Chapter 106: The Trap

"Brother Sen?"

"What, you started eating without waiting for me to come back?" Zhou Sen walked into the dining room with a chuckle, seeing A-Xiang and Bai Yulan about to finish their meal.

Bai Yulan rolled her eyes at him. "Who knew if you were coming or not? Were we supposed to starve ourselves waiting for you?"

"Didn't Wu En tell you?" Zhou Sen asked. "That guy, he’s such a blockhead. If you didn't ask, he wouldn't think to tell you himself."

"A-Xiang, didn't you ask?" Bai Yulan asked, drawing out the tone.

"Ah..." A-Xiang was stunned. How did the two of you bickering turn into a fire aimed at me?

"Don't blame A-Xiang. I'm hungry; let's eat first." Zhou Sen picked up his chopsticks, took a bite of food, and began to chew heartily.

"Want a drink?"

"No, I have things to do early tomorrow morning."

"Oh." Bai Yulan nodded and stopped asking. There were some things better left unsaid at the dinner table.

"Brother Sen, have some soup." A-Xiang served him a bowl.

"Thank you, A-Xiang. You sit down and eat, too. Don't worry about us; we'll take care of ourselves." Zhou Sen saw A-Xiang rushing back and forth without having had a single bite.

A-Xiang’s cooking had improved rapidly; in any case, Zhou Sen felt the taste was almost as good as his own.

Zhou Sen ate two bowls of sorghum rice and stopped when he was about seventy percent full. Without intense physical exertion, eating less was better for his health.

A cigarette after a meal is as blissful as an immortal. (Solemn warning: This is a bad habit, do not imitate.)

"Su Wenqing has set a trap for me. I think that not to return a courtesy is impolite; if I don't give him a taste of his own medicine, he won't stop."

"He's going after you?" Bai Yulan’s delicate brows furrowed slightly.

"Yes."

"What do you need me to do?" Bai Yulan asked.

"Nothing. I've already found a helper—the second son of the Qin family. Since their two families are rivals anyway, might as well use them," Zhou Sen said.

"Qin Lang is decent enough and keeps to the rules; otherwise, the Taiping Bridge Casino wouldn't be one of the best in Ice City. It's just that he's young and not steady enough," Bai Yulan noted.

"I’m just telling you so you don't worry."

"Is it dangerous?"

"A little, perhaps. But Su Wenqing shouldn't try to kill me; otherwise, he'll bring trouble upon himself," Zhou Sen said, frowning slightly.

"Su Wenqing is not the person you see today. Before he made his name in Ice City, he was a cold-blooded killer. Otherwise, how could he have fought Qin Laoqi and vied for the position of Chamber of Commerce President?" Bai Yulan warned.

Zhou Sen nodded. No man could tolerate the "hatred of having his wife stolen," and Su Wenqing might very well try to kill him. It was just that he didn't know the consequences of doing so were more than he could bear. Still, he had to be careful not to capsize in a gutter and lose his life; that would be a joke.

"Yulan, your ancestors were military generals in the Qing Dynasty. Do you have any life-saving treasures from the battlefield?" Zhou Sen asked.

Bai Yulan thought for a moment and nodded. "There is one thing: a suit of fine steel chainmail armor left by my father. It was bestowed upon my ancestor after he achieved merit during an expedition against Galdan. It’s impervious to blades and spears, as well as fire and water. But that was against cold weapons; it won't be of much use against modern firearms."

"Being able to block cold weapons is good enough. Can I try it on?" Zhou Sen’s spirits lifted. When it came to life-saving gear, the more, the better. It was a pity there was no bulletproof vest, or he would have worn it long ago.

"Wait here." Bai Yulan rose and went to her room.

Before long, she returned with a yellow silk bundle, cradled in her hands. It looked quite heavy.

Zhou Sen took it with both hands, and his arms sank—it weighed at least seven or eight pounds. It seemed this chainmail was extraordinary. He placed it on the table and opened the bundle, revealing a suit of dark, lustrous steel armor.

"The armor is cast from fine steel. With the technology of that time, it wasn't easy to create such a piece. Even today, its value is immeasurable," Bai Yulan explained.

"Calculating that, this armor is over two hundred years old?" Zhou Sen said in surprise. "It's a relic."

"When our family fell into ruin, I couldn't bear to sell it. It’s what my ancestors left behind, and this is all the unworthy descendants have left," Bai Yulan said wistfully.

"Then you’re giving it to me..."

"Who said I was giving it to you? It’s for my son, a family heirloom. I’m just lending it to you to wear for now," Bai Yulan glared at him.

"What if I ruin it while I'm wearing it?"

"If it breaks, you pay for it."

Pay for it? I’ll just pay you with a son then...

