Page 13

But the people tasked with watching Chu Jianye had taken photos and videos to report back to Hua Rui. Those photos and videos could likewise prove that Chu Jianguo and his wife were fully aware of the crimes Chu Jianye had committed. Even so, they had helped Chu Jianye conceal his crimes and hide the evidence.

What Chu Jianguo did not know was that Hua Rui had also played a part in the deaths of Chu Jianye and the other human trafficker—

Hua Rui had someone secretly cut the brake lines. That was why, while evading the police, Chu Jianye and his accomplice lost their brakes and accidentally drove off the winding mountain road, plunging off a cliff to their deaths.

Hua Rui had done this not only to silence them, but more importantly, to punish Chu Jianye for making decisions on his own. She could not tolerate Chu Jianye taking her money while refusing to do her bidding. He had even planned to secretly return Ye Mingyi to the Ye family behind her back and collect a reward. So she simply killed Chu Jianye to eliminate any future trouble.

As for Ye Mingyi, who had been secretly left with the Chu family, Hua Rui had originally intended to have him killed. But she unexpectedly discovered that Ye Mingyi, whom the Chu family had adopted, was not living well at all.

Seeing Ye Mingyi suffer abuse, Hua Rui's thoughts abruptly changed. She felt that killing Ye Mingyi outright would be letting the Ye family off too easily. The Ye family's bastard should live a difficult, painful life where the Ye family could not see him, suffering torment and anguish.

She even sent people to secretly film Ye Mingyi and monitor his every move, labeling every video with the year, month, and day before watching them over and over whenever she was bored.

Ye Mingzhao could not understand Hua Rui's twisted mindset of being unable to defeat the strong, so she took it out on the weak. Still, thanks to Hua Rui's perverse behavior, Ye Mingzhao had obtained the final crucial link needed to send Chu Jianguo and his wife to prison.

Of course, there was no need to explain these trivial matters to Chu Jianguo and his wife. Letting them be as arrogant and pleased with themselves as possible before their arrest was one of the few mercies Ye Mingzhao had to offer.

On the way back, Chu Hengyi grew increasingly silent. He had always been a man of few words, but now he did not say a single thing.

The wound on his arm had received basic treatment. Several Band-Aids were stuck to Chu Hengyi's veiny forearm.

Chu Hengyi stared fixedly at the Band-Aids, the scene of everyone leaving the police station replaying in his mind.

"Doesn't it hurt?" Ye Mingzhao asked suddenly, both hands tucked into his pockets.

Chu Hengyi looked at the nail marks that had already scabbed over and did not think they hurt. Yet after getting into the car, he had let Madam Ye clean his wounds and carefully apply the Band-Aids. Madam Ye had cried from heartache, her tears falling onto Chu Hengyi's arm, a little cool.

Chu Hengyi remained silent. He had never understood why his biological parents, who had given birth to him, did not love him, nor why his adoptive parents, who had raised him for eighteen years, did not love him either. Everyone said the kindness of raising a child outweighed the kindness of giving birth, but Chu Hengyi felt he belonged to neither side. For a time, he had believed that he was simply unlikable and undeserving of love.

Until today, when Ye Mingzhao helped him solve one of those mysteries.

After a whole day of commotion, Ye Mingzhao was somewhat tired as well. He leaned back against the leather seat and closed his eyes to rest, when he suddenly heard Madam Ye cry out, "Why is there such a deep scar here?"

Ye Mingzhao opened his half-lidded eyes and saw Madam Ye rolling up Chu Hengyi's pant leg, revealing a deep scar on his right ankle.

The scar looked very old, so old that it had faded white. Against his bronze skin, it appeared especially vicious.

Chu Hengyi lowered his pant leg and said indifferently, "I was ignorant as a child. I stepped into an animal trap while gathering herbs in the mountains."

Ye Mingxi's brow jumped. Just hearing it made him feel pain. "When did that happen? It looks so deep! Does it still hurt?"

Chairman Ye and Ye Mingchen also looked over. Madam Ye was already crying so hard she could barely speak.

Chu Hengyi lowered his gaze, unwilling to say anything.

Thinking of the Chu family's attitude at the police station, the five members of the Ye family exchanged glances and thoughtfully did not press him further.

