Chapter 16: Missing Jiang Yu More and More

Inside the wooden building, hearing the footsteps approaching, Jiang Yu slowly stood up and looked back.

Song Yuchu pushed open the door. The hems of his pants and the edges of his sleeves were drenched in blood, and his pair of eyes was shockingly red. Murmuring “A-Yu” twice under his breath, he walked over and pulled the girl tightly into his arms.

Jiang Yu tilted her head up. The enormous force squeezed her so hard she could barely breathe!

Yet a sharp, icy glint flickered covertly in her eyes.

It seemed he really had beaten Housekeeper Gu.

Under normal circumstances, Song Yuchu would not lose control to this extent. But having been provoked by He Lian a month ago, he had been living on a razor’s edge. Being antagonized again at a time like this made him go completely for the kill.

Housekeeper Gu’s sole purpose here was to spy on her.

Keeping him around before was to keep the Song family at ease, but now, he had become an obstacle.

“A-Yu, I beat that guy named Gu to death. Don’t be scared, okay?”

Song Yuchu’s voice was trembling. Turning Jiang Yu around by her shoulders to face him, he looked into her dazed, misty eyes. Hot tears were actually forced out of his own eyes as he leaned closer.

Possessed by some ghost of a thought, he wanted to kiss Jiang Yu.

He had never kissed A-Yu before.

Yet he froze abruptly mid-motion.

Song Yuchu’s scalp went numb. Terrified that Housekeeper Gu might have already laid a finger on her first, he used both hands, his thumb pads incessantly rubbing against Jiang Yu’s lips, desperate to wipe away any trace of that man.

His touch was excessively rough. Jiang Yu’s lips quickly split open and bled, yet Song Yuchu didn’t stop in the slightest. He couldn’t bear the thought of anyone touching Jiang Yu—he couldn’t even stand them casting a single glance at her!

The girl finally let out a pained whimper and tried to push him away.

Barely snapping back to his senses and realizing what he had done, Song Yuchu held onto Jiang Yu by force, using his sleeve to help wipe the bloodstains from the corner of her lips. In a coaxing yet assertive tone, he said, “A-Yu, I’m sorry. I hurt you.”

Jiang Yu’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, quickly settling flat once more.

Manipulating Song Yuchu naturally required paying a price.

But trading a injury this small to get rid of Housekeeper Gu was worth it.

Song Yuchu pulled her down to sit beside him. Seeing the girl reach for the paintbrush again, he pressed his hand over hers to stop her. Sizing her up, he whispered with suppressed, desperate anticipation: “A-Yu, call me ‘Brother’, okay?”

Jiang Yu gave no response, merely gripping the brush tightly.

A sharp sting pierced Song Yuchu’s heart. Twisted, unwilling desire filled every single nerve in his body. He grabbed Jiang Yu’s chin in a vice grip, forcing her to look straight at him.

“A-Yu, be good. Call me ‘Brother’, okay?”

Jiang Yu’s thin lips parted slightly.

Seeing that she was about to speak, Song Yuchu’s heart nearly leaped out of his throat.

His A-Yu was about to call him!

“Yuchu!”

Song Xun’s voice rang out sternly from behind them, like a bucket of ice water poured straight over Jiang Yu’s head. She instantly shrank back behind the easel, far too timid to raise her head.

Gritting his teeth, Song Yuchu turned around and glared menacingly at Song Xun.

Song Xun let out a helpless sigh. How on earth did he raise such a cursed brat?

Judging by Song Yuchu’s current state, if he had a knife in his hand right now, he would probably commit patricide on the spot.

“Housekeeper Gu was an old servant your grandfather used for so many years after all! You beat him half to death—what are you doing running over here instead of going to apologize to your eldest uncle right now?!”

Song Yuchu’s gaze turned dark and sinister: “He deserved to die.”

Song Xun: “Deserved to die or not, get your ass over here with me right now!”

Song Yuchu cast a backward glance at Jiang Yu. The girl squatted on the floor with her back turned to him, her seaweed-like long hair wrapping her entire body inside it. Though she was so close, she felt ten thousand miles away.

Song Xun roared: “Song Yuchu!”

Only then did the young man stand up and leave with his father.

Before long, Su He came running back. She hurriedly moved the easel aside, pulling Jiang Yu’s hands in excitement: “A-Yu, the ambulance just arrived! I heard the doctor say that guy named Gu is definitely crippled for life—he’ll never stand up again!”

“You’re amazing! You calculated Song Yuchu’s reaction to a tee!”

“A-Yu?”

