Chapter Eighty-Nine: Ungrateful Betrayal

After leaving Westwind Mountain, Hong Chen sent Qiu a message through the cloud network. Then he pulled into a side road beside a public green space and stopped. He hauled Qian Duoduo out of the trunk and threw him into the passenger seat.

Hong Chen returned to the driver’s seat. A silver needle appeared between his fingers, and he stabbed it into Qian Duoduo several times, temporarily stopping the bleeding. When the final needle was drawn from the center of Qian Duoduo’s brow, a muffled groan escaped his lips, and he slowly opened his eyes.

Hong Chen opened the convertible top halfway, lit a cigarette, took a drag, and exhaled a thick plume of smoke before turning to look at Qian Duoduo and saying coolly, “Want to see the sunrise tomorrow?”

Limp in the seat, Qian Duoduo stared at Hong Chen with the eyes of a viper and gritted out, “If you’ve got the nerve, kill me.”

Hong Chen smiled. “Did I say I was going to kill you? Forget it. I can’t be bothered wasting breath on you. I’ve called a beauty to come keep you company. She’ll be here any moment.”

A mere two or three minutes later, Qiu, dressed in black leather from head to toe, appeared beside the sports car like a ghost. Hong Chen got out, gave a few brief instructions, then walked a little way off on his own. Qiu slid into the driver’s seat.

By the time Hong Chen had finished three cigarettes, Qiu came out of the car and handed him a small tablet. Hong Chen scanned the screen, and little by little his eyes turned cold.

So it really had been Qian Duoduo trying to force himself on Lin Yuxin, and only then had Lin Yuxin resisted with her life.

And that was not all. Qian Duoduo had first given Shen Tianbao five hundred thousand, promising afterward to introduce several business contacts to Shen Shanyang, with the only condition being that on the very day of the blind date, the Shen family father and son would help him turn the affair into a done deal. His target was not only Lin Yuxin, but also Lin Yufei.

Once the deed was done, Qian Duoduo intended to keep these two sisters as his secret mistresses and enjoy the blessing of two women to one man for the long term.

Originally, the plan had been to strike at night, tampering with the drinks at a bar. But Lin Yuxin in person was far more beautiful than in the photographs, stirring in Qian Duoduo a fierce possessiveness. He had lost interest in Lin Yufei altogether, and after several intimate advances had been coldly refused by Lin Yuxin that afternoon, a bellyful of resentment had built up in him. In stubborn frustration, he insisted on forcing the matter early.

That was how, at dinner, Qian Duoduo had flung away his chopsticks and stormed off. Afterward, Shen Shanyang had insisted that Lin Yuxin personally go invite Qian Duoduo back. To keep her guard down, he had Lin Tianbao and Lin Yufei accompany her. Later still, Lin Tianbao found a pretext to take Lin Yufei out of the room, all to create an opening for Qian Duoduo. And then, after that, the accident happened...

When he had finished reading, Hong Chen said nothing. He pulled Qian Duoduo out of the passenger seat. Qian Duoduo looked utterly dazed. Seeing Qiu standing quietly beside Hong Chen, he looked as though he had seen a devil, and a weak, trembling voice escaped his mouth. “I, I told the truth. I didn’t hide anything. I don’t even know Lin Yuxin at all. Shen Tianbao used photos of the sisters to lure me...” Smack.

Before he could finish, Hong Chen struck him down with a chop of the hand and knocked him unconscious, then tossed him back into the trunk. He returned to the driver’s seat, while Qiu took the passenger seat.

“What did you use to get him to talk so fast?” Hong Chen asked casually as he started the car.

Qiu quickly wrote a line on the small tablet, then took a plastic bag from his pocket. Hong Chen scanned the writing, then glanced at the bag, shook his head in speechless resignation.

The tablet read: If he stays alive, he will be handled leniently. If he refuses to confess, or tells a single lie, then cut out both kidneys as an extra measure.

And in the bag was a kidney, still flecked with fresh blood.

Once the sports car was back on the road, Hong Chen called Lin Yufei. He learned that they had just left the hospital and were about to arrive home, and that Shen Shanyang and his son were with them, planning to come inside for a visit.

After hanging up, Hong Chen said nothing and made a U-turn at the intersection ahead, heading straight home.

More than twenty minutes later, the sports car stopped in the residential compound. Hong Chen gave Qiu a few instructions, then hurried upstairs. When he opened the apartment door, everyone in the living room sofa circle turned to look at him and froze.

“What are you doing back here?” Shen Huifang shot to her feet, her face twisted with displeasure as she glared at Hong Chen. “You’re broke and can’t make it out there, so now you want to come back and freeload off us again? Let me tell you, impossible. Get out. You’re not welcome here.”

“Is your sister in there?” Hong Chen ignored her. Seeing that the whole family was there, including Lin Yungui, and that Shen Shanyang and his son were there too, with only Lin Yuxin missing, he pointed toward the bedroom and asked Lin Yufei.

“My sister is taking a shower,” Lin Yufei answered, then turned to Shen Huifang. “Mom, Hong Chen and my sister haven’t divorced yet. They’re husband and wife. Why shouldn’t he be allowed back?”

