Futile Devices Scans

The sky gradually darkened, and only the last traces of light remained on the horizon.

Zhou Ruo An stood before the window. The dim light behind him cast a swath of shadow in front of him, burying his youthful face within it so that his expression could not be seen.

After Zhou Zhe finished speaking, the room fell silent for a moment. Only when a lighter ignited a cigarette, adding a glowing red ember to the dim room, did Zhou Ruo An’s voice slowly drift out through the smoke.

“Rumors?” He flicked ash into Madam Zhou’s favorite flowerpot. “People can twist black into white with nothing more than a few moving lips. Our Third Branch is flourishing right now, so naturally some people are jealous. Stirring conflict between father and sons is the fastest way to tear apart our Third Branch. If my brothers follow their rhythm, they’ll truly be hurting their own while delighting their enemies.”

Seated at the head position, Zhou Jing Tao—who had remained silent the entire time—suddenly twitched a brow. He raised his teacup for a sip, but the tea was too hot, causing him to cough lightly.

Zhou Bin snorted. “Zhou Ruo An, stop using family infighting as a shield. You’re not worthy of such high-level schemes.” The man crossed his legs and bounced the tip of his shoe confidently. “Looks like you won’t shed tears until you see the coffin. Since you keep insisting it’s all rumors, then let’s meet the person who’s been ‘spreading rumors’ about you.”

Zhou Bin lifted his chin, and immediately someone slapped the wall switch with a loud click. The villa flooded with bright light, leaving nowhere to hide.

Zhou Ruo An quickly concealed the panic in his eyes. Holding the cigarette in one hand, he steadied his voice. “Since the person’s already here, then let’s meet them.”

The moment his words fell, the carved wooden doors leading to the dining room were slowly pushed open from the other side. A leather shoe stepped in first. As the doors widened, Fu Chun Shen walked into everyone’s line of sight.

He was tall, blocking most of the person behind him. Only a vague outline and a corner of clothing could be seen—short, slightly plump, plainly dressed.

When he reached the living room, Fu Chun Shen shifted slightly to the side, finally revealing the person behind him.

The moment the round, darkened face appeared, the muscles around Zhou Ruo An’s eyes tightened abruptly.

It was Wang Zhao Di, his former neighbor from the urban village.

“Auntie Wang?” Zhou Ruo An murmured with a frown.

“…Xiao Zhou.” Upon seeing Zhou Ruo An, the woman’s gaze became evasive. Subconsciously, she shrank back behind Fu Chun Shen again, only to be pushed forward by the man, forcing her to stand in the center of the hall and become the focus of everyone’s attention.

Wang Zhao Di… Zhou Ruo An quickly reviewed everything he knew about her in his mind. A single mother, talkative and nosy, occasionally greedy for small advantages. In a place like the urban village, she could hardly be considered some monster or villain.

Fu Chun Shen spoke clearly, possessing a rich and perfectly articulated voice. Calmly, he said, “Ms. Wang, go ahead.”

The woman shrank into herself, shoulders hunched and back bent. “Where… where should I start?”

Fu Chun Shen paced forward calmly and lightly patted the woman on the shoulder, softening his usually cold voice. “Just tell us what you mentioned to me a few days ago. What did Fourth Young Master’s roommate, Zhang Jin, and the woman who came to visit Zhang Jin say?”

Zhou Ruo An suddenly lowered his lashes, swiftly hiding the shock in his eyes. His fingers rapidly rubbed the coin several times, yet he still could not steady himself.

Wang Zhao Di and Zhou Ruo An had once lived in the same communal building. The building was a product of the 1960s—one household’s door directly faced another household’s window. More than twenty families were crammed onto a single floor. Stepping out in the morning meant exchanging thirty or fifty greetings before the day had even begun, enough to exhaust one’s voice immediately.

Wang Zhao Di lived next door to Zhou Ruo An, and she was someone who talked a great deal. It was highly possible she had met Zhang Jin’s mother. Whether the two women had any private contact or exchanged any conversations, Zhou Ruo An had absolutely no idea.

