Chà Chà Novel

The shadowy figure went completely rigid.

Beneath the brilliant lights of the wine cellar, there was nowhere left to hide.

Slowly, the intruder turned his head.

Light traced the sharp bridge of his nose, casting a deep shadow across his face.

Yi Cen’s lips curved into a faint smile.

“Yi Heng. What brings you to the ancestral residence?”

Yi Heng descended the stairs at an unhurried pace.

His gaze remained fixed on the man before him—his youngest uncle.

He looked carefully, again and again, as though giving himself one final chance to confirm that he hadn’t mistaken the man’s identity.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that? Don’t you have anything to say?”

Yi Cen shrugged.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

A surge of anger rose through Yi Heng’s chest.

His icy gaze shifted toward the documents concealed against Yi Cen’s body.

“Hand them over.”

Yi Cen casually closed the box and gave a puzzled little laugh.

“Come on, what’s gotten into you? You don’t look well. Are you feeling sick?”

Yi Heng knew perfectly well that Yi Cen was playing dumb, deliberately trying to appeal to their familial bond.

Unfortunately, he had no patience left for such tactics.

Whenever he thought of the innocent lives lost in the chemical plant explosion, nausea rose in his throat.

The man standing before him was nothing more than a demon wearing human skin, his face concealed behind a smiling mask.

Yi Cen continued making lighthearted remarks for quite some time.

But Yi Heng offered no response.

Eventually, Yi Cen realized there was no longer any point in pretending.

Putting on a one-man performance for an audience that refused to react was humiliating enough.

He fell silent, took out a cigarette, lit it, and began smoking at his leisure.

Open flames were strictly forbidden in a wine cellar.

One careless spark could start a fire, and if that happened, neither of them might make it out alive.

Yet Yi Heng didn’t move.

He simply stood there, watching Yi Cen release slow, intermittent streams of smoke.

Before long, the cellar was thick with the acrid smell of tobacco.

It was almost as though, in their eyes, life itself had become nothing more than a gamble.

Win, and everyone walked away satisfied.

Lose…

Well, there was always the possibility of starting life over again.

Yi Cen finished his cigarette.

Yi Heng made no attempt to hurry him.

Knowing that his secrets had been exposed, Yi Cen seemed determined to preserve whatever dignity he had left.

He leaned casually against a nearby counter, forcing himself to appear composed.

The smoke had left his voice rough and breathy.

“When did you find out?”

Yi Heng answered,

“When you started sending me photographs of Gu Yan to threaten me.”

Yi Cen reacted as though he’d just heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.

He threw his head back and laughed, then let out a contemptuous snort.

“Oh, come on. Are you serious? Wasn’t that Du Ting’s doing? Didn’t we settle that ages ago?”

“Du Ting isn’t clever enough for that.”

“…”

Back when Yi Heng had launched a comprehensive investigation into the Yi Group’s internal personnel, promoted promising young talent, and begun replacing large portions of the management team, his reforms had been temporarily halted by a series of threatening letters.

During that period, Yi Cen had called him.

On the surface, he’d expressed concern about why the restructuring had stalled.

In reality, he’d been probing Yi Heng’s attitude.

When he realized that Yi Heng remained firmly committed to his plans, Yi Cen escalated his threats.

Every few days, another photograph of Gu Yan would arrive.

Again and again, he used Gu Yan’s safety to provoke and intimidate Yi Heng.

The photographs only stopped after Gu Yan and Yi Heng’s relationship was exposed as a sham.

The sender had withdrawn.

That meant Gu Yan could no longer be used as leverage to control Yi Heng.

Yet a month later, Du Ting unexpectedly kidnapped Gu Yan, catching everyone completely off guard.

The reasoning behind those two courses of action was fundamentally contradictory.

Anyone who examined the events carefully would have little difficulty realizing that they couldn’t possibly have been carried out by the same person.

Yi Cen had been worried that Yi Heng might eventually resume investigating the threatening letters.

So he’d secretly manipulated events, deliberately guiding Du Ting toward certain clues.

In truth, Du Ting had merely been used as a scapegoat.

Although there was no concrete evidence, the circumstances had planted a powerful assumption in everyone’s minds.

Du Ting had always harbored malicious intentions toward Gu Yan.

Therefore, he must have been responsible for the threatening letters as well.

“Heh… So you noticed that early?”

After listening to Yi Heng lay out the entire sequence of events, Yi Cen pressed a hand to his forehead and laughed bitterly at himself.

Yi Heng slowly tightened his fingers.

For a fleeting moment, he felt himself being dragged back into that suffocating, hollow period of his life.

“Not exactly.”

“I simply suspected everyone equally.”

Back then, Gu Yan hadn’t known anything.

