At this moment, Ye Yongsheng was in a place no one would have guessed—the very meat processing plant where Chu Haoran had strangled Ye Tianyi. Zhao Yanan had already been brought before him!
The effects of the sedative were wearing off, and Zhao Yanan slowly opened her eyes to find herself in the back seat of a car. The door was open, and she could barely make out a figure nearby, kneeling and pouring soil into an urn.
It seemed to be… Ye Yongsheng!
Zhao Yanan was in disbelief, her heart racing. However, the sedative still had a strong effect on her, and she was extremely weak. With great effort, she managed to prop herself up, leaning back against the seat, feeling dizzy.
"My son, don't blame your father. I'm currently at a disadvantage compared to Chu Zhijing. I don't even have the right to a last-ditch effort. But I promise you, I'll recruit soldiers in Thailand, and within three years, I'll avenge you!"
With tears in his eyes, Ye Yongsheng scooped two handfuls of soil into the urn, then placed three incense sticks into the ground. He then opened a bag, took out several pieces of Ye Tianyi's clothing, and placed them on the ground, setting them alight. As he burned paper money, he wept over his son's memory.
Chu Zhijing had correctly guessed that Ye Yongsheng wasn't in a hurry for revenge, but he had never anticipated such an elaborate act. After all, even he didn't know where Ye Tianyi had died. The initial rumor was that Ye Tianyi was killed by Chu Haoran, and the location was fabricated as being cut into pieces and thrown into the sea.
Recently, the Ye family had even sent someone to the seaside to burn paper money.
At that moment, the thug with half an ear cut off by Lao Si approached Ye Yongsheng and whispered, "Chairman, she's awake." Ye Yongsheng didn't look up but coldly commanded, "Bring her over!"
Several bodyguards immediately pulled Zhao Yanan out of the car and dragged her to Ye Yongsheng's side. Zhao Yanan's face was etched with fear, and she trembled uncontrollably.
She didn't understand why Ye Yongsheng had kidnapped her. Was it to threaten Chu Yuxuan? If that were the case, Chu Yuxuan would be in danger!
For some reason, she firmly believed that Chu Yuxuan would take risks for her. Yet, she also didn't want him to. Since marrying Chu Yuxuan, she had never responded to him, and now she had become a pawn to coerce Chu Yuxuan. If something happened to him because of her, she would never be able to repay that debt, even in death!
Meanwhile, Zhao Yanan was also worried about her best friend and childhood friend. After entering Liu Kai's house, she had been knocked unconscious by a sedative. Before losing consciousness, she saw Liu Kai lying in a pool of blood and Zhou Xiaoruo being struck down. She had no idea if they were okay. If something happened to them, she would never forgive herself!
"Zhao girl, long time no see…" Ye Yongsheng looked at Zhao Yanan, who was huddled on the ground, trembling uncontrollably. Coldly, he said, "A few years ago, I came to your house to talk with your father about your marriage with Tianyi. You should remember me, right?"
Zhao Yanan struggled to open her mouth, beads of sweat forming at her hairline and dripping down. "What... what do you want?"
Ye Yongsheng replied, "Don't be afraid. I just want to give my son some comfort… Tianyi always got whatever he wanted from me. This lifetime, his biggest regret must be not having you. So, I plan to bury you with him so that you can be together in the afterlife."
Zhao Yanan shivered violently, stunned into silence!
"Although I, Ye Yongsheng, come from the underworld, I have my own principles and would never harm women and children... In the end, you shouldn't have to die. Just pity this old father of yours. My unfortunate child…"
At this point, Ye Yongsheng bit down on his teeth to keep from crying, his face already streaked with tears. Strangely, Zhao Yanan gradually stopped trembling and seemed to calm down.
It turned out that she wasn't being used to threaten Chu Yuxuan. Realizing she was not just a burden, Zhao Yanan closed her eyes in despair, feeling a significant reduction in fear.
The fate of a beauty is often a sorrowful one.
In fact, after the kidnapping ten years ago, Zhao Yanan had already "died." She could never forget how her mother had desperately begged the young master of the Liu family not to touch her, willingly offering herself to protect her innocence.
Although her mother's efforts bought time for Zhao Yunbo to rescue her, the woman who had dedicated her life to her son could not overcome her own psychological barrier and ended her life by drowning.
For ten years, Zhao Yanan had been haunted by dreams of her mother's humiliation and suffered from psychological torment. Her days were spent working tirelessly to keep busy, while her spare moments were filled with anguish.
If death was to come, it was fate, and perhaps a form of liberation.
She would never see that shameless scoundrel again, never experience his gentleness, never argue with him again.
Zhao Yanan felt a sense of absurdity. Why, in this serious moment of facing death, did she still think of that spoiled young man?
She suddenly recalled a passage she had read in a book: What is love? It is like a disease with many symptoms: wanting to share, wanting to meet, wanting to be close, being irrational, being very forgiving, being inseparable, constantly thinking about him, inexplicably supportive, wanting to possess him, and more, wanting to belong to him, only him. The deeper the love, the worse the disease.
The general manager said: "Among the eighty thousand words in the world, only the word 'love' can cause the most pain."
Wen Tingyun said: "The delicate beauty holds red beans, knowing if the deep longing knows."
Kong Zhouyi said: "Do not be infatuated in life, there is no place for longing in the world."
Which of these lines isn't a pretense of love as cancer?
Zhao Yanan had never wanted to possess him, nor had she ever thought she could belong to him. Yet, she seemed to be suffering from many symptoms of this "disease."
"So, this… is love?" Zhao Yanan's lips curled into a bitter smile. It seemed she had understood what love was, and realized she had been loving all along, but perhaps it was a bit too late...
"Yuxuan…" Zhao Yanan slowly lifted her head, looking at the clouds drifting overhead, her heart no longer stirring, and she closed her eyes in despair.
Ye Yongsheng, beside her, scooped a handful of ash into the urn and said, "Tianyi's body isn't here. I originally planned to burn you here..."
Pausing, he changed the subject, "But I have a monk friend in Thailand who told me to take some soil from where Tianyi was harmed, then burn his favorite clothes, and put the ashes into the urn. He will help me perform a ritual in Thailand to help Tianyi find peace."
"So, Zhao girl, don't be afraid. I won't kill you. You will come with me to Thailand. The cemetery has already been arranged. After the ritual, I will bury you with Tianyi. You won't suffer any pain. I think Tianyi wouldn't want you to be burned beyond recognition…"
Zhao Yanan said nothing, seeming to hear nothing, and continued to face the sky, her lips curling into a faint smile.