Chapter 2: The Plot

“Please… take me away…”
“Hey, where did this filthy monkey come from? Let go of Sir!”
One of the youths holding an umbrella turned toward the man beneath it with an aggrieved look. “Sir, look at this filthy fellow.”
The person beneath the umbrella seemed to chuckle. The man's low laugh mingled with the rain yet was not diminished in the slightest, clear and cool as a cold moon over a mountain valley.
“If you rolled down from there, you would look just as wretched as he does.”
The youth pouted unconvinced, but did not dare say anything more.
The other youth holding an umbrella crouched down and tried to pry Su Qing's hand from the man's trouser leg, only to discover in surprise that Su Qing was gripping rather hard.
He looked up in silent question and happened to meet the man's downward gaze.
The youth hurriedly looked away, yet still felt the pressure as the man bent down.
“Sir?” Both youths were startled.
The man's pale, well-jointed hand paused in midair. Before his eyes flashed a pair of rain-wet doe eyes—pure and vivid—straining upward as they begged him, “Save me… take me away…”
And there was that hand that seemed determined to hold on to him with its last ounce of strength.
His palm covered the back of Su Qing's cold hand and gently eased it away, the contact vanishing almost as soon as it came.
There was no need to pry his hand loose. Su Qing no longer had the strength to hold on and had already let go.
The man withdrew his hand and straightened. “Find him a hospital.”
His light voice made it sound almost casual.
“Yes…” the two youths answered in surprise, exchanging glances.
–
After a night had passed, the heavy rain seemed to have washed all the grime from River City.
The bustling city once again revealed its glossy, glamorous face, drawing countless dreamers toward it in an endless stream.
Su Qing had once been one of them.
He had been admitted to River City University of Political Science and Law, hoping to change his fate there and bring some hope to his impoverished family.
Everything changed during his sophomore year. Su Qing's father developed a gambling addiction and fell into debt to loan sharks. Their already-poor family sank even deeper and could no longer support two people through university.
His stepsister, Su Xi, had depended on him since childhood. He could not simply protect himself and ignore her.
So he suspended his studies and entered the entertainment industry, starting as a background extra.
Part of the money he earned through hard work went toward repaying debts, while the rest covered Su Xi's enormous expenses at an arts college.
That continued until Su Xi was nearing graduation in her senior year and met Li Haitian.
The domineering CEO paid off the Su family's debts in one stroke, then began a three-year saga of tortured love with Su Xi.
Su Xi maintained the persona of a gentle little white flower and kindhearted Cinderella: on the one hand stubbornly enduring other people's bullying in silence, on the other loftily refusing Li Haitian's help.
This time was Su Xi's second attempt to run away. It began when she discovered that she had become pregnant after spending a night with her company's highest-ranking boss—Li Haitian.
She thought Li Haitian would never accept it, so she planned to hide somewhere far away and secretly give birth alone.
But the wealthy and powerful Li Haitian soon found her. The two temporarily cleared up some of their misunderstandings, and Li Haitian even decided to become engaged to her to prove his feelings.
If the novel had ended there, none of this would have had anything to do with Su Qing.
Unfortunately, this was not even a fraction of the way into the plot. The real focus came later: Su Xi fleeing while pregnant, followed by the male lead's agonizing pursuit to win his wife back.
Su Qing, meanwhile, died right at the beginning. Cannon fodder among cannon fodder.
As one of the heroine's bizarre family members who dragged her down, he played an important role.
Looking forward, his death at the engagement banquet would become the catalyst for the heroine's final pregnant escape, powerfully pushing the plot ahead.
Looking backward, every time the heroine bravely defied the domineering CEO, Su Qing became the outlet for Li Haitian's rage.
Li Haitian's character setting was a domineering, paranoid madman. More plainly, he was a violently abusive lunatic with no reason whatsoever—a classic male lead from an old-school melodramatic novel.
“It's chilly; bankrupt the Wangs.” Once Li Haitian got angry, someone always ended up dead or injured, and even the laws of modern society were powerless against him.
But how could the gentle, kind heroine truly be bullied? What would be the point of having a male lead then?
That was Su Qing's role in the early part of the story: to suffer in Su Xi's place.
“Are you seriously going to keep being this stupid? Why are you getting involved in Su Xi and her man's business? You're the one who gets hurt every single time. Has Su Xi ever really cared about you?” All she ever offered was hypocritical concern.
“This time was even worse! They dragged you away in broad daylight! Does that Li Haitian really think he's the emperor and nobody can touch him?!”
Xiang Mingyuan paced back and forth in fury. What he really wanted to say was, Stop letting your sister fool you.
But knowing how deeply Su Qing cared for her, he could only angrily curse Li Haitian several more times instead.
Finally he delivered his verdict: “Let those two lunatics torment each other forever. A rotten pot and a rotten lid—they're a perfect match!”
“Pfft.” A soft laugh came from the hospital bed.
Xiang Mingyuan stared at him. “You're still laughing!” How could he laugh at a time like this?!
“Sorry. I just… feel really touched.” Su Qing leaned against the headboard as he spoke.
Truly. He was deeply grateful for this friend's concern.
