When the plane landed in M province, the sky had already turned completely dark. Dazed and with a throbbing headache, Shi Jin stumbled out of the airport and collapsed in the back seat of the car that Number Two had sent to pick him up.

"Stop staring at those dense words all the time. Now that we're here and haven't even seen Xu Chuan yet, you're already a mess," Number Two scolded as he took a bottle of water from the car's mini fridge and slapped it onto Shi Jin's forehead. "Are you feeling better now?"

Shi Jin shuddered from the cold and quickly shook off the water bottle from his forehead. "I don't want to be like this either. Xu Chuan is a smart and cautious person, and he keeps his mouth shut. If I don't come up with a breakthrough plan against him soon, I'm afraid I'll return empty-handed after meeting him."

"Don't be afraid, I think you're just overthinking things. Xu Chuan is like an ant in our hands now. We can see him whenever we want. If you can't get any information out of him the first time, you can always try again. He will eventually slip up. Don't worry too much," Number Two reassured him, handing him the water bottle.

Shi Jin thanked him and took a sip of water, looking up at the car roof and sighing in his heart. However, Lian Jun was still waiting for him to return to B City. He didn't have much time to waste on Xu Chuan. He had to find a way to resolve this quickly.

......

The car pulled into a hotel in M Province, and Number Two arranged for Shi Jin to stay in the presidential suite. "Number Five and I also live on this floor. All the staff on this floor are protection personnel arranged by Young Master Jun, so safety can be guaranteed. You can rest assured," explained Number Five as he escorted him into the room.

Upon hearing this, Shi Jin glanced at the tall janitor passing by in the hallway and furrowed his eyebrows. After thanking Number Five, he carried his luggage into the room and called a video phone to report his safety to Lian Jun.

The call was answered immediately, and when the screen appeared, Lian Jun first assessed Shi Jin's condition. Seeing his tired expression, he frowned and asked, "What's wrong? Are you tired?"

"No," Shi Jin quickly rubbed his face to perk himself up and replied, "I've been overthinking on the way here about how to get Xu Chuan to talk, but I couldn't come up with any ideas." He had very little information about Xu Chuan, and although he seemed to know a lot, it was likely that Xu Chuan knew it all too. After all, Xu Chuan was the confidant of Shi Xingrui and had experienced those events firsthand, so he definitely knew more than him.

He had come this time to learn some information about Xu Jie and the past from Xu Chuan. If Xu Chuan adopted the same policy of silence and resistance as he did when he was arrested, then his trip would be in vain.

Seeing his distress, Lian Jun pointed to the armrest of the wheelchair and suddenly said, "During the time you were away, I carefully studied the information on Shi Xingrui, Xu Chuan, and Xu Jie." Shi Jin was taken aback and instinctively glanced at the desk in front of him. He saw several unread documents still lying on it and furrowed his brows slightly before saying, "Why are you looking at these now? You still have many documents to approve..."

After returning to B City, everyone else took some time to rest, but only Lian Jun was still busy with endless documents every day. Although Shi Jin hadn't asked much about Lian Jun's work, he could guess that Lian Jun must be under tremendous pressure lately.

The situation in the underworld was in turmoil due to the disintegration of the Nine Eagles and Phantom, and there was always the possibility of conflict erupting. There was not much time left for Annihilation to complete its transformation before any conflict broke out.

Every time he went to the study, Lian Jun had work waiting for him to handle. And now, Lian Jun had to take time out of his morning to undergo treatment and exercise, making his time even more scarce. By taking time out of his work to help him go through the materials, he knew Lian Jun would have to work overtime again that night.

"There aren't many documents that came in today, so it won't delay anything. And now that Number One is back, he can help me share some of the workload." Lian Jun saw through his thoughts with one glance, and then lowered his voice to reassure him, "As the saying goes, those in power are blinded by their own interests, while bystanders see clearly. I'll give you my guess, which you can use as a reference. Of course, I'm not trying to interfere with your personal affairs, I just want to see if I can help you."

