Cut off the source of evil

"Don't be afraid, sweetie."

Lu Chenyang parked the car smoothly outside the electronic gate of Qingwan Private Retreat, and gently tapped Yu Sheng's Bluetooth earphone hidden under her curly hair with his fingertip. "Go ahead, I'll wait for you. You can hear my voice anytime, I'll be right next to your ear."

More than ten years have passed since he was kidnapped by Yu Zhengcheng and taken to the island's mental hospital. He has finally returned here.

Yu Sheng pushed open the car door and got out. The electronic door, more than five meters high, slid open silently to both sides, revealing an Audi used for getting around the park. It was the same familiar old butler, still slightly bowing, not speaking to him, and not exchanging a single glance.

The old butler opened the Audi door, making a respectful "please" gesture with perfect technique and impeccable manners, yet it still made Yu Sheng feel nauseous.

He had no intention of blaming others; the root of all this evil lay with Yu Zhengcheng. Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment, about to take a step, when Lu Chenyang's steady voice came through the earphone.

He subconsciously turned around and saw Lu Chenyang tapping his ear again through the car window, giving him a warm and encouraging smile.

The smile dispelled some of the gloom in Yu Sheng's heart. He smiled back silently, took a deep breath, and calmly got into the Audi.

Let's just say goodbye to the past; it's all over now.

The car glided into the tree-lined avenue, and the interior fell silent.

About five minutes later, Yu Sheng habitually turned his head to look out the window. He remembered that there was a century-old tree by the pond on the left.

He lived in a quiet environment back then, and the old tree was his only listener during his childhood. He would confide all his grievances and secrets to it.

He once built a swing with only one rope, and on that brief night, he swung back and forth, and he was truly happy. He thought he had a "father" who would respond to the rustling sound.

The next day, he went to find the tree. The tree was dead, truly dead. Only a bare stump remained. It was Yu Zhengcheng's warning to him.

Today, this tree root still stands there, out of place with the carefully tended flowerbed, like a scar that never heals.

Yu Sheng stared blankly at the direction of the tree roots, unable to come to his senses for a long time. Then he heard a deep, soothing, and uniquely magnetic a cappella singing flowing leisurely from his headphones. It was Lu Chenyang's voice. He didn't speak, but gently hummed the lullaby he used to lull Yu Sheng to sleep at night.

Yu Sheng's tense muscles relaxed slightly, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He lowered his head and tapped his index finger lightly twice on his earphone as a response to Lu Chenyang.

When the singing stopped, the Audi finally stopped in front of the main building.

Still, no one spoke to him. Two bodyguards at the door bowed and pushed open the heavy metal door. The old butler led him through the empty corridor, where he could hear his own heartbeat, and finally stopped in front of two dark doors that reached the ceiling.

Yu Sheng was very familiar with the space behind this door; it was Yu Zhengcheng's study.

After he went inside, the bodyguards and the old butler disappeared like shadows, leaving him alone in the vast space. No words were needed; more than a decade of "experience" told him that this was an order for him to wait, and that Yu Zhengcheng was "too busy" to see him at the moment.

He obediently sat down on the sofa, closed his eyes, and refused to look at the familiar furnishings or utter a sound.

Who knows if Yu Zhengcheng is hiding behind a camera in some corner, watching him like a caged beast?

Time ticked by, and the silence pressed down like a physical weight. After about half an hour, the door was finally pushed open, bringing in a cool, refreshing scent of lilies.

"Sister." Yu Sheng looked up abruptly, her gaze following the tall figure who had walked in.

This was his only living relative.

Yu Huaihan slightly raised her eyelids, glanced at him indifferently as if he were just looking at an unimportant piece of furniture, then looked away and sat down on the sofa by the window.

Her shoulder-length short hair fell neatly down, and she wore a light gray suit with a pure black coat over it. Her outfit was crisp and clean, exuding a powerful aura.

She lit a cigarette, slowly brought it to her lips, took a shallow drag, and exhaled the smoke. Her gaze remained lowered, radiating an aloof indifference that kept people at a distance, yet her presence was impossible to ignore.

Yu Sheng's gaze never left her until the cigarette between Yu Huaihan's fingers burned out.

"Is the old man just going to make us wait like this?" Yu Huaihan finally spoke, her voice flat and even, yet easily conveying her impatience.

“Mm.” Yu Sheng nodded.

