Chapter 85: Trading Beauty for Freedom

How did you know we were in Dawnstar, and how did you know we were in this room?

Zhu Changxing and Mo Xiao had wracked their brains and still could not find the answer.

In the end, Zhu Changxing could not help but ask it aloud.

But he was asking only Wu Ya.

As for Lan Yaoming, he must have come here because Wu Ya informed him, under the pretense of catching a lover in the act.

Otherwise, with his intelligence, he would have noticed it long ago.

At the same time, Lan Yaoming, whom Zhu Changxing looked down on, also turned his gaze over.

To be honest, he too very much wanted to know the answer.

He and Mo Xiao had been conducting their illicit affair for more than three years.

Not every night, but certainly every day.

How had he failed to notice even the slightest sign that she had found someone else outside?

And yet this Wu Ya had come here for less than three days, and already helped him catch her red-handed.

That kind of ability was terrifying to think about.

"Heh. You want to know that badly? Then I may as well put your minds at ease."

The time was about right.

Wu Ya had no patience left to keep wasting words with them.

Without even turning around, he called straight toward the doorway, "Sister Aran, come in."

Aran?

Boom.

The moment that name burst from Wu Ya's mouth, it was like a deep-water bomb exploding in the living room.

Everyone was stunned.

"How is that possible? How can it be Aran?"

Especially Mo Xiao.

As she watched that figure gracefully walking in from outside, her eyes were filled with nothing but shock and utter disbelief.

She could be absolutely certain, beyond any doubt, that before Wu Ya had come to their factory, Aran had definitely not known him.

And now?

How had she come to have a connection with Wu Ya?

And not merely a connection, but one intimate enough to betray Mo Xiao?

Was she not afraid that, in a fit of fury, Mo Xiao would expose her own embezzlement as well?

Could this Wu Ya protect her from that crime?

This was no small matter; it involved prison.

How could she trust Wu Ya so completely, trust this person she had only met twice?

Especially since that person was only a child.

It made no sense.

"Aran, you're the one Mo Xiao trusts most. How did you end up with an outsider? Did he threaten your family and force you into lying for him? It's all right, don't be afraid. As long as you speak the truth, I'll stand up for you!"

As expected of Zhu Changxing, that old fox.

In that instant, his mind had already turned a thousand times.

No matter how this Aran had come to side with Wu Ya, no matter whether she had already decided to betray Mo Xiao, the urgent thing now was to steady her first.

Best of all would be to make her switch sides on the spot.

Otherwise, with what she knew, Mo Xiao would certainly be in dire straits.

And as for him?

He would absolutely not escape the net of the law either.

So his tone was passionate, but his meaning was full of threat.

Did he threaten you with your family and force you into submission?

That sentence was meant for Aran.

And he believed Aran would understand it.

Indeed.

"Th-this... Factory Director Zhu, you..."

A flash of fear suddenly crossed Aran's face.

As the head of a major state-run factory, Zhu Changxing was a man of standing, influence, and power here.

To retaliate against people like them, poor souls at the bottom, would be no different from crushing an ant.

What was more, this matter had not only ruined their scheme and blocked their path to making money, it had even put them at risk of prison.

How could Zhu Changxing possibly let it rest?

Aran had thought of this too.

Originally, she had not intended to show up here and confront them face to face.

After all, her family was everything to her.

If it were not for her family, she never would have fallen into Mo Xiao's grasp in the first place.

But Wu Ya had insisted otherwise.

He had said he could guarantee her and her family's safety.

And now, the trouble had come.

Zhu Changxing had indeed started threatening her, using her family against her.

What was she to do?

"Yes, Aran! You must think this through! Perjury and slander carry legal consequences! And if something happens to you, what about your family? You're the main source of income for them! Without you, how would your father's illness be treated? And if your mother is left without support, what then? And your son, who has only just entered middle school, his grades are still so good! Have you thought about all that?"

Seeing Aran waver, Mo Xiao immediately found her energy again.

She knew Aran's family situation all too well.

Otherwise, she would never have dug such a huge pit for Aran and made it land exactly where she wanted.

This recitation of every intimate detail only deepened Aran's burden.

