Chapter 53: The Truth Behind the Kidnapping

"Don't look down on it. I can take you to the most luxurious restaurants, but tonight, I only want to remember the past."

He opened a bottle of beer.

A bottle of the most common beer.

Then he poured a glass for her as well, froth bubbling up and nearly spilling over.

"Remember the past?"

"Twenty years ago, I was sitting right here. Back then, Xu Yaochuan was not the eldest son of the Xu family, just a boy without a father, laughed at and full of insecurity.

I was bullied often. When I was hungry, I'd steal buns.

My mother hated me; whenever she saw me, she saw the man she hated most.

All I wanted then was to rise above it all. Later, the mistress who clawed her way up in the Xu family died unexpectedly. That man brought my mother and me back.

Only then did I realize that what I’d spent my life chasing was nothing but a few seconds of someone’s idle daydream. I took revenge on many who bullied me, but it didn't bring me joy—they thought I'd gone mad.

I couldn't be myself. Everyone in the Xu family told me: at the top of the pyramid, the strong have no need for pity or compassion."

Zhong Huayan took a sip of her beer. "So, is that your reason for murder?"

Her heart was calm as still water. When she asked, there was no ripple in her soul.

She seemed to stand as a bystander, watching this bewildered world. Her flesh had faded away; hell felt close at hand.

"Because poverty makes everything wrong. I once liked a woman, she seemed gentle and kind, but she deceived me and left with someone else—with a rich boy from our town.

She probably didn't think she'd humiliated me enough. She called another man to beat me, mock me, and they even... When I got home, my mother had only a bowl of leftovers for me, while she ate well, never giving me so much as a dish.

I once felt sorry for her, but then I realized all women are like this—they always bully the weak and fear the strong, always seduced by power, always scornful to the powerless, just cheap."

He spoke calmly, then drank, "You’re a bit different."

"Oh, so that's why you don't like your sister?"

"It’s not that I don’t like her—just that all women are much the same. Even now, after being beaten by me, there are plenty who still come running, willing to endure anything for money. But I just want to see how low they can go!"

Zhong Huayan thought him biased, but said nothing, continuing to eat barbecue.

She loved this relaxed, casual place, even if it was just simple barbecue.

Because she was forbidden from eating it before, now she loved it all the more.

"Are you with Fu Yanyan?"

"Why do you care?"

Xu Yaochuan held a skewer, mocking smile at his lips, then suddenly said, "I really want to screw you together with Fu Yanyan."

Damn!

She nearly flipped the table; he seemed to sense it and pressed down on the table.

"Seriously, how about a farewell kiss?"

She knew, of course, that what he meant by a farewell kiss was far more than a simple kiss.

"Only if you kneel for me."

"Li Yanyan, even when I couldn’t afford food, I, Xu Yaochuan, never knelt."

"Then forget it."

Suddenly, the man opposite her narrowed his phoenix eyes, steeled his heart.

He strode forward and knelt on one knee. In that moment, he looked nothing like the filthy, debauched man he’d been before—now he seemed radiant and reckless.

His face was thin, cold in appearance. Even as he knelt, her heart felt cold, unmoved.

"Both knees."

She lit a cigarette, tapping the table with her fingers.

Sometimes, Zhong Huayan wondered, if she hadn’t been so headstrong before, if she’d met him, would her fate have been different?

But fate is always tricky. If she had chosen Fu Yanyan and gotten close to him, maybe everything would have changed.

But she hadn’t; she made a different choice.

"Are you playing me?"

"I said kneel; did I say one knee?"

His body was covered in scars, seeping from pale skin, as if the filth and sin inside him couldn't help but spill out.

Yet his smile was so deceiving.

So innocent.

But he’d done all those vile, despicable things!

"So, if I kneel on both knees today, will you come abroad with me?"

Her appearance in the wind was languid and carefree.

She wasn’t like those seductive types. She had a unique charm, a light splitting a gap in this greedy, absurd world.

"Alright."

He was silent for a moment, then his broad figure knelt on both knees. "A gentleman’s word is his bond."

She suddenly lifted his chin, her tone idle and mocking, "How naive you are—I was lying!"

His smile froze instantly!

He grabbed her, pinning her against the edge of the rooftop, where one step would plunge her down.

His eyes were red, face livid, gripping her wrist so hard it seemed he might break it!

In the wind, they were evenly matched.

"You’re really something, playing me?"

"Young Master Xu, you’ve played the game of love so long, now you’re trying to play innocent?"

She didn’t show fear; instead, with a bold smile, she kept backing away!

At the critical moment, he yanked her back, gripping her waist tight. He was like a beast poised to devour, ready to pounce yet holding back.

Through gritted teeth, he said, "You’re ruthless—played me, and I almost can’t bear to let you go."

"I’m not as ruthless as you, Young Master Xu."

"Enough nonsense. I’ll let you go today, but we’ve got a score to settle. I, Xu Yaochuan, have never knelt to a woman in my life—you’re the first! And you played me!"

Zhong Huayan’s wrist was red. She lifted her glass and drained it in one go—vengeance and pleasure, but one glass couldn’t wash it away.

"Just returning the favor, Young Master Xu. Didn’t you play me last time? Haven’t you all played me enough?"

Xu Yaochuan suddenly sat down, hatred hidden in his eyes, yet a quiet calm as he finished his drink.

"What do you mean, ‘you all’? Who else?"

"Your brother. The ones who came to kidnap me—weren’t they arranged by your brother?"

He was clearly surprised, then his face twisted, barely suppressing a smile as he toyed with his lighter.

"You really are something. Xu Chuyin, that bastard, will never beat you in his lifetime."

Zhong Huayan watched the flame flicker in his palm.

"Young Master Xu, careful you don’t get burned playing with fire."

"Have you told Fu Yanyan about this?"

"If I had, would Xu Chuyin still be alive? Though, I still don’t know what he wanted—what was the point of kidnapping me?"

Xu Yaochuan knew she was baiting him.

"Tsk, right, what did he want? Kidnapped you, then ran away carrying you."

She said nothing.

He suddenly lit another cigarette—his fourth. Lately, he’d been craving them more.

"Looks innocent, but the mind is anything but."

"You mean me?"

"Is anyone else here? Who’s braver, who’s more cunning than you, Li Yanyan? Damn, you’re quite a talent."

He’d always known she was different, not like the usual shallow women, but he hadn’t realized she was so sharp—her mind sharper than any woman’s.

She looked soft and gentle, but her eyes hid murderous intent, her heart full of schemes.

Thinking back, his kneeling just now didn’t feel so bad after all.