He’d stayed by Yi Heng’s side, enjoying life without a care in the world.

And Yi Heng had done everything within his power to shelter him from danger.

But the threatening photographs kept arriving, one after another.

They turned every moment Yi Heng spent with Gu Yan into something like tasting sweetness from the edge of a razor-sharp blade.

The sweetness was real.

So was the happiness.

Yet the slightest misstep could leave him drenched in blood.

After Gu Yan left, Yi Heng stopped trusting anyone.

Not even his own family.

There was no one he could confide in about the crushing loneliness and helplessness he felt.

All he could do was catch a glimpse of Gu Yan from afar.

Then turn away and silently swallow everything that had happened, bearing the weight of it all alone.

Yi Cen smacked his lips, suddenly craving another cigarette.

Unfortunately, his lighter refused to cooperate.

He flicked it twice, but neither attempt produced a flame.

In the end, he could only leave the unlit cigarette dangling between his lips, settling for the faint taste of tobacco.

“So what? Even if I was the one sending those photographs, that doesn’t have much to do with why you’re standing here now, does it?”

Yi Cen raised an eyebrow, a flicker of genuine puzzlement crossing his youthful face.

Even if everything had finally been exposed, he needed to know exactly where he’d gone wrong.

He’d been so careful with every step of his plan.

Yi Heng shifted slightly, reached into his coat pocket, and tossed a small brand label toward him.

“Because of this.”

Yi Cen caught it and glanced down.

It was nothing more than the label of an obscure little aroma diffuser brand under his management.

“You secretly acquired Yuntian Ski Resort, didn’t you?”

The moment Yi Heng said those words, Yi Cen’s expression changed.

Yi Heng showed no mercy, continuing to strip away the truth layer by layer.

The relationship between Yuntian Group and the Yi Group had always resembled a rivalry more than a long-term partnership.

In recent years, however, poor management among Yuntian’s senior executives had disrupted the company’s cash flow.

And its ski resort, a particularly valuable asset, had long since been snapped up by someone else.

Previously, the resort had exclusively used imported aroma diffusers.

But recently, it had abruptly switched to a relatively unknown brand owned by the Yi Group.

Leaving aside the quality of the products, the Yi Group had no business relationship with the ski resort whatsoever.

Yi Heng had ordered someone to examine the sales records.

There was no trace of any order corresponding to the batch of diffusers being used at Yuntian Ski Resort.

Coincidentally, the diffuser Gu Chengjing had given Gu Yan’s maternal grandparents came from that very same manufacturer.

With both clues pointing to the same source, it was difficult not to suspect that Gu Chengjing was somehow connected to the resort.

Yi Heng had simply followed that suspicion a little further.

And what he uncovered was that Gu Chengjing had actually been operating the ski resort on someone else’s behalf.

Unfortunately for Gu Chengjing, his greed extended even to the smallest expenses.

He’d replaced the resort’s diffusers with products he could obtain directly from the manufacturer for free.

Yi Heng and his people had laid a trap, patiently waiting for Gu Chengjing to walk straight into it.

Once Gu Chengjing had been taken into custody, they deliberately allowed news of his arrest to spread.

Their real objective was to make the mastermind behind the scheme too nervous to remain still.

And sure enough, Yi Cen had taken the bait.

Afraid that Gu Chengjing might accidentally reveal something while in detention, Yi Cen had rushed to move the account books and acquisition agreements involving several companies under cover of darkness.

Unfortunately for him, Yi Heng had anticipated every move.

Yi Cen rubbed his neck.

Then, with a sudden burst of fury, he hurled the cigarette from his mouth onto the floor and swore.

Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that his carefully orchestrated scheme would unravel because of one insignificant aroma diffuser.

At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to wrap his hands around Gu Chengjing’s throat and strangle that useless, self-indulgent fool to death.

Yi Cen tightened his grip on the documents hidden inside his coat.

Straightening his back, he gave a smile tinged with regret.

“Impressive. I never expected you to use that worthless idiot to uncover so many clues.”

“But…”

“Did you really think I’d come here without making preparations?”

“Now that you’re here, don’t expect to leave.”

Yi Cen raised a walkie-talkie to his mouth.

“Get in here. Grab him.”

Then he lifted his head again, offering what sounded almost like a kindly warning.

“You still have time to run.”

However…

A long moment passed.

There was no movement whatsoever outside the wine cellar.

Yi Cen stared at Yi Heng’s unruffled expression.

For the first time, a crack appeared in his previously confident smile.

He raised the walkie-talkie and called out twice more.

“Stop shouting. They’re just a bunch of useless fools.”

A clear, icy female voice sounded from beyond the doorway.

Yi Nantu appeared, followed by several bodyguards.

