Zhong Yunyi wasn’t joking.
“He might not be willing,” Xie Yunzhao rained on his parade.
“Call him now.”
…
“Mom? What is it?” Zhong Ziang had barely hung up on Zhong Yunyi before Xie Yunzhao followed up. He wasn’t surprised in the least.
“Your dad wants you to transfer back to the Imperial Capital for school.”
“Not going.”
“Alright then, that’s it.” Click.
“Mhm.”
The whole exchange lasted less than twenty seconds.
Zhong Yunyi: “?” That’s it?
Xie Yunzhao shrugged. “What else did you expect? You told me to ask, I asked. But the boy doesn’t want to—what can I do?”
“You’re his mother, can’t you at least try to persuade him?”
She sneered. “Persuade him to come back and get yelled at by you?”
Zhong Yunyi rubbed his nose. “That’s not fair. If he actually behaved, I wouldn’t need to yell at him…”
Xie Yunzhao pulled away from his arms and stood up. “If you want to persuade him, do it yourself. I’m out of this.”
With that, she turned and left.
Zhong Yunyi opened his mouth. “Hey, you…”
Forget it.
Though his plan to summon his son back to the Imperial Capital had fallen through, Zhong Yunyi still moved quickly and decisively to take care of that racing club.
That night, the Bureau of Commerce, the economic crimes unit, and the local precinct carried out a surprise inspection.
A swift and clean takedown.
Manager Huang and the rest of the crew were arrested, and the club was thoroughly investigated.
Back in the capital, when the Yu family heard the news, they immediately sent people to Linhuai to negotiate, while also trying to reach a settlement with Zhong Yunyi. Eventually, the matter was smoothed over without making a public scene.
Among the eight major families in the capital, everyone was watching and restraining each other.
If it wasn’t the east wind pressing on the west wind, it was the west wind pushing back.
Back and forth, maintaining a delicate balance.
…
“Yu Jiaze, you idiot! Not only did you fail to hurt a hair on Zhong Ziang’s head, you even gave Zhong Yunyi the perfect excuse to strike back! What the h*ll were you doing?!”
In the darkness, the boy stood with his head lowered, phone in hand, quietly listening to the string of curses on the other end.
His face showed no expression, eyes like dead stone, cold and empty.
“You’ve been in Linhuai for over three months and accomplished nothing. Now you’ve gone and ruined the entire setup. You think you’re just there to attend school?!”
“You’ve now startled the snake in the grass—not just Zhong Ziang, but the entire Zhong family is on high alert. It’ll be even harder to make a move. Keep this up, and you’ll end up as a discarded pawn!”
“I know you don’t care about the Yu family, but don’t forget—your sister is still lying in that hospital bed. Without the Yu family footing those expensive medical bills, she’d already be dead! You’d better think carefully!”
The boy’s gaze darkened, and his voice turned sharp: “Don’t touch her…”
“Then prove your worth.”
“B*stard—!”
Crash!
With a loud bang, the phone smashed against the wall and shattered into pieces.
“Oh? Throwing a tantrum now?” A sugary-sweet female voice suddenly chimed in.
Yu Kaixin stood at the doorway in a white nightgown, watching the scene with a half-smile.
“Get out.”
“Don’t take it out on me just because you’re in a bad mood, big brother.” Instead of leaving, she approached with a cheerful expression.
Without warning, the boy raised his hand and clamped it around her neck, his eyes growing darker by the second.
Her face changed drastically. “You… what are you doing?”
Yu Jiaze said coldly, “I’ve told you many times—don’t provoke me. But you never listen.”
“Cough… Let… go… I can’t breathe…”
The boy’s face was expressionless. “You think you deserve to call me your brother? What the h*ll do you think you are?”
Fear flashed in Yu Kaixin’s eyes. Tears and snot streamed down her face. “I… I won’t… dare again…”
Yu Jiaze flung her off. Yu Kaixin was thrown into the corner like a rag doll.
“You’re crazy… you’ve gone mad…” she panted, shaking her head and mumbling deliriously.
Yu Jiaze didn’t even glance at her.
Yu Kaixin said, “How can you treat me like this? We’re siblings, after all…”
“Shut up! I only have one sister, and it’s not you.”
“Heh, deny it all you want, but blood doesn’t lie. Whether you admit it or not, we both carry the Yu family’s blood!”
“Heh, the Yu family? You think bearing that surname is something to be proud of?” The boy sneered coldly, his eyes dark and fierce. “Even if your surname is Yu, do you think that makes you one of them? Keep dreaming! We’re nothing but the product of Yu Pingchuan’s one-night stands with different women. He sees us as pawns, as bargaining chips. And you’re actually proud of that? Ridiculous.”
