Part 7
The distant term “earthquake” left Lu Xunye stunned. He asked in a daze, “Where are the…” people?
“Still upstairs. The doctor went up.”
Shen Yunqian stood up and reached out to help him. “Since you’re awake, let’s head down first.”
Lu Xunye nodded belatedly.
The elevator was out of order, so they had to take the stairs. They stumbled through the constant aftershocks and finally reached the first floor, only to be blocked by the locked stairwell door.
Lu Xunye reached the handle before Shen Yunqian and shook it hard. After a long time, he realized something seemed to be blocking it from the outside.
He remembered there were windows in the second-floor stairwell. Thinking of this, he let go.
Shen Yunqian thought he was still dizzy. He stepped forward, his fingers just about to touch the warm iron handle, when his left arm was grabbed.
“The wood splinters haven’t been cleared away—do you want to lose your hand?”
Shen Yunqian’s fingers curled imperceptibly as he was pulled away from the door.
Lu Xunye was brief: “To the second floor.”
With just a look, Shen Yunqian understood. The second floor wasn’t high; even jumping wouldn’t be fatal. It was better than being buried underground if the building collapsed.
“Wait here while I open the door for you.”
Just as Shen Yunqian said this and was about to pull his arm away, a loud crash of a heavy object hitting the ground came from outside. Even the floor beneath them shook.
The seemingly impregnable door burst open from the outside without warning. The flying lock nearly hit them.
Lu Xunye stood frozen, staring at the person outside. Wave after wave of shock hit him.
Jian Luoqing dropped the axe he’d gotten from somewhere. It hit the ground with a heavy thud. He coughed from the dust and said urgently, “Hurry, let’s go.”
Lu Xunye stared at the frame beam on the ground outside for a moment. This thing weighed hundreds of pounds. He turned a strange gaze toward Jian Luoqing, who was pale and drenched in sweat, feeling the utter helplessness of being tongue-tied.
“This… I… you pushed this open?”
Jian Luoqing seemed to just remember. “A kind gentleman helped me. He…”
He turned around but saw no one. “Where is he?”
Shen Yunqian scanned the first-floor hall suspiciously. There were too many places to hide here.
Someone hiding their identity. He had to wonder if Si Jinyan had also been kidnapped by this person. Regardless, they were a friend, not an enemy.
The violent tremors began again. This time, they could clearly feel the walls shaking.
…
After frantically escaping the building, the three of them lay flat on the concrete ground covered in rubble, gasping for breath.
Several surrounding buildings had already collapsed into piles of bricks during the previous tremors. It was unclear if the earthquake was truly that severe or if the contractors had cut too many corners.
In the heavy silence, the sound of their breathing echoed in each other’s ears.
“Are you alright?”
Two voices rang out in concern at the same time. Jian Luoqing shielded his eyes from the light. His curled fingers seemed as though they could grasp the clouds in the sky. The light leaking between his fingers was so bright.
He lowered his hand to see two dusty faces surrounding him. Both men looked at him with worry.
For some reason, he let out a chuckle. “Thank you… thank goodness.”
Shen Yunqian reached out a hand. “I thought you were leaving? Why did you come back?”
Jian Luoqing took his hand and sat up. “I was planning to leave Haishi. Not long after we parted, there was an accident on the road and the area was cordoned off. I was worried about you, so I came back. I didn’t expect an earthquake.”
“After all, I was the one who told you about this place. If anything happened to you, my conscience wouldn’t be at ease.”
Lu Xunye asked, “How did you know?”
“Someone told me Mr. Shen had been taken by Si Jinyan. If I wanted a heart donor, I should bring Mr. Lu here to make a trade.”
“But I didn’t expect you to be here too, Mr. Lu.” Jian Luoqing asked, “Did you offend someone?”
“This place is very remote. The area for miles around is undeveloped. I heard a wealthy boss spent over a billion at an auction to buy this land for real estate.”
As he spoke, Jian Luoqing grew even more puzzled. “Isn’t the government funding the expansion of the West District? Why would someone spend so much on such an unrewarding project?”