And now, the woman herself was sizing up Zhou Ruo An as he stood by the window. The lighting in the Zhou family estate could only be described as magnificent. Zhou Ruo An had signed the contract today and had specially dressed himself up. Narrow eyes, thin lips, devastatingly handsome in an aggressive sort of way—completely different from the scammer he had once been in the urban village.

The aura surrounding Zhou Ruo An made the woman even more intimidated. She shifted her gaze away and stared blankly at the floor as she answered, “That day, I’d just gotten off work when I saw that woman downstairs sneaking glances upstairs all suspicious-like. I went over and started chatting with her, asking who she was looking for. I didn’t expect her to say…”

Her voice paused slightly, but before she could continue, Zhou Ruo An interrupted her. “Auntie Wang, just say whatever you have to say. The sooner you finish, the sooner you can go home. Xiao Sihan is still waiting for you at home.”

The moment her daughter’s name left Zhou Ruo An’s mouth, it was as though someone had suddenly flipped a switch inside the woman. The gaze that had nowhere to settle suddenly filled with guilt. She looked back at Zhou Ruo An, staring at the faint smile near his lips, and slowly swallowed the words she had been about to say.

The Zhou Ruo An standing before her now was refined and aristocratic, but what the woman saw instead was the young man from two years ago beneath the scorching summer sun—a younger, more spirited face carrying faint impatience as he followed behind her daughter for two straight months, escorting her to and from school every day.

That year, Wang Zhao Di’s daughter had been fourteen. She had grown taller, more graceful, and increasingly drew unwanted attention.

There were few decent people in the urban village. Her daughter had repeatedly been harassed, and someone had even once tried dragging her into a back alley.

By coincidence, Zhou Ruo An had happened to pass by that day. He walked past, then backed up again and glanced into the alley.

A soccer ball rolled to his feet. A snot-nosed little boy nearby asked him to kick it back. Zhou Ruo An flicked the ball up with one foot, sending it flying into the alley instead, then leaned against the wall and said to the crying girl, “Why didn’t you wait for me to pick you up before heading home on your own?”

After that, Zhou Ruo An often escorted the girl to and from school, though not for free. At the time, he had just learned how to smoke and was at the stage where he loved acting cool, so he would hold a cigarette in his mouth and tell the girl, “I don’t do losing business deals. From now on, tell your mom to give me five yuan a day. No money, no escort service.”

Later, Lin Yi felt that Zhou Ruo An spending time escorting the girl was a waste of time, so he beat up everyone who had ever targeted her. After that, the girl was never harassed again whenever she went out and remained safe and sound until now.

Wang Zhao Di had always remembered this. So it wasn’t that she had been blinded by greed from the very beginning. It was only after her account balance suddenly gained an extra hundred thousand yuan that the woman pinched her thigh hard and followed Fu Chun Shen into the Zhou family villa.

Conscience could not compete against real money. Once again, the woman avoided Zhou Ruo An’s gaze and said guiltily in a quiet voice, “Xiao Zhou and Xiao Zhang lived next door to me. Every three months, a woman would secretly come knocking on their door. Neither of those boys liked her, and neither ever gave her a pleasant face. Later…”

Like an old tape recorder with its cassette jammed, Wang Zhao Di’s voice snagged once more on the word “later.”

Her phone rang. The single-tone ringtone had been turned up to maximum volume—shrill, noisy, and irritating.

Zhou Ruo An bit down on his cigarette and leisurely suggested, “Auntie Wang, why not answer the call first? Words won’t grow legs and run away from your stomach. You can continue later.”

Wang Zhao Di forced an awkward smile toward Fu Chun Shen and pulled out her phone, lighting up the black-and-white screen. The elderly-style phone displayed huge caller ID text; just a word filled the entire screen: Sweetie.

The caller was precisely the girl Zhou Ruo An had once escorted for so many days.

