Returning - Chapter 170

Chapter 170: Fury

When Xue Zi'ang walked in carrying breakfast and saw two additional men in the hospital room, his expression turned visibly displeased. But before he could say anything, he realized what everyone was gathered around the bed for. He quickly set down the breakfast and strode over.

The moment he saw the jagged wound against her fair skin, he couldn't help but grit his teeth and squeeze his eyes shut.

The others were seeing Zhao Yu's wound for the first time, but he had witnessed firsthand how it came to be. That heart-stopping terror still haunted him constantly.

"Zhao Yu." He stared at her intently. "I mean it. If you get hurt again, I swear I'll get hurt with you. If you dare die, I'll die with you too."

Zhao Yu released her tightly clenched jaw and smiled at him. "I told you, that threat is completely useless."

After applying fresh medicine, the doctor bandaged her up. Noticing the fine beads of sweat on her forehead, Xue Zi'ang pulled out a tissue and carefully wiped them away.

Ling Jianwei, unwilling to give up, asked the doctor, "Is there really no other way? She's in genuine pain."

Watching the three men react with increasing anxiety, Xu Chengyan suddenly felt his mind begin to cloud over again.

Was their relationship really just a monetary transaction?

If it was, by this point there was no need for them to put on an act in front of him.

If it wasn't, then what was everything they had done for?

"Zhao Yu." Rubbing his throbbing temple, he asked, "Was all of this orchestrated by you people? Zhuang Yiqing never actually had anyone kidnap you, did she?"

"Yes." Zhao Yu answered bluntly. Seeing his expression instantly darken, she smiled at him again. "Unfortunately, it's too late."

It was already too late for him to go back on his decision.

"You…" His clenched teeth trembled slightly from sheer rage. His already bloodshot eyes from lack of sleep looked even more terrifying now, like a wild beast about to go berserk.

Noticing him trying to step forward, Xue Zi'ang immediately stood up to block him, cutting off his access to Zhao Yu on the bed.

The next moment, Xue Zhan's calm voice sounded beside him. "Surely President Xu isn't planning to raise a hand against a severely injured woman?"

Xu Chengyan turned back and stared coldly at Xue Zhan.

For a split second, he really did feel the impulse to simply strangle her.

She had schemed against him like that, deceived him, toyed with all his feelings—and in the end, she could still smile as if nothing had happened, with such a nonchalant, matter-of-fact expression?

"President Xu can choose to reconcile with the Zhuang family and help them clarify everything you did yesterday," Xue Zhan said, holding out his phone towards him. "But I doubt anyone would believe it now."

Xu Chengyan glanced carelessly and saw the striking news headline: Lanxi Plunges Into Financial Crisis, Stock Price Drops 10% in Two Hours

This was entirely within his expectations. That short-selling article alone was enough to convince many people, let alone the "ironclad evidence" provided by the Xu family.

Further down, the article also stated: "TNC Studio Sues Lanxi Jewelry for Unpaid Design Fees," "Lanxi's New Products Suspected of Infringement," "XX Commercial Bank Announces It Will Reassess Lanxi Group's Loan Qualifications"…

Within two days, a barrage of unfavorable news about Lanxi had come crashing down, mixing truth and falsehood so thoroughly that ordinary people couldn't discern fact from fiction at all.

But the two most critical points—Xu Chengyan publicly breaking off the engagement, and the years-long partnership between Yicheng and Lanxi turning into bitter enmity; TNC Studio's representative, the Ling family, also having cooperated with Lanxi for years, with rumors even suggesting an impending marriage alliance—were already sufficient to indicate that Lanxi definitely had problems.

It was perfectly normal for the Xue family to move against the Zhuang family. The Xu family had been manipulated. But what about the Ling family? Why would they also turn against the Zhuang family?

Xu Chengyan suddenly recalled the last time Ling Jianwei's studio had helped Huacan clarify the plagiarism issue. The relationship between these three families had already seemed peculiar back then.

But the information he later received was that Ling Jianwei had a personal vendetta against the Zhuang family, and that clarifying the plagiarism was an individual act.

What about now? Was this still an individual act? Did it not represent the Ling family?

On Christmas Eve, when he saw Ling Jianwei and Xue Zi'ang racing cars, he hadn't thought much of it at the time, dismissing it as childish rivalry among a bunch of kids. Looking at it now, though, it seemed very likely related to Zhao Yu.

In this whole conspiracy against the Zhuang family, exactly what role did Zhao Yu play? Was she truly just a pawn of the Xue family?

A loud smack was heard as Xue Zi'ang pulled the breakfast he had bought out of the bag and dropped it heavily onto the table. "I only bought enough for three people. Everyone else can fend for themselves."

The eviction order was unmistakable, and everyone in the room understood it. Ling Jianwei, however, merely said calmly, "I've already eaten. I'll feed Xi Xi."

Xi Xi?

Xu Chengyan's gaze swept over the faces of the other four people one by one, finally landing on Zhao Yu, who remained as composed as ever.

---

Ji Sui and Zhuang Ye had just gotten off the plane when they learned that something had happened to Lanxi.

In these two days and two nights, they had made a round trip to the United States, yet that trip had yielded absolutely nothing.

After arriving in the U.S. yesterday afternoon, he had followed the address Song Xuan provided and found Zhuang Ye without a problem. But no one was living there anymore, and the Zhuang Ye he encountered was in an extremely abnormal state.

—He was just curled up alone in the darkness, hugging his knees, staring fixedly at the tightly shut door before him. This version of him was exactly the same as the one who, after waking up in the hospital four years ago, always retreated into the dark.

"Brother, do you think something happened to her? Did my sister… Did my sister find out I came here and deliberately take Xi Xi away again? That's impossible, my sister isn't that kind of person… No, Song Xuan said it was my sister who did it. How could she do this? How could she? How could she…"

Ji Sui had always known that Zhuang Ye was undergoing psychological treatment, and he also knew it had taken the psychologist two whole years to cure his obsession with darkness and fear of light. But they had all assumed his condition had improved significantly by now—they never imagined…

Previously, the Zhuang family had worried that Zhuang Ye might commit suicide and had kept him under very tight watch. But seeing him break down, rambling incoherently, a terrifying and sinful thought suddenly flashed through Ji Sui's mind—was living more painful for him?

Beep! Horns blared continuously from behind. Looking up at the traffic light that had long since turned green, Ji Sui could only set down his phone and continue driving forward.

Once they landed back in Donghai and got off the plane, he turned on his phone. Only then did he learn that something this huge had happened to Lanxi during the two days they were gone.

But rather than rushing back to the company to handle business, what was more urgent for Zhuang Ye right now was to confront Zhuang Yiqing directly and demand to know what had really happened back then.

He, too, very much wanted to know what that person—growing more and more like a stranger—had actually done all those years ago.

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