Young Prime Minister, a Hermit

Chapter 160

Fan Yingying screamed loudly, and chaos erupted at the banquet hall, but even greater chaos was yet to come.

Xu Lie walked a few steps to Jia Lan's side, put his arm around her, and separated her from the crowd. He took out a thick stack of photos from his pocket and said coldly to Xia Yan in a voice that everyone in the room could hear: "There are some things I didn't want to reveal today, but we were classmates after all. Xia Yan, you'd better take a good look and see if this woman has really been waiting for you for a year."

Fan Yingying's face turned deathly pale in an instant. She quickly guessed what kind of scene the photos might depict. She screamed and rushed forward to snatch the photos, but Xia Yan beat her to it, taking the photos in his hands and looking down at them carefully, one by one.

Fan Yingying trembled all over. She cast a vicious glance at Xu Lie and Jia Lan, but under Xu Lie's icy gaze, she shivered. Jia Lan just stared at her blankly, without sorrow, joy, or pity, as if watching a play performed by a group of strangers.

Yingying felt utterly hopeless, but she still refused to give up and walked to Xia Yan's side, choking out, "Xiaodong, don't believe him, don't believe him..."

"Smack—!!" A crisp, heavy sound, along with a burning pain on her cheek, interrupted Fan Yingying's words. Xia Yan's eyes blazed with fury as he cursed, "Bitch!!" He then flung his hand away, scattering the thick stack of photos into the hands of the guests present.

Some people took a look and instantly blushed, their gazes towards Fan Yingying filled with deep disgust and contempt. They looked at Xia Yan, whose face was pale with both hatred and sorrow, with pity. To many women, he was their prince charming, their dream lover, yet he had been deceived and hurt by such a promiscuous woman. How could they bear it? So, their gazes towards Fan Yingying were filled with hatred, wishing they could peel off a layer of her skin.

Amidst the rising and falling condemnations and curses of the crowd, as drops of wine dripped from her hair, and as Xu Lie leisurely smiled and left with Jialan, the disheveled Fan Yingying, in a daze, saw the man in the black suit, her fiancé, not far in front of her, slowly raising a cold smile on his pale face.

She was struck dumb; it was a genuine, cold laugh, not a figment of her imagination. It was a laugh that was a mixture of triumphant satisfaction at the triumph of revenge and cheap pity, a complex mix of emotions, but utterly devoid of any sentimentality or shock.

Ha...hahaha...Yingying suddenly burst into hysterical laughter inside, but no sound came out. She finally realized that this was a trap, and whether it was Xu Lie or Xiao Dong who set it up, their goal was the same: to lift her to heaven and then throw her down to hell.

Yingying knelt on the ground, covering her face and weeping. She had been waiting for Xu Lie's revenge and thought she was mentally prepared for everything. But she never expected that the one who would actually take action would be Xiaodong, the only one she loved and felt indebted to.

Xu Lie, you're ruthless! Jia Lan, you're lucky. So lucky… I dream of cursing you!

Chapter 6 Standoff

Not long after Xu Lie and Jia Lan left the noisy venue, he received a phone call. The call was from the Municipal Police Department; Director Wang asked him if it was possible to arrest Fan Yingying, the suspect in the murder of Li Mao's wife and daughter.

Xu Lie exchanged a few polite words with him before saying indifferently, "Director Wang, I'll trouble you to wait three more days."

Director Wang asked, somewhat puzzled, "Why did General Manager Xu allow her to have three more days of freedom?"

"Carefree?" Xu Lie just smiled nonchalantly. "What does 'carefree' mean to her now, when she's like a rat crossing the street?"

Director Wang paused for a moment, then suddenly realized: "Then let's do as General Manager Xu says. By the way, please give my regards to Boss Xu."

Xu Lie politely agreed and said goodbye. After hanging up the phone, he noticed that Jialan was still staring blankly beside him, her face expressionless, as if her soul had been emptied.

