Chapter 7

The rotten egg not only didn’t realize it stank, but after secretly using Yu Huan’s shower gel, it thought it smelled absolutely divine.

 

“Oh my god, brother, smell this! My skin is radiating a fragrance from the inside out.”

 

He Chen forcefully shoved his arm in Yu Huan’s face. “Smell it! Smell it! Does this scent seem familiar?”

 

Yu Huan’s nose twitched, then he turned away and dry-heaved.

 

He Chen’s smile froze on his face. After a moment, he straightened up, tore open a milk candy, and popped it into his mouth. His eyelids drooped as he struggled to suppress the fury Yu Huan had been provoking in him lately.

 

Yu Huan slowly sat back up, not even sparing He Chen a glance.

 

“I have to say, brother, you’re exceptionally good at making me angry,” He Chen said, chewing on the candy. His voice was slightly muffled, laced with an indescribable undertone.

 

Yu Huan remained indifferent.

 

He Chen popped another milk candy into his mouth, then unfolded the wrapper and meticulously tore it into tiny pieces along the serrated edges.

 

As the candy wrapper in his hand gradually shrank, He Chen’s expression grew increasingly impatient, and the veins on his hand began to bulge.

 

A cool hand cupped his face, lifting his head. He Chen realized Yu Huan had set down his book and was kneeling on the sofa, looking down at him with piercing eyes.

 

“He Chen, you must endure this. We have a long life ahead of us, do you understand?”

 

Tears instantly welled up in He Chen’s eyes, hot tears streaming down his cheeks. By the time they landed on Yu Huan’s hand, they had cooled to a lukewarm temperature, yet Yu Huan still felt as though his hand had been burned.

 

Yu Huan tried to pull his hand away, but He Chen grabbed his wrist, refusing to let go.

 

“Brother, I was wrong… I truly know I was wrong. Please don’t leave me, okay?”

 

Yu Huan was momentarily stunned, but it lasted only a fleeting moment. He stopped struggling and asked, “He Chen, do you know what your eyes look like right now?”

 

“There’s not a trace of sorrow, nor any hint of remorse. You’ve never truly believed you did anything wrong. Your apologies and tears are merely tools you use to achieve your goals.”

 

He Chen shook his head, his thin lips bitten white. “Why won’t you trust me again? Just because I was young and foolish, unable to see through people, are you sentencing me to death?”

 

Yu Huan closed his eyes. This was enough. He wanted to keep He Chen teetering on the brink of madness and sanity. The more He Chen suffered, the happier he became.

 

“Brother, please open your eyes and look at me. I truly know I was wrong. Please forgive me just this once. From now on, whatever you say goes. I’ll do whatever you want. Please don’t abandon me, okay?”

 

No matter how desperately He Chen pleaded, Yu Huan remained silent.

 

---

 

Tonight, Lishui was hit by another massive blizzard. The wind roared like a giant bellows, rattling the windows with a violent “whoosh.”

 

The inn door opened from the inside, and a figure bundled in layers of clothing emerged, shivering. Despite his thick layers, the fierce blizzard still made him flinch back.

 

But soon, he steeled his resolve and trudged forward with determined steps, each one sinking deep into the snow.

 

He didn’t notice that from a third-floor window of the hotel behind him, Liu Ying watched him walk away.

 

*He knew it would be like this. Zhou Hua was definitely hiding something from him.*

 

Liu Ying returned to his room, put on headphones, and began fiddling with something. Soon, the sound of wind and snow rustling against clothing filled his ears.

 

“Dong dong dong,” Zhou Hua rang the doorbell twice. Heavy footsteps soon echoed from inside.

 

A burly bodyguard glared at him menacingly. Before the bodyguard could speak, Zhou Hua cut him off. “I’m an old acquaintance of Mr. Yu Qing. Please inform him that Zhou Hua wishes to meet with him.”

 

“Mr. Xu is already asleep. If you have business, please come back tomorrow.”

 

“I know where He Huan is.”

 

Liu Ying’s hand froze. He’d always thought Zhou Hua was naive and utterly lacking in guile. Little did he know that he was the one being played!

 

Yu Qing was a light sleeper, especially lately, plagued by nightmares all night long due to the issues with Yu Huan and He Chen. Zhou Hua’s voice outside hadn’t been loud, but it was enough to rouse him.

 

He gently moved the arm from his waist, but before he could lift the covers, the hand tightened, pulling him back.

 

“Waking people up in the middle of the night can’t be anything good. Qingqing, don’t bother with him,” Xun Weijin mumbled, burying his head in Yu Qing’s shoulder.

 

“You go back to sleep. I’ll just go see who it is. I can’t sleep anyway.”

 

“How can I sleep if you leave?” Xun Weijin sighed, his voice filled with grievance. “You’re just taking advantage of the fact that I like you.”

 

In the end, they went out together, though Xun Weijin was practically clinging to Yu Qing the whole way.

