“Zhou Huayang?” Luo Feng’s heart stirred. “So it was him.”
The military officer at the detention centre had said that Zhang Haobai had asked Zhou Huayang to arrange people to deal with him.
“You are Zhou Huayang?” Luo Feng showed a faint smile.
Zhou Huayang’s heart tightened. Under Luo Feng’s gaze he could not help feeling nervous. He could not afford not to be nervous. If Luo Feng truly wanted to deal with him, he would be in serious trouble. Zhou Huayang kept a smiling face and said, “Yes, that’s me. Brother Luo, shall we find a place nearby to talk?”
“Alright.” Luo Feng nodded. “I also have things I want to discuss with you.”
Not far from the South Bank Community, there was a street with a place called Yangzhou Bathhouse. It was considered a fairly high end consumption venue. Even a small private room had a minimum charge of one thousand yuan. Luo Feng had heard of it before but had never been inside. This time he brought his younger brother and Zhou Huayang there.
Yangzhou Bathhouse was a place that combined bathing, foot soaking, and leisure entertainment.
“Alright, you can leave now. I will call you if I need anything.” Inside one of the private rooms, Zhou Huayang instructed.
“Yes, sir.” The attendant left the room.
The suite had three rooms in total. One was the bathing room for soaking. The second was a lounge for tea and business talks. The third was an entertainment room for internet use, watching television, and singing.
“Ah Hua, you can play in this room. I will talk with Zhou Huayang.” Luo Feng smiled.
“Go ahead, brother.”
Luo Hua moved his wheelchair over to the computer. He looked excited. “Wow, 46 inch ultra thin screen, voice control system, amazing.”
Luo Feng could not help sighing inwardly. Their home computer was an entry level one, with a manual operating system, costing only a few hundred yuan. Now even luxury laptops were mostly voice controlled. It was even said that the most advanced ones had three dimensional virtual holographic projection.
Of course, devices with 3D projection were extremely expensive. They were almost legendary. Even wealthy families would probably have to spend everything they had to afford one.
While Luo Hua excitedly tried the voice control system, Luo Feng and Zhou Huayang entered the lounge.
Click.
The door closed. In the lounge, the two sat opposite each other.
“Brother Luo, have some tea.” Zhou Huayang poured a cup of tea for Luo Feng and said with an apologetic expression, “Brother Luo, I came here today to apologise to you. This matter… sigh, I really feel ashamed. I am deeply sorry.”
Luo Feng held the teacup and listened quietly.
People like Zhou Huayang were common in society. They had wide networks and earned money by taking payments and handling matters for others. He had no personal grudge against Luo Feng. The real person he hated was Zhang Haobai.
“Even if Zhang Haobai had not used Zhou Huayang to deal with me, he would have found someone else,” Luo Feng thought. “Zhou Huayang is just an intermediary. Still, since he came to me, I might as well settle this privately.”
Seeing that Luo Feng remained silent, Zhou Huayang continued, “I arranged people to deal with you this time without knowing your situation in advance. Everything was told to me by Zhang Haobai, which is why I made such a foolish mistake. I hope you can be generous and spare me.”
“Spare you?” Luo Feng smiled faintly.
“This is a small token of my sincerity. I hope Brother Luo will accept it.” Zhou Huayang took out an envelope and placed it on the table, pushing it towards Luo Feng. “This is a Bank of China cheque in your name. Only you can withdraw the money. It can be collected at any branch.”
Luo Feng looked at it and opened the envelope. Inside was indeed a cheque. It was valid for ten days and issued specifically to Luo Feng, even including his ID number.
Most striking was a line of text.
One million yuan.
“One million?” Luo Feng was slightly surprised. This was a large sum. His family’s total savings had never exceeded ten thousand yuan. The national currency still had strong purchasing power. Even for company owners, one million yuan was not a small amount.
“I hope Brother Luo can forgive me and let this matter end here,” Zhou Huayang said sincerely.
One million yuan.
Luo Feng’s family had never seen so much money before. It would be a waste not to take it.
“I know you are only an intermediary, so I will not make things difficult for you. Alright, I will take this money,” Luo Feng said.
Zhou Huayang immediately felt relieved.
“But cashing this cheque is troublesome. Transfer it directly to my bank account online,” Luo Feng added.
“Alright.” Zhou Huayang agreed readily.
Luo Feng wrote down his bank account and branch details on a piece of paper and handed it over.
