Chapter 29: Sister Xu’s Revenge—The Engine Stolen

After coming downstairs, Jiang Cheng climbed into the pickup truck, preparing to make a trip to Ruili.

Qingzhou City was only about an hour’s drive from Ruili.

Back when he worked as a driver at the Wanfu Quarry, he often ran this route.

He was quite familiar with it by now.

But just as Jiang Cheng was about to start the engine, he found that it wouldn’t turn over no matter what.

A wave of confusion washed over him.

“A car just bought last night, and it won’t start today?” Jiang Cheng was speechless.

He got out of the truck and popped the hood, only to be stunned.

The engine was gone!

“Damn it! Where’s my engine? Which bastard stole my engine?” Jiang Cheng roared toward the sky, his face darkening with fury.

He looked around, trying to spot any sign of the thief.

But there was no trace.

The Chenguang community was an old neighborhood with shockingly poor security—there wasn’t even a single surveillance camera.

Anyone could enter without registering.

If someone got robbed here, they just had to accept their bad luck.

Jiang Cheng spat quietly, feeling incredibly unlucky.

Just as he was seething, he suddenly spotted a Toyota Highlander nearby.

He froze instantly.

He recognized the two men dressed in black sitting inside—the bodyguards Murong Shan had assigned to follow Murong Xue.

Frowning, Jiang Cheng walked straight over to the Highlander and knocked on the window.

The black-clad bodyguard rolled down the window.

“Mr. Jiang, is there something we can help you with?” The bodyguard smiled politely.

“Have you been in the car all night?” Jiang Cheng asked.

The bodyguard nodded.

Jiang Cheng’s eyes brightened slightly.

“Did you see anyone stealing my engine last night?” he asked hurriedly.

The bodyguard nodded again. “Yes, there were five people in total, four men and one woman.”

Jiang Cheng’s anger flared. “If you saw it, why didn’t you stop them?”

The bodyguard smiled faintly. “We’re here to protect the lady, not to be your security guards.”

“You… you’re something else. I’ll remember you!” Jiang Cheng was speechless, growing angrier the more he looked at them.

What kind of people was Murong Shan hiring?

Jiang Cheng then looked at the passenger-side bodyguard. “You saw it too?”

The passenger-side bodyguard nodded but replied evasively, “Mr. Jiang, where is our lady?”

“How should I know?” Jiang Cheng sneered and turned to leave.

The two bodyguards exchanged a glance, their expressions turning strange.

Then they hurriedly got out and caught up with Jiang Cheng after a few steps.

The passenger-side bodyguard suddenly put on a bright smile. “Mr. Jiang, please don’t be angry. We didn’t stop those five thieves because we were outmatched. There were five of them and only two of us. You understand what I mean, right?”

Jiang Cheng tilted his head and laughed bitterly. “I don’t buy your story. You’re Murong Shan’s bodyguards, and you tell me two of you can’t handle five petty thieves? One of them a woman?”

The other bodyguard said, “Three of the men were just small-time thugs, easy to deal with. But that one man was very skilled—we two combined weren’t his match.”

Jiang Cheng’s expression turned serious as he fixed his gaze on the speaking bodyguard. He immediately used his clairvoyance ability to see directly to the man’s heart.

“What's your name?”

“Lin Zhou.”

“How old are you?”

“26.”

“Is everything you just said true?”

“All true.”

“And the skilled man you mentioned—do you know him?”

“No, but if I saw him, I’d recognize him!”

Jiang Cheng bit his lip. The first two questions were to verify; the last was the key.

Lin Zhou’s heartbeat remained steady through all four questions.

That meant he hadn’t lied.

Jiang Cheng asked the other bodyguard’s name—it was Wang Hao.

Jiang Cheng nodded and didn’t press further.

After a moment’s thought, he said to Lin Zhou, “If I ask you to help find those people, can you do it?”

Lin Zhou and Wang Hao exchanged a troubled glance. “Mr. Jiang, we can find them, but our duty is to protect the lady…”

“What if your lady asks you to?”

Jiang Cheng said no more and headed straight upstairs.

He entered his room and yanked the deeply sleeping Murong Xue awake.

“Ouch, what are you doing~?” Murong Xue protested, still groggy and irritated, glaring at Jiang Cheng with eyes full of resentment.

“I’m heading out. If you don’t get up, I’m leaving without you. You can either sleep all day or come with me—your choice! Ten minutes, then we go.”

Without waiting for a reply, Jiang Cheng left for the living room.

Soon, Murong Xue’s anguished howls echoed from the room.

Meanwhile, Wen Yao had already packed her bags and stepped out.

She was a bit confused to see Jiang Cheng back but was eager to audition.

She said, “Wait for good news!” then dragged her suitcase and left.

Though furious, Murong Xue had no choice.

She threw on some clothes, scratched at her messy hair in the mirror, and was done.

