Zhou Ruo An paced back and forth inside the room, his leather shoes making dull sounds against the carpet.
Several times, he walked to the door, only to turn back again. In the end, he stopped in the center of the room, took a deep breath, and forced himself to calm down.
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the anxiety in Zhou Ruo An’s eyes had already been suppressed. He walked to the door and raised his hand to knock three times, neither too hard nor too light, but enough for the people outside to hear.
Sure enough, the bodyguard’s voice soon came from outside the door. “What is it?”
Zhou Ruo An’s voice was deep and steady, still carrying the bearing of someone in power. “I need a cup of coffee.”
“Vice President Zhou seems to have forgotten his situation.” The voice outside the door was cold and hard. “You’d better settle down.”
“Zhang Qiang, isn’t it? I remember you.” He seemed to be leaning against the door as he bit a cigarette between his lips; Zhou Ruo An’s speed of speech did not change, but his voice was slightly muffled. “You’ve followed my uncle for three years. You got married last year, and your wife is pregnant now.”
The breathing outside the door clearly hitched.
“And the one beside you.” The crisp click of a lighter sounded through the door. “He’s all alone with no attachments, except he owes several hundred thousand in gambling debts to an underground money house.”
All this information, which struck directly at their vital points, had come from Lin Yi. Ever since he learned that Zhou Ran Ming had seen through Zhou Ruo An’s identity, he had immediately begun investigating the weaknesses of every person around Zhou Ran Ming, all so Zhou Ruo An would have one more trump card capable of turning the tables at a critical moment.
After a long silence, the voice outside the door was no longer as forceful as before. “We’re only following orders…”
“None of us are good people. I only want a cup of coffee.” Zhou Ruo An cut off the words outside. “After all, I’m still Shengkai’s vice president right now. Who can say for certain whether I’ll keep this position or not?”
Zhou Ruo An repaid every slight. If he did not fall from power in the future… it was only a cup of coffee.
The two bodyguards exchanged a glance. Zhang Qiang asked, “Vice President Zhou… what coffee would you like?”
The fingers holding Zhou Ruo An’s cigarette tightened, but he forced himself to maintain his indifferent tone. “Have Uncle Zhong, the Third Branch’s butler, prepare it. He knows my preferences.” After speaking, he added casually, “Mocha, with an extra serving of hot milk.”
……
The buffet area was in the corner of the banquet hall. The lights were off, and the light source was faint, so the shadows were heavy. The old butler was directing the waiters as they arranged pastries when the short shadow before him was, at some point, enveloped by a tall figure.
He turned his head slightly and looked at the man in a black suit standing behind him.
“Make me a cup of coffee.”
The old butler withdrew his gaze and lightly flicked at nonexistent dust on his body, continuing to speak to the waiter as though he had not heard. “Check the glasses in the champagne tower again. There must not be any fingerprints.”
Zhang Qiang frowned and directly reached out to grab the old butler’s arm. “I said I need a cup of coffee!”
Only then did the old butler lift his eyes. His gaze was calm as he looked at the other man, his tone neither hurried nor slow. “I was invited here to assist in managing the Fourth Young Master’s engagement banquet, not to make coffee for you.”
The bodyguard impatiently increased the force in his hand. “This cup of coffee is for Fourth Young Master.”
Only then did the old butler’s eyes change slightly, and he asked, “…He asked me to make coffee for him?”
“Yes. Mocha, with an extra serving of hot milk.” The bodyguard repeated impatiently.
Hearing this, the old butler’s eyelid jumped sharply, and the handkerchief he had been holding trembled unconsciously. He was silent for a moment before saying in a faintly complaining tone, “I’m already so busy here, and Fourth Young Master still has to make trouble for me.”
He turned and walked toward the coffee machine, asking as though casually, “Where is he now? Once it’s ready, I’ll send it to him.”
The bodyguard refused. “No need. Make it now. Once it’s done, just give it to me.”
Uncle Zhong lowered his eyelids and said no more. The sound of the coffee machine operating seemed exceptionally clear in the brief silence, and the rich aroma of coffee gradually spread.
When the bodyguard turned and left with that cup of coffee, Uncle Zhong’s gaze followed his back the entire time. Only after the other man disappeared around the corner of the corridor did he slowly slip his hand into his pocket, his fingertips touching the cold phone.
……
Third Miss sat in a European-style high-backed chair in the corner, her onion-green velvet gown standing out strikingly among the roomful of splendid clothes. She held a slender champagne flute between her fingers. The wine had not moved by even a fraction, and the droplets of condensation on the side of the glass slowly slid down, dampening her lace glove.
