NB Chapter77

“This won’t happen a second time,” Zhang Mingsheng said before standing up and looking at me calmly.

That calmness was too familiar, so familiar that a long-forgotten chill welled up in my heart. Dreading my own premonition, I stared at him fixedly.

Many believe that calmness and relaxation are superior to any volatile emotion; they are like a body of water that occasionally ripples, appearing as though waves arise without wind when, in reality, they are unfathomable.

Just like the Zhang Mingsheng of this moment.

I asked, “What are you trying to say?”

He answered, “As for what comes next, I hope you won’t have another chance to interfere.”

“What do you mean?” My voice trembled slightly.

I didn’t intend to lower my voice; it was just that my emotions were surging so violently that when the words came out, I realized my voice had gone hoarse. I questioned him again, “If you tell me not to intervene, am I just supposed to stop?”

“I’ve told you before that there are certain methods you don’t like, but I have no choice but to use them.” Zhang Mingsheng turned his back to me and called out loudly, “Ah Hai!”

The next second, Ah Hai appeared at the corner, striding over from the far end of the hallway.

He stood beside me, awaiting orders.

“Drive Mr. Yu to the villa at Maplewood Bay to recuperate.” Zhang Mingsheng commanded.

“Yes, sir.” Ah Hai nodded slightly in response, then turned toward me. “Mr. Yu, this way, please.”

“Watch his leg.” Zhang Mingsheng said, leaning over to pick up the clothes folded at the foot of the bed.

“Zhang Mingsheng!” Being ignored by the two of them left me utterly infuriated. I had thought that this time around, he wouldn’t disregard my thoughts as he had in the past. “How ridiculous. I thought you had changed, but it turns out you haven’t repented at all!”

“Repented?” Zhang Mingsheng quickly pulled on his trousers and followed with a snow-white shirt. It turned out he had been wearing shorts under his bath towel all along; for some reason, he had just been putting on an act earlier.

He turned around, tying his necktie with his collar turned up around his cheeks. Hearing my words, he looked up, watched me for a few seconds, and then said, “Officer Yu, I won’t hurt you again. You will only ever be yourself; you won’t be turned into someone else, and you won’t die for no reason either.”

“Am I supposed to thank you for your mercy then?” I ground my teeth.

In this minute, I hated him, and I also loathed myself.

Zhang Mingsheng paid no heed to my sarcasm. He continued, “I’ve already sent word to your junior colleagues. They’ve been told that you’re helping the old director of the orphanage with an errand in his hometown and that you’ll be staying in the countryside to recuperate for a while, you’ll be back in two months at most. As for your Shimu, I’ll hire someone to look after her.”

Hearing this explanation, my fingers trembled. I asked, “Do you really think they’ll believe that?”

“I think you should have more faith in me,” Zhang Mingsheng said, lifting his wrist to fasten his cufflink. “I’m confident I can keep you hidden for two months.”

I remained silent.

Zhang Mingsheng flicked his eyes up to look at me and added, “Ah Chao, your juniors are very capable. Think about it; while you’re away, Li Yi will transform into the most promising young officer of his generation in Hong Kong, and your junior sister will cross the ocean to pursue her dreams elsewhere. Hong Kong is calm right now; nothing will happen to them, so there’s no need for you to watch over them every single moment.”

He had finally finished getting dressed. He walked toward me barefoot. As he came closer, he lifted a hand and reached out to touch my cheek.

I tilted my head to avoid him.

He gave a small smile and lowered his hand. “Protecting yourself is what matters most.” He spoke.

I stared at him fixedly. “You are throwing away a chance to start over.”

“Would you really start over with me?” Zhang Mingsheng’s expression was weary.

I was suddenly struck dumb.

“I know you don’t like my way of doing things. You don’t want me to kill.” He reached out again with his fingers lightly brushing my face this time. “But if we play by the rules, you can’t beat Zhang Yaonian.”

“We would find evidence.” I said, my tone softening.

“Evidence?” Zhang Mingsheng laughed abruptly. “Do you have any idea how many lawyers would fight for the chance to work for Zhang Yaonian the moment a card is dropped on the table? Even with evidence, a conviction isn’t guaranteed either. It’s hard for a man to act without leaving a trace, but if he has the power to make others act for him, he has ten thousand ways to wash his hands clean. By then, it’s you and I who will be dead.”

He cupped my face and leaned closer. “You used to visit the newsstands often; surely you read plenty of gossip about me back then. The salaries of the Zhang family lawyers are famously high, why do you think the media dared to follow me? Who do you think authorized it?”

“There are always…” I interrupted him, speaking urgently. “There are always people in this world who hold onto truth and justice. There will always be people working for the sake of the truth.”