Yu Kaixin propped herself up against the wall and stood. “So what if we’re pawns? At least I don’t have to worry about food or clothes now. I get to go to school like normal kids. As long as he gives me a comfortable life, he’s my real father. I’ll do anything he asks.”
“What if he asks you to die? Would you willingly do it?”
Yu Kaixin froze, her eyes dull. “That’s impossible…”
“When pigs are fattened, it’s not to admire them—it’s to slaughter them and sell them by weight. The more he gives you now, the greater the investment, and the higher the return he’ll expect in the end.”
“…What do you mean?”
Yu Jiaze said coldly, “You think just saying a few words is enough to take down Zhong Ziang and the whole Zhong family? Without something truly fatal, what right do you have to topple a powerful family like that?”
Yu Kaixin’s eyes were vacant. She seemed to understand, and yet not.
A foggy haze.
“You think you or I have anything that could shake such a powerful and influential family?”
She froze. “Do… do we?”
“Of course we do.”
“What is it?”
“Our lives.”
The girl shuddered violently.
Yu Jiaze continued, “And the more tragic the death, the better. Only then can the Zhong family fall into scandal, and the Yu family strike while they’re vulnerable.”
“You mean Dad… Yu Pingchuan wants us to die to cause trouble for the Zhong family?”
“That’s one way to put it.”
“How could this happen…” Yu Kaixin staggered backward, collapsing onto the floor. “I… I don’t want to die…”
Suddenly, she crawled over and hugged Yu Jiaze’s leg. “I know you must have a way. Please save me, save me… We’re half-siblings, we share half the same blood. I’m begging you…”
A faint glint flickered in Yu Jiaze’s eyes. “It’s not like there’s no way…”
Yu Kaixin snapped her head up. “You really have a way?!”
“On one condition—you stop spying on me. Stop reporting everything I do to Yu Pingchuan. Otherwise, we die together. I don’t care. Living is exhausting anyway. Death might be a relief.”
Her face froze. “So you knew…” She realized he knew she’d been reporting to Yu Pingchuan.
“Heh, that old fox Yu Pingchuan doesn’t give a d*mn whether we live or die. If there’s no ‘Yu Jiaze’ or ‘Yu Kaixin,’ there’ll still be ‘Yu Tingze’ and ‘Yu Hailun.’ He’s got a whole bunch of illegitimate kids, not just one or two.”
The girl was stunned.
“There… there are more?”
Yu Jiaze sneered, “I know of at least sixteen. And that doesn’t count the ones still hiding in the shadows, undiscovered.”
“So,” he said clearly and deliberately, “our lives are worthless. We can be replaced at any time. And when that happens, we might already be wandering as lost ghosts.”
“No! I don’t want to die! I’ll listen to you from now on, whatever you say, I’ll do it. I don’t want to be Yu Kaixin anymore…”
The boy bent down, eyes level with hers. “But I don’t trust you.”
The girl stared blankly.
“What if you sell me out again, and Yu Pingchuan comes after me like he did before?”
“I won’t! I’d never do that again! You have to believe me!”
“Words are cheap.”
“Then what do you want me to do?” She was crying even harder than when he had grabbed her by the throat earlier.
Fear and panic filled her eyes.
“Unless we’re in the same boat.”
“The… same boat?”
“You help me with something. If it works, then we’re on the same boat. If you tell Yu Pingchuan, that boat sinks. And when it does, we both drown.”
“What is it?”
Yu Jiaze leaned in close to her ear. “Go find Jiang Fuyue…”
…
“No way! I have to treat you to a meal!” Zhong Ziang said firmly over the phone.
Jiang Fuyue massaged her forehead. In front of her was a spread of Olympiad math papers, and beside her were several Yufeng documents waiting for her signature. “I really don’t have the time.”
“But you helped me—if I don’t do something to show my thanks, I’ll feel awful!”
“…”
“How about this? I’ll go buy some desserts and bring them next door. That way you don’t have to go out, how’s that?”
Jiang Fuyue agreed.
“Hehe! Wait for me! I’ll be back soon!”
As soon as the call ended, Zhong Ziang threw on a jacket, grabbed his phone and wallet, and dashed out the door like the wind.
He had barely taken a few steps before bumping into Xie Dingyuan head-on. “Uncle, I’m heading out!”
“To do what?”
To be a single dog…🤣😂