shenqiyingyuan

" Who is that?" asked a woman as she picked up the jar that she was filled with water from the well.

Another woman rolled her eyes at the nosy woman. " Why do you care? It\'s not like she is here for you. You better get back home and start on cooking or else your husband will throw another drunken fit in the middle of the street."

Just as the woman said that the voice of a drunken man came from the house opposite to the well. " Damn that woman! I work hard for the entire day and she can\'t even cook a hot meal for me when I come back home, where the hell is she?"

The woman with the water filled jar jumped and rushed to her house and as soon as she entered the house, the sound of someone getting beaten up came from inside the house.

Ignoring the screams of the woman who was getting beaten up, the other woman looked around and then she too rushed after the car that was driving towards the abandoned house.

" Madam!" Once the car came to a stop, Chu Lian came down from the car and the woman hurried toward her as she cleaned her hands on her apron. " You are here, it\'s a good thing that you are here."

Chu Lian raised a brow and looked at the woman and asked, " Why did something happen Xiao An Na?"

The woman called Xiao An Na nodded and then she carefully glanced around the houses that were a few distances from the abandoned house. " It has been a few days and that man is refusing to eat anything, I am afraid that if this goes on…he might die because of starvation."

" Starvation huh?" Chu Lian narrowed her eyes as she motioned An Na to open the door of the abandoned house and walked inside once the door was pushed open. She glanced at the filthy surroundings and her nose scrunched up as she took out her handkerchief and placed it on her nose covering it so that she could avoid all the disgusting scents that might waft over to her. An Na picked up the flashlight from the cabinet next to the and walked in front of Chu Lian who was looking at the surrounding area with a disgusted expression and why wouldn\'t she?

Before she became mistress Song this was her house, broken, run down and ugly. Coming back here was like seeing her past self struggling to make it through every day without getting starved or dying unnoticed by others, if not for that man she would have never come back here.

The two of them walked down the stairs of the basement and as they walked down, the smell of blood, sweat and human waste became even stronger and Chu Lian felt like she was going to throw up. She glanced at An Na and snapped, " Didn\'t I tell you to keep this place clean why is it even dirtier than before? What do I pay you for?"

An Na\'s facial expression turned awkward as she coughed. "It is not like I don\'t clean this place but madam I can\'t come here every day, if I do people will start suspecting me, I have to keep a low profile after all a few weeks ago I was almost caught by my husband, he asked me what I do by coming here, I had to make a million excuses only then he let me go."

Seeing that Chu Lian wasn\'t saying anything An Na heaved a sigh of relief. It was true that she was trying to avoid suspicions but Chu Lian hardly came to see that man and so, instead of worrying about that man, she might as well use the easy money she was getting to make something good for her son.

Once they reached the bottom of the basement, An Na took out another key and then opened the big iron lock that was hanging on the wooden door and pushed it open. As soon as the door was open, in came the view of a man who was tied to an iron pole with his leg that had a heavy chain that was too strong to be broken.

When the door was pushed open, the man inside raised his head and looked at the visitor with a sneer playing on his lips. " You are here again, Miss Chu."

His voice was croaky because of the lack of water but the deep cello-like tinge was still there making Chu Lian\'s skin light up. Even though she has made a perfect copy of this man, the real was in the end the real deal. Even with his overgrown beard and hair, with dirty skin and limbs there was something regal about him, even dressed up as a prisoner, he still reeked off charm and persona.

" Yes, I am here," she said as she strode towards the man with her high heels and peered down at him as she stood in front of him. Though she was the one who was standing haughtily in front of him, Chu Lian still felt a bit too small in front of him. " Did you miss me, Brother Song?"