Xu Lie felt a pang of tenderness and gently rubbed her cool face, the smooth touch making him linger: "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing?" Galan replied, avoiding his touch. After a moment of blankness, she whispered, "It's just that images from the past are uncontrollably flashing before my eyes."

Xu Lie couldn't help but hug her, stroking her soft, slightly curly hair again and again, as if to soothe her pain.

Galan's voice remained calm and even, but the desolation in her words made Xu Lie's heart ache: "Xu Lie, is everything over? The one who would argue with the teacher over my miscalculated grades, the one who stood in front of me and argued with the girl who bullied me, the one who said she would marry us at the same time, is it all over? Why do I always feel that she is so close, as if I can reach out and grab her?"

Xu Lie remained silent, only holding her tighter. Having lost her memory, Jia Lan seemed to have lost her insightful wisdom and worldly-wise indifference overnight, but gained a touch of innocent kindness and vulnerability. Xu Lie actually loved this side of Jia Lan more; her bright eyes were as clear as water, her emotions were always on her face, and her gentleness was tempered with strength, making him both admire her and want to hold her in his arms and protect her at all times. Especially since she had forgotten everything that happened in that world, as if her unbelievable experiences were truly just a dream. When she woke up, she was still his wife, Xu Lie, and loved only him.

Therefore, Xu Lie was undoubtedly fortunate, fortunate for the amnesia that made Jialan forget everything, and fortunate for her regaining her sight.

But soon, Xu Lie realized he was wrong. Galan was still the same Galan, with the same face, the same voice, the same eyes, but something seemed to be missing from her, making her incomplete. When Galan looked at him, she would occasionally feel strange emotions, and sometimes her eyes would soften with tenderness, but the deep love she once had was gone.

She was often confused and hesitant, unsure of her own feelings, yet she resolutely rejected herself time and again. That almost instinctive, unwavering rejection began to shake Xu Lie's previously resolute heart, filling him with unease. He vaguely guessed the reason: the man he had never even met in another world—Feng Yihan—even though forgotten by Galan, still stood between them like an insurmountable chasm.

In the days that followed, undercurrents surged in Shanghuai City. An anonymous source delivered a secret ledger from the Huangchao Group, implicating smuggling and money laundering. Already overwhelmed by Ling Yun and Xu Tian's joint pursuit, Huangchao was powerless to cope with this dramatic turn of events. The stock market fluctuated wildly, and the public was filled with anxiety.

On August 5th, Xu Lie, the current president of Xu Tian, held a secret meeting with Shao Feng, a director of Huangchao. The next day, Huangchao solemnly announced that it had finally caught the mole within the company who had violated laws and regulations—Shao Junyi, Shao Feng's cousin who had changed his name and been incorporated into the Shao family genealogy. The entire city of Shanghuai was in an uproar. Newspapers and magazines were filled with conflicting reports, and the attention and discussion about commercial crimes in Shanghuai reached its peak during this period.

Subsequently, Shao Junyi's crimes of embezzling public funds and persecuting employees were exposed one by one. However, when the criminal police arrived at his home with an arrest warrant, they found that he had already disappeared.

For the first few days, Xu Lie was somewhat worried. After all, as Yu Fei had said, even a cornered dog will jump over a wall, and Xu Lie feared he might harm Jialan. However, after nearly a month of meticulous and thorough protection with no sign of trouble, Xu Lie stopped worrying. After all, the arrest warrant had been issued nationwide, Shao Junyi's passport had been revoked, and his bank accounts had been frozen. He was already desperate; how could he possibly hire someone to kill someone? To have this纨绔子弟 (a spoiled, dissolute young man) ruined and forced to flee like a stray dog—such revenge was enough.

On the very day Xu Lie was preparing to withdraw the dozens of bodyguards surrounding Jia Lan, Nie Yufei, who had been missing for three days, suddenly appeared at the gate of the Xu family's main residence. Xu Lie had always thought it was a coincidence: it was just as if Jia Lan had gone to find Xiao Jie and wasn't home that day, it was just as if he had left work early and run into Yufei, and it was just as if the dozens of bodyguards were still around the house.

