With a generous offer of an 8,000 yuan monthly salary and completely free rent, Adrian effortlessly secured Chen Meijia's signature, officially appointing the naive girl as his personal rent collector.
For an educated corporate drone, 8,000 yuan might have been an average starting wage. But for a scattered, chronically unemployed airhead like Chen Meijia—who possessed zero formal education and an utterly tragic resume—it was a miraculous, heaven-sent fortune that vastly exceeded her wildest expectations. Meijia was so overwhelmed with gratitude that she swore on her life right there in the bar, promising to execute her rent collection duties flawlessly. If a single penny went missing, she dramatically claimed, she would pay him back with her blood.
Adrian offered a warm, encouraging smile, but internally, his dark eyes gleamed with cold, calculating anticipation. He was desperately looking forward to her "guarantee."
First of all, Chen Meijia possessed the mathematical comprehension of a toddler. Relying on her to accurately tally and log massive amounts of cash across multiple properties guaranteed that she would inevitably make a catastrophic accounting error.
Secondly, and far more importantly, she lived in close proximity to Lu Ziqiao.
With a remorseless, parasitic scammer like Ziqiao hovering over her shoulder, Adrian knew with absolute certainty that his cash was going to go missing. It was worth noting that the monthly rent for a premium unit in the iPartment complex was around 10,000 yuan, and a standard unit in Ode to Joy was roughly 8,000. With Adrian's impending portfolio of over a hundred properties, the monthly liquid cash flow would easily surpass a staggering one million yuan.
Even if the terrified Meijia somehow managed to resist the temptation of skimming off the top, the greedy Lu Ziqiao would absolutely not be able to resist sinking his claws into a pile of untraceable cash that large.
Adrian didn't need to lift a single finger. He had just set a flawless, velvet trap. All he had to do was wait patiently for the playboy to steal the money. Once the capital vanished, Adrian would hold the legal noose tight enough to permanently enslave them both.
Of course, the idiotic Meijia was merely a cheap appetizer. The true prize in the iPartment hunting ground—the one who genuinely warranted his tactical focus—was the apex predator, Hu Yifei.
Having casually dismissed Meijia to celebrate her new job, Adrian turned his attention back to the tomboy and smoothly extended a tailored invitation.
"The UFC Asia Qualifiers?"
Crack!
In a sudden, uncontrollable surge of adrenaline, Hu Yifei's hand clamped down, violently shattering the heavy glass tumbler she was holding into pieces.
"Wait... can you actually get me on the registration list?" she demanded, completely ignoring the blood and alcohol dripping from her fingers, her eyes burning with a sudden, predatory fire.
"What on earth is a UFC Asia Qualifier? Is Yifei preparing to make her television debut?" Zeng Xiaoxian asked, cowering slightly from the shattered glass along with the rest of the uninformed peanut gallery.
"UFC stands for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It is the absolute pinnacle of mixed martial arts, where the most lethal fighters from across the globe brutally compete in a steel cage to crown a true, undisputed world champion," Yifei explained to her friends, her voice vibrating with intense, barely contained enthusiasm. "I have desperately wanted to compete for years! But the UFC doesn't operate a registration hub in Shanghai—only in Beijing and Hong Kong. I heard from underground circles that you need to secure a verified appointment a full year in advance just to audition! I've never had the connections to break in!"
"Huh... it sounds incredibly bloody and barbaric!" Zeng Xiaoxian shuddered, letting out a strange, emasculated whimper.
"Wow, a true world-class champion! If our Yifei wins first place, wouldn't that officially make her the most lethal woman on the planet?" Tang Youyou gasped.
"To put it simply, Hu Yifei is already the most lethal entity on the planet. If she secures official, written certification from a global syndicate, I think she should legally change her name to the Invincible East," Ziqiao joked from a safe distance.
"I happen to have a few highly placed associates within the combat sports industry, so bypassing the bureaucratic red tape to register you will not be a problem," Adrian smiled warmly, extending a pristine handkerchief to Yifei so she could wipe the glass from her hand. "Besides, I intend to participate in the men's division as well. I wish to see exactly how my inherited techniques compare against modern, professional experts."
"Fantastic! We couldn't decide a clear winner during our spar yesterday, so let us save our final, unrestricted deathmatch for the official cage!" Yifei nodded, her aura radiating pure, domineering confidence.
