A Chan – CH 129

Chapter 129: Men’s Schemes (2)

“Realizing that Xu Yi wanted to take my place, I could only evade the police first before doing anything else. Ding Chenmo’s power is limited; he only secretly helped me out.”

“But I still don’t understand,” Li Weiyi said. “What’s the point of him doing this? Tomorrow night at midnight, you’ll switch back. By sending you to prison, isn’t he sending himself to prison?”

Zhang Jingchan’s profile was taut, his eyes as dark as the deep light of an abyss. Li Weiyi’s heart skipped a beat. Perhaps her previous suspicion was true…

“He knows I definitely won’t let myself go to prison.”

“Why?” This was another thing Li Weiyi couldn’t understand. If Zhang Jingchan went to the police to surrender as “Xu Yi,” wouldn’t he just be waiting for Xu Yi to go to jail three days later? “If I go to prison, Xu Yi can do whatever he wants these next few days; no one will stop him, no one will suspect anything. Against an opponent like him, we can’t afford to be completely passive. He could absolutely ruin my whole family, let all the criminals escape abroad, and even make you disappear from the world again. I can’t risk those consequences—Xu Yi knows that too.”

Li Weiyi realized she had oversimplified things, and a wave of fear washed over her. She said, “So, you can only endure these three days and try your best to protect all of us until the exchange tomorrow night?”

Zhang Jingchan said, “That’s the result I want. But Xu Yi knows that too, so he won’t let me achieve it.”

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“…What do you mean?”

Zhang Jingchan glanced at the silent parking lot outside the car and said, “These past few days, besides the police, there’s another group looking for me. Although those three are wanted, the police haven’t been able to deal with the thugs Liu Ying used to keep. If I fall into their hands, I’ll fall into Xu Yi’s hands.”

Li Weiyi: “Then…what will happen?”

Zhang Jingchan intertwined his fingers with hers, placed them on her heart, and said, “For Xu Yi, the best outcome is to find me and kill me before midnight tomorrow. Then, what will die will be my soul and Xu Yi’s body.”

Li Weiyi’s tears flowed.

What remains is Xu Yi’s soul and Zhang Jingchan’s body.

That way, they can never be brought back together.

So this was Xu Yi’s ultimate goal.

Zhang Jingchan held her hand, trying to comfort her, but she still cried. He sighed, wiped away her tears, and said, “That’s why I didn’t want to see you today, because I didn’t want you to worry. I’m not a block of wood, waiting for him to kill me. Besides, so many people are helping me. At the beginning of this cycle, my situation was rather precarious. But now, things have shifted, and it’s hard to say whose situation is more advantageous. He doesn’t know about the existence of the third piece of evidence, so he can’t possibly imagine that I have Ding Chenmo secretly helping him. He thinks he’s kicking a man when he’s down, but aren’t we also waiting for our opportunity?”

Li Weiyi placed both of her hands in one of his palms, as if that would make her feel safer. She asked, “You just said that this is the best outcome for him. So what’s the second-best outcome?”

Zhang Jingchan was silent for a longer time this time before answering, “The second-best outcome is that he doesn’t kill me before midnight, or I get arrested by the police. If I were him, I would choose to kill me tomorrow night at midnight. He’ll jump at the exact hour, landing a few seconds later. That way, he can still kill me.”

Li Weiyi’s eyes reddened with anger: “What good will it do him to kill you? He’ll still go to jail if he goes back!”

Zhang Jingchan smirked and said, “There are many ways to reduce his sentence or get him out of jail. For example, he could leave a confession as ‘Zhang Jingchan,’ saying he was the mastermind behind the embezzlement of Fuming’s assets and the murder of my parents, because of his hatred for my father—it’s well known that my relationship with Dad has always been bad. Although it’s unreasonable, if he reveals enough details of the crime in the confession, even details unknown to the police, and it’s confirmed to be suicide, then Zhang Jingchan could very well become the mastermind behind a series of cases; or, he’s already agreed with Liu Ying to let her take the lion’s share of the blame, and he won’t serve many years in jail. In this respect, I’m not as good as he is. He can choose to take a gamble and jump, and the worst outcome is that I’ll jump and we’ll die together. But I can’t let him go that far, because I don’t want to die with him.”

