Rose Lock - Chapter 38

A black, low-profile Ford car drove up from a distance. From afar, they could see the two-story Western-style house glowing brightly in the dark night.

Another familiar car was parked in the yard. From a distance, even outside the yard, they could hear the frantic smashing sounds from upstairs, as if the place was being ransacked by thugs.

“Madam, do you need me to go up?” Old Fu asked worriedly.

Gong Yan calmly extinguished her cigarette, her face grim. “No need.”

The room on the second floor was a mess. The glass teapot and teacups on the table had all been swept to the floor, shattered into pieces. The woman on the bed had been crying all night. Her clothes were still on, but a few buttons were skewed and missing. The cloth strips on her wrists had left red marks on her skin, immobilizing her. Her slender neck was covered with punitive bite marks left by Gong Shulan.

“Gong Shulan… I hate you…” The hoarse voice weakly uttered words she had shouted countless times, but to no effect. Her eyes, swollen like walnuts, stared blankly at the ceiling above.

Gong Shulan suppressed a sense of discomfort, flared up in anger, and pinched her slender waist with force, causing Jiang Yin to wince in pain.

“Jiang Yin, are you that eager to seduce her?!”

“Let go of me!” Jiang Yin screamed at her, her voice hoarse and despairing. “Why are you always so self-righteous…”

Gong Shulan ignored her, burying her head, intoxicated by the body that made her heart pound. “Jiang Yin, you can’t like anyone else, you can’t like Huo Suqiu, and you certainly can’t like… my sister.”

Bang! The door was suddenly thrown open. Before Gong Shulan could lift her head from Jiang Yin’s body, she heard a trembling, frightened cry from above her. “A-Yan…”

Immediately after, Gong Shulan felt a violent struggle and push. Jiang Yin’s freed right hand shoved her away. The adjacent bedsheet was also pulled over, tightly covering her chest.

Gong Shulan lifted her eyes, looking at Jiang Yin who was huddled in a corner of the bed, desperately trying to hide her bruised body. Her originally impassive eyes were now staring blankly at the doorway, instantly welling up with tears.

Gong Shulan smiled, a smile devoid of warmth. The woman’s worst fear had come true. She was afraid of being seen by Gong Yan like this. It was akin to her last shred of modesty being publicly exposed.

The more Jiang Yin feared it, the more Gong Shulan wanted to do it.

She reached out towards the bedsheet that Jiang Yin was tightly clutching to her chest to cover her modesty, and ruthlessly pulled it back.

“Don’t!”

Jiang Yin hugged her knees with one hand, her lips pale. Watching Gong Shulan maliciously pull the sheet away, shame and fear overwhelmed her mind, leaving it blank.

The thin bedsheet was intercepted in mid-air and the next moment, was steadily placed back over her.

Before either of them could react, a loud slap rang out abruptly. “Gong Shulan, don’t go too far!”

Gong Yan had reached the bedside sometime, her face taut. In her eyes, there was fury at her sister’s actions and guilt towards Jiang Yin and her own negligence as an elder sister.

Gong Shulan’s face was turned to the side, the stinging pain spreading from her cheek throughout her body. She remained motionless for a long time, staring blankly at Jiang Yin’s exposed toes beneath the covers. Her red lips parted. “So… Sis, do you like her too?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?!”

Gong Shulan lifted her head, meeting the gaze of the elder sister she had always respected. “Tonight, when you kissed her, were you also lost in the moment?”

Hearing this, Jiang Yin had a momentary lapse of focus.

Another slap landed. Gong Yan coldly glared at her flesh-and-blood sister. “Is this all you see?! Shulan, you disappoint me greatly. Put on your clothes and come home with me!”

…

Old Fu waited anxiously in the yard. The sounds of things falling and breaking inside had stopped, but he didn’t know the actual situation and was unsure if the Madam was alright.

The door was suddenly opened. Old Fu was startled, seeing Gong Yan pushing Gong Shulan out. He froze in place. “Madam? Miss Shulan?”

“Go get the car.” Gong Yan glanced at the woman in the wheelchair and then turned to instruct.

Old Fu looked at the two women who appeared as if nothing had happened, except for the two handprints on Miss Shulan’s face. For a moment, he didn’t know how to speak. He opened and closed his mouth several times, finally letting out an “Aye” and went to get the car.

Old Fu’s figure disappeared into the distance. Gong Yan pushed the wheelchair through the yard. Gong Shulan’s face was grim. “You still haven’t answered me.”

“If I liked her, I would never have let her be bullied by you to this extent.”

Upon reaching the main yard gate, Gong Shulan looked back at the second floor, a cold laugh escaping her. “She owes me!”

Before her voice faded, another slap landed on her face. Simultaneously, Gong Yan’s voice, full of suppressed anger, rang out. “If you keep this up, you’ll drive her to her death sooner or later!”

Gong Shulan fell silent.

“Gong Shulan, mark my words. Your leg injury is not Jiang Yin’s fault. Stop using this to threaten her.” After this incident, Gong Yan could easily figure out the whole story. She hadn’t realized that her sister was still holding a grudge over the incident from years ago and was using it as leverage to subject Jiang Yin to years of torment.

Gong Shulan lowered her eyes, her expression unreadable, and it was hard to tell how much she had taken in.

Once in the car, the two sisters sat in the back, the atmosphere chilling to the bone.

“You will return to Nancheng tomorrow and rest properly at home,” Gong Yan suddenly said.

“What about her?” Gong Shulan looked at the road ahead. “If she comes back with me, then I’ll go back.”

Gong Yan turned to look at her, as if seeing the Gong Shulan from childhood, whom no one could persuade. “Gong Shulan, how old are you?”

Gong Shulan: “28.”

