Chapter 14: Leaving Without a Word

Page (1/3)

Li Antong was naturally timid, and witnessing Sun Liang vanish into thin air left her trembling with fear. Under Zhao Chen’s command, she withdrew two hundred thousand yuan in cash from multiple ATMs, her voice trembling as she asked, “Can I go now?”

“Go where? The house hasn’t been transferred yet,” Zhao Chen said coldly. “Come with me to the housing authority. Only when the house is under my name will I let you leave.”

“If I give the house back to you, you’ll let me go?” Li Antong asked cautiously.

“Of course. Do you think I’d dirty my hands by killing you?” Zhao Chen snapped.

He hailed a taxi and warned her again, “If you cooperate, you’ll live. Don’t try to play tricks on me, or your fate will be worse than Sun Liang’s.”

He had treated her well back then, but she had treated him like a timid coward, scheming with Sun Liang behind his back, cheating on him. Later, those two scoundrels even sold her to the traffickers, causing her endless humiliation and suffering in Myanmar.

With such a venomous heart, Zhao Chen could never truly let her go.

Li Antong’s body shuddered in fear, and she obediently got into the taxi.

They soon arrived at the housing authority. After Zhao Chen submitted the documents, he quickly obtained the new property deed.

At last, the final task was complete; there was nothing tying him to his hometown anymore.

“Zhao Chen, the house is back with you now. Can I leave?” Li Antong pleaded pitifully.

“Of course, but before I let you go, there’s one more thing you need to do for me,” Zhao Chen said expressionlessly as he glanced at the passersby outside the housing bureau.

Li Antong blushed, mistakenly thinking he wanted to do something improper. Inwardly, she cursed him, but out loud she asked, “If I do that thing with you once, will you really let me go? You have to keep your word.”

Hmm?

Zhao Chen narrowed his eyes. This woman’s way of thinking was something else.

He only wanted to lock her into his palm space, but she thought he wanted to sleep with her?

If it were before, Zhao Chen might have been excited and immediately taken her to a hotel room. But now, he had no interest at all—he even felt disgusted.

This woman had been married to Sun Liang for over a year. Who knew how many times they had been together? It was all filthy to him.

Page (2/3)

“Weren’t you always eager to be with me before? I know you’ve been thinking about it. I can satisfy you once, but after that, you must promise not to hurt me and let me go, okay?” Li Antong looked at Zhao Chen pleadingly.

“Fine, as you say. I promise to keep my word,” Zhao Chen sneered, putting his arm around her shoulder as they headed into a deserted alley. Once he made sure no one was around, he grabbed her shoulder hard with his left hand.

A powerful suction from his palm space pulled her in.

“You shameless bitch, trying to take advantage of me! You think I’m so desperate that I’ll accept anyone?”

Just after three in the afternoon, Zhao Chen returned downstairs at his home but hesitated to go upstairs.

He lacked the courage to tell his parents that he had to leave again, and he felt torn inside.

But he had no choice; there were no jadeite raw stones at home, and no place to use his left-hand ability.

Besides, he had captured Sun Liang and Li Antong. Their families would eventually notice their disappearance.

Originally, Zhao Chen planned to leave the more than one million yuan in his pocket space to his parents but feared the police would come looking, causing trouble for them.

So he sighed deeply, filled with reluctance, and used a ride-hailing app to call a car straight to the airport. On the way, he sent his mother a message.

“Mom, forgive me for leaving without saying goodbye, but I really can’t stay at home.”

“I believe relatives and friends know I was deceived into going to Myanmar, forced to do many terrible things for those beasts.”

“I don’t want you to be ashamed in front of others or endure their strange looks.”

“So I’m going to find work elsewhere. Once things settle down, I’ll call to let you know I’m safe. Don’t worry!”

Zhao Chen didn’t say where he was going, only hoping his parents wouldn’t worry about him.

When he pressed send, a flood of emotions surged in his heart. He had been reunited with his family for less than three days before leaving again. They must miss him terribly.

After sending the message, Zhao Chen turned off his phone, passed security, boarded the plane, and arrived in Yunnan Province.

This was once the place he hated most, but now it marked the starting point of his dreams.

Jadeite was valuable. Finished jewelry made from it was worth far more than raw material, sometimes doubling the price.

So Zhao Chen planned to start by trading raw stones, then, after earning enough capital, open a jewelry company to grow big and strong!

Arriving in Kunming, the provincial capital, Zhao Chen transferred to the border city of Ruili and headed straight to the largest jade trading market there.

Page (3/3)

As soon as his phone powered on, Zhao Chen saw six missed calls from his mother and one from Tang Yan.

His gaze sharpened. Instead of calling his mother back, he returned Tang Yan’s call.

The moment the phone connected, he heard her scolding, “Hey, punk, you dare not answer my calls? Are you asking for a beating?”

No wonder she called Wen Min her sister—their personalities matched perfectly, both violent and fierce.

Zhao Chen calmly explained, “I was back home and couldn’t answer on the plane. What do you want?”

Tang Yan was about 1.6 meters tall but had a voice as loud as 2.8 meters, her chattering coming through the phone.

“Raw stones, of course! Are there any new stones? My grandfather took those two already.”

“You have to find me a high-quality one, or I’ll tell Sister Wen Min to send people after you.”

Zhao Chen was speechless. “Are you sure you’re not mistaken? This is within China. She’s just a warlord from Myanmar. Can she really bring people here to catch me?”

“Why not? She has a border resident permit and a passport, okay? Bringing people here is easy. Anyway, forget that. Do you have any raw stones? Ideally, icy jade, and the price should be high.”

“I do. I’m in Ruili. Are you coming here or should I come to you?”

Zhao Chen didn’t take her threat seriously. Even if Wen Min dared to come, she wouldn’t be able to bring guns or weapons. Whoever got caught was uncertain.

If she ended up in his hands, he’d make sure she came alone and sent a whole group of her underlings back.

“You’re in Ruili? I’m here too. Send me your location, I’ll drive there right away.”

Tang Yan’s voice was filled with surprise and excitement, eager to be by Zhao Chen’s side.

Half an hour later, the two met outside the jade trading market.

Tang Yan curiously asked, “Why come to a place like this? It’s all just raw stones and kilogram bricks, mostly ordinary goods. There’s nothing to see.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” Zhao Chen smiled and asked, “Did you bring cash? I don’t accept transfers.”

Although the business was legitimate, the authorities were very strict about monitoring large electronic transactions.

Frequent large transactions easily attracted scrutiny about the source of funds, and Zhao Chen didn’t want to bring trouble upon himself.