Jin Yuan x Xie Zheng ①
Jin Yuan, the young master of the Jin family, is a notorious playboy.
Relying on his family's wealth, he was a bully who committed numerous evil deeds. He was notorious in the city, and everyone who mentioned him secretly cursed him.
On the night the Jin family fell from power, Jin Yuan was dragged out of the warm chamber. His former enemies, whom he had humiliated, bound him tightly and threw him into a dilapidated carriage.
Completely unaware that his good days were over, he cursed and swore, "Do you know who I am? My father is Jin Wanguan! If you dare to lay a finger on me, he will grind you to dust!"
The only response he received was a cold laugh: "Golden fortune? He's probably eating cornbread in jail right now."
The carriage swayed and rattled for half the night before finally stopping at the entrance of a dirty alley in the south of the city.
Jin Yuan was dragged down like a dead dog and thrown into a backyard.
The madam looked him up and down: "He's not bad looking."
The once arrogant young master was suddenly dressed in a thin gauze robe and locked in the innermost room.
The madam swayed in and said to him, "When you meet the guests later, remember to be sweet-talking and quick-witted. You'll get your share of the rewards."
Jin Yuan couldn't believe it: "You want me to entertain guests? I'm Jin Yuan! The young master of the Jin family! How dare you..."
"The Jin family?" The madam scoffed, flicking her handkerchief at his face. "What good is mentioning the Jin family now? When you come here, it doesn't matter if you were a dragon or a worm before, you have to follow my rules. Don't be ungrateful, or you'll regret it if you offend our distinguished guest."
As she spoke, she waved her hand, and two burly men walked in, grabbed him despite his resistance, and started to walk out.
The men carried him through the noisy crowd and shoved him onto a makeshift platform. Below, a sea of heads loomed, and all sorts of eyes swept over him like hooks—curiosity, greed, and mockery.
The madam's shrill voice rang out again, this time shouting to the audience: "Gentlemen, look closely! This is the young master of the former Jin family, with delicate skin and tender flesh. He used to be extremely precious. Today, we don't care about status, we only care about fate. The starting price is one hundred taels. Let the bidding begin!"
With a loud "boom," the audience erupted in cheers.
"Wow, this really is gold!"
"Back when he was fighting me for that white jade vase, he probably never imagined things would turn out this way, did he?"
"I'll offer one hundred and fifty taels!"
Jin Yuan stood frozen on the stage, his blood running cold. He looked at the familiar and unfamiliar faces, at the vengeful gazes, and felt extremely uncomfortable.
"Two hundred taels!"
"Two hundred and thirty taels!"
The bids grew louder and louder: three hundred taels, five hundred taels, six hundred taels...
Jin Yuan lowered his head, his ears ringing.
Just as someone shouted out eight hundred taels, and a murmur arose from the audience, a deep voice suddenly said, "Two thousand taels."
The three words were resounding and the entire room fell silent instantly, with everyone's eyes turning to the source of the sound.
Jin Yuan was also stunned. In his muddled mind, he barely grasped the number: two thousand taels, enough to buy half of the Jin family's former residence.
He subconsciously looked up, wanting to see who had offered such a high price, but only a blurry figure flashed before his eyes. Before he could focus, his arm was suddenly grabbed.
Like a puppet, he was carried back to the room by two men. The humiliation of being watched by everyone on the platform faded, and an overwhelming fear suddenly surged up.
He didn't know who the person who bought him for two thousand taels was, nor did he know what the other party intended to do to him. For the first time, he realized so clearly that he had truly lost all support and that from now on, he would be at the mercy of others.
Soon, he heard footsteps outside the door. He froze, holding his breath.
The door was pushed open, and a tall, slender figure walked in against the light.
Jin Yuan squinted and saw who it was. He was stunned for a moment. It wasn't the old man with a fierce face that he had expected. It was actually a young man.
The other person was dressed in a moon-white long robe and had a tall and straight figure. Only when he got closer could one see that his features were extremely handsome, but when he looked at him, his eyes were cold, as if they were covered with a thin layer of ice.
For a moment, Jin Yuan forgot his fear; his mind was a jumbled mess. How could someone like this pay two thousand taels to buy him? And in a place like this?
The man didn't speak, but simply found a chair and sat down, toying with a teacup between his fingers. His gaze remained calmly fixed on Jin Yuan, as if he were examining an object. That look made Jin Yuan inexplicably uneasy.
“Young Master Jin,” the other party finally spoke, his voice clear yet tinged with mockery, “never expected to end up like this, have you? Do you remember me?”
Jin Yuan was stunned for a moment. It sounded like the other person knew him before, but he couldn't remember where he had seen this face before.
He frowned: "Who are you?"
Upon hearing this, Xie Zheng's expression suddenly turned cold, and the teacup in her hand shattered into pieces with a "crack".
Jin Yuan doesn't remember him?
The hatred surging in his chest almost burst from his throat. He had hated this person for ten whole years, being gnawed by the despair of that year day and night. He had gritted his teeth and climbed to his current position of immense wealth with this hatred. He had finally gotten the chance to take revenge, but the other party couldn't even remember who he was.
Xie Zheng walked over step by step, his aura extremely low. He stopped in front of Jin Yuan, his shadow completely enveloping the other.
"It's quite normal for young master Jin to have a bad memory." His voice was eerily calm.
The next second, he leaned down and grabbed Jin Yuan's chin with such force that he almost crushed the other's bones. Jin Yuan cried out in pain and was forced to tilt his head back.
"Ten years ago, I was your page and went hiking with you." Xie Zheng said, her voice emphasizing each word. "I was bitten on the leg by a poisonous snake and fell to the ground begging you to save me, but you thought I was a nuisance and were afraid of being bitten by snakes, so you ran away without looking back."
He leaned closer, his warm breath brushing against Jin Yuan's face: "I lay in the mountains for a day and a night. If a woodcutter hadn't happened to pass by, I would have almost died there. Young Master Jin, how could you forget that?"
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