Volume 1: The Starting Chapter 8: Layout

  Xia Wenjie sent a few video screenshots from his mobile phone to confirm that the phone number he got from Zhang Tie was correct.

  These few pictures were all taken from that secretly filmed video, the images are very clear, you can clearly see Jin Er's face inside, there are scenes of him brutally beating Li Xue Song, and also scenes of him pushing Li Xue Song down the stairs.

  After sending these few pictures, he put his phone aside, picked up the yogurt and continued to sip slowly.

  After waiting for about five minutes, his phone rang.

  Xia Wenjie picked up his mobile phone, looked at the incoming call display, raised the corner of his mouth and smiled, then answered the phone.

  "Hey kid, what's with the picture you posted? What do you mean?"

  "One million." Xia Wenjie said slowly while sipping on yogurt.

  "What? What's one million?"

  "These are just a few pictures, I still have the complete video in my hand, it's very exciting, and for only one million, you can buy such an exciting video, I think Brother Jin Er is quite cost-effective."

  "What the f**k? You want a million from me? Who the h**l are you, tell me clearly... Hello? Hello?"

  When Jin Er was still on the phone, shouting and scolding loudly, Xia Wenjie hung up the phone again.

  This time he didn't have to wait too long, the phone that had just been hung up hadn't even reached ten seconds when it rang again.

  Before Jin Er could speak on the other end of the phone, Xia Wenjie said slowly: "Brother Jin Er, I think you should learn how to speak properly first, and then come talk to me."

  "Damn it..." The curse had just left his mouth when he swallowed it back. "You little brat, what's going on with this video?"

  "Jin Er Ge should be very clear about it."

  "What do I want?"

  "I said one million, not a penny less."

  "With just these few pictures, you dare to threaten me and ask for one million? Are you out of your mind?"

  "Haha." Xia Wenjie burst out laughing and shrugged his shoulders, saying: "I know, Jin Ergou has someone backing him up. This one video clip can't take you down."

  "It's fine as long as you know..."

  "But what if I post it online?"

  Xia Wenjie finished the yogurt, put down the empty cup, picked up the second cup of yogurt, and smiled: "Golden Brother should also understand how powerful the internet is now, and how terrifying public opinion is. Do you think that if this video spreads on the internet, the people behind your back can still protect you? If you are pursued by enemies, it's no big deal to hide and avoid the storm. But if you are wanted by the police, Golden Brother, where do you think you can hide?"

  "Damn! Damn it! You little brat, how dare you?"

  "I'm not afraid of anything, Jin Ge, don't bet your life on my courage."

  "...". The other end of the phone fell silent. After a long while, panting sounds came from the receiver, and Jin Er gritted his teeth and said: "You little brat, what do you want to do?"

  "It's still the same, one million, can't be less by a single cent."

  "Where am I going now to get you one million?"

  "Jin Ergou, that's your problem, not mine." Xia Wenjie said with a smile: "Tomorrow night at 12 o'clock, on the rooftop in the video, bring one million yuan, and I'll be waiting for you there. After receiving the money, I guarantee that this video will disappear forever from this world. If you don't see the money, then tomorrow's news will be lively. There are many videos online, but murder videos are rare, this is big news! Who knows if it will even make TV and newspapers?"

  "Go on, kid, you've got guts. I'll give you a million if I gave you the money, that video..."

  "Brother Jin Er, rest assured, I'm just after the money and don't want to fight with you to the death. We're a one-hand-gives-money-the-other-hand-gives-goods kind of deal, and afterwards we won't have anything to do with each other."

  "Alright, remember what you're saying now! Tonight at midnight, we'll meet without fail."

  "See you then, oh, and I forgot to say, Jin Er Ge is coming alone, remember, alone! My courage is small, if there are many people, I won't dare show up."

  "Hmm."

  He hung up the phone, and Xia Wenjie let out a long sigh. He finished his last bite of bread and drank the last bit of yogurt, then cleaned up the trash, jumped down from the table, and walked out slowly.

  Don't be fooled by his calm and composed appearance, he's actually extremely nervous, even after leaving the painting studio, his fingers are still trembling violently.

  He was unclear who the mysterious person who gave him the video was and what his purpose was, but he was glad that he didn't hand over the video to the police at the time, and it was precisely because of this that it came in handy now.

  To make a long story short, the next day after school, Xia Wenjie called his brother and said that he had a classmate's birthday party to attend, so he would be late getting home and didn't need him to wait for dinner.

  Then, he found a black internet cafe that didn't require ID and stayed there until 11 pm. When the time was about right, he came out of the internet cafe and headed to where he had agreed with Jin Er.

  This is a building that has been idle for many years, with more than ten floors high. The main structure of the building was completed, but it was abandoned for some unknown reason.

  As it was approaching midnight, a white van stopped in front of the building and four or five people got out from inside. The leader, who was bald, was none other than Jin Er.

