Chapter 8

A staff member murmured back, "It's about the gymnasium renovation at the start of the year."

Jiang Yihao remembered, and was left speechless.

At the beginning of the year, the club needed to repair Qili Gymnasium, RQ's home ground. The boss wanted to save money and, ignoring Lao Fang's advice, hired a relative to do the job. But the relative cut corners and did shoddy work, and the two sides had been squabbling over the remaining 1.6 million yuan for half a year.

Jiang Yihao couldn't understand what the boss had been thinking—trying to save a few pennies only to lose more in the end. If this blew up, no matter who was right or wrong, the club would be the one to suffer.

"What are you waiting for? Just pay them off and send them packing. The tabloids love to make up stories about us, and we're just handing them free material."

The staff member's mouth fell open, his expression saying, "Little Boss, are you joking?"

Jiang Yihao blinked.

Damn, he'd almost forgotten again.

Since joining RQ, the hardest thing to learn wasn't ball skills—it was suppressing the urge to throw money at every problem.

Anyway, he'd helped them more than once; one more time wouldn't hurt. Jiang Yihao resignedly pulled out his phone.

But then he had a second thought: to everyone else, he was just a driver's son. How would he explain where the money came from?

The fat man, seeing Jiang Yihao kick up a fuss without any follow-through, assumed he had the upper hand and sneered, "I thought you were someone important, but you're just a nobody. If you're broke, get lost—you've got no say here! RQ, pay me back my hard-earned money! RQ, deadbeat!"

Jiang Yihao raised an eyebrow. "Who are you calling a deadbeat?"

The fat man looked up at Jiang Yihao, who was a head taller than him, with utter contempt. "I'm talking about you—RQ Talun! You're just an empty shell now. Forget 1.6 million, you can't even come up with 600,000. What, want me to say it again? You're deadbeats! Deadbeats!"

Jiang Yihao charged at him and grabbed his collar. "Say that again!"

The fat man wasn't afraid at all; he even stuck his neck out provocatively. "Go on, hit me! If you dare, I'll make sure everyone sees RQ hitting people while owing money!"

The people behind the fat man joined in, egging them on. The staff struggled to pull the two apart, pleading, "Little Boss, forget it. Let's just swallow it. The team can't afford any more scandals!"

Jiang Yihao's veins bulged. He'd never been treated like this in his life. Just as he was about to fight back, he caught sight of the wolf-head logo hanging above the lobby. He wiped a hand across his forehead, forcing himself to calm down. "Fine! Take your money and get lost!"

The staff thought they'd misheard and tried to persuade him further, but Jiang Yihao raised a hand to stop them, angrily tapping open his banking app with the other.

He was going to settle this, no matter what. If he didn't get rid of that fat man, his name wasn't Jiang.

After a facial scan, Jiang Yihao quickly logged into his account. The moment he saw the balance, his eyes went wide.

The entire account held only eighteen yuan and eighty cents.

He squinted at the screen, frantically refreshing it until he nearly wore a hole in the glass. The amount didn't budge.

Where had the hundreds of millions in cash gone?

Where was his money?

His money!

He had the most exclusive and secure wealth protection service in the world; no outsider could touch his account. Not to mention this was his private stash—even his parents didn't know about it.

Jiang Yihao quickly opened the transaction records. Damn it, how could he have forgotten this!

A few days ago, Bai Xingmiao had said he could add some investments now and asked how much he wanted to put in.

Jiang Yihao asked, "Does more investment mean more profit?"

Bai Xingmiao replied, "Yes."

Jiang Yihao said, "Fine, invest it all." Meaning, Bai Xingmiao could decide how much to invest, as long as he got his share later.

Bai Xingmiao had a supernatural knack for investments, and Jiang Yihao trusted his friend completely, handing over all investment matters without ever asking questions.

But this bastard had swept every last cent from his account. If today's interest payment of over 500,000 hadn't come in, he wouldn't even have had enough for the toll fees.

I told you to invest more, not to leave me with nothing!

Jiang Yihao cursed inwardly.

Sometimes he couldn't stand his childhood friend either. Bai Xingmiao had always been the smartest person of their generation—so brilliant he looked down on everyone like they were monkeys, with emotional intelligence to match.

Frowning, he called Bai Xingmiao. Before Jiang Yihao could even get a curse out, he was cut off by a cold, clear voice message.

