Day: September 19, 2024

       The air in the old house had the faint smell of sandalwood, making it easy to relax. The sound of cicadas outside the window was a little noisy, but it easily brought him back to the past. Lying on the bed, many old things from his youth came to mind. He fell asleep thinking about it, and when he woke up, it was already sunrise.

       He slowly got out of bed. When the middle-aged man waiting in the hall saw him coming downstairs, he nodded and greeted, “Young Master Yun.”

       “Du Chuan.” Chu Yunhan searched his mind briefly before recalling this name, “Long time no see.”

       Du Chuan was the housekeeper personally selected by Chu Yu. He had been with Chu Yichen since he was young and was responsible for taking care of all his daily life. In his impression, this man always had a gentle and refined demeanour, never lost his temper, and was always calm and composed. He did things in a very orderly manner, almost never making any mistakes.

       “Yes. Are you having breakfast now?”

       “Yeah.” He responded and sat down at the dining table.

       Plain porridge, small side dishes, accompanied by two or three types of Chinese dim sum—these were still the old man’s habits. He ate slowly and methodically, biting into the shrimp filling, and asked, “Is this still Aunt Wang’s cooking?”

       “Yes.”

       “Have you eaten yet? Why don’t we sit down and have something?”

       “I’ve eaten; enjoy your meal.”

       The attempt to get closer had failed. Chu Yunhan pretended to ask casually, “How has Jiahui been lately?”

       “I’m not sure about Miss Zhou’s situation.”

       “Has she come here to see me?”

       “No.”

       He frowned, “No? Not even once?”

       “Yes.”

       How could that be? Jiahui usually loved inviting him out for meals, but it had been three months without any contact—but not even once had she reached out to him?

       “Did Chu Yichen say something to her?” Chu Yunhan raised his eyebrows, “What lies did he make up to deceive her?”

       “I don’t know.”

       He said angrily, “Interesting. You spend every day with that master of yours, but you don’t know anything?”

       Du Chuan remained silent, his expression still impeccably polite, leaving no room for criticism.

       Chu Yunhan knew that there was no point in arguing with him, so he put down his spoon and said, “Arrange a car for me. I want to go out.”

       “The young master has told me that you need to stay at home for the time being.”

       He was startled, “…What do you mean?”

       “Without the Young Master’s consent, I cannot arrange for you to go out.”

       Chu Yunhan asked in disbelief, “He wants to lock me here?”

       No response was equivalent to a tacit admission.

       “Ha, ‘lose everything’, that’s what it is.” He angrily kicked the table leg, trying to calm his emotions, “Did he say how long he would lock me up?”

       “No.”

       “I want to see him. Where is he?”

       “The Young Master is out.”

       “When will he come back?”

       “I don’t know.”

       “…” He sat dejectedly for a while and said gloomily, “Let me know when he gets back. That’s not too much to ask, is it?”

       “Alright, Young Master Yun.” The butler responded politely.

       His phone had been taken away by the bodyguards the night he was caught. There was no TV signal in the room, and the curved display screen could only be used for playing single-player games. Although he was allowed to move freely within the mansion, the scope of his movement was limited to his room and some ‘accessible’ common areas, such as dining rooms, libraries, and hot spring pools. When he tried to enter the computer control room, he was stopped coldly by the bodyguard. Du Chuan told him tactfully that permission was required to enter the computer room.

       Who’s approval was needed? It’s obvious. That person had completely confined him, cutting off all possible connections with the outside world. Chu Yunhan patiently waited for a full three days, but Chu Yichen still hadn’t returned. When he asked Du Chuan, the only response he got was—Young Master was busy.

       Yeah right. What was he busy with? He just wanted to avoid seeing him.

       At first, he could pass the time playing games and reading books, but as time went on, everything started to feel meaningless. After all, he had spent the past few years living a carefree life, travelling, vacationing, horseback riding, skiing, playing golf, racing cars, chasing young models, and partying in nightclubs—living it up. Now, confined to this small space with no entertainment, it was unbearably frustrating, and what made him even more anxious was the lack of news about Jiahui and his mother.

       Chu Yunhan paced around his room like an ant on a hot pan every day. As the days went by, his anxiety continued to churn and was forcibly suppressed, making it a real torment. With half a month passing and Chu Yichen showing no intention of appearing, he steeled himself and began a hunger strike.

       Sure enough, on the third day of his hunger strike, when his legs were weak from hunger, Du Chuan came upstairs and asked him to come down, saying that Chu Yichen was back.

       The man was wearing a dark brown silk home suit and was sitting on the large sofa in the study room reading documents. Hei Yu stood behind him, bowing and talking to him from time to time.

       Chu Yunhan was impatient. He sat on the opposite sofa and asked bluntly, “How long do you plan to lock me up?”

