Chapter 876 - I’ll Cooperate With You
Lu Zihao saw the complicated expression on Jin Liwei's face and felt annoyed and impatient but restrained himself from lashing out at the man because the remnant might suddenly cause him trouble again. He had enough of these tedious conversations with his sister and her man. He already accommodated them beyond of what he was comfortable with tonight.
What he wanted to do the most right now was to return to his room and fuck Long Jinjing before going to sleep. Fucking her always made him feel better.
He told Jin Liwei, "Before you ask the rest of your other questions, I'll remind you once again that my main purpose in creating Shadow Winds is for revenge. You might oppose my plan but I don't give a fuck. Think what you want but my mind is already set. Everyone knows that the Vetrovs were no saints. Hell, we were called the devils. Some might think that we, the Vetrovs, don't have the right to seek justice because of the gravity of our own crimes throughout the generations but I. Don't. Give. A. Fuck! The people who annihilated us need to pay for what they did. And don't forget that those motherfuckers also murdered Evelinka!"
Jin Liwei's entire body stiffened and his expression turned ugly at the mention of his wife's murder. He clenched his hands into fists and looked like he was struggling to control himself.
"All those things that you were asking me about earlier—drugs, human trafficking, prostitution—are shit that I don't care in this lifetime. I already had my fill of those from my past life. They also take time to build into stable and lucrative businesses, time that I don't have. I can't waste my time on those shit. I need to focus everything into gathering the necessary resources and training enough skilled manpower that I can use to obtain my ultimate goal—revenge."
"Will your revenge bring danger to my wife?" Jin Liwei asked.
Lu Zihao didn't answer immediately which made Jin Liwei's expression turn darker. "I'll do my best not to do that."
"That's not enough," Jin Liwei growled. "I need a guarantee that you won't endanger Evelina!"
"Do you think that I want to put my own sister in danger?!"
The two men glowered at each other. Both of their bodies were poised to fight each other but the sensible parts of their brains managed to restrain them. If they fought, their women would become upset. In the end, both turned away and forced their respective selves to calm down.
"Evelinka will be fine," Lu Zihao said after regaining his composure. "Nobody else knows that she's now Long Xiulan anyway. As long as she doesn't get involved, she should be safe."
"What about you?" Jin Liwei countered. "I'm guessing that nobody else knows that you're Nikolai Vetrov right now either, but once you start taking your revenge, I'm sure that some of your enemies will figure out your true identity. They'll come after the Lu family. Grandpa Lu is already so old. Don't give him more things to worry about."
"No, I'll be careful not to implicate the Lus. And the old man doesn't need to know."
"If your enemies were able to defeat you back when you were still a Vetrov, then they can do it again especially now that you're the leader of a newly-established group. No matter how careful you are, there's still the possibility of your desire for revenge causing tragedy not only to the Lu family but also to everyone close to you, including all of us here."
Lu Zihao closed his eyes and became silent. After a couple of minutes had passed, Jin Liwei thought that he wouldn't speak anymore. Jin Liwei felt frustrated but at the same time worried. He wasn't only worried for his wife, his fifth brother's body, the Lus, and all of them who might become implicated in this road of revenge. Despite the tension between him and Nikolai, he still felt genuinely worried about the man.
His wife dearly loved her older brother. If something happened to Nikolai, she would be heartbroken. As much as possible, Jin Liwei didn't want his wife worrying or becoming upset over anyone or anything. But it wasn't only that. Jin Liwei himself had also developed some affection for Nikolai. Granted, it was because he thought that he was his fifth brother at first and that the man's personality only changed after the ski accident.
Now that he knew the real truth, the closeness between him and Nikolai might have decreased a lot but it didn't mean that Jin Liwei didn't care about him. Nikolai was part of their family whether the man liked it or not.
Jin Liwei now faced a difficult decision. It was something that he didn't want to do but felt that he needed to do in order to increase his loved ones' safety.
He said, "You're as stubborn as my wife, so I won't waste my time trying to persuade you to give up revenge because it's clear to me that you've already made up your mind."
"Damn right."
"I'll cooperate with you," Jin Liwei declared in a grave voice.
Lu Zihao opened his eyes and looked at him like he turned into an idiot. "What the fuck are you saying?"
Jin Liwei looked at him straight in the eyes, showing him that he was dead serious in making his offer. "Don't get me wrong. I won't participate in your revenge, but I'll lend my power to make some things smoother for your group if you need it. I am Jin Liwei. My name alone holds great influence that you don't have right now as Lu Zihao. Being known as Lu Jianhong's grandson isn't enough to make things happen for you. And Shadow Winds is still a very new group.
"In exchange for my cooperation, I need to know all your plans and the progress you're making in your revenge so that I can immediately assess how to increase the safety of our family and friends. This way, I can be prepared for anything. Deal?"
Lu Zihao couldn't hide his disbelief. "Jin Liwei, you're fucking insane."