C20 Ye Fann Was Imprisoned

Golden Cauldron Group, underground ice cellar.

Following the instructions from the phone, Ye Fann had just stepped inside when the ice cellar door slammed shut.

"Brother-in-law? Brother-in-law, help me, please!" Huang Yong's desperate cries echoed from afar.

"Shut up!" A man nearby punched Huang Yong square in the face.

As Ye Fann approached, he saw Huang Yong was covered in bruises and blood, his face marred with knife cuts.

"Help... help me..." Huang Yong whimpered, his voice filled with agony and despair.

The man pointed to the side, where a body lay. It was his son, the same boy who had lifted Ye Jing's skirt the day before. In the coffee shop, Huang Yong had hit him over the head with a chair, knocking him out cold. The boy died on the way to the hospital.

"See that? My son is gone. He's dead. What the hell are you going to do about it?" The man's face was full of rage, his eyes wild with anger.

Ye Fann hadn't expected this. He thought the demand for a million dollars was just for medical expenses, but now the boy was dead. This was a serious mess.

"Do you know what that million is for?" The man pointed at the suitcase in Ye Fann's hand, sneering.

"For running away," Ye Fann replied directly.

The man nodded, his eyes fixed intently on Ye Fann. "That's right, that's my escape plan. Today, both of you are going to die, joining my son in the afterlife. Oh, and that woman too. Once I deal with you two, I'll find her."

"None of you are getting away!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the man clenched his fist and slammed it hard into Huang Yong's chest.

With a sickening thud, Huang Yong coughed up blood, his breathing shallow and body convulsing, unable to make a sound.

"Kneel!" the man roared at Ye Fann.

Ye Fann was quietly assessing the situation around him.

"I said kneel! Didn't you hear me?" the man screamed again, like a madman, landing another punch on Huang Yong's chest.

Huang Yong's mouth was full of blood, his breathing faint, barely hanging on.

Ye Fann discreetly glanced at the door to the ice cellar. Huang Xiaoshan hadn't come in yet, likely trying to figure out a way to open it. He needed to buy some time.

"Do you really think your son did nothing wrong?" Ye Fann asked the man, thinking quickly.

The man laughed, a twisted, maniacal laugh. "Wrong? My son was beaten to death by you people, and now you're telling me it was his fault?"

"He went and lifted a girl's skirt in public. Isn't that wrong?"

"So what? That slut dressed like that because she wanted attention, right? What's wrong with my son lifting her skirt? Even if he did more, she'd be lucky he noticed her!" the man shouted, his voice filled with rage. He picked up a hammer, ready to bring it down on Huang Yong's head.

"Your son deserves it!" Ye Fann shouted, trying to provoke the man into paying attention.

It worked. The man's actions halted abruptly, and he turned his head stiffly, eyes blazing with anger. "What did you say? Say it again, I dare you..."

"Your son had it coming. He lifted a girl's skirt in public, thought he was in the right, and even dared to hit someone. People like that are a menace, and it's better he's gone now before he causes more trouble later."

"You son of a—" The man swung a hammer at Ye Fann in a fit of rage.

Ye Fann, already weakened and barely holding himself up, knew he couldn't dodge the blow. Even if he managed to avoid this one, the man would surely beat him to death with the next.

Thankfully, Ye Fann had the foresight to bring Xiaoshan along. Just as the hammer was about to strike Ye Fann's head, the cold storage door opened a crack.

A knife flew through the gap, striking the man in the throat with deadly precision.

The man collapsed to the ground as the cold storage door swung open.

Ye Fann finally let out a sigh of relief.

Members of the Golden Cauldron Group rushed in, quickly assessing the situation and hurrying Huang Yong and the man to the hospital for emergency treatment.

Ye Fann was mistaken for an intruder and attacker, apprehended by the company's security, and taken to the detention center.

On the drive back, Xiaoshan pouted and muttered, "Master, you told me not to show up, and look what happened. Now you're labeled as an intruder and murderer. Hmph, I could've cleared things up if I'd just stepped in."

"Doesn't matter if it's the Golden Cauldron Group; they'd have to believe me. What a shame, sigh."

Xiaoshan's attitude was always the same: as long as Ye Fann was alive, she didn't care if he got hurt. He deserved it.

A week later, Ye Fann was charged with murder.

The plaintiffs were twofold: Chung Dafu's wife and kids, and the Golden Cauldron Group. The group publicly stated they were seeking justice for their employee and assigned Bi Wenfeng to handle the case.

The defendants were Ye Fann and Huang Yong. Although Huang Yong was injured in the icehouse, they were mostly superficial wounds, and he was fine after a week in the hospital.

However, if the murder charge stuck, Huang Yong would face the death penalty, ending his life as he knew it.

"What are you worried about? Ye Fann did the killing, not you," Wang Ying said bluntly after picking Huang Yong up from the hospital.

Huang Xinying stood nearby, frowning but silent.

"Yeah, I didn't kill anyone, so why should I be scared?" Huang Yong suddenly perked up.

He really didn't commit the murder, and from his perspective at the time, it looked like the knife was thrown by Ye Fann. It was Ye Fann who did it, so what does it have to do with him?

Wang Ying chimed in with a suggestion: "I heard Wenfeng is the person in charge on the prosecution side for the Golden Cauldron Group. Why don't you go talk to him, bring a nice pack of cigarettes and a couple of good bottles of wine, and see if you can work something out to become a state witness? Then you can testify in court that Ye Fann did everything, and it has nothing to do with you."

"Mom, how can you say that?" Xinying couldn't hold back her frustration any longer. "Huang Yong was saved by Ye Fann, how can you do this?"

"Shut up!" Wang Ying's face turned dark. "Saved by Ye Fann? If it weren't for him, would Huang Yong have gotten mixed up in this mess?"

"Exactly," Huang Yong chimed in. "Sis, don't you have any sense? Didn't you see how badly I was beaten? If it wasn't for Ye Fann, would I have been attacked? Now he's killed someone and dragged me into it. What do you want? For me to get the death penalty alongside that loser?"

"Xinying, get it straight. I'm your brother. Ye Fann is just an outsider. Do you even know what you're saying?"

Wang Ying gave Xinying a sharp tug. "Huang Yong just got out of the hospital, don't upset him. This is how it's going to be."

"Also, in a bit, you and Yong should go find Bi Wenfeng. Wenfeng likes you, so it'll be easier if you talk to him."

"I'm not going," Xinying snapped, biting her lip before turning on her heel to leave.

"You brat!" Ying shouted, grabbing her back and landing a hard slap across Xinying's face.