Futile Devices Scans

The bun shop in the urban village opened early in the morning and closed at noon, only doing half a day’s business.

There was still a quarter of an hour before noon. Only the last steamer of buns remained in the shop.

The buns were packed into a plastic bag, along with two sealed cups of millet porridge, and handed to Lin Yi.

The owner was careless and hadn’t marked which porridge had sugar added. A child in the shop was hunched over the table doing homework. Lin Yi pushed one of the sealed porridge cups in front of him. “Make a mark.”

The child froze for a moment, then, seeing it was Lin Yi, immediately grew nervous and picked up a pen. “What kind of mark?”

Lin Yi thought seriously for a moment. “Draw a heart.”

Soon, a black heart was drawn on the plastic seal with a carbon pen.

The more Lin Yi looked at it, the more awkward it felt. He rubbed it with his fingertip, smearing it into a patch of black.

The bun shop wasn’t far from Zhou Ruo An’s old house—just across an open lot. In the densely packed urban village, an open space like this was rare. The ground was sandy and rocky, with little vegetation. In summer, people gathered here to chat idly; in winter, it was empty, occasionally used by children playing soccer or stray dogs fighting over scraps.

The Spring Festival had already passed, but the cold wind hadn’t stopped. Lin Yi walked with his head down, his footsteps on the gravel sounding especially clear.

Suddenly, the roar of a car engine came from ahead—fast, very fast.

Lin Yi looked up, his brows tightening. The car speeding toward him was his own.

Dust trailed behind it, the engine pushed to its limit. Driven with fierce intent, it charged straight at Lin Yi.

He twisted the plastic bag upward, sealing it so dust wouldn’t get in. Watching the car approach at full speed, Lin Yi took out a cigarette and placed it between his lips.

The open lot wasn’t large. In an instant, the car was close. Brown leather shoes slammed the accelerator, the vehicle cutting through cold wind and dust as it rushed toward him.

His thumb flicked the lighter, and in the harsh noise, a trembling flame sprang to life.

Inside the driver’s seat, veins bulged on the hand gripping the steering wheel. The speed increased, the distance closing. When the wind from the car began to shake the flame, Lin Yi looked up at Zhou Ruo An inside the car.

He suddenly thought of that abandoned warehouse—back then, Zhou Ruo An had hated him just as fiercely.

“Lin Yi, one day you’ll die because of this.”

The man with the cigarette clearly remembered his own answer at the time.

“Hopefully,” he had said.

Ten meters. Five meters. Three meters. The rushing wind and dust blurred vision. Just as the swirling grit blocked his sight, Lin Yi suddenly heard the sharp screech of brakes.

At the final moment, Zhou Ruo An yanked the steering wheel. The front of the car brushed past Lin Yi’s clothes, and the flame was snuffed out by the cold wind.

The gravel created strong resistance, so the braking distance wasn’t long. Zhou Ruo An slumped over the steering wheel, breathing heavily. Only when he heard a light knock on the window did the fury in his eyes slowly settle into coldness.

He straightened up, lowered the window, and looked directly at the man standing outside.

The tall man bent slightly and asked calmly, “Why didn’t you hit me?”

“It’s not worth risking my life for you.”

Lin Yi nodded. “True. Not worth it.”

The hand not holding the buns reached into the car. Zhou Ruo An immediately leaned back, his eyes full of wariness and anger.

“Button your collar.” Lin Yi pushed the young man’s collar button back into place, covering the bite marks on his throat and the mottled bruises on his neck.

The faint touch of his fingers against the skin instantly brought back memories of the humiliation from the night before. Zhou Ruo An grabbed that hand and leaned slightly forward, his breath brushing against Lin Yi’s face.

“Lin Yi, I won’t let you off.”

After fastening the button, Lin Yi didn’t linger and withdrew his hand. “I know. With how vengeful you are, there’s no way you’d let me off.”

He placed the buns into the car and added, “There’s ointment inside. Apply it three times a day.”

The fingers gripping the steering wheel turned pale and stiff. Zhou Ruo An started the car expressionlessly and stepped on the gas.

