Liu Yaozong's movements paused, but he didn't respond, continuing to clean.
Not until the place could tentatively be called a "home" did he stop, walk over, snatch the bottle from her hand, and sweep the bottles on the coffee table into the trash.
"Liu Yiran, you're wallowing in self-pity!"
"Don't call me Liu Yiran! I don't go by that name, I'm Xia Yiran, did you hear me? I'm Xia Yiran!"
Xia Yiran suddenly became hysterical. "I refuse to bear this lowly surname! And don't you think about dragging me back into the abyss again!"
Liu Yaozong looked at her in disbelief. "What, is the surname Liu insulting you? Is it the surname that insults you, or are the things you've done insulting this surname?"
He stood up, furious. "Fine, very good, it's better you don't have the surname Liu! Otherwise, I'd feel ashamed!"
As he was about to leave, Xia Yiran stretched out her leg to block him. "Did you bring money?"
Liu Yaozong gritted his teeth, impatiently reached into his pocket, took out an envelope, and threw it all at her. "This is all the money I've earned working during this time, plus the red envelope Sister Weiliang gave me, I'm giving it all to you! I just ask that you stop bothering me from now on!"
"Heh, what is it, you want to sever ties with me?"
Xia Yiran took the money from the envelope, about twenty thousand.
"Liu Yaozong, I must say you're truly remarkable. Mom and Dad were blind back then, they should have sent you to the Xia family. Perhaps you would have emptied the Xia family by now!"
"Shut up!"
Liu Yaozong deeply detested her, glaring at her hatefully. "Don't lump me in with people like you."
"People like me? Heh, back in the day, you were begging me to perform well at the Xia family in exchange for your startup capital... What, taking my money was so easy then, but now you think I'm not worthy of your nobility?"
Xia Yiran lit another cigarette, inhaled deeply, and exhaled a smoke ring. "Liu Yaozong, listen to me, you're a rat in a sewer, just like me. Don't think you've flown to a high branch just because you've latched onto Xia Weiliang!"
Liu Yaozong felt like his liver was aching with anger and didn't want to say another word to her. "Say whatever you want, but don't call me again in the future. Even if you do, I won't answer!"
"Heh, really?"
Xia Yiran merely smiled, her laughter wild and terrifying.
As Liu Yaozong came out, his chest felt weighed down, an unbearable oppression.
He had been lonely since his parents left, but never had he felt such an oppressive sensation as when he saw Xia Yiran! That feeling was as if... no matter how he struggled, he was tightly bound by despair.
Just then, he heard footsteps from downstairs.
There were few residents here, so it was unusual for someone to appear. Liu Yaozong was naturally wary, leaning to one side as he descended, making way for the person while slowing his own pace.
The other person merely glanced at him, then looked at Xia Yiran's door. A flicker of understanding appeared in their eyes, followed by a contemptuous smile on their face.
In short, it was an unsettling presence.
As expected, the person pushed open the door and entered Xia Yiran's room.
Liu Yaozong stood in the stairwell, his brow furrowing slightly.
...Was it what he thought?
He clenched his fists, his expression turning very grim.
But soon, an argument erupted from inside, followed by the sound of a vase shattering, then a heavy object crashing down with a "bang," and then, silence.
It all happened too fast. Liu Yaozong's brow furrowed, and without time to think, he rushed back.
He stood outside and knocked urgently. "What's wrong? Xia Yiran, open the door!"
After a long while, the door finally opened.
Xia Yiran's face was paler than before, and her entire body was trembling.
"What happened?"
Noticing blood on both her hands, Liu Yaozong felt a vague premonition of something ominous.
"Yaozong..." Before Xia Yiran could speak, she suddenly covered her face and burst into tears. "I killed someone, what should I do? I killed someone..."
When Liu Yaozong saw the corpse lying in the room, his mind buzzed as if about to explode.
"You, what did you do?!"
"Yaozong! Yaozong, can you help me? I can't go to jail!" Xia Yiran, panicked, grabbed his hand. Seeing the fruit knife on the floor, she immediately picked it up and thrust it into his hand without a word.
"What are you doing?"
Liu Yaozong was terrified. He was, after all, just a young man who had graduated not long ago, with little life experience. Seeing this scene, his mind went blank.
Now, holding the knife, his whole body began to tremble.
"Stab me! Just say we were arguing, and I accidentally killed him. It was not intentional at all! You be my witness!"
"I..."
At this moment, Liu Yaozong couldn't process a single word. He stared at her blankly, unsure how to react.
Xia Yiran tightly grasped his hand and said, "You must remember, he was the one who hit me first. You came to help but he pushed you away, and then he pulled out a knife. You were scared, and I was afraid you'd get hurt, so I rushed over to protect you. I wanted to snatch the knife from him, and then it happened... Do you understand?"
"This, this is perjury? No, I can't... I won't..."
Liu Yaozong instinctively recoiled towards the door, shaking his head desperately. "Xia Yiran, surrender yourself. It wasn't intentional, the police will surely investigate and find out!"
"No! I can't go to jail!"
Xia Yiran suddenly roared at him. "I've lost my career, my family background, I only have myself, pure and clean! If I go to jail, all of this will be ruined!"
"But..."
Xia Yiran suddenly fell to her knees before him. "Yaozong, you're my brother, if you don't help me, who else can I count on? You will help me, right?"
"I..."
At that moment, he was truly in a state of utter chaos.
"Liu Yaozong, have you forgotten what Mom said before she died? She owed me. If it weren't for her, would I be like this today?" She pointed agitatedly at the person on the ground. "He was trying to rape me just now! Should I just accept being violated by him?"
After who knows how long he struggled, Liu Yaozong finally nodded.
"That's great!"
Xia Yiran was overjoyed, fearing he might change his mind, and immediately called the police...
Liu Yaozong stood frozen, taking out his phone, wanting only to send a message to Xia Weiliang: Sister, you and Xiao Jinzi eat first, don't wait for me. Something has come up, and I might be late.
Soon, the police arrived.
Liu Yaozong squeezed his eyes shut, repeatedly trying to build up his resolve, finally deciding to help her conceal the truth.
But who would have thought, Xia Yiran's story had completely changed!
It wasn't at all what she had told him to say earlier!
"Officers, please let my brother go. He's still young, and he was only trying to help me... If you want to arrest someone, arrest me. I'll take his punishment! Let me go to jail for him! This is all because of me!" Su Dan Novel Network
Liu Yaozong was stunned, looking at her blankly. "Xia Yiran, what, what are you talking about?"
At the same time, the police found the murder weapon, bagged it, and took it away.
Seeing the knife, Liu Yaozong suddenly realized something...
His fingerprints were on it.