Xu Yi Han carried the axe through the long corridor. The axe blade gleamed coldly beneath the crystal lights, and with every step she took, the guests around her retreated one step in panic.
“Miss Xu!” Two bodyguards stood before the door. “What are you doing?”
“Move.” Xu Yi Han’s voice had always carried little fluctuation. “I heard my fiancé is keeping a lover outside. Today, I must demand an explanation.”
With women coming one after another to make trouble, the bodyguards were already overwhelmed. Although the axe was sharp, it was not as though there was no way to subdue her, but the Xu family had a powerful background, and even Zhou Ran Ming treated them with respect. Naturally, they did not dare truly injure this second young lady of the Xu family.
In the instant the bodyguards hesitated, Xu Yi Han had already raised the axe and brought it down viciously against the meeting room door.
“Bang!”
Wood chips flew everywhere. With the first strike, the heavy solid wood door split open with a crack.
“Miss Xu! Please stop and step back.”
Xu Yi Han turned a deaf ear. After three strikes, the crack in the door had widened to the breadth of a palm. Just as she raised the axe and was about to bring it down for a fourth strike, a clearly jointed hand suddenly reached out through the crack, and Zhou Ruo An’s urgent voice squeezed out from between the split in the door. “Phone.”
Xu Yi Han stopped the axe by sheer force. The blade came to a halt less than three centimeters from that hand. She lifted her leg and kicked the door. “Do you not fucking want your hand anymore?!”
“Phone.” Zhou Ruo An ignored the cursing outside the door, his slender fingers stubbornly hanging beyond the crack.
Third Miss’s eyes darted. Taking advantage of the bodyguards being stunned by this sudden turn of events, she rushed forward in one swift step and stuffed her own phone into that waiting hand.
“Stop her!” Zhang Qiang finally reacted.
Third Miss immediately turned around, pressing her whole body against the broken door panel. She deliberately raised her voice. “Hey, what are you doing, grabbing and pulling me like that?” Her emerald-green skirt was tugged crooked. “Are you trying to molest me?”
The bodyguards froze on the spot, their outstretched hands neither able to withdraw nor continue.
In this brief moment of chaos, the sound of dialing had already come from inside the door. Zhou Ruo An’s voice was pressed extremely low, yet every word was clear. “Ren Yu, has Lin Yi been released?”
On the phone, the faint rumble of an engine could be heard; Ren Yu seemed to be driving. “There were several consecutive days of hearings before. Today is only the verdict announcement…”
“Cut the crap,” Zhou Ruo An interrupted in a low voice. “Has Lin Yi been released?”
The next second, a deep, familiar voice came through the phone. “Looking for me?”
Zhou Ruo An’s fingers tightened abruptly. He had not heard this voice in three months, and now that it pierced through the airwaves and entered his ears, it actually sent an unfamiliar tremor through his chest. His Adam’s apple rolled up and down. He closed his eyes and forced out five words from between his teeth. “Go save Grandpa Jin.”
The other end of the phone fell silent for an instant. Without asking why, the voice replied simply, “Got it.”
The door was violently pulled open at that moment, and Zhang Qiang snatched the phone away. Zhou Ruo An let them do as they pleased, and he returned to his usual arrogant expression, his gaze sweeping over the ruined corridor before finally landing on Xu Yi Han.
“You made quite a scene.” The corner of Zhou Ruo An’s mouth lifted slightly. “Thanks.”
……
At three in the afternoon, sunlight slanted through the leaves, casting mottled light and shadow onto the stone path. Jin Hui sat in his wheelchair, a dark gray cashmere blanket draped over his knees. The caregiver slowly pushed the wheelchair forward, the rubber tires rolling over the stone slabs with faint, fragmented sounds.
“Old Jin, would you like to go to the lakeside today or the garden?” the caregiver bent down and asked.
Jin Hui’s gaze stared blankly ahead, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly as vague, indistinct whimpers came from his throat.
Just then, the phone in the wheelchair pocket began vibrating. The caregiver took out the phone and saw the caller ID. “It’s Butler Zhong from the Zhou family’s old residence.” He hesitated for a moment, but still pressed answer and brought the phone close to the old man’s ear.
On the other end, Uncle Zhong deliberately lowered his voice. “Chairman, it’s me.”
Jin Hui’s eyes were still unfocused. He cleared his throat, and his right index finger moved slightly beneath the blanket.
“Something happened at Zhou Ruo An’s engagement banquet today. He asked me to make him a cup of coffee.” Uncle Zhong emphasized his words. “It was mocha. He also specifically instructed me to add an extra serving of hot milk.”