Their clothes were dotted with small bloodstains, as though someone’s nosebleed had splattered across the fabric.

Yi Cen’s mind went blank with a deafening buzz.

His legs seemed nailed to the floor.

Suddenly, even breathing became difficult.

Yi Nantu stood on the stairs, meeting Yi Cen’s gaze from a distance.

The overhead light made her expression appear even more severe.

Her eyes, filled with contempt and disgust, seemed to pierce straight through him.

“No brains. And not the slightest improvement after all these years.”

“The disgraceful things you’ve done have disappointed every single one of us.”

Her words carried no warmth.

They struck Yi Cen’s heart like sharpened icicles, each one a judgment from which there was no appeal.

He’d been too impatient earlier.

He hadn’t stopped to think things through.

He hadn’t come here alone.

And neither had Yi Heng.

Yi Nantu had already dealt with every one of his men outside.

Yi Cen looked up at his elder sister standing above him, his gaze wavering.

Then, almost unconsciously, his expression changed.

He looked at her with the same pleading eyes he’d worn as a child whenever he’d done something wrong.

His lips trembled before he finally managed to speak.

“Sis…”

“Are you really going to side with Yi Heng?”

“You and I are closer by blood, aren’t we?”

“I’m your little brother…”

He was trying to appeal to their family ties.

Whether it was anger or unbearable heartbreak, Yi Nantu suddenly hurled the knife she’d confiscated from the men outside onto the floor beside her feet.

“From the moment you began harboring disloyal intentions toward the Yi Group…”

“The little brother I knew was already gone.”

Those words were the final straw.

Yi Cen understood at last that even his own elder sister had no intention of helping him.

He quietly took two steps backward.

Everyone assumed that he’d finally run out of excuses and was about to surrender without a fight.

But in the very next instant, Yi Cen suddenly pulled a dagger from his sleeve and lunged straight at Yi Heng.

“STOP!”

Yi Nantu’s temples throbbed violently.

In a burst of fury, she unleashed her pheromones, directing their oppressive force toward Yi Cen.

But she was already a step too late.

Yi Cen had reached Yi Heng.

Yi Heng reacted just as quickly, immediately retreating a step.

His pheromones collided violently with the wave of pheromones Yi Cen had released in his attack.

The resulting pressure sent the people standing near the doorway stumbling backward.

In truth, Yi Cen hadn’t intended to stab Yi Heng.

He merely wanted to seize a hostage and use that person as leverage to escape.

Unfortunately for him, his pheromone level was lower than Yi Heng’s.

Under the tremendous force of their collision, blood began to seep from all seven of his facial orifices.

“Hah… hah…”

The dagger slipped from his hand and fell to the floor.

The pain was so excruciating that he could no longer produce a sound.

Yi Heng quietly withdrew his pheromones, giving no outward sign of relaxing his guard.

Yi Cen doubled over, seemingly struggling for breath.

But then his hand suddenly found the dagger lying on the floor.

In the next instant, he sprang up and attacked again.

Yi Heng’s pupils contracted sharply.

Yi Cen had been pretending all along!

Fortunately, Yi Heng hadn’t let down his guard.

He immediately reached out with one hand and caught the dagger by its blade.

The bodyguards surged forward together, tackling Yi Cen to the ground and pinning him down.

Yi Nantu spoke a little faster than usual, her concern breaking through her composure.

“Xiao Heng, are you all right? Hurry and get that wound bandaged!”

Yi Heng took a handkerchief from his pocket and casually wrapped it around his injured hand.

“Don’t worry.”

Yi Cen lay restrained on the floor, unable to struggle free.

Sweat covered his entire body, and his damp hair clung tightly to his forehead.

He strained to raise his head, but all he could see were Yi Nantu’s legs.

Yi Nantu drew a long, deep breath, struggling to contain the emotions surging within her.

Then she looked down at her younger brother and demanded,

“Why did you do this?”

“What could you possibly gain from betraying the Yi family?”

Yi Cen let out a low, bitter laugh.

“No… You don’t understand…”

He watched helplessly as the evidence concealed inside his clothes was taken away.

At last, all the strength seemed to drain from his body.

He went limp, abandoning any further resistance.

Yi Heng gazed at the youngest uncle who had brought so much laughter and happiness into his childhood.

A hundred conflicting emotions stirred within him, tangled together in ways he couldn’t begin to untangle.

Yi Cen had always been busy with his responsibilities at the Yi Group, and he’d seemed to devote himself wholeheartedly to his work.

Who could have imagined that, in the end, he would be the one to betray the company?

Yi Nantu was utterly disappointed.

She turned, intending to leave the wine cellar.

But Yi Cen suddenly called after her, his voice trembling with emotion.

