Chapter 67 The Conspiracy Revealed: "Your revenge has almost succeeded..."
The fever reducer was very effective, and the fever subsided in the latter half of the night. Yan Quan slept very soundly that night, without even a single dream.
When I woke up the next day, the sun was already high in the sky.
Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, casting bright bands of light on the floor. Yan Quan groggily propped herself up to sit up.
The seat next to me was empty, and my touch was still a little warm. There were a few shallow wrinkles on the sheets.
Yan Quan recalled that Yan Ceyan must have been lying next to her last night, holding her as they slept.
A complex warmth welled up in Yan Quan's heart, and she rubbed her messy hair.
My gaze fell on the plastic bag of takeout food on the bedside table. The contents were intact and hadn't been opened yet.
Yan Quan then recalled the sound of water dripping in the bathroom late at night... It seemed like someone was having a hard time holding back.
Yan Quan reached up and touched her forehead, checking her temperature—she definitely wouldn't have a fever again tonight…
Yes, it will definitely work this time.
Just as Yan Quan made up her mind, her phone vibrated and the screen lit up, showing that she had received a new text message.
Yan Quan opened the text message, but the content instantly woke him up completely, banishing all sleepiness:
"Mr. Yan, the former chairman will be released on bail from the detention center at 10:00 AM today. He requests to see you as soon as possible to discuss important matters. The meeting place is the Jingxin Tea House next to the Police Station in Area A. We hope you will come."
Yan Zhengdong is about to come out.
Yan Quan calculated the days and it made sense... The Yan family crisis was initially resolved, funds were being recovered, and Yan Zhengdong should be released after his detention period ended.
This is really too short a timeframe...
Yan Quan's eyes darkened, and she bit her lip.
Tranquil Tea Room, Area A, Capital City.
When Yan Quan saw Yan Zhengdong again, he almost didn't recognize him. In just a few months, the once arrogant and domineering real estate tycoon seemed to have lost his backbone. His hair had turned mostly white, his eyes were sunken, and his face was etched with haggardness and vicissitudes.
Most notably, when walking, his left leg is noticeably weak, causing him to limp and require a cane to maintain his balance.
This leg injury is clearly from being beaten.
No matter which business rival it was... Yan Quan wanted to applaud in his heart: Well done!
Noticing the mocking expression on Yan Quan's face, Yan Zhengdong raised his cloudy eyes and glanced at Yan Quan, his eyes filled with deep resentment and a trace of indescribable humiliation.
Yan Zhengdong sneered, his voice hoarse like sandpaper scraping: "The Yan Group is yours now. Are you satisfied?"
"Satisfied, huh?" Yan Quan leaned forward, looking down at Yan Zhengdong with disdain, as if he were an ant. "But you, impoverished and destitute, have become a deadbeat that everyone hates. Are you satisfied with yourself now?"
"You!" Yan Zhengdong slammed his cane heavily on the ground, making a dull thud, his emotions rising.
"I knew it! Your affair with that Yan family brat has never stopped! You two conspired to bankrupt the Yan family so you could take it over!"
"Why did the Yan family suddenly experience a cash flow crisis? It was all your and Yan Ceyan's doing! The whole 'fleeing to the A Federation' thing was just a smokescreen!"
"..." Yan Quan clenched his knuckles, his brows furrowing slightly: Yan Zhengdong's words differed from what Yan Quan knew.
How could Yan Zhengdong hate Yan Ceyan so much... and insist that he had been colluding with Yan Ceyan for many years and conspiring to harm the Yan Group.
Could it be...? Yan Quan had a guess.
In an instant, all the tangled and perplexing questions in my mind became clear.
Yan Zhengdong, panting heavily, his eyes bloodshot, began to reveal the cold and cruel truth:
"Starting many years ago, a huge amount of unexplained funds maliciously shorted Yan's bonds through multiple shell companies overseas and related domestic institutions. At the same time, they precisely targeted the secondary market, spread negative rumors, and triggered a run on the bonds by institutions and panic selling by retail investors!"
Yan Quan's expression changed slightly; he was no stranger to these financial tactics. This was the harbinger of a crisis that would bring about a dramatic change within the Yan family.
Yan Zhengdong continued, his tone growing increasingly agitated, filled with deep-seated hatred: "That's not enough!"
"I used the core assets of the Yan family as collateral to conduct overseas financing with the highest leverage, hoping to achieve a backdoor listing. Everything was going smoothly..."
"But they had already emptied out that outsourcing company and laid a trap for me! They painted a huge pie in the sky for me, and I was completely fooled!"
"I... I was desperate back then. I invested so much capital in the early stages, and things had come to this point! Who can cut their losses and walk away unscathed?"
Yan Zhengdong's voice carried a hint of regret, but more so, anger. "I signed the papers, betting the entire Yan Group! And what happened? The acquisition was barely completed when all the potential debts and lawsuits surrounding that project suddenly surfaced, causing its value to plummet! And the institutions that provided us with financing immediately turned their backs and demanded early redemption! The Yan Group's cash flow was instantly drained!"
