Extra Story - Tales of the Capital - Resentment

The detention center was dark and damp.

Li Xiujian lay on the cold bunk.

He had been here for half a month.

He knew nothing of the outside world.

His mind kept replaying the events: the company's bankruptcy, the assets being seized, his father's suicide.

He couldn't understand.

Why?

Just before, his father had been full of ambition, talking about becoming the undisputed king of Jingzhou.

Why did everything change so suddenly?

He hated those who had schemed against them from the shadows.

He hated his own powerlessness even more.

He thought his life was over, that he would rot right here.

Just then, the iron door of the cell clanged open.

"Li Xiujian, you're free to go."

The jailer's voice was cold.

Li Xiujian was stunned.

He thought he had misheard.

"What did you say?"

"Gather your things. Get out."

Li Xiujian was led out of the cell.

The heavy gate of the detention center slowly closed behind him.

It was already deep into the night.

A cold night wind blew against his face.

Standing on the empty, deserted street, Li Xiujian felt utterly lost.

He was free.

But he also had nothing left.

His home was gone.

His wealth was gone.

Everything he once possessed had vanished like a bubble.

Instinctively, he reached into his pocket.

Inside was only a crumpled one-hundred-yuan note.

This was the only cash he had on him when he was arrested.

He thought of his sister.

Xiumei.

His only family.

He had to find her.

Relying on memory, he stumbled in a certain direction.

It led to an area of old, dilapidated apartment buildings in Jingzhou.

It was the home of one of his family's former drivers.

That driver had watched him grow up.

He was also one of the people his father trusted most.

Someone his father had once hinted, in case of emergency, could be relied upon.

Li Xiujian climbed to the fifth floor and stopped before a metal door.

He knocked.

A long time passed before the door opened a crack.

An old, wary face peered out.

When he saw it was Li Xiujian, the old man's eyes instantly filled with tears.

"Young master!"

The old man flung the door open and pulled him inside.

"You... you're out!"

The room was dimly lit.

In a bedroom, a young girl was curled up on a bed in the corner.

Hearing the noise, she looked up.

When she saw Li Xiujian, she froze like a startled fawn for a moment.

Then, she rushed over without a second thought.

"Brother!"

Li Xiumei clung to him desperately, sobbing her heart out.

It was as if she was crying out all the fear and anxiety she had endured during this time.

Li Xiujian held his sister.

His icy heart finally felt a sliver of warmth.

He gently patted her back.

"Don't be afraid."

"Your brother is back."

He looked at his sister's pale, thin, tear-streaked face.

He looked at this old, dark, shabby room.

And then he thought of the Lu family's brightly lit, magnificent mansion.

A towering wave of hatred once again surged wildly from the depths of his heart.

He helped his sister sit down.

Then, he bowed deeply to the old driver.

"Uncle Fu, thank you."

"Young master, please, don't! This is what I should have done!"

Uncle Fu quickly steadied him.

"My father... where is he buried?"

Li Xiujian asked.

Uncle Fu's eyes dimmed.

"The master's funeral arrangements... were handled by people from above. We... we weren't even allowed to get close."

Li Xiujian's fist clenched instantly.

Even the right to see his father off for the last time had been taken from him.

Then, Uncle Fu pointed to some newspapers on the table.

"Young master, look at these."

Li Xiujian picked up the top copy of the Jingzhou Financial Times.

The bold headline on the front page was a shocking sight—

"New Landscape Emerges in Jingzhou Business World."

The accompanying photo showed Lu Chengsi at a victory celebration.

He stood in the center, triumphant and full of vigor.

Surrounding him were the heads of the Mo, Qin, Zhou, and other families, the victor being feted by all.

The report briefly outlined how the various families had divided up the power after the Li family's collapse.

Li Xiujian seemed to understand.

This was a siege orchestrated and led by the Lu family.

They had climbed to the pinnacle of Jingzhou, stepping on the Li family's bones and feasting on its flesh.

Those newspapers were the Lu family's record of merit and the Li family's epitaph.

"The Lu family..."

Li Xiujian ground out the words through his teeth, the overwhelming hatred threatening to consume him entirely.

In his eyes, the Mo and Qin families were merely accomplices.

Lu Chengsi was the executioner standing front and center, reaping all the glory.

It was the Lu family that had taken everything from him.

"Brother..."

Li Xiumei tugged at his sleeve, her eyes full of worry.

Li Xiujian took a deep breath, forcing all the hatred back down into his heart.

He looked at his sister and managed a strained smile.

"Xiumei, don't be afraid."

"From today on, your brother will protect you."

