Chapter 114. Determined to take his life. ...
Wen Xue stood motionless.
She didn't think this was a love letter written by He Yan out of romance. He wasn't that kind of person. Everything he did had its reasons. What prompted him to explain these things to her, especially that sentence, "Life is long, live it well"?
He knew better than anyone how deep the pain and suffering were caused to her by He Heng's death.
He would never repeat what he had said to her before without a reason, unless the scene from that day would be repeated in the present or in the near future.
Wen Xue was terrified. She put down the unfinished copy of the sutra and rushed out of the study with unsteady steps. Her heart was pounding, her sweat was cold, and her hands were trembling uncontrollably. Usually meticulous, she didn't even have the patience to rummage through her bag for her phone. Instead, she dumped everything out of her bag.
It's like some kind of omen.
Her phone fell to the ground with a dull thud.
Wen Xue's eyelids twitched violently. She picked up her phone, unlocked it, and forced herself to calm down. She dialed He Yan's number and waited for him to answer. She wanted to ask him what he meant. She wanted to tell him that she didn't want any of his things and that she didn't want to live a good life.
She doesn't want to.
She doesn't want to.
Ding-a-ling—
The ringing of a cell phone broke the silence in the car. He Yan turned his gaze from the window and looked up at Li Hang, the bodyguard in the driver's seat. As always, Li Hang was silent and professional. In the past two months, he had never answered a phone call in front of him.
Li Hang didn't even look at the caller ID before hanging up.
The car returned to silence.
He Yan didn't say anything. He took out his phone, turned it on, and the screen showed Wen Xue's graduation photo in her academic gown. She was bathed in sunlight, smiling happily while holding the flowers he had given her.
He smiled, unlocked his phone, and opened her chat window.
She sent him a photo half an hour ago; she was walking around with stones.
He Yan ran his fingertips along the edge of his phone. Cars sped by, dappling the interior with sunlight filtering through the trees, creating an intermittent play of light and shadow. Suddenly, he felt a deep reluctance to leave. This feeling had been there for a long time, which was why he had to struggle so desperately, unwilling to part with her.
The phone rang again.
The two calls were less than five minutes apart. Just as Li Hang was about to hang up, He Yan said, "Pull over and take the call. Someone might be calling you urgently. I won't mind if you take a few minutes on the phone."
Li Hang nodded hesitantly.
Next, slow down and park in a temporary parking space on the side of the road.
The phone stopped ringing. He unbuckled his seatbelt, got out of the car, and locked the door before taking out his phone.
He Yan waited in the car for a few minutes. When the driver opened the car door and got in, he glanced at him and saw that the usually steady man was stiff and his hands were trembling. He frowned and asked, "What happened? You can tell me."
Li Hang paused for a moment, his voice a little hoarse. He was clearly nervous, but he tried to remain calm: "N-nothing, my sister bumped her stomach while she was taking a walk outside..."
He Yan paused.
He knew that Li Hang had a younger sister who was probably pregnant; Li Hang had even bought a rattle drum a couple of days ago.
"How so?"
“My brother-in-law is away on a business trip.” Li Hang’s voice was a little muffled. “A kind passerby called her, so she should be fine.”
He Yan raised his hand and glanced at the time.
He had been an older brother for many years and understood Li Hang's feelings at this moment. He was probably so anxious that he couldn't calm down. "Go to the hospital quickly. Don't delay. She can't be left alone right now."
Li Hang remained hesitant.
He was hired by Zhou Zhan to be He Yan's driver and bodyguard. How could he leave without delivering his boss to his destination?
"Go quickly."
He Yan originally wanted to give him the car, but seeing how nervous he was, it would be dangerous for him to drive. So he urged, "Don't waste time. Take a taxi to the hospital. You might still make it. At the hospital, a family member will definitely be present."
In the end, worry for his younger sister prevailed.
Li Hang got out of the car and said in a low voice, "Brother Yan, thank you."
