After ninety-nine online romances, I finally met my ex in person when school started.

Meng Wanqing closed her eyes, her breathing gradually becoming rapid. She grabbed Zhu Xunchuan's wrist with her other hand, a blush rising on her fingertips.

Before she could speak, Zhu Xun Chuan's phone, which was on the tea table, vibrated.

Xia Wanying's name flashed on the screen.

Zhu Xunchuan stopped what he was doing, picked up his phone, and swiped to answer the call.

"Guangying is hosting a comeback party for Pei Yanyu at the Peninsula Hotel." Xia Wanying's voice was crisp and clear, with a hint of coldness. "I just received a report from the security supervisor that the entire banquet hall has lost power, the backup power supply can't be switched on, and the fire doors in the emergency exit have been jammed from the outside with hydraulic locks."

Zhu Xun Chuan's eyes turned cold.

"The remnants of the Chen family?"

"Most likely," Xia Wanying sneered. "Chen Pojun is in jail, and those rabid dogs he's been keeping, which he hasn't had time to clean up, are eager to bite people. They want to cause a stampede, or take advantage of the darkness to ruin Pei Yanyu's face."

"Wan Ying, keep the media in the front hall calm." Zhu Xun Chuan picked up his coat. "I'll be there in ten minutes."

After hanging up the phone, Zhu Xunchuan turned and walked towards the door.

Meng Wanqing stood up and straightened her slightly disheveled silk shirt. She walked up to Zhu Xunchuan and reached out to straighten the collar of his coat.

"The Chen family won't live to see tomorrow," Meng Wanqing said calmly.

Zhu Xun Chuan opened the door, strode out of the administration building, and got into the black Land Rover. The engine roared, and he drove straight to the Peninsula Hotel. On the way, he dialed Jiang Yao's personal number.

"Take your men and take over the back alley and underground power room of the Peninsula Hotel," Zhu Xunchuan ordered.

"Don't worry, honey." Jiang Yao's voice was brimming with barely suppressed excitement. "Will there be any blood today?"

"Leave them alive and find out how they contacted the Xishan Retirement Home."

The Peninsula Hotel, third-floor banquet hall.

The entire floor was plunged into absolute darkness. The gasps and shoving of reporters filled the air. Cell phone flashlights darted haphazardly through the darkness, adding to the chaos.

Zhu Xun Chuan took the private elevator directly from the underground parking garage to the third floor. The corridors along the way were deathly silent.

The VIP dressing room is located at the far end of the corridor.

Zhu Xun Chuan grasped the metal doorknob and pushed it open.

There were no windows, and the room was pitch black. A very faint sobbing sound came from the corner.

Zhu Xun Chuan closed the door behind him and walked over.

"Don't come any closer!" Pei Yanyu's voice was filled with undisguised terror. The dark memories of being completely blacklisted online by the Zhao and Chen families for the past two years, and having to hide everywhere, erupted completely during this sudden power outage.

Zhu Xun Chuan didn't speak, but walked accurately to the sofa based on his memory. He reached out and pulled the trembling woman into his arms.

The scent of fir trees instantly dispelled the surrounding chill.

Pei Yanyu's stiff body completely softened the moment she smelled that scent. She hugged Zhu Xunchuan's waist tightly, buried her face in his coat, and her nails almost dug into the fabric.

Zhu Xun Chuan stroked her long hair with one hand, lowered his head and kissed the corner of her eye, tasting the salty tears.

"It's alright." Zhu Xun Chuan patted her back. "I'm here."

Pei Yanyu raised her head, precisely finding his lips in the darkness, and kissed him with a desperate, hopeless longing. Zhu Xun Chuan responded to her, soothing her emotions on the verge of collapse in the most direct way.

Three minutes later, a muffled rectifier start-up sound came from outside the corridor.

The European-style crystal chandelier overhead flickered twice, bursting forth with dazzling light. The entire third floor was instantly illuminated again.

At this moment, in the alley behind the hotel.

Several men in black jackets were tied up with their hands behind their backs and hung upside down from the sewer pipes.

Jiang Yao was dressed in a leather jacket and pants, and wearing Doc Martens boots. She twirled a butterfly knife in one hand, the blade gleaming coldly. She walked up to the leader, raised her foot, and stomped on his face, crushing his head hard into the sewage-filled stone pavement.