The corner of Jin Hui’s mouth twisted, and he let out a vague “ah.”
“Chairman, that is clearly your habit when drinking coffee. As far as I know, Zhou Ruo An never drinks mocha.” Uncle Zhong’s voice was nearly a whisper. “The coffee was requested by Zhou Ran Ming’s bodyguard, and I haven’t seen Zhou Ruo An appear in front of the guests for nearly an hour.”
“I don’t know whether Zhou Ruo An’s cup of coffee has some kind of hidden meaning, but I felt I should call and let you know about this.”
Jin Hui suddenly began coughing violently, and the phone fell onto his lap with a smack. The caregiver quickly picked up the phone. “Butler Zhong, Old Jin isn’t in very good condition today. I may have to hang up.”
The other end was silent for a few seconds before Uncle Zhong’s voice returned to its normal volume. “Take good care of the old chairman.”
Just after putting away the phone, the caregiver saw a man walking toward them.
“Doctor Li.” He greeted him. “You’re here quite early today. Isn’t the physiotherapy session at four?”
Doctor Li, nearly fifty years old, habitually pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, his eyes curving into two arcs behind the lenses. “I just finished a consultation nearby. Since the weather is good, I thought I might as well take Old Jin for some outdoor rehabilitation in advance.” He naturally took hold of the wheelchair handles. “Leave him to me. It’s a good chance to check the muscle tone in his legs.”
After passing through the garden and then the corridor path, the sound of the wheelchair crushing fallen leaves seemed especially clear in the quiet environment. Jin Hui, still wearing a senile expression, looked at the path of the rubber tires as they began to veer off course, and thought of the cup of coffee Butler Zhong had mentioned over the phone just now. Beneath the blanket, his aged, withered fingers slowly curled.
“Old Jin, the sunshine is truly wonderful today.” Doctor Li’s voice remained gentle, but his hands were secretly increasing speed. The wheelchair suddenly changed direction and was pushed straight toward the center of the main road where cars came and went.
A cold gleam abruptly flashed through Jin Hui’s cloudy eyes. Just as the wheelchair was about to be pushed onto the road, he feigned a convulsion, and his right hand “accidentally” hooked onto the wheelchair’s brake lever. The metal lever gave a crisp click, and the wheelchair stopped abruptly at the roadside.
Almost at the same time, a black sedan came speeding past right in front of him. The side mirror was only inches from the wheelchair armrest, and the sound of it whistling past startled the sparrows from the treetops.
“Aiya!” Doctor Li cried out in alarm and hurried forward to check Jin Hui’s condition. The old man was tilting his head and drooling, his right hand twitching neurotically, as though everything just now had truly been an accident.
Doctor Li’s gold-rimmed glasses slid down to the tip of his nose, and fine beads of sweat emerged on his forehead. He smiled stiffly. “Old Jin, are you all right? That driver was far too careless…”
Though he said this, Doctor Li’s gaze remained fixed in the distance. Within his line of sight, a gray sedan was parked. At that moment, its headlights had already lit up, its engine started, and it turned onto the main road.
The suddenly rising speed split through the warm late-spring breeze like a sharp blade.
Doctor Li withdrew his gaze at exactly the right moment. Pretending to bend down and straighten Jin Hui’s clothes, he secretly exerted force with his fingers and once again pushed the wheelchair toward the center of the road!
“Old Jin, watch out!”
Before the shout had faded, the gray sedan was already rushing toward them like an arrow released from a bowstring. Jin Hui’s cloudy pupils suddenly contracted. He never would have imagined that after the first car failed, they had actually prepared a backup!
And at this moment, his hands were still in a relaxed position. There was no time at all to touch the brake lever again.
Time seemed to freeze at this instant. The numb face of the driver behind the windshield; the sunlight flashing on the bumper; the gravel and dust kicked up by the tires—every frame was so clear it was suffocating.
Closer and closer, the sedan’s engine emitted a piercing howl that cut through Jin Hui’s gradually declining hearing.
The dark gray metallic gleam stung the old man’s eyes. Jin Hui closed his eyes and waited for the collision that was about to come.
“Bang!!”
A silver sedan suddenly rushed out from the fork in the road on the left and struck the gray sedan’s front right wheel with perfect precision, letting out a tremendous crash!
The gray sedan was knocked more than two meters sideways, its body scraping past the edge of the wheelchair. The air wave from the collision sent the blanket on Jin Hui’s knees flying.
