Chapter 696 — Visiting An Liwen

The kidney-harvesting ring he had built up through so much effort, wiped out just like that by the police? An Liwen was in agony—but that was not even the worst of it. The worst was that one of his own kidneys had been cut out, and barring any accident, that kidney was most likely inside Zhong Yongliang right now!

An Liwen had no intention of losing a kidney. He wanted to find Zhong Yongliang and trade it back—but he did not dare. A kidney mattered, yes, but weighed against his life it was nothing. Once the police learned that he was the head of the harvesting ring, what awaited him would be far worse than prison; execution by firing squad was a very real possibility!

So An Liwen was caught between a rock and a hard place, left to stew in his hospital room. When the police came to see him, he had to put on the air of a victim, pitiful and suffering beyond words... In fact he truly was suffering, so he gave nothing away.

Only his identity had not stayed hidden after all. An Liwen had thought of inventing a name, but that would only make things harder to explain once the police saw through it. Better to give them his real name; that was safer.

What An Liwen never expected was that two people he knew would come to visit him in his hospital room!

Chen Yuxuan had not expected Qiu Lingshan to call him of her own accord. He was thrilled, and at the same time uneasy and suspicious—what did Qiu Lingshan want with him?

Qiu Lingshan had not expected that among the list of victims Liu Wangli reported, there would be An Liwen—one of the once-famous Four Young Masters of Songshan! Of course, Qiu Lingshan had not a shred of goodwill toward pampered young masters like him, which was also why she felt not a trace of goodwill toward Chen Yuxuan. They did nothing but lean on their family name, throwing their weight around in public and posing as free spirits. Strip away the family's power, and what was left?

Chen Yuxuan had changed a great deal these past few years, but Qiu Lingshan still felt nothing for him. At most their relationship was a little better than before—ordinary friends, you might say. And since he was an ordinary friend, it was only proper that she inform Chen Yuxuan when something had happened to An Liwen.

Besides, loathe An Liwen as she did, he was still one of the more important figures in the city, and Qiu Lingshan had to pay him a visit in person.

Qiu Lingshan called Chen Yuxuan and asked him to go with her to the hospital to see An Liwen. However one looked at it, Qiu Lingshan asking him out alone made Chen Yuxuan happy! It was only that An Liwen should have had a kidney cut out by a harvesting ring that struck Chen Yuxuan as bizarre. Yesterday, when they were drinking, the man had been perfectly fine; today he was in a hospital bed. Chen Yuxuan found it rather tragic.

Qiu Lingshan was cold and aloof the whole way, her small face cool and utterly without warmth. Chen Yuxuan had plenty he wanted to say but no idea how to begin. He made a few harmless remarks, and Qiu Lingshan responded with indifference, leaving him nothing to do but smile bitterly.

It looked as though his chances really were slim! One remark from Qiu Lingshan in particular killed his hopes outright—he felt there was no hope for him in this lifetime!

"I've broken through to the late Yellow rank from the mid Yellow rank. What level are you at now?" At that moment, Qiu Lingshan was thanking Wei Zhao from the bottom of her heart. If not for him, she never would have broken through!

"I..." What could Chen Yuxuan do but smile bitterly? He had only recently advanced to the early Yellow rank; forget the mid stage, he had not even reached the peak of the early stage. Compared with Qiu Lingshan's late Yellow rank, the gulf was like heaven and earth!

"Chen Yuxuan, I hope you can see yourself clearly. The gap between us is too great; we're not suited to each other." Qiu Lingshan knew what was in Chen Yuxuan's heart; she simply had not expected that after all these years he still could not let go.

"Not suited..." Chen Yuxuan sighed. Qiu Lingshan was not about to give him the slightest chance!

"Do you think you could ever beat me?" Qiu Lingshan lifted her head and fixed her eyes on Chen Yuxuan. "I've told you before, I don't like men who are weaker than I am. When have you ever been assertive in front of me? Not once! Every time you're so spineless—either asking whether I have time, or asking whether you have a chance. Look at what you've done! If you really had strength, then be assertive once and let me see it!"

Assertive... Chen Yuxuan sighed again. How could I be assertive? You're a late Yellow rank expert; I'm only early Yellow rank. How am I supposed to be assertive? Wouldn't you just kick me flying?

Seeing Chen Yuxuan say nothing, Qiu Lingshan shook her head. Weaker than her he might be, but he had never even had the heart to be assertive—he did not even dare to imagine it! That kind of temperament was simply not something Qiu Lingshan could accept. Even if she did accept it, bringing him back to the Song family would probably make her a laughingstock; people who didn't know better would think she had taken a live-in husband!

If this were Wei Zhao, he would probably have exploded long ago! But then... if it were Wei Zhao, would she dare ask him such a stupid question as "could you ever beat me"? Probably not... Wei Zhao would certainly throw that "brain-dead girl" nickname right back at her.

A wave of grievance washed over Qiu Lingshan. Comparing yourself to others was enough to make you die of frustration—she was such a forceful person, so how was it that Wei Zhao trampled her until she had not a spark of temper left? Never mind. She still needed him to crack the case... Qiu Lingshan consoled herself.

An Liwen looked at Qiu Lingshan and Chen Yuxuan, who had suddenly appeared in his hospital room, and misery flooded his heart! It seemed the police outside had not lied to him—the harvesting ring really was finished. Otherwise, Qiu Lingshan could never be standing here safe and sound!

Still, it was just as well. Qiu Lingshan did not know that he was in fact the head of the harvesting ring; otherwise he would not be lying in a hospital bed right now.

"Jianwen, what happened to you? How did you run into something like this?" Chen Yuxuan found the whole thing frankly incredible. When a harvesting ring picked its targets, surely it would not pick a rich young man like An Liwen, driving his sports car? Weren't they afraid of the uproar it would cause afterward?

"I don't know either... Last night, after dinner, I was feeling low. You know I've always had a secret crush on Gu Mengyao, but my confession plan failed yesterday, so I wanted to walk the streets alone to clear my head. Then I fell asleep by the roadside, and when I woke up I knew nothing at all..." An Liwen's account was part truth, part lie. He was not afraid Qiu Lingshan would suspect him—Chen Yuxuan could vouch for him, after all. Yesterday's banquet had indeed broken up on a sour note...