"Invested this much for now. Add more when you have the money."

What did that mean? He'd stripped him down to nothing but skin and bones, and that wasn't enough?

Jiang Yihao's face twisted in fury.

The fat man, seeing him standing there dumbfounded, grew bolder. "Where's the money? Didn't you tell me to get lost? Go on, show me the money! I think RQ shouldn't be called RQ—it should be called PQ, because you're so broke you've lost your pants, hahaha!"

"Shut up!" Jiang Yihao couldn't hold back any longer and swung a fist at the fat man. The crowd in the lobby immediately surged—some breaking it up, some egging it on, pushing and shoving. The glittering RQ reception hall turned into a bazaar, the huge wolf-head logo watching the farce silently from above.

"Stop—" In the middle of the noise, a trembling girl's voice cut through the chaos. "Don't fight! RQ has money, please stop!"

People wondered who it was, and turned to see a girl with striking, vivid features but a pure, bellflower-like air, struggling to push through the crowd.

Ruan Ning had been hiding nearby, watching the whole thing. She couldn't understand why Jiang Yihao said he'd pay but didn't, and then they started fighting over nothing.

She marveled at the coincidence—even if Jiang Yihao didn't have money, she did. Seeming to have been cast as the little errand boy rescuing the young master, she gathered her courage, pushed through the noisy crowd, and nervously shoved the check into his hand. "Here, I'm returning your money. I don't owe you anything anymore."

Without looking, Jiang Yihao flung it away, shouting, "How did a tourist get in here? Security! Security—"

Ruan Ning was dumbfounded. Was this guy an idiot?

Jiang Yihao was tall, so she had to raise the check and wave it furiously in front of his eyes. "Look closely, it's me!"

She was so nervous her voice quivered, the tail of her words like a fluffy little tail brushing across his heart.

He squinted at the amount and date on the check. Wasn't this the one he'd written in the lounge?

So this girl...

A thunderbolt struck his mind. His breathing quickened, and he turned his head stiffly, his face beginning to flush.

Ruan Ning didn't know what she'd done wrong. Jiang Yihao suddenly stared at her with a complicated expression, silent, his gaze so intense it felt like it might burn her.

Her ears reddened, and she looked away, embarrassed. The crowd around them buzzed with speculation about who she was and why she'd appeared. Jiang Yihao, dazed, seemed oblivious to it all, still staring at her without blinking.

He couldn't believe it. The girl he'd been searching for days had dropped out of the sky in the most unlikely place.

That night she'd been dressed like a princess; today, in a plain denim shirt, he'd almost missed her.

It was the first time he'd seen her in broad daylight. She was thinner than he remembered, and looked even younger.

An oval face with bright, watery eyes, black wavy hair in twin tails, delicate and gorgeous features. She bit her lip nervously, revealing rabbit-like front teeth, with a touch of innocent petulance.

The fat man, watching the two exchange strange looks, grew impatient. "Hey! Don't think you can collude and put on an act to distract me—I'm not falling for it! Let me tell you, if I don't get my money today, I'm not leaving. Might as well go down together!"

Ruan Ning, frightened by the fat man's vicious look, yanked at Jiang Yihao's sleeve. "Please say something!"

"Oh—" Jiang Yihao snapped back to reality. "See this? What's this?"

He didn't reach for the check. Instead, he turned to curse at the fat man, but his eyes stayed locked on Ruan Ning's face, afraid she'd vanish the moment he blinked.

Ruan Ning had no choice but to hold the check by its bottom and raise it high overhead for everyone to see. "Isn't this what you want? Is this enough?"

The fat man glanced at it, his arrogance instantly deflating. He stuttered, "Two... two million?"

The crowd gasped, all eyes converging on Ruan Ning, wondering who she was.

"That should cover your wages, right? Please stop saying RQ is bankrupt," Ruan Ning said, her face burning as she spoke with a serious air.

Ha, so cute, Jiang Yihao thought.

The fat man, seeing real money, immediately switched to a fawning smile. "Enough, absolutely enough."

"But," the fat man suddenly thought of something and sneered, "how do I know if it's real or fake? Can a little girl like you actually have two million?"

Huh?

Ruan Ning had thought showing him the numbers would be enough; she hadn't expected him to doubt it.

She quietly turned to Jiang Yihao for help, but he was still in a daze.

She was getting annoyed. Hadn't he sworn to protect RQ?