Yan Quan felt a chill creep through his limbs as he listened, and he had a vague idea of how it would end.
Staring at Yan Zhengdong's leg, deformed from the impact, Yan Quan asked, his tone cold, to confirm the long-standing question:
"After the Yan family's financial collapse, you must have known that the situation was hopeless. Before the police intervened, you had plenty of time to leave with the last of your usable assets. Go abroad..."
"You still have the nerve to mention going abroad to me?!" Yan Zhengdong's ferocious expression was immediately overwhelmed by even greater anger:
"Yan Quan, you dare say this leg wasn't your idea?? You just want revenge for your bitch mother!"
"I was stopped in the private passage before I even arrived at the airport! The person who stopped me was Yan Ceyan!"
"He led the team himself! He didn't even bother to pretend!" Yan Shixiong's voice trembled with extreme hatred.
"He personally...broke my leg with a stick! And he took all my asset transfer certificates!"
"Then, he locked me in a dark hotel room in the suburbs and had people watch me 24 hours a day, until... until the company officially declared bankruptcy, I was listed as a dishonest person subject to enforcement, and was taken away by the police!"
"Heh... Otherwise, why would you have been summoned back to the country, Yan Quan? Why would you have been entrusted with this critical mission and taken over the mess that is the Yan family?"
...
Yan Quan didn't know how he left the tea room.
As if he had lost his soul, he walked on the bustling street, the sunlight dazzling, yet he felt icy cold all over.
They returned to their luxurious marital apartment. Yan Quan pressed the code with her cold fingertips and pushed open the door.
Yan Ceyan was indeed at home.
He sat facing the door, seemingly having anticipated Yan Quan's return. His deep gaze was fixed intently on Yan Quan.
Yan Quan stood in the entryway, neither changing his shoes nor taking a step forward. He simply raised his eyes and quietly looked at Yan Ceyan, his gaze filled with an almost deathly coldness and scrutiny.
"How are you feeling after the fever subsided?" Yan Ceyan spoke first: "Did the fever return this morning?"
"The medicine worked very well. There was no relapse of the fever," Yan Quan replied slowly.
The greetings were meant to be intimate and caring, but both of their voices were heavy and tense, tinged with coldness.
Then, Yan Quan finally spoke, his voice eerily calm, yet piercing like an ice pick:
"You punched Yan Zhengdong in the leg."
It was a question, but Yan Quan spoke with certainty.
"Hmm." Yan Ceyan readily admitted it, then gave Yan Quan a slight smirk: "Shouldn't he have been hit?"
"He deserves a beating." Yan Quan suddenly smiled, but there was no smile in his eyes.
"But you also did a lot of other things besides hitting people."
"That's right, you never bothered with pretending. You knew this day would come when you'd be exposed."
"You were the one who caused the Yan family's cash flow to break down, weren't you?"
“Yes,” Yan Ceyan continued.
"Then..." As if remembering something, Yan Quan looked at Yan Ceyan again, his gaze filled with only a chilling coldness and indifference:
"The news that the Yan family crisis was being suppressed so well..."
"You deliberately spread it too."
"The rapid response from news media, the overwhelming number of homeowner protests... even the organized and premeditated release of negative press articles that portrayed me as the 'son of a deadbeat'..."
When Yan Quan said this, his eyelashes trembled slightly: "You orchestrated this as well?"
Yan Ceyan's silence, his inability to look directly at her, was the cruelest answer in itself.
"When did you start setting this up?" Yan Quan's eyes gradually turned indifferent, his gaze falling on a certain point in the void:
"One year ago, three years ago..."
“Or…” Yan Quan’s gaze was like the sharpest blade, scraping across Yan Ceyan’s face inch by inch, not missing any subtle changes in his expression.
Seven years ago.
After bidding for the project, the Yan family initially introduced a large amount of investment, which had already laid the groundwork for their future plans.
Yan Ceyan's unfathomable dark pupils contracted sharply.
"Ha... earlier than I thought."
When Yan Quan looked at Yan Ceyan again, his eyes were filled with only a chilling coldness and indifference.
“They lured me back to China by claiming the Yan family was bankrupt, and then made me participate in this program. They then gradually forced public opinion to escalate the Yan family crisis... even suggesting that we get back together and get married.”
"This was all part of your plan, wasn't it?"
Yan Quan finally heard his own voice, each word seemingly being painstakingly ground out of his throat, dry and hoarse: "Yan Ceyan..."
What is your purpose?
Yan Ceyan's jawline was taut, and the muscles on both sides of his cheeks twitched slightly. He subconsciously reached out to touch Yan Quan.
“Oh…indeed.” Yan Quan murmured to himself, “The Yan family is now acting as a strategic investor, intervening in the Yan family’s internal affairs. They have a huge say in the Yan family’s decision-making, which is almost like a takeover in business competition.”
