SUSPICION OF LIU Xiaokai’s work against him came to him like a worm into soil, subtle at first and then suddenly ravenous and writhing and invasive, impossible to ignore even for a moment. He didn’t think Liu Xiaokai would ever work alone—would ever have the courage to suddenly rise against the system without prompting. It was possible the betrayal was to also get back at his brother—but this was unlikely too, as getting rid of Liu Xingyu, either by killing him or slandering him until he had no choice but to run or manipulating him until he thought he had no choice but to run (all things Bai Xue thought Liu Xiaokai perfectly capable of) were all much easier and much less risky than going against the List. So it must be that someone prompted him or encouraged him to rebel, someone who had power over him—

Of course the answer was Liu Xingyu.

Sun Yue might be involved in all of this too, though Bai Xue didn’t want to come to this kind of conclusion too hastily, as Sun Yue had always done what she was told. But Liu Xingyu? He was always obstinate. He was good at everything his father asked, but he asked too many questions, and then he’d left as soon as he could under the guise of “studying” and “getting experience.” His return to the city was obviously not just according to his father’s request, and Bai Xue knew that, for some years of Liu Xiaokai’s life, it was only Liu Xingyu that he really trusted. It wouldn’t be a stretch, even if Liu Xiaokai claimed to hate Liu Xingyu, to think that Liu Xingyu might have been successful in bringing Liu Xiaokai into his game.

There was nothing specific that made him think Liu Xiaokai was going against him, but once he was aware of the possibility, he just couldn’t let go of it. The police had already—foolishly—made a stance against him, and the mayor had already made some announcement on the news about how he wasn’t going to let these injustices stand, but the question remained: how did the police get this information in the first place? It might be the case that Liu Xingyu convinced Liu Xiaokai to pass him information. And if it was the case—

He wasn’t going to give up on Liu Xiaokai. Liu Xiaokai’s flaw was not in himself but in Liu Xingyu. If he could get rid of Liu Xingyu forever—if he could remove him from the picture—