Sissy (Niang Niang Qiang) - Chap 47
Chapter 47
While Li Chengxiu and the others were celebrating New Year’s at the apartment, Shao Qun was sitting alone in his car and staring into their brightly lit floor-to-ceiling windows in a daze.
On New Year’s Eve he had a quarrel with his family, so he turned off his phone and didn’t want to fucking contact anyone anymore.
Li Wenxun and Big Li went home early for the Chinese New Year. For the first time in his adult life he was facing New Year’s completely alone. In the past, he would always receive a lot of seasonal greetings at this time.
After the guy who tailed Li Shuo finally found out where Li Chengxiu lived, Shao Qun headed there immediately to sit in front of the house almost all day without eating or drinking.
He didn’t want anything else, other than just to be closer to Li Chengxiu.
Today, he didn’t want to go up and cause any trouble. First, he was a little afraid to see Li Chengxiu and Li Shuo being close to each other and happy together. Second, he felt that if he didn’t let Li Chengxiu at least have a peaceful New Year’s Eve, he would resist him even more in the future.
He looked into the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminated by bright yellow lights and imagined what Li Chengxiu might be doing inside.
Was he wearing an apron, while preparing his exquisite dishes in the kitchen?
Was he laughing at silly sketches on TV?
There was nothing that Shao Qun wanted more than spending a nice New Year’s with Li Chengxiu.
He knew that he was obsessed[16].
Since Li Chengxiu left, he couldn’t eat anything made by other cooks. He couldn’t get interested in any other boy, no matter how beautiful he was. At night, lying in his big cold bed, he finally experienced what sleepless lonely nights[17] really meant. His obsession with this person scared him to no end and made alarm bells ring in his heart, but he couldn’t control it anymore.
Shao Qun knew now that he really liked Li Chengxiu. If it was someone else who had left him for another person, he would have just told them to fuck off. But in the case of Li Chengxiu, Shao Qun still wanted to get him back. Even if he had to forcefully erase his own memories, he still wouldn’t let Li Chengxiu go.
The sound of fireworks and firecrackers outside his car seemed to have no end. The sky was constantly lighting up, and the celebrations were coming to their high point as the hand on the clock was approaching 12.
The floor-to-ceiling window that Shao Qun was staring at suddenly opened. His heart trembled, as his eyes locked up on the fifth floor balcony.
Li Chengxiu came out with a fireworks stick in his hand, chatting and laughing together with Adrian.
Shao Qun was a little surprised to see Adrian beside Li Chengxiu, but he had no time to think about it. His whole mind was just on Li Chengxiu.
Adrian was jumping around Li Chengxiu with his fireworks stick like a child. He then finally lit it up and raised it to the sky, screaming with excitement.
Li Chengxiu was also holding one in his hand and peacefully smiling.
As if enchanted, Shao Qun couldn’t take his eyes off him.
He was only thirty or forty meters away, but he might as well have been up on a high mountain.
After a while, Adrian turned around and got back inside. When a tall figure came out on the balcony, Shao Qun’s expression immediately changed.
Li Shuo approached Li Chengxiu while laughing: “That idiot Adrian got sparks onto his sweater!”
Li Chengxiu giggled, “He didn’t burn anything, right?”
“Don’t worry, no.” Li Shuo gently stood behind him and couldn’t help hugging his waist, as he rested his chin on his shoulder.
Li Chengxiu’s body became a little stiff: “Li-Dage…”
Li Shuo softly said, “Chengxiu, Happy New Year!”
“Happy New Year.”
“Chengxiu, in the new year, could we make some progress? I want to take care of you, so can you offer me a place in your heart?”
Li Chengxiu froze for a moment, his eyes felt slightly warm.
“Chengxiu, a lot of people have experienced failed relationships. But all of us have to get back on our feet at some point and move on to find the right person. Leave your past behind and give me a chance, okay?”
Li Chengxiu was full of doubts and uncertainties, but he couldn’t think of a reason to reject Li Shuo.
He was a good man, a man worthy of his respect. He fell in love with the wrong person, and now the Heavens were giving him another chance to not end up alone in the future. Was there any reason for him to say no?
Li Chengxiu wanted someone to accompany him, and he didn’t want to die alone. Li Shuo respected him, took care of him and was very helpful. This relationship seemed to be evolving very naturally. He should completely forget Shao Qun and pour his whole heart and soul into this person now.
Li Shuo gently rubbed his cheek against Li Chengxiu’s neck and asked softly, “Chengxiu, is that okay with you?”
Li Chengxiu’s chest was sore. He closed his eyes and nodded slowly: “Yes.”
Li Shuo smiled happily, put his face right next to Li Chengxiu and raised his chin.
Li Chengxiu was a little uncomfortable, but he still turned around and intimately kissed Li Shuo under the gorgeous night sky filled with bright fireworks.