Wang Zhao Di frowned slightly and turned away to answer the call, cupping a hand over her mouth as she asked softly, “Sweetie, it’s evening self-study period right now. Why are you calling me?”

The girl sounded cheerful on the phone, her voice lifted brightly. “Brother Lin Yi was handling something near the school, so he stopped by to bring me lots of tasty food. My classmates are all super jealous. Oh right, school’s about to end soon. I’m going home in Brother Lin Yi’s car later, and he told me to call and let you know.”

“Lin…”

“I want a word with your mother.” A low male voice suddenly cut into the call, sharp as a blade, severing the softness between mother and daughter.

“Don’t speak. Just listen.” The man seemed to walk several steps away. Amid the somewhat weakened noise around him, he calmly said, “You know who I am, right? Lin Yi. People also call me Ghost Li. Wang Zhao Di, today I’ll only say one thing to you. Since Zhou Ruo An was able to pull your daughter out of Ping San Alley, I can just as easily shove her back in again. As for what you should do, think it through carefully yourself.”

The line disconnected. Silence filled the receiver, yet Wang Zhao Di continued holding the phone in the same posture, as though someone had cast a freezing spell on her. Even her eyelashes did not move.

Zhou Zhe had grown impatient. The Bodhi beads in his hand clicked softly together, and Fu Chun Shen immediately understood his master’s meaning. He called out to Wang Zhao Di. The woman trembled slightly and finally snapped out of her silence, lowering the phone and staring at the floor.

“Can you continue now?” Fu Chun Shen prompted.

“Yes, yes.” Clutching the phone tightly in her hand, Wang Zhao Di repeated her earlier words stiffly. “Neither of the two boys liked that woman, and neither gave her a good face. Later… after Xiao Zhou entered the city and found that inhuman biological father of his, I learned that woman was actually Xiao Zhou’s birth mother.”

The “inhuman biological father” she referred to was currently seated right in the center of the sofa, his face stiff and extremely ugly.

Even Madam Zhou’s expression darkened along with his. Her husband had gone outside to fool around, fathered a bastard child, and now even got cursed to his face by someone from the lower ranks of society. For the official wife of the household, this was hardly something honorable.

Third Miss secretly curled her lips upward, and her motions peeling longans became much lighter and more cheerful.

Fu Chun Shen’s expressions were usually monotonous, yet now his brows knitted tightly together. “What nonsense are you talking about, Ms. Wang? That’s not what you told me two days ago.”

Wang Zhao Di stiffened, then her face filled with bitterness. “You come chat with me every single day, talking about this and that. How am I supposed to remember everything I ever said to you?”

“You said that woman came to see Zhang Jin. You said you once heard her ask Zhang Jin to forgive her.”

“I never said that.” Wang Zhao Di denied it immediately. “How can you just change people’s words around like that?”

Fu Chun Shen’s face had already turned anxious. Being so tall, he practically loomed over the woman. “I couldn’t have heard wrong. I even confirmed it with you over and over again.”

Standing by the window, Zhou Ruo An straightened up and slowly walked over to the two of them. He draped an arm over the woman’s shoulders as though protecting her.

Lowering himself slightly, he looked at Wang Zhao Di and asked gently, “Did Auntie Wang perhaps say something that Secretary Fu misunderstood? Back then, I hated my mother and didn’t want to see her, so she often asked Zhang Jin to pass messages to me. The phrase ‘forgive her’ that you overheard—could it have been something she asked Zhang Jin to relay to me?”

“Yes, yes, yes.” The woman nodded repeatedly. “That’s exactly what happened.”

She turned toward Fu Chun Shen. “That’s exactly what I told you a few days ago. You’re the one who misunderstood it.”

“How is that possible?” Fu Chun Shen glanced toward Zhou Zhe, who continued turning the Buddhist beads in his hand. That face, once famed for its gentleness, was now filled with gloom and menace.

Turning back to the woman, Secretary Fu suddenly became stern. “Ms. Wang, why did you change your story? Were you threatened by someone?”

