Chapter 73: Revenge ā Let me go, and Iāll apologize to you…
Jiang Yunian was stunned. Meeting those bottomless eyes, Qi Nanshan smiled and explained, “No need to feel strange. Grandpa is very open-minded.”
That was truly… open-minded. Jiang Yunian turned his head, thinking that people at the pinnacle of society like this had probably seen everything. In contrast, he seemed the one lacking in worldly experience, showing his timidity. He tucked his chin and answered in a muffled voice, “N-no, I haven’t.”
Qi Nanshan fell silent for a moment. His gaze carried an invisible pressure, as if carefully discerning the truth of the words. Then, he asked if Jiang Yunian had any plans to make friends in the near future.
Jiang Yunian felt it was odd that Elder Qi would be interested in his love life; it looked almost as if he were trying to set him up on a blind date. He shook his head, saying that his studies were his priority and he wasn’t considering dating for the time being.
Qi Nanshan looked at him for a long time before letting out an almost inaudible sigh. “You are a good child.”
As soon as the words fell, he couldn’t control a coughing fit, his face turning even paler.
Seeing this, Jiang Yunian stood up nervously.
“Cough… it’s fine.” Qi Nanshan waved his hand. The assistant standing at the door understood immediately and made a “please” gesture toward the exit for Jiang Yunian.
Jiang Yunian had come in confusion and was now being “invited” out in confusion. Standing in the freezing outdoors, a blast of cold wind brought him back to his senses. He still couldn’t figure it outāhad this business tycoon summoned him with such fanfare just to ask these trivial questions?
The assistant escorted him outside the villa gates and informed him that a driver would take him back. However, before the so-called driver arrived, he saw an unusually familiar Ferrari. With the arrogant roar of an engine and a sharp drift, it stopped steadily in front of him.
The door opened, but it wasn’t Zhou Shu who stepped out as expected. It was Jiang Yan, still sick. He wore a thin jacket, didn’t even have a scarf, and one hand was still wrapped in conspicuous gauze. He walked quickly to Jiang Yunian, his expression tense, and grabbed his shoulders with a bit too much force. “Did they give you a hard time?”
Jiang Yunian’s mind was a mess from this series of events. Seeing Jiang Yan appear so suddenly, he momentarily forgot his usual resistance and shook his head blankly.
Jiang Yan obviously sighed in relief, the tight line of his jaw relaxing slightly. He immediately followed up, “What did they say to you?”
Jiang Yunian pursed his lips and told the truth. Jiang Yan frowned slightly. “That’s it?”
What else?
Jiang Yan composed himself, his tone somewhat heavy. “Don’t get into strangers’ cars in the future.”
Jiang Yunian, whose brain had been foggy, was jolted back to reality by this tone. He felt a bit displeasedāthey had no relationship now, so what right did Jiang Yan have to lecture him? His retort carried a hint of petulance he didn’t even notice himself. “It’s not like I wanted to get in!”
He turned away, not wanting to talk to him.
“I’ll take you back,” Jiang Yan said from behind him.
“No need,” Jiang Yunian refused without looking back. “A driver is coming to pick me up.”
Hearing this, Jiang Yan pulled the corners of his pale mouth into a humorless arc. “He won’t be coming.”
Jiang Yunian paused. Reminded by this, he realized the driver indeed hadn’t shown up for a long time. Just as he was wondering, Jiang Yan had already stepped forward, opened the passenger door without a word, and pushed him inside.
“I… I didn’t say I wanted to take your car…”
“Mn, don’t take mine… take Zhou Shu’s then…” Jiang Yan leaned over, holding Jiang Yunian’s shoulder with one hand while pulling the seatbelt with the other, buckling him in efficiently.
Jiang Yunian was trapped between the seat and Jiang Yan’s body. He could smell the faint scent of medicine on him. Tongue-tied, he turned his head away awkwardly.
What… what is the difference?
Perhaps afraid of causing his Ge to dislike him again, Jiang Yan became unusually well-behaved after this. After safely delivering him home, he silently went into the kitchen to make dinner. Jiang Yunian saw that he was sick and coughing occasionally, so he stiffly told him to stop and that he would cook some noodles instead. Jiang Yan looked at him fixedly. “Is Ge feeling sorry for me?”
