1 Year Of Beginning

Yu Yan couldn't sleep for long. She was dreaming that she was back in her apartment, seeing her sister making out with her boyfriend. Her face scrunched in disgust as she repeated what she had done, pouring the hot water from the bathroom to the pair.

Bang!

As Bao Tu punched her face, Yu Yan opened her eyes. She was in Feng Mian's room in the motel. Looking to the side, she could see that Feng Mian was still sleeping soundly. Probably, she was also tired because Yu Yan made her worried sick because of the call.

'Yu Family will surely search for me.'

After throwing boiling hot water to her sister and Bao Tu's face and body, Yu Yan was sure that they wouldn't let her off light. All this time, Yu Yan always ignored them and even forgave them when her sister snatched her first boyfriend. She let them off because she didn't want to have any relationship with them anymore.

She could only think that her ex-boyfriend was a complete jerk that abandoned her because of her sister. Still, the pain existed, which led her to drink her sorrow away with wine.

But now, Yu Yan could no longer tolerate her family. Once again, they intervened with her life. She laughed internally at her stupidity. She thought that Bao Tu was the perfect man to her because he was so gentle and kind, but things didn't work out the way she wanted to.

He was also enraptured by her sister, who was certainly more beautiful and talented than her.

'I should just forget him.'

Yu Yan sat down slowly. She knew that Feng Mian didn't have any wine since the latter didn't drink. Because of that, she would not bother searching for anything to drink in this place. Slowly, she got off from Feng Mian.

Unlike Feng Mian, who was so bad at physical education, Yu Yan excelled in that study. It was to the point that her teacher lamented why she didn't become an athlete instead with her capabilities in sports. But since Yu Yan herself was not interested, her teacher never pressured her.

Taking a pen and a piece of paper on Feng Mian's table, Yu Yan began to write. She read it a few times before putting it down and walked out.

Klek!

Her eyes landed on the man in the living room. She wanted to just bypass him, so she closed the door behind her slowly and inched to the door. Before she could reach it, a low tone greeted her.

"Are you thinking of leaving early in the morning?"

"You're awake?" Yu Yan was stunned.

Zhang Liang sat down. He looked at Yu Yan calmly. In this place, he didn't really let his guard down. As he used to be part of the military, he could raise his vigilance so that he would be able to wake up faster. After all, he was living in a slightly run down motel for the night.

"Don't you want to wait until she woke up?"

"I… don't want to involve her."

"So you plan to leave and drink yourself away in the bar?"

Yu Yan frowned. She looked at Zhang Liang carefully. "Do you want to stop me?"

"No."

"Then….?"

"I want to remind you that the street is dangerous for women. I don't want you to make Feng Mian worried more than she already did," Zhang Liang replied unhurriedly.

Yu Yan stared back at Zhang Liang. She knew that Zhang Liang could care less about her, but if something happened to her, Feng Mian would be extremely sad. Because of that, Zhang Liang didn't wish anything bad to happen.

"I need to go to the bar."

"Why?"

Yu Yan looked back at Zhang Liang with a bitter smile on her lips. "I'm just a normal girl, about to challenge one of the ric.h.e.s.t families in the country. Do you think that I'll be able to do that alone? If I stay here, they'll eventually come and find me. Because of that, I need to be the one to make the first move."

Zhang Liang looked at Yu Yan. He was silently praising her courage. Different with Feng Mian, who would only retaliate when her bottom limit was touched, Yu Yan was ready to be the one to launch an attack first. She was determined to make sure that her family paid for what they have done to her.

"And your plan is to visit the bar?"

"Who knows who might be there," Yu Yan replied calmly. "I don't want to rely on you, Mr. Zhang. I will find my own way to survive on my own. Even if I have to become a devil, I wanted to be able to stand on my own and support my best friend too."

She didn't want to make Feng Mian worried sick about her anymore. Because of that, she needed to make sure that she had a way to retaliate against her family and Bao Family. There was no need for her to stick onto the legal laws as there were many other methods that she could use.

"I see."

"Please excuse me, Mr. Zhang."

Yu Yan slowly walked to the door and walked out. Her legs were no longer trembling like last night. She had reached her own resolve that no matter what, she would stand on her own.

Zhang Liang looked at the door and slowly gave his order. "Follow her movements."

"Yes, Boss."

Thinking about the two women, he chuckled lightly. The two of them were truly different yet at the same time similar. They knew their worth and their capability, so they always kept themselves within their limit. But when someone touched their bottom line, they would retaliate. So far, Feng Mian had only retaliated defensively while Yu Yan wanted to attack first.

'You have a good friend, Feng Mian.'

"Yu Yan?"

Feng Mian sat up straight, looking around her room. She could not find any trace of her best friend at all. Her eyes landed on the paper and pen on the table that was placed near the edge. Quickly, she jumped off the bed, nearly crashing to the chair as a result and read the paper.

'To Feng Mian,

When you read this letter, I might have already left your room for a long time. I know that you're worried about me, but I don't want to stay silent and just wait for my family and Bao Family to send their people to me. I know that I can stay safe if I have your husband's protection, but I don't want to live in hiding forever.

I want to stand on my own so that I won't make you worry. Just like how you manage to find your own chance through a dire situation, I'll work out a way out of this mess. I'll make sure that I can stand on my own too, so that I wouldn't have to trouble you forever.

I'm writing this so that you wouldn't get worried. However, I'm going to head to the bar and try to find some people from the underworld. I hope that I'll be able to make a deal with them. Heh, who knew if I'm going to be lucky this time around?

I'm sorry that I can't stay like a good girl, but I need to find my own way out of this mess by myself.

Please, don't worry about me. If you ever received news of me being captured by Bao Family or Yu Family, then my plan failed. I would like to ask for your assistance at that time.

From your best friend forever,

Yu Yan'

Feng Mian stared at the letter and read it a few times. She sighed and put it down. "Yu Yan, you're an idiot."

However, Feng Mian herself also hated the feeling of relying on someone else forever. She wanted to be independent and strong too. Even though it would be completely different compared to her friend, she had been working on her own too for a set period of time.

Feng Mian walked out of the room and saw Zhang Liang sitting in the living room. He raised his head when he saw her.

"Yu Yan left."

"I know. She left a letter to me," Feng Mian showed the letter on her hand. "Can you please send some people to follow her? I want to at least ensure her safety."

Zhang Liang nodded. "I already send people to monitor her movement. Don't worry, they won't interrupt her in anything she did."

Feng Mian nodded in response. She looked at Zhang Liang worriedly. "Do you think she'll be able to be alright?"

"Why not?"

Feng Mian smiled. She looked at the letter and sighed to herself. She just had to believe in her friend. "I'll change my clothes then we can go back."

"Ok."

Zhang Liang's face was calm but after Feng Mian left, he raised his phone and began to speak, "Where did you last see her?"

"She's in Bar S. However, we can't see her coming out, so we come in, but there's no trace of her at all."

Zhang Liang frowned, "Check the camera and everything."

"We did, but we found nothing."

"Send it to me."

"Yes, Boss."

Even though Zhang Liang didn't say it in front of Feng Mian, in truth, Yu Yan had been missing not long after she reached the bar. He furrowed his brows deeply. There were only a few candidates of who might possibly be behind this. The number of those who could manipulate the camera and yet his men still didn't find the trace was limited to the number of fingers in his hand.

The one who took Yu Yan must be someone very powerful.