Chapter 52: The Perverse Fiend
The man stood up, his face illuminated by the dizzying lights, and let out a dim, cruel smile.
Then, without hesitation, he grabbed the golf club beside him and smashed it against the piano! The keys splintered, fragments flying far across the room.
Xu Yaochuan!
Zhong Huayan truly could not fathom why every encounter with Xu Yaochuan unfolded in such a scene.
What a pity—Xu Yaochuan bore the handsome features of southern winds, yet the only regret was that such beauty belonged to a villain.
“It’s over. Has my brother killed another woman for fun?” Xu Chuyin sensed disaster.
For as long as he could remember, Xu Yaochuan had always detested interruptions during his affairs.
Back when Xu Yaochuan was at school, he frequented bars, and one night things grew chaotic. He saw Xu Yaochuan kill a hostess right before his eyes. Some local thugs tried to take him on, but he retaliated in a frenzy, sending several men to the hospital.
Afterwards, the bar closed down.
Xu Yaochuan was sent abroad for three years. Upon his return, the old Xu patriarch arranged a marriage for him.
Xu Chuyin watched in horror, heart pounding, then rushed in to save the victim!
But unexpectedly, someone acted faster.
A middle-aged man strode forward, seized Xu Yaochuan by the hair, wielded the golf club, and struck him down with a blow—blood spraying across the floor.
The man was impeccably dressed in white, now stained with blood.
His veins bulged; he drew out his own belt and lashed it across Xu Yaochuan’s face.
He grabbed Xu Yaochuan’s collar, punched him in the stomach, then kicked him with murderous intent.
He beat and cursed, “How could I have fathered a beast like you! Just a few minutes—I was discussing business next door, invited you to refine yourself, and you bring the chairman’s secretary here for your games! Not enough to play with her, you had to threaten her life!
How did our Xu family produce such a disgrace! I’ve cleaned up after you too many times—since childhood, you’ve harbored a murderous gene! I’ll beat you to death, you wretched creature!”
Xu Yaochuan did not fight back, lying there as he was struck again and again, occasionally letting out muffled groans.
Xu Chuyin rushed to the fallen secretary, performing CPR; only then did the woman gasp for breath.
“I ought to kill you! You shouldn’t even have been born! How could I have spawned such abominations, ignorant of the family’s honor, bent on destroying me! Did I owe you in a past life, Xu Yaochuan! How many women have you killed—can’t you ever stop?”
No one knew how long the beating lasted, until the man’s tone suddenly turned pleading. “Let me beg you as your father—let me live out my old age in peace. The Xu family’s fortune is enough for generations, so why—why must you indulge in these sordid affairs! It’s my fault, my fault for letting you and your sister be raised by your grandfather! Look what he taught you!
Is this our family’s retribution? What on earth is in your head—I wish I could open it and see what’s inside!”
After speaking, he hauled Xu Yaochuan up and slapped him again.
Xu Yaochuan collapsed onto the wrecked piano frame, sliding down, his eyes utterly calm, eerily serene.
Even the corner of his mouth held a faint, detached smile.
Madman.
Zhong Huayan knew that Xu Yaochuan was a madman.
The assistants who arrived later were stunned by the scene; though the young master was often beaten, never had it been this severe.
He lay on the floor, covered in blood, from a distance appearing almost dead.
“Check if that wretch is dead,” the middle-aged man demanded, hands dripping crimson.
“He’s alive, barely hanging on.”
“Send him to the hospital.”
Zhong Huayan turned to leave, only to be stopped by Xu Chuyin.
“Don’t go yet. I need to talk to you.”
“Speak quickly; I need to get back.”
“I’m sorry, you’ve seen it yourself—this is the Xu family’s atmosphere. Xu Yuan and Xu Yaochuan are both born with manic-depressive tendencies, uncontrollable, and likely have some emotional disorders...”
In the midst of chaos, Zhong Huayan stood alone, her white dress swaying, cold and wild as she interrogated, “So? You want me to forgive them? You’re mistaken. There are too many people in this world worthy of pity. Since they made their choice, there’s no turning back.”
“I’m sorry, I know you won’t forgive them—I just needed to say it.”
Under the clear breeze, his face was pale; so much had happened lately, and he seemed exhausted.
“Xu Chuyin, I think you can still be saved. Your brother Xu Yaochuan cannot. That’s not manic depression—that’s a diseased mind. Get him to a psychologist quickly.”
With those words, she walked away.
Zhong Huayan could not recall when she next saw Xu Yaochuan—
Only that it was ten days later.
The afternoon sun was fierce; she wanted to wander alone.
Halfway there, she heard the roar of a sports car accelerating behind her.
She found it obnoxious.
Xu Yaochuan appeared unexpectedly, smoking.
His wounds had not healed, yet his face remained strikingly handsome.
“Li Yanyan, if that bottle of water on the road falls into the gutter, you get in the car.”
She did not agree.
Yet he drifted forward, pressed the gas, and the bottle sailed straight into the sewer!
He braked suddenly in front of her, opened the car door in one swift motion.
“Coming?”
“On what grounds?”
Those three words rendered him speechless. As she prepared to leave, Xu Yaochuan said, “Next week, I’m going abroad. Might not return to the capital for five years. Consider this a farewell.”
Zhong Huayan knew that once Xu Yaochuan left, Fu Yanyan would never let him go.
His dark fate was inevitable.
She believed him.
For Xu Yaochuan always played wild, never dirty.
She did not trust Xu Chuyin.
He seemed normal, but she sensed a hidden malice, fond of playing dirty games.
She got into Xu Yaochuan’s car.
To send him to hell when the time came.
“Sometimes, I find myself admiring you. That day, you saw it yourself—I’m no good man, I show no mercy, yet you dared to ride in my car? To eat with me?”
She lit a cigarette, smoke curling around her; there was a weary sadness, yet she remained bold and unrestrained.
“Death isn’t frightening. A loveless future is.”
Xu Yaochuan was unusually calm, always watching her profile. “I saw it from the first day—you dared to step forward and strike Xu Yuan, so valiant and decisive. I remember it. You’re not afraid of death.”
His hands trembled as he lit another cigarette.
“That day, you nearly slapped my cigarette away. In all my years, no woman has dared to do that.”
“Xu Yaochuan, that’s not what I meant. You know nothing of love.”
She added lightly,
“Xu Yaochuan, do you think you deserve to die?”
Her words sunk him, deeper and deeper. He said nothing, focusing on driving and smoking. Perhaps, everyone deserves death.
He truly did not understand love; he did not know how to give it.
So he lived day by day, perhaps destined never to feel guilt.
He opened the car door for her.
Before this, Zhong Huayan had little contact with her fiancé, let alone expected him to open a door for her.
They chose an open-air spot for barbecue.
Facing the wind, they began their first conversation.