Her face, which had been angered moments ago, turned ashen in an instant.

Her parents, her son.

They were all her concerns.

She had acted impulsively.

Just to break free from Mo Xiao's control, just to vent a little of her pent-up bitterness, she had rashly made this decision.

To join forces with Wu Ya and bring Mo Xiao down?

She had simply cast aside the safety of her family.

No.

She absolutely could not let them follow her into fear and danger.

Having made up her mind, Aran's expression steadied at once.

"I..."

But before she could finish, Wu Ya cut her off.

"Heh, Sister Aran, you don't need to worry at all, and there is no need to be afraid. Worried about their revenge? Do you really think they still have the chance to retaliate against you?"

Do they still have the chance to retaliate against you?

Lan Yaoming did not understand that.

Aran did not understand it either.

But Mo Xiao and Zhu Changxing understood.

"You! Wu Ya, have you already called the police?"

The two of them nearly shouted the answer in unison, as if announcing the arrival of their doom.

Sure enough.

"Hahaha, that's right. The police should be here any moment now."

Wu Ya laughed and gave them the answer they feared most.

Give you a chance to turn the tables?

That would be cruel to myself.

Having finally won Aran over, how could I let you frighten her into changing her mind?

Then I, Wu Ya, would have lived this second life in vain.

So accept your fate.

If there is anyone to blame, blame yourselves.

Blame your greed, and blame your lack of caution.

For the sake of reaching your goal a single day earlier, you actually became stumbling blocks in my path.

Then I am sorry, but I can only kick you aside.

"Wu Ya, even if Mo Xiao offended you, what grievance do you have with me, Zhu Changxing? Why would you choose today to drag me into this as well?"

Zhu Changxing's face had changed from viciousness to utter pallor in a single breath.

Despair filled his eyes so completely it seemed almost tangible.

He looked at Wu Ya with bottomless misery.

Why had he brought this upon himself?

As the director of a state-run factory, wherever he went he was a man of glitter and prestige.

Even now that the enterprise's fortunes were sinking by the day, his treatment had not changed.

He still lived on state provisions and held an official post.

He had a steel rice bowl, a dead camel to rely on.

And yet he had been greedy for wealth and lust.

In the end, he would die by his own vice.

Once the police arrived, the investigation would begin.

Then the authorities would intervene and start examining him.

The result?

Only he knew.

Ten years would probably already count as mercy beyond the law.

"Wu Ya! We have no quarrel, past or present! Is it really because of one false accusation from Mo Xiao that you are going to drive me to utter ruin? I beg you, as long as you agree to let me go, I'll do anything!"

The previously dazed Mo Xiao was panicking now too.

After a frantic string of pleas, she suddenly stood up.

Swaying that conspicuous figure of hers, she hurried straight toward Wu Ya.

Her intentions were obvious.

She did not care about the crowd, nor about the setting.

She even meant to cross the boundary of age itself.

She was going to trade her body for freedom.

She simply did not believe it.

A young man in his prime, faced with her rather confident figure, could he really ignore her?

As long as she got him under control, she could completely intimidate Aran.

Before the police arrived, she would make everything vanish without a trace.

That was why she had thrown caution to the wind.

But who could have guessed?

"Get lost! You're nothing but a pile of stinking meat. Don't make me sick."

Wu Ya snapped at her in fury.

Then came a dull thud.

Mo Xiao was kicked to the floor by Wu Ya.

If he did not act now, that lump of flesh really would have thrown itself at him.

By then, all that would remain was revulsion and confusion.

This was much better: just one clean, decisive kick.

Mo Xiao's mouth twisted in pain, her eyes nearly bulging from their sockets.

But she did not dare cry out.

She did not dare stop, not even to rub the aching spot.

Because the police would not wait.

They were already on their way.

"Wu Ya, I can give you all my money! All of it! I have more than two hundred thousand in my hands!"

If seduction would not work, then bribery would.

More than two hundred thousand was no small sum.

It was all the savings of her life.

Surely that would buy her safety?

But—

"You filthy bitch! You've embezzled that much money from me?"

Before Wu Ya could speak again, Lan Yaoming beside them erupted in fury.