The car roared away, and the plastic bag of buns was violently thrown out of the window. The porridge cup shattered, leaving a mess.

Lin Yi walked over, untied the plastic bag, took out a bun, and, watching the car disappear into the distance, stuffed it into his mouth.

……

It took Lin Yi three days to find his car again. It was parked in a back alley near an elementary school, filthy and covered in “wounds.”

He crouched beside the car smoking. Just then, some students passing by after school gathered around it, giggling, unzipping their pants.

“Hey!” Lin Yi’s expression darkened, fierce. “What are you doing?”

The children were startled and clutched their waistbands, stammering, “Peeing.”

Lin Yi picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at their feet. “Where the hell do you think you’re peeing?”

The kids looked aggrieved. “Someone’s been paying us these past few days to pee on the car tires. One yuan each time—more if we do it more times.”

Another chimed in, “He also gave us chewing gum. After the sweetness is gone, we stick it on the car. Whoever sticks it the firmest gets more money.”

With a cigarette between his lips, Lin Yi ran a hand over his short hair and let out a low, amused “Damn.”

He had someone tow the car to a wash shop, then made a call. “Has the hidden camera in A3 private room been removed? Keep the footage. I’ll need it.”

……

Recently, Zhou Ruo An had been overwhelmed with the acquisition of the electronics factory.

As a key project for Shengkai Foreign Trade’s new year, the acquisition was led by Chairman Zhou Ran Ming, who formed a project team with clearly defined responsibilities. However, the position of project leader remained vacant. To put it plainly, whoever proposed the most viable plan and could acquire “Jinggui Electronics” at the most reasonable price would become the project leader—and most likely the future general manager of Jinggui Electronics.

Looking through the factory’s documents, Zhou Ruo An muttered to himself, “The production line was just upgraded, capacity can fully cover Shengkai’s current export orders for electronic products, transportation is convenient, facilities are complete… such a juicy piece of meat—there’s no shortage of wolves fighting over it.”

Ren Yu stood beside him and handed over another file. “Within the group, both the eldest young master and the second young master have already submitted acquisition plans. The first and second branches also have people eyeing this project. Not just internally—many external companies are also planning to acquire Jinggui. Fourth Young Master, there are too many competitors. If the group doesn’t tilt policy in our favor, our chances aren’t high.”

“The group won’t favor me alone. Relying on them is worse than relying on myself.” Zhou Ruo An flipped the documents back to the front page. Staring at the photo of the company’s chairman, he slipped into his scheming mindset and murmured, “Shao Chen Feng… can’t you have some weakness for me to grab onto?”

Before he finished speaking, his phone on the desk chimed with a message. While still looking at the documents, Zhou Ruo An tapped it open, and a video immediately popped up.

The scene was dim—a deep alley, a group of burly men crowding together… Within layers of encirclement, Zhou Ruo An spotted Lin Yi’s calm yet ruthless face.

His interest was instantly piqued. He pushed the documents aside and turned up the volume.

Ren Yu leaned in to look and gasped, “He… how…”

Ren Yu was afraid of Lin Yi—he even stammered just watching through a screen.

Zhou Ruo An found that reaction irritating. Ren Yu acted like a bold elite in public, but in front of Lin Yi he was nothing, scared to the point of barely speaking.

“I had people block him. Tonight, I’m going to make sure he’s finished.”

Ren Yu counted the number of people in the video and looked worried. “Will this many be enough?”

The video was short and chaotic. Zhou Ruo An watched it twice from beginning to end, then stood up and put on his coat. “I hired three groups from out of town—one after another to wear him down. No matter how tough Lin Yi is, he’s still flesh and blood. One punch each would be enough to kill him.”

Zhou Ruo An walked to the door and pulled it open. Behind him, Ren Yu asked, “There’s a meeting later. Fourth Young Master, are you going out now?”

Zhou Ruo An didn’t even turn back, just waved a hand. “What’s the point of a meeting? Watching Lin Yi die is much more interesting. Ask for leave for me.”

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