Chapter 44: Wake him up

In the sedan, there was a faint scent of sage and wood, a familiar smell to Lin Yiwei. However, her consciousness seemed to have drifted far away, barely sensing anything around her except for the deafening heartbeat in her chest, thumping, thumping.

Turning his head from the passenger seat, Li Du asked Xie Bo if they were returning to Ramon Apartments.

The man in the back seat took off the phantom mask from his face, tossed it aside, rubbed his eyes, and wearily said, “To the villa on Herland Road Peak.”

After speaking, he glanced at the girl beside him.

She curled up on the seat, hugging herself, trembling.

Even though the car’s heater was set to the maximum, she still felt like her body was a frozen wasteland.

Her clothes were soaked through, inside and out, with a chilling wind in her dreams and reality.

Within arm’s reach, she could see the person she longed to see, yet she watched as the car disappeared into the night rain.

The immense disappointment plunged her into an abyss, continuously plummeting, falling into emptiness.

Xie Bo saw her pale complexion and reached out to touch her forehead, but she pushed his hand away like a startled cat—

“Give me back my phone.”

The words that came out surprised her, even her voice… sounded like crushed twigs.

Xie Bo handed her the phone back, and she quickly turned it on, her trembling hand poking into the album, unable to find the audio just recorded, not even in recently deleted.

Completely wiped out!

“Why would you do this?!”

She questioned sharply, her voice hoarse, “Do you know how long I’ve waited for tonight’s opportunity? How much I’ve endured?!”

Xie Bo remained emotionally calm, his deep eyes sweeping over her, “What you recorded doesn’t prove anything.”

“It can prove that my brother has been imprisoned by them.”

“Did you capture him? No,” Xie Bo’s lips curled coldly, “Did you record evidence of Chi Youhuai’s crimes? No. A recording of a father-daughter conversation, with no mention of anything, not even names. How do you expect the police to investigate? They can come up with ten thousand reasonable explanations.”

“As long as I call the police, they will come to find him.”

“Don’t be naive, Lin Yiwei. The police need a search warrant to enter a residence. And during the time it takes to go through the procedures, your brother will have already been transferred to who knows where, you won’t be able to find him.”

Lin Yiwei felt all her strength drained away, sitting dumbfounded for a while, then laughed, “Xie Bo, do you think I’m stupid?”

Xie Bo raised his chin, glaring at her.

“It’s all just excuses. If you hadn’t interfered, if I had called the police, whether there was a search warrant or not, the police would have come. The Chi family would be caught off guard, and as long as Lin Xie is still in that house, he will be found.”

“Perhaps, but the possibility is slim. Chi Youhuai’s top-notch legal team will rush over at the first opportunity, using every possible legal means to stop the police from searching. Let me tell you another possibility, the police will not have a search warrant and won’t even set foot inside, returning empty-handed, and you…”

His hand covered her head, grabbing her messy wet hair, his voice cold and merciless—

“You’ll die miserably.”

Lin Yiwei’s heart raced wildly, she grabbed Xie Bo’s hand and forcefully pushed it away: “Don’t act like you care about me so much. In fact, you’re the one who cares the most about the Chi family not getting into trouble, am I right, Xie Bo?”

“Yes.”

On this point, Xie Bo did not deny.

Lin Yiwei turned her head, fiercely wiping away the powerless tears from her eyes.

She couldn’t stand breathing the same air as this man anymore, staying in the same confined space with him made her want to vomit.

“Stop the car!”

“Stop the car quickly, I want to get off!”

She frantically pressed the buttons on the car door.

Just as Xie Bo was about to hold her, Lin Yiwei slapped him across the face.

There was a crisp sound, different from the countless times. This slap was filled with deep resentment.

Even Li Du, who was driving in the front, couldn’t help but hit the brakes, looking back worriedly in the rearview mirror:

“Lin Yiwei, Mr. Bo is also protecting you. Do you think even if you find Lin Xie, they will let you go? Can you escape?”

“Li Du, shut up and drive your car.”

“… “

Xie Bo grabbed Lin Yiwei’s neck, pulling her slowly closer to him, his eyes pressing: “Lin Yiwei, think clearly about who is still protecting you now. Without me, you’ll have nowhere to go.”

This sentence drained all the strength from the girl’s body.

He let go of her, she didn’t fuss about getting off the car anymore, weakly slumping into her seat, pulling out the only remaining photo of Lin Xie from her phone, tears flowing silently.

Tears flowed down her tangled hair onto the leather seat, forming a mixture of rain, mucus, and tears, making her look like a stray dog on the roadside.

Xie Bo couldn’t be bothered to deal with her anymore, he grabbed tissue after tissue, wiping his slender and powerful fingertips, until Li Du said, “Mr. Bo, we’re being followed.”

Xie Bo turned his head and saw a black sedan silently following them from behind, like a ghost in the night.