...How could there be such a considerate person in this world?

As Shi Jin watched Lian Jun lower his head to review the documents, his heart softened and he wished he could reach through the screen and give Lian Jun a kiss.

Every time he faced difficulties, Lian Jun would always help him, either proactively or secretly. And even though Lian Jun was helpful, he never interfered with Shi Jin's decisions or tried to control his affairs.

Suddenly, Shi Jin longed to be by Lian Jun's side and wished that these problems didn't exist.

"I miss you," he couldn't help but say, his expression drooping a bit. Seeing Shi Jin's expression, Lian Jun's voice became even softer and more soothing as he replied, "I miss you too."

After a brief moment of silence, Shi Jin regained his composure and said, "I'll be back as soon as possible."

Lian Jun waved the documents in his hand and said with a smile, "I'm helping you come back as soon as possible."

Upon hearing this, Shi Jin also smiled, and the weariness from his face disappeared. He walked over to the sofa and lay down, propping up his tablet with a stand in front of him. He said, "So, I've been working on the timeline all afternoon. Can you help me brainstorm?"

Lian Jun looked at him lying comfortably on the sofa and felt relieved. He put down the documents and said, "I have three guesses: First, although Xu Chuan and Xu Jie are relatives, Xu Chuan is not necessarily a long-term ally of Xu Jie. Second, Xu Chuan has been working for Shi Xingrui, but there may be a trust crisis between them, and Shi Xingrui may be wary of Xu Chuan. Third, based on the above two points, I suspect that Xu Chuan may not even know the relationship between your mother and Jian Jinwen."

As Shi Jin listened, he couldn't lie down anymore and sat up, stunned. "How did you come to these conclusions? It's not in the data," he exclaimed.

He was unsure of how much information Xu Chuan had and couldn't decide on the strength of the partnership between Xu Chuan and Xu Jie. If Lian Jun's speculations were correct, then there was no need to scramble to find some leverage. He could just bombard Xu Chuan with information.

Lian Jun looked at him with a slightly foolish expression and explained in detail, "Changes in interests cannot deceive people. I not only looked at the survey data, but also at various interest-related information of Ruihang from its establishment to the present. From the changes in Ruihang's equity and profit distribution, it can be seen that the period when Xu Chuan and Shi Xingrui had absolute trust in each other was from the establishment of Ruihang to half a year after Xu Jie gave birth to Shi Weichong. After that, Xu Chuan went from being a business partner and lawyer of Shi Xingrui to just a lawyer. In simpler terms, before this time point, Shi Xingrui was doing business with Xu Chuan for mutual benefit, but after this time point, Shi Xingrui hired Xu Chuan and simply paid him a salary as a superior."

"The information of Ruihang?" Shi Jin had a sudden realization. How could he forget that Ruihang, as the center of everyone's attention, could hold many secrets? He had only been focused on investigating data and had overlooked such a significant source of information.

He slapped his forehead, gathered his thoughts, and carefully considered what Lian Jun had said. His attention was drawn to one point - wasn't that the time when Shi Xingrui abandoned Xu Jie, half a year after Shi Weichong was born?

When he reviewed the investigation materials in the afternoon, he realized that, if you really thought about it, Xu Jie could actually be considered one of the more special women among the many women in Shi Xingrui's life. Except for Yun Jin, Shi Xingrui had abandoned all the other women once they became pregnant, only coming back to take a look after the child was born.

Only Xu Jie was different. After she gave birth to Shi Weichong, Shi Xingrui even lived with her like an ordinary family of three for half a year. He had never doubted this before, thinking that Shi Xingrui was like this because it was his first time being a father and he still had some conscience, which made him show a little more "affection" towards Xu Jie.

