“Severe malnutrition, multiple soft tissue contusions, three fractured ribs, and his head appears to have suffered a very severe impact. All the phalanges of his right hand were likely smashed and were not treated in a timely manner, so they have now healed incorrectly. Even with surgical repairs, he cannot fully recover their function. His vocal cords are fine, and we haven’t figured out yet why he cannot speak. It might be due to a stress reaction or the effects of medication.”
The family doctor reported the examination results with trembling apprehension. “The most serious issue is his glands, which have shown signs of atrophy due to having too much Alpha pheromone extracted. We preliminarily estimate his mental power level is around Grade A, and we will have to wait for Dr. Wu to return from vacation for something more specific.”
Chu Yanqi raised an eyebrow. “Turns out he is an Alpha, and a Grade A at that. I never smelled his pheromones, so I thought he was actually a Beta. Tsk, how did a Grade A Alpha end up like this?”
“If continuous treatment is provided, his condition should improve. But if President Chu treats him the way he did before, I am afraid…”
Chu Yanqi let out a cold laugh. “Brother, your reputation is truly terrible.”
Chu Yanyan calmly shook his head and gave Chu Yanqi a look, prompting her to lead the doctor, who was practically tongue-tied by this point, out of the room.
Only Chu Yanyan remained in the room. He turned on the virtual screen, staring unblinkingly at the man who had just woken up in the surveillance feed with a cold and stern gaze.
“Xiao Yi. Heh.”
He picked up the wine glass beside him, lowered his eyes, and repeatedly stroked the cold rim of the cup as he stepped across the thick wool carpet and walked slowly into the inner room.
From the moment he entered, the man had been secretly curled up under the blanket watching him.
Chu Yanyan took a sip of wine and sat down on the edge of the bed. The man shivered but did not move.
“You know not to bite this time. There is improvement.”
Xiao Yi stiffened, his entire body trembling like chaff in the wind.
Chu Yanyan touched the exposed gray-and-white hair with a smile that did not quite reach his eyes, then placed a piece of candy by the pillow. “I will be away these next few days. Be a good boy, stay here to recuperate, and take your medicine properly. Your health is the most important thing.”
The electronic lock on the door automatically turned and clicked shut. Xiao Yi’s intact fingers tightly clenched the mattress beneath him, and he lay there in a daze for a long time.
The warmth of that gentleman’s palm still lingered on his forehead. Xiao Yi slowly sat up, still clutching that quilt, and cautiously appraised his surroundings.
Dull, warm lighting poured down from above, illuminating a simple desk and a chair. There were no instruments of torture and no cages.
Am I dreaming?
Or is the illness in my head even more serious than before?
He stared at the piece of candy at a complete loss, completely unaware that his expression was being taken in by Chu Yanyan completely.
“Do you think he really has amnesia?” Chu Yanyan added a few ice cubes to his wine, gazing meaningfully at the small grid of surveillance footage on the virtual screen.
Chu Yanqi shrugged. “Perhaps? To be fair, it is a miracle he survived after suffering so many injuries, but after all, he is someone who stayed by Ying Yu’s side for so long, so it is hard to say. His fingerprints and DNA have already been sent over, and his true identity should be figured out very soon. If there were no issues with his glands, using pheromones to confirm his identity would be even faster.”
Dazzling lights wavered slightly across the crimson liquid. Chu Yanyan leisurely selected a document regarding the acquisition of a fleet on his tablet, browsing through it as he spoke. “The name he registered under at the slave market is Xiao Yi.”
Chu Yanqi paused in surprise, then stood up and slammed her hand heavily onto the table. “What? Why is that name? Could Ying Yu have done this on purpose?”
“Why couldn’t it be that name? The first and last digits of his code are both 1.” Chu Yanyan didn’t even raise his head, laughing sarcastically. “With such a perfunctory name, it is not as if nobody else could use it.”
“But this name…”
Chu Yanyan tapped the table with the corner of his tablet and said solemnly, “Enough with the buts. It is just a name. Do not busy yourself with romance these next few days. Use whatever method it takes to figure out what is going on with this Xiao Yi. Whether his amnesia is real or fake, the answer cannot be perhaps.”
“And you?”
The tablet landed softly upon the stack of documents. Chu Yanyan spread his hands. “I have some business to attend to and will be heading out. You won’t be able to reach me during this time.”
“Wait. Did you say whatever method it takes? Surely you are not playing that trick again of one playing the good cop and the other the bad cop.”
Chu Yanyan raised his eyebrows and said nothing.
“And then you go off to enjoy yourself? Let me make it clear first. If he dares to do anything, like biting or injuring people again, I will not be so gentle with a slave.”
Chu Yanyan turned his head slightly and smiled at the man on the surveillance screen. “I truly do have business to attend to. A debt-collecting business.”
Saying it was debt collection was not actually a lie to Chu Yanqi.
A casual glance through the pile of bad accounts left behind by the estate’s previous owner was enough to unearth a headache-inducing sum.
There was even an ongoing transaction involving Ying Yu.
In fact, under Chu Yanyan’s instruction, the negotiations had already reached their final stage. Chu Yanyan was merely going through the motions, but this usually gentle and polite President Chu casually chatted right before signing, adding quite a few issues that gave the opposing team headaches.
It caused the other party to repeatedly make excuses to go outside with their advisor before the final acquisition matters were finally settled.
This batch of bad accounts was written off completely, and Chu Yanyan even acquired a large share of stocks for free.
