When I left the Chen family's house, the echoes of the pagoda's bells still lingered in my ears.
The air was thick with the scent of sandalwood and a heavy mist.
The sweltering heat was accompanied by the burning incense.
It felt like a knife scraping against the skin, burning painfully.
Chu Wuyang stepped out of the hospital gate, and his phone vibrated.
She looked down and saw that the caller ID showed it was Mr. Jin.
She paused in her steps.
I was still worried about Jin Xian's safety, but I didn't expect this phone call to come so "timely".
My heart tightened.
She instinctively looked up and glanced around.
The setting sun casts dappled light and shadow on the golden eaves of the pagoda.
Everything outside the temple was peaceful and as usual.
It was even too quiet for the sake of it.
The incense had not yet gone out, and faint footsteps could be heard coming from the back eaves—clearly, the Chen family had informants who were tipping him off.
Yang Jinchu had already seen the caller ID, and his expression changed slightly.
He stood beside her, silently turned his head, and gently nodded at her.
"Go ahead and accept it,"
He said his voice was low and steady, like a ballast stone.
"Listen to his terms."
Chu Wuyang pursed her lips, tapped her finger, and the call connected.
The voice on the other end was old and hoarse, with a hint of mocking laughter.
"Girl, are you getting anxious?"
She frowned, unable to hold back her anger, and gritted her teeth.
"Just state your conditions directly; there's no need to beat around the bush and hurt innocent people."
Suddenly, someone on the other end of the phone laughed, the laughter coming from deep in their throat, sounding remarkably calm and unhurried.
"Didn't I already state my conditions? If you had agreed earlier, we wouldn't be in so much trouble now."
Chu Wuyang fell silent.
The lines of his tightly clenched jaw were faintly white.
Yang Jin remained silent for a long time after seeing her for the first time, then called out softly...
"Yangyang?"
He gently touched the back of her hand.
But he was surprised to find that her fingertips were icy cold, and his whole body seemed to be trembling.
There was a two-second silence on the phone.
Chu Wuyang finally uttered a single word in a low voice.
"good."
Her voice was as soft as a thread about to snap in the wind.
But that was enough to satisfy the old man on the other end of the phone.
Old Master Jin laughed, a hearty laugh that bordered on arrogance.
"Chu girl, you are a smart person."
"Let's talk about the rest when we meet."
"Oh, by the way, while you're at it, come and take your younger brother back with you."
"You stay where you are, my men are already on their way."
The call ended.
Chu Wuyang stood rooted to the spot, her hands hanging limply, a hint of red appearing in her eyes.
Emotions surged, and a suppressed hatred quietly overflowed from the depths of his eyes.
Yang Jinchu looked at her, his voice lowering, gentle yet tense.
"What's wrong?"
What did they say on the phone?
She seemed to slowly pull herself out of the depths of her emotions, forcing a smile, her voice faint.
"It's nothing, he just wants to meet and talk."
Yang Jinchu frowned.
"He wants you to go alone?"
Chu Wuyang nodded, her tone somewhat detached.
"It seems so."
He replied without hesitation,
"No, I have to go with you."
As soon as Yang Jinchu finished speaking, the black headlights slowly lit up from the far end of the alley.
The car was a dark-colored Bentley.
It seemed to emerge from the shadows of dusk, silently stopping in front of the two.
The driver got out of the car first and opened the back door. He extended a hand first, revealing white fingers with distinct knuckles.
The cuffs were slightly tightened, fastened with bronze cufflinks, and the demeanor was elegant and poised.
Immediately afterwards, a young man got out of the car.
He wore a perfectly tailored light gray suit, no tie, and two buttons of his shirt undone, giving him a slightly languid look.
He looked young, but his eyes and brows carried a calmness and restraint that did not belong to youthful impetuosity.
A smile played on his lips, his gaze was gentle and refined, and he possessed an air of scholarly elegance.
He was as humble and polite as the boy next door.
But Chu Wuyang's heart clenched slightly after just one glance.
This person isn't as overtly ruthless and arrogant as Jin Zhuoer.
Unlike Jin Bolin, who is a spendthrift and arrogant playboy.
He stood there, like a sword sheathed, gentle to the point of being harmless.
Yet it instinctively makes people wary.
"Miss Chu,"
He approached with a gentle tone.
His gaze swept over Chu Wuyang and Yang Jinchu with great restraint.
He chuckled softly.
"My name is Jin Qilin, and I'm here to pick you up."
Chu Wuyang subconsciously took half a step back.
Jin Qilin's smile remained unchanged, his voice low and gentle, as if afraid of startling her.
"Don't be nervous, Grandfather just wants to talk to you in person."
Yang Jinchu frowned and stepped forward to block Chu Wuyang's path.
I'll go with her.
Jin Qilin smiled calmly, his tone polite.
"Sir, you cannot come together. Grandfather specifically requested to see only Miss Chu."
"Grandfather won't harm my cousin-in-law, please don't worry!"
Yang Jinchu remained unmoved by the young man's words.
Jin Qilin looked at Chu Wuyang with a smile, as if he had mentioned it unintentionally.
"I had no idea that cousins could look so alike?"
“Miss Chu’s cousin is badly injured; his face is almost unrecognizable, but you can still see a resemblance to him.”
"Just as beautiful!"
His tone was gentle, but his eyes made no attempt to conceal his scrutiny.
There was a hidden hook in his tone.
Then, he subtly changed the subject, a half-smile playing on his lips.
“My cousin Jingmin is also a cousin of mine.”
"I wonder if, to outsiders, he and I... look a little alike?"
Chu Wuyang's heart tightened suddenly.
She understood the key point in his words in a second—Jin Xian was seriously injured, so badly that he was "almost unrecognizable."
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