Chapter 137: The Persistence of Life

"This is the last card, time to reveal them!" Ye Chen said with a grinning smile.

"I'm so nervous!" Sister Yan clutched her chest, making her plump curves even more prominent. From Ye Chen's angle, he could see almost everything clearly, almost catching sight of those two pink buds, causing a surge of impure fire to rise within his lower abdomen. His trousers were visibly tented. Sister Yan asked with a smiling expression, "Can we win?"

"Of course we'll win!" Ye Chen chuckled.

In the final reveal, Sister Yan had the highest hand, beating someone who held three nines. When that person saw Sister Yan's three tens, he was filled with vexation, losing over a thousand yuan on this single hand. Sister Yan was overjoyed, raking in over three thousand yuan from this round. She grinned and said, "Not bad, not bad! Just a few more times like this, and I'll make a fortune!"

In the subsequent hands, Sister Yan continuously won over five thousand yuan, effectively recouping all the money she had previously lost. However, while Sister Yan was losing money to the casino earlier, she was now winning it from the other gamblers. When Ye Chen noticed this, his eyes widened instantly. This Sister Yan was truly formidable.

Sister Yan stayed at the casino for about three hours before receiving a phone call, after which she hurriedly took her leave, not even having time to bid Ye Chen farewell. Zhang Yantong and Fang Qin had also won over two thousand yuan in the casino, exchanged it for cash, and headed back to the police station.

On opening day, although several thousand yuan worth of crystal chips had been given away, the day's earnings were still quite impressive. They had already earned over one hundred thousand yuan on the very first day. For Feng Zhixiao and the others, this was an absolute fortune.

"Xiao Ruo, let me drive you back!" Seeing that Li Ruo was about to leave, Ye Chen immediately curried favor.

"Hmph, I thought you were so busy accompanying beauties that you'd forgotten all about me!" Li Ruo lightly snorted.

"How could that be?" Ye Chen hastily shook his head and said, "In my heart, Xiao Ruo is the most beautiful beauty of all!"

"Smooth-talking!" Li Ruo glared at him. Although she appeared unsatisfied on the surface, her heart felt deeply sweet. Ye Chen's words had struck deep into her inner soul, yet it seemed as though a wall inside her heart blocked Ye Chen's love. Li Ruo glanced at Lin Ziwen and said, "Ziwen, you go back with Captain Cao and the others first!"

"Alright!" Lin Ziwen nodded.

Shortly after, the grand Jeep slowly drove away from the casino, carrying Lin Ziwen. Ye Chen accompanied Li Ruo on foot as they strolled along the tree-lined path by the seaside in the dusk of the evening. They occasionally passed couples embracing and passionately kissing, which caused Li Ruo's face to flush crimson, as it reminded her of what had happened yesterday. That scoundrel Ye Chen had actually taken advantage of her while she was half-asleep. At the time, she thought she was dreaming and had no inhibitions, but this jerk not only looked at her from head to toe, he even reached out and cupped her shy breasts...

"Xiao Ruo..."

"Ye Chen..."

Noticing the awkward atmosphere, both of them wanted to break the tension, but when they spoke, it was entirely in unison. Ye Chen hurriedly said, "Ladies first, you speak first!"

"I... I want to ask, are you confident about the land development project in the North District?" Li Ruo asked curiously.

"As long as the municipal government's policies don't change, I'm confident!" Ye Chen nodded immediately, then looked at Li Ruo and added, "Of course, provided that our funding doesn't get cut off!"

"As for the funding, Tianya Group is already working hard on it. The bank has agreed to the loan, and we've also contacted several venture capital firms. They are very interested in your proposal and plan to invest!" Li Ruo nodded and said, "There is absolutely no problem with the funding! But..."

"But what?" Ye Chen was startled.

"But once any problem arises with the North District development project, the consequences for Tianya Group will be unimaginable, do you understand?" Li Ruo looked at Ye Chen earnestly and said, "Right now, you are essentially holding the futures of thousands of people at Tianya Group in your hands!"

"Hehe, Xiao Ruo, that is one heavy pressure!" Ye Chen chuckled.

"Ye Chen, I'm not joking at all!" Li Ruo's expression was grave. She gripped the guardrail beside her, gazing at the sparkling sea, and said, "Tianya Group has a history of over fifty years since its establishment. I don't want to see it ruined in my hands, do you understand?"

"I understand!" Ye Chen nodded.

"Then... do you have confidence?" Li Ruo looked at him.