The kiss didn’t last long, because Adrian came out on the balcony again and started jumping around them. All three of them quickly got back inside.
Shao Qun was sitting in the car, stiffly watching this scene. Although the heating was turned on to 27°C ~ 28°C [18] , he still felt cold all over. The pain in his heart exceeded any limit, and he felt that he was about to stop breathing.
This Li guy had taken his place. Li Chengxiu was so affectionate with him, while Shao Qun was left alone peeping through the window on the night of Chinese New Year. Worst of all, he didn’t know who to hate and who to blame for this.
Shao Qun tremblingly took out his phone from his pocket, turned it on and called his assistant.
There was a lot of noise on the other end – firecrackers and sounds from the TV: “Hello, Mr. Shao! Happy New Year!”
Shao Qun said in a dull voice, “How’s that matter I asked you to check going?”
“Hello? Mr. Shao? Happy New Year?”
Shao Qun impatiently raised his voice: “Find a quiet place to talk!”
The person on the other end seemed to have entered a room, and it got much quieter: “Mr. Shao…”
“What’s with that thing I asked you to check?”
“I checked all Li Shuo’s company projects of the past few years. I found that there was something fishy about a bankruptcy case of a real estate company the previous year.”
“Tell me.”
“This real estate company in question mortgaged a piece of land to Bank X back then. The government took the land back without any remuneration because it had not been developed for more than a year. The reason why the land was not developed was because the land was involved in some property rights issues. Bank X actually never got the land certificate. It is rumored that at the time the president of Bank X had a personal relationship with the boss of that real estate company. He knew that there was a problem with the land but he still financed the loan. The connection between them was facilitated by Li Shuo. Li Shuo’s firm was handling all the accounts of this real estate company. And before they filed for bankruptcy, they received loans for more than 1 billion RMB from two other banks. After filing for bankruptcy, due to the large amount of money involved, the Financial Services Office also intervened in the matter. However, no evidence was ever found against Li Shuo.”[19]
“What’s your opinion on this?”
“Li Shuo is extremely smart. Even if he did create fake accounts, he did it flawlessly. Based on the information I have, I really can’t do anything. Unless, of course, I can locate the owner of that real estate company.”
“Is it possible to find him?”
“It’s hard. Who knows where he’s hiding from his creditors? Nobody has heard of him in several years. If we can find this guy, we can get rid of Li Shuo in one fell swoop.”
“Keep looking for him and continue collecting evidence. Even if there is nothing concrete, it will at least make him restless. As long as there’s probable cause, we can make someone start an investigation. And once they are done with him, no matter the outcome, he will be ruined together with his company,” said Shao Qun, gritting his teeth.
Assistant Zhou pondered for a while: “It will take a lot of effort and connections…” He actually wanted to ask whether some petty jealousy was even worth all the fuss. But since Shao Qun was paying his salary, he couldn’t really say anything. Still, he felt some disdain.
Shao Qun wasn’t even listening anymore: “Xiao Zhou, call Wang Jiang and the others now! I’ll send you the address.”
“Ah? What?”
“I can’t fucking stand it anymore. I have to take Li Chengxiu away today.”
“Huh?” Assistant Zhou hesitated, “Mr. Shao, it’s already one a.m….”
“No kidding! So do you want me to wait for them to wake up?”
“But… It’s New Year’s Eve. Who would be willing to come out now?”
“Where there’s money, there’s a way. Make it happen. I give you forty minutes.” Shao Qun decisively hung up the phone, gloomily looking at the still lit floor-to-ceiling windows. He impatiently tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.
Apart from the tapping sound, the car was completely quiet. So much so that one could hear Shao Qun’s watch ticking. He couldn’t wait to rush into that house and snatch Li Chengxiu back.
He didn’t care about his means anymore. In his bones Shao Qun was a scoundrel after all. He was going to use all the tricks in the book. So what if Li Chengxiu became more resistant? Anything was better than watching Li Chengxiu fall in love with someone else.
He wanted Li Shuo, this phony foreign devil, to never see Li Chengxiu ever again! He wanted him to actually never come back to China again!
And he also wanted to make Li Chengxiu unable to escape his grip ever again.
Assistant Zhou’s work efficiency was really astonishing. In less than half an hour he managed to deliver three sturdy and professionally trained men to the requested address.
Shao Qun led them all upstairs and rang the doorbell.
Li Shuo called from inside: “Who is it?”
Assistant Zhou responded in a low voice, “Hello, I’m your neighbor.”
Li Shuo wasn’t suspicious at all and directly opened the door.
The men quickly rushed in, grabbed Li Shuo by his shoulders and directly punched him in the stomach.
Li Shuo was unprepared – he ended up being beaten to the point of collapsing on the ground, bent in half and retching from pain.