"Of course." He Yan sat in the back seat, watching Li Hang's back as he ran to the intersection to hail a taxi. He thought of the phone call he received in the early morning, and of his younger brother lying in the ice coffin. Over the years, he had thought a thousand times: if a kind passerby recognized He Heng and went into the water to save someone, and called him, would he be able to give his brother even the slightest chance of survival?
He Yan sat quietly in the car for a long time.
He calmed his tangled thoughts and got into the driver's seat to continue driving. He parked downstairs at the tenement building, got out of the car, and stood beside it. Some habits were ingrained in his bones and couldn't be changed. He looked up at the room at the far end of the third floor, where the window was completely dark.
Scenes from the past flashed before his eyes, and he raised his eyebrows.
The urgent ringing of his cell phone interrupted his reverie. The sound came intermittently from inside the car. He snapped out of his reverie, bent down and reached into the car, picked up the phone from the armrest box. It was Wen Xue calling. Had she broken up with her roommates and finally remembered him?
A smile flashed across He Yan's face as he was about to answer the call when he sensed someone behind him. He instinctively dodged to the side and reached out to block, but a sharp pain shot through his strong arm, which instantly bled profusely.
Immediately afterwards, two more people pounced from the shadows.
Gao Xu, who was holding the knife, was stunned.
He quickly realized who these two people were; this was Zhou Xianliu's backup plan, something even he was unaware of.
Zhou Xian was determined to take the life of this man named He Yan.
…
Wen Xue held her phone, holding her breath and waiting. When the call ended automatically because no one answered, she had a bad feeling, which made her not to make a second call.
She took a deep breath and searched through her contacts.
Thankfully, she had saved his driver's number not long ago. Her heart was pounding, almost bursting out of her chest. She dialed the number and the call was answered within seconds. The other person gasped, "Hello, Miss Wen."
"Where is He Yan? I called him but he didn't answer. Where are you now?" Her voice was tense.
Li Hang was also taken aback: "Something came up at home, so I had to leave."
Wen Xue felt a wave of dizziness. "What?"
Li Hang seemed to realize what was happening as well, and he immediately said to the taxi driver, "Driver, turn around!"
After the phone call ended, Wen Xue almost lost her balance and fell onto the sofa. Her gaze was fixed, and her palms were sweating. It was as if she had returned to that night when she received the call from the police, when half of her life and soul seemed to have been taken away.
No, that won't work.
She's already lost it once; she can't afford to lose it again.
Wen Xue clenched her fists tightly, took a deep breath, and forced herself to calm down and focus. Li Hang on the phone said he was almost at the hospital; even at his fastest speed, it would take more than twenty minutes to turn back. Wu Yuejiang was currently out of town on a business trip, and no matter how powerful Zhou Zhan was, he was in Huacheng at the moment—too far to be of immediate help. She could call the police and ask for help simultaneously. Don't panic, don't panic…
Li Hang said that he and He Yan parted ways less than two kilometers away from the tenement building.
He Yan has already passed by there, so he will definitely go.
Whoever is closest to He Yan now is the person she needs to ask for help immediately.
Wen Xue's fingers trembled slightly as she scrolled to Wang Yuan's number and quickly dialed it.
As soon as the call connected, she skipped the pleasantries and, for the first time so urgently, choked up as she said, "Wang Yuan, I'm begging you for something. Go back to the tenement building right now and find He Yan. I just checked his phone's location, and he's nearby. Please, you absolutely must find him!"
Wang Yuan was startled, then came to his senses. Before the call was even disconnected, he had already rushed out of the room. "Okay!"
The busy signal came through.
Wen Xue's hand loosened, and she sat down as if all her strength had left her, panting heavily, as if her internal organs were being burned. She hoped that she was just being paranoid, that she was overthinking, that she was seeing ghosts everywhere, and that it was all a misunderstanding, like He Yan forgetting his phone when he got out of the car. Maybe soon, immediately, he would call her back, laughing and saying that she was imagining things too much, that nothing had happened to him, and that nothing would happen to him.