"Everything we've lost, I will take it all back, piece by piece."

The prosperity of Jingzhou had nothing to do with this shabby little room.

Li Xiujian sat on the edge of the bed, looking out the window.

One of the former three young masters of Jingzhou's elite.

Now, one had ascended the throne, another remained safe and sound beneath it.

And he had fallen into the abyss.

Just then, Uncle Fu said to Li Xiujian,

"Young master, the master instructed that if you ever got out, I should take you to a place."

In the darkness of the night.

Uncle Fu drove a Santana, taking Li Xiujian across half of Jingzhou.

They arrived at a deserted industrial park, stopping before an inconspicuous repair shop.

Uncle Fu knocked on the metal door in a specific rhythm.

Three long, two short.

The door opened.

A man with a sharp, capable face stepped out.

Seeing Li Xiujian, his eyes flashed with shock.

"Little Leopard," Uncle Fu said quietly.

Brother Leopard.

His father's most trusted right-hand man.

The "traitor" who, in the midst of the storm, had traded a ledger for his freedom and wealth.

A flicker of killing intent passed through Li Xiujian's eyes.

Brother Leopard seemed not to notice.

He bowed respectfully to Li Xiujian.

"Young master."

"I thought you had taken the money and run."

Li Xiujian's voice was icy.

"The master gave me a second chance at life."

Brother Leopard's voice was hoarse and calm.

"What I gave the Lu family was a fake ledger prepared long ago by the master."

"A fake ledger convincing enough to make everyone believe it."

"The real ledger is here."

He stepped aside, making way.

Beneath the repair shop was a massive vault.

Brother Leopard opened the door, revealing rows of safety deposit boxes.

"The master said you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket."

"He had long anticipated a day like this."

"This is the capital he left for you to make a comeback."

Brother Leopard handed him a case.

Inside were several foreign passports and brand-new identity documents.

Li Xiujian.

Li Xiumei.

From today, these names would vanish completely.

At the very bottom of the case was a numbered Swiss bank card.

"There's ten million inside,"

Brother Leopard said.

"It's clean money the master transferred out long ago."

"Also, the master purchased a small trading company for you in Haizhou. All the paperwork is in order; it's ready to operate anytime."

"The master said this was all the road he could pave for you."

"The rest, you'll have to walk yourself."

Li Xiujian fell silent.

He looked at the contents of the box.

His father's face, forever confident and arrogant, surfaced in his mind.

He had lost.

But even in death, he had been paving a path for his children.

"Why didn't you leave?"

Li Xiujian asked.

"I want to follow you, young master, and take back what we lost."

A flame ignited in Brother Bao's eyes.

Li Xiujian closed the box.

"Good."

He picked up a set of new identification documents.

Liu Mei.

This was the new name he had chosen for his sister.

Charming, delicate, like a willow branch dependent on others.

Also like a sharp eyebrow blade, capable of piercing a heart.

He returned to the tenement building.

Li Xiumei was already asleep, tear stains still on her face.

He sat by the bed, watching his sister all night.

The warmth on his face slowly faded, replaced by a cold ruthlessness and hatred that gradually consumed his entire being.

At daybreak.

Li Xiumei woke up.

"Brother."

"Xiumei."

Li Xiujian looked at her and spoke word by word.

"From today, your name is Liu Mei."

"The Li family is gone."

"You only have me, and I only have you."

A flicker of confusion and fear passed through Li Xiumei's eyes.

"Brother, where are we going?"

"To a place where no one knows us. Then, we take back everything that belongs to us."

Li Xiujian's voice was filled with cruelty.

"I need you to do something."

"What is it?"

"Get close to someone."

"Lu Mingye."

Li Xiumei's body stiffened.

Lu Mingye.

That name was not unfamiliar to her.

That dashing young master, who shared equal fame with her brother on the polo fields.

"Why?"

"He is Lu Chengsi's son."

"And also the weakest point of entry into the Lu family."

Li Xiujian looked into his sister's eyes.

"I want you to become the woman he loves most."

"Make him obsessed for you, mad for you."

"Make him become the sharpest blade in our hands."

Li Xiumei's face turned deathly pale.

She understood what her brother was asking her to do.

It was a path with no return, a road leading to hell.

She suddenly realized she no longer recognized the person who had doted on her for over a decade.

Li Xiumei was silent for a long time.

Then, she lifted her head.

The innocence of the young girl was gone.

All that remained was a cold hatred, identical to her brother's.

"Alright," she said softly.

"I promise you."

Though, it was unclear whom Li Xiumei's hatred was truly directed at.