Shoutout to Alinaza for the commission!
Today, it was Zhou Qing who personally delivered him to the flight.
As a special assistant, picking up and dropping off the boss for flights was part of the job, nothing unusual.
He had always been meticulous and cautious; as long as the plane hadn’t taken off, he would never leave the airport. That was his habit, but Zhou Qing had never once seen Lu Huaiyan come back out of the cabin.
So when he saw his boss walking out of the jet bridge with an icy expression, he wondered for a moment if he was seeing things.
“Give me the car keys, arrange for my mother to return to the manor.”
Snatching the keys from Zhou Qing’s hand and tossing out those words, in the span of a few breaths, Lu Huaiyan had already disappeared from Zhou Qing’s sight.
The car sped down the dirt road in the suburbs, tires grinding rapidly across the surface, lifting a cloud of yellow dust.
The airport was in the southern outskirts of the city, about forty minutes from the location Zhu Mingli had sent.
He took a shortcut; at the fastest, he could arrive within half an hour.
Half an hour.
In the twenty-eight years of Lu Huaiyan’s life, he had never felt half an hour so unbearably long.
Hadn’t there already been signs long before?
From the moment she insisted on breaking up with him, he should’ve known. From the moment she told him he didn’t need to be devoted to her, he should’ve known. From the moment she moved that record player into the apartment, he should’ve known.
And her gaze this morning as she sat on the countertop shaving his stubble.
She couldn’t bear to part with him.
He had thought she couldn’t bear for him to leave Beicheng, held her hand to his lips for a kiss, and asked if she wanted him to change his ticket and come back tomorrow instead.
She tilted her head and smiled at him: “No. Don’t change anything because of me.”
Don’t change anything because of her.
Lu Huaiyan’s jaw tensed, the muscle ticking.
She’d rather walk this road alone to the very end, decisively, than let him change anything because of her.
—
After calling Lu Huaiyan, Zhu Mingli calculated the time and then reported to the police.
The AC in the car was blasting at full power, yet her palms were still soaked, sweat cold and dripping.
She looked through the rear-view mirror at the villa not far away.
That night at the abandoned factory, Jiang Se had asked her: “Do you really think Fu Yun treated you as someone who mattered?”
She had taken a bottle of perfume from her bag, sprayed a few pumps into the air, and said: “This is the perfume I used when we ate at the revolving restaurant last time. Has he ever asked you to use it? If not, get used to it, he’ll make you use it sooner or later. Zhu Mingli, if Fu Yun really took you seriously, whether as a lover or an accomplice, he wouldn’t treat you like a tool for venting his desires.”
The air filled with a faint camellia scent. The strange, oppressive smell in the room had been pushed back by the camellia fragrance, something that should have felt refreshing.
But Zhu Mingli only felt more nauseated.
A psychological nausea.
“Fu Yun likes you, I know.” she said coldly. “This can no longer humiliate me.”
“Humiliate you?” Jiang Se’s eyes, lit by the moonlight, lifted in disbelief. “You actually believe someone like Fu Yun can like anyone? That’s not liking. I’m just his prey. Not only me, so are you. We’re both his prey. The only difference is that I managed to escape once. And you, you’ve already been tamed. He’s decided you’ll never escape him again.”
Tamed.
This was the second time Jiang Se had used that word on her.
Strangely, the scent of flowers mixed in the room made Zhu Mingli think of that hotel.
The wet, rainy night, the cheap floral fragrance, and the old, yellowed patterned bedsheets.
Their first time had been in such a filthy, cheap little hotel.
Zhu Mingli didn’t even know how he’d managed to find such a place in Beicheng, a hotel specifically used for flesh trade.
The walls between the rooms were so thin they could barely block sound.
Both rooms on either side were occupied by working women with clients, the men’s rough panting, the women’s pleading cries, the filthy, obscene words, not a single one escaped her ears.
She was the eldest daughter of the Zhu family, when had she ever been in such a place, hearing such things?
All she felt at the time was anger and disgust.
But Fu Yun had his ways of making her stay willingly.
He said that was the world he’d once lived in, that only she could accompany him to a place like that.
