Deep breathing is a very common way to regulate one’s own emotions.
So even though her phone had already fallen to the ground, Xu Duyan still took several deep breaths before daring to lower her head and pick it up.
The phone and power bank had fallen together, with the screen facedown on the ground. So her action was more like prying the phone off the floor rather than simply picking it up.
But for some reason, Xu Duyan repeated this simple motion many times but couldn’t manage it.
Because of that fleeting glimpse of the message, her hands were trembling so badly that she couldn’t pick up the phone at all.
She wanted to comfort herself, to deceive herself into thinking that she might have misread the message in her haste, but the unusual fear in her heart also told her that what she had just seen was real.
Whenever it was a message from Su Ziyan, she would always read it very carefully; this was a habit she had developed over the years. And precisely because of that, after clearly reading that message, her fingers lost all their strength, and she let the phone slip from her grasp along with the power bank.
But now, those few deep breaths did not calm her down or restore her strength; instead, they made her fingers start trembling again uncontrollably.
But was it really because her fingers had lost strength and were trembling that she couldn’t pick up the phone?
Xu Duyan didn’t know. Because she had always been good at self-deception, she thought it might also be that she completely dared not look at that message even once, which was why she couldn’t pick up the phone lying facedown on the floor.
She disliked this feeling, because it was a different kind of avoidance. Under this avoidance, she could clearly recognize her own powerlessness and cowardice.
It was like back then when she was afraid of dragging Su Ziyan down. She clearly knew in her heart that she so desperately wanted to agree, but that cowardice made her turn a blind eye…
But back then, she could still tell herself that there was plenty of time. Now, however, it had reached a life-or-death situation.
So…
Slap!
Xu Duyan swung her left hand and viciously slapped the back of her right hand. From the pain, she instinctively clenched her fist.
When she opened it, her fingers had stopped trembling.
And so, she successfully picked up the phone. Neither the phone nor the power bank had broken, so the phone was still charging and had not shut down.
The power bank only had a damaged connection in the middle, but it seemed the internal components were unharmed, so Xu Duyan just applied a little pressure to close the crack again.
But no matter how many times she rubbed her eyes, the glaring message on the phone never changed one bit.
“Don’t come looking for me. Live on, and be happy every day from now on.”
Anyone who saw this message could easily imagine what Su Ziyan was doing at this moment, but Xu Duyan didn’t dare to think about it.
She just switched screens and called Su Ziyan.
After a long time passed, all she got was a busy tone.
Xu Duyan’s eyes visibly dimmed. So much time had passed; in fact, her heart had already received the answer. Su Ziyan might have already…
Now it felt like she was suspended, her chest filled with a sense of emptiness. But even so, her hands showed no sign of stopping.
She opened her contacts. Under “Special Relations,” there were three people: Su Ziyan, Mother Su who died when Su Ziyan was a sophomore, and Su Xiaoyan, whose contact she had added at Mother Su’s funeral.
Whether it was to consider Su Ziyan’s feelings or because she was too ashamed to face him, Mother Su had actually rarely met with Su Ziyan over the years. Instead, she called Xu Duyan more often to ask about Su Ziyan’s current situation.
So over the years, Xu Duyan and Mother Su had more contact than Mother Su and Su Ziyan, and they had a good relationship.
Mother Su had also told her more than once that if anything happened to Su Ziyan, she should contact her promptly for help.
But Xu Duyan never had a chance to use this opportunity over the years.
Later, Mother Su died. At her funeral, a girl with red-rimmed eyes approached her and added her contact.
That person was Su Xiaoyan. The reason she added her was to take over from Mother Su in taking care of Su Ziyan.
But even though that was the reason, Su Xiaoyan had never called to ask about Su Ziyan’s recent circumstances. And since Su Ziyan had once told her about what happened before, Xu Duyan knew that this pair of non-blood-related siblings actually didn’t have a good relationship.
So this contact had been gathering dust in her address book until today.
Now, although Su Ziyan was missing, the time was still too short, and on top of that, it was very late. Even if she reported it to the police, she would probably have to wait in line.
But Su Xiaoyan’s family was different. As a well-known rising entrepreneur, if she wanted to find someone, the local police station would respond quickly. After all, she donated an unknown amount of money to the police station every year.
So compared to reporting it to the police herself to find Su Ziyan, having Su Xiaoyan look for him was undoubtedly a more efficient choice.
At this critical juncture, finding Su Ziyan as soon as possible was undoubtedly best, even if Su Ziyan might already be in grave danger.
Xu Duyan hesitated for a moment as she tapped on the contact, but still pressed the call button.
Even though she already knew the outcome, and her heart was full of fear for that possible result, she still had to face it.
***
Su Xiaoyan, currently 22 years old, is a well-known rising entrepreneur in the area, the heir to a massive commercial empire, and at the same time… a dark brocon.
But is she really a brocon?
Whether based on past experiences or her own thoughts, she was quite sure she shouldn’t be considered a brocon.
But is a sister who stalks Su Ziyan 24/7, who looks at his life reports and recent photos every week, really a normal sister?
A sister who is out talking business with partners, but upon seeing that Su Ziyan had an accident, secretly cried for three days before continuing to discuss business? Is that really normal?
A sister who has never appeared before him but knows everything about him? Is she really not a dark peeping freak?
But the term “peeping freak” sounds too harsh, so Su Xiaoyan would rather admit to being a dark brocon.
As for the cause of all of this, it goes back to a long, long time ago, to that night when she was about to frame him.
Now, when she thinks about what she did back then, she wishes she could bury her head in the covers. She can only say that she was too foolish when she was young…
That scheme couldn’t be called flawless; it was full of holes.
So even if she had actually done it, it would probably only have left a bad impression on her parents, since they weren’t fools either.
But thankfully, she came to her senses in time and didn’t go through with it. She just vented her emotions in front of Su Ziyan, then grabbed his coat and returned to her own room.
And from that night on, her life underwent a huge change.