spring bite mark

Chapter 161: Years
Li Ke felt a chill run down his spine, and for some reason, he thought of a few years ago.

Twenty-one-year-old Xie Yuheng is the white moonlight that Hong Kong socialites can only dream of, but he brings back a girl with no family background from the capital and says he wants to get married.

At the time, it almost made Mr. Xie have a heart attack, but when he heard that the girl was the one who protected him when he was young, he reluctantly agreed: "There are plenty of people in Hong Kong who keep mistresses. She is just an adopted daughter of a low-class wealthy family. She was in such a poor situation when she was young. You can just pamper her."

"I never thought about keeping a mistress; I wanted a proper marriage."

"That's impossible!" Old Master Xie sneered. "Don't forget that you are engaged to Murong Xin. As the future head of the Xie family, don't forget that family interests come first."

“Then I will not be the heir of the Xie family.” Xie Yuheng said decisively, “Dad, I can’t live without Jiang Manman. I can give up everything to marry her.”

"You little rascal, this is utterly absurd!" Old Master Xie's face turned ashen with anger. "She's just a woman. I've spent twenty years painstakingly raising you, and all I've produced is a love-struck idiot!"

"I've made up my mind. If the Xie family can't accept me and Manman, I'll go to the capital and become a son-in-law who marries into the family. That wouldn't be bad either."

"You dare!" Old Master Xie picked up his cane and smashed it at Xie Yuheng!

That day, after the eldest daughter of the Xie family ran away from her arranged marriage, it was the second time in more than 20 years that Old Master Xie was truly enraged. He used family discipline to beat Xie Yuheng for more than half an hour, leaving the man's back covered in blood and flesh, but he still did not get Xie Yuheng to back down.

As night fell and the city lights began to twinkle, preparations began for Xie Yunxi's homecoming banquet.

Looking at his youngest son, who was still stubbornly kneeling before him, Grandpa Xie, though he was swaying precariously, his expression remained resolute. In the end, his heart ached and he gave in.

"If you can get the Murong family to cancel the engagement, I will turn a blind eye this time. But if you do anything outrageous or unbecoming of your status because of this woman in the future, I will not let you off lightly."

Old Master Xie left in a huff. He had finally managed to coax another outstanding heir back to the family from the capital. He attached great importance to Xie Yunxi's homecoming banquet and went straight to the banquet setup site.

Li Ke then carefully draped a coat over Xie Yuheng's shoulders: "Boss, I'll go call the family doctor right away."

Despite being covered in blood, Xie Yuheng was in a very good mood, his cool voice softening slightly: "We need to deal with this properly, so as not to frighten her."

After a full hour, with medicine applied to all the wounds, big and small, and bandages on his body, Xie Yuheng casually went to the backyard to look for Jiang Manman.

Jiang Manman, who was unfamiliar with the place, waited quietly in the room.

Xie Yuheng pushed open the door and entered. Jiang Manman looked at his slightly pale face and said softly, "Why do you look so haggard?"

Xie Yuheng didn't mention being beaten, but gazed at her gently: "I've been busy and a little tired. Manman, I've already contacted a notary lawyer, and they'll process our marriage tomorrow morning."

"Your family... doesn't have any objections, right?"

“No, everyone is very happy to welcome my Manman into this family.” Xie Yuheng stepped forward, hugged her, and picked up a stack of white paper and paintbrushes. “Manman, how about we set up our wedding room in Jiangyue Mansion? You left there when you were little, and I couldn’t keep you here. Now I can finally bring you back.”

Jiang Manman gave a soft "hmm".

"I have some ideas for the design of the wedding room..." Xie Yuheng's tone was serious as he began to draw on the paper. "In this garden, I'll plant daphne and roses. I'll build you an art studio here. As for the bedroom, I've designed two styles. Take a look and see which one you like..."

His eyebrows and eyes still retained a hint of youthfulness, but his features were already exquisitely beautiful to the extreme. He was a refined young nobleman who should have everything prepared and presented to him by others, but he personally planned their love nest, showing more importance and anticipation than Jiang Manman, the bride-to-be. Thinking of the scars on his body under his clothes, Li Ke watched from the side and was deeply moved.

After nearly two hours of discussion, a plan was finally finalized. Xie Yuheng put away the sketches with satisfaction and checked the time.
"There's a homecoming banquet tonight, do you want to go?" Jiang Manman hesitated: "They're all strangers, I'm not really comfortable with that."

Xie Yuheng remained silent for several seconds, recalling the subtle, almost imperceptible, desire that young master from the Beijing elite had shown for Jiang Manman back in the capital. Inexplicably, he concealed Xie Yunxi's other identity:
"Alright, banquets are boring anyway, so you can rest well in your room and be my beautiful bride tomorrow."

Jiang Manman could choose not to appear, but as the heir to the Xie family conglomerate, he couldn't afford not to attend. Besides, he had already promised Old Master Xie that he would resolve his engagement with Murong Xin.

After calming Jiang Manman down, Xie Yuheng, accompanied by Li Ke, entered the banquet hall. In order to annul the engagement, he even used his charms, entering the "Jiao Que" (a gambling den) and drinking with the beauties...

Li Ke tried several times to remind him that he was injured and shouldn't drink alcohol, but when Xie Yuheng's indifferent gaze swept over him, Li Ke fell silent.

Xie Yuheng, who suffered greatly for love and even sold his body, never expected that his actions would make Murong Xin so infatuated that she would never mention breaking off the engagement again.

Xie Yuheng spent several hours surrounded by women, and even had to organize a shareholders' meeting on the spot. At the meeting, he made great concessions to gain the shareholders' support for his marriage. After several hours, he was exhausted and was thinking of taking a shower to see Jiang Manman when he received the news of their breakup.

Then came that scene that completely spiraled out of control—

The girl's skin was covered with countless love marks, and there was also the absurd "forced marriage".

"Find that person, and I'll make sure he dies a horrible death." He couldn't suppress his murderous intent and ordered his men to investigate.

The port city does an excellent job of protecting marital privacy.

Li Ke, leading a large group of people, exhausted all means and investigated for over half a month before finally making a lead. Looking at the documents in his hand, Li Ke was completely stunned.

"The BOSS is Xie Yunxi."

Xie Yuheng: "..."

In this world, Xie Yuheng would have dared to make anyone else disappear without a second thought and then snatch the girl away.

Unfortunately, it was Xie Yunxi, who shared a blood relationship with him and was also the heir of the Beijing elite circle, who could not possibly harm him even if the entire Xie family was sacrificed.

However, the hatred of having one's wife stolen is enough to make a man lose his mind.

For the next two months, the two heirs of the Xie family conglomerate clashed and engaged in various public feuds, plunging the Xie family into a precarious situation and causing Old Master Xie to be admitted to the ICU three times...

Lying in his hospital bed, Old Master Xie watched as the two most outstanding heirs of the family fought to this extent over a woman, his face turning ashen with rage.

"The matter is already settled. Do you expect me to sacrifice the entire Xie family for your love? Yuheng, you better clean up this mess in Hong Kong, or I will expel you from the family! As for you, Yunxi, you dared to steal your uncle's woman. There's probably nothing in this world you can't steal. Fortunately, there are a few big projects overseas. If you can take back the Xie family, I will no longer pursue your affair with that woman."

Xie Yunxi was a beneficiary in this wedding-stealing game. He chuckled and nodded lazily, "Alright."

He turned around and flew abroad.

(End of this chapter)