  He held a travel bag in his hand, got off the bus and looked around. The place was relatively closed, especially at midnight, there were no streetlights on both sides of the road, it was dark and quiet, looking ominous and terrifying.

  They looked around for a while without finding anything unusual, and one of the big men said to Jin Er: "Second brother, are you really going to spend 1 million to exchange that video?"

  "Hmph." Jin Er snorted, retorting: "Do you think that's possible? The money I've earned with my life on the line, can I just give it away for nothing? You all hide downstairs for me, as soon as you see him coming down, you all come up together and beat him to death. If we really let him take the money, we'll all have to go drink northwest wind."

  "Understood, Second Brother." Everyone nodded in unison.

  Jin Er clenched his fists, picked up his travel bag and stepped into the building.

  The light inside the building was even dimmer, and Jin Er stepped up to the top floor with a deep and shallow foot. When he reached the rooftop, he looked up and saw that there was a person standing in the center of the rooftop, but since his back was facing him, he couldn't see his face clearly.

  The young rabbit finally arrived! He narrowed his eyes and strode over with big steps, opening his mouth to ask in a deep voice: "Kid, are you the one looking for me?"

  As he heard the voice, the man slowly turned around, revealing a youthful and delicate face that looked only sixteen or seventeen years old. The corners of his mouth rose, and with a smile, he said: "Jin Er Ge, long time no see."

  Jin Er Yi was stunned, did he recognize himself? He walked closer, looked up and down, sizing the other person carefully, feeling that this young man seemed somewhat familiar, but where had he seen him before, he couldn't think of it for a moment.

  "He asked doubtfully: 'Have we met before?'"

  "Have you seen it twice?"

  "Where?"

  "That doesn't matter." The young man chuckled and said: "What's important is that we're here to do business this time. I don't know if Jin Er Ge has brought the goods payment?"

  Jin Erqi was furious, "You're asking for money? This is clearly extortion! From young to old, he's always been the one extorting others, never has anyone dared to extort him. And now, the first person to do so happens to be a 16 or 17 year old punk."

  He shrugged and said, "Kid, you want a million, can you afford it?"

  The young man smiled and said: "That's my own business, so I won't bother Brother Jin Er with it."

  Jin nodded twice, muttering to himself: You think you're something, just wait and see how arrogant you'll be later! He threw the travel bag in his hand to the ground and said, "One million, it's all here."

  The young man was about to play a trick and reach for his waist, but Jin Er rushed forward and stepped on the travel bag with one foot, stretching out his hand and saying: "Youngster, don't be in such a hurry, you can take the money away, but what about the thing I want?"

  "This is it." The young man took out his phone from his pocket and waved it in front of Jin Er. Jin Er's face sank, and he snatched the phone away, randomly tapping on the screen while urgently asking, "Where's the video?"

  The young man smiled and said, "Of course it's in a video file."

  Jin Er glared at him fiercely, then opened the video file on his phone. There was only one video inside, and he clicked play.

  He was drenched in cold sweat just by watching the beginning of the video, he didn't continue to watch it and hastily closed the video, pressing the delete option at the first opportunity.

  Watching him poke at his phone with great force, the young man was somewhat worried that he would poke a hole in it.

  After deleting the video, Jin Erxin let out a long sigh of relief, then he raised his head, stared at the young man and asked word by word: "Young man, you won't still have a backup of this video, will you?"

  The young man smiled and said: "Don't worry, Jin Gege, I just wanted to make some money. Now, can you return my phone?"

  "I don't trust you, who can guarantee that you won't keep a backup and come back to blackmail me later?"

  "I wouldn't have done it even if I wanted to, and probably didn't have the chance anyway."

  "Hey kid, what do you mean by that?"

  "Our deal is over, but your deal has just begun." The young man smiled and leaned to one side.

  "What's yours and ours, kiddo? You'd better make it clear to me." Jin Er heard it vaguely, completely not understanding the young man's meaning.

  Just then, someone burst out laughing and said, "This little brother is right, our transaction has only just begun."

  As soon as the voice fell, a group of tall and strong men walked onto the rooftop. Jin Er's heart skipped a beat, he hastily turned his head to look, after seeing clearly who the newcomers were, his face suddenly turned deathly pale.

  He stared incredulously with wide eyes, subconsciously taking two steps back, stuttering: "Zh... Zhang Fan?"

  "Wow, Brother Jin still remembers my name, it's really not easy. Among the crowd, the first one was a middle-aged man with a fat figure, and when he walked, his fat shook violently. This person was none other than Zhang Fan."

  Jin Er's head buzzed, his legs went soft, and he almost collapsed to the ground. Now, he finally understood that the deal was fake, and the other party had used it as an excuse to lure him out.

  He turned his head back, his eyes blazing with anger as he glared at the young man, gritting his teeth and saying: "You little bastard, how dare you play tricks on me?"