But now it seems like it's not just that. So something must have happened at this point in time that caused Shi Xingrui to abandon Xu Jie and demote Xu Chuan. But whatever happened wasn't too serious, as it didn't cross Shi Xingrui's boundaries, otherwise he would have abandoned both of them long ago.

What could it be... he wondered, unable to resist looking up at Lian Jun.

Lian Jun waited quietly for him to finish thinking. When he looked up again, Lian Jun explained, "As for the relationship between Xu Chuan and Xu Jie, judging from Xu Chuan's attitude towards Shi Weichong and his other brothers, which is no different, and the fact that he had the opportunity to tamper with Shi Xingrui's will but never did, it seems that he and Xu Jie only had a few collaborations at some point due to their family ties and interests. Long-term collusion is definitely not possible.

"Xu Chuan can be considered loyal to Shi Xingrui in business. Leaving aside the early stages that we don't understand, if Xu Chuan is indeed cooperating with Xu Jie now, then this cooperation must have been established after Shi Xingrui's death."

As soon as Shi Jin heard his words, his mind was immediately drawn away. He thought back to all that Xu Chuan had done over the years and agreed with his guess.

"Indeed, Xu Chuan had always been very dedicated in serving my father before he passed away," he said.

"But Shi Xingrui didn't completely trust Xu Chuan," said Lian Jun with a confident tone. He then took out a few documents and showed them to Shi Jin. "Xu Chuan is not only an excellent lawyer, but also a great businessman. During the expansion period of Ruihang, there were many times when the company underwent structural transformations. Shi Xingrui had someone like Xu Chuan at his disposal, but he chose to ignore him and instead appointed Xu Tianhua, who clearly had ulterior motives, as his deputy.

"Even when Ruihang stabilized in the later stages, Shi Xingrui only gave Xu Chuan a small share of the profits and a false sense of status, but not any real power. If this is how he treated him in business, then he definitely wouldn't reveal too much information to Xu Chuan about his most cherished personal matters."

Shi Jin looked at the data in his hand, filled with various profit statistics charts. As a student who struggled academically, he felt his head spinning more and more as he looked at it. He quickly averted his gaze and said, "So, your conclusion is that Xu Chuan doesn't know about the relationship between my mother and Jian Jinwen?"

Lian Jun put down the data and nodded, saying, "Yes, but all of this is just my speculation and not a confirmed result."

However, Shi Jin felt that his speculation was likely true. He lowered his head and closed his eyes, allowing his thoughts to continue to wander. The relationship between Yun Jin and Jian Jinwen was too mysterious. Shi Xingrui valued Jian Jinwen so much that after experiencing multiple failed attempts to find a replacement, he would definitely pay extra attention to Yun Jin, who was still young and had too many uncertainties as a perfect substitute.

As a subordinate who had a "stain" in the past, Shi Xingrui would definitely not tell Xu Chuan the true situation of Yun Jin. This afternoon, while he was passing time on the car, he came to a conclusion - Xu Chuan must have really considered Jian Jinwen as a friend during the years they were in contact. This could be inferred from Xu Chuan's overly intense reaction upon seeing Jian Jinwen's weight loss. He even had a hypothesis in his mind - could Xu Chuan have developed feelings for Jian Jinwen?

However, he was unsure about the latter point, as he had never heard of any man who would continue to help his love rival after their loved one's death. But if all the information above is true, Xu Chuan has no idea about the relationship between Yun Jin and Jian Jinwen. The partnership between Xu Chuan and Xu Jie is also not as strong as he initially thought. So, if he directly tells Xu Chuan that he is Jian Jinwen's nephew...

He couldn't help but smash the sofa cushion hard and looked excitedly at Lian Jun. What breakthrough point is he still looking for? He can just use the information to break through Xu Chuan's psychological defense line!

Lian Jun leaned back in his chair and waited quietly for him to finish thinking. Seeing his bright eyes, he knew he had figured it out. He smirked and asked, "Can you sleep well tonight?"

