Chapter 209: Ye Zhen, You Must Be Careful
Ye Fuli exited the airport, hailed a taxi, and returned to the property she had purchased in Nancheng.
Instead of going straight to see Ye Zhen, she first sent a message to Zhao Mengde.
Looking utterly drained, Zhao Mengde pedaled a shared bicycle under the still-blazing sun to reach Ye Fuli's gated community.
"Good heavens, this is no way to treat someone!"
Zhao Mengde sighed heavily.
After parking, she hurried to knock on Ye Fuli's door.
The door opened, and Ye Fuli looked at her with obvious disgust. "You've been…"
"Please don't say 'excessive indulgence'."
"Then there's nothing more to say."
Ye Fuli stepped aside to let Zhao Mengde in.
She poured Zhao Mengde a glass of plain water, gestured for him to sit down, and instructed him to give her a detailed account of Ye Zhen's recent whereabouts.
…
At that moment.
An unexpected visitor arrived at Ye Zhen's company.
Answering the call from the front desk, Ye Zhen yawned as she rose from the plush sofa in her office. Slippers on her feet, she headed downstairs.
There was nothing to be done about it—being a boss like hers was just that leisurely.
Ye Fuli handled everything for her. Beyond mumbling "uh-huh" during meetings, Ye Zhen was essentially just a figurehead.
At first, Ye Zhen found this odd and felt somewhat resistant.
But over time, she realized being a slacker was pure bliss!
Money poured in like a downpour without lifting a finger or thinking a thought—what was there to complain about?
Ye Zhen took the elevator down to the first floor.
Seeing Bai Ruoting sitting on the sofa made her pause in surprise.
Huh…
Had the medication worn off?
Where had that hairy, square-jawed guy gone?
Now, Bai Ruoting hadn't shrunk in height, but his bulk had noticeably diminished. Moreover, all the hair on his body had been shaved clean, and his skin had become significantly fairer.
The pungent stench of a malfunctioning toilet that had been detectable from several meters away had also faded considerably.
"Young Master Bai, you came to see me. What brings you here?"
Ye Zhen maintained a safe distance from him, but she still confirmed the positions of her bodyguards, keeping them on standby to ensure her safety.
Bai Ruoting's face was wrapped in bandages, his gaze dark and menacing, yet a faint smile lingered at the corners of his mouth.
"Miss Ye Zhen, it's been an age. I must admit, I've missed you terribly."
"Cut the small talk. I'm busy." Ye Zhen cut off his attempt at nostalgia, stating bluntly, "If you have nothing important, you may leave."
Bai Ruoting shook his head, lowering his voice. "You must know the secret about Ye Fuli now, right?"
At the mention of Ye Fuli's name, Ye Zhen's expression visibly shifted.
At that moment, Bai Ruoting stood up and said calmly, "If it's convenient, let's find a quieter place to talk privately…"
"I don't trust you."
"Miss Ye Zhen, I just underwent major surgery. I'm covered in wounds. I'm lucky I can even stand. How could I possibly harm you?"
Bai Ruoting waved his bandaged arm, a faint smile still playing at the corners of his mouth, though his voice was noticeably weak.
Unfortunately, Ye Zhen had a heart of steel.
She valued her life too much to lower her guard even slightly just because her opponent appeared weak.
"No. I said I don't trust you. I must take these bodyguards with me."
Ye Zhen waved, gesturing toward the seven or eight bodyguards standing nearby.
Bai Ruoting fell silent.
He had never encountered someone so utterly afraid of death.
But it didn't matter.
He nodded. "Very well, Miss Ye Zhen. As you wish."
In a conference room on the second floor, Bai Ruoting recounted how Ye Fuli had imprisoned him and subjected him to torture to extract a confession.
Ye Zhen was unaware of these events.
Yet, from Ye Fuli's reaction at the time, he had guessed some clues.
"Ye Fuli reincarnated, while I dreamt—dreamt the memories of my past life." Bai Ruoting studied Ye Zhen. "I know you're troubled, but I don't know if you've truly regained memories from your previous life, or… something else?"
"You really aren't the Ye Zhen I knew. She wasn't nearly as sharp as you, nor would she have built such a massive enterprise."
"Besides, I don't believe your investment in Liu Wei and the others was mere coincidence. You must have known their futures beforehand to act this way."
Listening to his monologue, Ye Zhen's expression grew increasingly grave.
"Ever since gaining those memories, I've been curious—how exactly did I die in my past life? My recollections only extend to the night Ye Fuli took her own life. Beyond that, I know nothing."
"Of course, that alone wasn't enough for me to conclude this world revolved around Ye Fuli."
"To test this absurd notion, I took further actions."
Bai Ruoting raised an eyebrow and smiled meaningfully.
"Remember my grandfather?"
"On the night he died of illness, he said he'd been having intermittent dreams—dreams of his past life, of my wedding to Ye Fuli, of hearing the terrible news of her suicide… But he couldn't recall anything after that, including how he died in his previous life. His memories simply ended there."
Ye Zhen's breath caught.
She felt her worldview shatter piece by piece.
"Of course, even that alone isn't enough to prove anything conclusively."
Bai Ruoting remained a meticulous madman.
He claimed to have captured several former servants of the Ye household and used rather brutal methods to make them recall fragments of their past lives.
All their recollections ended on the night Ye Fuli took her own life.
Of course, some couldn't recall any memories from their past lives at all. Moreover, the fragments each person managed to recall were few and far between.
Bai Ruoting knew the most.
Driven to the brink by Ye Fuli's torment, Bai Ruoting screamed the truth at her.
Seeing the shock, agony, and confusion on Ye Fuli's face that day, he felt so exhilarated he couldn't even feel the pain.
Unfortunately, her agony lasted only a brief moment.
Bai Ruoting was deeply disappointed.
He had few wishes left in this life, but one remained: to make Ye Fuli wish she were dead.
After all, this woman had ruined his life twice over!
Ye Zhen stared at him coldly. "What do you mean by telling me all this?"
"Ye Zhen, be careful when you go out from now on."
The words were a blatant threat.
Ye Zhen's bodyguards sprang into action. In the blink of an eye, they pinned Bai Ruoting to the table and searched him thoroughly, leaving no sock or undergarment untouched.
However, he was indeed covered in injuries and carried no concealed weapons.
Ye Zhen ordered them to release him.
"Don't misunderstand! I'm not your enemy," Bai Ruoting sneered, his face twisted in a vicious grin. "It's Ye Fuli. It's this disgusting world!"
Laughing wildly, he leaned against the wall and left Ye Zhen's company.
His words, which sounded both insane and lucid, left Ye Zhen reeling for a long time.
She stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows of the high-rise, gazing out at the crowded city.
Every experience since arriving in this world flashed wildly through her mind.
A faint melancholy brewed at the tip of her heart.
"What did Bai Ruoting mean by that? He probably didn't come here just to lose his mind. I can't shake the feeling that the way he spoke to me today… it felt like we were kindred spirits."
It wasn't until that evening that Ye Zhen finally left the company.
In the underground garage, Ye Zhen spotted Ye Fuli's car.
She paused for a moment, then hurried over and knocked on the car window.
The window rolled down.
Ye Fuli looked at her in surprise. "I… I was just about to go upstairs…"
"Mhm."
Ye Zhen was distracted and didn't ask her much.
Ye Fuli let out a soft sigh, pressed her hand to her chest, and said, "You haven't eaten yet, have you? Get in. I'll take you out to eat."
"Ye Fuli."
As the car started moving, Ye Zhen glanced at her.
"Later, let's go to the boxing gym. Let's have a fight."