Jia Yanzhen hadn't even registered what had happened before a punch landed squarely on his handsome face.
Then, his eyes were hit too.
"You dare, Zhou Jinbai! You actually dare to hit me! If I don't cripple you today, my name isn't Jia Yanzhen!" Although Jia Yanzhen was a man, he took as much care of his face as any female celebrity, even insuring it.
He never let women touch his face, fearing it would get dirty or absorb their toxic cosmetics.
But now, his handsome face was about to be disfigured. Jia Yanzhen's venomous gaze, fixed on Zhou Jinbai, seemed intent on grinding him to dust.
The two men wrestled, and even though Jia Yanzhen knew he was no match for Zhou Jinbai, he was determined to fight him.
Time ticked by. Eventually, Zhou Jinbai's legs were wrapped around Jia Yanzhen's neck, while Jia Yanzhen clung desperately to Zhou Jinbai's legs.
"Zhou, if you have the guts, kill me today. Otherwise, I'll continue to go after your woman. I want to see your family destroyed and your life utterly miserable." Jia Yanzhen's handsome face was flushed red from lack of oxygen, but his defiant eyes refused to yield.
Zhou Jinbai released his legs and kicked Jia Yanzhen in the chest, using the momentum to get up.
Kicked away, Jia Yanzhen slammed into the leg of the sofa, finally coming to a stop.
"Cough... cough, cough... cough, cough, cough, cough..."
Jia Yanzhen coughed violently, as if trying to expel his internal organs.
His lips, once as pink as peach blossoms, were now bleeding.
"Don't provoke Lin Xingwan, or I'll take your life." Zhou Jinbai looked down at the man leaning against the sofa's edge, his face pale from pain, veins bulging on his forehead. His deep eyes were a terrifying crimson. In that moment, he looked less human and more like a wild beast out of control.
Jia Yanzhen laughed instead of getting angry. Even as his laughter devolved into another violent coughing fit, he showed no fear of Zhou Jinbai. Instead, he provoked him further, "If you want my life, you'll have to prove you're capable. Zhou, I'm set on provoking your woman. Look at you now. I can't wait to see your woman's reaction when she learns the truth one day."
Jia Yanzhen's words successfully pushed Zhou Jinbai past his breaking point.
The man's gaze grew colder and more ferocious, his killing intent evident. Zhou Jinbai lunged at Jia Yanzhen, his hand clamping around his neck with such force that Jia Yanzhen felt the bones in his neck begin to creak.
But he wasn't afraid, even though the suffocating sensation was agonizing.
"No... no, your woman... so... so stupid, she'll definitely... definitely not live to... live to know the truth, haha... hahaha... cough..."
Just then, an old man with a head full of white hair suddenly burst in.
"Young master... stop... young master..."
The old man rushed to Zhou Jinbai and Jia Yanzhen, raising his emaciated hand. Despite his best efforts, he was no match for Zhou Jinbai.
"Young master, you mustn't kill him, mustn't! You'll regret it. You can kill anyone in this world, but not him." The old man's face was filled with terror. "Have you forgotten your father's dying words? Young master..."
At the old man's words, the killing intent in Zhou Jinbai's eyes gradually subsided.
He abruptly pulled his hand back, then turned and left without a word.
"Why did you provoke him! Why..." The old man watched Jia Yanzhen gasp for air in pain, his heart filled with anxiety and worry.
Jia Yanzhen indifferently wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His face, like that of a young wolf, was filled with defiance.
He offered no answer, but the two flames burning in his eyes grew more excited.
—
Lin Xingwan was still on her way back when she blocked another unknown number.
Liu Mengqin, sitting beside her, couldn't help but ask, "Zhou Jinbai still hasn't come to find you?"
If Lin Xingwan had held even a sliver of hope for Zhou Jinbai before, Jia Yanzhen's words tonight had plunged her into utter despair.
For nearly ten days, the man had done nothing but send her messages from constantly changing phone numbers, achieving nothing substantial.
Was it really that difficult to meet her?
Lin Xingwan shook her head. "No. But it doesn't matter if he comes or not anymore. These past few months knowing him, I've been so happy, listening to all his sweet nothings. Only now do I realize I knew nothing of his past. He seems to have many incredible friends. I even feel like he's shrouded in mystery. Sister Qin, don't you think Mr. Qin and Boss Yang are being overly polite to us? And every time we encounter difficulties, we manage to escape unscathed. Yet, back when we were at Gu Shaoting's company, it was hard to get Huanyu Company to sign a contract. Why is Top Entertainment, a company that should have been dead long ago, growing like a mushroom after rain at an unbelievable speed?"
Every question Lin Xingwan posed left Liu Mengqin speechless.
