Crisis
"You were still on your honeymoon and you...cheated on each other?"
"What did I ask you?" Du Pianjian exhaled a string of cold air.
"I don't remember this person. I don't know him. He's not from Saint Herrera."
As soon as he finished speaking, both sides fell silent. The other side was waiting for Du Pianjian's reply, and Du Pianjian also knew that the other side was waiting for his reply. It was a simple matter of not saying two words, but suddenly it became difficult to say. For some reason, not doing it and doing it felt the same to him at this moment, so he still chose to answer irrelevantly: "It doesn't bother me."
“Piece of paper, I don’t understand you, tell me.”
"Would you understand if I told you?"
"...I don't understand, um, I don't know how to say it, but it shouldn't be like this, it shouldn't be like this."
"How should I be? You seemed very happy on your wedding day."
"You should be the one standing there."
"You don't need to understand, just focus on your pheromones." Du Pianjian was about to hang up when the other person, seemingly knowing he would be disconnected, sped up their speech and raised their voice: "Tell him!"
Du Pianjian paused as expected, and the person on the other end visibly breathed a sigh of relief. Their voice slowly came out: "Since we can't avoid Yu Long, let's tell him that Fang Bu's matter has proven that he is not what we initially guessed, and that Saint Herle has nothing to do with him."
Du Pianjian held the phone to her ear and said firmly, "No. You're not allowed to say a single word."
"Why? He likes you and will help you."
"Many people like me, but who has ever helped me?"
"He's different."
"Nothing is different."
"It's different. People are different, and their likes are different too."
"You understand now?"
"No, I saw it in a book." His tone became noticeably weaker, and he added at the end, "A medical book."
“If everything in the books were true, people wouldn’t make mistakes.” Du Pianjian didn’t want to waste any more words with him and concluded, “Everything will proceed as planned.”
Yu Zou was jolted awake by the cold, his body jerking up only to be strapped back in place by the seatbelt. The dense tree branches in front of the car and the rustling wind leaking in from behind made it feel like the middle of nowhere. Du Pianjian, asleep in the driver's seat, opened his eyes at the sound of Yu Zou's movement. His gaze, dim in the early morning light, was like the first words he uttered every morning before: "You're awake."
Yu Zou felt as if he had been beaten up, and he could feel the effects of the inhibitors in his body. How could he have suddenly entered a vulnerable period? Then he thought of something more important and asked urgently, "Are you not injured?"
"I'm fine."
"What happened?" Yu Zou unbuckled his seatbelt, his trembling pupils scanning every part of Du Pianjian's body. Indeed, apart from a few traces of blood on his arm, there were no other visible injuries.
Du Pianjian lowered her head slightly, her eyes flickering: "Several cars were chasing us. I called you several times, but I couldn't wake you up at all. They forced me out of the guardrail, and after the car crashed into the bushes, they drove away. Fortunately, we're all safe."
"What happened before that? How did you get injured at the casino?"
"I bumped into it accidentally."
Not hearing Yu Zou's reply, Du Pianjian looked up at him. The sadness in Yu Zou's half-closed eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by sunshine, and he said with a spirited smile, "I'm sorry, I couldn't help you at all during such a dangerous time, and I even fell asleep. Leave the rest to me."
"What do you plan to do?" Du Pianjian turned around and chased after Yu Zou, who was deliberately avoiding his gaze, as if he wanted to catch up with that one second that Yu Zou had missed and figure out what it was.
Yu Zou looked ahead and smiled brightly: "The sunrise is quite beautiful."
To Du Pianjian's utter bewilderment, Yu Zou pushed the car door, only managing to open it on the second push. The muffled thud of the door startled a flock of birds. He strode down, kicked over a bush, and opened the car door for Du Pianjian. Then, he gestured for Du Pianjian to climb onto the roof of the car.
Although still not understanding, he did as instructed, making room for Yu Zou and waiting for him to sit down.
Yu Zou activated his bracelet, unfolded the screen, and entered a series of green codes, which then flowed out as information. He gazed relaxedly at the sun, showing no sign of tension whatsoever, his nonchalance bordering on absurd. Even Du Pianjian relaxed, as if his life hanging by a thread were merely a stroll on a zebra crossing. After sitting down for only a moment, a strange tranquility settled in his heart, and he began to feign appreciation for the sunrise.
The sun rose slowly from the east, beautiful but not dazzling, just like in the ancient paintings in his home, which he had seen countless times.
So as soon as Yu Zou opened his mouth, he looked away from him.
"I seem to have forgotten to ask you, did you and Chi Hengxun break up?" Yu Zou couldn't think of any other reason why Du Pianjian would hide it from him, so he could only speculate on the current situation based on past experience. The two must have met again at the casino. Thinking about it this way, Du Pianjian's reason for wanting to break up at the casino also came to mind.
"Why bring this up all of a sudden?" Du Pianjian's mind raced. He thought of Tong Mu at the casino entrance and instinctively felt that Yu Zou was about to bring up open relationships again. A surge of anger coursed through his body. What? If he hadn't broken up with his girlfriend, he would have a legitimate reason to befriend other people?
It seemed there wasn't one. Yu Zou's heart clenched, but he quickly rallied: "It's too dangerous here. We have to go back to China early. I'm thinking about where I should be to make things easier for you. As always, I hope you're happy."
