Free Web Novel“I’ll be heading back now.”
I spoke to Bo Xilai beside me.
“Already leaving?” freēwebnovel.com
“It just ruined the mood. Let’s meet again in a few days and continue our business discussion.”
Bo Xilai slowly nodded.
“Understood. I’ll arrange something soon.”
After exchanging farewells with him, I walked over to where Cheon Jiyoung was helping Wei Zhengcheng to his feet.
“That’s enough. You can stop apologizing now.”
“Thank you. I will never come near you again.”
As I got closer, their conversation became clearer.
I lightly tapped Cheon Jiyoung’s shoulder as she awkwardly glanced around, then looked down at Wei Zhengcheng.
“If you’re done apologizing, you can leave now.”
Wei Zhengcheng hurriedly got up, glanced at me, and left the party hall without another word.
Watching him go, Cheon Jiyoung asked blankly,
“Oppa... what just happened?”
“I just told him to apologize to you. But you’re already forgiving him for something like that?”
She nodded.
“Yeah. I mean, he said he likes me—it’s not like that’s a crime. The method was wrong, that’s all.”
For a moment, I was speechless.
How does she even arrive at that kind of thinking?
She had just gone through something terrifying, in a foreign place, with no one helping her.
“What did you even say to him to make him go that far?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Cheon Jiyoung glared at me, but I quickly changed the subject.
“So, are you staying longer? I’m heading back to the hotel. Where are you staying?”
“You’re leaving already?”
“Yeah. Cancel your booking and come with me. Let’s catch up—it’s been a while.”
“Umm......”
Cheon Jiyoung looked back at Ye Xiaotong, clearly conflicted.
Ye Xiaotong maintained her picture-perfect smile and nodded.
“Don’t worry about me. Go with him. You said it’s been a while.”
“Unni, I’m sorry! I’ll call you tomorrow.”
After apologizing sincerely, Cheon Jiyoung immediately hooked her arm around mine.
“Let’s go! I’m hungry! Buy me something good.”
She’s old enough and has been in society long enough—why is she still like a kid?
I shook off her arm and looked at her with disbelief.
“Act your age.”
“What? What’s wrong with my age? It’s the perfect age to get treated by you.”
She let go of my arm and glared at me, throwing out a terrible joke.
At that moment, Ye Xiaotong approached and spoke.
“Chairman Kim Muhyuk.”
I turned quietly toward her soft, alluring voice.
“I’d like to meet you sometime, separately......”
“Is there any reason I should meet you?”
“It will be beneficial for both of us.”
I let out a low hum and decided to probe her intentions.
“Did you approach Jiyoung to get to me?”
“Oppa!”
At my blunt and rude question, Cheon Jiyoung hit my arm and glanced nervously at Ye Xiaotong.
But Ye Xiaotong simply smiled and shook her head.
“Hehe. I only found out later that you were Jiyoung’s cousin. She talks about you so much—it would be impossible not to know.”
Her expression was calm, composed.
“Contact me here. I’ll be in Shanghai for a few days.”
She pulled out a luxurious business card from her wallet and held it out.
I silently looked at it before taking it.
‘I should meet her and figure out what she’s really after.’
As I tucked the card away, she extended her hand slightly.
“You’re not giving me your card?”
She asked confidently.
I hesitated for a moment—whether to give mine or Manager Ma’s—then pulled out my card holder.
I handed her a card I had prepared for use in China.
“Oh, your card is beautiful.”
As expected of someone from China, she smiled as she took the gold card.
“I’ll be waiting for your call. Or maybe I’ll contact you first.”
She gave me a charming eye-smile, then turned to Cheon Jiyoung.
“Let’s have lunch tomorrow, Jiyoung.”
“Okay, unni.”
Having achieved her goal, Ye Xiaotong turned without hesitation and disappeared into the crowd.
“Oppa.”
As I watched where she vanished, Cheon Jiyoung called me.
“Ah, sorry. What do you want to eat?”
“Something expensive. Expensive and delicious.”
I took her and left the party.
Since it was already late at night and there were no suitable restaurants, we ordered room service in the suite I had reserved and talked while eating.
