Chapter 377: Are You All Envious of Shen Anyu? The Calamitous Beauty Descends!
[Location: Magic City (Modu) – Elite Private VIP Hospital, Top Floor]
Outside the exclusive emergency room of the most expensive private hospital in the Demon City, the air was heavy with the scent of high-grade disinfectant mixed with the metallic tang of anxiety. The corridor, usually reserved for the city's elite to recover in privacy, was now enveloped in a suffocating silence.
Ji Jia Cheng, the patriarch of the Ji Family and a business tycoon whose mere sneeze could cause a flu in the Modu stock market, stood like a statue carved from granite. He had just suspended a merger meeting worth billions to rush here, his bespoke Italian suit slightly wrinkled—a rare sign of his distress. His expression was grim, dark as the bottom of a pot, as he stared through the observation window.
Inside, his beloved son, [Ji Ba Duan], lay unconscious on the sterile white bed. The young man, usually arrogant and domineering, was now reduced to a pitiful state. He was wrapped in layers of gauze like a mummy, his legs encased in thick, heavy plaster casts that were suspended in the air by traction devices. The rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor was the only sound that dared to disturb the heavy atmosphere.
Click-clack. Click-clack. Click-clack.
The sharp, hurried sound of high heels striking the marble floor shattered the silence.
Not long after, a wealthy middle-aged woman rushed over, trailing a cloud of overpowering, expensive perfume. She was draped in a limited-edition fur coat despite the indoor climate control, carrying a crocodile-skin Hermes Birkin bag worth the price of an average apartment. Her neck, wrists, and fingers were adorned with enough jade and diamonds to open a jewelry store.
This was [Gao Dan], the matriarch of the Ji Family, a woman known throughout the socialite circles for her sharp tongue and unreasonable protectiveness.
Upon seeing Ji Ba Duan's pale, lifeless face and his twisted, broken legs through the glass, her heavily made-up face instantly contorted. The haughty composure of a noblewoman vanished, replaced by the hysteria of a spoiled shrew.
"My son! My poor son!"
She wailed, her shrill voice piercing the quiet hospital air, causing the nearby nurses to flinch but dare not speak. She threw herself against the glass, her manicured nails scratching the surface.
"How could someone beat you like this? Who was so vicious?! My son has never suffered like this since the day he was born! Who dared to touch a hair on his head? I will kill them! I will definitely avenge you… I will tear them into ten thousand pieces!"
Tears streamed down her face, ruining her exquisite makeup, creating grotesque streaks of mascara. After wailing for a full minute, the wealthy woman suddenly turned her rage towards her husband.
She pointed a trembling, diamond-encrusted finger at Ji Jia Cheng, who had remained silent throughout her outburst.
"Ji Jia Cheng! Look at him! Ji Ba Duan is your own flesh and blood! He is lying there crippled, and you just stand there like a block of wood?"
Gao Dan screamed, her chest heaving with indignation.
"How can you be so indifferent? Are you even human? Are you a father? Whoever beat Ba Duan must pay the price! I want their legs broken! No, I want all their limbs broken! I want their entire family ruined and thrown into the Huangpu River to feed the fish!"
Ji Jia Cheng finally turned his head. His eyes, bloodshot from stress and suppressed anger, glared at the wealthy woman irritably.
"Shut up!"
He hissed, his voice low but carrying a terrifying weight.
"An overindulgent mother spoils her son. Look at him! This is the result of your doting. You go play your mahjong, buy your bags, do whatever you do. Don't meddle in things you don't understand. Ji Ba Duan getting beaten today… was his own fault. He's so troublesome, so arrogant, solely because you spoiled him rotten since he was a child!"
Upon hearing Ji Jia Cheng's rebuke, the wealthy woman exploded in anger. It was as if someone had stepped on a cat's tail.
"Ji Jia Cheng, what are you saying? What do you mean by 'don't meddle'? Have you lost your mind?!"
Gao Dan stepped closer, poking her husband's chest with her finger, her face twisted with a sense of entitlement that had been nurtured for decades.
"Don't forget who made you! You were able to become one of the top ten richest people in the Demon City because my father supported you! Without my father, your precious father-in-law, could you have today's family fortune? You would still be a small-time merchant selling goods on the street!"
She gasped for breath, her eyes red with madness.
"I only have Ji Ba Duan left! My eldest son, Ji Ba Cang, is dead! He died five years ago! Can't I spoil the only son I have left? Can't I give him the best in the world?"
"Our [Ji Family] has the capital! We have the money! We have the power! Why should my son suffer even a grievance?"
The wealthy woman was overflowing with confidence. Her background was indeed her greatest weapon. Her father used to hold a high and powerful position, a regional governor with immense authority. Even though he had retired years ago, his influence was still immense, a vast network of protégés and deeply entrenched connections that spanned the political and business worlds.
Ji Jia Cheng, this top ten wealthy man in the Demon City, would never have had such a colossal family fortune if he hadn't married her and if it weren't for her father's shadow protecting him.