Jiang Yunian: “I just don’t want to trouble a sick person.”
He needs to get better fast so he can leave fast.
Jiang Yan felt he was saying one thing but meaning another, but seeing that his Ge finally wasn’t giving him the cold shoulder or acting rejected, he was satisfied. For the next two days, he was incredibly obedient. Even under the same roof for a whole week, aside from making breakfast on time, he left earlier and came back later than Jiang Yunian. He really didn’t disturb him. Aside from feigning a few coughs in front of him occasionally, Jiang Yunian felt much more at ease, thinking he wouldn’t stay much longer anyway, so he let him be.
But he never expected that the word “kidnapping,” something that only existed in social news, would happen to him again. However, this time was completely different from being taken away by Jiang Yan. The two men holding him were rough and merciless. They threw him into the car like a sandbag. After a bumpy ride, he was thrown heavily onto a filthy concrete floor.
It was pitch black all around; he couldn’t see his fingers in front of his face. The air was filled with heavy dust and the smell of rust, choking him. He tried to move, but his wrists were strangled tight by rough rope, leaving deep indentations. It hurt, but it was nothing compared to the fear of the unknown in his heart.
The iron door of the warehouse made a piercing sound as it was kicked open from the outside. The incoming light blinded Jiang Yunian. When his eyes adjusted and he vaguely saw Zhang Hao standing against the light at the door, his heart sank to rock bottom.
No wonder he was targeted. He hadn’t expected Zhang Hao to hate him to the bone, sparing no means to take revenge. Thinking of this, Jiang Yunian trembled inside.
Zhang Hao walked in, completely exposed. His face and one arm were wrapped in bandages, and he walked with a limp, his posture extremely awkward. But more shocking than his physical injuries was the undisguised hatred in his eyes.
Zhang Hao snapped his fingers, and a lackey beside him turned on a dim, old light bulb hanging from the warehouse ceiling. The light barely dispelled some darkness, allowing Jiang Yunian to see the twisted hatred on Zhang Hao’s face more clearly.
He shrank back, his body pressing against the cold wall, forcing himself to stay calm. “Zhang Hao… what are you doing?”
“What am I doing?” Zhang Hao approached step by step, squatted down, and suddenly grabbed Jiang Yunian’s chin with two fingers, his nails digging into the flesh. “Do you see this ghostly state I’m in?”
His voice rose steeply, carrying hysteria. “This is all thanks to you!”
Jiang Yunian was forced to look up, his chin in pain. “I didn’t mean to… You, let me go, I’ll apologize to you…”
“Apologize?” Zhang Hao seemed to hear a joke. He pulled the corners of his mouth gloomily, then his eyes turned vicious. Without warning, he raised his hand…
Slap!
A loud slap landed on Jiang Yunian’s face. He cried out in pain, knocked to the ground, his cheek instantly swelling up, burning with pain.
“Didn’t you want to apologize? How about this?” Zhang Hao stood up and stomped on Jiang Yunian’s curled-up stomach, putting ruthless force into it. “How you guys treated me back then, how you destroyed my family, I’m giving it all back to you today!”
Severe pain radiated from his stomach. Jiang Yunian groaned, tears rolling down uncontrollably. Zhang Hao seemed stimulated by the tears, his pleasure rising. He kicked him fiercely several more times until Jiang Yunian curled into a ball, unable to even make a sound. Only then did Zhang Hao stop, panting heavily.
He seemed to have vented some anger. He grabbed Jiang Yunian’s hair, which was soaked in cold sweat, forcing him to look up. “Speak! Where is Jiang Yan?”
Jiang Yunian grimaced in pain. Hearing Jiang Yan’s name, he was stunned, then shook his head with difficulty. “…I don’t know.”
“Don’t know?” Zhang Hao’s eyes sharpened, and he delivered a backhand slap. “Call him and tell him to come save you. If he comes, I’ll let you off, how about it?” He leaned close, breathing onto Jiang Yunian’s swollen face. “Otherwise, don’t even think about going back intact tonight.”
