Chapter 154: Chris Er Gou

Indeed, when Liang Zichao brought Lin Yuxin back home and produced the contract, the entire Liang family was struck with disbelief. First and foremost, the project was undeniably massive, and the primary credit truly belonged to Lin Yuxin.

Consequently, the Liang family looked at Lin Yuxin in a completely new light and their perception of her shifted dramatically.

This was the first time since marrying into the Liang family that Lin Yuxin sat at the same dining table with them, and during the meal, no one brought up the topic of divorce. Her heart fluttered with intense excitement.

...

Meanwhile, Xia Yu and the others were just about to leave the café when Xia Yu's phone suddenly rang, displaying an unfamiliar number.

He paused for a moment and said to the others, "Could this be the Mr. Liu you were talking about?"

"Then answer it quickly," Li Shen urged.

Xia Yu nodded and answered, "Hello, who is this?"

"May I ask if this is brother Xia Yu?" a deep and emotional voice came through the phone.

"That's right, are you Liu Feihong?" Xia Yu asked in return.

"Yes! Brother, I've finally found you," Liu Feihong said, even more agitated. "Brother, do you remember me?"

"I... I'm sorry, I really don't recall that name," Xia Yu replied.

"It doesn't matter. Let's meet up; perhaps you'll remember once you see me," Liu Feihong suggested. "Are you free? I can come to you."

"I am, but I'll come to you instead."

After hanging up the phone, Xia Yu wondered who this person could possibly be, going to such great lengths to track him down and even dangling a ten-billion-dollar project.

Hearing that Xia Yu was going to meet Liu Feihong, Lin Yuqing and Chu Zitong could no longer sit still and immediately insisted on tagging along.

And so, the group drove over to the Hongshun Branch.

Liu Feihong was waiting personally at the entrance with his subordinates to welcome them. Spotting them stepping out of the car, he instantly recognized Xia Yu and rushed forward excitedly.

Grabbing Xia Yu by the hand, he exclaimed, "Brother, I've finally found you!"

"It's you... I... I remember now."

Upon seeing him, memories flooded back into Xia Yu's mind. No wonder he hadn't recognized the name Liu Feihong. The two of them had only crossed paths once before; when they parted ways, he had only told the man his name was Xia Yu and hadn't asked for the other's name at all.

"Brother, you remember?" Liu Feihong said, deeply moved. "It's been five years since we last parted. It's a miracle you still recognize me."

"And these are your friends..."

Liu Feihong was about to greet his friends, but when his eyes landed on Lin Yuqing and the others, he froze. Weren't these the very people he had driven away from the bidding conference just moments ago?

"You..."

"Mr. Liu, we really weren't lying to you," Li Shen said with a bitter smile. "We truly are Xia Yu's friends. The one who deceived you was Lin Yuxin."

"This... what is going on here?"

"Mr. Liu, let's go inside to talk," Xia Yu proposed.

"Yes, yes, yes, please come in."

Once they reached the VIP lounge, a secretary immediately served tea and water. Realizing the situation was amiss, Liu Feihong immediately asked for an explanation.

Xia Yu didn't hide anything from him, explaining that Lin Yuxin indeed used to be his wife, but they were already divorced.

Hearing the whole story, Liu Feihong was consumed by a mix of shame and anger.

"This is outrageous! How dare she pull such a trick on me over something so major?"

"Brother Xia, and you other friends, I am truly sorry. It was all my recklessness."

Lin Yuqing replied, "Mr. Liu, you can't be blamed for this either. My cousin simply has no bottom line; it's only natural that you were kept in the dark."

"Mr. Liu, it's just such a pity to think that you practically handed such a huge benefit to that bitch for nothing," Li Shen asked. "Is there any way to undo this?"

Calming down, Liu Feihong said, "Yes! Since she lied to me, I certainly won't let her get away with it so easily!"

The eyes of the group lit up, and they breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed there was still room to turn things around.

Liu Feihong turned to Xia Yu with an apologetic look and said, "Brother, I'm sorry. I know finding you this way was a bit abrupt."

"But I had no other choice; this was the only way I could track you down."

Xia Yu chuckled lightly and asked, "Putting that aside, why did you go to such immense trouble to find me, brother?"

Just as Liu Feihong was about to answer, he caught Xia Yu's gaze and instantly understood.

He turned to Lin Yuqing and the others and said, "My friends, I'd like to catch up with my brother here. Would you mind letting someone give you a tour of our company?"

"Once Brother Xia and I finish our chat, I'll treat you all to dinner."

"Of course, go ahead and talk," the group graciously replied, though it was obvious to everyone that the two men wanted some privacy.

Left alone in the VIP lounge were only Xia Yu and Liu Feihong.

"Brother Xia, you saved our family of three back then. If not for you, we would have been dead long ago."

"When I happened to learn recently that you had returned to the country and were staying in Shencheng, I sent people to look for you, but unfortunately, there was no news."

"I made a promise to you that I would repay your saving grace."

With that, Liu Feihong's eyes reddened as he moved to drop to his knees before Xia Yu.

Xia Yu quickly stopped him, saying, "You're exaggerating, brother. I was just lending a hand at the time, nothing worth mentioning."

"However, you didn't leak my identity to anyone, did you?"

"Of course not, how could I ever dare to casually speak of it to others?" Liu Feihong said, his eyes moist.

"That's good," Xia Yu smiled. "Seeing that you've built such a massive career for yourself, my efforts back then weren't in vain."

"It's all thanks to your blessing, brother. To this day, my daughter still talks about you," Liu Feihong said as he sat back down. "Whenever I think back to that scene, I still shiver with fright."

"That was a living nightmare for our family. It was fortunate that you stepped in to help."

Without a word, Xia Yu lit a cigarette, his thoughts drifting back to that dusk five years ago.

In the northern border city of Damacheng, the war had just broken out.

Many merchants had failed to evacuate in time. Liu Feihong happened to have business operations there, and his wife and daughter were in that very city.

The war had arrived with terrifying suddenness, and Liu Feihong attempted to flee that perilous zone with his family.

Yet along the way, they ran into clashing military forces, and the family of three was seized as hostages by the insurgents.

Upon realizing they were citizens of Yanxia, the enemy paid them no heed and prepared to execute them on the spot.

At that moment, facing the terrifying proximity of death, Liu Feihong clutched his wife and daughter, weeping in utter despair.

Some of the enemy soldiers even dragged his sixteen-year-old daughter away, attempting to take her back as a plaything.

Just as all hope seemed lost, a group of men suddenly materialized from nowhere. Their combat skills were ferocious, particularly their leader—a young man with a buzz cut who descended upon the scene like a god of war.

Wielding a submachine gun, he slaughtered without blinking.

Though the two sides were roughly matched in numbers, this fiercely lethal group completely crushed and annihilated the enemy in a matter of moments.

In the end, that young man walked over to the traumatized couple, carrying the trembling daughter, and asked with surprising gentleness, "Are you alright? Hurry out of here and return to our Yanxia."

The family had been scared out of their wits and forgot even to express their gratitude.

Without saying much more, the young man lit a cheap four-yuan-and-fifty-cent Red Golden Dragon cigarette from Yanxia and turned to leave.

"Big brother, what is your name?" the daughter suddenly regained her senses and called out to his retreating back.

The young man paused in his tracks and looked back at her.

"Xia Yu."

"English name: Chris Er-gou."