"Ji Jia Cheng, if you're too cowardly to care about Ba Duan, I will! I don't care who did this. Whoever beat him like this, I will definitely get revenge for Ba Duan! I will make them regret being born!"
The wealthy woman, Gao Dan, said fiercely, her face filled with a viciousness that would make ordinary people tremble. She furiously opened her Hermes bag, her hands shaking as she pulled out her phone, preparing to call the family's connections—the police chief, the triad leaders, anyone who could destroy the culprit.
She had two sons and one daughter: the eldest son, [Ji Ba Cang], the second son, [Ji Ba Duan], and the daughter, [Ji Meilan].
Five years ago, her eldest son, Ji Ba Cang, died in a head-on collision with a large truck while drunk driving his sports car against traffic. The tragedy had broken her. Gao Dan and Ji Jia Cheng were heartbroken, and in their anger and grief, they had used their power to completely ruin the truck driver's innocent family, sending the father to prison and driving the mother to death, leaving an orphan named Chu Yun behind. To them, the lives of commoners were nothing compared to their grief.
After only Ji Ba Duan remained as a son, he was even more doted upon. It was as if all the motherly love for the eldest son was transferred to him, concentrating into a toxic, suffocating affection that spoiled him to the extreme.
Ji Ba Duan also lived up to expectations, becoming a notorious playboy in the Demon City, bullying men and women alike.
However, the wealthy woman, Gao Dan, didn't care. With her family background and the [Ji Family]'s immense wealth, was there anyone in the Demon City they couldn't offend? Even if he killed someone, they could pay to settle it. No matter who beat her son, they would have to pay a heavy price!
Gao Dan's plump face was filled with ferocity and ruthlessness as her finger hovered over the dial button.
But the next moment, Ji Jia Cheng's cold, lifeless words made the wealthy woman's actions freeze in mid-air.
"The one who beat Ji Ba Duan… was the [Young Master] of the [Yanxia Shen Family]."
Silence.
The corridor fell into a deathly silence. Even the hum of the central air conditioning seemed to stop abruptly.
"What?"
Upon hearing this, the wealthy woman, Gao Dan, froze. The ferocious expression on her face crumbled instantly, replaced by a look of absolute, unadulterated shock.
Clatter.
The limited-edition phone in her hand slipped from her sweaty grip. It fell directly to the marble ground, and with a crisp crack, the screen shattered into a spiderweb—much like her confidence.
"The… The Yanxia Shen Family?"
Her voice trembled, dropping from a shriek to a terrified whisper.
"Ji Jia Cheng… are you joking? How… how could Ji Ba Duan provoke the [Young Master] of the [Yanxia Shen Family]? How could he provoke Him?"
Gao Dan was also startled out of her wits. Although she had an overbearing personality and walked sideways in the Demon City, she was not brain-dead. She knew the hierarchy of power in this country better than anyone.
There were some people whom, let alone the [Ji Family], even her father before he retired, even at the peak of his power, could not afford to provoke.
The [Yanxia Shen Family] was clearly one of those few. They were not just rich; they were the ceiling of power. A true Red Family with deep roots in the military and political center of the capital. Compared to them, the Ji Family was just a slightly fatter ant.
Ji Jia Cheng said with a grim face, massaging his temples as if trying to stave off a stroke. "That kid from the Lu Family, Lu Xiuhan, said it himself. He called me personally. How could it be false? He was there."
Gao Dan swallowed hard, her throat dry. A look of suspicion flashed in her panic-stricken eyes. "That kid from the Lu Family? Lu Xiuhan? Would Lu Xiuhan be so kind to warn us? The Lu and our families have never had a good relationship. They are our competitors. Is he lying to scare us?"
Ji Jia Cheng snorted coldly upon hearing this, looking at his wife like she was an idiot.
"Lu Xiuhan isn't being kind. He is saving his own skin! If he didn't say anything, and our [Ji Family] acted rashly in revenge, continuing to provoke Young Master Shen, we would eventually be destroyed. And Lu Xiuhan, who was present at the scene, would also be implicated for not stopping us."
"Lu Xiuhan doesn't need to play such small tricks. He knows the stakes. If we offend Young Master Shen, the Lu Family and our [Ji Family] combined… wouldn't be able to bear the consequences. We would be crushed into dust overnight."
Gao Dan fell silent upon hearing Ji Jia Cheng's words. Her legs felt weak, and she slumped onto a nearby bench.
If they truly offended the [Young Master] of the [Yanxia Shen Family], then there would be no way to get revenge. The police chief she planned to call? He would probably arrest her to curry favor with the Shen Family. The triad leaders? They would execute her son themselves to avoid being wiped out.
However, looking at her son's miserable state through the glass, Gao Dan was still somewhat dissatisfied. The arrogance of a lifetime was hard to swallow. She muttered resentfully:
"Are we… are we just going to let Ji Ba Duan's broken legs go? Just swallow this humiliation?"
