Chapter Thirty-Five: Sun Chuan-zhi’s ‘Feat’

“Very well.”
Behind the curtain.
When Sun Chuan-zhi offered to report in place of Lan Ruoxue, An Lan did not object.
To her, it didn’t matter who did the reporting; what mattered was that each group’s situation was clearly explained.
“Thank you, President An. I’ll begin now.”
Sun Chuan-zhi nodded respectfully, at the same time sending a reassuring glance to Zhao Xiue and her daughter in the audience.
“Did you see that, Ruoxue? When he offered to speak for you, President An agreed without a word!”
Zhao Xiue nudged Lan Ruoxue.
Lan Ruoxue smiled knowingly and nodded, saying, “Yes, Chuan-zhi called earlier to say his father agreed to communicate with the An family.”
“To help me, he’s willing to take the initiative to explain the group’s situation. I was worried President An wouldn’t allow it.”
“But she agreed without even thinking, even gave a ‘hmm.’ She hasn’t said a word to any of the other candidates.”
“Looks like his father put in a good word for us. We might actually have a chance at this agency right.”
The mother and daughter gradually relaxed.
Just then, Ye Wushang descended the stairs, and as he passed, Zhao Xiue couldn’t help but complain, “Look at Chuan-zhi, and then look at that useless man. Can’t accomplish anything, only makes things worse, can’t help at all, just likes to show off. He’ll get what’s coming to him!”
Ye Wushang’s expression darkened.
Before he could say anything, Lan Ruoxue urged, “Just leave and do what you’re supposed to do.”
“You know my mother’s temper. I don’t want anything else interfering with our bid for the agency right.”
She no longer felt disgust for Ye Wushang, but there was no fondness left either.
All she wanted was to resolve this and devote herself fully to developing the Lan family’s business.
As for Ye Wushang—after all, they were divorced. It was just as well to go their separate ways.
Ye Wushang hesitated, about to speak.
She seemed so disappointed in him, but wasn’t he just as disappointed in her?
Their paths had diverged. He didn’t want to argue, so he merely snorted coldly and walked to the side of the curtain.
At Ye Wushang’s sudden appearance, Sun Chuan-zhi stiffened for a moment but only glared fiercely at him without causing a scene.
He took a deep breath, pressed the remote, and began his presentation on Lan Group’s situation.
Compared to the other candidates, Lan Group was clearly better prepared, with more time devoted to the task.
Half an hour passed. Spittle flying, Sun Chuan-zhi became more and more animated, even pacing as he spoke.
Normally, this would have been fine—just like the other presenters—but suddenly a voice crackled through Ye Wushang’s earpiece. It was Baldy. “Mr. Ye, there’s something I need to report.”
“What is it?”
“I’ve been watching Sun Chuan-zhi and checked the surveillance. I noticed something odd: Xun Wuyang has a trace of gray powder on his fingers, and the cuffs of Sun Chuan-zhi’s jacket have a similar gray pattern.”
“I don’t know if it’s connected, but I thought I should let you know.”
Ye Wushang turned to look. Upon close inspection, there was gray powder still clinging to the curtain.
He sniffed the air—there was a choking smell—and despite an hour having passed, the powder remained, undispersed. Clearly, something was wrong.
He glanced at the cuffs of Sun Chuan-zhi’s jacket. The gray powder scattered to the ground and, with a gust of wind, drifted toward the curtain.
“That concludes my report on Lan Group.”
“According to procedure, President An, you need to sign.”
At that moment, Sun Chuan-zhi, having finished his report, carried the documents toward the curtain!

