Yu Yang was tattooing a client, an appointment booked two months prior for a full back piece. Tattooing required holding a single pose for an extended period, so he usually kept his phone aside, focusing entirely on his work.
After finishing the final details, he stretched his neck and shoulders.
Why did his phone feel so unusually quiet today? He usually communicated with his clients through his phone; there were at least a few calls daily, which he delegated to his staff.
Once he finished, washed his hands, and picked up his phone, he realized he'd forgotten to turn it back on after shutting it down yesterday. He had come straight to the studio early this morning without checking his phone.
He powered it on, and a barrage of notification sounds erupted. Casually tapping one, he saw a missed call. So many texts were just missed call alerts, along with a few WeChat messages. Scrolling through several, all from last night, he knew who it was. He pinched the bridge of his nose.
Opening the app, a string of marked red dots appeared, each representing a 60-second voice message. Just as he was about to exit, he saw Lin Shuangshuang's last message: "You'll regret this, I'll make you regret it." This was before he blocked her.
Yu Yang frowned but didn't bother listening to the voice messages. He disliked lingering. If the other party couldn't make up their mind, he would end it. It had gone on long enough.
"For the next client's business, you handle it. Go over the precautions, and I'm leaving first," Yu Yang said, stepping out of the shop.
The moment he was outside, several men squatting nearby tossed away their cigarettes and followed him directly.
His phone vibrated. Yu Yang picked it up and froze the instant he saw it. It was a text from an unknown number. He opened it and froze. It was a video, very short, but the person in it was someone he knew.
Lin Shuangshuang's delicate face was no longer the same. Her previously beautiful features were now marred by a long, fresh gash across half her face, blood seeping from the wound, staining her collar red. She was being held by her hair, forced to face the camera. In that state, she grimaced in pain, her eyes closed. A man's voice, filled with resentment and mockery, echoed from the video: "Brother-in-law, the woman you like is with me. Look at her disfigured face now, do you still like her?"
"Madman..." Yu Yang spat the word through clenched teeth.
Around Lin Shuangshuang's neck was the pendant he had found and returned to her. No matter what, she shouldn't have been dragged into this.
"Damn it."
Yu Yang immediately exited the video and made a call, but the other party hung up. Then, he was attacked from behind, kicked to the ground. His phone slipped from his grasp, shattering into a spiderweb of cracks...
Ji Tianle had always considered himself a law-abiding citizen. He never overestimated himself or did anything reckless, so he had called the police when he arrived. He just hadn't expected that even after he had crept in, the police would still be silent.
Though he hadn't liked Wen Bai much before, they had been growing closer lately. He was starting to see Wen Bai in a new light. This person was different from his brother's numerous young lovers. Wen Bai had ideas, strategies, could listen to his teenage worries, offer advice, and was exceptionally supportive of his pursuit of Lin Shuangshuang. He had now been promoted to his good brother.
However, when he saw his good brother appear with a face full of blood, he was still terrified. Had he been disfigured? He was worried.
He quickly whispered through the window, "Wen Bai, are you hurt? Open the door quickly, there's no one outside. Hurry, hurry!"
The person who had been crying for help suddenly faltered, like an old music player with faulty contact, then abruptly stopped. So, this was an accomplice of the other party. He shut his mouth, enduring the pain, and tried to make himself as invisible as possible.
Ji Tianle swiftly moved towards the container door and saw Su Ying already standing there. Since Su Ying was here, and Su Ying was a doctor, he decisively nodded to Su Ying, entrusting his good brother, Wen Bai, to Dr. Su. Within a minute, he had turned and fled. He had to save the woman he loved. If a man like Wen Bai could be beaten so badly, he didn't dare imagine what had happened to Shuangshuang, a woman with no strength to even tie a chicken. He sped up.
Wen Bai opened the door. Silhouetted against the light, the figure was one he recognized. This time, it wasn't a face that disgusted him. Su Ying stood at the door, observing the person inside. He held Wen Bai's confiscated phone. The doctor's gaze swept over Wen Bai's exposed parts. Head, face, neck, the torn collar, wrists, ankles... No obvious wounds.
"How did you end up like this?" Su Ying's voice was as gentle as ever. Su Ying took out his handkerchief and slowly, meticulously, wiped away the dried bloodstains on Wen Bai's face. Wen Bai remained silent, because he didn't know either. As he was wiping, Wen Bai felt Su Ying's movements slow. Then came Su Ying's sudden embrace, with the strength of a grown man.
