“It’s not that I enjoy meddling in other people’s business,” Yan Zhenyi replied with a calm smile, keeping his eyes locked on Wu Laosan. “I just don’t want to see anyone die needlessly here. That’s why I didn’t run—why I gathered the courage to come inside.”
Wu Laosan’s brow furrowed at his words. With a snarl, he warned, “Meddling in other people’s business? How pointless. Get the hell out of here now, or I’ll press this button and send you—along with everyone else—straight to the afterlife.”
“Hey now, I didn’t work up the nerve to come in here just to leave empty-handed,” Yan Zhenyi said, keeping his tone light. “At least tell me what grudge you have against this company’s boss.”
Wu Laosan hesitated, then lowered the antique flamethrower he’d been pointing at Yan Zhenyi. His voice was bitter. “What grudge? It’s simple—he owes me two years’ worth of back pay. Fifty thousand yuan.”
Yan Zhenyi paused, then sighed. “Brother, I get that fifty grand is a lot of money, but strapping bombs to yourself and threatening to take everyone down with you? That’s extreme. If those explosives go off, not only will you never see that money—you’ll be gone too. How do you think your family would feel?”
“My daughter’s the only family I have left.”
“Even if she’s all you have left, hearing about your death would destroy her.”
At the mention of his sick daughter, Wu Laosan’s rage flickered, replaced by something more pained. “…She would be heartbroken. But I’m doing this for her. She’d understand.”
Yan Zhenyi frowned. “How does strapping bombs to yourself help your daughter?”
“Because she has leukemia,” Wu Laosan snapped. “She needs surgery—a mountain of cash I don’t have.”
A muscle twitched in Yan Zhenyi’s temple. So that’s why. His disgust for the Daheng Real Estate boss deepened.
Damn capitalists. The world would be better off without you.
Suppressing his anger, he kept his voice steady. “I see. But why not go to the labor bureau? Let the authorities handle it?”
Wu Laosan let out a hollow laugh. “If the authorities gave a damn, I wouldn’t be standing here with explosives, would I?”
Yan Zhenyi opened his mouth to argue, but Wu Laosan cut him off.
“Enough. You got your answers. Now get out.”
“Fine, I’ll leave. But at least let the innocent people here go.”
Wu Laosan’s answer was immediate. “No. They stay.”
“Why? They’re just employees—ordinary people working for a paycheck.”
“Ordinary?” Wu Laosan scoffed. He jerked his chin toward the terrified staff. “That four-eyed guy in glasses? The boss’s nephew. That plain-looking woman? His cousin. And that pretty one over there? One of his mistresses. Still think they’re ‘just employees’?”
Yan Zhenyi scanned their guilty expressions and grimaced. Damn it. His plan—to stall Wu Laosan, free the hostages, and buy time for backup—was crumbling.
“Now that you know who they really are,” Wu Laosan growled, “leave. Or stay and die with them.”
Realizing persuasion was hopeless, Yan Zhenyi clenched his jaw. No chance to negotiate. No way to free the hostages. No more time to stall.
Then—every phone in the sales office lit up at once.
A hauntingly beautiful melody poured from their speakers—ethereal, nostalgic, carrying an otherworldly power.
For a moment, everyone froze in shock. But as the song wove into their minds, its supernatural influence took hold. Fear, anger, tension—all melted away. One by one, their faces slackened into blissful trances.
Watching through the security feed, the transformed Yan Qi—now the Digital Diva—smiled.
Perfect.
The instant she stopped singing, she materialized beside her father through his phone.
In a flash, she lunged at Wu Laosan—
—wrenched the detonator from his grip—
—snatched the flamethrower—
—and with her enhanced three-star superhuman strength, tore the explosives off his body, tossing them aside like toys.
Before anyone could blink, she had Wu Laosan pinned, his wrists bound with the belt of the still-terrified (and very damp) young man nearby.
“…And done,” she murmured.
Then, clapping her hands sharply, she called out in a voice like wind chimes:
“Wakey-wakey, everyone! Show’s over!”
The spell broke.
Wu Laosan thrashed beneath her. “Wh—who the hell are you?! Let me go!”