Doctor Li staggered backward. His gold-rimmed glasses fell to the ground with a smack, the lenses shattering into a spiderweb pattern. He muttered in panic, “What is going on? What is going on?”
When the dust settled, the door of the silver sedan was suddenly pushed open, and a man in a dark suit staggered out. His right hand pressed against his temple, blood flowing from between his fingers. His sharp gaze slowly swept across the scene before finally landing on Jin Hui…
……
In the end, Zhou Ruo An still failed to escape.
At Zhou Ran Ming’s instruction, he was locked up again. The room had changed in name but not in substance: there was a door but no window, no lights were turned on, and it was like a death cell.
The head of the Xu family was furious and practically escorted Xu Yi Han back to the dressing room on the third floor under guard. The door in the corridor that had been hacked apart and the axe were still left where they were, like props from an absurd farce.
But Third Miss had followed along as well. She put on a show of picking up a comb and gently brushing Xu Yi Han’s slightly messy short hair beneath the veil.
“Why did you help Zhou Ruo An?” Xu Yi Han suddenly asked.
The sandalwood comb paused in midair, and Third Miss said bluntly and calmly, “My family wanted to marry me off to an old man as his second wife. Bald head, gold teeth, beer belly, and lecherous as his life depended on it.”
The teeth of the comb passed through the hair, making a faint rustling sound.
“That old thing wasn’t human. He didn’t even spare children. Somehow, Zhou Ruo An got hold of evidence of his crimes, and now that beast has already been detained for forty-one days.” Third Miss lowered her eyelids, pressing down the disgust in her eyes. “If he wants to get out, I’m afraid it won’t be easy.”
Xu Yi Han was silent for a moment before lazily leaning back into the chair. “Then he is worth helping.”
Third Miss put down the comb and dragged over a chair to sit down. Propping one arm on the vanity table, the coldness from her face just now disappeared, and she leaned closer with a gossipy expression. “Sister Han, you said you knew Zhou Ruo An has a lover outside? Have you seen her? What kind of woman is she?”
“Woman?” Xu Yi Han slowly smiled, her red lips curving into a playful arc. After considering it for a moment, she gave an answer. “A big guy. Covered in muscle. Very difficult to provoke.”
“Ah?” Third Miss widened her eyes, her face full of disbelief. “Zhou Ruo An likes that type?”
The moment the words fell, a knock suddenly sounded at the door. Before anyone could answer, the door was pushed open rudely. A female relative from the Xu family stood at the entrance and said expressionlessly, “It’s time for the ceremony. Second Miss, please go downstairs. Your fiancé is already waiting.”
……
White gauze drapes gently floated in the breeze, and the flowers on the stage gave off a sweet, cloying fragrance. Zhou Ruo An and Xu Yi Han stood side by side, neither of them smiling.
The guests seated below were equally silent. No one clapped, no one smiled. Only the cheerful melody performed by the band echoed through the open venue, barely maintaining the atmosphere this wedding was supposed to have.
Across the room full of guests, Zhou Ruo An’s gaze landed directly on Zhou Ran Ming seated in the main guest seat.
Zhou Ran Ming sat upright in the seat of honor, his phone clenched tightly in his palm, his eyes cold. When he looked back at Zhou Ruo An, the gray-templed man looked like a venomous snake lying in wait, patiently waiting for the moment his prey fell into the trap.
“Old bastard,” Zhou Ruo An muttered quietly from the stage.
“Who are you cursing?” The question slipped from beside the lips of the woman in the wedding dress.
“Zhou Ran Ming.”
The woman gave a soft scoff. “Darling, that was far too civilized.”
Zhou Ruo An glanced sideways.
The woman imparted her wisdom. “That old fucker who refuses to die.”
Zhou Ruo An finally revealed his first smile of the day, but before he could reply, he was interrupted by the host’s voice.
“Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the elders of both families, I would like to offer my blessings to this soon-to-be couple—”
Before the words had finished, the front doors of the Zhou family’s old residence were suddenly pushed open.
Then came the sound of footsteps: very slow, very heavy, calm and powerful.
Dark gray suit trousers emerged from the shadows, and long legs stepped over the threshold. The floral arch was lush and full; when passing beneath it, that person lowered his head slightly. When even the most ostentatious flower branches failed to catch on his hair, he finally lifted his head, revealing a handsome yet fierce face.
It was Lin Yi.
The moment he lifted his eyes, his gaze locked straight onto Zhou Ruo An on the ceremonial stage. Step by step, he walked toward him along the red carpet.
Author’s Notes: Zhou Ruo An: Brother Lin, listen to me explain…
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