Zhou Huayang took back the envelope and cheque, then used his mobile phone to access online banking. Within moments, the transfer was completed.
Luo Feng felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and saw a bank notification message confirming that his balance had increased by one million yuan.
“Has it arrived?” Zhou Huayang asked with a smile.
“Yes.” Luo Feng nodded.
“You really are straightforward, Brother Luo,” Zhou Huayang said. “If you have any problems in Yangzhou City in the future, you can come to me. As long as I can help, I will. Of course, you will soon become a martial artist, but even a powerful dragon can be troubled by small snakes. Some matters are easier for us to handle.”
“Alright, I will contact you if needed,” Luo Feng said as he stood up.
Zhou Huayang also stood. The two shook hands.
“I will take my leave then,” Zhou Huayang said with a smile. “The suite has already been paid for. You can stay until tomorrow morning.” He then greeted Luo Feng’s younger brother, Luo Hua, before leaving.
Only Luo Feng and Luo Hua remained.
In the entertainment room.
“Brother, what did that guy want from you?” Luo Hua asked with a smile. “He seemed quite polite.”
“He came to give us money,” Luo Feng replied with a faint smile.
“Money?” Luo Hua was shocked.
What happened in the detention centre was not something Luo Feng told his parents or his younger brother. He did not want them to worry. In his view, since he had chosen the path of a martial artist, it would be full of danger and hardship. There was no need to burden his family with that.
“Right. By the way, Ah Hua,” Luo Feng said with a smile, “how is your stock trading going?”
His younger brother had stayed at home for years and developed an interest in finance, especially stocks. Despite his young age, he had already been trading for three years.
“I lost money in the first year, but I made quite a bit in the last two years. It has doubled. I have over twenty thousand yuan now,” Luo Hua said.
“So much?” Luo Feng was surprised.
What shocked him was not the amount, but the efficiency. It had doubled. That was already very impressive.
“Not bad,” Luo Hua said with a smile. “Actually, trading stocks is about psychology and mathematics. As long as you control your positions properly and follow the main players, it is easy to operate. But market volatility affects your mindset. I did not make money in the first year because I kept selling too early out of fear.”
Luo Feng listened but did not fully understand.
“I am nothing special. Real experts trading futures can turn one into ten or twenty times profit. Of course, futures are much riskier. One mistake and you can be forced to liquidate everything,” Luo Hua said.
Although Luo Feng did not understand all of this, he understood one thing. Stocks make money through compounding.
For example, his brother turned a few thousand yuan into over twenty thousand in three years. If he had one million yuan, he might already have four million. With four million, it could become sixteen million.
Money grows with money. The more it grows, the more exaggerated it becomes.
“Ah Hua, I will give you five hundred thousand later,” Luo Feng said with a smile. “Work hard.”
“Five hundred thousand?” Luo Hua’s eyes lit up with excitement. “The market has dropped sharply today. It is the perfect time to buy the dip. We can make a big profit.”
Living in the same room for years, Luo Feng had long noticed that his brother always hoped for market crashes. Meanwhile, their neighbour Uncle Wang always hoped for the market to rise.
His brother made money from stocks, Uncle Wang lost money.
Do experts all hope for the market to fall? Luo Feng thought to himself.
“By the way, brother, where did you get the money?” Luo Hua quickly asked.
“It was from that Zhou Huayang just now,” Luo Feng said with a smile. “Take the money and use it. Once I become a martial artist in the future, I will earn much more.”
Ordinary martial artists did not earn much, but Luo Feng knew his own strength. Just his telekinesis alone was more terrifying than a heavy machine gun.
Bullets travel in straight lines, but the spikes he controlled could change direction instantly.
“On 1 August, the martial artist practical assessment. After passing it, I will officially begin my martial artist career.”
Luo Feng tightened his grip on the teacup slightly.
Crack.
The cup shattered instantly, tea spilling everywhere.
Luo Hua was startled. “Brother, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Luo Feng shook his head with a smile.
But inwardly he thought, my strength has increased too quickly. After my breakthrough in the detention centre and the awakening of my abilities, my power has grown far beyond before. But too rapid growth is not necessarily a good thing. My control over strength is not precise enough yet.
Just from excitement, he had crushed the teacup. Clearly his control was still lacking.
“Tomorrow morning, I will go to the Extreme Martial Arts Hall. From today until 1 August, I will train properly for these twenty days and refine my strength and speed so I can fully master my abilities.”