She hated occasions like this: the ostentatious crystal chandelier, the hypocritical small talk, and those deliberately piled-on bursts of laughter. In the past, she would at least force out a few obedient smiles, but today the Third Branch’s madam had claimed illness and refused to appear, leaving her without even the last reason to keep up appearances.
Third Miss’s cool gaze swept across the entire hall. Among the fragrant clothes and elegant hair, there was no sign of Zhou Ruo An.
Forty minutes earlier, she had caught a glimpse of that man standing in a corner of the garden on the phone, his brows tightly furrowed and his expression grave.
Third Miss thought of that extremely troublesome lover Zhou Ruo An had mentioned. Her gaze drifted once toward the bride’s lounge, and merely imagining Zhou Ruo An secretly meeting his lover during his own engagement banquet, only to be caught red-handed by his fiancée and stabbed several times, made her unable to stop herself from shuddering.
The woman muttered quietly, “He really never lets anyone relax.”
Setting down her wineglass, she slowly rose, avoided the lively crowd, and followed the corridor laid with dark-patterned carpet toward the rear residence.
When she passed the corner, her steps paused slightly. In the distance, a bodyguard was carrying a cup of coffee and walking quickly toward a room at the end of the corridor.
Third Miss narrowed her eyes and instinctively hid in the shadow of the corner.
“Vice President Zhou, the coffee you asked for.” Zhang Qiang held the coffee cup and warned through the door, “If you’re trying to use this chance to escape, don’t blame us for being rude.”
In the corner, slender fingers abruptly clenched the fresh emerald-green velvet gown.
……
Third Miss stopped a waiter carrying a wine tray and took two glasses of whisky from it. After draining the glass in her left hand, she went on to finish the drink in her right.
“Third Miss…” Just as the waiter was about to speak, he saw her pour all the remaining liquor onto her own dress. The expensive velvet fabric instantly darkened with wet stains, and the strong fragrance of alcohol mixed with the perfume already on her body, weaving an invisible net through the corridor.
The sound of staggering footsteps broke the quiet of the dim corridor. She loosened the ribbon at the back of her neck and let loose strands of hair fall over the reddened corners of her eyes.
After pinching the outside of her own thigh hard, Third Miss finally opened her mouth and roared, “Zhou Ruo An! Get the hell out here!”
The woman’s alcohol-laced voice pierced through the door. Zhou Ruo An was startled and immediately pressed himself close to the door panel, hearing the sounds of shoving outside and high heels grinding over the floor tiles.
“We’re both illegitimate bastards, so why do you get to marry the daughter of a powerful family while ruining my marriage?” The woman’s voice rose and fell erratically, like a blunt knife sawing at the listener’s nerves. “Zhou Ruo An, if you want to climb up, then climb up. Why do you have to step on my head to do it? Don’t be a coward hiding in your shell. Come out and explain yourself!”
Zhou Ruo An was extremely shrewd. Hearing this much, there was nothing he did not understand. His eyes lit up, and he pressed himself against the door panel as he said, “I’m not the one who ruined your wedding. Don’t throw dirty water onto me.”
Outside the door, Third Miss confirmed Zhou Ruo An’s location and lifted her gown, about to charge toward the door. The bodyguards guarding outside were not familiar with this illegitimate daughter of the Third Branch. On the rare occasions they saw her at family banquets, she always looked obedient, lowering her brows and eyes. They had never expected her to be so fierce once she began drunkenly making trouble.
They dragged the woman outward, but forgot to cover her mouth. “Zhou Ruo An, after doing so many wicked things, what else do you have to say?”
A reply immediately came from inside the room. “It’s one thing for you to make trouble with me, but whatever you do, don’t go make trouble with Miss Xu. You know her temper. She’ll break off the engagement, disgrace our Zhou family, and kill me too.”
Outside the door, everything suddenly went silent for an instant.
Third Miss’s fingers, painted with crimson nail polish, hung in midair, and her drunkenly hazy eyes suddenly cleared. She let the bodyguards hold her arms, her fresh emerald-green velvet gown dragging winding creases across the floor.
……
Smoke from a cigarette slowly coiled through the air. Xu Yi Han sat before the vanity table, a slender ladies’ cigarette between her fingers. Her red lips parted slightly as she exhaled a thin veil of smoke. The mirror reflected her cool brows and eyes, as well as Third Miss’s slightly anxious figure behind her.