"What a load of rubbish about a family dinner." Yu Huaihan scoffed, tossing her cigarette butt onto the expensive carpet and grinding it twice with her sharp heels. "Tell him for me that there's an emergency at the company, I'm leaving, call me if he needs anything." As she spoke, she pulled her coat tighter and got up to leave.

"Sister!" Yu Sheng quickly got up and chased after her. In her haste, she grabbed Yu Huaihan's arm with such force that the other woman frowned and turned around in displeasure.

Ignoring her sister's displeasure, Yu Sheng's eyes were more serious than ever before as she eagerly asked, "Sister, do you want to marry that person?"

Yu Huaihan was taken aback by his question. Meeting the unusual depth in Yu Sheng's eyes, he suppressed some of his impatience and said in a tired and indifferent voice, "This is not something I can decide."

"Do you want to marry that person?" Yu Sheng seemed not to hear, stubbornly repeating the question, her gaze intense.

Yu Huaihan stared at him intently for several seconds, her gaze complex and unreadable. Finally, she gave a short, cold laugh: "I don't want to."

Before she could finish speaking, she forcefully pulled her arm back, her high heels clicking on the ground, and pushed the door open and left without looking back.

The heavy slam of the door echoed in the empty study. Yu Sheng's words, "If you don't want to, then don't marry me," which were on the tip of his tongue, ultimately failed to reach her ears.

Another long three hours passed, and it was almost noon. Yu Sheng remained seated, without saying a word; he was used to this.

However, Lu Chenyang's deep voice occasionally rang out in the earphones, not requiring his reply, but simply rambling gently: "Do you want to go to Shuye for dinner tonight? It's been so long since I've been there. Should we invite Qin Nan over? I should formally introduce Qin Nan to you; I haven't properly thanked him last time..." These trivial yet lifelike words were like a warm current, dispelling the gloom.

The three hours of waiting were not lonely because of this invisible companionship; in fact, he was even immersed in this sense of peace from afar. Even when Yu Zhengcheng walked in, Yu Sheng's first reaction was not fear, but rather annoyance that his time alone with Lu Chenyang had been disrupted.

Yu Zhengcheng casually tied the belt of his silk loungewear and strolled in. He didn't speak immediately, but went straight to the sofa where Yu Huaihan had just sat and sat down, his gaze slowly and deliberately sweeping over Yu Sheng for scrutiny.

A chill ran up her spine from her feet. Yu Sheng subconsciously swallowed, suppressing a tremor, stood up, and whispered, "Dad."

Yu Zhengcheng seemed quite satisfied with this compliant attitude, a gentle smile playing on his lips as he casually brushed back his hair, which had become slightly disheveled from his afternoon nap.

“Ah Sheng,” his voice sounded like a loving father asking about everyday matters, “where is your sister?”

After asking the question, he lowered his head, picked up the cigar on the table, and casually held it between his fingers, waiting for Yu Sheng to light it.

After waiting for a long time, Yu Sheng did not move or answer his question.

Yu Zhengcheng raised his head in displeasure. Even though he was sitting, Yu Sheng could feel the condescension in his gaze. His cigar tapped lightly on the edge of the low table, clang...clang...clang...

The crisp, rhythmic tapping sound was particularly jarring in the quiet study.

Yu Sheng's knees began to buckle, a fear from the depths of his bones gripping him. Years of discipline had forged muscle memory that screamed wildly: Kneel! Crawl over! Cling to your master's trouser leg like a begging dog! Admit your mistake! Beg for mercy! And then pray that the impending punishment would be lighter, just a little lighter…

“Ah Sheng,” Yu Zhengcheng looked up, his smile still gentle, even tinged with a doting helplessness, “You’re being naughty.”

This man is always like this, always a benevolent father figure, forever gentle and loving, forever driving him to the brink of despair. Yu Sheng knows this all too well.

Just as Yu Sheng was about to be crushed by that invisible pressure!

"I suddenly have a craving for Tomono's mushroom soup. Will you come with me, brother?"

Lu Chenyang's clear and familiar voice penetrated the headphones and entered his ears.

Like a drowning person clinging to a piece of driftwood, Yu Sheng's tense nerves suddenly relaxed. A relieved smile curved his lips, and he tapped his index finger lightly twice on his earphone as a response, telling him, 'I'm fine, don't worry.'

The icy shell of fear gradually shattered, and relief slowly rose in his chest. He straightened his perpetually hunched back in front of Yu Zhengcheng, his gaze no longer darting away, meeting directly into those unfathomable, contemptuous eyes. His voice was clear and calm, "Dongyao Group is already large enough; it doesn't need to sacrifice my sister's marriage to gain anything."

