The red taillights of the sports car vanished at the end of the street.
The tall figure lingered for a moment before turning and leaving.
...
In the days that followed, Hu Qi never once appeared at the Red Scale Club.
His movements were erratic, and he never lingered at home.
No one knew what he was so busy with.
Chen Wu didn't say much about it, only reminding Hu Qi not to forget the core class assessment in a few days.
After all,
he had personally tested Hu Qi's strength.
Given Hu Qi's age, getting into the core class was a sure thing, barring any surprises.
For a genius like him, whether he showed up to practice during these last few days didn't really matter.
...
Night fell, and the daylight faded.
The sky turned a deep blue, dotted with faint starlight that made it seem profound and vast.
Celestial Lake District owed its name to the large lake situated within the city.
The lake's surface was like a vast bolt of black silk, shimmering with faint silver ripples under the moon's gentle caress.
The road along the shore resembled a winding river of stars, with an endless stream of traffic. Headlights formed bright, flowing lines that converged and scattered.
Skyscrapers lined both sides of the lake, their lights blazing brilliantly.
No. 1 Mansion sat on the shore of Celestial Lake.
The entire complex consisted of just three buildings, each over twenty stories high.
Unlike traditional, cramped apartments,
the balconies here were spacious and airy, large enough for a variety of plants and recreational furniture.
On the balcony of an apartment more than twenty stories up,
a slender, beautiful figure in a nightgown lounged on a rattan chair.
Several drinks and a fruit platter sat on the outdoor wooden dining table.
The glassware glittered under the lights, adding a touch of tranquility to the night.
Jiang Yuyan held up a glass of red wine and took a delicate sip.
A smile bloomed on her face as she looked up at the star-filled sky, enjoying the cool caress of the night breeze.
"This is the life I want!"
'Recalling the recent days of lavish indulgence, she couldn't help but feel she'd made the right decision.'
'Lu Shi might be a womanizer with tons of girlfriends, but he treated each of them reasonably well.'
'It had only been a few days, and he'd already given her this apartment worth over five million.'
'Jiang Yuyan's goal was clear. Love couldn't fill her stomach…'
As her thoughts drifted,
she couldn't help but think of a certain someone.
'It's actually a little hard to get used to not having a simp fawning all over me.'
'Too bad. Wouldn't it have been better to just be a good little simp? Why did you have to try and grasp for things that don't belong to you?'
'In her eyes, love without financial backing was like used toilet paper—utterly sickening.'
'He should have been content just to be able to talk to me.'
'He should've taken a good look in the mirror.'
'A toad dreaming of eating a swan.'
She recalled the time he'd caught her and Lu Shi kissing in the car, how he'd pointed right at her and called her a bitch.
A cold glint flashed in her eyes at the memory.
'The fact that Lu Shi had been relentlessly causing trouble for him was, of course, at her instigation.'
'For a clever woman, some things don't need to be said or done directly.'
'All you have to do is drop a few hints, stir the pot a little.'
'And a man blinded by hormones and his own pathetic possessiveness will take care of everything for you. Even if problems arise later, it has nothing to do with a poor, weak woman like herself.'
'A trick like that was child's play for her.'
Just as she was lost in thought,
DING DONG! DING DONG!
Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
Jiang Yuyan frowned and glanced at the time.
7:28
'At this hour, Lu Shi should still be out at a business dinner. There's no way he'd be here.'
After a moment's thought, she got up and walked to the door.
She peered through the peephole and saw a tall man in a blue delivery uniform, holding a cardboard box.
The man's face was hidden by the brim of his cap, so she couldn't see him clearly. She could only make out a stubbled chin, guessing he was in his thirties or forties.
"Who is it?"
She thought for a moment and decided not to open the door, calling out instead.
"Hello, Swiftwind Express."
"Is this the residence of Miss Jiang Yuyan, phone number ending in 8969?"
"I have a valuable package for you that requires a signature in person. The sender is Mr. Lu."
The man explained, glancing at the box as if confirming the details.
Swiftwind Express was famous for its speed and good service.
Typically, if you placed an order one day, it would arrive the next without fail.
'Could this be a surprise from Lu Shi?'
Jiang Yuyan's interest was piqued.
At this thought,
she reached out and opened the door.
As a high-end complex, No. 1 Mansion boasted some of the best service and security in all of Qirong City.
You needed to verify your identity just to enter the complex, and key cards were required for the building and each floor.
So, she wasn't worried about him being some kind of criminal.
Besides, the fact that he could accurately recite her name and the last few digits of her phone number made her lower what little guard she had left.
CLICK!
The door swung open.
But in the next moment, she wasn't greeted by the pleasant surprise of a package.
Instead, a rod was jabbed into her body.
ZAP!
As an electric arc flared to life,
Jiang Yuyan had no time to react. She felt a numbing sensation spread through her body, and then she blacked out.
Her body went limp, and she fell straight backward.
In the next instant,
a figure rushed forward into her line of sight.
Then, a large, strong hand caught her by the waist.
SLAM!
At the same time, the door was slammed shut and locked.
"Ugh... Help..."
A dozen seconds later, Jiang Yuyan was just beginning to recover from the paralyzing shock
when she realized the man from before had already gotten inside.
She opened her mouth to scream,
but the cry died in her throat.
A gleaming folding knife was pressed against her face.
"If you dare make a sound, I'll kill you."
The icy words escaped the man's lips.
Since Jiang Yuyan was in his arms, she could look up
and see the man's entire face, previously hidden by the brim of his cap.
His features were rough. A scar snaked down from his brow bone, nearly splitting his face in two and lending a savage air to his otherwise plain features.
"Don't... don't kill me! What do you want? I have money! We can talk this out!"
Jiang Yuyan's body trembled.
The color drained from her beautiful face.
She couldn't stop herself from shivering.
"Just don't kill me. You can have my money... and you can have me..."
As she spoke, a seductive look crossed her face.
Her hand casually tugged at the collar of her nightgown, revealing a stretch of her pale, smooth shoulder.
'In her mind, a man breaking into her apartment could only have one of two motives.'
'Money or sex.'
'If it came down to it, she didn't mind giving him what he wanted. Compared to her own life, it was nothing.'
"Heh."
The man's gaze swept over her face, his expression blank.
He simply let out a cold snort.
Jiang Yuyan was not only beautiful, but also deeply calculating.
This kind of cool-headed, practiced response in the face of danger...
might have actually allowed her to escape, had she been dealing with an ordinary thug.
Unfortunately.
SMACK!
A resounding slap landed squarely on Jiang Yuyan's pale face.
The five-fingered print of his hand immediately began to swell, visible to the naked eye.
"Use your phone. Text Lu Shi and tell him to come back!"
he commanded, his voice cold. The scar on his face seemed to twist, making him look even more menacing.
The stinging numbness on her cheek left Jiang Yuyan dazed for a moment.
'She never, ever imagined a man would dare to slap her.'