Chapter 32 - 31

𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐠

He reached out and picked up the envelope resting on the desk in front of him, studying it quietly. His fingers pressed lightly against the small lump inside, and once again he was struck by how something so tiny could carry a value far beyond imagination. From a young age, business had been his path. He never even completed the 𝐇𝐍𝐃 program he started...he dropped out the moment trade began opening doors for him. Everything he touched seemed to grow and flourish. He kept rising until he had firmly established himself, and only then did he begin pursuing the one goal that had lived in his heart for as long as he could remember: 𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬' 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐬.

The image of his father's blood-soaked body on the day 𝐌𝐫. 𝐗𝐢𝐚𝐨 𝐃𝐢𝐞 and his men murdered him had never left his mind...not even for a moment. Neither had the memory of his mother's long, painful illness before she finally passed away. He remembered the whispers, the cruel comments from relatives and outsiders alike, blaming her for her own fate. They said she had been warned against marrying his father, told he was not a good man, but she had closed her eyes to everything and chosen love over her family's advice.

He still remembered the struggle before the family finally agreed to take them in. He was sent to live with 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧...his mother's elder sister....while his younger sister was sent far away to 𝐒𝐮𝐳𝐡𝐨𝐮, to another relative on their mother's side. She never lasted long there. She soon fell ill, and that illness claimed her life.

Another loss he laid entirely at Xiao Die's feet. In his mind, if Xiao Die had not destroyed their parents, their lives would never have fallen apart the way they did.

That was why, once money began to pile up in his hands, he started searching everywhere for Xiao Die.

That was how he met 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐨...someone who knew the kind of people who could help track Xiao Die down, and the kind of methods needed to destroy him. Through that connection, he discovered Zhan and began carefully planning his revenge around him. But nothing could move forward unless he knew where Xiao Die was hiding in the country.

He had spent years chasing that answer, and every attempt had failed. Recently, Malo had suggested a different approach: if Peng truly wanted to find Xiao Die, he would have to abandon impatience. They stopped all direct searches and instead stepped into the same line of business Xiao Die operated in. Only through that world would they meet the people capable of leading them to him.

Malo handled everything. Peng even sold one of his plaza to raise capital.

He brushed his fingers over the small envelope again...inside it was a single unit of 𝐜𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞. Yet from dawn until now, buyers had offered him almost double what he paid for it...more than what that plaza generated in years. He had always known this trade produced obscene amounts of money. The danger, however, was just as extreme. One wrong move, and everything ended...your entire life wiped out in an instant.

His thoughts drifted again to the damage Xiao Die had done to his father. He remembered his mother once telling him how much of that substance they had handled back then...almost an entire bag. If this tiny amount could generate such money, then what about that? He bit his lip, set the envelope down, and reached for his phone.

He was about to call Malo to check in. He trusted Malo deeply...he had never met anyone who worked as hard or stood as firmly by his side. He trusted his judgment so completely that if Malo told him to jump, he would do so without hesitation.

Just as he lifted the phone, Fuyue's call came through.

He answered and brought it to his ear.

"𝐈'𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠."

"𝐙𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞. 𝐈 𝐦𝐢𝐱𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐚, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰."

He stayed silent for a moment.

"𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞?" he asked.

"𝐈𝐟 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐭. 𝐓𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐝𝐨."

He paused again, thinking, then nodded slightly.

"𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝."

"𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲...."

Click. He ended the call without waiting for Fuyue to finish. He placed the phone on the desk and stood there, thinking. At first, he believed that once he dealt with the old woman, everything would fall into place...he knew Zhan never disobeyed her. But after observing more closely, he realized that even beyond Zhan, there was still the aunt...Aunty Shui. She seemed to play a significant role in influencing Zhan's decisions.

He no longer had time to waste. Everything was opening up for him all at once, and he had no patience left for delays. So he sent his man to 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝, to the same person who had previously handled the old woman's case. This time, he obtained the same substance...this one tied to both his name and Zhan's. If Zhan took it, then anything Peng said would be carried out without resistance.

He trusted the man completely. The man had first proven himself by dealing with a rival trader...someone consumed by jealousy and obsession. One job was enough to completely ruin that rival's business. He lost everything and could no longer even step into the market because of the debts chasing him. Since then, Peng had kept the man close, never hesitating to pay him whenever needed. He paid heavily for this substance as well, even converting the money into Thai currency to get it delivered properly.