Lin Xingwan continued, "On the surface, it seems to be due to our hard work, but in reality..."
Lin Xingwan didn't finish her sentence, instead letting out a cold laugh. "Perhaps from the very beginning, I was caught in a deception."
"Xingwan, don't say that. Maybe there's some misunderstanding between you and Zhou Jinbai?"
Liu Mengqin tried to comfort Lin Xingwan, but Lin Xingwan gave a bitter smile. "Then what about you and Bai Xiao, Sister Qin? Bai Xiao didn't tell you about his past. Do you think that's a misunderstanding?"
If Lin Xingwan hadn't mentioned Bai Xiao, Liu Mengqin's blood pressure wouldn't have skyrocketed.
"He deliberately hid it from me. I can't understand why he would hide an ex-wife who is already in the past. They say 'a day as husband and wife is a hundred days of kindness.' Perhaps in Bai Xiao's heart, I was just a casual fling. So be it. I don't lack for men anyway."
Liu Mengqin fell silent after speaking.
She couldn't even convince herself, how could she convince Lin Xingwan?
The deception she had suffered was even greater than her own.
"Men are inherently base. Like dogs, no matter how much premium food you give them, they'll still try to snatch at feces on the roadside. You two are so beautiful and capable, what kind of man can't you get? Why are you clinging to two scumbags? Life isn't just about love, and a woman isn't just about family. There's also kinship, friendship, career, and hobbies."
Ye Zong, while driving, tried to comfort Lin Xingwan and Liu Mengqin. Just then, Lin Xingwan's phone rang.
It was another unknown number.
Lin Xingwan was extremely agitated, her mind filled with Zhou Jinbai's deception. She felt like a fool, played with in the palm of his hand.
Without a second thought, she turned off her phone.
Soon, Liu Mengqin's phone also rang.
Liu Mengqin wasn't being harassed by Bai Xiao's calls, so she didn't have the same fear of unknown numbers.
She answered the call.
A few dozen seconds later, Liu Mengqin's hand trembled as she held the phone. "Wh-what? What did you say? Dead... over twenty people are dead?"
Liu Mengqin's words captured everyone's attention in the car.
"Okay, okay, okay, I understand." Liu Mengqin's voice was trembling. After hanging up, she felt her heart pounding violently, her body shaking like a sieve.
"Xingwan... Xingwan..." Liu Mengqin grabbed Lin Xingwan's hand tightly, her face pale. She sobbed, tears streaming down her face, "What do we do... what do we do?"
Seeing Liu Mengqin's extreme fear, as if she might faint at any moment, Lin Xingwan quickly asked Ye Zong to pull the car over. With her other hand, she gently patted Liu Mengqin's back, trying to calm her tense body.
"Sister Qin, calm down first. No matter what happens, we're here. Don't rush, calm down, calm down." This was the first time Lin Xingwan had seen such fear on Liu Mengqin's face. At the same moment, her right eyelid began to twitch uncontrollably.
After about two minutes, Liu Mengqin, overwhelmed by fear, finally calmed down a little.
She stammered, struggling to speak, "Lin family's company... something happened... something happened... The construction materials that were sent to the kindergarten not long ago, the workers have been working overtime these past few days. Just two hours ago, the kindergarten that was built collapsed, crushing the workers inside. Several others have already been sent to the hospital."
"What!" This news was like a bolt from the blue for Lin Xingwan. "Sister Qin, who just called you?"
Over twenty lives?
And other injured workers?
"Rongcheng Police Department. They couldn't reach you, so they called me. They said the cause of this extremely serious construction accident was the batch of unqualified construction materials sent by Lin's Group, which were passed off as high quality."
Liu Mengqin watched Lin Xingwan's face turn visibly pale.
It was as if her body temperature was rapidly draining away.
Such an accident, Liu Mengqin felt terrified just hearing about it, let alone Lin Xingwan, who was involved.
It was a devastating blow.
Lin Xingwan's heart was filled with panic and fear. She quickly turned on her phone and called the unknown number back.
The call was answered quickly, and a gruff male voice came through, "Are you Ms. Lin Xingwan? We suspect you are involved in a major engineering safety accident. Please come to the police station immediately to cooperate with our investigation."
What the man on the phone said was exactly the same as what Liu Mengqin had told her.
Lin Xingwan didn't even know how she hung up the phone. She felt a chill run through her entire body, a sense of helplessness and confusion.
She frantically tried to recall the events of the past few days. She remembered personally inspecting that batch of construction materials.
All the building materials met the national safety standards for construction materials. They were perfectly fine for building a kindergarten, let alone a skyscraper.
Yet, such high-quality construction materials had caused a major engineering accident, killing over twenty people.
How was this possible!
There was definitely something she didn't know going on.