       The man flipped through the documents in his hand and said, without even raising his head, “Why? Are you tired of living here?”

       How could you not get tired? There was nothing in this miserable place. He kept his words in his heart and said in a low voice, “I want to go out to see Jiahui. You can also send someone to follow me.” After saying that, seeing that the other party did not react, he quickly added a guarantee, “I won’t cause you trouble.”

       “Jiahui went to Northern Europe to relax and won’t be back for the time being.”

       Chu Yunhan was stunned, “Why would she go there?”

       Chu Yichen raised his eyes and looked at him lightly without answering.

       That look made his heart pound. It took him a long time to figure it out, and his face became hot. The purpose of sending Jiahui far away was to prevent her from getting involved in the rebellion he started. Not only would it be embarrassing for her to be in the middle of a brotherly rivalry, but it could also be dangerous if things got out of hand. He had vaguely thought of this at the time, but the situation was urgent, and he was led by the grey wolf half-heartedly, so there was no way he could take care of so much. Chu Yichen obviously considered the problem much more carefully than he did.

       “Then…when will she come back?”

       “You don’t need to know.” The man cut off the conversation, “You and she will never have the chance to meet again.”

       Chu Yunhan sat stiffly, his throat dry, “You want to lock me up for the rest of your life?”

       “Now you understand what it means to have nothing?”

       He felt a chill all over as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, cold from head to toe. This guy was serious. When they gave him the choice of life or death, they had already prepared for this, intending to imprison him for life.

       Was this what the so-called heir’s education has produced? So cruel.

       What was the point of living as a prisoner, even if he lived a long life with good clothes and fine food? But when the words ‘Then just kill me’ came to his lips, he couldn’t say them out. He was afraid that the person’s understatement of ‘Okay’ would really turn him into a cold corpse. He was afraid of death.

       He wanted to live; even if locked up, he still wanted to live.

       How sad.

       He hated himself for being so weak and stupid.

       His eyes turned red unknowingly. Chu Yunhan stood up and walked out. A man’s deep voice came from behind him, “If you think the hunger strike is interesting, feel free to continue.”

       He paused, gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

       You wanted me to commit suicide? But I won’t go along with your wishes.

       He walked out of the study quickly and said to Du Chuan in the hall, “I’m hungry. Prepare a meal for me.”

       The imprisonment continued, and Chu Yunhan’s mind was filled with thoughts of how to escape except for eating and sleeping every day. After waiting for a full week, he finally got the chance. Early that morning, Du Chuan informed him that he was temporarily staying in his room and was not allowed to go out. He also sent two bodyguards to guard the door. He knew that someone he knew must have come to the old house.

       When he was a child, the old man also set up curfews. He would often sneak out in the middle of the night to join his friends for fun and practice his ability to climb the balcony and jump into the water pipe. Now he rummaged through the box and found the old rope he had used. He crouched on the balcony, looked around carefully, and, taking advantage of the moment when no one was watching, swiftly slid down the pipe.

       After having lived there for so long and scouting the area several times in recent days, he carefully made his way forward, hiding and avoiding detection. He had been hiding behind a shelf in the east wing storage room for a long time before finally hearing sounds from the garden outside. Peering through a small window, he saw the back of someone in a pink dress, and his heart leapt with joy, almost causing him to knock over the shelf. Once he managed to calm himself down, he crouched by the window and imitated a few bird calls.

       This was a game they used to play when they were kids. He would spend all day playing and running around with Chu Minran, causing a ruckus in the courtyard. Chu Yichen, with his calm demeanour, mostly spent his time reading but would occasionally join in their games. Zhou Jiahui was the daughter of the little brother of Chu Yunhan’s mother, Zhou Yuran. With the younger sibling often bedridden due to poor health, Zhou Yuran would frequently bring her to stay with them. The little girl was very cute and won the old man’s affection, and also repeatedly called him ‘Yunhan ge’. Because she was young, she could never find them during hide-and-seek and would end up crying in frustration. Chu Yunhan would mimic bird calls to draw her attention so she could find him, and then he would help her look for the others.

       This sound was like a secret code between the two of them. When they grew up, they always liked to joke like this. As soon as he called twice, Zhou Jiahui turned around in surprise. It took her a long time to see him through the small window.

       Chu Yunhan hurriedly made a silent gesture and winked at her desperately. Jiahui came out to answer the phone and was very surprised to see him, but she saw that he looked anxious and did not look like he was playing around. Then she avoided others and quietly entered the storage room.

       “Why are you here? Yichen ge just said that you…” She was interrupted before she could finish her words. Chu Yunhan said anxiously, “I don’t have time to explain. Lend me your mobile phone.”

       When he got the phone, his hands were shaking. He hurriedly pressed a series of numbers and sent a message with only four words.

       “Help me. Chu Yunhan.”

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