As for Fuyue, he had stopped trying to restrain him. He no longer bothered with long warnings. He simply knew he would not let go of money he believed he could continue to extract from him. Now it was done...or at least set in motion.

He nodded to himself, reaffirming his resolve. Picking up his phone and the envelope, he headed toward the bedroom. After locking it away securely, he changed his clothes, grabbed his car keys, and stepped out.

Time was critical. The clock was already ticking.

Downstairs, Peng found one of his boys, 𝐀𝐳𝐮𝐚𝐧, sitting lazily, puffing cigarette smoke into the air with his phone in hand. The moment Azuan saw him, he stood up and asked if they were heading out together. Peng shook his head and told him he was going alone.

"𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝐽𝑜𝑠ℎ?" Peng asked.

"𝐻𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑏."

Peng only clicked his tongue and walked past him. He got into his smaller car and drove off, heading straight toward Zhan's neighborhood.

He arrived at the gate just as Bai and a female friend were returning from somewhere. From inside the car, Peng watched the teenager closely. That only confirmed it...he needed to tighten his grip on Zhan. That boy would never be useful to him and didn't fit into any part of his plans. He was still just a kid.

Peng reached into the dashboard, took out a bottle of perfume, sprayed some on himself, then stepped out of the car and called out to Bai.

"𝑃𝑒𝑛𝑔-𝑔𝑒, 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒."

Bai greeted him politely when he approached...neither too warm nor too distant. Peng didn't know whether Bai disliked him or simply treated him like an older brother. All he knew was that since Bai knew Zhan clearly didn't like him, he wasn't among the people who received Bai's warmth.

"𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑔𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙?"

Peng asked with a friendly smile.

"𝑌𝑒𝑠, 𝐼 𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑠."

Peng nodded.

"𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑. 𝐴𝑛𝑦 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑔𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡?"

Bai shook his head.

"𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜 𝑔𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑠. 𝑊𝑒'𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ."

"𝐴𝑙𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑠𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑙𝑦. 𝑂𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑡, 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒...𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑃𝑒𝑛𝑔-𝑔𝑒."

Bai gave what looked like a faint smile as Peng added,

"𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑍ℎ𝑎𝑛. 𝑇𝑒𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝐼'𝑚 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛. 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑁𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑖 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐼 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜𝑜 𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛."

Bai nodded.

"𝑂𝑘𝑎𝑦. 𝑆𝑒𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟."

Then he turned and went inside. Deep down, he felt reluctant to even pass the message on. It wasn't that becouse Zhan disliked Peng entirely, but Bai himself simply didn't like him. Zhan didn't like Jincai either, yet Bai adored Jincai....he had even asked Nainai to arrange Jincai wedding gifts for him.

Once, when Jincai came to check on Nainai while Zhan was at work, he even asked Jincai to call the woman he was about to marry so they could greet each other over the phone. When Bai heard how nervous the girl sounded, he casually told her to relax, saying he was just Jincai's younger brother.

If it hadn't been in front of Jincai, he would have spoken far more boldly...after all, she wouldn't have had the right to even know him otherwise.

Still, Bai simply didn't like Peng. Even if Zhan ended up marrying him, Bai had already decided he wouldn't be visiting that house often.

When Bai went upstairs and entered the living room, only Nainai was there. He placed the bag of sugarcane he had bought in front of her.

"𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝐺𝑒𝑔𝑒?" he asked.

"𝐻𝑒'𝑠 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚. 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑆𝑎𝑛𝑥𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡...ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔,"

Nainai replied as she opened the bag.

"𝑆𝑢𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑒? 𝐼 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑡. 𝐿𝑜𝑜𝑘 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒."

Bai went into the bedroom and found Zhan lying on the bed. He sat beside him and asked if he had taken any medicine. Zhan barely managed to answer no. Bai returned to the living room, brought back medicine and water, and helped him take it.

"𝑃𝑒𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢," Bai said. "𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑔𝑜 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙."

He said it because he was sure that since Zhan was unwell, he wouldn't even consider going out. But to his surprise, Zhan lifted his head, looked at him, and shook it.

"𝑁𝑜, 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒. 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑔𝑜 𝑜𝑢𝑡."

As soon as he finished taking the medicine, he stood up, put on a long milk-colored jacket, and draped a light muffler over himself. Bai stared at him in surprise.

When Zhan stepped into the living room, Nainai looked at him and asked, "𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔? 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛."