Xu Lie found it hard to explain his intuition when he saw Yu Fei. He just inexplicably noticed that Yu Fei's already deep eyes had become even more unfathomable, like a black hole. He still had a faint smile on his face, but it seemed as if he had made up his mind about something.

To this day, Yufei is the only connection between Galan and that world, and also the only variable between him and Galan. Therefore, Xu Lie has always been uneasy about his existence, not because of his feelings for Galan that are different from what they seem, but because of his abilities and the possibility of him awakening Galan's memories. This unease has been growing day by day until he saw him again today, and this unease has finally reached its peak.

Xu Lie looked at him, and his first words were nonsensical: "If you want to take her away from me, I will kill you without hesitation." Of course, Xu Lie wouldn't kill anyone, but what he said was the truth. If anyone wanted to take Jialan away from him, he would fight to the death at all costs.

Yufei's pupils contracted, somewhat shocked by his keenness and persistence: "To love someone is to wish her happiness, not to imprison her in the name of love."

Xu Lie scoffed, "That only means you don't love her deeply enough, or that you have no hope of getting her." Galan's gaze wasn't devoid of affection; as long as that affection remained, he would never let her go.

Yu Fei's brown eyes dimmed for a moment, but then brightened gently, a calm smile on his face: "Xu Lie, you should know that her feelings are as delicate and fragile as a spider's thread, easily broken with the slightest force. But her feelings for Feng Yihan are as resilient as a pine tree; even if she forgets him, it cannot shake his position in Jialan's heart in the slightest..."

"Shut up!" Xu Lie growled, knowing full well that Yu Fei was deliberately trying to provoke him, yet he couldn't help but explode in anger. Because what Yu Fei said was true, Xu Lie had to admit that what Yu Fei said was damnably true.

As his anger subsided, Xu Lie's mind became unusually clear, as if frozen in time. He suddenly shuddered, something flashing through his mind. His hand gripped the edge of the sofa, and he said in a deep voice, "You... found a way to restore her memories?!"

Yu Fei's expression changed slightly, though only for a moment, Xu Lie still noticed. Yu Fei quickly stood up from the sofa and said calmly, "Since Jia Lan isn't here, I'll come find her another day."

Yu Fei had only taken a few steps, less than a meter from the door, when Xu Lie's deep, hoarse voice, as eerie as a demon from hell, rang out from behind him: "Nie Yu Fei, if you take another step, I will shoot."

Chapter 7 Desire

Yufei slowly turned around and looked at him coldly: "You think you can keep her like this?"

Xu Lie held a silver pistol in his hand and walked step by step to Yu Fei, the muzzle pressed against his forehead. His face was obscured by the backlight and was completely blurred: "It's none of your business."

Facing the gun, Yufei remained calm, his nonchalant smile making it impossible to guess his thoughts: "So what do you plan to do? Imprison me? And how long can you keep me locked up?"

He paused, then his smile deepened: "Xu Lie, believe it or not, even without me, there's someone who can restore Galan's memories and send her back to that world. Once Galan remembers everything, your so-called affection will mean nothing."

Xu Lie's hand gripping the gun trembled violently, his mind in turmoil. In that instant, a brilliant light flashed in Yu Fei's eyes, and his figure moved like a ghost. He grabbed Xu Lie's wrist with one hand, pointing the gun upwards, while his other hand swiftly struck Xu Lie's chest like lightning.

Xu Lie had been distracted by Yu Fei's words and hadn't noticed Yu Fei's counterattack, but he was no ordinary fighter. When Yu Fei's slender fingers pointed at his chest, he remembered what Wu Jing had said: Yu Fei knew pressure point techniques.

This must be martial arts from that world. Xu Lie dared not be careless and decisively released his grip on the spear and retreated. The two exchanged blows for only three seconds, but the danger involved was indescribable.