He absentmindedly flipped through the newly bound agreement from the other party, experiencing a momentary daze when his eyes landed on the sweeping signature of Ying Yu on one of the attached pages.
Afterwards, he picked up the pen handed over by his secretary and skillfully signed the name Chu Yanyan at the very bottom.
The officials responsible for registration and verification sitting nearby wiped the sweat from their foreheads, nodded toward the solemn-faced individuals opposite them, and then smiled to smooth things over. “President Chu, tonight at Wuyou Pavilion, I am hosting. Everyone must come, you truly must give me this honor.”
The atmosphere instantly relaxed considerably, and someone even began introducing local delicacies to Chu Yanyan.
Chu Yanyan returned a faint smile and waved his hand. “I am truly sorry, I already made plans with someone for tonight, but it is still early, and I quite fancy taking a stroll around…”
He glanced around the surroundings, his gaze landing overhead. “…right here.”
It was said that Ying Yu had loved racing for a period of time, playing with all kinds of vehicles and even getting involved in flier racing arenas. Therefore, after setting up his own racing team, he had personally invested a great deal of effort into managing it.
It seemed those words were not false; Ying Yu even had an office here. It was just that he had transferred and sold off the racing team and some assets before his death, and apparently, he had not finished hammering out all the details before meeting his end.
Chu Yanyan leaned on his cane, standing in front of that spacious office, looking through the glass wall on one side at the interior layout. Golden sunlight spilled onto the pure white floor, and aside from a minimalist desk in the exact center and a safe against the wall, there were no other furnishings.
Before he could even make a move, the door lock automatically identified the visitor’s identity. Chu Yanyan’s face flashed across the virtual screen, and after producing a beep, the door unlocked from the inside.
A scent mixed with leather and sealed-away metal rushed over his face.
“This…” The manager following behind Chu Yanyan frowned. “President Chu, previously President Ying never activated this office. Could it be that it has malfunctioned due to sitting unused for too long?”
“It is fine.”
Chu Yanyan smiled and took the lead walking inside. He very naturally sat down in that oversized office chair, stretched out his hand, and casually flipped over the only small trinket on the desk, an electronic hourglass.
The golden flowing sand slowly drifted downward. Chu Yanyan raised his cane and pointed toward the safe nearby. “Are the things inside here President Ying’s personal items?”
“No, nobody has ever entered this office, so it should be empty inside,” the manager answered apprehensively, terrified of accidentally stepping on the other person’s landmines. Who didn’t know that the President Chu before them was at odds with the former President Ying? Their group hadn’t even laid eyes on President Ying, so they certainly shouldn’t be implicated.
“Then open it.” Chu Yanyan raised an eyebrow.
Since it had never been touched, the password remained the default one, and opening it did not take much time. However, it was not empty inside.
“President Chu. It seems to be a letter addressed to you? How is this possible?” The manager hurriedly bent down, picked up the envelope inside, and just as he wanted to hand it over, he was blocked by Chu Yanyan’s assistant.
After checking the outer shell of the envelope, the assistant hesitated for a moment. “President Chu, it is marked for your personal eyes only. Do we still need to open it for a security system scan first?”
Chu Yanyan stared at the letter and remained silent for a moment. “No need. Give it to me.”
The handwriting on the envelope belonged to Ying Yu, reading To be personally opened by Chu Yanyan. Chu Yanyan slowly tore open the envelope and dumped the contents out.
There were only a few thin sheets of paper. The paper was very new and very ordinary, looking as if it had been torn out from some ubiquitous notebook.
“Chu Yanyan, I hope this letter finds you well. When you see this letter, I must already be dead, and President Chu must have attended my funeral as well. After much deliberation, I figured I should still leave some last words for you…” Chu Yanyan read through the contents of the letter at a glance. Most of it consisted of a mocking recollection of the losses Chu Yanyan had suffered at Ying Yu’s hands, though Ying Yu didn’t mention a single word about what Chu Yanyan had taken from him.
What did Ying Yu mean by this? Chu Yanyan regulated his breathing, licked his lips, and continued reading.
The handwriting at the beginning was still quite neat, but the further down it went, the more sloppy it became, appearing almost emotional to Chu Yanyan’s eyes.
Chu Yanyan curled his fingers, unconsciously tapping on the desk. Had Ying Yu anticipated before his death that he would come here today and left this in advance, or had he not died at all, and upon knowing that he would come, secretly had someone place it inside?
“Right, to celebrate how many days it has been since my death anniversary, there is a gift I sent President Chu inside this office, a tiny time bomb. President Chu already activated it upon opening the door, and once the hourglass finishes running out, President Chu will get to go to hell together with me.”
Upon seeing that scrawled handwritten addition, Chu Yanyan directly crushed the piece of paper into a ball, the friction of the paper sounding particularly harsh in the empty office.
He stood up, swept his gaze over the crowd of people standing before him, his gaze lazy yet stern.
Only the sound of fine sand sliding remained in the office. In the middle of the dwindling sand was a massive indentation formed by gravity. Chu Yanyan leaned against the desk with genuine interest. “President Ying says that there is a time bomb in this office.”
The people below instantly descended into chaos. A few individuals who tried to run were directly blocked at the door by Chu Yanyan’s assistants.
Fliers and small starships streaked rapidly past behind him. Chu Yanyan stared at each person’s expression, slowly flattening and folding the letter paper before putting it into his pocket, speaking one word at a time. “Do not be anxious. Let us see if President Ying is willing to let you accompany me to the grave.”