23: Escape

Nancheng had no winter; the temperature remained warm. Yet, Feng Jinyan broke into a cold sweat for no apparent reason, gripped by a sudden, frantic panic—as if something of immense importance had been lost, something he would never be able to reclaim.

Feng Jinyan picked up his phone and opened his contacts. His gaze lingered on the very first entry, marked simply with a ".". He stared at it for a long time.

A month ago, he hadn’t wanted to see the name Ye Xiangwan on his phone, so, in a moment of inexplicable impulse, he had renamed her contact to that same symbol he had kept pinned to the top of his WeChat for years.

In the distance, the faint sound of crashing waves reached him, carrying a sense of emptiness that was absent during the day.

Feng Jinyan frowned, and a moment later, he shut off his phone.

Why was he thinking of her again? Where could she possibly go?

What she wanted was money, and he had plenty of it. She wouldn't just disappear.

With this thought, Feng Jinyan closed his eyes and drifted into a deep sleep.

Eight o'clock the next morning.

"Master Feng, I’ve brought your clothes."

"Come in."

Ling Zhanyi used a room card to open the suite door Feng Jinyan had left for him. Carrying the clothes, he walked through the living room into the bedroom, only to be surprised to find that Feng Jinyan had just woken up.

Why was Master Feng only getting up now?

At this hour, he was usually already at the company conducting meetings.

"Master Feng, you—"

"Wait, let me make a call."

Feng Jinyan sat on the edge of the bed in his bathrobe without looking up, a deep furrow etched between his brows. His fingertips tapped rapidly on the screen before he pressed the phone to his ear, his expression clearly betraying a struggle to suppress a flare of temper.

The room was deathly quiet. As Ling Zhanyi placed the clothes beside Feng Jinyan, he heard the mechanical female voice from the phone: "The number you have dialed is powered off."

He glanced at Feng Jinyan’s darkening expression and felt at a loss.

He had been by Feng Jinyan’s side for several years. Although Feng was usually aloof and reticent, he rarely displayed such an expression.

He was typically composed, his emotions unreadable, and he was generally quite kind to his staff.

The watch on Ling Zhanyi’s wrist, a stylish and imposing piece, had been a gift from Feng Jinyan two months ago.

But never in all this time had he seen the air pressure around Feng Jinyan so low. Yet, the look on his face felt vaguely familiar—eerily similar to that day at the hospital a month ago.

The hospital?

Could this have something to do with that doctor?!

As his chief assistant, he had to be aware of all the specifics of Feng Jinyan's affairs to handle potential emergencies. Ling Zhanyi walked over and asked cautiously, "Master Feng, what's wrong? Has something happened?"

Feng Jinyan didn't answer. He stood up, dialed another number, and began pacing by the floor-to-ceiling window.

"You’d better tell me there’s some progress, or you can get the hell back to your hometown!"

Ling Zhanyi shuddered; it was the first time he had ever heard Feng Jinyan roar at anyone like that.

Feng Jinyan had always been steady and restrained. He had never seen him lose his temper or belittle anyone, except for that doctor.

Sensing something was wrong, Ling Zhanyi stayed put, continuing to listen to the call.

"She tore up the bedsheets in the middle of the night and you didn't hear it from right outside the door?! Did the surveillance team fall into a coma?! A grown woman walks out of the building and you didn't see her? And what about the guards?! How could you let someone out in the middle of the night?! In her condition, and in the freezing winter of Jingcheng at night—if anything happens to her on the road, I’ll have your heads!"

Ling Zhanyi finally understood. During the month Feng Jinyan was recovering from his injury and working from home, he had seen that doctor when delivering documents to the villa.

Though he didn't know the exact details, it seemed the doctor had been confined to the villa by Master Feng, and now, it appeared she had escaped.

"Check the surveillance! Check the travel records! Find her!"

"The police can't investigate?! What am I paying you for?! I told you to keep an eye on her. Now, figure it out yourselves. You have one week. If you can't find her, I’ll go back myself, and all of you can pack your bags and get out!"

Feng Jinyan hung up and threw his phone away with a loud *thud*.

"Uh, Master Feng, please don't be so angry. Is something serious going on?"

Feng Jinyan pushed the window open and rested his hands on the sill. The sunlight outside was soft, but it could not penetrate the gloom in his heart.

He slowly lifted his eyelids, a flicker of imperceptible sorrow crossing his eyes, as if the back of Ye Xiangwan’s figure as she left six years ago was resurfacing before him.

He took a deep breath, trying to bury all his emotions deep inside, forcing himself to appear once again as the cool, composed Feng Jinyan.

"It’s nothing. What’s on the schedule for today?"

Ling Zhanyi walked over and picked up the phone, sighing at the shattered screen. "Master Feng, if there’s something bothering you, you can tell me. Keeping it bottled up will..."

Feng Jinyan shot him a glance, and Ling Zhanyi immediately began reporting the work schedule: "You have two video conferences today, one at nine in the morning and one at one in the afternoon... followed by an interview with Ms. Lu Yuyao..."

Feng Jinyan frowned at the mention of Lu Yuyao's name, said nothing more, and turned toward the bathroom.

The man stood before the bathroom mirror; in the swirling steam, his features appeared blurred.

He hadn't come to Nancheng for Lu Yuyao, but because he had made her a promise, and because he wanted to see how Ye Xiangwan would react to his arrival.

He hadn't expected her to sneak out of the villa.

Reflecting on the past, the man closed his eyes, letting the warm water wash over every inch of his skin, as if he could rinse away the restlessness and unease in his heart.

Yet, that hidden sorrow was like a stubborn stain, impossible to wash away.

When he opened his eyes again, his gaze was cold, sharp as a winter blade.

Ye Xiangwan, I don't care whether you love me or not—you will never escape my grasp in this lifetime.

After his shower, Feng Jinyan began working, not heading to the filming site until the afternoon.

"Brother Jinyan, you're here!"

Feng Jinyan was looking down at his phone, giving instructions regarding company matters. Hearing the voice, he nodded without looking up, then continued his task with an expressionless face.

"Brother Jinyan, what's wrong today? Are you in a bad mood?"

Lu Yuyao ran over, reaching out to grab his arm, but Feng Jinyan subtly sidestepped, turning toward another area. "No idle talk. The director is here."

The director, Ma Hongkai, was a formidable man in his fifties whose films were perennial award-winners.

As soon as he entered, the crew began to move as if set to double speed; the continuity supervisor, who had been chatting happily with the set designer, immediately buried his head in his work, diligently recording lens data.

Feng Jinyan noticed the shift in his peripheral vision and thought to himself that this director certainly commanded respect.