Li Weiyi’s mouth gaped slightly.

She then realized that in just two days, she had glimpsed the situation, and the two men had already engaged in numerous back-and-forth power struggles.

If, in the pre-transmigration year of 2022, the penniless, vegetative Zhang Jingchan could only rely on the police to carve out a sliver of hope from Xu Yi’s grasp to rescue her, then this round was their first true, direct confrontation. From the moment they awoke, they began scheming against each other. They were evenly matched, both burdened with numerous concerns, and both physically coerced by the other. Yet, both, constrained at every turn, deduced and predicted the other’s every move, responding swiftly and even counterattacking. They both calmly concealed their ultimate goals until the very end.

If she were in their shoes, with their intricately layered schemes, she feared she would be outmaneuvered and killed the moment they clashed.

But she couldn’t help but voice another, even simpler and more direct idea she’d come up with: “Couldn’t we have Ding Chenmo control him and then complete the swap at midnight tomorrow?”

Zhang Jingchan scoffed lightly and asked, “Have you been watching the news these past few days?”

“No.”

“Fuming paid off all its debts, which is equivalent to resolving a major economic crisis for the entire city. They’ve done a great service. This morning, the city leaders even met with him and showed their concern. He’s always accompanied by several bodyguards. Ding Chenmo can’t do anything about it; no one will listen to his orders.”

Li Weiyi was frustrated: “This won’t work, that won’t work, so what are you going to do?”

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Zhang Jingchan, however, changed the subject: “Xu Yi, in 2022, when everything was going so smoothly, still built himself a secret room. Old habits die hard. It’s 2014 now, and these past few years, he’s been committing serious crimes. Do you think he might have already prepared an escape route for himself and his accomplices? That’s why the police haven’t caught them after two days of warrants. I suspect they must have a secret hideout and are waiting for an opportunity to escape abroad.”

“Xu Yi wants to kill me. The best defense is offense. I also want to find that place, meet him, subdue him, exchange places with him, and wipe out the rest of them before midnight tomorrow. He wants to eliminate us all; we need to lure him into a trap. Now all we need is a trigger.”

Li Weiyi roughly understood. She didn’t ask further because she still decided to tell him about Zhang Moyun and his wife’s situation. They were in intensive care, their lives hanging in the balance. Even if he couldn’t bear it, Zhang Jingchan had the right to know.

“Do you know that your parents have been poisoned? The person captured on the surveillance footage is very likely Zhang Fengming. He was wearing the same black shirt and trousers as you today, trying to frame you. They’re both… still unconscious, not out of danger.”

Zhang Jingchan looked at her: “Actually, I…”

At the entrance to the parking lot ahead, suddenly came the sound of hurried footsteps and several flashlight beams. Someone shouted, “Who’s there?”

Zhong Yi, who was guarding outside the car, threw away his cigarette and got into the driver’s seat: “Let’s go! Weiyi, you…”

Li Weiyi decisively pushed open the door and got out of the car: “I’m going back. If you have a plan, then don’t let him find out. I’ll stay back and not become a loophole.”

As soon as she landed, her hand was firmly grabbed again. Zhang Jingchan looked up at her. Li Weiyi leaned down, her face only centimeters away from his, but stopped. He also turned his head away at the same time. The next second, however, he reached out and grabbed the back of her neck. Her eyes were clear and dark; his eyes were deep and misty. He let go of her hand, and she quickly went back upstairs. Zhong Yi stepped on the gas and sped out of the parking lot.

Li Weiyi went back upstairs and banged on the door. The two bodyguards opened the door and were dumbfounded when they saw her. Li Weiyi shouted, “Sister, I’m back; you can go now.”

She sat down on the sofa and said to them, “I just went downstairs for a short walk. I’ve been so bored these past few days. You can tell Zhang Jingchan about this little thing, but he’ll only say a few words to me at most, and then he’ll have to coax me. But you’ll definitely lose your jobs, so whatever.”

“…”

“Go to your room and rest. Oh, by the way, I’ll borrow your phone tomorrow to have a long phone call with my sister.”