Chapter 22 – His Weakness

There were no classes in the afternoon, so Lin Luoluo spent the whole afternoon with Sang Sui at the hospital.

“You said before that Sheng Yize hated you. I’ve always seen him treat you coldly, so I thought he really didn’t like you. But to my surprise…” Lin Luoluo fed a peeled chestnut into Sang Sui’s mouth and smiled teasingly, “Not only does he not hate you, he was so worried about you he nearly lost it!”

Sang Sui nearly choked on her words, her cheeks tinged pink. “Y-You’re talking nonsense.”

“How am I talking nonsense?” Lin Luoluo pointed at the array of food on the table. “He told me to buy all of this for you.”

Sang Sui’s round eyes widened. “He… he bought these?”

“Yeah! This morning he called Chen Yi, who then called me, told me to come check on you if I had time, and bring you some food.” Lin Luoluo said, “I didn’t know what you liked to eat, and I was stressing about what to buy. Then he just threw a list at me and said, ‘Those are her favorites.’”

Sang Sui’s eyes widened even more as she picked up a sugar-roasted chestnut. “He told you to buy this too?”

“Yeah. Why else would I buy it? Who eats chestnuts early in the morning? Only you.”

“……”

Sang Sui stared blankly at the food in front of her.

Lotus seed pork congee, pan-fried buns, chicken feet, steamed egg custard, prawns, and sugar-roasted chestnuts…

All her favorites.

Wait a second—how did he know she liked all this?

Sang Sui was just about to lift the covers and get out of bed when Lin Luoluo stopped her. “Where are you going?”

“Where’s Sheng Yize?”

“He had something to do, went out.”

“When’s he coming back?”

“No idea. That’s why he asked me to stay with you.”

“……”

—

In an abandoned factory in Linyang District.

Sheng Yize sat on a chair, one leg crossed over the other, leaning back slightly, one hand propping up his temple with his eyes closed, resting.

Miserable screams echoed around him.

A man in black approached respectfully, “Master Sheng, Li Yang has confessed.”

Sheng Yize’s eyes slowly opened. He looked toward Li Yang, who was beaten so badly his face was swollen and bruised, and gave a faint smile.

Chen Yi and Zou Jin stood to the side, staring at Li Yang’s deformed face, unable to hold back a cold shiver.

This morning, they had called Sheng Yize after the police station gave the results.

They reviewed the surveillance footage from the time—it was conclusive. Li Yang had struck first and was suspected of intentional assault.

The police offered two options:

One, settle privately.

Two, proceed with a lawsuit and await the court’s judgment.

They said the victim, Sang Sui, wasn’t seriously injured, so if it went to court, Li Yang would only be in for a few months—nothing too severe.

They reported all this to Sheng Yize, and there was a long silence on the other end of the call.

After a while, Sheng Yize finally said, “Settle privately.”

Chen Yi and Zou Jin had been shocked.

Zou Jin was even pissed at the time, cursing Sheng Yize for being a coward, for backing down and choosing to settle with Li Yang.

But then…

Li Yang screamed again, his cries echoing through the empty factory.

Chen Yi and Zou Jin exchanged looks, both letting out a surprised “huh.”

They hadn’t expected Brother Sheng’s version of a “private settlement” to be this brutal.

“Bring him over,” Sheng Yize said lazily as he sat up.

“Yes, sir.”

Several men in black dragged Li Yang over and threw him in front of Sheng Yize.

Sheng Yize bent forward slightly, grabbed Li Yang’s head, and forced him to look up.

“If you tell the truth today, I might consider letting you go.”

Li Yang was terrified, blood dripping from his mouth as he nodded repeatedly. “I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

Sheng Yize let go, leaned back in his chair, and looked down at him.

“You know very well that Ziyang Tech’s AI project was hotly contested. Not just by me, but also by Jiang Group’s second-in-command, Xie Jingyu.”

Sheng Yize’s eyes narrowed.

“There were so many good companies bidding, but they picked yours!” Li Yang’s voice was full of resentment and unwillingness. “Do you even know how many people hate you for that?!”

Sheng Yize sneered, “It was won by skill. What the hell are you hating me for?”

Li Yang suddenly laughed. “Sheng Yize, don’t flatter yourself! You think Ziyang chose you for your skills? No, it was because of your family name—because of your father’s reputation! The only reason you got that project is thanks to your father!”

Sheng Yize’s face darkened. He gestured at the men in black.

One of them immediately kicked Li Yang in the side, sending him to the floor.

Sheng Yize stepped forward, grabbed Li Yang by the hair, and yanked his face up.

His voice was cold and sharp, radiating danger. “Mention him in front of me again, and you’ll die even worse.”

“……”

Li Yang saw how furious he was and didn’t dare mention Sheng Guohua again. He quickly said, “It was Xie Jingyu! He instigated me to do it! He said it was all because of you that my company was going bankrupt!”

As soon as he mentioned bankruptcy, Li Yang broke down crying. “Yes, he was right. It was all because of you! If not for you, I would’ve gotten Ziyang’s funding, and my company would’ve survived…”

The crying and wailing were unbearable.

Sheng Yize frowned and signaled for the men to take him away.

They promptly dragged Li Yang out.

“Brother Sheng, where are you going?”

Chen Yi and Zou Jin followed as they saw him leaving.

Sheng Yize ignored them, striding out of the factory.

—

At 9 p.m., Xie Jingyu had just exited the Jiang Group building.

He headed toward the parking lot. In the dim light, a foot suddenly flashed out and landed hard on his chest—

Xie Jingyu stumbled back several steps, the taste of blood rising in his mouth.

A figure slowly emerged from the darkness.

The man wore a black baseball cap and a black tactical jacket zipped all the way up, only revealing a sharp jawline.

He slowly lifted his head, revealing a face as cold as ice.

It was Sheng Yize.

Xie Jingyu held his chest, coughing a few times as he straightened up.

He smiled. “Didn’t expect you to come this quickly.”

Sheng Yize approached, his gaze intense. “Xie Jingyu, you’ve got some nerve, don’t you?”

“Do I?” Xie Jingyu smiled. “My only flaw is that I don’t like people taking what’s mine.”

“Ziyang was yours?”

“No, but it was a test from my uncle. And thanks to you, I failed.”

“You failed because you’re incompetent.”

“……”

“One last warning—if you ever touch her again,” Sheng Yize stared him down, “I will drag you into hell.”

With that, Sheng Yize gave him a cold glare and turned to leave.

Xie Jingyu clutched his abdomen, watching his figure disappear into the night.

Suddenly, he smiled.

The curve of his lips grew wider, like a bloodthirsty king in the dark.

Sheng Yize, you’re doomed.

You’ve found your weakness.