“You’re right,” he whispered, leaning in even closer until our noses brushed. “And that is exactly why we cannot let them go to their deaths. Isn’t that right?”

I thought of Zhang Yaonian’s sinister face and asked Zhang Mingsheng in a fit of frustration, “Why? Why on earth does he do all this? For what?”

“Because he only feels joy when he consumes the fear and pain of others. He wants to be an emperor, one who rules over everything. His wife, his children, his grandchildren… they are nothing but bullfrogs on his dinner plate.” Zhang Mingsheng no longer met my gaze directly. Instead, his eyes wandered across my face, and as he watched me, he spoke slowly. “The obedient ones are allowed to live a few days longer; the easily controlled are made to help him polish his dinner knives. And those who dare to leap off the plate? He feeds them to the dogs.”

“……”

Zhang Mingsheng continued, “I once wanted to challenge him. I wanted to do everything he found most intolerable. I had my own family, my own children; I grew stronger by the day while he was withering with age. Back then, I planned to tell him that I would never be his tool. I was even going to tell him that the great-granddaughter he prized so much didn’t have a single drop of Zhang blood in her veins.”

Unbeknownst to me, my eyes had already grown moist.

“But I’m tired now. I don’t want to waste any more time on him. I just want it all to be over,” he looked at me earnestly. “Ah Chao, look at me. Listen to what I’m saying. I truly didn’t understand before why everyone wanted to live for a hundred years. Was their existence not painful? Was their life not a waste? But you saved me that day. And in the so many years that followed, there were many times when I was truly happy.”

He added, “In truth, I died a long time ago; I’ve just been living on borrowed time ever since. You extended my life by several years, and for that, I was very happy. Ah Chao, thank you.”

Zhang Mingsheng lowered his head slightly and kissed my forehead. “Thank you for coming today,” he said. “I hope… that you thought of me too.”

“With all this talk, are you giving me your last words?” I looked at him with sheer resentment.

He laughed and pressed several heavy kisses against me, completely disregarding my pounding fists and struggles. Then he said, “If I were to write a will, the content would be about the distribution of assets; split into four parts, and at the end, I’d write: I love my wife, and my children.”

“Do you even know what love is?”

“I know I’m not qualified to use that word,” his eyes curved into a smile, “but then again, one should respect the dead.”

“There will be another way, there has to be!” There was a note of pleading in my voice now.

“Ah Hai will take you to your favorite restaurant. Get some rest.” Zhang Mingsheng said, abruptly letting go of me.

Between the two of them, and with my broken leg, my chances of escape were practically zero.

The scene felt hauntingly familiar.

I turned my head and shouted at Ah Hai as he stepped forward to pull me away, “Did you hear what he just said? He’s going to commit a crime! He’s going to his death!”

Ah Hai remained unmoved.

“I’ve already promised them that once this is over, they can go back to my aunt’s place.” Zhang Mingsheng said, watching me.

At this moment, Ah Hai had no affection for me, none for Zhang Mingsheng either. He remained loyal to his former master, and Zhang Mingsheng had promised him his freedom.

“Mr. Yu, let’s go.” Ah Hai said, gesturing for me to follow.

“Be careful with him; don’t overstep.” Zhang Mingsheng added, still issuing instructions.

“I’m so stupid. I’ve walked right into the trap again and again,” I said, my head hung low as Ah Hai took me by the arm. I refused to move. “If only I had never saved you back then…”

“You saved me once and also killed me once; originally, it was a fair trade. But you were never happy, and you…” Zhang Mingsheng paused for a beat. “If I die again, you should be happy. I promise you, this time, I will settle everything before I go.”

“You found out something, didn’t you?” I caught his hesitation; it smelled of concealment. I dropped my crutches and lunged forward to grab his collar. “What did you find? Zhang Mingsheng, tell me!”

Ah Hai clamped down on me instantly. In the struggle, my leg was wrenched, and I let out a cry of pain before collapsing against him for support.

Zhang Mingsheng curled his fingers and brushed his knuckles against my cheek; it was a feather-light touch. He said, “Don’t fight with Ah Hai. He doesn’t know his own strength right now.”

With that, he walked past me.

Supported by Ah Hai, I turned and watched his retreating figure. Ah Hai held me in a tight grip, keeping me from chasing after him.

I struggled in his arms, screaming at the silhouette in the hallway, “I curse you to live a hundred years! Zhang Mingsheng! Don’t you dare think you can just walk away! You’ll go to prison! You’ll spend the rest of your life in a place where you’ll never see a bird fly again!”

Zhang Mingsheng raised a hand and gave a slight wave, but he didn’t stop.

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