She believed him.
She stayed because he asked.
It seemed that from that moment on, all her likes and dislikes were controlled by him.
Step by step being tamed.
Spraying on another woman’s perfume, copying another woman’s hairstyle.
Zhu Mingli slowly lifted her eyes: “I won’t be tamed by him.”
Two pairs of eyes met steadily in the dark.
They grew up together since childhood. Though each found the other displeasing, they still understood each other’s personalities.
Jiang Se said: “He indeed has no qualification to tame you. In this world, no one has the qualification to tame anyone.”
Zhu Mingli slightly raised her chin: “I understand.”
After a brief silence, Jiang Se spoke again: “Fu Yun’s days will soon become difficult. Fu Jun’s death looks like it has no flaws, but so many coincidences are already not normal. I’ve already sent the information anonymously to Fu Jun’s mother.”
Fu Jun’s mother came from the Wen family of Nancheng. The Wen family holds quite a bit of Fu Corporation’s shares, and the board also has members from the Wen family.
Without Old Master Fu protecting him, as long as the Wen family makes a move, Fu Yun’s days in the Fu Corporation won’t be easy.
In Fu Jun’s death, Fu Yun is the biggest beneficiary.
Jiang Se does not believe that, after seeing those “coincidences,” Fu Jun’s mother would be able to stay calm.
“As long as the Wen family stirs up the other Fu family members to act, that will be enough. By then, Fu Yun will definitely realize the importance of your Zhu family. When he says he wants to marry you, that’s when you must be careful.”
Jiang Se smiled lightly: “His willingness to marry you isn’t because he likes you, but because he’s finally ready to strike at this prey. Yes, he doesn’t have a strong maternal family to support him, but he can create one for himself. You, and everything your Zhu Corporation has, he wants all of it. If you dare to gamble… you can also gain everything he has.”
Zhu Mingli’s breath tightened: “What do you mean?”
“Fu Yun has been to Tongcheng. He looked into where I live, he even wanted to secretly buy the entire block of residential buildings where my family and I live. Does this method feel familiar?” Jiang Se looked at Zhu Mingli. “What happened seven years ago, he’s preparing to do it to me again. If not now, then later. I’m not willing to be prey again. And you? Do you want to be Fu Yun’s prey for your whole life, waiting for him to kill you, kill your brother, then take everything in your hands? Or, like me, stop being prey.”
Zhu Mingli instantly understood what Jiang Se meant.
She swallowed twice, hard, gripped the beer Jiang Se handed her, and asked: “What else do I need to do?”
Jiang Se lowered her eyes lightly: “Tell him I came to see you and also found out about his past. Make it clear to him that I want to work with you. Fu Yun knows you like the back of his hand. Any tiny abnormality on you, he can notice. If you want to deceive him, you can’t lie to him.”
“Of the things I tell you, just repeat seven out of ten sentences. As long as you don’t say anything false, he won’t suspect you, and all your future unusual behavior will have a reasonable explanation.”
—
Fu Yun indeed, as Jiang Se said, had never suspected her.
All her abnormalities, in Fu Yun’s eyes, became nervousness and fear from kidnapping Jiang Se.
Zhu Mingli looked at the azure sky outside the car window.
The police and Lu Huaiyan were both on their way. No matter what happened inside the villa, no matter who lived or died, what she owed Cen Se seven years ago had already been repaid.
In her daze, a sharp sound of tires gripping the ground suddenly rang out.
Zhu Mingli looked at the familiar black sedan ahead, a trace of surprise flashing across her face.
He actually arrived this fast…
Seeing the man’s cold, sharp gaze fixed on her, Zhu Mingli immediately released the brake, jerked the steering wheel, and led him in.
One black and one white sedan stopped one after the other.
Zhu Mingli got out and used her fingerprint to open the garage door.
The rolling door had just revealed a half-person-high gap when Lu Huaiyan had already bent down and slipped inside.
His phone was still on the call: “I’m already in the garage. Where is the entrance to the basement?”
The man wore a Bluetooth earpiece and carried a hammer he had brought from the car.
It was obvious he had already had someone check the structure of the villa on his way over.
