Chapter 35: Yida Group

Yi Ya looked at Lü Yang for a long time before she slowly began to speak. The expression on her face became gentle. “One year ago, late one night, on my way back to the residential area, two drunk thugs harassed me. Because I yelled at them, they wouldn’t let it go. They snatched my mobile phone and called two more partners. They had a beat-up van and tried to take me away. I was terrified and screamed for help. But no one who passed by stopped…”

This incident matched Lü Yang’s memory exactly. How he met Yi Ya was quite cliché—a typical hero-saves-the-beauty scenario from novels. Just as Yi Ya was about to be forced into the beat-up van, Lü Yang happened to pass by. He shouted loudly and rushed over to save Yi Ya. However, he was stabbed twice by those thugs.

Later, Yi Ya accompanied Lü Yang to the hospital. While talking, they found out they both rented places in the same residential area and had both worked at the same decorating company. So they became familiar. Later, Yi Ya regarded Lü Yang as her older brother. Once when they were joking around, she told Lü Yang that even though she was very grateful he saved her, she did not plan to repay him by marrying him.

Although Lü Yang liked Yi Ya, as a roadside laborer in decorating, he knew his place. So he never once thought about making Yi Ya his girlfriend.

“Six months ago, that official’s son and rich heir from our school, Yang Lin, started pestering me. One time, he followed me to the residential area. You helped me out again. At that time, I told him you were my boyfriend…” Yi Ya continued.

“I see… Because too many people were pursuing you and you were fed up, you said you had a boyfriend. And I willingly became that fall guy, right?” Lü Yang suddenly understood. So between him and Yi Ya, it had always been in name only.

Yi Ya didn’t make a sound, seemingly accepting Lü Yang’s words.

“Great.” Lü Yang had a relieved expression. “If you really were my girlfriend, the pressure would be huge.”

“Did you never think about opening a company someday, achieving great things, and then marrying me?” Yi Ya seemed a bit displeased with what Lü Yang just said.

“I know my own limits. Doing small labor jobs, supporting myself is fine. But wanting to start a company and achieve great things?” Lü Yang shook his head. “I’m not cut out for that.”

“Is it that you think I’m not worth struggling for like that?” Yi Ya retorted.

Lü Yang was stunned. Just as he was about to say something more, Yi Ya’s mobile phone rang. She stood up and walked aside to answer it.

Five minutes later, Yi Ya put away her mobile phone. She turned back and told Lü Yang she needed to go back.

“Let me walk you.” Lü Yang walked to the door. Even though he now knew Yi Ya wasn’t his girlfriend, when Yi Yi was around, he had always treated her like a younger sister. Now that it was getting late, as her older brother, it was his duty to protect her safety and see her home.

Yi Ya didn’t speak and went straight to the door.

As they walked through the residential area, neither spoke. Only when they reached the entrance of Yi Ya’s apartment building, and she took out her keys to open the door, did Lü Yang speak. “Xiao Ya, tomorrow morning, I need to go on a long trip. I might be away for a few days.”

“Oh?” Yi Ya turned her head back. “How many days will you be gone?”

“Probably… about a week?”

“Good! While you’re away, you can lend me your place to sleep for a few days.” Yi Ya looked quite happy.

“Sure. I’ll bring a key over later.” Lü Yang nodded.

“I have a key to your place. If you come back early, just call me, and I’ll vacate the room.”

“Hmm…” Lü Yang smiled awkwardly. He didn’t remember giving Yi Ya a key. “Take good care of yourself while I’m gone, Xiao Ya. Don’t go out after it gets dark. If you have any trouble, call my mobile phone anytime.”

“If I call your mobile phone, can you fly over like Spider-Man?” Yi Ya teased him.

“Ahem… If I’m still out of town, I can only grab a car and rush back as fast as possible.” Lü Yang smiled.

Yi Ya didn’t say anything more. She looked at Lü Yang for another long moment, then turned and walked into the apartment building.

Lü Yang watched the closed apartment building door, shook his head, and then turned to walk back to his own rented place.

After learning the true nature of his relationship with Yi Ya, Lü Yang really felt a sense of relief. Compared to being her boyfriend, Lü Yang preferred being her older brother. This way, he could still see her, care about her, without worrying about his status or their future…

Over the past year, Lü Yang had gotten used to the dependence of the sisters Yi Yi and Yi Ya on him. Now that Yi Yi was gone, Yi Ya became the most important person in his life currently.

Tomorrow, Lü Yang planned to go back to Lutou Town. On one hand, it was to investigate the matter of the IOU and the mobile phone recording in Li Fuqiang’s possession. On the other hand, he would also visit his maternal grandmother’s grave.

Lü Yang didn’t know that just as he was planning this trip to Lutou Town, at this very moment in Lutou Town, a man and a woman were searching everywhere for him.

The man was called Li Guoqing. The woman was called Zhang Min.

Li Guoqing was the younger brother of Li Tingting, the wife of Liu Jianhao, chairman of Yida Group. Zhang Min was Li Guoqing’s wife.

Liu Jianhao didn’t originally have the surname Liu, nor was his name what it is now. When he was twenty, Liu Jianhao married a nineteen-year-old woman from the same village with the surname Tian. Of course, since both were under the legal age, they didn’t register the marriage. One year later, they had a son. Life was quite happy initially, but Liu Jianhao accumulated a large gambling debt. He abandoned his wife and young son, disappearing without a word.

After arriving in Guishe City, Liu Jianhao quit his gambling addiction. Using skills passed down from his ancestors, he learned to do decorating work for people. Later, he met Li Tingting. Using the initial funds provided by the Li Family, he started his own decorating company.

Leveraging the Li Family’s connections in official circles and some special opportunities, Liu Jianhao took less than twenty years. Seizing the chance of the rise of central Guishe City, he turned a originally very small decorating company into the current Yida Group, which now spanned several industries, with total assets reaching tens of billions.

Due to various reasons, Liu Jianhao and Li Tingting only had one daughter. Now, Liu Jianhao had money, honor, and status, but his health completely deteriorated. Feeling his days were numbered, he became increasingly anxious to find the wife and son he had left behind in the countryside. Over the years, he secretly sent many people to search for traces of his wife and son, but there were no clues.

Liu Jianhao’s secret search ultimately couldn’t escape the notice of his wife Li Tingting. Upon learning this news, the entire Li Family was extremely shocked. If Liu Jianhao found the son he left behind in the countryside, wouldn’t Yida Group fall into others’ hands? This was absolutely intolerable for the Li Family.

After conspiring, the Li Family also dispatched several teams. Using the Li Family’s powerful connections, they intensified the search for Liu Jianhao’s wife and son in the countryside. Taking advantage of Liu Jianhao’s illness and hospitalization, they secretly bribed several key people around Liu Jianhao, preparing to take over Yida Group completely once Liu Jianhao died from his illness.

Li Guoqing and Zhang Min came to Lutou Town following some faint clues, hoping to find Liu Jianhao’s lost son before he did. But the trail went completely cold here.

The Li Family’s search for Liu Jianhao’s son was not with good intentions. Their goal was to ensure Liu Jianhao could not see his son again in his lifetime. If necessary, they were even prepared to hire someone to silence the son permanently, to prevent the vast family fortune from going to others.