The late autumn night wind swept fallen leaves across the asphalt road, and Zhou Ruo An’s fingers gripping the steering wheel had gone slightly stiff.
The woman in the passenger seat hummed softly while rummaging around for a charging cable. After turning her bag upside down and still finding nothing, she leaned over sweetly and asked, “Does President Xiao Zhou have a charging cable in the car?”
The suburbs were remote, with few cars and wide roads. Looking ahead and behind, there were only two cars on the road.
The car drove forward while dead leaves rustled beneath the tires. Zhou Ruo An withdrew his gaze from the rearview mirror and smiled at the woman. “Check the storage compartment. There should be one there.”
The phone in his arms vibrated lightly. His lashes trembled once as Zhou Ruo An turned the wheel and pulled the car over to the roadside.
“I need to take a call,” he said.
The family car that had been following behind them sped past. Zhou Ruo An glanced at it casually and only looked away after the taillights vanished at the end of the road. Then he unlocked his phone.
“Talk.” Zhou Ruo An rolled down the window, letting the cold air flood into the car.
“We found your lifestyle assistant. He knew he caused trouble, so he got scared and hid.”
“What did he say?”
“He was too eager to prove himself, so he gave Fang Fei…”
“Wait a second.” Zhou Ruo An covered the receiver, then turned and pasted a smile over his cold expression. “Shanshan, there’s a gift for you in the back. Go take a look.”
The woman brightened with delight and turned around, only to spot an entry-level monogram tote bag on the floor behind the seat. It clearly showed signs of use, and several badges were pinned onto it.
Her pale fingers flipped one of the badges aside, revealing an ugly cigarette burn hidden underneath.
“This?” Her voice carried obvious distaste.
The moment Zhou Ruo An’s eyes locked onto the bag, a subtle tremor spread uncontrollably from his fingertips through his entire body. At the birthday banquet a few days ago, after everyone had left, this bag had sat alone on the far right side of the sofa. That had been where Fang Fei spent the entire evening sitting.
“Your present is in the trunk.” His voice was gentle as clouds, masking the emotions of the moment. Zhou Ruo An watched the woman happily get out of the car and open the trunk before uncovering the receiver again. “What did he do to Fang Fei?”
“He used knockout drugs.”
“Fuck.”
“Where did you even find this assistant?”
A cheer suddenly came from the rear of the car. The trunk was packed full of flowers and gifts, enough to keep her pleasantly surprised for several minutes.
The moment he heard “Love you, babe,” Zhou Ruo An once again covered the receiver as if he had predicted it in advance.
He tossed a smile toward the back of the car before uncovering the phone again. “He’s from one of the Zhou family’s neglected side branches. I used him because I liked his unconventional way of doing things. Never thought it would backfire on me instead.”
Zhou Ruo An pinned the phone between his shoulder and cheek and adjusted the rearview mirror. Through the narrow gap between the car body and the open trunk, he could see the woman tearing open the second gift box. Once he confirmed the scene, he sat upright and switched on the car computer.
A man’s photograph appeared on the screen.
Not particularly young-looking. Buzz cut, narrow eyelids, a scar at his temple. He carried the bearing and physique of a mature man, enough to make people instinctively wary.
Zhou Ruo An narrowed his eyes. He felt that if Lin Yi were ten years older, he would probably look something like this.
A few days earlier, when Lin Yi had tossed this man’s information in front of him, he had tapped the photo with one finger.
“Zhang Xu Yao, thirty-three years old, mathematics teacher at Xinfazhen No. 1 High School. He was the one who took Fang Fei from the mountain villa that night.”
“A teacher?” Zhou Ruo An still remembered how shocked he had been then. “The villa’s bodyguards couldn’t stop a teacher?”
“Have you heard of Yanyue Security? The famous bodyguard company. Zhang Xu Yao used to be their ace, sitting firmly in the number one position. Later he switched to teaching, but every vacation he still goes back to Yanyue to train their bodyguards. Bai Jiu was trained by him.”
Zhou Ruo An could not hide his surprise. “That impressive? Then why did he change careers?”