Fu Yun hadn’t told her there was a basement under the garage. She assumed he had taken Jiang Se into the house.
Lu Huaiyan had already reached the far end of the garage, crouched down, and knocked a few times. The sound “du-du” echoed.
The man on the earpiece continued: “This house is a wooden structure. The person who renovated this place said the basement lock is a fingerprint lock. Without the code, the iron door can’t be opened from inside or outside. Because it didn’t meet safety regulations, he was afraid of accidents, so he secretly left a physical unlocking method.”
Lu Huaiyan gave a low, steady “mm,” and his gaze lifted toward Zhu Mingli. “This lock here, can it be opened?”
He tapped the floor tile.
Zhu Mingli looked at the place he was tapping.
The garage floor was tiled in cement-colored tiles, square pieces laid one next to another. The one beside the wall had, at the edge, a protruding yet inconspicuous half-round hollow metal LCD ring.
Thinking of something, Zhu Mingli hurried forward. Her thumb searched the entire half-circle metal ring, but no unlocking sound came.
Lu Huaiyan didn’t wait any longer. “Stand back.”
With that, he swung the hammer and began smashing a section of the wall base, breaking open two fist-sized holes, and reached his hand inside.
Jiang Se didn’t hear a thing from the garage.
This basement had been specially remodeled. Just as Fu Yun said, it received no signal at all, and the sound insulation was excellent.
Above the wooden staircase they had come down was only a neat square metal cover. She couldn’t push it open at all, and even after feeling around it, she couldn’t find any unlocking mechanism.
Glancing at the man lying on the carpet, Jiang Se calmly turned on the faucet and wiped off the concealer on her right collarbone.
The police would be here soon.
Even if Zhu Mingli hadn’t called, Sister Zheng Huan would definitely have already reached Officer Mo.
Jiang Se’s trench coat was stained with quite a bit of blood. There was a whip mark on her neck and jaw that had bled, and her hand had acquired a few small cuts.
Unable to resist the effects of the drug, Fu Yun went mad trying to tie her up before he lost consciousness.
Rather take a few cuts from her than fail to subdue her.
He had no idea that the more frenzied he became, the faster and more violently the drug in his system would hit.
The heavy air was filled with the smell of blood.
Just like the day Zhao Zhicheng killed someone seven years ago.
Only this time, she was no longer a powerless prey.
As she was thinking, a sudden “creak” sounded above her. The dim wooden stairs instantly spilled a bright, blinding arc of light.
Jiang Se abruptly lifted her eyes.
The first thing that came into view was a pair of black leather shoes.
Her mind went blank for a second.
She stared dazedly at those familiar shoes running down through the haze of light.
The man’s figure then appeared in her pupils.
Their eyes met.
Lu Huaiyan’s tensed jaw muscle loosened unconsciously. Air finally rushed into his chest in that instant, and the suffocating grip around his lungs finally dispersed.
Jiang Se’s eyes stung a little.
Just like seven years ago, she was in a wretched state.
The marks on her neck, the mottled bloodstains on her clothes, and the folding knife with dried blood on it all told exactly what had happened here.
Lu Huaiyan swept his gaze once around, then strode toward her, looking her over carefully from top to bottom.
“Leave the rest to me.”
His voice was pulled tight, cold and hard.
Jiang Se understood his meaning instantly and said calmly, “Fu Yun isn’t dead.”
Lu Huaiyan paused at that, turning to look at the man collapsed beside the bed.
The man’s shirt was soaked in sticky red.
Beneath the shirt, his chest, split open by the wound, rose and fell weakly. He was indeed still alive.
When Lu Huaiyan ran down the wooden stairs, he had only glanced in that direction from the corner of his eye.
Looking carefully now, he noticed Fu Yun’s posture was extremely awkward. Both hands were tied behind his waist, and his legs were bound tight to the bedposts.
He looked back. “Couldn’t do it?”
“Do you remember what I told you that night on New Year’s Eve?”
After asking, the man loosened his tie and slowly wrapped it around his hand, reaching toward the knife in hers.
If Jiang Se couldn’t remember?