"I do!" Ye Chen nodded, then raised his head to look at Li Ruo. "Ever since I can remember, I've lived an extraordinary life. Drugs, firearms, money, women—in a place like the Golden Triangle, almost anything can become a commodity. Later, I was hunted and chased all the way until I finally settled down in Jianghuai City. My life in memory has been one continuous flight..."

"That..." Li Ruo had never imagined that Ye Chen's life had been like this, nor did she expect him to have had such a rugged and bumpy past. She couldn't even fathom how Ye Chen had managed to survive coming out of a place like the Golden Triangle.

"I have never given up on survival, nor have I ever given up my yearning for life!" Ye Chen took Li Ruo's hand and said, "Xiao Ruo, the wind can blow away a large sheet of white paper, but it cannot blow away a tiny butterfly, because the power of life lies in non-conformity. As long as we persist, as long as we firmly believe, anything can be achieved. Do you know that?"

"I..." Li Ruo's eyes widened in sudden realization. At that moment, she seemed deep in thought, as if she had attained a sudden insight. Ye Chen's words were like a ray of sunlight piercing through the dark clouds of her life, revealing the true meaning of existence to her. Pondering deeply, Li Ruo repeated Ye Chen's words, "The wind can blow away a large sheet of white paper, but it cannot blow away a tiny butterfly, because the power of life lies in non-conformity. Ye Chen, is this the faith by which you've always lived?"

"Yes!" Ye Chen nodded and said, "I have always believed in it firmly!"

Li Ruo's once-confused eyes suddenly grew much brighter. She squeezed Ye Chen's hand and said, "Ye Chen, thank you!"

"What are you thanking me for?" Ye Chen was taken aback.

"Thank you for helping me understand things I didn't understand before!" Li Ruo wore a smile and said, "In the past, I was always lacking in self-confidence. Whenever I had to make decisions, I would deliberate and discuss them repeatedly, often ending up missing golden opportunities as a result. Now I understand that as long as we firmly believe and never give up, we will definitely succeed!"

"Mm!" Ye Chen nodded and said, "That's right, our lives cannot be without faith. Xiao Ruo, what is your faith?"

"I..." Li Ruo paused momentarily, then lowered her head. "I don't even know! Ye Chen, what is your faith?"

"My faith is a kind of animal!" A smile appeared on Ye Chen's face.

"What kind of animal?" Li Ruo looked at him curiously.

"An animal called the hummingbird!" Ye Chen smiled warmly at Li Ruo and said, "Hummingbirds are the only creatures in the world that can fly backward. When facing danger, only those who know how to step back can truly win their survival. That's why I love hummingbirds."

"Hummingbirds?!" Li Ruo was stunned. "The smallest birds in the world."

"Yes!" Ye Chen nodded. "Yet they possess the most tenacious vitality!"

"Thank you, Ye Chen. You've shown me what faith really means!" Li Ruo suddenly drew a breath.

Holding hands, the two walked all the way toward the main road, where Li Ruo casually hailed a taxi and headed home. Before leaving, Li Ruo said to him, "Ye Chen, I believe in you. You will definitely conquer that project!"

Ye Chen waved goodbye to her.

Night fell, and the streetlights flickered on. Meanwhile, in the South District, Prince had gathered a large number of subordinates. Having heard that the little punk Feng Zhixiao's casino had opened and was thriving with immense popularity, Prince was consumed by greed and intended to seize that territory. He had summoned over a hundred henchmen, prepared a dozen van vehicles, and readied a large cache of iron bars, steel pipes, and machetes.

Prince shouted at the top of his lungs, "Brothers, the opportunity to make a fortune has arrived! Are you willing to risk your lives?"

"Roar, roar, roar..." The crowd cheered and roared in response.

"Get in the vehicles, let's move!" Prince was stripped to the waist, with a dragon and a phoenix tattooed across his torso, looking exceptionally terrifying—enough to scare small children into crying. Combined with his bald, grease-shining head, he looked every bit the villain he was.

Back at Feng Zhixiao's casino in the University Town, Xiao Er came running frantically inside, shouting at the top of his lungs as he ran, "Brother Zhixiao, it's bad! It's bad!"

"What's going on?" Feng Zhixiao immediately demanded.

"Prince is coming here with over a hundred men!" Xiao Er's face was drained of color, and he still had a red scarf tied around his neck. Feng Zhixiao froze, then hurriedly looked at Da Hei and asked, "Brother Da Hei, what should we do?"

"Hmph, what is there to be afraid of? For now, disperse the customers, tell them we're temporarily closing, and anyone who wants to cash out should do so immediately—those who don't can come back to play tomorrow!" Da Hei remained calm in the face of danger. Even though Ye Chen wasn't around, did they really need Ye Chen just to deal with a character like Prince?