Chapter 437: Grand Finale (Part 1): My Name is Pan Zi

The earlier tension suddenly turned into a feeling of helplessness.

All the account books were written in code, similar to that phrase "Chicken Eye Yellow Sand" that had dragged me into everything. Various codes emerged endlessly; if you weren't careful, you might think they were poorly written martial arts novels or foot-care manuals. I could understand these codes—after all, I was a small boss at one of Third Uncle's minor branches—I'd learned the whole system.

However, looking at the enormous sums flowing through the accounts, I couldn't help but feel ashamed and mortified. Given the turnover of my small shop, if I weren't Third Uncle's nephew, I'd definitely have been kicked off the branch list long ago.

I could fully understand the account books, but I couldn't spot the problems in them. Since they dared to hand them in, the accounts were obviously balanced. Third Uncle could detect tricks from many small details; I clearly didn't have that ability, and could only guess from minor things. For example, if the ink in the entire book was very new, it must have been hastily written last night. Or if the paper inside was old but the cover was new, it must be an old account book re-covered.

I'd actually done these things myself, but I was a small boss, and Third Uncle's account collectors wouldn't dare to do anything to me. Today's problems must be because the lower branches heard rumors that Third Uncle was in trouble, so they each skimmed a lot, and now hastily made fake accounts.

Last night must have been a sleepless night, heh. I didn't know why, but I always felt a certain pleasure.

While flipping through the account books, I also found a strange item in the pile.

It was a phone book, underneath all the account books, the one handed in by that fishmonger (or rather, snatched by Panzi).

At first I thought it was an account book in the style of a phone book, but after opening it, I found it really was just a phone book, full of various numbers, with no accounts at all.

I quickly caught on, realizing my earlier thought was wrong.

Panzi didn't know the fishmonger had brought an account book; this was a setup.

That is, Panzi only saw a notebook in his pocket, snatched it by the fastest means and gave it to Xiao Hua, who immediately lied and said it was an account book. The others saw that the fishmonger, despite his tough talk, still brought an account book—meaning he also feared Third Uncle, and wasn't that different from what he'd said before? They immediately thought rebellion was unreliable, and like grass bending in the wind, sided with us. By the time the fishmonger realized it, all the account books had already been handed in, and his plan had failed.

Although I had gained an advantage earlier using Chenpi A'si, the real test was in how to handle these account books and collect the money. This was the most practical matter; letting bygones be bygones wasn't Third Uncle's style—others would suspect.

I didn't know if my thoughts were correct, but it didn't matter now. I picked out a few books that were definitely problematic and prepared to start the performance. But the first step wasn't to throw the account books—it was to express intense dissatisfaction.

In Panzi's directorial arrangement, this step involved using an ashtray to hit him, expressing blame toward Panzi, who had been in charge in Third Uncle's absence. So as I looked on, I suddenly slammed an account book shut and threw it onto the table.

The room had been dead silent; instantly everyone's gaze turned to me. I grabbed the ashtray from the table and threw it at Panzi.

According to the script, Panzi would immediately catch the ashtray. Then I would stand up and, at top speed, slap the corresponding account books one by one onto the faces of those who had problems. Then Xiuxiu would take me away, and Xiao Hua and Panzi would handle the rest.

Panzi had calculated that if the plan went smoothly, most of the money that hadn't been collected during Third Uncle's absence would come back—a huge amount. After this step, as long as I wasn't exposed during the entire process, the concept that "Third Master has returned" would become fact. In the future, I wouldn't need to appear often; I could just go back to Hangzhou, and Panzi could gradually manage the situation.

From the current situation, the two most critical points were that I couldn't reveal myself, and that I had to complete these steps quickly and reasonably, making others feel it was logical and not suspect something was wrong with Third Master. These people had followed Third Master for decades; their fear of him was a habit.

And now was the main event; success or failure hinged on this one move.

I had practiced many times last night, and my aim was good. I watched Panzi, waiting for the moment he would catch the ashtray, all my energy raised.

However, an unexpected situation arose—the ashtray actually hit Panzi on the head. He hadn't even reached out to catch it.

The ashtray fell to the ground and shattered. My mind froze; I thought to myself, Panzi, you actually got distracted. Then I saw Panzi's body go limp, and he fell from his chair to the floor. As he moved, a smell of blood rushed over me, and the entire chair was covered in blood.

The crowd immediately erupted into chaos. My mind buzzed, and I instantly stood up. Xiao Hua walked right past me and, at that moment, glanced at me.

I understood his meaning—he wanted me not to panic. I had to forcibly restrain myself as Xiao Hua rushed over first. At the same time, the people below exploded, all surging forward.

The wound must have split open when he wrestled the fishmonger earlier. He went back to smoking to cover up the smell of blood; he knew he couldn't hold on much longer.

You really don't value your life, I thought to myself, clenching my fists secretly. Suddenly I felt very regretful; perhaps I shouldn't have come to find him again. He had barely managed to get out of this line of work, and now he was risking his life again. I was too selfish.

Xiao Hua checked Panzi's pulse, immediately helped him up, and shouted toward the door. The men he had brought quickly came over and carried Panzi out. Xiao Hua followed out to give a few instructions before coming back; his suit was already covered in blood.

Everyone else was stunned by the scene; no one stopped anything. I had thought the fishmonger would make his move at this moment, but he showed no reaction. However, I saw his gaze constantly flicking toward that middle-aged woman. The middle-aged woman also looked at him, and they kept exchanging glances.

I asked Xiao Hua with my eyes: How is it? He came behind me, lowered his head, and whispered in my ear: "The wound split open. Don't worry, my men have taken him to the hospital. You finish up quickly, then go see him." As he spoke, he also patted me, meaning: Continue! When something goes wrong, people often have several choices: one is to persist, one is to leave immediately, and another is to stay still. Xiao Hua used several gestures as prearranged signals for these three situations.

I thought about the previous plan and cursed inwardly. It seemed that Third Uncle himself, in this situation, would ignore Panzi and continue dealing with the account books. If I suddenly left, it would clearly be inconsistent with Third Uncle's character and would make people think Third Uncle was unsure of himself.

Thinking this, I decided to immediately start throwing the account books and then leave quickly. So I tapped the table with my finger.

Instantly, all the people in chaos turned their gaze to me. I stood up, smiled coldly, and took out the first account book. Just as I was about to throw it at that person's face, I suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.