Stone, unaware of what was happening, lay at her feet, nuzzling her with his head.
Wen Xue's eyes welled up with tears, and she even bit her lips until they were marked. She bent down to touch them, gripped her phone tightly, and walked quickly outside. She wanted to find him, to see him, and to tell him in person that he was the one who held onto her and kept asking her for the promise that they would be together for life.
Why should he be the one making the promise?
Now it's him again who's breaking his promise.
Wen Xue left the house, her legs seemingly powerless. She stumbled and staggered to the elevator, pressing the travel button with all her might. Stepping out of the elevator, the waves of heat couldn't warm her up. Everyone else was enjoying the sweltering summer, but she felt like she'd fallen into an ice cave.
Without further hesitation, she forced back all the useless tears she was about to shed, ran straight out of the residential area, and flagged down a car on the roadside.
After getting on the bus, she mustered up her courage and dialed He Yan's number again.
Still no one answered.
She closed her eyes and contacted Zhou Zhan for the first time.
-
He Yan's vision blurred intermittently. If his right arm hadn't been stabbed and bleeding profusely, he wouldn't have been so overwhelmed by these three people. He thought that even if he didn't die here today, he might still be seriously injured. He found it so absurd that he wanted to laugh.
So this is the price he had to pay.
Do you regret it?
How could that be?
No, he still felt a little regretful. If he had known it would end this way, he should have kept his feelings and thoughts hidden, at least so she wouldn't have found out. He shouldn't have kept pressuring her to be with him. He was wrong.
Bang--
He was pressed against the sturdy car body.
Gao Xu was also covered in injuries and panting heavily. He observed the other two people without making a sound, thinking that He Yan was sure to lose his life here today, but he didn't have to be the one to inflict the fatal wound. Even if the police found him, he would only get a few years in prison at most.
It was worth it.
Trading tens of millions for a few years, so that his wife and children can live comfortably, is worth it.
"It seems like his ribs are broken," Gao Xu said in a hoarse, pained voice, handing the sharp blade to the person next to him. "I'm out of strength, you take over."
The man remained indifferent and did not respond.
With just a few simple words, He Yan forced herself to stay awake, not wanting to faint—if she collapsed, it would be all over; she was still waiting for him. She glanced at Gao Xu; his breathing was heavy, his nose smelled of rust, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. "Zhou Xian…how much did he give you?"
Gao Xu was already anxious, and several of his ribs had been broken by this kid, causing him to spasm in pain and his expression to become distorted.
"You mean Zhou Zhan will double the amount?" He gripped the knife tightly, his eyes flashing with hatred, wishing the person in front of him wasn't Zhou Zhan's grandson. "Even if he offers me ten times the amount, there's no room for negotiation!"
He Yan smiled.
His laughter was short and mocking, which annoyed Gao Xu.
Gao Xu shouted angrily, "What are you laughing at?!"
He Yan shook his head, remaining silent, only smiling.
He had just heard his phone ring several times, with the intervals getting shorter and shorter. This could only mean one thing: someone knew he was in danger.
Whoever it is, all they can and must do now is stall for time.
"Why are you wasting your breath talking to him!" the two men holding him down roared. "Stop dawdling and get to work!"
Gao Xu acted as if he hadn't heard, and moved closer to He Yan, his facial muscles twitching. "What are you laughing at?"
"I laugh at your stupidity." He Yan chuckled mockingly, looking at him with pity. "You were schemed against by him, and you still have to work for him."
Gao Xu's face contorted with rage when his secret was exposed.
Even the most foolish person, after hearing Zhou Xian's words, realized that Zhou Xian was probably the mastermind behind his mounting debts. But since things had come to this, he had no choice but to take this path.
Gao Xu's breathing was heavy.
He raised the knife, gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and was about to stab He Yan in the chest—
Bang--
A figure rushed over like a gust of wind, grabbed Gao Xu from behind, and yanked him to the side, slamming him into the car with a loud bang in the night.
Wang Yuan has arrived.
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