"Or perhaps... it's me."
The last glimmer of light in Yan Quan's eyes went out, replaced by a chilling numbness and despair.
"Yan Ceyan, is this also part of your 'revenge' on me?"
Upon hearing this, Yan Ceyan's outstretched hand froze in mid-air, his fingertips icy cold.
Yan Ceyan's lips parted slightly, as if he wanted to deny it, but his eyes churned with an overly complex mix of emotions—an instinctive defense after being exposed, and a heavy, almost overflowing darkness.
This renders any weak explanation futile.
Yan Quan looked at Yan Ceyan as if seeing the man before him for the first time—the 24-year-old Yan Ceyan's methods.
"Yan Ceyan, this revenge began the moment you reappeared in front of me, didn't it?"
"The so-called reconciliation, the concessions, the so-called joint assistance... are all just to make your meticulously planned revenge more thorough and satisfying, right?"
Yan Quan stared intently at Yan Ceyan. It was as if he were seeing through Yan Ceyan's eyes the unbearable past that Yan Ceyan was trying so hard to hide.
"Yan Ceyan, you have actually always hated me."
The spacious and desolate interior, lacking the warmth of daily life, appeared lonely and lifeless.
Yan Quan and Yan Ceyan stood facing each other, with only a few steps between them.
It is a cold abyss, made up of lies, scheming, and betrayal, that can never be crossed.
“Yes…” Yan Ceyan’s tall shoulders slumped slightly, a heavy shadow hanging over him.
"Yan Quan, I hate you."
"At eighteen, I liked you so much."
"Dignity, interests, family property... I could give up anything. I begged you to get back together time and time again, I was practically willing to give you my life. And what did you do?"
"He broke up with her right after we broke up, and then he ran away to Federation A, where he stayed for seven years. He blocked and deleted all my WeChat contacts and phone numbers..."
"A week before returning to China, I submitted an application for permanent residency in Federal Republic of A to the immigration authorities, promising in the application that I would marry a white local resident in Federal Republic of A..."
"Yan Quan, you were the one who trampled on my sincerity first."
"Shouldn't you hate it?"
“Ha…” Yan Quan closed his eyes with a playful yet heavy expression. He remembered the moment he threw the ring off the rooftop—the last 0.01 seconds before Yan Ceyan turned his head, when their eyes met.
Yan Quan had never seen Yan Ceyan's eyes so clearly before—they were pitch black, covered by a thick shadow, trembling with pain, and…
hatred.
Yan Quan had always known this.
From that day on, Yan Ceyan began to hate him.
From that day on, everything between him and Yan Ceyan was torn to shreds.
"Are you happy now, Yan Ceyan?"
Yan Quan's lips curled into an extremely bitter and cold smile, his heart filled with desolate sorrow:
"Your revenge has almost succeeded."
"Watching me thank you like a fool for the help you gave to the Yan family, getting back together with you, and then yesterday's vows and marriage... you must feel a lot of pleasure, right?"
"The cat tried to catch the mouse but ended up being tricked instead." Yan Quan's voice was light, yet carried a heavy weight of self-mockery:
"Yan Ceyan, what would you have done if I had discovered the truth any later... Marked me for life? Tortured me? Then abandoned me?"
"The same way I did to you before, but in an even worse way?"
Yan Quan's words were like an ice-cold dagger, piercing Yan Ceyan's heart with precision and without any buffer.
Because this is the most basic plan.
Can……
Those unavoidable circumstances, those moments of attraction during the process of revenge, the real warmth of my fingertips as I held Yan Quan to sleep last night...
All of this caused Yan Ceyan to struggle and waver step by step.
Just as Yan Ceyan had cursed himself a thousand times in his heart: he had fallen in love with Yan Quan again and again.
How absurd and laughable, seven years of lingering hatred.
Within a month of their reunion, everything crumbled.
"Yan Ceyan, this is the end."
"I don't want to play along with this ridiculous farce anymore."
Yan Quan turned to walk out the door, his posture one of resolute departure, as if he were leaving behind a plague.
A dark emotion, a mixture of panic, violence, and absolute possessiveness, instantly engulfed Yan Ceyan—he absolutely could not let Yan Quan leave like this! Absolutely not!
"Trying to leave?" Yan Ceyan's voice suddenly turned gloomy and cold. He strode forward and grabbed Yan Quan's wrist with such force that he almost crushed his bones.
"Let go..." Yan Quan's eyes opened slightly, and she tried to break free.
Unfortunately, Yan Quan's defensive fighting skills were all inherited from Yan Ceyan, and the disparity in strength between AO and Yan Quan was now fully exposed.
A terrifying storm raged in Yan Ceyan's eyes. Without another word, he roughly picked Yan Quan up by the waist, ignoring Yan Quan's clenched fists and kicks, and strode towards the bedroom, where he slammed Yan Quan onto the soft yet trap-like bed.
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