Xia Yu turned to look around the room and pulled a tie from the hanger at last. She squatted down in front of Bai Hong and took her hand, which was hurt seriously in the palm and bleeding with a lot of blood. Then she wrapped the wound several times with the tie and made a knot, enveloping her fingers.

“Grasp it!” Xia Yu said as if she was giving an order.

Bai Hong turned her head aside and closed her eyes in pain.

Xia Yu looked at her. “Bai Hong, grasp it!” She spoke to her more strongly in a serious tone with a severe look.

Bai Hong hesitated but grasped the knot docilely at last. Then Xia Yu felt relieved and stood up.

“Go to the hospital and deal with the wound on your hand.” Xia Yu turned around and was about to leave. However, no sooner had she stepped than she heard the chair rub on the ground and turn over behind her. Then her arm and her whole body were pulled back at once.

It happened so suddenly that Xia Yu almost ran into Bai Hong’s arms, who held Xia Yu in her arms like a wounded child and tightly wrapped her arms around Xia Yu’s shoulders.

Through the mirror, Xia Yu saw the image of Bai Hong’s back, who tightened her arms little by little and held her more and more tightly. Xia Yu stood there still. After a long while, Bai Hong did not make any movement, but Xia Yu felt that there was some chilliness around her neck as if it was wet and moist.

“Bai Hong, let go of me! Let go of me, okay?” Xia Yu patted Bai Hong’s back. “Everything will be all past.” She said to herself in her heart. You should not shed tears. Tears were of no help. But Bai Hong kept holding Xia Yu tightly for a long time. Xia Yu could barely breathe due to her holding, so she struggled a bit.

She wanted to push her away. Suddenly, she felt that Bai Hong rubbed her shoulders heavily and then said in a hoarse voice, “Xia Yu, take me away from here, okay?”

Xia Yu’s heart quivered. Being held by Bai Hong, she didn’t give an answer for a long while, so Bai Hong had almost given up. She smiled bitterly and raised her head with her red eyes.

“Just a joke. Forget it.”

But Xia Yu suddenly replied, “Go away!”

“What?”

“I’ll take you away from here. Go away!” She dragged Bai Hong to walk towards the door while taking out her phone to call the manager.

“You wait for me at the northern door.”

Xia Yu walked out with Bai Hong through the door. When they arrived at the foot of the stairs, they saw Jiang Tao leaning against the pillar in the corridor and smoking. It seemed that he had stood there for a long time because there was a half-finished butt near his feet. But the corridor was dim with no lights, and the only faint light was from the indicator light of the emergency exit on one side.

Xia Yu directly ignored him. She walked over with Bai Hong, but she was drawn back by him when she passed by his front.

“Fizz!” Her hand, which was cut open by the glass, was just grasped by him, making Xia Yu inhale with a twinge. Jiang Tao, with a cigarette in his mouth, stared at her coldly.

“Are you going to take her away from here like this?”

Xia Yu shook her arm. “It seems to be none of your business!”

Jiang Tao felt annoyed and could not bear it at all. He turned his eyes from Xia Yu to Bai Hong while Bai Hong was also staring at him. She had warned him before of not pushing her too far and had advised him to go to their parents and take initiatives to cancel the engagement. Otherwise, he would be punished. But he turned a deaf ear and assumed that Bai Hong dared not to risk her family business interests.

So, today Bai Hong gave him a lesson boldly as regards his self-complacency.

“Master Jiang, excuse me!” Her words of “excuse me” made Jiang Tao sneer as if he was the one who stood in their way.

“Go ahead!” Xia Yu directly ignored him and took Bai Hong to the stairs. Jiang Tao didn’t stop them because he had no standpoint to do so. He just smoked and watched their backs when they were leaving and stepping down the stairs one floor after another. Soon, they disappeared in his eyes while only the sound of their footsteps remained.

“Xia Yu, send me to the hospital.” Bai Hong was worried about her mother because she didn’t know how she was now.

