Chapter 67: Imprisoned Hatred

[Don’t you think that hand looks just like that famous pianist’s?]
[Fang Wenjin? No way, doesn’t he know everything in his own collection? Why would he need an appraisal?]
[It’s really him! In the video from Haiming University, Fang Wenjin played piano at the opening ceremony, and right after, Li Yanyan came onstage to perform.]
[Maybe Young Master Fang likes my goddess. I think they’d make a good couple. I wish he’d show his face.]

Today, the biggest sensation in Zhong Huayan’s livestream was Fang Wenjin.
Since he’d never opened an account before, the moment he appeared on her stream, his followers skyrocketed by over a hundred thousand.
After she ended the stream, Zhong Huayan saw a direct message from Fang Wenjin.
Her follower count had surged by almost six hundred thousand; it was the most dramatic increase she’d ever seen. Even more astonishing was her income, nearly two hundred thousand yuan in one day.
She’d earned two hundred thousand in a single day.
Just Fang Wenjin’s account alone had sent her gifts worth a hundred and fifty thousand.
This sickly young man was surprisingly generous. She recalled he’d been coughing and wheezing, his body frail despite his youth.
Although Zhong Huayan didn’t want to accept a man’s kindness, in the blink of an eye, she found herself holding the unlimited card handed over by Fu Yanyan.
Then he was quickly dressed in a suit and escorted out by his assistant—something urgent at the company, she’d heard.
Back when she was still the chairman of the Zhong family, money flowed so freely she couldn’t spend it all.
Now, she longed more than anything to live freely, to be an artist who spread and celebrated Chinese culture.
Zhong Huayan thought those costumes were truly remarkable, the craftsmanship one-of-a-kind, so she paid out of her own pocket to buy several.

After dinner, as dusk settled and the world was tinged with a smoky blue, she strolled leisurely around the memorial hall. Her assistant was supposed to pick her up, but today, for once, he was late.
Seeing the sky grow heavy with rain, she ducked into an alley for shelter. Almost immediately, she heard footsteps behind her—
Growing closer and closer!
Zhong Huayan took off running. Based on her experience and intuition, someone was about to kidnap her!
But before she could get far, pain shot through the back of her head. Dizziness overwhelmed her, and she collapsed, consciousness slipping away…
So much pain…
Her head throbbed, colors swirled before her eyes, then gradually faded to reveal a ceiling overhead.
Groggy for a moment, she quickly realized something was wrong and sat up in a flash.

Just as she was about to get out of bed, she discovered her wrist was chained to the bedpost with a silver handcuff.
Damn!
What was happening?
She was doomed!
Kidnapped and imprisoned, even her usual calm couldn’t stop her from widening her eyes in shock.
The room around her was pure white, even the flowers on the bedside table were lilies, and the windows were sealed tight.
She’d been changed into a white nightgown, her bare ankle pressed into the plush carpet.
It was enough to make her want to cry.
“Hello? Is anyone there?”
Another door opened, and an older woman entered, carrying a tray of food which she set down in front of her.
“Excuse me, where am I? Why have you kidnapped me?”
The woman said nothing, just arranged the dishes and left. Before going, she finally spoke: “Miss, they’ll be back soon. Eat something while you wait.”
Zhong Huayan glanced at the meal: abundant, but her world was now confined to this single room, the handcuff allowing her only a meter’s reach.
Lately, she couldn’t understand why she kept encountering kidnappings.
Even as the former chairman of Zhong Group, she’d never been kidnapped before.
Another day, another brush with disaster.
She decided to play along for now, so she picked up the food and began to eat.

Suddenly she heard the patter of rain outside. The room darkened, and footsteps sounded in the hallway—steady, unhurried. The door opened, casting a shadow over the corner of a black windbreaker. The man’s hat was dripping with rain, his hand gripping a knife still wet with blood. The blade glistened in the light, droplets falling to the floor. He wiped the knife against the brim of his hat, revealing blood-soaked white bandages on his hand.
Zhong Huayan was clearly terrified. She swallowed her food in haste and scrambled backward onto the bed, moving with impressive agility.
“You are…”
The man didn’t remove his hat. Instead, he strode forward and seized her throat.
Bang!
Her head struck the bedpost, another jolt of pain. His grip tightened, and she looked up into his shadowed face.
He was tall—over six foot one—with phoenix eyes, thin lips, and tattoos on his fingers.

Xu Yaochuan!
His shadow stretched long across the room, his gaze cracked with exhaustion and burning with crimson rage.
He pressed the bloodied knife before her eyes, veins bulging, voice seething.
“Li Yanyan, you and Fu Yanyan played me for a fool!”
“I… I don’t know anything, I have no idea what you’re talking about!”
She forced the words through her swollen, aching throat, desperately trying to explain herself. Then the man pulled a phone from his pocket, the screen glaring with headlines:
[As of today, Xu Group’s stock plummets, subsidiaries on the verge of bankruptcy, Chairman of Xu Group under investigation for illegal business dealings.]
She fell silent.
She hadn’t expected Fu Yanyan to destroy Xu Group so quickly; it was no feat to be accomplished overnight.
Like lightning splitting the sky—so fast, so silent.
Stunned, she stared in disbelief, resisting with all her strength.
Xu Yaochuan’s iron grip pulled her into his arms, then he threw her back onto the bed, hands at her throat. From a drawer, he produced more handcuffs and chains, fastening her with brutal force, heedless of the blood welling from her wrists.
Blood from his hands dripped onto her clothes as he stripped off his coat, revealing a simple undershirt—a veneer of roguishness barely disguising a ruthless air.
Tattooed on him was a fierce, mythical beast. Beneath the sharp, dashing exterior, his body was all corded muscle. He drew off his belt, clamping her jaw in a punishing grip, forcing her to meet his eyes.
“Li Yanyan! If you want to blame someone, blame Fu Yanyan—he’s too greedy! I’ve already sent Xu Yuan to prison, but he still won’t let go of the Xu family. He hasn’t retreated, hasn’t even uttered a word—not a quarrel, not a threat. All the while, he’s been preparing in secret to destroy the Xu family completely! And for what? Because you look like her? Because your face makes him think of that woman every waking moment?”

Zhong Huayan was extraordinarily calm—calmer than most would ever be.
With her cuffed left hand, she grabbed the knife that had fallen on the bed.
Xu Yaochuan saw, but didn’t stop her; the chain was too short for her to truly threaten him with the blade.
But in the next instant, Zhong Huayan spun around and pressed the knife to her own heart.
“Xu Yaochuan! Listen to me—if I die today, there will be a blood feud between you and Fu Yanyan! If I survive, maybe there’s still a chance for negotiation! You think taking me hostage will force him to surrender? You’ll only drive him mad! Men like you, raised in darkness and greed, should know what happens when desperate rivals are cornered!”