"You dare to stop people from the Northern Territory?" Jiang Yao squatted down and patted his cheek with the back of her knife. "Tell me, where did you get the hydraulic shears from the electrical room? What message did that good-for-nothing from the Xishan Retirement Home send?"

Order was restored in the banquet hall.

The heavy, carved wooden doors slid open to both sides. Xia Wanying, dressed in a champagne-colored deep-V haute couture gown, led twelve financial elites and walked onto the main stage surrounded by bodyguards.

The aura of the "Queen of Capital" dominated the entire room. Those media professionals who had originally planned to watch the spectacle and write sensationalized stories about the stampede all fell silent.

"I apologize, everyone. The hotel's wiring is outdated, and we just experienced a minor incident." Xia Wanying stood calmly in front of the microphone. "Taking advantage of this incident, Dinghe Group officially announces that it will invest one billion yuan to establish a special film and television fund."

The entire audience erupted in uproar. A billion yuan in cash flow was enough to cause a stir in half of Beijing's entertainment industry.

Xia Wanying turned her head and looked at the passageway on the side of the stage.

"Now, let's hand over the time to our real protagonist tonight."

The lights converge.

Pei Yanyu, dressed in a flamboyant bright red dress and wearing ten-centimeter high heels, slowly walked out of the passage. The tear stains at the corners of her eyes had long since dried, and there was no longer any timidity in her peach blossom eyes.

Under Zhu Xun Chuan's reassurance, the youngest Grand Slam Best Actress winner picked up her crown again. She walked to the center of the stage, turning to face all the cameras and microphones. It was the disdain of someone in absolute power.

The entire stadium was bathed in a blinding flash of light.

The remnants of the Chen family's attempt to create a scandal turned into a grand coronation ceremony in the face of absolute capital and power.

Zhu Xun Chuan stood in the shadows outside the banquet hall, looking calmly at the two dazzling women on the stage.

The phone screen lights up.

Jiang Yao sent me a video.

In the video, the gang leader, hanging upside down in the back alley, is covered in blood and grinning madly at the camera.

"You think you've won by cutting off the light and shadow connection? Young Master Chen got a special satellite channel from the retirement home! He's already contacted that person... Zhu Xun Chuan, tomorrow night is your death day, he's contacted..."

Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Yao's Martin boots kicked him squarely in the chin, and the scene abruptly ended.

The mess at the Peninsula Hotel was handed over to Xia Wanying to handle.

After watching the video sent by Jiang Yao, Zhu Xun Chuan did not reply. He put his phone back in his coat pocket and drove his Range Rover back to Guomao alone.

Chen Pojun was detained in the Xishan Retirement Home, where he hired assassins using a special satellite channel. According to the rules of the dark web, top assassins must take action within twelve hours of receiving a job.

The car was parked in the underground garage. Zhu Xun Chuan took the private elevator directly to the top-floor penthouse.

The moment the elevator doors slid open, Zhu Xun Chuan's eyes darkened.

There was no light on in the entryway. The cold air from the central air conditioning carried a strong, pungent smell of blood. A disturbed, deathly silence permeated the air.

Zhu Xun Chuan slowed his pace, his leather shoes making no sound on the carpet. He placed one hand on the wall switch next to the fingerprint lock.

"Smack."

The dazzling chandelier in the living room lit up.

The anticipated ambush and gunfight did not occur.

A bizarre and strikingly contrasting scene unfolds in front of the spacious and luxurious marble island.

A tall, muscular white man, nearly 1.9 meters tall, lay on the carpet, his hands and feet bound backwards with high-strength military zip ties, forming an extremely twisted "zongzi" (rice dumpling).

His tendons in his hands and feet were all severed, and blood soaked through the wool carpet. A towel was stuffed in his mouth, and he could only whimper in pain.

On the head of this burly man, there was a fair and delicate bare foot.

Lu Nianxi was wearing a pure white silk nightgown, and there wasn't even a drop of blood on her smooth calves.

She toyed with a delicate eyebrow trimmer with a blood groove in her hand, then turned to look at Zhu Xunchuan standing in the entryway.

On that eerie yet stunningly beautiful face, a sickeningly sweet smile instantly bloomed.

"Brother, you're back." Lu Nianxi dropped the eyebrow trimmer in her hand, lifted her skirt, and lightly jumped over the bloodstains on the ground, throwing herself directly into Zhu Xunchuan's arms.

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