“How did you meet Ye Xiaotong? There’s quite an age gap.”
“Huh? Unni? She was an investor in a movie I starred in.”
From there, Cheon Jiyoung began explaining in detail how they had become close.
“After that, whenever I came to China, we’d go shopping, eat together, and got closer. Sometimes we even go yachting......”
I slowly nodded, organizing my thoughts.
An actress building connections with an investor.
From one perspective, it was nothing unusual.
“But why are you asking? Don’t tell me......?”
Cheon Jiyoung stabbed her fork into a piece of meat mid-sentence, then looked at me in shock. freewēbnoveℓ.com
I could already tell what she was thinking.
I answered indifferently, pushing more food toward her.
“What are you thinking?”
“That’s not it, right? She’s way older than you.”
“I know. Stop talking nonsense and eat.”
As I chewed my steak, I continued organizing my thoughts.
Based on what she said, it might not have been intentional.
But there’s no such thing as coincidence in this world.
On the exact day I visit China after a long time, Ye Xiaotong appears at the same party with Cheon Jiyoung and creates a connection to me?
Is that really coincidence?
I don’t know when or where it started, but Ye Xiaotong definitely approached Cheon Jiyoung with a plan.
As I silently ate, Cheon Jiyoung asked,
“What’s got you so serious? Is it a problem that I’m close with her?”
“No. It’s not a problem. But what does she do? Is she a businesswoman?”
“Yeah. She said she does all kinds of business. Why? Did you already know her?”
“I’ve only heard the name. Did she ever ask about me?”
“I was the one who brought you up first. She’s never once asked me about you.”
She might have avoided mentioning it on purpose—to avoid making it obvious that I was her target.
The more I thought about it, the more complicated it became.
“Forget it. I’ll find out when I meet her. Finish your food. And take care of yourself—eat properly. You’re so skinny, it’s ridiculous.”
“Ugh, you sound like an old man. I’ve actually gained weight lately, and I’m stressed about it.”
Cheon Jiyoung slammed her fork down and frowned.
She really is fun to tease.
“If that’s gaining weight, then everyone else is a pig.”
“Oppa, seriously!”
She glared at me, and I finally burst out laughing.
* * *
After returning to his home in Shanghai, Wei Zhengcheng replayed everything that had happened in his head.
For the first time in his life—fear, humiliation, and disgrace. As those emotions resurfaced vividly, his face twisted like that of a demon.
“Fuck! Me?! How dare they—me?!”
Despite the servants lining the house, Wei Zhengcheng paid them no mind and began smashing everything in the living room.
The servants could do nothing but tremble in the corners.
After venting for a long time, someone came to see him.
“Wei Zhengcheng.”
At the familiar voice, he turned his head.
“Ye Xiaotong! This isn’t what we agreed on!”
The one who came was Ye Xiaotong.
“Agreed? What agreement? I only told you Cheon Jiyoung would be attending the party. What exactly did I promise you?”
“You just stood there and watched while I was humiliated! What were you doing?!”
“And what would’ve changed if I stepped in?”
The woman who had smiled so sweetly in front of Cheon Jiyoung was now ice-cold.
Her sharp gaze made Wei Zhengcheng flinch.
“So why °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° are you here today?”
Looking at the wrecked living room, Ye Xiaotong shook her head.
“Let’s change locations first. We can’t have a proper conversation here.”
Wei Zhengcheng nodded.
“Clean all of this up.”
He turned and started walking toward the bedroom.
“Where are you going?”
“You said somewhere quiet. What’s quieter than the bedroom—”
“Don’t try anything funny.”
At her sharp response, he awkwardly led her to the reception room instead.
The moment they sat down, she crossed her legs and asked,
“What exactly happened for you to kneel like that? Tell me everything.”
She knew Wei Zhengcheng well.
A man infamous even within the princeling circle—arrogant, relying on his father’s power, and notoriously lustful.
He had been the perfect pawn to test how Kim Muhyuk would react if Cheon Jiyoung were put in danger.
