The manager of the shooting range is named Wang Jun.
He was about 40 years old, with a crew cut and a square face. He wasn’t tall, but had a strong and sturdy build, and possessed a powerful aura that allowed him to dominate any situation.
Wang Jun pushed his work badge and salary card over together. “The exhibition hall and display cabinets are both double-locked. You and Xiao Yan will be in charge of this area from now on. The job is quite easy. The property management will take care of the exhibition hall’s sanitation, so you don’t have to worry about that. Just wipe the guns from time to time and pay attention to the temperature and humidity in the venue. Just be careful not to lose any guns.”
Chen Zemian said, “Okay, I got it, Manager Wang.”
“Just call me Brother Jun. I’ll call Xiao Yan over so you can get to know each other,” Wang Jun waved his hand and picked up the intercom. “Ask Xiao Yan to come here.”
A few minutes later, the office door rang three times rhythmically, and a clear young voice came from outside.
“Manager.”
Wang Jun said, “Come in.”
Yan Luo pushed open the door and saw Wang Jun sitting in an office chair with someone standing opposite him.
The person was standing in front of the table, backlit. It was so bright behind him that his clothes were hard to see clearly, but he appeared tall, with slender bones, narrow shoulders, and a thin waist. Against the light, he looked as thin as a piece of paper. His legs were long and straight, as if measured precisely, forming a perfect golden ratio with his upper body.
Wang Jun introduced, “Xiao Yan, this is your new colleague Chen Zhe. You can just call him Brother Chen.”
Yan Luo nodded and called out neither humbly nor arrogantly, “Brother Chen.”
The man named Chen Zhe turned around, revealing a small face. “Hello.”
Yan Luo observed Chen Zhe calmly.
From the way Chen Zhe twisted and turned his waist, it was clear his core strength was very strong, and his limbs were flexible, giving off a sense of quick agility. Though thin, his muscles were lean and powerful; his wrists were bony, and his joints prominent, making him look both light and strong.
Yan Luo guessed this person was probably good at fighting and had great explosive power, but due to his thin frame, his endurance was likely average.
Wang Jun continued to introduce, “Chen Zhe, this is Yan Luo, Xiao Yan.”
Yan Luo noticed that when Chen Zhe heard his name, his pupils flickered momentarily.
More than just a change in expression appeared in Chen Zemian’s eyes.
The moment he heard “Yan Luo,” his heart filled with emotion.
Yan Luo is an important supporting character in the original book. He has a cold, arrogant, and paranoid personality. Born rebellious, he submits to no one except Lu Zhuonian.
He was rescued by Lu Zhuonian when he was young and later died saving Lu Zhuonian. He passed away young, at age 22, becoming one of the most tragic characters in readers’ hearts.
Yan Luo was still young then, about sixteen or seventeen years old, and not yet fully grown.
He stood slightly sideways, feet apart, in a very alert posture, like a proud and aloof young animal. His eyes were dark, and his thin lips were slightly pursed, forming a stubborn arc.
The two listened to Wang Jun’s instructions and then left the office together.
Yan Luo was taciturn and didn’t talk to Chen Zemian. He simply walked forward silently until they reached the door of the duty room, then said briefly, “You don’t need to open the cabinet normally. You can rest in the duty room. If anyone comes to visit, give the key to the manager.”
It sounded like a very easy job.
This was the first time Chen Zemian met Yan Luo. It was Yan Luo who had opened the cabinet door on the day of his visit, so he asked, “Don’t we need to open the cabinet door?”
“I usually don’t,” Yan Luo glanced at Chen Zemian. “Just follow the manager’s arrangements.”
Chen Zemian nodded. “Then how did you arrange the gun cleaning before?”
Yan Luo’s hand was already on the door handle but he let go after hearing this, turned around, and said, “I’ve always been the one cleaning it. Brother Chen, don’t worry about these chores. I’ll do it.”
Chen Zemian, formerly a chief game planner who had led a team of thousands, liked this kind of kid — quiet and capable, especially easy to work with. After a brief conversation, he found Yan Luo was indeed as solid and reliable as described in the book. No wonder he later became Lu Zhuonian’s life-and-death partner.
It was a pity he died too early.
The next day at work, Yan Luo and Chen Zemian opened the display cabinet together. Chen Zemian leaned on his hands and watched Yan Luo clean the guns. He occasionally asked a few precautions but there was no other communication.
This continued for the next few days.
Later, one day, Chen Zemian volunteered to clean the guns, but Yan Luo said a few more words, mostly insisting that Chen Zemian was a senior and didn’t need to get involved in these chores. He could do it himself, and he was used to it and didn’t find it troublesome. Also, he wanted to do something for Lu Zhuonian.
This was the first time Yan Luo mentioned Lu Zhuonian, so Chen Zemian naturally continued the conversation. Yan Luo revealed very little information, but combined with the description in the original book, Chen Zemian was able to piece together a general idea.
The day Yan Luo was born happened to be the Mid-Autumn Festival. The Yan family gathered together. Yan’s mother felt the baby moving at that time. The elders in the family were so happy that they drank a few more glasses of wine. An uncle in the family had a cerebral infarction due to drunkenness and was rushed to the emergency room. He died despite rescue efforts. Less than half an hour later, Yan Luo was born.
The younger generation was born on the day the elder passed away, which was considered unlucky everywhere. The Yan family was in business and they believed in Feng Shui even more. They asked a master to calculate, and the master said that Yan Luo “belonged to the uncertain number of separation and destruction.”
It was a very ominous prediction, implying that Yan Luo’s life would be full of ups and downs. He was destined to suffer hardship and instability, with misfortune throughout his life. His father and mother would be injured, and his life would be unstable and impermanent.
