Zhao Long exhaled sharply, rubbing his temples as though the entire situation exhausted him."I don't believe you can do it," Zhao Long stated flatly. "Not in three days. It's impossible.""Well," Zeke replied, his voice steady. "If Mei were here, she would believe me. I'm not as useless as everyone in this family think I am.""I still say it's impossible," Zhao Long insisted."Then let's strike a wager," Zeke said calmly. "If I recover the money, you will not divorce Anna."Zhao Long turned to his wife, a bitter smile on his face. "What do you say, my dear? Do you want to give our 'useless' son-in-law of ours a chance? He is the only one, out of all your beloved children, who has offered even a glimmer of a solution."Anna Zhao swallowed hard. She despised Zeke almost as much as she despised Mei. The thought of accepting his help was humiliating. But at this moment, Zeke was the only person standing between her and her husband's threat of a divorce.She trembled, her voice cracking

Inside the warm, tidy living room, Zeke set a small tray on the table. On it were two porcelain cups of steaming Chinese tea and a plate of neatly arranged stir-fried vegetables, soft scrambled eggs, and freshly pan-fried dumplings. “Here,” he said calmly. “Have some tea.” Anna Zhao, still stiff and embarrassed, lifted the cup and took a sip. Her eyebrows twitched. The tea was surprisingly good. Clearly not something made by an amateur. As she sipped again, her gaze wandered around the house. Her eyes darted left and right, scanning the spotless floors, the polished shelves, the neatly folded blankets, the perfectly aligned shoes by the door. She squinted. “Mei wasn’t always the domesticated type,” she muttered. “She’s messy. She misplaces things constantly. And she’s a terrible cook.” Zeke hid a small smile as he took his seat opposite her. “That’s because I do all the house chores,” he said lightly. “Cooking, cleaning, laundry—you name it.” Anna blinked, surprised. She a

Kelvin Owens continued pacing across the stage, smiling confidently as he carried on with his speech. He was completely unaware that every single person in the hall was hearing every filthy thought running through his mind.All 300 attendees were stunned as his thoughts kept slithering through their head like poison:“I can't believe I wasted twenty years of my life in that soul-crushing corporate job. This Ponzi scheme is my real breakthrough. These idiots practically handed me their life savings. Easy money.”“Once we finish milking this city dry, we’ll expand overseas. We’ll take this scam to Malaysia, then London. We’ll make billions off these gullible fools across the globe.”The crowd’s expression hardened into stones. They gritted their teeth and clenched their fists.No one cared how they were hearing his thoughts. Instead, their confusion melted into a boiling uncontrollable rage.A man in the center row shot to his feet, his face purple with fury. “You criminals!” he roare

The bullet train hummed smoothly along its tracks, the city lights streaking past the window like golden threads as it made it's way to Central City. In the quiet compartment, Anna Zhao sat stiffly beside Zeke, the crisp envelope containing the cashier's check sitting on her lap.To Anna, the check felt like a heavy weight on her lap. She stared straight ahead, unable to process everything that had happened at the last hour.Finally, she turned to Zeke, her lips parting slightly. "How did you do it, Zeke? The money. How did you get it back?"Zeke kept his gaze forward. He has already prepared his story. "When the mob rushed the stage, I figured Kelvin Owens would have a backdoor escape. I found the service exit just as he and his partners were trying to slip away." He paused for a while, then shrugged. "I cornered and told them I'd start yelling and draw the entire angry crowd straight to them unless they wrote a check to refund my mother-in-law. They were desperate. So they wrote m

Zeke took the invitation card from her hand and turned it over, reading every word on it before looking back at her.“Why are you required to bring your sons-in-law?” he asked. “What kind of meeting is this?”Anna sighed softly. “It’s a women’s thing, Zeke. They like showing off. They want to be spoiled by their daughters' husbands in front of everyone with expensive gifts and fine drinks. You know how women are. It's just a front to make the other women jealous.” Then she added, “But really, it’s more about strengthening relationship between a mother-in-law and her daughter's husband. Creating closeness in the family.”Zeke lifted a brow. “That’s weird,” he admitted bluntly. “And I don’t think this is a good idea. I don’t exactly have money lying around to make your friends jealous. I can’t compete with their sons-in-law.”Anna quickly waved her hand. “You don’t have to worry about that. I’ll fund your account with $300,000. That’s half of my allowance money. You don’t need to compet