Chapter 312: Ah Zhi Did It

Wu Yong knew this wasn’t the moment for idle chatter. The second the Hua family was out the door, he made his exit without hesitation.

The space immediately felt hollow. Gu Yanxi, gripping a handkerchief tight, kept scrubbing at the blood caked under Ah Zhi's nails. Slowly, as if the weight of it all was just sinking in, his composed mask began to crack. His hands shook; his face twitched.

Suddenly, he lurched forward, climbing onto the bed and clutching the unconscious Ah Zhi against him. Only then, holding her close, could he force himself to believe she hadn’t slipped away from him.

He’d come so damn close to losing her!

The thought alone dragged him into a suffocating void, as if he were plunging into a bottomless abyss. He forced himself to breathe deeply, clawing back from the brink, refusing to let darker possibilities consume him.

Gu Yanxi pressed a firm kiss to Ah Zhi's head, his mind ablaze with resolve. It didn’t matter who was responsible—he would hunt them down, and they'd pay the ultimate price.

Blood for blood!

At the doorway, Hua Pingyu gripped his younger brother's wrist tightly, holding him back from barging in. The controlled fury in his earlier demeanor was gone, replaced by raw, unfiltered emotion—a sight that oddly reassured him. It wasn't just his daughter who burned with passion; this man’s feelings for her ran just as deep, if not deeper.

“That’s enough,” Hua Pingyu murmured, his voice low but steady. “Even if they’re torn apart in the end, at least they’ve loved each other fiercely. If this is the trial fate has chosen for our daughter, then so be it—it’s worth every moment.”

The Chen couple was summoned again. Hua Pingyang wiped his face, stepping forward with a sharp edge in his tone. “Mrs. Chen, sorry to bother you once more.”

Mrs. Chen’s eyes were red, her voice trembling with raw emotion. “It’s no bother… That poor girl… sigh.”

The neighborhood was on edge—doors cracked open just enough to peek through, but no one dared breathe too loud. Some had already bolted through back doors, terrified that the black-clad enforcers might paint the walls red with blood.

Hua Pingyang forced a thin, humorless smile as he guided Mrs. Chen to the room’s entrance. Inside, Gu Yanxi was already up. He couldn’t care less about what others thought of him, but for Ah Zhi’s sake, he had to keep things clean.

Mrs. Chen hesitated, her fear as plain as daylight. This was a man who carved lives as casually as chopping vegetables, and every step closer felt like a gamble with fate.

Gu Yanxi acted like he didn’t notice a thing, casually setting down a few small bottles in plain sight. “Grab some strong liquor, mix it with water, and clean the wound. After that, use the medicine in this bottle first. There isn’t much, so just drip a little on and spread it evenly. Wait a moment, then dust the wound with the powder in the box. Got it?”

Mrs. Chen bobbed her head, eager and confident. It wasn’t rocket science.

Gu Yanxi shot a glance at Ah Zhi, then turned on his heel and walked away, his fists tightly clenched behind him.

Out in the corridor, Hua Pingyu approached, hesitating for a beat before placing a hand on Gu Yanxi’s shoulder. That single pat told him everything—Gu Yanxi’s body was coiled tight, his emotions buried just under the surface. Hua Pingyu understood. This man cared far more than he ever let on.

With a heavy sigh, Hua Pingyu said, “Thanks for showing up when you did. If not for you, the Hua family would’ve been finished.”

Gu Yanxi shook his head, voice cold but unwavering. “As long as Ah Zhi’s still breathing, you’ll pull through.”

Hua Pingyu instantly thought of his daughter standing stubbornly at the door, refusing to budge. His chest tightened with a pang that momentarily dulled the agony in his back. Part of him, raw and desperate, almost wished Zhi’er would quit, stop battering herself against the impossible.

If it came to it, they could meet their end together—why drag themselves through this endless torment?

But this past year had ripped the veil from his eyes, revealing a fierce, relentless side of her he’d never imagined. She could stare down the abyss, as long as she knew she’d fought tooth and nail to the bitter end. And right now, she was fighting with every shred of her soul. Giving up simply wasn’t in her nature.