Xie Bo disdainfully snorted, “Lose them on the overpass ahead.”

Li Du activated the dual engine, with a “roar”, the car, modified by Xie Bo, sped away. Li Du’s driving skills were needless to say, effortlessly weaving through lanes, easily leaving several cars behind, and leaving the following car far out of sight.

Lin Yiwei felt stifled, so she opened a window slightly, and the flying snowflakes and the cold of winter poured in, piercing into her eyes.

Her eyes, nose, throat, all filled with bitterness, all with tears.

Xie Bo used the back of his hand to wipe the tears from her face, rough and ungentle: “Stop crying, what’s the use of crying?”

Lin Yiwei bit down on his finger and fiercely gnawed.

Xie Bo winced in pain, furrowing his brow, but didn’t pull his hand back, instead, he pushed his finger into her mouth, mischievously stirring around in her mouth until she arched her body, wanting to vomit, then he withdrew his hand.

Elegantly wiping his bone-defined slender fingertips with a tissue, he glanced at the girl next to him, convulsing and dry heaving.

Unable to stand her lifeless appearance, like a butterfly crushed underfoot, fluttering its wings in futile struggle.

“The road is still long, sleep for a while.”

He took off his jacket and threw it onto the girl.

She curled up on the soft leather seat, stubbornly not touching his jacket, tiredly closing her eyes.

Only when she fell asleep did Xie Bo pick up the jacket and drape it over her thin, weak body, and casually pinched her cheek.

Li Du felt annoyed that Lin Yiwei hit him indiscriminately, but seeing him like this, he couldn’t help but smile.

“What are you laughing at?”

Li Du turned the steering wheel and said, “I feel like you and her… even with this, you can still get along very easily.”

Xie Bo looked at the bite marks on his fingers, teasingly saying, “Easy, why don’t you try.”

“When I say easy, I mean here.” Li Du pointed to his heart, “Living without wearing a mask, being free to do as you please, love whoever you want, that’s probably your highest ideal.”

“My highest ideal is to become the next Xie Sizhao.”

In front of his close friend, Xie Bo didn’t hide his desires and ambitions at all, “Wealthy, prosperous, another bunch of bastard kids, sitting leisurely in the top-floor office of the conglomerate when I’m old, sipping tea, watching them fight to the death, me included.”

Li Du couldn’t help but laugh, “Ask your two elder brothers if they have such a vulgar ideal.”

“Who made me a bastard?” He leaned back casually, closed his eyes, “Conspiracies, scheming, doing things they wouldn’t deign to do, pleasing people they wouldn’t bother to please.”

In some ways, he and the girl beside him had some similarities.

Lin Yiwei could see the humiliation beneath his proud facade, and he could see the bitterness behind her strength and stubbornness.

Perhaps because of this, they couldn’t let go of each other.

He couldn’t bear to abandon someone so similar to himself, once he entered her, they became one person.

The sedan drove into the villa on Herland Road, the old-fashioned mansion, from afar, looked lonely and desolate.

But this was the only place where Xie Bo felt safe.

His mother died there, and he watched it happen.

The girl next to him fell asleep, Xie Bo picked her up, and touched her forehead with his.

Still a bit feverish.

Xie Bo carried her out, took the elevator from the garage directly to the top floor, went to the bedroom, and turned back to instruct Li Du, “You just find a room to sleep in.”

“Don’t worry about me, take care of the mess in front of you, manage the people you want to manage.”

Xie Bo carried her upstairs, lit a fire in the fireplace in the room to quickly warm it up.

Although he rarely did these things himself, with butlers and maids at home, not doing them didn’t mean he couldn’t.

Before the age of ten, he had to take care of himself and his sick mother, living like a rough stone by the roadside, worse off than her.

After the age of ten, Xie Bo easily adapted to the life of a young master, enjoying the immense expansion of material wealth, and refusing to do anything beyond his status.

Lin Yiwei was one of the few living beings he cared for personally, aside from the German Shepherd he had saved from canine distemper and nursed back to health for three months.

Her clothes were soaked by the rain, absorbing the heat from her body had almost dried them out.

No wonder her forehead was so hot.

Xie Bo stripped off all her clothes, changed her into his own clothes, afraid they weren’t soft enough, he even put them in the dryer for half an hour to make her sleep a little more comfortably.

After everything was done, he gave her fever-reducing medicine and put a cooling patch on her forehead, then went to busy himself with his own affairs, ignoring her like she was heading for death, to sleep.

Sleeping soundly, she would naturally be better the next day.

He understood people like her very well, not accustomed to being pampered, like roadside grass, endure a bit of suffering when sick, and they would always pull through, if not, there was only one way to go, death.

As usual, Xie Bo gave her his bed, and he sat alone in front of the fireplace, thinking of countermeasures.

Soon, he received a call from Chi Youhuai: “Xie Bo, the people have been safely transferred, thank you for the reminder. But I have many doubts, firstly, how did you know about this?”