She glanced at the manager, and he got the hint immediately. He then drove the car to the hospital directly. When they arrived at the gate, they found there were quite a lot of journalists because Mrs. Bai was sent there for rescuing.

They were really haunting everywhere. Bai Hong almost felt like crying out of anxiety. But she didn’t dare to get out of the car, fearing that the journalists would see her.

“Don’t worry. Someone can let you in secretly.” Xia Yu took out her phone and called Zhou Yan.

Half an hour later, Zhou Yan arrived. He glanced at Bai Hong, hinting her to follow him in.

After Xia Yu watched them get into the hospital, she got the manager to drive the car away. On the way, Xia Yu received a call from Old Madame Jiang, who spoke rudely, “Miss Xia, I know you’re on good terms with Jiang An. But it has gone too far that you kidnapped Bai Hong.”

“Old Madame Jiang, Mrs. Bai is in the hospital. It’s normal that Bai Hong cares about her mother. After all, she is a customer of Ruyi Tower. So, it’s my duty to serve her. If you think that I kidnapped her, you can call the police.” Xia Yu said calmly.

Bai Hong went to the hospital? If so, it was understandable indeed. After all, Mrs. Bai’s health conditions were very important. Old Madame Jiang was silent for a while because she couldn’t think of an excuse to retort. Finally, she said, “Miss Xia, I’ve transferred my stock shares to Jiang Tao. In any case, Jiang An has to give up the position of President this time. Since you’re on good terms with Jiang An, you’d better urge him to give up voluntarily.”

Old Madame Jiang was well informed that Xia Yu secretly persuaded Bai Hong for a long time not to get engaged to Jiang Tao. Now Bai Hong had been incited by Xia Yu to dump Jiang Tao successfully.

But so what? Jiang Tao still remained the largest shareholder of Jiang Group, so it was reasonable for Jiang An to give up the position.

“Old Madame Jiang, since you know that Jiang An is on good terms with Xia Family, it is natural for us not to stand by as for his matters. If you think that your stock shares are enough to compete with Ruyi Tower, let’s wait and see.” Xia Yu was not a pretentious person. Since Old Madame Jiang said these words so plainly, Xia Yu naturally retorted in such a straightforward way in return, which made Old Madame Jiang speechless for a long while.

Jiang Tao’s parents and Jiang An’s parents were all beside her. Jiang Tao’s parents felt very triumphant when hearing that Old Madame supported their son strongly. In this way, Jiang An was under great disadvantages to compete with them.

However, what Xia Yu said made Jiang An’s parents feel assured a lot. With the full support from Xia Family, they didn’t think Old Madame’s stock shares could pose a big threat to them.

Old Madame was so angry, but she could do nothing to Xia Yu. Therefore, she hung up in exasperation.

Xia Yu did not talk to her verbosely, and when she was about to put her phone away, she got a message from Zhou Yan. He told her that he would take her to the rehabilitation center on Wednesday and he had something important to tell her.

Xia Yu guessed that it must be related to Aunt Jiang since he said so. She was also very curious about Aunt Jiang’s condition, so she replied and agreed to go with him quickly.

Soon, it was Wednesday. The sun, which had been burning for days, seemed to disappear at once. Instead, it became cloudy and gloomy when she got up in the morning. Xia Yu intentionally checked the weather forecast before she went to work. It was indeed said that it was going to rain in the afternoon.

At about ten o’clock in the morning, Zhou Yan called Xia Yu and invited her to have lunch together first and then go to the rehabilitation center. In the beginning, Xia Yu declined his lunch invitation several times and intended to drive to the rehabilitation center on her own to meet him in the afternoon. But Zhou Yan drove to her door directly before lunch. In this way, Xia Yu really could not find an excuse and could only dine with him.

They went to a restaurant famous for Southern cuisine. It seemed that Zhou Yan had figured out Xia Yu’s taste. She was not particular about food and was fine with all the dishes that he ordered.