“Then again, this truly is a prime ‘Feng Shui’ spot for a kidnapping.”
Jian Luoqing’s attempt at humor to lighten the mood left Shen Yunqian feeling as though he had a lump in his throat.
Lu Xunye still had some impression of this matter.
He recalled that auction; it was Ji Huixu who had bought this land… could it have been at Si Jinyan’s behest?
No wonder that madman had been quiet for a while lately and hadn’t caused them trouble.
It seemed he hadn’t just lost a massive amount of money, but his subordinates had also skimmed quite a bit off the top. These buildings looked decent, but they were actually “tofu-dregs” projects built with substandard materials.
Lu Xunye’s meaningful gaze lingered on Shen Yunqian for a moment. When he retracted his gaze, he saw that Jian Luoqing’s expression had stiffened slightly.
Seeing the other’s pupils shrink, Lu Xunye spun around. In the distance, he met the gaze of a wretched Si Jinyan.
He squinted. He could vaguely see a trail of blood running from Si Jinyan’s forehead.
Si Jinyan was hunched over, carrying a woman on his back. When he looked at Lu Xunye, his eyes were filled with complex emotions. After a two-second pause, he looked away. He knelt down, propping himself up with his leg, and laid the person on his back down flat, half-holding her in his arms.
The woman’s shoulder had been pierced by some blunt object. The torn fabric of her clothes, which revealed jagged flesh, was soaked in blood.
Not far away were Fu Lan’s two remaining bodyguards. After the earthquake, their spirit was broken. Even with no one restraining them, they had lost the will to resist and stared blankly toward Fu Lan, their hands tied.
In a place no one was noticing, Shen Yunqian slipped something to Jian Luoqing. “There’s no signal here. I need you to do me a favor.”
…
“Why did you save me?” The image of Fu Lan pushing him away and blocking the falling steel beam for him was etched in Si Jinyan’s mind.
His eyes were bloodshot. His hand on his knee gripped it tightly. The intense hatred that had been stirred within him was gradually dissipating, replaced by an overwhelming sense of panic and helplessness.
It was as if he had returned to his childhood—a small, thin boy curled into a ball, clutching a white bouquet before a tombstone and wailing at a black-and-white photo.
The person who had abandoned him, forsaken him, and wounded him with the cruelest words had given him the chance to live at a critical moment.
“Why… why?”
Receiving no answer, Si Jinyan asked again and again, until he froze upon seeing Fu Lan vomit a mouthful of fresh blood.
A few droplets of warm liquid splashed onto his face. Si Jinyan’s head rang with noise.
Si Zheng, supported by Secretary Zhou, walked slowly toward the mother and son.
Seeing the woman’s life-threatening condition, he sighed. “The grudges of the previous generation shouldn’t involve the children. You should snap out of it.”
Fu Lan’s vision blurred. Hearing these high-sounding words, she couldn’t help but let out a mocking laugh.
“Snap out of it? I was the one with the marriage contract with you. On the eve of the engagement, we got drunk and slept together. The next day, you flatly denied it and ran away with Jiang Qingran, making me lose face. Why didn’t you talk about ‘snapping out of it’ then?”
“When the Si family used that night as an excuse because I was pregnant to force me to marry a cripple, why didn’t you talk to me about ‘snapping out of it’?”
“After your short-lived elder brother died, you took over the Si family completely. To secure your position, you actually said you wanted to marry your widowed sister-in-law.”
As Fu Lan spoke, her voice trembled more and more. “The Lu family used their influence to seek justice for Jiang Qingran, and everyone was laughing at the Si family. And you, Si Zheng! When you let me and my son be slandered, and let A-Yan’s parentage be ridiculed, why didn’t you talk about ‘snapping out of it’ then?”
“You abandoned me to elope with Jiang Qingran, then abandoned her to come back and marry me. Finally, you ‘snapped out of it’ and wanted to leave, so you faked your death and watched as the branch families bullied us.”
Recommended Reads
![[Esports] I Started an Online Romance with a Big Shot After Retiring](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/esports.jpg)