"Of course not!" Ji Jia Cheng said decisively, his eyes narrowing.
Gao Dan turned her head sharply, looking at Ji Jia Cheng in surprise. A flicker of hope—or perhaps fear—lit up in her eyes.
"Ji Jia Cheng, are you… are you going to retaliate against the Young Master Shen to get revenge for Ji Ba Duan? You… you mustn't be impulsive! That's the Shen Family!"
At this moment, the irony was palpable. Gao Dan, the woman who screamed for blood just seconds ago, was actually advising Ji Jia Cheng not to avenge her beloved son. She also knew that if she angered the [Yanxia Shen Family], her life as a wealthy woman, her Hermes bags, her jewelry, her status—it would all be over.
Ji Jia Cheng glared at Gao Dan irritably, thinking that if this foolish woman didn't have a powerful father, he would never have married such a short-sighted shrew in the first place.
"Retaliate? Are you crazy?"
He spat out the words.
"Of course, it's not to get revenge for Ji Ba Duan! It is to take Ji Ba Duan—even if we have to drag him on a stretcher—to make a humble apology! We need to let Young Master Shen vent his anger properly!"
"If Young Master Shen is dissatisfied with my [Ji Family] because of the trouble Ji Ba Duan caused today, then it will be a huge hidden danger for my family. A ticking time bomb."
He lowered his voice, fear evident in his tone.
"You don't know… the intelligence I received says that behind Young Master Shen, besides the [Yanxia Shen Family], there's also the [Yanxia An Family]. Two super aristocratic families! One holds the gun, the other holds the money. Let alone the Demon City, there are few people in the entire Yanxia who can afford to provoke them."
The wealthy woman, Gao Dan, looked dismayed upon hearing this. Her face lost all color. She grumbled, clutching her expensive bag as if it could protect her:
"The Young Master Shen is indeed not to be provoked… but even if our [Ji Family] can't provoke him, we can at least avoid him, can't we? Ji Ba Duan suffered such a great loss, his legs are shattered, and we still have to rush to apologize? To kneel and lick his boots?"
Ji Jia Cheng said coldly:
"You have long hair but short insight! What do you know? This is about survival!"
Gao Dan was about to argue back, her pride stinging, when another voice came from the end of the corridor. Smooth, alluring, and dripping with ambition.
"Mom, Dad is right. We can't let Young Master Shen hold a grudge against our [Ji Family], otherwise it will be a disaster for us all."
Click. Click. Click.
As this voice fell, the elevator doors opened, and an extremely beautiful woman stepped forward.
The sterile hospital lights seemed to dim in her presence. She wore a fiery and alluring purple long dress that hugged her curves like a second skin. The design was bold—large expanses of fair, beautiful skin showed on her back, her slender neck, and her exquisite collarbones. Her chest was magnificent, a deep V-neck revealing a cleavage so deep it resembled the East African Rift Valley, capable of drowning any man's gaze. Her waist was slender enough to be held in one hand, and the high slit of the dress revealed long, slender legs clad in sheer black stockings.
She was completely dressed like a vixen, a calamity capable of toppling kingdoms.
Behind this beautiful woman, almost blending into the shadows, was a plain-looking female assistant carrying a document bag and wearing thick black-rimmed glasses—[Xu Ruoxue] in disguise.
"Meilan is here!"
Upon seeing her youngest daughter, [Ji Meilan], arrive, Gao Dan immediately straightened up. She felt she had found her backbone.
This daughter was her pride, her greatest masterpiece, often boasted about among the wealthy women's circle.
Ji Meilan was a top-tier female celebrity in the country. Unlike the clear, flawless, and innocent image of [Zhong Lingyin], Ji Meilan was always known for her fiery, sexy, alluring, and charming persona. She specialized in portraying femme fatales in various historical dramas: Su Daji, the fox spirit who ruined the Shang Dynasty; Wu Meiniang, the ruthless Empress; Bao Si, the beauty who laughed as the beacons burned.
Especially her recent portrayal of [Empress Xiao], the woman who survived six emperors and captivated them all with her charm, had received countless praises and captivated the hearts of countless men in Yanxia.
Ji Meilan walked up to her parents. A wave of intoxicating perfume washed over them. Her eyes, shaped like peach blossoms, shifted slightly, revealing a surprising hint of charm and a terrifying ambition.
She looked at the unconscious brother in the room, then at her terrified parents. A sultry, calculated smile curled her red lips.
"Dad, prepare the car. Take me and Second Brother to [Jiangjing Manor] to apologize to Young Master Shen personally."
She ran a finger along her collarbone, her voice husky.
"This is not a disaster. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Maybe… we can take this chance to connect with Young Master Shen."
Her eyes gleamed with the hunger of a hunter spotting the ultimate prey.
"If I can marry Young Master Shen… or even just climb into his bed… our Ji Family will soar to the heavens. We will no longer be just a local tyrant in the Demon City."
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