Chapter 361

Chapter 361 Kneel When You Speak to Me!

Is it really no big deal for Su Rui to take down the dark underworld of the West?

When Zhou Anke said this, she had only taken it as Lin Aoxue’s teasing of Su Rui, and had never stopped to think about what those words truly meant.

Perhaps only Lin Aoxue and Su Rui could understand the deeper meaning behind them.

“No way, she actually said that?”

Su Rui’s mouth dropped wide open, as if he could swallow an egg whole.

Had Lin Aoxue figured out his identity?

“Why would I lie to you.” Zhou Anke seemed to enjoy watching Su Rui’s shocked expression, and covered her mouth with a light laugh.

Su Rui thought it over carefully and figured that must be the reason. Otherwise, that girl wouldn’t have said “Apollo, the Sun God” to him last time — that was clearly a probe.

On top of that, with those two dimwitted wildcards Kim Tae-joo and Holman hanging around, it would have been nearly impossible not to let something slip. He had given them strict instructions, but even though those two were formidable fighters, they were no match for Lin Aoxue when it came to brains.

Still, Su Rui was being a bit unfair to Kim Tae-joo and Holman this time. While they had let a few things slip to Lin Aoxue at the start, they had quickly clammed up. Lin Aoxue had probed a few more times but hadn’t gotten any useful information out of them.

Su Rui also knew, of course, that this kind of thing couldn’t be kept secret forever. He had inexplicably agreed to help with this matter, and had no idea how long he’d be tied to Lin Aoxue’s side. As long as those Western guys didn’t give up, he couldn’t leave — and over time, his true identity was bound to come out anyway.

Su Rui curled his lip and said, “Is Lin Aoxue a one-track mind or what? Give me a break — you think the Western underworld is something you can just ‘take down’ like that? No matter how capable I am, there’s no way I could take on all those guys working together.”

Zhou Anke smiled and said, “Director Lin said she believes in you, and I believe in you too. You can definitely do it.”

“You both really have that much faith in me?” Honestly, being praised by a beautiful woman felt pretty good.

“Of course. Director Lin said that if even you can’t pull it off, then no one in the entire Bikang Group can.”

“I knew it.” Su Rui rubbed his nose and said with a helpless yet self-satisfied air, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

In the cool summer night breeze, Zhou Anke smiled like a blooming flower. Even though she didn’t quite believe Su Rui was being serious, all the pressure that had been weighing on her shoulders melted away with that smile.

…………

It was already eleven o’clock at night, and Xu Wenjie was still sitting at his desk browsing through documents. The success he had achieved today was absolutely not something that could be accomplished by sheer intelligence and a sharp mind alone — it had been accompanied by relentless, grueling effort.

As the head of Gaoqi Bank’s Asia division, Xu Wenjie had already risen to the upper echelons of Wall Street. He kept his daily sleep to around four hours, reviewing countless reports, researching mountains of data, and analyzing figures — where would he find time to sleep?

After an hour hunched over his desk, Xu Wenjie stretched and rubbed his dry eyes. Thinking of the fame and success that was drawing ever closer, a fierce light rekindled deep in his gaze.

From a young age, he had harbored an American dream — to reach the very top of Wall Street and let the whole world witness his glory. Though there had always been one person’s shadow lurking behind his rapid rise, without that person, how could he have ever climbed to where he was now?

Xu Wenjie was a purely goal-driven utilitarian. In his view, as long as the ultimate objective was achieved, it didn’t matter how dirty or underhanded the process was. This world only remembered the victorious, not the means by which they rose.

Step by step, his dream was finally within reach.

Xu Wenjie pumped his fist with excitement, every trace of exhaustion swept away in an instant.

He gazed at his reflection in the mirror — still young, still handsome — his heart filled with boundless anticipation.

How many people in this world had reached such heights at his age? Those who had once run alongside him or struggled to keep up would ultimately be left far behind, never to be seen again.

But just at that moment, he suddenly caught a figure in the mirror.

That person was facing him, wearing a mocking smile.

It was the dead of night, and there had been no one else in the room — and now someone had appeared standing behind him, smiling at him like that. How could it be anything but unsettling?

The scene was nothing short of terrifying.

At the sight of it, Xu Wenjie nearly stopped breathing, every hair on his body standing on end. Almost on pure instinct, he swung his fist at the mirror.

Crash!

The pristine mirror shattered into fragments from Xu Wenjie’s punch, and his fist was sliced open by the sharp shards, blood flowing freely.

At that moment, a contemptuous voice sounded from behind him.

“I’m a living person standing right behind you — why are you taking it out on the mirror instead of coming at me?”

Xu Wenjie’s skin was covered in goosebumps. He spun around sharply, his heart nearly leaping into his throat, and managed to say with great difficulty, “You… who exactly are you?”