Li Chengxiu and Adrian, who were sitting at the table and playing poker at the time, were both shocked and dumbfounded, as they watched everything unfold in less than a few seconds.
The three hired people were actually retired soldiers from the army. They worked as security guards in the nightclub Shao Qun was running. How could Li Shuo oppose someone with such a background, not to mention that all the three of them attacked him at the same time and delivered their blows quickly and efficiently?
He didn’t even manage to react at all, when his arms were twisted, and he himself was pressed down to the ground. He was dizzy and couldn’t recover for a long while.
Shao Qun felt vindicated for the time when he was held down by Li Shuo’s guards and beaten by him in his office. He gave Li Shuo a fierce look, and then his cold eyes glanced at Li Chengxiu.
After the initial shock had passed, Li Chengxiu screamed “Li-Dage!” and ran towards Li Shuo.
Shao Qun stepped in front of him, grabbed Li Chengxiu’s arm and gritted his teeth: “You only have eyes for your fucking Li-Ge! Don’t you see me at all? Did you even look at me now? Are you looking at me?”
Why don’t you look at me? In the past, there was only me in your eyes!
Li Chengxiu looked at him with a sad and indignant face: “Shao Qun, you’re an asshole. Let go of me.”
Seeing Li Shuo’s body pressed to the ground with a knee on his back, Li Chengxiu felt guilty and distressed. There was panic in his eyes.
What other horrible things can someone like Shao Qun do? How much does he want to hurt him to finally be satisfied?
Shao Qun laughed angrily: “Yes, I’m an asshole. Did you just figure it out? You think you can have a bright shiny future with your Li-Ge? Dream on. I haven’t told you that I don’t want you anymore, so you can’t be with anybody else!”
Li Chengxiu raised his hand to hit him, but Shao Qun immediately grabbed his other hand and then secured both of his hands behind his back. He then pushed Li Chengxiu towards one of the burly men: “Get him to the car.”
The man covered Li Chengxiu’s mouth and, disregarding his screaming and kicking, easily carried him out.
Adrian was more bark and less bite. Apart from being good with his words, his practical physical ability was almost non-existent[20]. Not to mention that he had never encountered such a situation before.
But seeing that Li Chengxiu was about to be kidnapped, he couldn’t just sit and watch.
He quickly rushed up: “Shao Qun, don’t be a jerk! Hurry up and let him go. Have you completely lost your mind?”
Shao Qun glared at him coldly: “Adrian, what role are you playing here?”
Adrian was stunned for a moment and then said angrily, “It’s none of your damn business! Let him and Li Shuo go!”
Shao Qun approached him with a few steps and towered over him, threatening, “How can you meddle in other people’s business when you haven’t even dealt with your own family affairs properly? Your little nephew is looking all over the world for you. Do you want to be reunited with him?[21]”
Adrian’s face instantly paled, and he stared at Shao Qun with panic and resentment.
Shao Qun pushed him away, pointed at his nose and said, “Don’t fucking come between me and Li Chengxiu! You’ve been hiding out here for so long, but I need to make just one phone call…”
Adrian subconsciously put his hands behind his back, and a pained look surfaced on his face. He gritted his teeth and said, “You should at least let Li Shuo go.”
Shao Qun smiled coldly and waved at the person who was pressing Li Shuo down.
The man got his knee off Li Shuo’s back, and Li Shuo tried his best to get up from the ground. However, his chest and his back were hurting badly, and his hands and feet were too weak.
Adrian rushed up and helped him stand.
Shao Qun’s eyes were vicious: “Li, listen carefully. Chengxiu is mine. Don’t touch things that don’t belong to you. If you go against me, you will regret it.”
Li Shuo covered his stomach, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and said with a look of disgust on his face, “Shao Qun, you really are a savage animal! All you’ve accomplished now is make Chengxiu hate you even more.”
These words directly hit Shao Qun’s sore spot. His eyes were red as he said: “He can hate me to death but I will not give him to anybody else.”
Li Shuo was furious and exasperated. What a great beginning of the new year! Li Chengxiu was now kidnapped by Shao Qun, and if Shao Qun wanted to hide him somewhere, it won’t be easy to locate him again. He could have never imagined that Shao Qun would go so far as to openly snatch Li Chengxiu up like some kind of gangster.
Li Shuo said in a chilly voice: “Shao Qun, you will regret it.”
With a disdainful face, Shao Qun coldly and proudly declared, “You will never see him again.”
He then turned around and headed downstairs. Shao Qun couldn’t wait to rush to his car.
When the man who had Li Chengxiu in his grip saw Shao Qun coming out of the house, he got out of the car, closed the door and went around to take the driver’s seat.
Shao Qun quickly got into the back seat and hugged the horrified and furious Li Chengxiu, sniffing the familiar smell of his body. Shao Qun’s eyes felt hot, and he couldn’t help calling out to him: “Chengxiu…”