The man on the bed looked as if he had seen a ghost. The man who had smashed his head, causing his nose and mouth to bleed, and broken his hand, was now being held so gently, yet he didn't resist? Wen Bai, being shorter than Su Ying, was pressed against his chest. His voice was muffled as he said, as if sensing Su Ying's worry, "This isn't my blood, I'm not hurt."
"You did very well," he heard Su Ying say. The feeling was eerily familiar. In a dimly lit room, with people lying on the ground, he was the only one standing. Once, a person had opened an iron door, walked in, embraced him like this, and told him: he wasn't hurt, and he had done very well. Wen Bai felt a tightness in his chest.
Su Ying embraced Wen Bai, his gaze falling on the extremely rudimentary bed inside the container. He watched the man on the bed, feigning death, wriggling, believing he hadn't been discovered. Locking someone up should be done from the outside, not from the inside. And leaving only two people.
Ji Tianle finally found Lin Shuangshuang's correct location. He heard voices inside, and a guard at the main entrance – how obvious could it be? He circled around and climbed in through a small back window, his movements swift, undetected by anyone. However, as he stealthily approached Lin Shuangshuang, his heart clenched. His goddess, the woman he loved. The one he cherished so dearly, now had her face cut open and was tossed aside like a rag doll. A knife lay at Lin Shuangshuang's feet. The man was toying with her like a dog. Lin Shuangshuang was barely alive, her facial wounds already swollen. He heard the man's gruff voice: "Don't rush things now, the main show hasn't started yet. However, if you want more cuts on your face, you can try again..." With that, Jiang Dalei kicked the knife further away from the ground.
Ji Tianle's reason was consumed by anger. His sanity was gradually eroding. These beasts! Suddenly, the main door was flung open, and a man was roughly shoved inside. Ji Tianle's pupils constricted. Another one? But upon seeing the newcomer's appearance, his hanging heart settled back down. The man shoved in was Yu Yang. He wasn't very familiar with him. Yu Yang was in a state of utter disarray, his lip split, the corner of one eye torn, and his forehead bruised. It was evident he had been through a fierce fight, as the person who pushed him in in anger was no better off. That person had two black eyes, like panda eyes embedded in his face, and the other had bruises all over.
Jiang Dalei wasn't angry at his subordinate's disheveled state. He even looked at Yu Yang with some admiration: "He's a tough guy, fights well." He then walked over and, with a dull thud, landed a vicious uppercut to Yu Yang's stomach. Yu Yang, held firmly by two men on either side, doubled over and coughed uncontrollably. After coughing, he noticed Lin Shuangshuang, some distance away in the center of the factory floor: "Why did you grab her? I've already explained things to your sister."
These words were like a spark igniting a powder keg. Jiang Dalei immediately grabbed Yu Yang's collar, his eyes bloodshot, and kicked him to the ground: "How dare you speak? You animal!" The two underlings wisely retreated to the side. What followed was a beating, punch after punch, landing with solid thuds that made the surrounding big men wince.
As this one-sided brutality escalated, the remaining men grew somewhat worried. Although they weren't involved in legitimate professions, in this day and age, even if they had done something in the past, they were now whitewashed. Their current transgressions were limited to beating and kidnapping, and they usually kept their faces hidden so as not to be tracked. Today, their faces were exposed. As long as the money was right, it was acceptable. However, their bottom line was never to be involved in murder, and similarly, their boss couldn't be. The men exchanged glances. One man frowned and stepped forward, roaring roughly: "Boss! If you keep hitting him, he'll die."
Jiang Dalei finally seemed to regain some semblance of reason. He straightened up, ran a hand through his buzz cut, and spat. "Right, he can't die yet. How can I let him off so easily? I want him to see what kind of woman he chose!" Jiang Dalei dragged him up. Yu Yang felt pain all over his body. Pulled by the force, he was pushed forward. His subordinates quickly stepped forward to support him.
Jiang Dalei turned back, about to speak, when he suddenly froze, staring at the man who had appeared next to the woman and roaring: "Who the hell are you?!" The other subordinates also froze. They had been focused on this side and hadn't paid any attention to Lin Shuangshuang's area. Besides, in this situation, who would have thought someone could sneak in, unafraid of death? That's right. Ji Tianle, seeing the burly man engrossed in his beating and the subordinates hesitant to intervene, with their attention elsewhere, quickly and stealthily moved closer. Seeing Lin Shuangshuang's anxious and surprised eyes, he signaled her to remain silent, picked up the knife from the ground, and untied the ropes binding Lin Shuangshuang's hands. If those people had just stalled a bit longer, they could have quietly escaped. But fate was contrary. They hadn't even managed to lead her out the back door before they were discovered. Ji Tianle, holding the knife, considered for two seconds whether to fight to the death or surrender.