“Stop!”
Sensing something amiss, Ye Wushang barked a command and immediately blocked his way!
Sun Chuan-zhi stared, furious. “Useless fool, what are you doing?”
“I’m about to have President An sign. Get out of the way and stop making trouble!”
Zhao Xiue stood up as well, scolding, “You good-for-nothing! Chuan-zhi just finished his report, and we’re waiting for President An’s signature to confirm the final candidate. Why are you making a scene now? Do you really not want anything good for the Lan family?”
“Ye Wushang, we were married, even if divorced, can’t you show a little consideration?”
“Are you really so eager to see the Lan family fall, so unwilling for us to win the agency right?”
The mother and daughter berated Ye Wushang in turn.
In their eyes, Sun Chuan-zhi’s presentation had been perfect.
Handing the documents to President An for signature was just a way to build rapport.
Now that everything was about to be settled, Ye Wushang appeared out of nowhere to interfere—what else could it be but sabotage?
“Young man, step aside.”
“Let President An sign, so the final agency candidate can be decided.”
“Whatever grudges you have with the Lan family are your own business, but don’t waste our time.”
“You may be head of security, but don’t take things too far.”
Other candidates began voicing their dissatisfaction.
Though they didn’t know the specifics of the Lan family’s situation, the earlier commotion in the lobby had already given them a bad impression of Ye Wushang.
Now, interfering here seemed nothing short of using his position for personal vendetta.
“If you want to hand over the documents, give them to me. I’ll deliver them.”
Unmoved by the mounting pressure, Ye Wushang seized the documents and grabbed at Sun Chuan-zhi.
He meant to take the edge of his jacket and compare it with the powder on the curtain to verify his suspicion.
But Sun Chuan-zhi, feeling rebellious, thought Ye Wushang was trying to attack him. He immediately started cursing: “You useless fool! I’ve ignored you, but you dare lay hands on me? You think your half-baked kung fu scares me?”
“Don’t think that just because you’re head of security, I won’t deal with you. Let go of me! Give me back the documents!”
With that, he lunged to snatch them back.
Concerned for An Lan’s safety, Ye Wushang didn’t dare escalate the commotion.
He kept shoving Sun Chuan-zhi, trying to push him back. In the chaos, the scene descended into a brawl!
At that moment, Xun Wuyang, who had been lurking in the shadows, suddenly rushed out and shoved Sun Chuan-zhi hard!
With a thud, Sun Chuan-zhi staggered and fell right in front of the curtain!
A deafening explosion followed!
The curtain erupted in flames, as if doused in gasoline, fire rapidly racing along the floor toward An Lan!
Only now did Ye Wushang understand.
The gray powder was gunpowder, and the trim on Sun Chuan-zhi’s jacket was made of a special kind of incendiary.

When the two made contact, it ignited instantly, producing an explosive chemical reaction!
They were creating chaos to kidnap someone!
“Quick, restrain Xun Wuyang!”
At Ye Wushang’s command, Baldy and his men rushed at Xun Wuyang!
Bang.
Thud-thud.
Boom.
Xun Wuyang looked frail but was actually highly skilled.
With a few swift moves, he dispatched Baldy and the others, then ducked low and rolled past to the other side of the curtain!
“Ah!”
Though the curtain blocked the view, Xun Wuyang moved with lightning speed—he had already taken An Lan hostage!
Ye Wushang’s expression grew grim as he charged forward, but Xun Wuyang was prepared. He kicked the incendiary on the floor, reigniting the fire!
“What’s going on?”
“Has Xun Wuyang gone mad? He actually took President An hostage?”
“Someone help! If anything happens to President An, we’ll all be implicated!”
Panic spread through the crowd.
But besides shouting, no one dared act rashly!
Even the security guards were no match for Xun Wuyang—what hope did the others have?
In desperation, Ye Wushang ignored the flames and charged through, forcibly rousing his internal energy to form a protective barrier and break through to the other side of the curtain.
Just then, Sun Chuan-zhi, who had been knocked to the ground, struggled to his feet.
Seeing An Lan about to be taken away, Ye Wushang grabbed him and hurled him at Xun Wuyang!
Crash!
It struck Xun Wuyang square on the arm.
He cried out in pain, loosening his grip, and An Lan quickly slipped away through a side passage!
As Xun Wuyang struggled to get up, the dizzy and disoriented Sun Chuan-zhi collapsed right on top of him!
By accident, he pinned Xun Wuyang down, preventing him from moving!
Meanwhile, the fire was quickly extinguished by the arriving bodyguards.
The crowd rushed over and, seeing Sun Chuan-zhi firmly holding down Xun Wuyang, broke into applause!
“Well done, Young Master Sun!”
“You actually subdued the criminal with your bare hands!”
“Xun Wuyang is such a skilled fighter, and yet you managed to take him down. I never expected this from you!”
“You’ve saved President An—this is a great deed!”
…