“It was a chance discovery, but it’s not important.” Xie Bo stared expressionlessly at the flames leaping in the fireplace, “The most important thing now is that you and Xixi are safe.”

“I warned Xixi, tonight was really outrageous! However, can you tell me who the person you saw coming out of the underground studio was?”

“I’m not sure, everyone was dressed up today, and I don’t know many of Xixi’s friends.”

“I was careless. We should have installed surveillance in the basement, but… my lawyer advised against it. Any surveillance could be hacked, causing huge trouble, so we don’t install surveillance at home.”

Xie Bo paused for a moment, saying, “However, perhaps we should install one or two in the new hiding place. You can’t go there every day, and we can’t trust all the servants at home.”

“You’re right, but really, didn’t you see anything? Even if you don’t know who it was, but the attire, appearance, physique, gender, clothing color… you should remember something, right?”

Xie Bo smirked, “Uncle Chi, do you doubt me?”

“Of course not! You helped me a lot by notifying me right away!”

“That person was wearing a wolf fur outfit, about the same height as me, should be a guy.”

“You’re making it easy to find him!” Chi Youhuai said with a sneer, “Just ask around, and we can catch that kid.”

Now, all he needed was to make sure that Xie Bo was on his side.

“Xie Bo, I’ve discussed with your dad for a long time about you and Xixi’s matter, but it’s been undecided. Tonight, I also want to talk to you and see what your opinion is.”

Dry branches crackled and burned in the fireplace. His mother died in this room, her emaciated hand gripping him tightly before she died, as if embedding into his bones—

“Xie Bo, you’ll make a name for yourself, and no one will bully you anymore.”

That sentence was almost engraved in his bones.

“Xixi and I grew up together. I’ve always seen her as my future wife.” He smiled brightly, “Uncle Chi, our interests are aligned. I will protect Xixi and not let her be harmed.”

“With your commitment, I feel relieved. Rest early.”

“Goodbye, Uncle Chi.”

Xie Bo put down his phone, feeling the sharpness and coldness of the girl leaning against the nape of his neck.

The pomegranate on the table was half peeled, and he hadn’t had time to put away the knife.

Xie Bo didn’t turn around, calmly saying, “Yiyi, if you kill me, the person in this world who cares most about whether you live or die… will be gone.”

“My brother, where is he.” Lin Yiwei’s tears gushed out like a spring, her voice filled with despair, “Where did they take him, you tell me!”

Xie Bo slowly turned around, looking at her, “I don’t know.”

The blade trembled, the girl wearing his white shirt, her frail body like a small butterfly with injured wings from the rain, struggling desperately until drowned, lifeless.

She was so fragile, so fragile that even a slight storm could destroy her. But the resilience in her bones made him take notice.

He pulled her closer, “I bet you can’t do it, Lin Yiwei, you can’t harm me.”

The girl became emotional, the blade flipped, its sharp edge scratched his neck, drawing a few drops of blood.

Seeing the blood made her want to vomit again.

She couldn’t bear to hurt him, loosened the knife, knelt beside his feet, retching spasmodically, completely powerless…

She had never been so close to Lin Xie before, or… brushed past him.

It was all in vain, all the schemes and preparations, all wasted!

Xie Bo wiped away the blood on his neck, sneered, “You’re just like this.”

Suddenly, the girl crawled over, hugged his leg tightly, trembling as she called out, “Master Bo…”

Xie Bo paused as he dabbed the blood with a tissue.

“Master Bo, if you help me this time, you must have a way.”

The girl knelt beside him, holding onto his knee, shivering from the cold, her cheeks burning with despair, “Help him escape, please, as long as you let him escape, I… I’ll give you anything… I won’t argue with you anymore, won’t bully you, won’t hit you, won’t make you angry…”

“I can’t stay by Chi Xiyu’s side anymore. I can’t find him. This matter is as difficult as climbing to the sky for me, but you can save him with just a flick of your finger…”

Xie Bo’s eyes narrowed, holding onto her trembling body, beneath his expressionless face was a surge of emotions, “It’s not that simple, Lin Yiwei, you always give me challenges.”

“I don’t want you to choose, sorry, Xie Bo, I’m not calculating against you anymore, really… as long as you help me, you can ask for anything in return. I can love you, I’ll stay with you until the day you’re tired… please.”

She cupped his face in confusion, trying to kiss him. After Xie Bo struggled to turn his face, she slid down again, reaching for his belt.

After being with her for so long, no matter how they argued or fought, Xie Bo’s emotions had never fluctuated much, until now…

He finally felt what it was like to have a heart-wrenching pain.

Lin Yiwei kissed him, trying to melt him, awaken him.

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t help but…”

Xie Bo grabbed her hair forcefully, lifting her up—”Lin Yiwei, I didn’t ask you to kneel. Never use this posture with me.”

He couldn’t stand her submission.