Xu Wenjie found Su Rui’s face vaguely familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before, but in this tense moment he couldn’t for the life of him figure out who this person was.

How could this high-and-mighty head of Gaoqi Bank’s Asia division have imagined that the man who had appeared behind him in the dead of night and nearly scared him half to death was the very same person he had casually mocked earlier that day.

In fact, back in the conference room, Xu Wenjie had had every opportunity to get a good look at Su Rui. But he hadn’t even deigned to look the presidents of China’s state-owned banks in the eye — so how could he possibly have spared a glance for a man sitting in the corner who hadn’t even introduced himself?

“Who I am doesn’t matter. Who you are is what matters.”

Su Rui sat on the sofa, watching Xu Wenjie’s flustered state with great amusement. He casually picked up the nail clippers from the coffee table, crossed his legs, and began trimming his nails — utterly at ease.

“You… what do you want? I… I’m calling the police!”

Xu Wenjie said this and reached for the phone on the desk.

But just as his hand touched the phone — before he could even grab it — a flash of cold light suddenly shot past his fingertips. The chill carried by that gleam even dropped the temperature of his palm by a few degrees.

Xu Wenjie couldn’t help but shudder.

Only then did he notice that his phone had been pinned to the desk by a dagger driven clean through it, the screen covered in a web of cracks like a spider’s web.

“Don’t try anything. It’s all pointless in front of me.” Su Rui was still trimming his nails with the clippers, speaking in an offhand tone, as if the dagger he had just thrown had nothing to do with him at all.

That move made Xu Wenjie too afraid to so much as twitch. This man who had entered the room without a sound gave him an overwhelming sense of mortal danger.

Still, seeing that Su Rui had no intention of killing him on the spot, Xu Wenjie’s nerves gradually began to ease. He understood — the other party had something to discuss with him, or perhaps a deal to propose.

Having spent so long in investment banking, Xu Wenjie could read the situation clearly. If he had no value to the other person, he might end up just like that phone — a dagger straight through the throat, pinned to the wall.

Fortunately, as formidable as this man was, he had no intention of killing him.

Having worked all this out, Xu Wenjie rubbed his face to soften his stiff expression, walked over to the sofa, sat down, and assumed a posture intended to look as composed as possible, then asked,

“Do we… have a grudge?”

“Not before. We do now.”

Su Rui didn’t even look up. He finished trimming his nails at his leisure, then flicked his wrist — the nail clippers spun through the air and flew straight at Xu Wenjie’s face.

In Xu Wenjie’s eyes, the silver nail clippers moved like a streak of light — completely unavoidable — and struck him squarely on the cheekbone with a heavy impact.

The clippers fell onto the sofa, and a gash opened on Xu Wenjie’s face, thin streams of blood seeping from the wound.

It hurt — badly enough that Xu Wenjie hissed sharply through his teeth. Half his face went numb from the blow.

“Don’t think that just because I’m not going to kill you, you can sit there and act like you’re negotiating with me. You don’t have the standing to be on equal footing with me.”

You don’t have the standing.

Su Rui finally raised his eyes and gave Xu Wenjie a sardonic look.

Caught in that gaze, the latter felt a chill rise in his heart that he couldn’t put into words — because he could clearly read four words in Su Rui’s eyes.

Utter contempt.

He was a senior figure at Gaoqi Bank — what reason did this man have to look at him with such contempt?

“Can’t understand plain speech?” Su Rui said with a hint of impatience. “You don’t have the standing to be on equal footing with me. Get up and talk to me on your feet.”

“But if we’re negotiating, we should be seated at the same level. If the two parties aren’t on equal footing, a negotiation can’t take place.”

Either Xu Wenjie had lost his mind, or his arrogance had simply gone off the rails — he was actually trying to posture as if he were negotiating with Su Rui. He seemed to have already forgotten Su Rui’s warning from moments ago, forgotten the nail clippers that had struck him in the face.

“You want to be on equal footing with me?”

Su Rui let out a cold laugh and kicked one end of the coffee table. The solid hardwood table, which was no lightweight, was sent sliding sideways by that single kick and slammed squarely into both of Xu Wenjie’s kneecaps.

“Ah!”

Xu Wenjie cried out in pain, feeling as though both kneecaps were about to split open.

Su Rui extended his leg, hooked the coffee table, and flicked his foot — the heavy table was sent skidding to the side.

With the table no longer pressing against him, Xu Wenjie instantly lost his balance and crashed heavily to his knees on the floor.

The hard landing sent a fresh wave of agony through his already injured knees, his face contorting from the pain.

Su Rui looked at Xu Wenjie, whose face was drenched in a cold sweat of pain, and smiled mockingly. “This is what happens when you refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit. I told you to stand, and you wouldn’t — so you can kneel for me instead.”