"Finally, I can get a great night's sleep!" Shi Jin exclaimed as he pounced towards the screen and exaggeratedly smacked his lips. "Baby, you're so smart!"

Lian Jun raised an eyebrow. "Baby?"

Shi Jin shamelessly agreed and turned his question into a statement. He then changed the subject and said, "You're not allowed to work overtime and approve any documents today. If you can't finish them, leave them for tomorrow and make sure to get enough sleep."

Lian Jun checked the time and stopped teasing him. He instead reminded him, "You should also rest early."

"No problem!" Shi Jin promised. After chatting for a while, he reluctantly hung up the phone.

......

The next morning, after a good night's sleep, Shi Jin got into the car headed towards the M Province prison. As soon as Number Two saw him looking relaxed and even playing mahjong, he was shocked and asked, "Aren't you worried about the conversation with Xu Chuan? Are you giving up on yourself?"

"What giving up on myself? I found some outside help and even opened up my knowledge acupoints." Shi Jin replied without even looking up, confidently picking up a new tile and immediately winning the game.

Number Two knew exactly who Shi Jin's outside help was and rolled his eyes before muttering under his breath, "Why didn't you ask for help earlier? You had to struggle on your own, knowing full well that you're not the brightest bulb in the box..."

Shi Jin's ears perked up and he kicked out at him.

......

The prison was located in the suburbs of M Province, and after about an hour's drive, the car stopped at the prison gate.

Number Five took out his phone and made a call. Within a short while, a uniformed person came out and personally led them into the prison, guiding them towards the visitation room.

"The prisoner Xu Chuan is very strange. Since he arrived here, he has always kept to himself, not communicating with other prisoners, refusing visits, rejecting outside phone calls and letters, resisting the weekly open network activity... In short, he has refused everything related to socializing. He has become very silent, reading books when he has nothing to do, and always reading the same few books. He is very easy to manage, but also very difficult to approach." The prison guard explained as he walked, his brow furrowed.

"This time, he was forced to accept your visit by the higher-ups, but he is showing strong resistance. You should prepare yourselves mentally, he will definitely not cooperate with your conversation."

As he approached the visitation room and caught sight of Xu Chuan, Shi Jin couldn't help but furrow his brow at the state he was in. He thanked the prison guard for the reminder and reached into his pocket, feeling the few photos he had tucked away before letting out a shallow breath.

......

The creaking of the iron door signaled Shi Jin's entrance into the visitation room, where he saw only one figure. Xu Chuan looked up at the sound of the door and his eyes briefly glazed over upon seeing Shi Jin, before quickly regaining clarity and lowering his head to look at his cuffed hands on the table.

"They say the victor is king and the loser is a bandit. You've come back again, are you here to flog a dead horse?" he asked.

Shi Jin walked over and sat across from him, replying, "I have no interest in beating a dead horse, nor do I hate you. I came here to clear some things up and to tell you some things." Xu Chuan didn't even look at him and replied coldly, "There's nothing to say between you and me."

"If I told you that Jian Jinwen is my uncle, would you still think there's nothing to say between us?" Shi Jin got straight to the point, while closely observing Xu Chuan's face and his expression.

Xu Chuan was first stunned, then suddenly lifted his head and even tried to stand up, shocked as he asked, "What did you say? Whose name did you just mention? You said he's your uncle! You have no right to call his name, you fake and phony piece of—!"

Shi Jin took out two photos and pushed them over, saying, "These two people are Wei Ming and Guan Jiajia. They are Mr. Jian's and my mother's biological parents. This is a photo of Mr. Jian when he was a child, and this is a photo of my mother when she was a child. Xu Chuan, if there were no blood relationship, do you think there would be two children who look almost identical in the world?"

Xu Chuan looked down at the photos on the table, his eyes widened. He struggled to reach for the photos while his hands were handcuffed to the chair.

