Gorgeous Female Tenants

Chapter 478: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada

Xu Xiangbei whistled with satisfaction, pleased with the speed and angle at which he threw his Iron Gall, taking down all four kidnappers flawlessly.

He smugly said to Su Xinyun, "Miss Su, do me a favor and untie their belts to bind their hands, and then we can..."

What puzzled him was that Su Xinyun didn’t tie Zhao Changheng and the others up as he said, but instead picked up a hunting rifle from the ground and aimed its dark muzzle at Xu Xiangbei.

Xu Xiangbei’s expression slightly changed, yet he still smiled playfully, "Miss Su, what are you doing? This is not a joke. You shouldn’t point a gun at me."

Tears welled up in Su Xinyun’s eyes, as she bit her lip tightly, "I’m sorry, you shouldn’t have gotten involved. Why did you want to save him? You saved him, but it ended up harming me."

Feeling as if hit by a pellet from the hunting rifle, a subtle pain arose in Xu Xiangbei’s chest, and suddenly he understood everything.

"They went to the karaoke; you were the one who informed Zhao Changheng?"

Su Xinyun’s demeanor became incredibly calm, with her finger tightly gripping the trigger, "Yes, I was the one who told them, not only that, I orchestrated all of this."

Xu Xiangbei sighed lightly, "He is your younger brother, yet you wanted to kill him. Seeing both of you come to Earth Sea together, I thought your sibling relationship was improving, yet it turns out you’ve become enemies to the point of wanting to kill each other."

Su Xinyun’s gaze turned cold and hateful, "Yes, he’s my brother, but ever since he was born, he became my parents’ precious son, and I, as the elder sister, became dispensable. My parents handed the company over to him, leaving me to hide in the attic and paint every day. I’ve rebelled because I hate them—they only cherish Xinyu, holding him in their palms while I am nothing but excess."

What Su Xinyun said, Su Xinyu—her brother—heard all too well. He lamented, "Sister, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that because of me, you’d suffer so much. I’m willing to split the company in half with you; I don’t mind."

Su Xinyun’s expression turned cold and cruel; she stared blankly at her brother, "It’s already too late to say that now. If I weren’t pointing a gun at you, would you have been so obedient? Would you have listened to me? You never pay attention to me, never treated me as your sister. That’s why today, you must die."

Zhao Changheng had come to, hearing Su Xinyun’s words, he looked at her with terror, "I only wanted him to give me the order, not to kill him. You said you just wanted to scare him, how did it come to wanting to kill him."

Su Xinyu forced a bitter smile, "Zhao Changheng, you’re such an idiot. Didn’t I tell you that because the European orders decreased, I had to cut down your chip quota? Recently, Jiangcheng’s Xiangyi Group toy company has encroached on our Su Toy Company’s European market, so I had to reduce production. Why don’t you believe me?"

Listening to Su Xinyu say this, Zhao Changheng’s expression revealed bitterness and regret.

Su Xinyun looked at Zhao Changheng with contempt, "Because I told Zhao Changheng you’re deceiving him, that you intentionally want to cooperate with Thunderbird Group and cut down Changheng Group’s chip orders. Zhao Changheng was tricked by me; Zhao Changheng, you’re truly a coward. If you’ve done it, do it boldly. Since you made a move, don’t stop halfway—kill my brother, then I’ll control Su Toy Company, and all future chip orders will be yours."

Suddenly, Zhao Changheng ran outside like a madman, "No, we don’t want to kill; I just want to reclaim the order."

Watching Zhao Changheng run in fear, Su Xinyun sneered, "No wonder Zhao Changheng always fails; his courage isn’t much bigger than a sesame."

Su Xinyu forced a bitter smile and said, "President Xu, I’m sorry for dragging you into this. While I don’t like you, you’re a good person. You’re too trusting of my sister."

Xu Xiangbei, feeling a shared sense of pity, said to Su Xinyu, "Although your appearance irks me, it’s not a crime worthy of death. Your sister might be as beautiful as an angel, but her heart is like a serpent’s. Su Xinyun, let me persuade you one last time: if you lower the hunting rifle, I’ll give you a way out, otherwise I’ll have to..."

With a lift of the hunting rifle, Su Xinyun’s beautiful face showed a cold smile of pity, "You’ll give me a way out? Do you not understand the situation? Now I have the gun, I command everything."

Suddenly, Su Xinyun’s vision blurred, and somehow the hunting rifle ended up in Xu Xiangbei’s hand, yet Xu Xiangbei didn’t point the dark muzzle at Su Xinyun, instead he broke the rifle into two and tossed it to the ground.

A trace of sad melancholy appeared in Xu Xiangbei’s eyes, "Alas, the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the sparrow behind—the identities of the hunter and the hunted are irrelevant. Even catching you brings no joy; you’ve let me down too much."

Suddenly, Su Xinyun realized that the one truly controlling the situation wasn’t her but Xu Xiangbei; Xu Xiangbei merely let her confess her evil, ambition, and guilt.

The warehouse fell silent, only the sounds of their breathing and heartbeats filled the void. Su Xinyun’s long false eyelashes gently lowered, as she pulled out a sheet of stationery from a small handbag and handed it to Xu Xiangbei.

Xiangbei looked clearly at the sheet grasped in the delicate snow-white fingers—it was actually a sketch of himself drawn simply yet vividly, showcasing Su Xinyun’s impressive artistic skill.

Her voice carried a sense of helplessness and time-worn fatigue, yet remained thin and weak, "This is what I drew when I thought of you, sketching it casually. I know I was wrong, I’m sorry. Please, let me go."

Xu Xiangbei gritted his teeth silently as Su Xinyun slowly walked past him; neither of them looked back or exchanged farewells, like strangers crossing paths in the night.

Su Xinyun’s silhouette disappeared into the darkness, much like her ink-wash landscape painting—all colors in this picture are richly inked, devoid of any other hues.

Xu Xiangbei untied Su Xinyu from the chair, fetched him a garment, and called the police, and shortly afterward the piercing sirens of police cars reverberated outside.

The night wind was chilly, especially along the harbor dock at night, where the cold wind would pierce through clothes.

Xu Xiangbei leaned against his car, lit a cigarette, and gazed at the turbulent sea ahead; the crashing waves sang and lamented as they battered the rocks, echoing the rise and fall of emotions.

Su Xinyu emerged, asking for a cigarette from Xu Xiangbei, taking a deep drag, "You let my sister go?"

Recalling that Su Xinyu didn’t smoke, but under these circumstances anyone would need some extra stimulation, Xu Xiangbei nodded, "I wanted to leave her a way out, hoping one day she’d repent."

Su Xinyu sighed softly, "You’re a good person. I hope we’ll have a chance to cooperate in the future."