“It has nothing to do with me,” Xu Yi Han said indifferently. The smoke blurred her face, leaving only that touch of red lips faintly visible in the mirror.
Through the vanity mirror, Third Miss looked at the legendary figure who had sent her ex-husband to the ICU, her brows tightly furrowed. “Zhou Ruo An is your fiancé. He has someone outside, and that person is extremely troublesome, very fierce and unreasonable.”
The corner of Xu Yi Han’s lips lifted slightly, her tone calm. “I know. He is quite troublesome.”
Third Miss abruptly rose from the chair, her gown sweeping up a gust of wind. “You know?”
“Mm.”
“Since you know he’s eating outside and can’t even wipe his mouth clean, why aren’t you going to settle accounts with him?”
Xu Yi Han slowly turned around. The smoke dispersed, revealing her slightly mocking eyes. “Do you have a grudge against Zhou Ruo An?”
Third Miss raised a hand and adjusted her fluffy curls, her tone faintly cold. “You could say that.”
“If you have a grudge, go settle it yourself.” Xu Yi Han lazily flicked the ash from her cigarette. “Don’t come here serving me green tea.”
Having been called a green-tea bitch, Third Miss’s face reddened. She gritted her teeth before finally being unable to hold back. “Your fiancé has been locked up, and he’s waiting for you to save him.”
Xu Yi Han’s narrow brows lifted slightly, and at last she revealed a trace of interest, asking unhurriedly, “Who locked him up? Why was he locked up? Where is he locked up?”
“He’s locked in the reception hall behind the manor.” Third Miss sighed. “As for everything else… I don’t know.”
Xu Yi Han stared at her for two seconds, then suddenly gave a soft laugh and rose to walk toward the window. With a light flick of her fingertips, ash fluttered down, and she did not care in the slightest whose fine clothes downstairs might be dirtied by the falling ash.
“But this still has nothing to do with me.” Her voice, in the spring sunlight, seemed soaked in ice water.
Third Miss looked at the woman’s back and said in a low voice, “You may have no feelings for Zhou Ruo An, and you can refuse to save him, but don’t you think this is an excellent opportunity to make everything bigger and worse?”
Xu Yi Han slowly turned around, the sunlight gilding the edges of her wedding dress. “What opportunity?”
“You stabbed your ex-husband, and then you beat your fiancé half to death. That reputation will count as thoroughly ruined. Who would dare marry you in the future? The worse your reputation is, the less those families who want a marriage alliance will dare set their sights on you.”
Xu Yi Han suddenly laughed out loud. “You know I don’t want to marry?”
“I’m a member of the Zhou family. How could I not know that you failed to break off the engagement and were placed under house arrest by your family? Besides…” Third Miss brushed her fingers over the fresh emerald-green velvet gown, her voice low and faint. “Anyone can tell from your expression that you’re utterly disgusted by all of this.”
Xu Yi Han turned and leaned against the window lattice, the cold metal pressing against the exposed skin of her lower back. She took a drag from her cigarette and slowly exhaled. “You’re right.”
Within the smoke, the woman’s smile suddenly came vividly alive. “Why shouldn’t I perform this play even more spectacularly? Let everyone say, whenever they mention the Xu family’s daughter…” She deliberately drew out her tone. “That she’s a madwoman.”
She walked forward two steps and said almost jokingly, “Then I suppose I’ll go save my dear fiancé.”
Third Miss’s eyes lit up. “How are you going to save him?”
The woman lowered her eyelids, her rather plain face filled entirely with coldness. She crushed the cigarette ruthlessly into the ashtray, gathered up her gown, and strode quickly to the door. With her hand on the doorknob, she looked back, sunlight scattering fine golden flecks in her eyes. “Naturally, with great fanfare.”
The instant the door opened, she grabbed the fire extinguisher in the hallway. Before Third Miss could react, she heard a loud crash.
The fire safety glass shattered in response. Xu Yi Han’s pale arm reached into the fixture and pulled out the fire axe still clinging with shards of broken glass. She casually shook the axe, and bits of glass clinked and scattered across the marble floor.
“Holy shit…” Third Miss’s mouth fell open as she watched Xu Yi Han carry the axe down the stairs, the train of her wedding dress sweeping over the mess covering the floor.
“Sister Han!” Third Miss suddenly chased after her, her fresh emerald-green velvet gown like a fluttering leaf. “If you don’t want a man…” She panted, her eyes shockingly bright. “Would you consider me?”
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