They then went to the rehabilitation center by Zhou Yan’s car after lunch at about one o’clock in the afternoon. On the way, Zhou Yan advised Xia Yu to act as his assistant when they arrived there.

The rehabilitation center was not in the downtown but was not remote. Besides, in recent years, almost all the areas around S city had been developed, so the road was smooth, and the traffic was more convenient. They arrived near the rehabilitation center at about 1:30 in the afternoon.

Zhou Yan stopped at a vacant lot by the side of the road and turned off his car.

“Our car cannot drive inside. We should get off here.” Zhou Yan had been here before, so he knew the rules. Xia Yu nodded and got out of the car with him. The surrounding was arranged like a parking lot which was built additionally, and many trees were planted around it with thick stems and tree canopies. It seemed that they had been planted here for ten or twenty years.

“Go ahead! The rehabilitation center is on the opposite side of the road.”

Zhou Yan led the way, and Xia Yu followed him. The parking lot was paved with coal cinders and was a little rugged, which made her stumble and almost fall down. Luckily, Zhou Yan held her body aside. Their bodies got close to each other at once, and Xia Yu smelled the thick aloes on his body.

“The road here is too rugged.” His voice was as calm as usual.

But Xia Yu turned her body aside to avoid his touch. Perhaps, her gesture was too obvious, which made herself feel embarrassed. She lowered her head and limped forward. Zhou Yan behind her didn’t care about it much. He only lowered his head and smiled.

After they walked across the cinders-paved parking lot, they continued to walk several hundred meters as the trees became fewer and more scattered. Finally, they saw the grey wall not far away. As the wall was very high, they could only see a small piece of the roof coming out even though they got near. Outside the entrance, there was a vast and high iron door, behind which there was a thick wood door. Therefore, the whole section was enclosed so tightly that one could not see the inside at all.

However, this place seemed to be ordinary, apart from these outer features. If there hadn’t been a sign outside the door, which said “Neurological Rehabilitation Center”, very few people would have noticed that there was an asylum for lunatics.

Zhou Yan took Xia Yu to the entrance and found that someone was waiting for them, who was a middle-aged man in a blue uniform. He was tall, thin, and somber. Zhou Yan seemed to be his acquaintance and introduced him to Xia Yu, saying that he was a director of the rehabilitation center, whose surname was Hu, in charge of the patient’s accommodation and daily arrangements.

Zhou Yan had a simple chat with him and showed him an appointment letter which was sealed by the rehabilitation center. After that, Zhou Yan and Xia Yu received a meticulous pat-down. Zhou Yan’s laptop and Xia Yu’s handbag were all searched. The phones, keys, even nail scissors, and Xia Yu’s hair clips were all taken out. When making sure that everything was OK, the security guard opened the door for them.

The old-styled iron gate was opened from the middle, giving out a creak. The man in the blue uniform swiped the card which was hung around his neck, and the wood door was opened, too. After they went through so many “doors”, Xia Yu and Zhou Yan finally came into the rehabilitation center. But as soon as they came in, the security guard closed the doors again with two bangs. These two doors shut off the outside world completely from here.

Xia Yu’s heart jolted somehow. She looked around. The high walls, all grey, were covered with coils of high voltage electricity. In front of them, there was a broad and long cement path. On both sides, there were trees and green belts. Many houses were lined up from far to near with the path as a center. They were almost two stories high without balconies. The windows were all installed with iron bars. The walls were also painted grey. So, people could not tell the usage of those houses from their appearances at all.

Xia Yu followed him, twisting her fingers out of anxiety all the way.

In fact, frankly speaking, this center had a good environment inside, and at least, it looked clean and tidy from here. But probably because of the gloomy weather as well as high walls of iron everywhere or because all they saw were grey and white, Xia Yu felt like there was something choked in her heart since she entered here. She felt depressed and suffocated. She was even a little out of breath. Besides, there was another feeling of silence. Or to put it in a more exact way, it was deathly stillness. Anyway, there was no sound in the whole area. It was so silent that Xia Yu could even hear the wind blowing over her ears.