The car drove all the way to the police station. As soon as Lin Xingwan got out of the car, a woman rushed over and grabbed her clothes tightly. "Devil, you devil, feeding on human blood. Why aren't you dead? Have you no conscience? You killed my son for embezzling money. He was only nineteen. Pay me back my son's life."
The woman's face was streaked with tears, her eyes swollen from crying.
Her gaze towards Lin Xingwan was filled with hatred and anger, as if she wanted to kill her.
Lin Xingwan was shaken violently. She tried to push the woman away, but other people also rushed forward.
A fierce-looking man shoved Lin Xingwan to the ground.
A sharp pain shot through her as her hands scraped against the pavement.
"You slut, dare to touch my sister-in-law's finger, and I'll kill you. I'm warning you, you must give us an explanation for today's events, or if my nephew is dead, you'll die too."
The fierce-looking man glared at Lin Xingwan, his words laced with venom.
After all, he was a man of 1.8 meters, and a woman like Lin Xingwan posed no threat to him.
Liu Mengqin quickly went to help Lin Xingwan up. "What are you doing? Can't you talk things out properly? Why resort to violence? This is the police station!"
Liu Mengqin was furious. How could these people be so unreasonable?
"If you say one more word, I'll hit you too! Damn it, you two bitches!"
The fierce-looking man said this and kicked towards Liu Mengqin. Fortunately, Ye Zong reacted quickly, kicking the man's leg away before it could connect with Liu Mengqin.
"A grown man bullying two defenseless women, aren't you ashamed?" Ye Zong's brows furrowed deeply. The aura of a martial artist, honed over the years, instantly emanated from him.
Seeing that Ye Zong was not to be trifled with, the fierce-looking man grumbled, "What's wrong with me teaching these two bitches a lesson? Such wicked women deserve to die! Driven mad by greed, daring to earn such black money. We're here tonight to demand an explanation!"
Lin Xingwan scanned the surroundings. More than twenty people had gathered.
Each person's expression was a mixture of confusion, hatred, and dirt-covered workers. "I am truly sorry for today's events. As a material supplier, I never wanted this to happen. If it is indeed my fault, I will bear all responsibility, even if it means going to jail."
After saying this, Lin Xingwan quickly walked into the police station.
No one noticed that in a hidden spot, a pair of high heels and a skirt hem fluttering in the wind appeared.
Inside the police station.
Lin Xingwan sat in the interrogation room, being questioned by Bai Xiao.
The major accident that occurred tonight had attracted high-level attention. The internet was abuzz, and numerous influential media accounts in China were reposting the news.
"Sister-in-law, this matter has escalated faster than we imagined. It involves over twenty lives, which is extremely serious. Is there some hidden truth we don't know?" Bai Xiao asked Lin Xingwan, his gaze occasionally drifting towards Liu Mengqin.
Liu Mengqin simply turned her head away, ignoring Bai Xiao.
Lin Xingwan looked down at the inspection data before her, her heart churning like a stormy sea.
"No, this is not the contract I signed. The data here is different." Lin Xingwan stared at the paper with wide, disbelieving eyes. "Even an amateur like me can see these inspection results are unusable. How could I have possibly allowed the workers to proceed with construction? Bai Xiao, our building materials must have been switched."
Lin Xingwan's mind raced, trying to figure out who could have switched the materials, but with the enemy hidden, she couldn't come up with an answer.
Bai Xiao looked at Lin Xingwan, her lips pale, a fine sheen of cold sweat on her forehead, her eyebrows knitted in distress. He couldn't help but say, "The moment the incident occurred, I went to retrieve the surveillance footage. However, the warehouse surveillance and the construction site surveillance were both deliberately damaged. Without this crucial evidence, you will have to bear the burden and face severe consequences for this incident. Therefore, you must provide me with key information so I can investigate further."
Lin Xingwan looked at Bai Xiao with disbelief, her eyes filled with a shock and astonishment that words couldn't describe.
It seemed the person behind this had meticulously prepared to drag her down to hell.
They chose to strike a fatal blow while she was ill and heartbroken.
She desperately tried to recall, but the more she tried to remember, the more her mind went blank.
Then, a sharp pain shot through her head.
In fact, Lin Xingwan's mind was flooded with terrifying images.
In these images, her mother appeared repeatedly.
When she was bathing, her mother would push her head underwater.
When she walked on the street, her mother would disappear, leaving her in despair in the middle of the road.
And when she went on vacation, she was locked in a dark wooden cabin.
An endless wave of fear washed over her, and Lin Xingwan's head throbbed as if it would explode.
Her mother had never done anything like this to her, so why were these images suddenly appearing?
Just as Lin Xingwan was about to collapse from the pain, a strong arm wrapped around her, pulling her into an embrace.