"𝑁𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑖, 𝐵𝑎𝑖 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑃𝑒𝑛𝑔-𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔."

Nainai sighed softly.

"𝑆𝑜 ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛… 𝐺𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑦."

Zhan turned and left. At the door of the room, he slipped his feet into a pair of Noni slippers he bumped into and headed downstairs.

Peng couldn't take his eyes off Zhan the moment he appeared, walking out of the house and toward him.

Had he really made things so difficult for himself all this time? If Zhan's mind could be turned so easily, why had he gone through all that trouble chasing him before? Malo had said it wasn't a mistake, even though Peng hadn't fully agreed. At least he had established clear proof of his interest in front of the entire family...enough that if Zhan ever openly chose him, people would hesitate before questioning it.

He straightened his posture properly when Zhan came to stand in front of him.

"𝑃𝑒𝑛𝑔-𝑔𝑒, 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑜𝑜𝑛."

That simple greeting took Peng back to the past—when Zhan used to greet him freely anywhere they met. After Zhan fell into his trap, however, it was always just "welcome" or "good afternoon" between them, never his name again. Peng nodded, silently confirming Fuyue's words and the effectiveness of the money he had spent.

"𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑡," ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑙𝑦. "𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘?"

He gestured toward the car. Zhan glanced at it, then shook his head.

"𝑁𝑜, my ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑡𝑠. 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒."

"𝐴𝑙𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡," Peng replied, adjusting his stance again. Then he looked at Zhan closely and spoke without decoration or pretense.

"𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑍ℎ𝑎𝑛. 𝐼'𝑚 𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐼 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝑁𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑖 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑢𝑠, 𝑠𝑜 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒'𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟."

Zhan remained silent, absentmindedly playing with his long and beautiful fingers.

Peng continued, "𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑈𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝐸𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑦."

Zhan slowly raised his head and looked at Peng. He studied his face for a moment, then...much to Peng's surprise...he nodded.

"𝐴𝑙𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝑃𝑒𝑛𝑔-𝑔𝑒."

Peng's eyes widened slightly.

"𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠?"

Zhan nodded again.

"𝑌𝑒𝑠. 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑔𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑈𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝐸𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑤."

Those words hit Peng all at once. He simply stood there, staring at Zhan. Beyond the shock, another part of his mind was already calculating...everything was finally starting to move exactly the way he wanted.

***

The next morning, when Zhan woke up, his head still felt heavy and throbbed faintly. He got ready with difficulty, and Nainai barely managed to convince him to eat something, especially since he hadn't eaten anything the day before. After returning from Peng's outside, he had gone straight to bed.

Zhan checked his phone and saw no missed calls from Yibo. It meant Yibo hadn't called at all the previous night, even after he went to bed. The thought bothered him briefly, but the weight pressing on his head quickly drowned it out.

From the moment he woke up, he felt no interest in doing anything except carrying out Peng's instruction....to go and see Uncle Elder. There was no planning, no careful thinking. He just wanted to stand before Uncle Elder and tell him exactly what he and Peng had discussed the night before. He felt that once he said it out loud, he would finally feel some relief. Whatever consequences followed, he would face them later.

So when Zhan stepped outside, he took a taxi and gave the driver the name of Uncle Elder's neighborhood. The driver dropped him right at the gate.

It was probably around nine in the morning. After exchanging greetings, Uncle Elder's wife....Yufei's mother....said, "𝐻𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑓𝑎𝑠𝑡, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑢𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡."

About five minutes later, she returned and told Zhan that Uncle Elder was waiting for him.

Zhan stood up and headed toward Uncle Elder's sitting room, his head still pounding heavily. He entered quietly and found Uncle Elder seated on his usual chair, with tea set out in front of him.

"𝐷𝑜𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟, 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔?" Uncle Elder said lightly. "𝐷𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒."

Zhan tried to smile as he looked for a place to sit, but couldn't manage one. He greeted him respectfully, and Uncle Elder responded warmly.

"𝑆𝑜, 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑁𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑖'𝑠 𝑍ℎ𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒?" Uncle Elder asked. "𝐼𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑎𝑔𝑜?"

At that moment, Zhan's head throbbed again, his heart pounding hard against his chest. His tongue felt heavy, but he forced himself to speak.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐘𝐢𝐛𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐮, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝?

𝐖𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐮𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬?

𝐎𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲?

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭. 😄

𝑾𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒚, 13 𝑱𝒂𝒏𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒚

2026

𝒁𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒙𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒊𝒃𝒐💚❤💛