122: Chapter 122 Five

He paused, his throat tightening slightly.

"Do you have..."

The living room instantly fell into a long silence.

Only the low hum of the air conditioner's vent and the faint, distant sound of traffic outside remained, like a thin, continuous layer of white noise that made the room feel even more deathly silent.

Light and shadow flowed slowly across the floor-to-ceiling window, playing across Lu Zheng's face in shifting patterns.

He was sunk into the sofa, yet his back wasn't fully pressed against it; his spine was straight and his shoulders broad, like a blade sheathed but still hiding its sharp edge.

After a moment, he finally spoke slowly.

"Yes."

A single word, uttered steadily and firmly, without a hint of hesitation or extra emotion.

Jiang Chen didn't interrupt, waiting quietly for him to continue.

Lu Zheng's gaze shifted slightly, landing on the glass of plain water on the coffee table that had long since gone cold. His eyes seemed to pierce through the glass, looking toward somewhere far away.

"I spent eleven years in the military. I didn't lead many soldiers, but I remember every single one of their faces clearly."

His voice was a few notches lower than usual, and his speaking pace slowed down, as if he were revisiting familiar faces in his mind as he spoke.

"A few of them haven't had the smoothest lives since being discharged. It's not that they lack ability; it's just that once they left the military, they were lost."

"Inside, everything was arranged clearly for them. Once they came out, there was no one to guide them, and they didn't know where to go. Aside from being soldiers, they don't seem to know how to do anything else."

He paused and looked up, his gaze returning to Jiang Chen's face, his eyes becoming a bit more determined.

"If Mr. Jiang wants to form his own team, I can contact them."

Jiang Chen looked at him and asked calmly, "How many?"

"Five."

Lu Zheng paused, then added, "Including me, six in total."

Jiang Chen nodded slightly. "Is that enough?"

"Enough."

Lu Zheng answered without hesitation, his tone like reporting tactical data that required no verification.

"I know these five people inside and out. I know exactly what each is good at and what position they're suited for. Two are in their hometowns, two are working in a neighboring province, and one is right here in this city, operating a tower crane on a construction site."

He paused briefly, as if weighing his words, before finally uttering only two words that carried immense weight.

"True experts."

Jiang Chen didn't ask further.

He had seen Lu Zheng's skills with his own eyes today.

Crisp, efficient, and every move was lethal.

There was no need to doubt anyone whom Lu Zheng himself called a "true expert."

"Call them over," Jiang Chen said calmly.

Lu Zheng's Adam's apple bobbed. He was about to speak: "Mr. Jiang, their salary..."

"Pay them double the market rate."

Jiang Chen interrupted directly, his tone as casual as if he were discussing something perfectly ordinary.

Lu Zheng was slightly stunned and wanted to say more.

But Jiang Chen didn't give him the chance.

"You handled twelve people alone today. Next time Zhou Wanquan sends people, if there are twenty, can you handle them alone?"

His gaze fell on Lu Zheng's face, as calm as a bottomless lake.

"I'm not hiring ordinary security guards. What I want to build is a security team—a force that will ensure I never have to worry about Zhou Wanquan's underhanded tricks again."

"You know your comrades better than I do. If you think they're capable, I'll trust you."

Lu Zheng fell silent.

His fingers slowly tightened on his knees, his knuckles turning slightly white, then slowly relaxed. He repeated this motion twice.

"Mr. Jiang."

His voice dropped even lower, almost merging into the deepening night outside the window. "On their behalf, thank you."

Jiang Chen looked at him and said plainly, "No need for thanks. You're bringing them here to work. If they do the job well, they'll get every penny they deserve. If they don't, you'll be the one responsible."

As the last word fell, there was an almost imperceptible hint of relaxation in his tone.

It wasn't politeness, and it certainly wasn't a warning.

It was a kind of trust that already treated the other person as one of his own.

Lu Zheng understood.

He nodded solemnly.

"I'll contact them tomorrow morning."

Jiang Chen nodded slightly and said no more.

He leaned back into the sofa cushions, turning his gaze toward the river view outside the window.

On the opposite bank, the lights merged into a single expanse, casting long reflections on the water that were broken and gathered again by the evening breeze, over and over.

Lu Zheng stood up from the sofa.

"Mr. Jiang, it's late. You should get some rest."

Jiang Chen didn't look back, only giving a faint "Mm" in response.

Lu Zheng walked to the entryway, put on his own shoes, and placed the pair of gray slippers neatly back on the leftmost side of the bottom shelf of the shoe cabinet.

He opened the door to leave, pausing for a brief moment just as the door was about to close.

Through the crack in the door, the warm yellow light of the living room shone, reflecting Jiang Chen's motionless profile as he sat on the sofa.

The man was staring quietly out the window, like a statue that had long been bathed in light and shadow.

The door closed softly.

The steady, rhythmic sound of footsteps faded away down the hallway, each step spaced as precisely as if measured with a ruler.

Jiang Chen remained seated where he was, looking at the river surface outside the window.

After a long while, he picked up the glass of cold water on the coffee table and drained the last sip.

The bottom of the glass tapped lightly against the marble tabletop, making a crisp sound.

Then, the corner of his mouth quirked up ever so slightly.

It was a tiny movement, gone in an instant.

Like a ripple stirred by the wind on the river, it subsided before it could spread.

He had been planning to form a security team for a long time.

After seeing Lu Zheng's skills today, that thought had shifted from "consideration" to "must be implemented immediately."

Zhou Wanquan would never let things go. Next time, he would surely bring more people and use even more sinister methods, spreading the trouble further.

He needed a wall.

A wall that would leave Zhou Wanquan battered and bloodied if he crashed into it.

Lu Zheng was the first cornerstone of this wall.

And the five people he mentioned would be the bricks laid firmly afterward.

It was enough.

At least for now, it was enough.

Jiang Chen stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.

From the height of the twenty-first floor, the river stretched out beneath him like a piece of dark silk, adorned with lights like scattered gold.

In the distance, traffic flowed across the cross-river bridge, their taillights forming a red band of light that stretched slowly toward both banks.

He stood there, his gaze crossing the river and landing on the invisible office building amidst the myriad of lights on the opposite bank.

Zhou Wanquan's Wantai Real Estate was right there.

Jiang Chen's eyes were calm, identical to when he had faced the Scarface Man earlier.

There was no anger, no coldness.

It was the composure of someone who had already placed his opponent on the chessboard and begun calculating every move.

The phone on the coffee table suddenly lit up.

It was a message from Lu Zheng: "Mr. Jiang, I'll go pick them up tomorrow morning."

Jiang Chen picked up the phone and replied with a single word.

"Okay."

Then, he flipped the phone over, screen down, and placed it gently on the table.

The wind on the river grew stronger, causing the glass railing outside the window to hum faintly.

The lights on the opposite bank swayed slightly in the wind, like points of light that could be scattered at any moment.

But Jiang Chen knew they wouldn't scatter.

Just as he clearly knew that from this moment on, some things had completely changed.