What she hated most in this world was a draw. For a martial artist with her severe, hyper-competitive obsessive-compulsive disorder, leaving a fight unresolved was a fate far worse than death.
Having successfully manipulated Yifei with the promise of sanctioned violence and setting a date to train at the complex's gym together, Adrian casually took his leave from the bar.
'This hunting timeline is becoming profoundly complicated,' he analyzed as he stepped out into the night. 'Without the absolute, micromanaged schedule of a master manipulator, keeping all these women isolated and contained is going to be a logistical nightmare.'
"Little Li, it is your Brother Xu."
The moment he stepped past the wrought-iron gates of the residential compound, his encrypted smartphone buzzed. Executive Vice Mayor Xu Guangxi's smooth, authoritative voice came through the receiver.
"Brother Xu. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Adrian answered smoothly.
"Xiao Li, are you experiencing a severe, immediate liquidity crisis? I received a flagged report from the financial sector this morning stating that you abruptly mortgaged every single one of your real estate holdings to secure fifty million in liquid cash. If you require operational funds, you simply need to ask me. There is absolutely no need to recklessly leverage your assets!"
Xu Guangxi had literally just stepped out of a high-level municipal meeting when his terrified subordinates handed him the financial red flag.
Upon seeing the staggering fifty-million-yuan maneuver, the Vice Mayor had been thrown into a silent frenzy. What exactly was this princeling trying to pull? They had only met last night, and the supreme Elder Leader had personally entrusted his only grandson's well-being to Xu. For the boy to immediately pawn his entire estate the very next morning? It wasn't just a political slap in the face; it looked like catastrophic, unhinged self-sabotage!
Xu knew perfectly well that his old titan of a boss only had this one blood heir. If Adrian somehow ruined himself or got targeted by financial predators, Xu might not lose his life, but his political career would instantly be fed to the wolves. For a man who wasn't even fifty years old and already sat as the third-highest authority in Shanghai, political death was unacceptable.
"Relax, Brother Xu. I am not desperate for capital," Adrian laughed, his tone carrying the perfect mixture of aristocratic arrogance and conspiratorial warmth. "It is just that... during my private conversation last night, I acquired some highly sensitive intelligence indicating that specific commodity futures are about to experience an astronomical surge. I merely decided to go all in. But you absolutely must keep this strictly confidential, Brother Xu."
Last night? Insider intelligence?
Upon hearing the deliberate emphasis on those words, Xu Guangxi instantly fell into a stunned silence.
In the modern era, every idiot playing the stock market claimed to possess "insider information," and the elites knew it was mostly just an arrogant scam. However, because Adrian had explicitly invoked last night, Xu's political mind immediately raced to terrifying, high-level conclusions.
Last night, this boy had held a private, closed-door meeting with the absolute supreme leader of the nation. If the retired titan had casually dropped classified macroeconomic policies to allow his newly discovered grandson to amass a massive, "legitimate" fortune overnight... that was an entirely different reality.
"Do not worry, Xiao Li. Your Brother Xu's lips are permanently sealed," Xu Guangxi replied smoothly after a calculated, three-second silence.
After all, for a man sitting at the apex of the Shanghai political machine, raw cash was just a meaningless digital number. With a single signature, Xu could generate billions. If the old leader wanted to quietly enrich his grandson, Xu would personally ensure the regulatory agencies looked the other way.
"Excellent. By the way, Brother Xu, I am currently in need of a highly competent operative to handle some... localized logistics for me. Do you have anyone reliable you could recommend?" Adrian asked smoothly, cutting straight to the point.
He currently lacked a shadow operative. Handling every minor extortion and surveillance task personally was incredibly inefficient and beneath his station. Why leave the ultimate political shield unused?
"Little Li, let me be absolutely clear before we proceed," Xu Guangxi didn't immediately agree, his tone shifting into the carefully measured, ambiguous cadence of a veteran politician. "You absolutely cannot engage in any activities that seriously violate state laws or shatter major regulations. Do you understand?"
"Understood completely, Brother Xu. Do not worry; I am an incredibly timid, law-abiding citizen," Adrian chuckled darkly, fully translating the political double-speak.
Serious violations—like detonating explosives or causing mass, public civilian casualties—were completely off the table. In other words: standard corruption, minor extortion, silent disappearances, and localized underworld violence were perfectly acceptable, so long as Adrian kept the blood off the streets and didn't generate a public media scandal.
In this civilized jungle, dealing with politicians required a masterful understanding of what was left unspoken.
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