After hearing this, Yan’s father wanted to change Yan Luo’s surname, send him far away, and sever ties with him. But Yan’s mother refused, and the couple quarreled for a long time.
One day, Yan’s mother had an argument with her husband and went out alone. She accidentally got into a car accident and died on the spot.
The Yan family then became even more convinced that Yan Luo was cursed and refused to raise the child under any circumstances. They deliberately dressed the nanny in gold and silver and had her take the child out onto the street — then “accidentally” lost him.
Yan Luo was kidnapped by human traffickers and sold to the south.
The family that bought him also encountered misfortunes, so they resold him. The next family frequently beat him, scalded him with hot water, and pricked him with needles.
Eventually, he ran away.
He was eight years old at the time.
From the age of eight, Yan Luo learned to survive on his own. He had begged for food, worked as a thief, fought in underground boxing rings, and even loaned money at high interest rates while following an older gang leader. Because he was a minor, he was exempt from legal punishment. But his luck was so ill-fated that whichever gang he joined quickly fell apart. Some leaders were arrested; others vanished.
Until he met Lu Zhuonian.
Lu Zhuonian found the wild, cat-like boy in an alley. He was being pinned down and beaten by several people. His face was bruised and bloodied, clothes in tatters, and his whole body filthy — half dead, curled up in pain.
“Mr. Lu saved me, and I followed him.”
All the twists and turns of his life were summed up in just eleven overly concise words.
While cleaning a gun, Chen Zemian asked, “How old were you when you met Mr. Lu?”
“Fourteen,” Yan Luo replied.
“So, you’re sixteen now,” Chen Zemian said as he returned the gun to its place.
Yan Luo’s cat-like pupils widened sharply, then contracted as he muttered a puzzled, “Huh?”
Chen Zemian said nothing more. Yan Luo stared at him. He clearly wanted to ask how Chen Zemian knew his age, but he stubbornly refused to speak. He just stared, as if saying: “If you don’t tell me, I’ll keep staring until the end of time.”
“Want to know how I knew?” Chen Zemian didn’t press the kid and offered him a way out.
Yan Luo nodded quickly. “Yeah.”
“I was just guessing. I tricked you,” Chen Zemian said honestly.
Yan Luo slowly widened his eyes. He couldn’t believe he had been fooled so easily, and he seemed a bit angry at himself.
He had already learned that talking made it easier to slip up. He hardly spoke at all anymore, yet somehow still fell into Chen Zhe’s trap?
Cunning Chen Zhe!
If Chen Zhe had asked directly whether he was sixteen, Yan Luo believed he could have kept a straight face. But Chen Zhe had sidestepped the question — he’d asked how old he was when he met Young Master Lu. Yan Luo said “fourteen,” and then Chen Zhe said “sixteen,” leading him to think someone had told Chen Zhe that he and Mr. Lu had known each other for two years.
Who would’ve thought Chen Zhe was just guessing?
Damn Chen Zhe.
Yan Luo wrung the rag in frustration and silently vowed never to talk to Chen Zhe again.
That resolve lasted only until the afternoon.
Saturday afternoons were busier than weekdays at the shooting range.
The exhibition hall staff were overwhelmed, so they temporarily asked Yan Luo to help as a guide for the visitors.
In fact, Yan Luo wasn’t officially a staff member at the range — he just lived there and occasionally helped out. The display case key he held was a spare, just like the one Chen Zemian had.
The exhibition hall had designated custodians — those were the two Chen Zemian saw on his initial visit.
Yan Luo had the spare key simply because he lived on-site and it was convenient.
As for why Chen Zemian was given the other spare key…
It was likely because Lu Zhuonian had no idea what Chen Zemian was good at, so he randomly assigned him a position.
No wonder no one had ever asked him to do anything since he started. Everyone probably knew he was just there to kill time.
Even Yan Luo had received instructions from Manager Wang that he didn’t need to do anything.
Chen Zemian had to fight tooth and nail just to get the chance to clean three guns.
It was the kind of cushy job every worker dreamed of — so relaxed that it made Chen Zemian’s brain feel like it was shutting down.
Lu Zhuonian was truly a generous “brother.”
All he had to do was hold a spare key, and he was paid a five-figure monthly salary. After taxes and benefits, he still took home over 8,000 yuan.
“Besides Young Master Lu, who else would give me 8,000 yuan for doing nothing?” Chen Zemian praised. “Totally worth the effort of sucking up to him.”
Xiao Kesong sipped from a straw and hesitated. “But even though you’re earning his salary, you’re spending it on bullets. When the money comes back in, won’t it just go right back into his account?”
Chen Zemian: “…”
Playing with guns really was expensive. The cheapest bullets cost over ten yuan each; the pricier ones were fifty or sixty apiece. They were sold in sets of ten, and a few shots meant hundreds of yuan gone.
With nothing to do at the shooting range besides shooting, Chen Zemian had already gone through over 20,000 yuan in bullets after just a week.
His monthly salary was only 8,000.
Lu Zhuonian truly was a savvy businessman. His economic instincts were already showing. He’d deliberately assigned a gun enthusiast to work at a shooting range.
So sinister!
Chen Zemian was outraged. “I actually misjudged him!”
“You’d better be careful,” Xiao Kesong said with a sympathetic look. “Lu Zhuonian is really cunning. Don’t let him sell you out and make you count the money for him.”
*****
If you enjoy what we do, consider supporting us on 
! Every little bit means the world!
Author: LazyHermitGal
A Lazy Hermit Gal. A little support goes a long way! If you’d like to help me keep creating, you can do so at https://ko-fi.com/lazyhermitgal