“Sis… All I ever wanted was to prove myself. What was so wrong with that?”

Yi Nantu stopped.

“I’m sick of always being beneath everyone else! I want to be the boss too!”

“People who joined the company around the same time I did have either moved on to better opportunities or risen to senior management positions. Why is it that no matter how hard I work, I can never climb any higher?”

“Because I know that as long as you and our older brother are around, I’ll never be allowed to make decisions for myself!”

“If I want to be my own boss, I have no choice but to build something of my own!”

“Growing up, you and our brother were always the children Mom and Dad were proud of.”

“And me? I was nothing more than the child they happened to have in their later years.”

“Does that mean I deserved to be looked down on?”

Every word cut like a blade, echoing through the wine cellar.

The bodyguards standing nearby had inadvertently heard far more than they were supposed to.

They remained rigid with fear, hardly daring to breathe.

Yi Nantu turned around.

She looked down at her younger brother lying on the floor, bewilderment filling her eyes.

It was almost as though she were seeing him for the very first time.

The Yi Cen she remembered had once been bright and optimistic, always striving to improve himself.

No matter how many setbacks or obstacles he encountered, he had faced them with courage.

But the Yi Cen before her now was almost unrecognizable.

It was difficult to believe that behind the bright, sunlit image she’d always known, such a vast darkness had been hiding all along.

For some inexplicable reason, Yi Heng suddenly thought of Yi Feng.

Certain problems, it seemed, had never truly been resolved.

And perhaps some conflicts were simply unavoidable between brothers.

The only reason that brat Yi Feng hadn’t gone down the wrong path was that he genuinely wasn’t clever enough to think that far ahead.

Yi Feng would never waste his time dwelling on such complicated matters.

If anything, his greatest wish was to spend every day doing absolutely nothing while someone else happily supported him.

Meanwhile, far away in Kyoto, Yi Feng, who was enjoying himself at a bar, suddenly let out an enormous sneeze.

“Xiao Heng, it’s already very late. Why don’t you stay at the ancestral residence tonight and leave tomorrow morning?”

Yi Nantu had arranged for someone to keep Yi Cen under close watch.

The crimes he’d committed were unforgivable.

In his determination to establish his own business empire, he had not only secretly embezzled company funds but also transferred away a considerable amount of the Yi Group’s assets.

Beyond that, he’d used money laundering schemes to generate enormous illegal profits.

Even the chemical plant explosion had been orchestrated by him.

Every document seized from inside his coat was evidence.

Bringing her own younger brother to justice felt like cutting away a piece of her own flesh.

But only by doing so could they offer some measure of justice to the innocent lives lost in the chemical plant explosion.

Only then could they face the Yi family’s ancestors with a clear conscience.

Yi Heng stood beside the main entrance.

Outside, a light rain had begun to fall.

Through the fine curtain of rain, he gazed in the direction of Kyoto.

“No, Auntie. I need to go home.”

Home…

Yi Nantu silently repeated the word to herself.

And then she understood.

Home was wherever someone was waiting for you.

Yi Nantu nodded gently.

“Go on, then… Leave everything here to me.”

Yi Heng didn’t take an umbrella.

He stepped directly into the vast curtain of rain and mist, his tall figure gradually disappearing into the darkness.

He’d originally promised to return the following day.

But after seeing the numerous missed messages on his phone, he found himself longing to see Gu Yan immediately.

It was raining in Kyoto too.

By the time Yi Heng arrived home, it was already past three in the morning.

The long hours behind the wheel had left his neck stiff and aching.

He removed his rain-soaked outer coat and placed it on a chair before quietly making his way toward the sofa.

Someone was curled up there.

Gu Yan was wearing comfortable clothes, lying on his side in one corner of the sofa.

His soft hair carried the familiar scent of the shampoo used in Yi Heng’s home.

His head had tilted unconsciously to one side, revealing the graceful line of his pale, slender neck.

Beside his curled-up legs lay a half-open book.

Clearly, he’d been trying to ease his anxiety by reading while waiting for news from Yi Heng.

But eventually, sleep had overcome him, and he’d drifted off without realizing it.

Yi Heng stood quietly, listening to Gu Yan’s steady breathing.

Gradually, the tension in his own body began to ease.

The heart that had been racing wildly throughout his hurried journey home finally found its proper rhythm again.

He gently lifted Gu Yan’s hand.

Then he tore off a small piece of tissue, carefully twisted it into a thin strip, and wrapped it around the base of Gu Yan’s ring finger.

Gu Yan stirred at the faint movement.

Through his half-closed lashes, he vaguely made out Yi Heng doing something that looked suspiciously like taking a measurement.

It must be a dream…

He paused for the briefest moment.

Then, without another thought, he drifted back to sleep.