“I wasn’t!” Wang Zhao Di hugged her arms tightly around herself and shook her head exaggeratedly. “Everything I said is true. Your money—oh right, I’ll return your money too. Those things you taught me to say weren’t true. I can’t go against my conscience and tell lies.”

“Money?” Zhou Ruo An let out a silent laugh after removing his cigarette. He asked the woman, “How much did they give you?”

“One hundred thousand.”

Zhou Ruo An removed the cigarette from his lips and laughed soundlessly. “One hundred thousand. You want to drive me out of the Zhou family, yet you can’t even bear to spend real money.”

He slowly walked before the gathered crowd and directly pressed the cigarette butt into the tea table made from golden-thread nanmu wood worth hundreds of thousands.

“If you want me out of the Zhou family, just say it outright. Why make things so ugly? Neither side gets to keep any dignity this way.”

Within this villa, Zhou Ruo An had always played the fool—pretending stupidity, joking around, appearing like a clown. Yet now his spine was blade-straight, his posture proud and imposing as he stood there overwhelming the room. Calmly, he took out his phone and made a call, and once the line connected, he spoke a name that shocked everyone present.

“Uncle Ran Ming, I personally request to step down from the position of General Manager of Jinggui Electronics. Out of respect for you, I’ll continue handling communication with Shao Chen Feng, but whether he fulfills the contract afterward, or whether he breaches it, will depend entirely on Shengkai’s fortune. After all, there are plenty of companies willing to pay his penalty fees for him.”

“Zhou Ruo An.” Zhou Bin gritted his teeth furiously. “Do you think Shengkai will collapse without you?”

“Collapse? Not quite.” Zhou Ruo An ended the call and turned toward the exit, his back straight and sharp, his figure lonely and proud. “But the Third Branch will be left with nothing except vegetarian meals and Buddhist prayers.”

The Bodhi beads in Zhou Zhe’s hand suddenly stopped moving. Beneath his towering rage, even the Buddhist Heart Sutra he so often recited could no longer continue.

The villa was luxurious enough that even footsteps upon the floor sounded especially crisp. As Zhou Ruo An walked away with his back turned, Zhou Jing Tao’s phone rang.

The man who had remained silent the entire night immediately answered and respectfully called out, “Chairman.”

The call was brief and ended quickly. Zhou Jing Tao held the phone in silence for a moment. Just as Zhou Ruo An’s hand touched the doorknob, the older man suddenly lifted those clouded old eyes and called out, “Ruo An, wait.”

Zhou Jing Tao had never addressed Zhou Ruo An so intimately before. Yet now he not only did so, but even personally walked over to stop the young man from leaving. In a warm voice, he said, “I’ve always believed in you. But rumors can wound people, so they still have to be verified before your innocence can truly be restored.”

Zhou Ruo An brushed away the hand resting on his shoulder and said calmly, “If innocence has to be bought through humiliation, then I’d rather not have it.”

“Xiao An.” Zhou Jing Tao changed the way he addressed him again. He grabbed Zhou Ruo An’s wrist, forcefully trying to keep him there. “Secretary Fu may still resent what happened last time. He lost his head and wanted to frame you. I’ll dismiss him from Shengkai.”

Zhou Ruo An remained unmoved and twisted his wrist downward to break free.

“Zhou Bin and Zhou Zhe were misled by others and failed to distinguish right from wrong. Even if their intentions may have been good, their methods were completely wrong. I’ll have them apologize to you right now and make peace.” Zhou Jing Tao stepped closer, his tone filled with the helplessness and sincerity of a father. “I’ll apologize too. I shouldn’t have used this method to restore your innocence. When people grow old, confusion is inevitable. Xiao An, can you forgive me this once?”

Hearing Zhou Jing Tao apologize, shock flashed through Zhou Ruo An’s eyes. He slowly lowered his gaze, his expression sorrowful and pained.