"You suspect that Chi Hengxun chased after us? That's impossible." Du Pianjian didn't believe that he would send his men instead of coming himself, and he didn't believe that he would let him go so easily after seizing such an opportunity.
"Even I can understand. Who can stand the person they like marrying someone else?"
Du Pianjian truly didn't understand what Yu Zou was trying to express. Why should he care whether Chi Hengxun could tolerate it? It was none of his business. The fire in his chest grew stronger, threatening to burst forth: "You know I'm married to you. I haven't even asked you yet, how come you were there with C8?"
Yu Zou hadn't expected him to suddenly bring up Tong Mu, nor that he remembered her. He instinctively gave Tong Mu's name. Du Pianjian repeated the name twice, then asked, "What did he say to you before he left?"
"He has information about Fang Bu. Fang Bu, you might not remember, he is..."
"I remember, in the hallway, after I influenced him, you took him away, and I told you I had something to say to you, but you completely forgot about it. That's the person I was talking to."
Sensing something amiss in his tone, Yu Zou immediately became alert: "I remember! But I didn't have your number, so it was left unresolved. What were you trying to say back then?"
"It's nothing, it's not important anymore."
"It's important. Oh, I'm suddenly really curious about what it is. Tell me."
Du Pianjian looked at him and suddenly smiled: "I won't say."
Yu Zou thought that he probably liked people guessing, so he said, "I guess it's about the engagement, isn't it?"
"Yes, yes, and then what? Fang Bu." Du Pianjian replied perfunctorily, and Yu Zou took the opportunity to go down the aisle. "Fang Bu's younger brother is addicted to drugs. After entering the Sixth Hospital, he was transferred to the St. Herle Sanatorium. But I saw Fang Bu at the casino yesterday. He was with Tong Mu. Tong Mu told me that he would try to persuade Fang Bu. If he succeeds, he will put the things Fang Bu gave him in the casino's storage box."
Yu Zou tapped the bracelet's screen, and a secretly filmed video was played, recording from the very first sentence he spoke to Tong Mu. Du Pianjian watched intently and asked, "What do you know about the St. Hele Sanatorium?"
“Not much. I only know that the original site was in Xiyanba, where a major fire caused the hospital to relocate. It now mainly treats mental illnesses. Also, in recent years, many patients from the sanatorium have committed suicide.” Yu Zou carefully observed Du Pianjian's expression, unsure if it would affect him, but given Lili's situation, it was better to discover and treat it as soon as possible. So he continued, “I know you were also treated at the St. Hele Sanatorium. You've met Lili's wife; she also stayed there and has a deep trauma from it. If something bad has happened to you, I'm willing to listen to you tell me. I don't want you to suffer alone until you can't bear it anymore.”
Du Pianjian's eyes shot over like two bolts of lightning: "Do I look like a mental patient?"
Yu Zou shook his head.
"Does he look like he'd curse, hit, or kill people for no reason?" Du Pianjian stretched out his index finger, his nail tracing from Yu Zou's chin to his heart, creating a linear tingling sensation that made Yu Zou restrain himself from swallowing and shake his head.
“I don’t understand why, even though I’m just staying put, people keep provoking me. Every fight I’ve had since I was a child has been initiated by them. But I was still sent to a sanatorium by Du Junwu for this, ostensibly for treatment, but really because he felt I was a disgrace. It’s so strange. Being harassed and resisting an Alpha is disgraceful, but being called mentally ill isn’t.” Du Pianjian then pulled out the necklace around her neck. “It taught me to have the courage to protect myself, but being sent there made me realize that people who stand on moral high ground or hold power can arbitrarily criticize others, including calling them crazy. So I learned another kind of courage—to assess the situation. Whether you’re normal or not doesn’t matter, as long as you act normal.”
"A piece of paper..."
“I’m fine, perfectly normal, and I won’t commit suicide,” Du Pianjian said.
The wind whipped up by the helicopter made the bushes sway. Yu Zou stood up and waved. One of the rescue team vehicles, carrying the two men, landed on the top floor of the casino building. After a quick settling-in, the two were taken to a VIP room. Inside, the scarred man kicked one of the men in the stomach, then lifted him by the scruff of his neck like a chick and carried him aside. Only then did Li Kuo, who was sitting in the back, appear, propping his head up and looking at the long, bright screen in front of him, which displayed yesterday's surveillance footage. He waved, and the scarred man signaled for everyone else to evacuate the room.
After only three people remained, Yu Zou sat on the sofa on the other side, with Du Pianjian sitting next to him.
Li Kuo took a deep breath and asked, "So, did you enjoy your honeymoon?"
Yu Zou was straightforward: "If this hadn't happened..."
Li Kuo raised an eyebrow and zoomed in on the screen. The corridor's surveillance footage clearly showed the video of Du Pianjian one minute before he left. Even after Du Pianjian charged out, the battle in the corridor was not over, with one wave overwhelmingly controlling the situation. He said, "The ones who attacked Du Pianjian were people planted by Luo Zangqi. These useless bastards, they don't even know what they're dealing with."
Then another surveillance video was pulled up. In the video, an elderly man was sitting in a chair, and a young girl was sitting on the ground leaning against the elderly man's legs. At the end of the video, the elderly man lifted the girl's chin, and the girl lowered her head. From Yu Zou's perspective, she actually looked somewhat like Du Pianjian.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
