.
Lu Qing would only stay until 1 PM before driving away. It wasn't until 7 PM, when the factory's collective shift ended, that Wan Jianguo's driver would pick up the boss in a black Mercedes.
This facade of harmony offered Ou Yunchen no cracks to exploit regarding marital discord or family misfortune. Even more perplexing to Ou Yunchen was the steady stream of large trucks entering and exiting the factory, a testament to Wanxin's stable production and order volume.
Lu Qing had remarried Wan Jianguo with Huang Xiaotian in tow, so by all rights, Huang Xiaotian should have called Wan Jianguo father. Now that Huang Xiaotian was in debt to loan sharks, there was no reason for Wan Jianguo to not help him.
What was even stranger was, if Wan Jianguo could wash his hands of Huang Xiaotian because he wasn't his biological son, what about Lu Qing?
She was Huang Xiaotian's birth mother. Could she truly stand by and watch loan sharks break Huang Xiaotian's arms and legs? Those people would stop at nothing to collect their debts!
As Ou Yunchen had suspected, on the fourth day of his stakeout, Huang Xiaotian indeed showed up at Wanxin.
Whether he had actually been beaten or had intentionally wrapped himself in bandages and hobbled out of his car with a cane to solicit help, he blocked Lu Qing's path just as she was coming out of the office building after delivering lunch.
Ou Yunchen could only watch from afar. Huang Xiaotian, initially subservient, pleaded with Lu Qing. However, after a few exchanges, seeing Lu Qing's resolute attitude, Huang Xiaotian pointed at her nose and began to curse her out. Even from a distance, Huang Xiaotian's enraged shrieks could be heard.
Huang Xiaotian stomped his foot in desperation. "Are you just going to watch me die?"
Lu Qing dodged and weaved, unwilling to draw attention.
"Your father said you need to resolve this yourself. He won't give you a single cent."
"My father..."
Ou Yunchen turned his car around and followed Huang Xiaotian's vehicle, his plan still in motion.
As Ou Yunchen's car caught up to Huang Xiaotian's, he floored the accelerator, quickly drawing level. When the two cars were side by side, Ou Yunchen sped up and merged, cutting in front of Huang Xiaotian's car and forcing him to slam on his brakes.
After a few such maneuvers, Huang Xiaotian rolled down his window and yelled, "Do you know how to drive?!" Ou Yunchen then unhurriedly signaled, pulled over to the side of the road, and with Huang Xiaotian feeling he had the upper hand, got out of his car and rushed over, violently banging on Ou Yunchen's window.
"Get out! You son of a bitch, get out here!"
Ou Yunchen slowly lowered the window. Just as Huang Xiaotian leaned in, sticking an arm out to grab Ou Yunchen's collar, Ou Yunchen raised his own arm and landed a fierce punch on Huang Xiaotian's face.
"I'll kill you!"
Ou Yunchen opened his door, directly knocking Huang Xiaotian to the ground. He clutched his face, trying to find leverage on the ground to stand up, looking utterly ridiculous.
As Ou Yunchen stepped out of his car, he adjusted his suit. Huang Xiaotian, buried beneath Ou Yunchen's figure, lost all his aggression due to the significant height difference.
"First meeting, let me introduce myself. My name is William."