Yet while his acting on the surface was flawless, inwardly he was counting down. Only after silently counting from ten to one did he finally raise his eyes and clasp Zhou Jing Tao’s hand in return.

The head of the Third Branch visibly relaxed. Turning around, he led Zhou Ruo An back into the villa and pulled him down to sit beside him. His face darkened again, and his authoritative demeanor returned.

“Fu Chun Shen colluded with others to frame a company executive. He is hereby dismissed and permanently barred from employment.” Zhou Jing Tao sipped his tea and asked the only man still standing in the living room, “Do you have anything else to say?”

Fu Chun Shen glanced toward Zhou Zhe and saw the other man sitting there with eyes closed in feigned rest, softly chanting Buddhist scriptures under his breath, with no intention of speaking up for him.

Retracting his gaze, Fu Chun Shen’s expression remained calm as he said in a deep voice, “No.”

Zhou Jing Tao nodded and softened his tone slightly. “And you two, as elder brothers, stirred up trouble before properly investigating the matter. Your intentions may have been good, but your methods were absurdly wrong. Apologize to Xiao An now and let this matter end peacefully.”

Zhou Bin had just started to flare up when Zhou Zhe opened his eyes from his false rest and rose with a smile. Looking toward Zhou Ruo An, his eyes were full of apology.

“I’m sorry, Fourth Brother. Your second brother let concern cloud his judgment and wronged you. I have a jade plaque here blessed by an eminent monk. If you don’t mind, consider it my apology.”

The jade plaque was pure white from end to end, obviously extremely valuable. Zhou Ruo An did not accept it, but Zhou Jing Tao grabbed it first and stuffed it into his arms.

“Take it. It’s from the Song Dynasty.”

Then he tapped the table. “Your turn, Zhou Bin.”

Zhou Bin ground his teeth for a while before arrogantly saying, “Sorry.”

Zhou Jing Tao’s fingers tapped once more against the table that had been burned with a cigarette hole.

Zhou Bin cursed under his breath, removed the watch from his wrist, and slid it across the table toward Zhou Ruo An.

“A limited-edition Vacheron Constantin. Priceless on the market. You can’t even buy one.”

Zhou Ruo An looked at the luxury watch on the table, leaned back lazily, crossed his legs, and spoke in a tone as bland as tea brewed from the cheapest leaves.

“Since the doctors are already here anyway, why don’t I just give another blood sample? That way you people won’t keep doubting me in the future. Otherwise this performance will just keep repeating over and over again.”

“What blood sample?” Zhou Jing Tao waved the two doctors away. “You, Zhou Ruo An, are my son, Zhou Jing Tao’s son. If anyone dares question it again in the future, I will punish them severely.”

Those words settled the matter once and for all, firmly determining who was the prince and who was the imposter.

The butler, who had remained almost invisible the entire evening, appeared behind the group at some point and respectfully announced, “Dinner is prepared. The meal may begin at any time.”

Zhou Ruo An lifted his eyes toward him, but the man merely kept his eyelids half-lowered, still carrying that rigid, meticulous old demeanor.

“I have no appetite, so I won’t eat.” Madam Zhou lifted the fruit tray and overturned the longans Third Miss had spent the entire night peeling. Rising gracefully, she drawled, “Xi Rui, you’re not hungry either, are you? Then don’t eat.”

The girl softly answered “Okay” and followed Madam Zhou upstairs with swaying steps.

Zhou Bin soon stormed off angrily as well. Zhou Zhe claimed he needed to handle Fu Chun Shen’s dismissal and also left first.

After enduring this entire ordeal, Zhou Ruo An felt mentally and physically exhausted. He no longer had the energy to continue exchanging false pleasantries with Zhou Jing Tao. Just as he was about to use leaving as an excuse, he received a text message.

“We agreed that once things were over, you’d come see me. Young Master Zhou had better keep his word.”

Zhou Ruo An let out a sigh, put away his phone, and said to Zhou Jing Tao, “I’m hungry. Let’s go eat.”

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