Lin Yi answered lightly, “His ambitions weren’t there. If someone with his abilities had kept at it, Yancheng’s entire power structure would probably have been reshuffled.”
The worry in Zhou Ruo An’s eyes deepened as he asked the key question. “What’s his relationship with Fang Fei?”
“Teacher and student. Zhang Xu Yao was Fang Fei’s math teacher in high school.” Lin Yi paused briefly. “But… right now, they seem closer than just teacher and student.”
Both of them understood the implication behind those words. Zhou Ruo An had become quick to understand matters between men nowadays, and the turmoil in his eyes deepened further.
“If that’s the case, he won’t let me off.”
“He probably won’t let you off.”
The two voices overlapped eerily together.
The car door opened and the woman returned to the passenger seat. Just then, Zhang Xu Yao’s profile switched into business data on the screen. Zhou Ruo An put on a smile. “Do you like it?”
Then he spoke into the phone. “That’s it. Hanging up.”
The other side fell silent for a moment before a somewhat hoarse voice said, “Be careful.”
“Mm.” The ending was abrupt, consisting only of the words, “I know.”
He stepped on the accelerator, and the car resumed moving forward. As they continued deeper in, the forest grew darker, layers of fallen leaves piling thickly beneath the wheels. Just as the car rounded a sharp bend, Zhou Ruo An caught sight of a dark figure flashing through the bushes.
In the next instant, a black net lined with sharp road spikes spread across the road ahead.
Zhou Ruo An slammed the brakes. Tires screeched violently against the pavement, but the car had been moving too fast. It was already too late. The vehicle crashed directly into the trap. The sturdy black net tangled tightly around the tires, while the spikes easily punctured the rubber.
The woman’s scream and the sound of exploding tires erupted at the same time. The car began shaking violently, swerving uncontrollably from side to side until the engine finally died and the vehicle came to a stop.
Zhou Ruo An gripped the steering wheel tightly, the muscles in his face twitching slightly. The woman beside him was still screaming. Irritated, he directly covered her mouth with his hand. “Shut up!”
Then, just as quickly, he smoothed over the sinister expression on his face and coaxed gently, “I’ll get out and see what’s going on.”
Undoing his seatbelt, Zhou Ruo An pushed open the door and carefully stepped out. The soles of his shoes brushed against the ground with soft scraping sounds. The surroundings were eerily silent, save for the autumn wind whispering through the forest.
His gaze swept casually toward the roadside, and suddenly his pupils contracted sharply. Hidden deep within the woods was half a vehicle body. Looking closer, it was the very family car that had been following behind him earlier before speeding ahead.
Before he could react, footsteps sounded nearby. When he looked up again, a tall man in a baseball cap had already reached him.
There was no chance to escape. Leather-gloved hands grabbed his collar with terrifying force. Zhou Ruo An was shoved back into the car, and the man seized his hair and smashed his head hard against the steering wheel.
Bang.
Sharp pain exploded through him. As Zhou Ruo An tilted sideways against the steering wheel, he finally saw the face beneath the cap.
Not particularly young. Narrow eyelids. A scar at the temple.
Zhang Xu Yao.
In the next second, the world plunged completely into darkness.
Elio’s Notes: Okay so everyone must be looking forward to the next chapter, but I’m sorry to say this in advance, there is no Chapter 49. It was hidden/deleted from the official site due to censorship. Unfortunately, no pirated website was able to extract it. We couldn’t find any text file online containing this chapter. Hopefully, someone from Mainland leaks it during the height of the drama series’ release (if it pushes through). By then, we can update this story. I guess this is what happened to Chapter 28 too.
Based on what we read online (not sure if this is true), Chapter 49 talks about Zhou Ruo A getting ambushed by Zhang Xu Yao, physically assaulting and restraining him, even attempting sexual violence. Fortunately, Lin Yi came to the rescue. In this chapter, Zhou Ruo An’s emotional defenses were shattered, forcing him to face his true feelings for Lin Yi amidst the crisis.
If you ever find the missing chapters, please let us know. We’ll eagerly have it translated and posted.
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