"Hahahaha..." Yu Zhengcheng seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world, covering his forehead and laughing so hard his shoulders shook. "Asheng," he stopped laughing, his eyes playful and inquisitive, "this is the first time... you've spoken to your father like this. You're really being naughty."

His legs trembled slightly involuntarily, and Yu Sheng clenched his fists. He let out a long breath, "That youngest son of the American CR Group was exposed for using Methyl five years ago! Two years ago, he was even prosecuted for the murder of his mistress! How could my sister marry such a beast?!"

"So what?" Yu Zhengcheng leaned back into the sofa, relaxed, only slightly raising his eyelids, looking at Yu Sheng as if he were looking at a tiny ant that he could crush at will. "Don't be so naive, Asheng."

He casually tossed the cigar back into the box, and Yu Sheng didn't come over to light it for him as usual, which made him feel offended and unhappy.

He raised his hand, his index finger like a gun barrel, and slowly moved down from Yu Sheng's forehead through the void, sweeping across his chest, waist, abdomen, and legs, assessing the value of the item as if evaluating it.

“Money is endless. Your sister’s marriage is paving the way for the group. And you,” he paused, the fake smile on his lips deepening, “your future marriage will be the same.”

"You can't control my sister! And don't even think about controlling me!" The humiliation, anger, and pain that had been building up for more than twenty years erupted in Yu Sheng's chest like a long-suppressed volcano! He almost shouted it out, and his voice echoed in the empty study, making his own eardrums buzz.

As the roar subsided, an unprecedented sense of clarity swept over him. He realized that what had bound him all along was never a "sexual disorder," but rather his cowardice in the face of the strong.

Just like a hunting dog that is trained by its owner when it is young, it develops the fixed idea that it can never defeat its owner. Even if it grows up to be able to bite its owner's neck off, it dares not disobey, because the mindset instilled in it in childhood tells it that this person is always powerful and that resistance will result in being beaten.

But now someone is willing to act as his white knight, telling him: You can hate this world, you can hate everyone. I still love you.

So shout it out, rebel against that strongman, and you will find liberation.

Seeing Yu Zhengcheng's slightly narrowed eyes, a smile suddenly appeared on Yu Sheng's face. He took a step forward, then another, and walked straight to the sofa, to the edge of that "forbidden zone" that he would never have dared to approach before, a place that symbolized absolute authority.

This time, it was his turn to look down at his father from his superior position.

“I hold a significant portion of Dongyao’s shares,” Yu Sheng’s voice was unusually calm, yet every word was like a knife. “If you dare force my sister into this marriage, I will immediately, completely, sell them all. You tell me,” he tilted his head slightly, mimicking Yu Zhengcheng’s usual hypocritical tone, “how will the market react then? How much will the stock price drop? Should I… hold a press conference while I’m at it? After all, the fact that Dongyao Group’s second young master is being forced to sell his shares to survive will surely be of great interest to many media outlets.”

Yu Sheng paused, finding it quite interesting to threaten Yu Zhengcheng. He was no longer afraid; all his fear had dissipated with the roar he had just given, along with the raging fire on the balcony last night and Lu Chenyang's whispers in his ear.

He suddenly burst into laughter, laughing so hard he couldn't stand up straight. It felt so good, so fucking good!

I am no longer a little ant.

As Yu Sheng admired the subtle cracks finally appearing on Yu Zhengcheng's gentle mask, he continued to drop even more lethal bombshells. "Oh, by the way. I have some... records here about how you 'taught' me. Although that island mental hospital has been closed, after so many years, it's hard to guarantee I won't find some clues. Not conclusive evidence? No problem. As long as I stand in front of the media and identify you," Yu Sheng's eyes curved into crescents with laughter, "things will definitely blow up. At that time, Dongyao's stock price..." He clicked his tongue lightly, shook his head, and the threat was self-evident.

“So, Yu Zhengcheng,” he called him by his name for the first time, his voice icy cold, “I don’t mind being disgraced. I’ll drag you down with me to hell. If you dare to do anything behind my sister’s back to force her to submit, I will absolutely fight you to the death!”

He leaned down slightly, getting close to the face that had terrified him for over twenty years, and said, word by word, "Yu Zhengcheng, you can forget about controlling me!"

I'm not afraid of you anymore.