Jiang Yunian’s eardrums vibrated from the slaps, his cheek swollen high, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. Enduring the pain all over his body, he sensed something wrong. If Zhang Hao just wanted revenge on him, he had already achieved his goal. Why did he insist on finding Jiang Yan? A strong sense of unease welled up in his heart, a premonition exceeding what he could bear. Calling Jiang Yan would likely only make things worse, and he absolutely could not implicate anyone else.
Zhang Hao hadn’t expected him to be so tough, despite usually looking like a coward. Losing patience, he pulled a folding knife from his back waist. With a swish, the blade flicked open. He gestured with the sharp edge in front of Jiang Yunian’s face.
“You rely on this pretty little face to hook people, don’t you?” Zhang Hao grinned maliciously. “Tell me, if I carve it up, will your sugar daddy behind you still want you?”
Jiang Yunian’s eyes widened. Terrified to the extreme, his body shook uncontrollably.
“Scared now?” Zhang Hao’s brows furrowed. He pressed the knife closer to his face. “Speak! Or don’t blame me for being impolite…”
Unexpectedly, the other party bit his lower lip firmly, still refusing to speak. Zhang Hao completely lost patience. The tip of the knife pressed down bit by bit, about to pierce the skin.
Just at this critical moment, a panicked shout came from the lookout lackey outside the warehouse: “Bad news! The cops! Run!”
Zhang Hao’s face changed drastically. He grabbed Jiang Yunian’s collar, his eyes splitting with rage. “When the fuck did you call the police?! Good, stalling for time with me, huh?!”
Jiang Yunian had been tortured until he had no strength left. He shook his head futilely. “I didn’t… I don’t know…”
Zhang Hao was red-eyed with rage. Regardless of everything, he raised the knife to stab down!
The next second, the sound of something breaking through the air was heard.
“Arghhh…” Zhang Hao let out a bloodcurdling scream. The arm holding the knife was smashed viciously by a thick wooden stick that flew from nowhere! The force was immense; with the muffled sound of a fracture, his entire arm bent at a grotesque angle, and the knife instantly dropped to the ground.
Jiang Yunian was stupefied by this sudden turn of events. The grip on his chest loosened, and he collapsed to the ground. In his blurred vision, a familiar figure appeared at the warehouse door.
Jiang Yan saw his Ge huddled miserably at a glance, covered in injuries of varying depths, his swollen cheek particularly glaring. His face was frighteningly dark, the violent aura radiating from him causing the temperature in the entire warehouse to drop several degrees.
Zhang Hao clutched his nearly destroyed arm in pain. Seeing the newcomer, the blood drained from his face. Relying almost entirely on survival instinct, he slammed into a wooden board nearby that looked sealed but actually revealed a gap. Enduring the excruciating pain in his arm, he crawled out, limping away into the darkness outside the warehouse.
Jiang Yan stared at his fleeing back and raised his foot to chase.
Just then, a very weak voice came from behind.
“Ah Yan…”
Jiang Yan froze abruptly. He immediately turned back and rushed to Jiang Yunian’s side in a few steps. Carefully avoiding the injuries, he scooped the battered person on the ground up into a horizontal carry.
“Ge, don’t be afraid. I’m here…”
The person in his arms felt light as a feather. His cheek was swollen, blood stained the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were closed tightlyāhe had lost consciousness.
…
Jiang Yunian’s heavy eyelids opened a crack. The smell of disinfectant drilled into his nose. Before his consciousness fully returned, he faintly heard two deliberately lowered voices from the door.
“…We lost him. People have been sent to search.”
“You lost a cripple?”
“…”
“Go find him. Send more people. Dead or alive, I want to see him.”
“Yes.”
The footsteps faded away.
Zhang Hao… is missing?
Jiang Yunian thought groggily. Before he could digest this information, heavy exhaustion struck again. His eyelids closed, and his consciousness sank back into darkness.
Author’s Note: The next important part is coming soon [Let me see] (Just realized I typed Lu Yuanbai wrong previously. I went out with family for National Day, typing in the hotel at night these past few days. Didn’t have time to catch bugs, will fix them when I get back [Glasses])
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