Everyone returned quietly to the Ye family's old residence. It was already late at night. Chu Hengyi went straight back to his room, and the others followed suit, each returning to rest.

Perhaps it was because of that scar, but after falling asleep, Ye Mingzhao actually had a dream.

He dreamed of a young beast whose right leg had been caught in an animal trap while it was running. It howled mournfully all night, yet no one came.

Then Ye Mingzhao woke up.

Unable to fall asleep again, he got up, poured himself a glass of wine, and walked out onto the balcony. The moon shone bright and clear, a gentle night breeze stirred, and the faint sound of water drifted over.

Following the sound, Ye Mingzhao discovered that someone was swimming in the pool downstairs.

Ye Mingzhao thought for a moment, then carried the wine bottle downstairs.

Chu Hengyi did not know how long he had been swimming. Exhausted, he leaned against the edge of the pool and saw Ye Mingzhao sitting in a lounge chair at some unknown point.

"Want a drink?" Ye Mingzhao asked with a smile as he looked at the slightly dazed Chu Hengyi.

After some thought, Chu Hengyi climbed out of the pool and walked over to Ye Mingzhao.

Clear water streamed down his body, the transparent trails of water outlining his increasingly muscular and sensual physique. Only when the man slowly drew close did Ye Mingzhao feel the heat radiating toward him.

His gaze fell on Chu Hengyi's ankle. The light in the car had been too dim for him to see clearly earlier, but under the bright moonlight, Ye Mingzhao realized the scar on Chu Hengyi's ankle was deeper than he had thought. Jagged scars tightly encircled the man's ankle like a vicious, terrifying centipede, twitching faintly as Chu Hengyi moved.

It was only then that Ye Mingzhao realized Chu Hengyi had more than just that one scar.

Noticing Ye Mingzhao's gaze, Chu Hengyi suddenly asked, "Is it scary?"

Ye Mingzhao did not answer. Lines of text flashed through his mind. The original novel's sparse descriptions of the male lead's childhood were now laid out vividly before his eyes through scar after scar.

"If you want," Ye Mingzhao said slowly, gently swirling his wineglass, "I can make the Chu family live like homeless dogs in the days to come, never knowing a moment's peace."

Chapter 11

The next morning, Ye Mingzhao was woken by a call from Yu Mingze.

"I had a burst of inspiration last night and made some changes to the script." Yu Mingze's voice on the other end was somewhat hoarse from excitement and staying up all night. "I'll send you the revised script. Take a look first, cough cough..."

Yu Mingze's throat became dry and itchy, and he could not help coughing twice before continuing, "See when you're free, and before filming starts, let's do a script read-through."

"Do you want me to find a couple of acting coaches to join the production with you?" Yu Mingze was a little worried. Ye Mingzhao was, after all, a newcomer with no acting experience. Though his talent was astonishingly high, he had no filming experience and would be playing two roles at once. It was inevitable that he might find the shoot difficult.

"Okay." Ye Mingzhao never cut corners when it came to work.

Although he had auditioned for the production in order to create an opportunity to run into Chu Qingyi, now that he had passed the audition and signed a contract with the crew, Ye Mingzhao would never allow his performance to affect the production's normal filming schedule.

So it was indeed necessary to undergo some intensive acting training before filming officially began.

After hanging up, Ye Mingzhao checked the time and was about to charge his phone when his peripheral vision suddenly caught a note on the bedside table. A name and an address were written on it.

Memories of the previous night resurfaced in his mind.

"You've lived with the Ye family for eighteen years. Have you ever thought about looking for your biological parents?"

Ye Mingzhao's hand paused slightly as he swirled the wineglass. He slowly stood and gradually moved closer to Chu Hengyi. Under the bright moonlight, their profiles drew nearer and nearer. The pool water rippled with shifting light and shadow, painting layers of brightness and darkness across their faces. Ye Mingzhao's deep black eyes locked onto Chu Hengyi's clear, black-and-white eyes, and he suddenly chuckled.

His voice was gorgeous and gentle, like a lover's whisper, yet also like a venomous snake flicking its tongue. "Repaying kindness with betrayal is hardly a good virtue!"

"It's a gift of gratitude," Chu Hengyi corrected. He casually picked up the note and pen left on the small table, then wrote down a name and an address. "Thank you for helping me understand something. In return, I think you should know about this."