"Let me try it on to see if it fits." Zhou Sen took off his coat and inner shirt, leaving only his undershirt, and picked up the armor.

The armor was indeed heavy. Though it was a vest style, it covered the important parts of his shoulders, and the edges were trimmed, feeling comfortable against the skin. For a warrior, seven or eight pounds wasn't much, especially for something that could save a life in a pinch. But for the slightly less robust Zhou Sen, the armor felt like shackles as soon as he put it on.

"Do you have a heart protector?" Zhou Sen asked after walking around the room a few times, finding it tolerable.

"That thing is useless. Are you sure you want it?" Bai Yulan was taken aback. A heart protector wasn't a rare item, and coming from a family of generals, she naturally didn't lack one.

"Yes."

Bai Yulan leaned over, reached under the sofa, and pulled out a circular, flattened piece of copper.

"This is a heart protector?" Zhou Sen took it, weighing it in his hand. It was very light and thin, about as thick as a fingernail.

In his memory, heart protectors were usually curved to deflect arrows and blades, providing a buffer against lethal damage to the heart. This was just a flat piece of copper. But a copper sheet was better than nothing; if it could block even a fraction of a bullet's kinetic energy, it might save his life.

"Do you have some string? I'll tie it and hang it over my chest. With the armor inside, it should stop a bullet, right?"

Bai Yulan touched her forehead with her slender, onion-like fingers. How much did this guy fear death? Still, she complied and found him some string.

"There, with these two things, I won't be afraid tomorrow," Zhou Sen said with great satisfaction, giving his all for his "cowardly" persona.

...

"How many people did you arrange?"

Early the next morning, Zhou Sen met Qin Lang for breakfast at the Renyi Restaurant.

Qin Lang held up two fingers. "Are twenty people enough?"

"Too few. Make it forty," Zhou Sen said.

"Do we need that many?"

"Bringing more doesn't hurt. Don't you have enough men?" Zhou Sen asked. "If not, I can arrange it."

"I have enough. The casino doesn't have many guests right now, so pulling some people away isn't a problem." Qin Lang thought for a moment and nodded.

"Weapons?"

"Cleavers, wooden clubs, that kind of thing."

"No guns?"

"Big brother, we aren't you; we aren't legally allowed to carry guns." Qin Lang really wanted to punch Zhou Sen’s smug face.

"So, you *do* have guns, right?" Zhou Sen said. "Try to bring them. It's best not to use them, but what if you have to?"

"Just how much bad blood is there between you and Su Wenqing? Does he really want you dead?" Qin Lang almost choked on a mutton dumpling, his face turning red.

"Hard to say. Better to be safe than sorry. Su Wenqing has been fighting your father for years; don't you know what kind of man he is?" Zhou Sen countered.

"The guy is definitely ruthless. I heard that if old Mr. Ma were still alive, Su Wenqing would never have had a chance. It was only after Mr. Ma died that he rose up. Back then, he used to follow Mr. Ma around calling him 'Big Brother' for years," Qin Lang said.

"That happened?"

"You didn't know?" Qin Lang was stunned.

"Why should I know?"

"True. You aren't on our side of the tracks, so it's normal you wouldn't know. You're right to remind me; we really should be careful with Su Wenqing." Qin Lang nodded.

"Go on then. He’s meeting me at nine o'clock."

...

City Park.

Zhou Sen appeared in the South Garden, wearing a black woolen overcoat, a fedora, and a gray scarf.

The meeting place "Su Yun" mentioned in the letter was naturally not at the entrance. Even though there were fewer people than usual, people still passed by. If one really wanted to scheme, they would have to find a place with few people around.

Every winter in Ice City, there were cases of missing persons suspected of being murdered. When the spring flowers bloomed, the bodies would be discovered—sometimes just dumped in snowbanks without being buried.

He walked along the path for about ten minutes until he reached the meeting point. Zhou Sen stopped and looked around; aside from the trees and the uncleared snow, there wasn't a soul in sight.

He checked his watch; the time was almost up.

He saw a bench on the side of the road covered in snow. He walked over and cleared it off. Finished, he felt slightly out of breath and sat down to rest.

Not long after, he heard footsteps crunching on the snow. He stood up and looked back down the path. A slender figure was moving toward him.

The clothes were identical to what he had seen Su Yun wearing. Had he misjudged? No, this didn't smell like Su Yun at all!

Zhou Sen immediately became alert, but he walked toward the figure anyway. "Su Yun."

"Su Yun" seemed to hear him but didn't speak, just waved at him, a scarf covering half her face.

At that moment, five men in trench coats appeared behind Zhou Sen, silently and quickly closing in.

Zhou Sen, however, was oblivious as he walked toward "Su Yun," a fake expression of "delight" on his face.