A few minutes later. "He who has a green mountain will not fear firewood." Ji Tianle was roughly held by a man, forced to be a spectator.
Jiang Dalei: "Today, I want to see how true your love really is." Jiang Dalei dragged Yu Yang in front of Lin Shuangshuang, tapped her face with the knife, and said to Yu Yang: "This girl's facial scar is all because of you, all suffered for you. How about it, satisfied?"
Yu Yang erupted: "Are you fucking crazy!" A man beside him immediately landed a punch, turning Yu Yang's face aside. Blood splattered.
Jiang Dalei said coldly: "When I tell you not to speak, you don't speak." He twisted Yu Yang's face back. "There's a knife here. If you stab yourself in the leg, I'll let her go." Jiang Dalei declared.
"I'll do it! Let me, you can stab my leg, just let Shuangshuang go!" Ji Tianle shouted. Lin Shuangshuang, sitting on the ground, looked at Ji Tianle, her eyes moved. She shook her head. With a look from Jiang Dalei, a subordinate immediately stuffed a dirty rag into Ji Tianle's mouth.
"Ugh..." It almost made him gag. "What's your relationship with her? You get to speak here?" Ji Tianle struggled to speak, only managing muffled sounds of "Woo woo woo... ugh... woo woo... ugh..."
Yu Yang looked at Jiang Dalei as if he were crazy, but seeing Lin Shuangshuang's disfigured face, he was truly at a loss for words. He couldn't explain that Jiang Yiyi wouldn't listen, and now, Jiang Yiyi's brother wouldn't either. He still couldn't understand why, after he broke up with Jiang Yiyi, these two insisted on linking Lin Shuangshuang to him.
Seeing Yu Yang's brief silence, Jiang Dalei launched into a sarcastic attack: "See, this is your love, your fragile love, this man's love." Yu Yang reached for the knife, but Jiang Dalei dodged: "Opportunity lost, you've already missed it." "So cheap!" his subordinates marveled.
Then Jiang Dalei crouched in front of Lin Shuangshuang: "You're a woman, so I won't make it too difficult for you. Cut your own face a few times, deeper, preferably drawing a picture. If I'm satisfied, I'll let him go. How about it?" He pointed the knife tip at Yu Yang. "He hesitated just now, he doesn't truly care about you." Jiang Dalei's gaze was heavy.
Lin Shuangshuang's dry lips moved. "What did you say?" Jiang Dalei leaned closer. She raised her voice with all her might: "I said, I won't!" Lin Shuangshuang truly thought these people were insane. Jiang Dalei was momentarily taken aback, seemingly by this unexpected turn of events, and then burst into laughter: "Hahahaha... hahahaha..." After laughing enough, he provocatively said to Yu Yang: "See, this is the woman you chose. She refuses, did you hear? Besides Yiyi, who else would hurt themselves for you..." The last sentence was almost a whisper.
Jiang Dalei threw the knife down, the blade clattering against the concrete floor with a harsh sound. "You fucking broke up with Yiyi for a woman like this!" Yu Yang roared: "I fucking said it! My breakup with Jiang Yiyi has nothing to do with her!" Jiang Dalei acted as if he were performing a solo act, deaf to Yu Yang's words, continuing: "See how readily she refuses!" Jiang Dalei said: "Believe it or not, I could make her stab you, and she'd do it. This kind of woman! This is the kind of woman she is!" Lin Shuangshuang: "..." She looked at Jiang Dalei with a hint of anticipation.
Then Jiang Dalei didn't disappoint. Under Lin Shuangshuang's expectant gaze, he asked again: "Stab him now, not even deeply, and I'll let you go." He was afraid Lin Shuangshuang wouldn't stab Yu Yang and had even lowered his demands. After all, his goal today was to make Yu Yang regret everything he had done to Yiyi, and to realize that only his sister, Jiang Yiyi, truly loved Yu Yang.
"Really?" Lin Shuangshuang asked suspiciously. Jiang Dalei waved his hand grandly: "A man's word is his bond!" Lin Shuangshuang struggled to her feet and said decisively: "Give me the knife." After a pause, Lin Shuangshuang added: "Can I take him with me?" She pointed at Ji Tianle, the man willing to take a stab for her safety. Jiang Dalei was a bit bewildered: "Who is he to you?" Lin Shuangshuang felt she finally had a chance to clarify something: "My boyfriend." Ji Tianle's pupils widened. He! Had been acknowledged!
Jiang Dalei looked as if he'd been struck by lightning, then stiffly pointed at Yu Yang: "And him?" "Met him twice, Mr. Yu and I are really not very familiar," she said, gripping the knife tightly and walking towards Yu Yang.