Shen Huifang shot her a glare. “What kind of spell has that good-for-nothing cast over you? Why are you always taking his side today?”

Lin Yuxin’s face was tight and pale. “If it weren’t for Hong Chen, I’d be burdened with three million eight hundred eighty thousand in debt, and our whole family would already be sleeping on the streets.”

Shen Huifang said dismissively, “It wasn’t him who solved it anyway, it was his boss. Besides, you still owe one million three hundred fifty thousand. You’ll have to work and pay it back slowly.”

Then her tone shifted. “If your sister weren’t so stubborn and single-minded, if she had met Young Master Qian earlier, what would three million eight hundred eighty thousand amount to? Even ten million would be no trouble.”

As she spoke, she lifted her chin at Hong Chen in a taunting manner and gave a sniff of contempt.

Hong Chen narrowed his eyes. Even with his temperament, a spark of anger could not be suppressed. Nearly four million in outside debt had driven the whole family to the brink of ruin, and after he stepped in and settled it, they could turn around and say something so heartless. To be ungrateful to this degree was truly astonishing.

Shen Shanyang seized the opening. “Exactly. Young Master Qian is talented, promising, and from a good family. If Yuxin and Young Master Qian can make a match of it, Huifang, you’ll never have to worry about your daughter’s future again.”

Shen Tianbao gave Hong Chen a cold, mocking smile. “Hong Chen, you and Young Master Qian are worlds apart. There’s no comparison at all. Hurry up and get the divorce with Yuxin settled. Young Master Qian said he can give you a separation payment.”

Lin Yungui looked conflicted. After hesitating for a long moment, he sighed. “Hong Chen, you haven’t eaten yet, have you? There’s some frozen food in the fridge. See what you want and make something yourself in the kitchen.”

Hong Chen glanced at Lin Yungui and let out a soft breath. “Dad, I’m not hungry. Coming back so late, I only wanted to find out how Yuxin was injured, and why she was injured.”

As soon as he said this, the room suddenly fell silent. Shen Shanyang and his son looked slightly uneasy, but quickly steadied themselves. Shen Huifang and Lin Yungui exchanged a look, both with unpleasant expressions. In the end, it was Lin Yufei who spoke.

“Tianbao asked Young Master Qian. My sister accidentally slipped and cut her neck on a fruit knife on the table. If Young Master Qian hadn’t come out right after his shower and discovered it in time, my sister would have been in danger.”

Hong Chen immediately pressed, “Yuxin said the same thing?”

Lin Yufei nodded, then shook her head. “My sister said she couldn’t remember.”

Hong Chen instantly understood Lin Yuxin’s thoughts. She must have felt that telling the truth would be useless, and might instead lead Qian Duoduo to accuse her of making false allegations, even bringing retaliation down on herself.

It had to be said that Lin Yuxin’s concerns were not unreasonable. Equality is only a slogan. The world is divided into ranks and classes. In old times, when a landlord’s son bullied an innocent woman, if there were no witnesses and no evidence, it was better for the woman to swallow her anger. But if she insisted on making a scene, not only would she fail to win compensation or justice, she might instead suffer persecution from the landlord’s family. The outcome could be imagined.

Truthfully, Lin Yuxin had just walked the thin line between life and death, and yet she could still remain so calm, weigh the pros and cons, and in the end choose to break her teeth and swallow the blood. Even Hong Chen felt a degree of admiration for her.

“The surgeon in charge of Yuxin’s operation happens to be someone I know. He told me that the artery was only half a centimeter from being severed. In other words, today Yuxin came within half a centimeter of death.”

Hong Chen’s tone was faint as his gaze swept over Shen Shanyang and his son. Then he said, “I’ll still call you Uncle and Cousin for now. Yuxin is your niece and cousin. Now that she’s suffered such a misfortune, do either of you have anything to say?”

Shen Shanyang and his son froze. A flash of panic passed through their eyes, but Shen Tianbao quickly recovered and his face darkened. “Hong Chen, what do you mean? Do you suspect that we harmed Yuxin?”

Shen Shanyang gave a muffled snort, his expression equally gloomy. “Hong Chen, I know what you’re thinking. Isn’t it just that Yuxin’s blind date with Young Master Qian today made you unhappy? Are you trying to say that if not for today’s blind date, Yuxin wouldn’t have had this accident?”

Shen Tianbao immediately sneered. “By your logic, if one day one of Yuxin’s clients asks her to discuss business, and on the way she gets brushed by a car, then it’s the client’s fault? That’s simply absurd.”

He then turned to Shen Huifang. “Aunt, this kind of unreasonable trash is an eyesore.”

Shen Shanyang also looked at Shen Huifang impatiently and ordered, “Huifang, give him a hundred yuan. Send him away quickly.”

Shen Huifang feared her elder brother the most. She hurriedly agreed, fished a hundred yuan out of her wallet, took a few steps up to Hong Chen, and directly flung the bill into his face, pointing toward the door as she barked, “Get out of here immediately!”