He had said that if she couldn’t bring herself to press down a burning cigarette, he would help her press it himself.
Her hand jerked back violently. “Older Brother Huaiyan!”
She looked at him, her chest rising faintly. “I don’t want to kill him.”
She already didn’t want to kill him anymore.
When Fu Yun lost all ability to attack and lay on the ground like a heap of mud, she had already stopped wanting to kill him.
That one “Older Brother Huaiyan” made Lu Huaiyan freeze.
The man clenched the tie in his hand, veins bulging.
When he saw that black swan princess bed just now, a scene had flickered through his mind.
That year, in the small chapel at Bode, she had been dancing “Swan Lake”. Halfway through, he pushed the door open and left.
The door was half open. As he let go of the knob, someone had hurried to catch the door and slipped past him into the hall.
Lu Huaiyan’s peripheral vision swept briefly across.
It was Fu Yun.
Was it then that he set his eyes on her?
Lu Huaiyan said nothing, his jaw tightening again in silent restraint.
The cold ferocity in his brows made Jiang Se’s heart jump.
The sound of police sirens grew closer.
Soon after came Zhu Mingli’s voice: “Officer, the person is inside. Someone has already gone in to help her!”
The one who came was Mo Jichen.
The man had a gun and handcuffs at his waist. Seeing Lu Huaiyan here didn’t surprise him. After scanning the surroundings, he lowered his brows and said, “The ambulance is almost here. Huang Jia, take her to the hospital for injury assessment, and get her statement on the way.”
“Yes, Captain Mo.” A female detective passed Mo Jichen and walked toward Jiang Se.
Detective Huang Jia glanced at the knife in Jiang Se’s hand, tore open an evidence bag, and said gently, “Miss, put the knife in here. Don’t be afraid, you’re safe now.”
Jiang Se silently dropped the knife inside, then took an electric stun baton from her pocket and tossed it in too.
“I used this as well.”
Her voice was very calm. Huang Jia instinctively looked at her, then nodded. “I’ll take you up first.”
Jiang Se said “mm”.
After exchanging a look with Lu Huaiyan, she followed Huang Jia out of the basement.
Mo Jichen was already crouched beside Fu Yun, quickly looking over his injuries. “Seven knife wounds. None hit vital organs.”
Following his gaze, Lu Huaiyan said blandly, “He was the mastermind behind Jiang Se’s kidnapping seven years ago.”
Mo Jichen stood abruptly, turning to look at Lu Huaiyan.
“The rest is our job. Even though Miss Jiang looks as calm as she did last time, shouldn’t you be by her side right now?”
The two men looked quietly at each other.
Both saw clearly what was in the other’s eyes. Both held their own ground.
After a moment, Lu Huaiyan tilted his chin slightly toward the garage. “The hammer I used to break the wall, Uncle Mo gave it to me. I’m taking it with me.”
After saying that, he turned and stepped onto the wooden stairs.
Two ambulances had arrived outside.
Jiang Se sat in one of them while Huang Jia was collecting the skin tissue under her nails.
There was plenty of evidence Fu Yun had left on her body. More samples would be taken at the hospital.
Huang Jia sealed the swab into a test tube. “Anywhere else?”
“My collarbone and shoulder—”
Her voice halted slightly as she looked at Lu Huaiyan walking toward her.
Huang Jia didn’t notice her reaction and continued, “Collarbone and shoulder? The knit top you’re wearing is missing a button. Did the suspect tear it off? In that basement? I’ll have my colleagues look for it.”
Jiang Se lowered her eyes.
After a moment, she asked Huang Jia, “Detective Huang, can we go to the hospital now?”
Huang Jia said, “Yes.”
Jiang Se then lifted her gaze to Lu Huaiyan. “Older Brother Huaiyan, can you come straight to the hospital to get me later?”
Huang Jia only now realized there was a man standing outside, and for a moment finally reacted to what that subtle atmosphere just now had meant.
In a hurry she called out, “Master Mao, Nurse Chen, get ready, we’re heading out!”
Lu Huaiyan gave Jiang Se a faint glance, then turned and left.
Jiang Se watched his back and said nothing.
He was angry.
She knew.