“In Haicheng, a 28-year-old is already a mother of two. Are you still a child?” Gong Yan was exasperated to the point of laughter and lit a cigarette. “Jiang Yin is not your possession. Why should she go back with you?”

Gong Shulan was speechless.

The conversation between the two in the back seat was heard clearly, not a word missed. Old Fu, focused on driving, keeping his eyes downcast, paused when he heard the name “Jiang Yin.” As the car was about to turn a corner, he habitually looked into the rearview mirror, only to be stunned the next second.

In the rearview mirror, flames were erupting from the second-floor windows of the two-story Western-style house in the distance. The fire was growing rapidly.

He cried out in alarm, “Ma-Madam! Miss Jiang Yin’s residence seems to be on fire!”

“What?!”

The two sisters in the back seat spoke in unison, but they both looked towards the rearview mirror, their expressions instantly frozen.

“Turn around now! Go back!”

Gong Shulan roared, losing her composure in front of an outsider for the first time, anxiously slapping the driver’s seat. “Hurry!”

The Ford made a sharp U-turn and sped back along the original route. Even so, by the time they reached the mansion gates, thick smoke was already billowing from the second-floor windows, with the glow of fire flickering inside.

The Gong sisters stood at the mansion gates, the acrid smoke drifting through the air. “Old Fu, keep an eye on her. Don’t let her wander off.”

“Madam?”

Before Old Fu could react, he saw Gong Yan rush inside. The woman sitting in the wheelchair next to him also looked ready to follow in to save someone. He quickly grabbed the wheelchair handles. “Miss Shulan! The Madam told you not to go in!”

“Let go of me! Gong Yan, you crazy woman!” Gong Shulan watched the figure disappear into the smoke, feeling frantic and furious. She turned and yelled at Old Fu, “Don’t stop me! I won’t go in, you go save them, hurry!”

It was a lie if Old Fu wasn’t anxious and worried. Taking advantage of the fire not being too large yet, the chance of rescue was higher. “Then, Miss Shulan, you stay here. I’ll go in and save them!”

Gong Shulan nodded, watching Old Fu push open the heavy gate and enter. Her gaze shifted to the second-floor window, her face turning pale. An unbearable suffocating tightness came over her chest. Her collarbones constricted, and she almost couldn’t breathe. Her red lips trembled. “Jiang Yin…”

“Jiang Yin… you can’t die…”

Under the car’s headlights, the cold iron of the wheelchair reflected white light. Her thin body curled up. One… two tears slid down in the darkness. “Neither of you can be hurt…”

Time passed by slowly. The increasing brightness of the fire illuminated the street. Neighbors woke up one after another, watching the blaze across the street from their doorways, discussing it amongst themselves.

A black Ford car was parked at the gate, and in front of it was an empty wheelchair. This bizarre sight was deeply etched into everyone’s memory.

Not long after, the police sent people to put out the fire. It wasn’t until the early morning that the fire was finally extinguished. Bureau Chief Zhao of the police station cursed furiously, “What the hell is wrong with these people?! Two fires in one day! Do they think my position is too comfortable?!”

Haicheng’s newspapers printed editions overnight. The front page was undoubtedly the simultaneous fires at the Huo family’s residence and the home of Bailumen’s most famous songstress, Jiang Yin. Reporters reported wildly, and the public’s discussion was endless.

The ship’s whistle at the dock sounded mournfully. The sea breeze remained.

At the Fenghai Dance Hall, Hua Manyi finished her song and came down to accompany guests for drinks as usual. After several days, she wasn’t sure if the guests’ alcohol tolerance was poor or if hers had improved, but she often ended up drinking everyone around her under the table.

“A-Qiang,” Hua Manyi adjusted the white lace shawl on her shoulders, her eyes indifferent. “Call the Xu and Zhang families and tell them to send someone to pick their men up.”

A-Qiang glanced at the drunken, unconscious men in the dance hall, picked up the phone, and responded, “Sister Manyi, I’ll make the calls now.”

Hua Manyi was about to go upstairs in her high heels but stopped when she noticed a newspaper from a few days ago. “What is this?”

“Huh?” A-Qiang had just finished one call and was about to make the second. Hearing Sister Manyi’s question, he followed her gaze. “Ah, this is this week’s newspaper. A whole stack piled up. Aunt Zhang in the kitchen asked me to save them for her to use as kindling. I was just thinking I had nothing to do, so I organized them and was about to take them to her.”

A-Qiang watched Hua Manyi pick up a copy of the newspaper, staring at it without moving for a long time. Due to the lighting, he couldn’t see her expression clearly. “Sister Manyi? These are old papers. Do you still want to read them?”

“What date is this newspaper from?”

A-Qiang leaned over for a look. A corner of the newspaper date was missing, probably torn off accidentally while he was tidying. He looked at the content instead. “Sister Manyi, you mean this? I remember this. It happened last Friday. I’m telling you, it caused a sensation. On the same day, the same night, the famous Huo family caught fire, and the home of Bailumen’s songstress, Jiang Yin, also caught fire. Many people died, and the fire burned the houses to ashes! The people inside…”

A-Qiang paused, then leaned in and whispered, “The people inside were reportedly burned to charcoal, completely unrecognizable! It was terrifying!”

Hua Manyi’s gaze fell on the large printed headline: [Tragic! Songstress Jiang Yin Dies in Fire, Her Beauty Perishes!] Her fingers trembled. No wonder… no wonder Mother Gong hadn’t shown up these past few days.

Her beloved songstress had died. That woman must be very heartbroken…

Hua Manyi placed the newspaper back where it was, her eyes slightly lowered. She walked up the stairs with composure and aloofness. But what did this have to do with Hua Manyi? She was just a small-time dancer.

She didn’t need to worry about the love affairs of the wealthy.

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