He thought she’d been holding out, teetering on the brink of collapse, driven by sheer exhaustion. But when Lu Yanxi showed up, the truth hit him like a thunderclap—she hadn’t been waiting for her body to give out. She’d been waiting for him. Risking her life, defying the odds, she’d endured all of it just for his arrival, trusting that the moment he showed up, the storm would break and the chaos would end.

That’s why she’d stopped the others from charging in, kept them from throwing their lives away in a pointless rush.

What she didn’t realize was how badly they’d wanted to. They would’ve stood shoulder to shoulder with her, no hesitation, even if it meant going down in flames. But she’d told them not to, so they obeyed, their loyalty burning brighter than their fear.

Breaking the silence, Hua Pingyu exhaled sharply, his voice slicing through the tension. "Apart from the manor incident, when else has Zhi’er been hurt?"

Gu Yanxi didn’t bother with pretenses. "Before heading north, she went south first. Ran into trouble there."

South?

Thinking of the family's various businesses, Hua Pingyu's heart stirred. "Was it for the new business?"

"Yes."

After a brief pause, Hua Pingyu’s voice softened. "Our family’s already in a much stronger position. Tell her to ease up. We'll find our way home on our own."

Gu Yanxi’s gaze drifted towards the horizon, his words cutting through the silence. "Ah Zhi knows there's a chance we might not pull this off, but how long do you think she’ll wait? Five years? Ten? Twenty? She can't stand watching you suffer, and she can't even wait five years."

Gu Yanxi smiled slightly. "She's not just doing business to make money. She's set aside a portion of the profits from each deal, using the money to pave the way for you, accumulating as much capital as possible for you. She's doing this so that when the opportunity arises, you can seize it. In this regard, she's incredibly perceptive."

At that moment, not a single soul in the Hua family was asleep, and only a handful had made their way back to their rooms. They were all tangled in their thoughts, completely unaware of what was happening. Because that person—despite talking endlessly about family matters—had never, not once, mentioned any of this.

What about everything else?

What else has she pulled off, behind their backs? What else has she done that they didn’t know, hadn’t even considered, or flat out couldn’t bring themselves to imagine?

Hua Pingyu let out a bitter laugh, "I never knew my daughter had it in her."

He didn’t know she was this capable.

He didn’t know she was this ruthless.

He didn’t know she had this much business acumen.

He didn’t know how sharp, how calculated, how meticulous she was...

He knew absolutely nothing.

“I always thought she was just happy with her quiet little domestic life, the softest, most gentle soul.”

He always thought it was because she was just a good older sister, always caving to her younger brother, which is why that troublemaker was so attached to her. What he didn’t realize was that she might’ve been the one to tame Bai Lin, locking him under her control.

"I’m not a qualified father."

"To her, anyone in the Hua family is someone she'd fight to the death for." Gu Yanxi never cared much for Hua Pingyu, never saw him as anything special—Hua Pingyang, on the other hand, had always impressed him. But today? Today, he saw him in a different light. If Hua Pingyu hadn't stepped in and taken that knife for Ah Zhi, things could've gone south real quick.

Gu Yanxi had his own grudges against the Hua family. If they hadn’t been so damn useless, maybe Ah Zhi wouldn’t have had to fight so damn hard.

But he also understood her loyalty—how she’d throw herself in harm’s way without a second thought, vowing to protect her family. The kind of protection that says, "I’ll live for you, and if I die, it’ll be in front of you."

That raw, unapologetic devotion? That’s what had pulled him in from the start.

As he heard the muffled sobs, both distant and near, something shifted in Gu Yanxi—he felt the smallest flicker of relief.

Hearing the commotion from the room, he spun around.

Mrs. Chen emerged, wiping the sweat from her brow. “It’s all done, but... I’ve had my hands full. No matter how much I tossed and turned the girl, she’s still out cold. Should we call the physician again?”

The physician had been detained by Gu Yanxi, so he was promptly summoned.

Hua Pingyang handed Mrs. Chen a red envelope. “Appreciate your trouble. You’ve been running around at this hour. I’m afraid we might need your help for the next few days.”

“No need, no need,” Mrs. Chen quickly pushed the envelope back. “She’s a strong girl; I’m more than happy to help.”

Hua Pingyang didn’t insist, planning to thank her properly later. With concern for his niece’s condition, he had someone escort her back and made his way into the room.