Leave Xia Ziyu at her disposal?
Would that mean stabbing her to death or tying her up and throwing her into the sea to feed the fish?
Xia Xiaolan slammed the trunk shut and suppressed her anger. “Young Master Du, this is China—we are a society governed by law!”
She wasn’t about to throw away her promising career and life by breaking the law for Xia Ziyu. How naive of Xia Ziyu to think otherwise.
Du Zhaohui glanced at her. “If you’re uncomfortable doing it yourself since I’m offering this gift, I’ll provide full service. Don’t worry—it’ll be handled without leaving a trace. You should trust our professionals.”
Making someone disappear from the world was simple for Du Zhaohui.
It wouldn’t work with someone like Xia Xiaolan—there would be investigations if anything happened to her.
But Xia Ziyu? That wouldn’t matter—she had no powerful backing.
For a moment, Xia Xiaolan was truly tempted. It would be a way to completely rid herself of Xia Ziyu and exact revenge for ‘Xia Xiaolan’—a life for a life seemed fair!
She remained silent for a moment. Through the trunk, she could smell the stench of urine. Had Xia Ziyu wet herself thinking Xiaolan was considering the offer?
Xia Xiaolan almost laughed. Even if she could have Xia Ziyu killed, Du Zhaohui would always hold this leverage over her. Du Zhaohui was far more difficult to deal with than Xia Ziyu—he was ambitious and more capable of executing his plans. Xia Xiaolan didn’t want to spend the rest of her life under Du Zhaohui’s control.
“Young Master Du, we truly are a law-abiding society. I can pretend I didn’t see what you did tonight, but others have witnessed it. I won’t make any deals with you. Since you want to develop your business in Pengcheng, I hope you’ll abide by the law… Whatever you do is not my concern—I’m not implying anything, just taking my words at face value.”
Once clear-headed, Xia Xiaolan realized Du Zhaohui’s sinister intentions. Li Dongliang was watching, as were Du Zhaohui’s driver and bodyguard, and even Tang Hongen’s driver, Little Wang! They were so close to the government guesthouse—Xia Xiaolan had truly been foolish. Endless trouble would await her.
Was Xia Ziyu worth sacrificing her studies, career, love, and caring family for? Certainly not.
Xia Xiaolan was completely clear-headed now. She wouldn’t kindly rescue Xia Ziyu—compared to being drowned at sea, being tied up in a trunk wasn’t so bad.
“Comrade Xia Xiaolan, I was just trying to make a joke. Not a very good one—I’ll do better next time.”
Xia Xiaolan couldn’t be bothered watching his act. These tricks wouldn’t work on her. Kang Lianming would surely teach Du Zhaohui a lesson, though she didn’t know how.
Xia Xiaolan got into the car. Little Wang said nothing and drove straight to the guesthouse.
Du Zhaohui found the whole thing quite amusing—the stark contrast between the Xia sisters brought him great entertainment! He got into his car and signaled his driver to return home. When his follower opened the trunk, the strong smell of urine was unmistakable. He pulled Xia Ziyu out—her face was bright red, humiliated to the point of wanting to die!
Du Zhaohui was truly insane!
Xia Ziyu had come to ask for Du Zhaohui’s help, using the excuse that her family members had been kidnapped. To her surprise, after listening, Du Zhaohui asked if she could help him with something first. Xia Ziyu naturally agreed.
Then Du Zhaohui’s follower knocked her unconscious with a single chop. When she regained consciousness, she found herself bound and stuffed into a small, dark space. Throughout the journey, Xia Ziyu’s heart had been racing. Hearing the conversation between Du Zhaohui and Xia Xiaolan, she pathetically lost control of her bladder. Surely Xia Xiaolan would have her killed—if she had such an opportunity, she wouldn’t let it pass either!
At that moment, Xia Ziyu felt death approaching.
But Xia Xiaolan had let it go. Such a perfect opportunity—why didn’t she kill her?
Xia Ziyu glared at Du Zhaohui with indignation. If looks could kill, Du Zhaohui would have been sliced into a thousand pieces!
“Xia Ziyu, don’t look at me like that. You agreed to help me yourself. You’re not stupid enough to think I was going to kill you, are you? Come on, this is Pengcheng!”
Smelling the urine, Du Zhaohui found the air too foul:
“Take her down to get cleaned up.”
Seeing Du Zhaohui’s disgusted expression, Xia Ziyu felt both grief and anger. She couldn’t tell which of Du Zhaohui’s words were true or false. Now that she was in his hands, she could only obey… It was truly humiliating—covered in her urine, she had no dignity left before Du Zhaohui!
After bathing and returning to see Du Zhaohui, Xia Ziyu remained stone-faced, not wanting to say a word.
Du Zhaohui wasn’t in any hurry. He couldn’t understand where Xia Ziyu got the confidence to think she could negotiate any kind of cooperation with him.
Any cooperation required both parties to have something the other needed. For instance, he wanted to cooperate with Xia Xiaolan because she could help resolve the trouble with Kang Wei’s car accident, and she was skilled at managing relationships with Tang Hongen, the Kang family, and the Zhou family. Xia Xiaolan could help him smooth over some official matters.
Mere beauty, without being his woman, wasn’t worth millions.
What made Xia Xiaolan valuable were her connections!
Because of those connections, Du Zhaohui couldn’t treat Xia Xiaolan carelessly—he had to be respectful.
He had no such concerns with Xia Ziyu. She had nothing to offer, yet spoke empty words about “cooperation.” The only value Du Zhaohui saw in her was as a way to test Xia Xiaolan. If Xia Xiaolan had agreed, that would have been perfect; if not, it was just a joke.
Du Zhaohui was clear-headed. He thought Xia Ziyu was the one who wasn’t.
Seeing Xia Ziyu’s silence, Young Master Du believed she still didn’t understand her worth even after this incident. He couldn’t be bothered to play games with her and said dismissively:
“Miss Xia has had quite a fright today. I’ll have someone take you home—you should get some rest. After a good night’s sleep, tomorrow will be a new day. Don’t you think?”
When Xia Ziyu remained silent, Du Zhaohui tapped his head, “Oh, look at my memory! I almost forgot—Miss Xia came to see me about something. Something about three members of the Xia family going missing in Yangcheng, right? Don’t worry, Miss Xia. For your Second Uncle’s sake, I can’t ignore this. I’ll have someone in Yangcheng look into it and make sure your family members are rescued.”
Xia Ziyu’s anger became uncontrollable, transforming into laughter at its peak:
“Young Master Du, you think having enough money means you can toy with people? You’ve done plenty of drownings at sea. When Hong Kong returns to China in ’97, the government will surely hold you accountable—no one from the Zheng Rong Group will escape.”
Xia Ziyu’s words felt like a curse, making Du Zhaohui uncomfortable:
“Oh? Then please tell me, Miss Xia, how should the Zheng Rong Group avoid this deadly fate? Are you suggesting you’re the solution? I thought fortune-telling and divination were feudal remnants that the government had already eliminated.”
Xia Ziyu clenched her fists so hard her nails dug into her palms. No matter how much she bathed, she still felt the lingering smell of urine.
It had become an indelible humiliation, but she still couldn’t turn against Du Zhaohui. On the contrary, she needed to gain his trust!