“Let’s go! Where are you heading?” Murong Xue’s face was cold.

“Ruili.”

Murong Xue immediately perked up.

“You’re going to gamble on stones?”

Jiang Cheng nodded.

“Then what are you waiting for? Let’s go!” Murong Xue was already impatient, eager to pick some good stones herself.

She strode toward the door but noticed Jiang Cheng standing still.

“Are you coming or not?” she snapped.

Jiang Cheng said calmly, “I need a favor from you. If you agree, I’ll take you with me. If not, you can keep sleeping.”

“Speak.”

Murong Xue plopped down beside him, crossing one long leg over the other.

Her slender, long legs clad in black stockings were utterly captivating.

“Last night, five small-time thieves…”

Jiang Cheng then recounted everything to Murong Xue.

By the end, she was laughing uncontrollably, clutching her stomach.

“Heh heh, your engine got stolen? That junker of a truck isn’t even worth thirty thousand, right? Someone must want that broken engine—who did you piss off? You were so cocky before, and now you’re begging for help?” Murong Xue teased.

Jiang Cheng was silent; her words reminded him.

If someone wanted to steal an engine, why bother with his old secondhand pickup?

The truck cost just over thirty thousand yuan—what could that engine fetch?

No doubt, someone was deliberately targeting him.

If anyone had a grudge, it could be Zheng Wanfu, Chen Hu, or Sister Xu. Jiang Cheng was sure he hadn’t offended anyone else.

But which one? He couldn’t say.

“Will you help or not?” Jiang Cheng gritted his teeth.

“Fine! But I have one condition. When we find good stones in Ruili, I get first pick.” Murong Xue narrowed her eyes and smiled slyly.

Jiang Cheng thought it over briefly. Selling to anyone was selling, so he agreed.

The two went downstairs.

Murong Xue walked straight up to Lin Zhou and Wang Hao.

“Lin Zhou, go back and gather a few brothers to help Jiang Cheng find those people from last night. Wang Hao, you protect me today and act as my driver!”

The two nodded after exchanging looks.

“Wait!” Lin Zhou was about to leave when Jiang Cheng suddenly remembered something.

He took out his phone and showed Lin Zhou a video.

“Have you seen this woman?”

Lin Zhou looked at the video and was stunned for a moment.

Then he said, “That’s her—the woman among the five last night!”

Wang Hao peeked at the phone, nodded in agreement.

Jiang Cheng sneered.

It really was that con artist, Sister Xu.

He’d ripped her off for a hundred thousand yuan, and she didn’t dare retaliate openly.

Instead, she played this sneaky trick.

How devious!

But she thought she could act unnoticed in the dead of night—little did she know Lin Zhou and Wang Hao saw everything clearly.

Nor did she expect that Jiang Cheng’s threat video had exposed her.

Everything was a coincidence.

Jiang Cheng had wanted to be lenient, but since these cheats kept provoking him, he’d give no quarter.

“Lin Zhou, find her quietly. Don’t alert her. Call me when you have her,” Jiang Cheng said seriously.

Lin Zhou nodded without a word and left.

…

Soon, the Toyota Highlander was on the provincial highway.

Murong Xue closed her eyes, still seeming half-asleep.

Jiang Cheng looked at her with a complicated expression, thinking again about last night.

It felt like a secret shared only between them.

They both understood but never spoke of it again.

Murong Xue remained the cold, aloof heiress.

He was still just an ordinary man.

They were strangers with no connection.

Once her strange illness was cured, they’d have no more ties.

For some reason, Jiang Cheng felt a strange sense of loss.

After an unknown length of time, Wang Hao, who was driving, suddenly spoke.

“Miss, there’s a car following us.”

Murong Xue smirked and ordered, “Call Uncle Ping. Get more people here!”

“Yes!”

Jiang Cheng frowned and glanced in the rearview mirror.

Sure enough, a silver van was keeping a steady distance of about forty to fifty meters behind the Highlander.

Before gaining his clairvoyance, he never would have noticed.

But now, his anti-tracking ability had improved greatly.

He immediately spotted the trailing vehicle.

Using his penetrating gaze, his eyes pierced through the van’s windows.

A familiar face appeared.

“It’s him!” Jiang Cheng recognized one of Chen Hu’s loan sharks from Aukou—his name seemed to be Qiangzi.

Qiangzi tailing Jiang Cheng was no surprise.

If he were Chen Hu, he’d send someone to watch him too.

Jiang Cheng smiled. “No worries, just a small-time lackey.”

Murong Xue opened her eyes, eyeing Jiang Cheng oddly.

“You know the person following us?”

Jiang Cheng felt a little embarrassed. “Sort of. I think he’s tailing me.”

Murong Xue rolled her eyes beautifully. “Heh, didn’t expect you’ve pissed off so many people.”