Chapter 130 The Tomb Without a Monument
"Why is my sister getting soaked in the rain?"
The black Maybach glided silently to her side, the window rolled down, revealing Yan Zekai's smiling face.
He got out of the car with an umbrella and draped his coat over her shoulders.
“I…” her voice was terribly hoarse, “I was fired.”
Yan Zekai paused, then took the cardboard box. "It's okay, sister, I'll take care of you."
The villa was more spacious than I had imagined.
Shi Qiuyao stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the rainwater meander into a river on the glass.
Yan Zekai wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder: "Do you like it? This will be your home from now on."
Shi Qiuyao trembled, "Akai, I treat you like a younger brother..."
"But I see you as more than just a sister."
The beginning was like a beautiful dream.
Chen Mo has a dedicated person to take care of her, her wardrobe is full of designer brands, and even her nails are trimmed by a manicurist. She doesn't have to worry about anything.
Shi Qiuyao gradually became immersed in this gentle trap, like a frog in warm water.
A month later, Shi Qiuyao reflected on her behavior and realized that she had been too decadent.
She rallied her spirits and prepared to look for a new job, borrowing Yan Zekai's study to edit and print her resume.
Holding her carefully prepared resume, she checked it repeatedly, a smile unconsciously spreading across her face.
With three years of experience in a foreign company and fluent English, returning to the workforce shouldn't be difficult.
She didn't notice Yan Zekai entering with a sullen face.
Shi Qiuyao said, "Kai, help me check my resume and see if there's anything I need to change."
Yan Zekai asked, "Which company do you want to invest in?"
Shi Qiuyao asked excitedly, "Xinghui, their marketing department is hiring. Do you think I could do it?"
Without looking up, he pressed the intercom button: "Secretary Zhang, give a heads-up to General Manager Li of Xinghui..."
Shi Qiuyao quickly waved her hand, "Akai, I want to get in on my own."
Yan Zekai chuckled, glanced at her, and continued to say to Secretary Zhang, "If someone named Shi Qiuyao applies for a job, just throw her resume in."
As the phone call ended and the busy tone faded, the papers in Shi Qiuyao's hand fell to the ground with a thud.
"Are you crazy?" Her voice trembled. "This is my career..."
Yan Zekai bent down to pick up the resume.
Sizzle—
The sound of a resume being torn in two was particularly jarring.
"Qiu Yao, you're not allowed to breathe without my permission." He stroked her long hair, his fingertips twirling the ends. "Your lousy company fired you after I just gave them a heads-up. You're going to be Mrs. Yan, why put up with this? Wake up naturally every day, your wardrobe is full of haute couture, isn't that a good life?"
Shi Qiuyao forced a smile.
Looking at the tattered resume on the ground, she suddenly felt a sense of suffocation.
At that time, she felt that Yan Zekai was a bit of a male chauvinist, after all, that was the family he grew up in, where his mother was a stay-at-home mom and his father was out working hard.
It wasn't until she saw the surveillance video of Chen Mo's car accident on TV that she understood.
The driver fled the scene of the accident and has not been caught to this day, making it an unsolved case that was featured on a legal program.
In the footage, the driver who caused the accident made a familiar gesture towards the camera, a code commonly used by Yan Zekai's men.
Shi Qiuyao tried to deceive herself, but she couldn't; she trembled whenever she saw Yan Zekai.
That evening, Yan Zekai tried to hug her, but she dodged away and grabbed a fruit knife from the coffee table.
"It's you!" Her hand holding the fruit knife trembled uncontrollably, the tip reflecting Yan Zekai's twisted smile. "Chen Mo's car accident... my job... it's all your fault!"
"That way you'll belong to me forever." He faced the approaching blade, letting it slice his palm. "Qiu Yao, let's not have any barriers between us, okay?"
Shi Qiuyao first ran away at three in the morning.
She heard barking dogs behind her and ran for her life, but the headlights of Yan Zekai's car blinded her as she approached the roadside.
He leaned against the car door, took out a pair of red-soled stilettos and put them on her, saying, "Qiu Yao, the ground is cold."
The second time, she went on a hunger strike, and Yan Zekai injected nutrient solution into her vein and fed her mouth-to-mouth.
The third time, she pretended to comply and drugged the red wine. Yan Zekai poured the wine into the fish tank in front of her, and the ornamental fish turned up their snow-white bellies.
The fourth time, she jumped out of the window and broke her ankle. When Yan Zekai found her in the cemetery, she was trembling while hugging Chen Mo's tombstone.
Yes, Chen Mo is dead. Because of her repeated resistance and "disobedience," Yan Zekai cut off Chen Mo's medical supplies.
He opened his black umbrella, expressionless. "Truly touching, but it's a pity... This grave is a cenotaph; I scattered his ashes long ago."
Shi Qiuyao finally realized that Yan Zekai was a complete madman.
Lawless and disregardful of the law.
She ran away eight times, and was caught and brought back eight times.
Finally, Shi Qiuyao caused a gas explosion, intending to perish with him.
She dragged her burned left leg out of the fire and managed to escape in the chaos. She was barely alive when she could still hear him roaring through the thick smoke: "I'll turn the whole city upside down to find her!"
When Old Lady Zhao from Qixia Village found her, she had been lying in a haystack, barely alive, for three days.
Shi Qiuyao huddled there, like a withered leaf, her burned skin covered in straw fragments.
"Girl!" Old Mrs. Zhao hurriedly squatted down, and the pears in her bamboo basket rolled all over the ground.
Shi Qiuyao's eyelashes trembled, and her chapped lips parted slightly.
Grandma Zhao quickly scooped up some spring water, the droplets sliding down her lips and leaving a few clear streaks on her dirty neck.
"So sweet..." Shi Qiuyao suddenly smiled.
On her deathbed, she drank a sip of cool spring water and was content.
At least, she didn't die in Yan Zekai's arms, and she didn't have to be buried in his family's ancestral grave.
Her unfocused pupils reflected the blue sky, where there were no wrought iron railings, no surveillance cameras, only a few carefree clouds.
Old Mrs. Zhao tremblingly pulled out her old-fashioned mobile phone: "I...I'll call an ambulance..."
"No!" Shi Qiuyao suddenly grabbed her clothes with surprising force. "Please... just dig a hole anywhere..."
She coughed up blood. "Don't let anyone...find..."
She feared that Yan Zekai wouldn't even spare her own corpse.
Shi Qiuyao's breathing grew lighter and lighter until it finally disappeared completely.
The villagers buried her on the back hill overnight, without a tombstone.
The following spring, the small mound of earth was covered with dandelions.
Yan Zekai was still frantically searching for her, but she was happy that she was completely dead.
They will never be caught again.
Her soul lingers in Qixia Village, peaceful and free.
For her, death was happier than life.
There were no late-night interrogations, no suffocating embraces, and no torment disguised as love.
It wasn't until the variety show crew came to the village to film that Xu Qianqian walked along the ridge of the field, the jade pendant around her neck gleaming with a warm light.
Shi Qiuyao's soul suddenly trembled.
That was a Guanyin statue carved from mutton-fat white jade, given to her by her mother before she passed away.
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