Su He hurriedly turned Jiang Yu’s body around and pushed aside her long, obscuring hair. Seeing her battered, bloodied lips, her heart skipped a beat, and she asked in a panic: “Song Yuchu did this?!”

Jiang Yu slowly pulled Su He’s hands away, saying coldly: “It’s nothing.”

The joy Su He felt moments ago evaporated completely, replaced by lingering dread.

Indeed, Song Yuchu’s mental state was far too terrifying. If her calculations ever slipped, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Why? Why did A-Yu have to live like this?

These damned beasts!

“A-Yu,” Su He collapsed onto the floor beside her, clutching her own chest. Feeling a heavy, suffocating tightness inside, she choked back a sob on the verge of breaking down, “It’s been a month already, and He Lian still hasn’t come. Is there… no hope left?”

Jiang Yu opened her lips, every single word tugging at the wounds on her mouth.

“I don’t know either.”

Sniffling, Su He said with firm determination: “It doesn’t matter. Even if He Lian doesn’t come, I’ll sneak you out when the time comes. I’ll take you away!”

Jiang Yu let out a soft laugh and nodded without saying anything, merely picking up her paintbrush to continue.

Chaotic yet breathtaking colors burst onto the canvas, the blue veins on the back of her hand bulging from the sheer force she applied.

Escape? These parts were surrounded by endless mountains.

No matter where she fled, she would still be in the palm of the Song family’s hand.

Jiang Yu was deeply grateful that Su He would say such words, but if that day truly arrived, she would never drag Su He down with her.

She would rot together with the Song family!

Jinzhou Border, The Fortress.

Zhuang Yumian entered the barracks, looking at the man resting with his eyes closed on the wooden chair, and said helplessly: “President, Xie Xiran refuses to leave. She’s still waiting outside the main gate.”

He Lian gave no reaction, merely crossing his legs the other way around.

Understanding his meaning, Zhuang Yumian turned and walked out. Staring at the woman with the alluring figure outside the gate, she furrowed her brows, averted her gaze, and summoned someone over: “Call the Xie family and tell them to come pick her up immediately.”

That useless Xie Qingzhou couldn’t even keep a handle on a single woman.

As she spoke, she only felt the blowing wind growing increasingly damp and metallic.

Raising her head, fine, needle-like rain dripped down from the sky.

Rain in the desert was not particularly unheard of; it was just that the ground couldn’t retain water.

However, rain in Jinzhou was truly bizarre.

Footsteps echoed from behind her.

Zhuang Yumian turned around to see He Lian walking out with his shirt half-unbuttoned, his hands shoved in his pockets, his expression indifferent.

She immediately lowered her head: “President.”

He Lian was deaf to her words, looking up to face the rain, his brows knitting together almost imperceptibly.

“Mr. He!”

A pitiful, wailing voice drifted from afar. Outside the gate, Xie Xiran pressed against the guard’s arm, tears and rainwater mixing on her face—a sight that would make anyone feel pity for her.

Zhuang Yumian lowered her brows, casting a side glance at He Lian.

The president walked out right when it started raining—could it be that he felt bad for Xie Xiran?

Given Xie Xiran’s status, though…

Yet He Lian merely swept a glance at that delicate figure, his gaze no different from looking at a pig. Returning to the room, he pulled out his phone, sat down on the wooden chair, and opened a weather app.

His fingertips paused on the screen for a few seconds before he typed into the search bar: [Yangcheng]

The corners of He Lian’s mouth drooped in irritation.

Rain everywhere.

It was bad enough that it was raining in Yangcheng, but it even dragged Jinzhou into raining too!

Jiang Yu’s little wooden building clearly looked long overdue for repairs. For it to hold up against continuous heavy rain for so many years was absurd. What if a sudden bolt of lightning struck one day and set it on fire?

“…Tch.”

He Lian lowered his head, casually running a hand through his messy bangs, wondering what on earth he was worrying about.

Given the climate in Yangcheng, the chances of a fire breaking out were smaller than the chances of him spontaneously combusting.

Pointless worrying.

He Lian simply lay back down again, but no matter how he adjusted his posture, he felt uncomfortable. In the end, he had no choice but to head into the bedroom, only to find the bed frame in the camp equally hard.

He let out an angry roar.

When had he gotten so delicate?!

He just wanted to sleep on something soft!

Damn it!

It was all Song Xueyan’s fault for causing him to overthink day in and day out!

He Lian tapped open his phone, pulled up his Weibo account, and neatly changed his profile picture.

What shitty art—he was never using it again!

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