<strong>Capítulo 1409: Chapter 1422</strong>


    Xia Youran endured her numb feet, serving the man a cup of coffee, then silently retreated to the furthest corner, praying silently in her heart for them to finish quickly.


    Her phone was set to silent, its screen flickering between light and dark…


    “You can go now.”


    Ye Chen suddenly said, Xia Youran was stunned for a few seconds, was he talking to her? Does this guy never look at people when he talks to them?


    “Me?” Xia Youran asked again, only to receive an icy silence.


    In an instant, the atmosphere in the room became oppressive with the silence, and Xia Youran didn’t even manage to say a simple goodbye before she rushed out of the private room.


    The door behind her mmed shut with a bang…


    Xia Youran, as she ran, grabbed her phone, which disyed over twenty missed calls, all from the bakery owner, making her even more anxious. It must be the owner calling because she hadn’t arrived as expected. Thinking of this, Xia Youran was about to call back to exin her situation and that she’d bete.


    Before she could dial, the bakery owner’s call came in again.


    “You Ran, you finally answered the phone.” On the other end, the voice was anxious, and Xia Youran could clearly hear a long sigh of relief as the call connected, obviously worried after making so many unsessful attempts.


    “Liu, something came up on my end, and I’ve been dyed. I’m heading over right now.”


    After changing clothes, Xia Youran spoke on the phone while swiftly walking out.


    “You Ran, listen to me, you should first…”


    With a smack, Xia Youran’s phone was knocked from her hand before she could respond, and the next moment, someone grabbed her shoulder, dragging her forcefully behind a more secluded holly bush, “Xia Youran?”


    She felt a sharp pain radiating from her shoulder, gripped by the person. Behind him, several burly ck-clothed men stood, filling her with fear. How could she be so unlucky today?


    She had heard of daylight robbery, but never encountered it, and now in panic, her voice involuntarily lowered a few notches, “B-brother, I don’t have any money on me.”


    What if they weren’t after money but something worse?!


    Instinctively adjusting her sses to cover her anxious eyes, her heart lodged in her throat—she had nothing to offer, neither money nor beauty…


    “No money?” The man’s grip tightened further, and Xia Youran gasped; another squeeze and her shoulder might just snap.


    “Your father Xia Guoqiang borrowed arge sum in loans, it’s only right to pay debts, and you’re telling me you have no money?”


    The pressure on her shoulder intensified, and tears welled up in Xia Youran’s eyes. Hearing about the loans shocked her like a bolt from the blue, as she looked at him with misty eyes, pitifully.


    “No, no, my father wouldn’t take out such loans; you’re lying.”


    “Ah!”


    The man exerted more force, making Xia Youran cry out in pain.


    This ce waspletely out of notice, far from the main street—as she cried out, no passerby woulde to her rescue.


    “Look closely, ck words on white paper, clearly written, in as day—isn’t this your father’s handwriting?”


    With that, he shed a piece of paper before Xia Youran’s eyes; as she was about to take it and look closer, he retracted the note.


    “If there’s no money, then…”


    The man leered at Xia Youran, his fleshy hand adorned with a gold chain brushing across her face, “Such smooth skin; if there’s no money, then trade a life.”


    If there’s no money, trade a life?


    Xia Youran was startled by his words, retreating a few steps, but her strength was insufficient to break free from his grip.


    The group, seeing Xia Youran notprehending their intentions, spoke again: “Sell you off to entertain some patrons; maybe the debts your father owed could be cleared sooner, don’t you think that’s a good idea?”


    Finally, Xia Youran understood—they intended to sell her to a brothel…


    Imagining an impossibly old man with her… a shiver ran down her spine—no, anything but that! She’d rather die!


    The group took pleasure in Xia Youran’s expression of shock and panic. As they were distracted, she suddenly shouted out loud, “Help! Help!”


    “Damn it, you bitch, dare to scream?!”


    With a smack.


    “Ah!” Xia Youran sped her left cheek, slumping to the ground, her face inmed with pain.


    “Three days. If the debt isn’t settled by then, be prepared to be sold off!”


    A long time passed before the men finally left. Xia Youran curled up on the ground, burying her head in her knees, softly sobbing, until she broke into a full-blown cry…


    Even she couldn’t contact her father…


    An unprecedented helplessness and anxiety encircled her, her father’s sudden disappearance, her boyfriend’s betrayal, the backstabbing of friends…


    An intangible pressure threatened to stifle her; she squatted there for a long time until Lin Lin’s anxious call brought her back to reality.


    “I’m here.”


    “You Ran? You Ran, are you alright? Why are you sitting on the ground? And where’s your phone—I kept calling, but couldn’t get through. The bakery owner said your call just suddenly stopped, it scared me to death.”


    Lin Lin helped Xia Youran to her feet, gently wiping away her tears, “Come on, let’s go home, it’s alright now, everything will be fine.”


    Ye Chen, who had been observing from the shadows, watched the pure-looking woman anxiously call Xia Youran’s name, and only when he saw them embrace each other did he speak to his secretary beside him, “Let’s go.”


    The secretary, looking at his boss’s back, scratched his head, pondering for a while before reaching a conclusion—his boss was acting a bit strange today.


    It wasn’t until a weekter that she returned to the bar.


    After that day, she spent a tension-filled three days in apprehension and fear, but on the third day, nothing happened, just like any other day…


    “You Ran, are you really letting Du Heng off so easily?” Lin Lin’s first time at the bar was filled with curiosity, and she couldn’t help but look around. Yet, dressed in long jeans and a turtleneck sweater, she was as tightly wrapped as a cocoon, and despite her pretty face, there was no one approaching to chat.


    “What else could I do?” She felt nothing for Du Heng; he had once saved her, but she now understood that repaying such kindness didn’t have to mean giving herself to him.


    “Meng Jiao could really do that; remember when the three of us went from high school to college together, studying the same major, living in the same dorm, those sticky seven years—how could she bear to go after Du Heng?”