The world seemed to come to a halt at that moment. Li Rong had never thought that his own grandfather could do something so horrendous as to burn an entire family alive. Everyone knew the callous end of the Qin family.
If one delved deep into it, no one who stood at the top of the food chain be it businessmen or politicians - none of them were saints by any margin. After all, if someone was really bleeding - heart, they would be chewed and spat out by other people in under a minute and would not be able to command the respect and reverence from others that they did. Therefore, Li Rong was pragmatic enough to realise it on paper but seeing it in real life was another ball game altogether.
The problem in this situation was that the person in question was Zixi. Even if he himself wasn't close to him and was jealous of his closeness to Yu Yue, Li Rong couldn't deny the fact that the Young Master Qin was an integral part of Yu Yue's life. In that instant, a million thoughts flashed past in his mind in the blink of an eye and he tried to talk his grandfather out of it.
"Grand-father, you have already done enough damage to the Qin's. Even if you have some deep-seated hatred for them, you should let it go. It's been so long and from Young Master Qin's words, it is apparent that he knew about it all along or has known about it for some time. Still, he hasn't harmed our Li family in any way - physically, financially, emotionally or even hasn't tried any psychological play on us. Just let him go on this account alone."
Li Rong knew that trying to plead his grandfather emotionally wouldn't lead to any results probably but he still tried to stall for time and think of an outcome where none of them was hurt or came to regret their actions later on.
Meanwhile, Su Li watched helplessly as Zixi seemed to be on the verge of another mouth full of blood. Su Li took a good look at Zixi, saw how he stopped fighting after he was overwhelmed as well as overpowered. He slumped on the ground and kept on coughing unstoppably.
She had always had a soft spot for Zixi in her heart because of his unquestionable loyalty towards her. Now when she realised his background and how much he had suffered in the intervening years, it was as if someone had sliced off a piece of her beating heart. She was struck dumb by the truth.
Zixi was Young Master Qin!
Yu Jian - Yu Yue's father had hidden Young Master Qin since the Qin family met their unfortunate end!
This person should have enjoyed life like none other but fate had been so cruel to him. If what she had inferred from his words was right, then this person was really lamentable.
At that moment many images flashed through Su Li's mind : Yu Jian's preferential treatment towards Zixi, Zixi allowed to have so many days off work without any consequences or reprimand from him, Yu Jian looking at Zixi with melancholy eyes when he thought nobody was looking at them, whispered conversations between Zixi and Yu Jian, Yu Jian always being so anxious and concerned when Zixi didn't report back on time and many other similar circumstances. She also remembered the fight between Yu Jian and Yu Yue when Zixi had gone missing in the original synopsis she had been given by the system and that last long-suffering sigh when he had said he should have adopted Zixi as his own.
Both of them had hidden such a deep secret from her. She once again looked at Zixi slumped on the floor across from her, his face as white as paper and felt a sharp sting of pain in her heart, burning bitterness suffusing her heart at once. She had heard Yu Jian reminiscence about Uncle Qin to her many times. This person in front of her was Uncle Qin's son. It felt surreal and unreal.
Zixi should have stood at the apex of power in the capital city, he should have stood side by side with her and not behind her with lowered eyes and a reverent attitude as a subordinate which he had portrayed all these years since she had known him. How could he have never let on the truth to her all this time? How much it must have hurt him to act like less than his station in life accorded him? How much anguish had he gone through to watch his family burnt alive in front of him as a child? How much time had she missed with him?
This person had always gone through such pains to always protect her from Yu Yan's petty schemes and the machinations of other business rivals. He had always held her whenever she was about to fall down. Naturally, he must have had his own difficulties and demons to wrestle and deal with but still he had always done his best to shield her from harm. She clenched her hands into fists, kept a tight lid on her emotions and spoke softly.
"Old Master Li, I'll hand over more than half of the shares of the Yu Corporation under my name to you. Let Zixi go. If you are unsatisfied, the Yu family will leave the capital city as well along with Zixi to never return back. We'll not cross paths with you and yours until the end if you let us go today even at this point. Look how your goons have beaten him. You have already assuaged your anger and he has nobody else with the Qin surname left. Am begging you to not hurt him further. the Yu family won't vie with the Li's for retribution. Just leave Zixi a way out."
Finishing her words, she knelt in front of the Li patriarch and prostrated herself at his feet. Everyone was stupefied by her words but even more stunned and tongue-tied by her actions. No one present had thought that the prideful and unrelenting Eldest Miss of the Yu family would kneel and abase herself for someone who had just been one of her subordinates until a few minutes ago even if his real identity had been revealed.
Zixi wanted to reach out to Yueyue and stop her from humbling herself to someone on his account. Watching her demeaning herself like this because of him was more painful and heart-wrenching to him than all the bruises and cuts he had on his body. He tried to move towards her but his body was in so much physical pain that he couldn't even move his legs to crawl towards her. Angry on himself he shouted at her, "Who do you think you are to do that? Who asked you to ask this old bag of bones that kind of favour? It's not even a favour, it's begging. Get up. Don't do this."
Nevertheless, no matter what he said or how he tried to ask her to get off the floor, Yueyue didn't budge from her position. Su Li knew what she was proposing and doing might seem absurd to others but she also realised it deep down that if the patriarch of the Yu family had made the decision to keep Zixi with himself all these years despite the immense risk it brought to him and his family, he wouldn't mind giving up all his materialistic wealth in exchange for Zixi's life.
In the present situation, Su Li's priority was to bring Zixi out of here even if there was only a single breath left in him though it seemed far from it the situation could turn for the worst any moment so she didn't want to take any chances. She had to make the Li patriarch give them a way out for Zixi at any and all costs no matter what the Yu family or even she herself had to give up in return.
She had already died in her own world and was separated from her loved ones. She had seen how much it had hurt her family to see her waste away in front of their eyes. Moreover, Yu Jian wasn't her biological father but he must view Zixi as his own son in everything but flesh and blood to keep him by his side despite everything. Therefore, she didn't want him to grieve the loss of a child. The worst sort of pain in the world was for a white-haired person to send off a black-haired person on their last journey, especially if the said person was akin to a child to them.
Yu Jian had never shortchanged her on anything - materialistic or otherwise since she came to this world. Even though he didn't know that the soul inside was not his own daughter, he had still tried to give her all the love and affection a parent could give their child. She'll try to pay back her debts to him by trying everything in her power to save this person who was so close to him in his heart of hearts.
"Eldest Miss Yu, you are too naive if you think or even believe for a single second that you'll be able to save Young Master Qin. He won't walk out of these doors alive. I can still let you go unscathed and unharmed on account of my grandson but the Red of the setting sun outside marks the end of Young Master Qin's life."
Finishing his words, the patriarch of the Li family took a gun from one of his subordinates and a loud sound of a gunshot rang in the warehouse.
With that sound, life came to an unexpected end before it's time and everything came to a standstill.
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Author's Note :
Heya Folks
My muse had left for a few days and I had a bit of a writer's block so couldn't update the story.
Also, the chapter is unedited.
Hope nobody will come at me with brandishing knives and lit torches for the delay in the updates.
Shiksha Jerath