"Not only do I have photos, but I also have detailed information about Mr. Jian and my mother's birth. If you want to see it, I can show it to you." Shi Jin took back all the photos on the table and deliberately left Jian Jinwen's photo for last. Xu Chuan stared at Jian Jinwen's photo with a slightly scary expression.

Seeing this, Shi Jin felt complicated in his heart and sighed inwardly - it seemed that Xu Chuan's feelings towards Jian Jinwen were also different.

"Now, do you still think there's nothing to say between us?" Shi Jin deliberately spoke in a cold tone, flipping the photo over and placing it face down on the table.

He looked at Xu Chuan, who had shifted his gaze towards him, and pointed to his own face, saying, "Last time we met, you said I didn't deserve to have this face and that the part of me that resembled him the most was my lips. At that time, I thought you were referring to 'her', my mother. But now, thinking back, you were actually referring to Mr. Jian, right?"

Xu Chuan looked at his face, his expression gradually tightening, his body swaying, and suddenly he fell back into his chair, saying, "There's nothing to say between you and me... even if you have a blood relationship with Jinwen, so what? You're not him, and you never will be."

Shi Jin furrowed his brow, knowing that he had to take action. "I am certainly not Mr. Jian, and I will never be Mr. Jian." He leaned back in his chair, hands folded on his stomach, with a hint of Mr. Lian's posture. "But I am Mr. Jian's nephew, the last blood relative he had in this world. To be honest, when I was researching these materials, I went to see Mr. Jian's adoptive father once. He was a very kind and great old man, who has always been grateful to you. But he didn't know that you were just a fraud, a fraud who helped the devil monitor Mr. Jian."

Xu Chuan's body trembled, his palms clenched tightly, but he still didn't say a word. "I promised him that I would help him uncover Mr. Jian's background, clarify the relationship between my mother and Mr. Jian, and if the result of my investigation shows that Mr. Jian and I are indeed related by blood, then I will personally tell him the truth and go with him to offer incense to Mr. Jian."

Xu Chuan suddenly looked up at Shi Jin and gritted his teeth, saying, "You are not worthy."

With a cold sneer, Shi Jin stood up and asked Xiao Si to buff him. "Why aren't I worthy?" he said. "My mother was a victim, and I have never done anything to offend Mr. Jian. Of course I deserve to call him uncle and offer incense to him. But you, on the other hand, are a fraud who approached him with ulterior motives. You are an accomplice who helped the devil imprison him. You are the one who truly doesn't deserve it! You even wanted to help someone kill me, the last blood relative he has in this world!

"Let me think, if Mr. Jian knew that his friend wanted to kill his relative, what would his reaction be? Disgust? Hatred? Oh no, Mr. Jian is such a kind person, how could he have such negative emotions? He would probably just be disappointed in you and very, very sad. So sad that he never wants to see you again."

As Shi Jin's speech quickened, Xu Chuan's expression became increasingly terrified. He watched as Shi Jin's aggressive demeanor reminded him of the disappointed look on Jian Jinwen's face. His heart tightened and he pulled at the handcuffs on his wrist with renewed force, shaking his head and saying, "No! It's not true, I didn't do it, I-"

"Shut up!" Shi Jin interrupted him with a stern voice, looking into his eyes and lowering his voice. "Xu Chuan, Mr. Jian's adoptive father is already old. He can only live for another ten years at most. Ten years from now, while you're still in prison, the only person left to visit Mr. Jian's grave and offer incense will be me. Do you really want me to die?"

Xu Chuan's pupils suddenly shrank, his chest heaving as he stared straight at him for a long time. Suddenly, he tilted his head back and took a deep breath, sitting back in his chair and saying in a hoarse voice, "A photo... I need a photo of Jinwen. All the photos I had were taken away when I was imprisoned."

Shi Jin's eyes flickered and he sat back in his chair, flipping over the photo that was fastened to the table and pushing Jinwen's photo towards him.