Chuck had been following Dr. Laura’s treatment plan for a while. According to the plan she designed, he persisted in going out every day. When he felt pain or discomfort, he would name the objects around him to distract himself, continuing until his body could no longer bear it. He carefully recorded the location, frequency, severity of each episode every day, as well as the radiation source that triggered it. Combined with medication, he clearly felt significant improvement—from more than 8 episodes on the first day to only 3 to 4 now. Chuck looked forward to returning to work at the law firm soon and living like a normal person. Dr. Laura was pleased with his progress but also reminded him not to rush. Obviously, with Chuck’s personality, he wouldn’t accept Laura’s kind advice; he firmly believed he was different. He thought he could finish a treatment course that took others years in just a few months or even weeks.
Currently, Chuck could already go out to buy newspapers and shop at the supermarket. Although he still felt physical pain, it was within his tolerance. When he returned home with a shopping bag and stood at the door, he was surprised to see Howard. Howard was also shocked and happy about Chuck’s progress. However, Howard had to tell him bad news about his professional liability insurance.
There was an issue with Chuck’s insurance premium—and it was all Jimmy’s doing. But Jimmy didn’t have time to celebrate; he was busy with another matter. After the musical instrument store’s ad aired, many elderly people brought their grandchildren to buy their favorite instruments. It was the busiest day the store had seen in six months of operation. Jimmy brought the film crew back to the store, hoping the two owners would keep their promise and buy the remaining six ad slots at the original price. But if they could go back on their word once, they could do it again. After calling the TV station, the owners learned that the ad broadcast fee was only half of what Jimmy had asked for. So they changed their minds again, completely ignoring the energy, creative design, and filming costs Jimmy had invested. Jimmy wouldn’t indulge these two dishonest guys any longer—if they refused to accept kindness, they would have to face the consequences.
As Jimmy told the camera crew to get ready, he secretly kicked a pair of drumsticks from the drum set next to him onto the floor. He went up to give the two owners one last chance, then pretended to turn around and leave. He stepped on the drumsticks, fell backward heavily onto the floor, and cried out in pain. Now the store owners were in big trouble—if Jimmy was sent to the hospital, the inspection fees alone would be a bottomless pit. In the end, Jimmy successfully sold all the remaining ad slots for $6,500 and even got a signed electric guitar as an extra gift.
Kim didn’t know about the trick Jimmy had played at the musical instrument store yet. She was having a work lunch with Kevin and Paige at a restaurant. Kevin highly appreciated Kim’s abilities and even mentioned that he wanted to refer his friend Billy’s business to her. Billy owned an oil company that drilled for oil on the Texas border but had gotten involved in a land dispute between Texas and New Mexico. Just as they were talking, Kim saw Howard enter the restaurant with a client. Out of politeness, Howard came over to greet Kevin and Paige. But whether intentionally or not, he mentioned Kim’s experience working on review tasks in the large office and the help he had given her in her career. Kim couldn’t stand Howard’s deliberate attempt to undermine her. She went to the front desk, wrote a check, then walked over to Howard and handed him the check to pay off her student loan. Having repaid Howard’s favor, Kim felt a sense of relief all over her body. When she returned to her seat, she immediately agreed to contact Kevin’s friend Billy and then recommend a suitable law firm to him based on the situation.
After the work lunch, Kim stood outside the restaurant waiting for her car to be brought over. Howard ran over, holding the check, and was upset about her earlier action. Howard had been having a hard time lately: Chuck had taken his personal feud with Jimmy to the bar association, only to lose his temper and rant at the hearing. Now the entire legal industry was abuzz with talk, and Howard had to have meals with clients every day to try to repair the reputation damage caused by the incident. Ultimately, he thought this was all Jimmy and Kim’s fault—but Kim still embarrassed him in front of clients. Howard tore the check into pieces, but Kim ignored him and drove away.
Back at the office, Kim spent some time reviewing the materials about Billy’s company. She printed out some of her suggestions and materials that might be needed later, planning to ask Francesca to have a courier send them to Billy. At that moment, she heard the sound of a guitar coming from the next office. When she pushed the door open, she saw Jimmy lying on a thick cushion, playing with the guitar. Kim didn’t know why Jimmy’s back was sprained, nor how he had sold all the ad slots at a high price and even gotten an electric guitar for free. But she was sure he must have played a trick. Kim didn’t want Jimmy to keep going down this path, but to support the two of them, she had to work harder. She told Francesca to cancel the courier pickup—she would handle Billy’s company business herself.
Nacho had gotten the capsule shells. Late at night, when everything was quiet, he crushed some anti-inflammatory pills and carefully filled them into the capsules, then sealed them. Next, he carefully planned the trick to swap the pills: he hung his jacket on the back of a chair and kept practicing how to slip the medicine bottle hidden in his palm into his pocket when passing by someone, making the movement natural enough to avoid suspicion. His father’s workshop and his own life depended on this move—he had to practice hard and couldn’t afford a single mistake. When he felt he had practiced enough, the night before collecting money from the gang members, he sabotaged the air conditioning in the small restaurant. The next day, when it was time to collect the money, the restaurant was extremely hot and stuffy. Since Tuco was still in prison, Hector came to oversee the collection in person. Hector thought highly of his status; he hung his jacket on the back of a chair and sat alone at another table, reading the newspaper and doing a crossword puzzle. Nacho pretended to have received a counterfeit bill and asked Hector to check it. When Hector confirmed it was real and handed it back, Nacho clumsily dropped all the money in his hand onto the floor. As he apologized and picked up the bills, he secretly took the medicine bottle out of Hector’s jacket pocket. After returning to his seat, he swapped the capsules in the bottle. Then, while bringing coffee over, he accurately slipped the medicine bottle in his palm into his pocket. After completing the whole process, he took a deep breath and tried his best to control his trembling hands.
At the spot where he had robbed the refrigerated truck before, Mike drove a stake into the ground at the location Nacho had told him. Later, he used the stake as the center and slowly expanded the search range in circles with a metal detector. Finally, he dug up a hand, and there was a wedding ring on one of the fingers. He called the police anonymously, carefully describing the location where the body was found—this way, he had settled a personal matter.
But this incident also made Mike more worried. After using the extra income from side jobs and the money from the robbery to pay the down payment for Stacey’s apartment and the first few months of the loan, he still had $200,000 hidden under the floor of the. If something happened to Mike, this money would no longer be able to help Stacey and Kaylee. There were many people who could launder this money, but Mike thought only Gustavo—who kept a low profile—was reliable. Gustavo was very willing to help and didn’t even charge the 20% handling fee that was the unwritten rule in the underworld. However, the money wouldn’t be laundered through the fried chicken restaurant; instead, a safer and more hidden method would be used.