 

Yu Qing found Zhou Hua’s face familiar but couldn’t place where he’d seen him before. After inviting him to sit down, he asked, “Who are you?”

 

“My name is Zhou Hua. Eight years ago, at First People’s Hospital, I told you about He Huan and He Chen.”

 

As the person in his memory and Zhou Hua gradually merged, Yu Qing’s brow relaxed slightly. It was thanks to Zhou Hua back then that Yu Huan had managed to cling to life for a while.

 

Not just because he had rescued Yu Huan from the basement.

 

When Yu Huan was carried into the hospital, the attending physician was Yu Qing’s grandfather, Yu Weian. Yu Qing had come to see Yu Weian at that moment and witnessed the bloody scene firsthand.

 

Having been pampered since childhood, Yu Qing had never seen anything so horrific. After returning home, he was plagued by nightmares for several nights. Sometimes he dreamed of being tortured beyond recognition, other times of an unfamiliar young man smiling at him one moment before collapsing bloodied at his feet the next.

 

A few days later, Yu Qing couldn’t help but ask Yu Weian about Yu Huan’s condition.

 

Even Yu Weian, who had witnessed countless deaths, wore a look of pity. “That child has had a hard life. If it weren’t for his younger brother feeding him a little blood, he might not have even made it to the hospital…”

 

“His younger brother?”

 

“Yes. They were brought in together. His younger brother’s constitution was slightly better, and his injuries weren’t as severe. He’s basically out of danger.”

 

“How could they have been so badly injured?”

 

“They say it was their butler. He had a mental breakdown because his own child was a failure and took it out on them.”

 

“That’s utterly depraved. But why was the younger brother in better physical condition yet suffered less severe injuries?”

 

Yu Weian was also puzzled, but he didn’t dwell on it. He simply told Yu Qing that the human heart was the most unpredictable thing in the world. Perhaps the butler’s own child’s situation made him hate Yu Huan even more. In any case, no one could say for sure.

 

Yu Qing was bored out of his mind, so he went to the hospital the next day.

 

He first visited Yu Huan. Yu Huan was still unconscious, his body so emaciated that he was little more than skin and bones. His long eyelashes fluttered involuntarily, like a butterfly about to take flight.

 

Perhaps it was this image that made Yu Qing take a special interest in Yu Huan.

 

As Yu Qing left the room, he saw Zhou Hua crying at the door. He remembered this man as the one who had brought Yu Huan to the hospital earlier.

 

“Are you here to see He Huan? Why aren’t you going in?”

 

“I’m not worthy to see him…”

 

“Hmm? What’s wrong? If you’re willing to tell me, I’ll listen carefully and offer my advice.”

 

All the pain that had been suppressed in his heart suddenly found an outlet. Zhou Hua poured out his thoughts and experiences to the person before him.

 

Yu Qing was stunned. “This? How could this be possible?”

 

“I know it sounds absurd, but it’s the truth. No one believed me. I couldn’t save He Huan. I…” Zhou Hua clutched his collar, sobbing until he could barely breathe. Yu Qing didn’t think he was lying.

 

Later, Yu Qing informed Yu Weian about the situation. After prolonged negotiations with the He Family, Yu Weian finally obtained custody of He Huan.

 

Yu Qing exhaled deeply, pulling his thoughts back from the past. He looked at Zhou Hua and sincerely thanked him. “I’m truly grateful that you told me about this back then.”

 

“It should be me thanking you for believing me.”

 

Xun Weijin tugged at Yu Qing’s sleeve, urging him to get to the point.

 

Yu Qing patted Xun Weijin’s hand and continued, “Why did you come to find me?”

 

“I know where He Huan is now…”

 

“How could you possibly know?”

 

“That night, I couldn’t sleep, so I went for a walk. I happened to see He Chen taking him away…”

 

It’s a strange coincidence, as if fate itself couldn’t bear to see He Chen doing well.

 

Just a week ago, he’d been idly wandering when he somehow ended up near Yu Huan’s residence.

 

Zhou Hua stood outside, lost in thought, when he faintly heard rustling sounds.

 

He quietly circled to the back and saw a tall figure carrying something into a car. Bodyguards followed, removing all the furniture from the house.

 

Connecting this to the sudden appearance of paparazzi in recent days, all the clues finally clicked into place.

 

Narcissus and the Little Prince—it hadn’t just attracted He Chen! Someone else was on their way, so He Chen was planning to take Yu Huan away first!

 

Such a thing was entirely within the realm of possibility for that madman, He Chen.

 

Zhou Hua cautiously approached a cabinet lying on the ground and placed his phone, set to silent, inside.

 

As long as the phone remained, they could track He Chen’s location.

 

After Zhou Hua finished explaining, Qin Weijin finally deigned to lift his eyelids and glance at him. “Not bad, you’ve got a good head on your shoulders.”

 

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Liu Ying shivered as he listened. All this time, he’d been living with someone so terrifyingly calculating…