From childhood onward, everyone around him had eyes only for Su Xi. If anything bad happened, somehow it was always his fault.
Only now did he understand that it was the heroine's halo at work.
Perhaps Xiang Mingyuan was less affected because he had only met Su Qing after Su Qing entered university and had not spent much time around Su Xi.
Even when Su Qing himself had still been unable to see Su Xi's true nature, Xiang Mingyuan had been the first to warn him not to keep sending her money and to think more about himself.
Meeting Su Qing's sincerely grateful gaze, Xiang Mingyuan let out a breath and sat down beside the bed.
What kind of ridiculous situation was this?
A single CEO could really cover the sky with one hand and imprison Su Qing for so long.
Just last week, Su Qing had finished filming a drama and happily invited him out to eat. While Su Qing was walking along the road, several large men had gotten out of a van and hauled him away.
Xiang Mingyuan had wanted to call the police, but stopped when Su Qing said the man behind it was his stepsister's boyfriend.
He had thought they were only taking Su Qing away to ask a few questions. Who could have imagined there would be no news afterward?
The next time he saw Su Qing was last night, lying in a hospital room, covered in injuries and weak beyond belief.
“Qing…”
“Mm?”
“Aaaah…” Xiang Mingyuan raked his hands through his hair in frustration. “Anyway, just rest properly for now!”
He had spent the entire morning raging on Su Qing's behalf. The moment Su Qing woke up, he had started talking.
Su Qing had listened seriously with a smile the whole time, calmer than Xiang Mingyuan, an outsider, and no longer brushing him off the way he used to.
But however much Xiang Mingyuan said, nothing mattered more than Su Qing figuring it out for himself and truly staying out of Su Xi's affairs from now on.
What he did not know was that none of this had ever been something Su Qing could decide.
Perhaps Su Qing could choose to keep his distance from Su Xi and Li Haitian, but they would not let him go—especially Li Haitian.
Su Qing lowered his eyes, hiding the pain in them.
Xiang Mingyuan thought Su Qing was hurting again. “What's wrong? Where does it hurt this time? Should I call the doctor? I told you not to rush to leave the hospital. You should stay here and recover a while longer.”
“No…” Su Qing raised a hand to show there was no need to call anyone and forced a smile.
That only made him look even more pitiful.
Xiang Mingyuan disagreed. “Stop trying to tough it out. Since that gentleman who saved you yesterday booked you a VIP room, why not make use of it?”
He was willing to call last night's living Lei Feng his rich daddy.
The man had not only gotten Su Qing to the hospital in time, but had also arranged the best possible care for him.
They were both powerful big shots, so why was Li Haitian such human garbage?!
As for why Xiang Mingyuan, of all his friends, had been contacted, Su Qing remembered the trouser leg he had clutched before losing consciousness and the note in his hand.
He had never expected the great villain from the original novel to be so dependable.
The man was nothing like the cold, vicious, merciless figure described in the book.
“You really don't need to contact your manager?” Unable to win against Su Qing, Xiang Mingyuan helped him pack up for discharge.
“No.” Su Qing gave the same answer. There was no need for too many people to know that Li Haitian had locked him in a dark room.
Xiang Mingyuan was his only close friend, a brother he could trust. That was why the phone number Su Qing had written on the note was his.
“I already texted Sister Yue. I'll rest at home for the next few days.” Besides, he had just finished filming a web drama and was already supposed to be on vacation.
“All right, I get it.” Xiang Mingyuan sighed. It really would not be good for outsiders to see the injuries on Su Qing's body.
There was not much to pack in the hospital room: a few changes of clothes Xiang Mingyuan had brought over. The toiletries were all provided by the VIP ward.
Xiang Mingyuan supported Su Qing as they left. The entire floor was made up of VIP rooms, and since this was a private hospital frequented by prominent people who valued privacy, there was almost no one in the corridor.
Amused, Su Qing said he was not weak enough to need this much help.
Xiang Mingyuan was just about to retort irritably that he was not exactly thrilled to wait on him either when Su Qing's face suddenly turned deathly pale, as though he had encountered a mortal enemy.
Looking closely, every muscle in his body was trembling. He bit hard on his lip and could only remain standing by gripping Xiang Mingyuan.
Hatred—and fear…
–
Half an hour earlier, Assistant Huo had waited in an upstairs hospital room for Li Haitian to wake up.
Except President Li, who had taken a donkey's kick straight to the forehead, looked as though he had become a completely different person.
He would not even let them call him “President” anymore.
“Just call me President Li. Don't bother with all that…” unnecessary stuff.
“Uh, President Li.” After confirming that Li Haitian had not somehow been replaced by someone else, Assistant Huo changed his form of address and probed carefully, “President Li, Su Qing has been locked in your villa for three days now?”
“Oh. Has he realized his mistake?” Li Haitian froze. What the hell had just come out of his mouth?!
Assistant Huo: “…No. But he already pried the door open and escaped.”
The president was still the same president after all. At least the outer shell had not changed.
Author's Note: Thank you to reader “xixaxia Rosy-Cloud Pillar” for +1 bottle of nutrient solution.
Reader “Misty Rain, Live Out My Life” watered with +2 bottles of nutrient solution.
Finger heart~