She had deliberately leaked Jiyoung’s attendance to him—and purposely arrived late.
But she hadn’t expected this outcome.
Wei Zhengcheng... kneeling and begging?
It was unthinkable.
So the moment Kim Muhyuk and Cheon Jiyoung left, she followed Wei Zhengcheng.
“...Bo Xilai cut ties with me. That ungrateful bastard! Over a mere Korean!”
“You’re the type to kneel over something like that? Tell me the truth.”
Even if Bo Xilai cut ties, Wei Zhengcheng wouldn’t normally care.
“....”
“What happened that you can’t even tell me?”
The more he hesitated, the more curious she became.
“You, of all people—with your wealth—are you really worried about something like that? You’d just find another investor. No? Tell me. I need to know if I’m going to help you.”
Her connections surpassed his.
Despite being a woman, she had built ties with high-ranking elites purely through networking, controlling all kinds of privileges.
After a moment of hesitation, Wei Zhengcheng spoke.
“He said he’d kill me... No, I was on the verge of dying.”
As he spoke, the memory returned.
That moment—when his throat was crushed, death looming closer with every second.
He had experienced the so-called “life flashing before your eyes.”
His body trembled unconsciously.
Seeing that, interest flickered in Ye Xiaotong’s eyes.
“On the verge of death?”
Wei Zhengcheng nodded and told her everything.
“...Kim Muhyuk. They said he’s arrogant, but... he really has no fear. To think he’d actually try to kill you.”
After hearing everything, Ye Xiaotong revised her assessment of Kim Muhyuk.
And made a decision—to provoke him further using Wei Zhengcheng.
“So you’re just going to take it?”
“What can I do against a madman? Especially someone backed by President Hu Jintao...”
“Hm... I misjudged you. To be humiliated by a Korean and hide like a drenched dog.”
“What?! You think words are cheap? Even you’re looking down on me now?!”
He flared up—exactly what she wanted.
“So what are you going to do about it? Really going to sit still?”
“...Is there a way?”
Simple.
Too simple.
A faint smile curved her lips.
“I’ll introduce you to someone.”
“Someone?”
“An organization that’ll do anything for money. With your wealth, you could make even ghosts dance, couldn’t you?”
“I know the Triads! But what can mere thugs do—”
She laughed at him.
“They’re not just thugs. A secret organization made up of former special forces.”
“Special forces?”
She nodded slowly.
“Trust me and meet them. You won’t regret it. But you have to go in person. Send a proxy, and they’ll return as a corpse.”
“...What?”
“They’re a secret organization. Even with my introduction, they won’t meet anyone but you. For confidentiality, proxies get killed.”
The chilling words made him swallow dryly.
“...What exactly do they do?”
“Stop asking. Go see for yourself.”
She picked up a memo pad, took out a fountain pen, and wrote down an address.
“Tell no one. Go alone. Say I sent you. And take this.”
She handed him a black business card—different from the one she had given Kim Muhyuk.
Wei Zhengcheng stared at it for a long time before asking,
“What if it fails? If they find out I ordered it... I’m dead. He really meant it. Especially that bodyguard... his eyes...”
“Don’t worry. Even if it fails, no one will know you were behind it. That’s why they still exist. They never reveal clients. Or... do you not trust me?”
At her confident tone, he finally nodded and tucked the card and memo away.
“I’ll be going. See you.”
After she left, Wei Zhengcheng closed his eyes and organized his thoughts.
When he opened them again, they gleamed with madness.
* * *
“Nice to meet you, Chairman Kim Muhyuk.”
A few days later, I met Ye Xiaotong.
“Likewise.”
After shaking her hand, I sat down.
The large restaurant was completely empty.
“No other guests?”
“Hehe, I reserved the entire place for today.”
So that’s her level of wealth.
I nodded slightly and glanced at the man standing behind her.
Sharp-featured, expressionless—a bodyguard.
“My bodyguard. You can pretend he’s not here.”
She raised her wine glass casually.
I didn’t like the relaxed attitude.
So I decided to shake things up.
“Ye Xiaotong... aren’t you curious who your father is?”
