A Letter from Keanu Reeves

That one sentence doused half of the raging fire in Zhuo Zhixuan’s heart, but he still felt uneasy.

In the ten or so years they had known each other, Chen Wan had never seen his friend this angry. He thought for a moment, then placed a hand on Zhuo Zhixuan’s shoulder, applying slight pressure—not much, but the words he spoke next pressed down on Zhuo Zhixuan’s chest like a mountain.

Chen Wan looked at him and asked, “Do you know who was in charge of Xiaolan Mountain sixteen years ago?”

Zhuo Zhixuan’s pupils trembled. He stared at Chen Wan, his lips parting slightly.

“You—”

“Yes,” Chen Wan met his gaze, openly admitting it. “This is the closest step I can take.” Even if success wasn’t guaranteed.

One reason he didn’t want to use Zhuo Zhixuan or Tan Youming’s connections for this business was because, in the end, he would likely have to seek help from Shen Zongnian and Zhao Shengge. But more importantly, he couldn’t let Luo Qiansheng off the hook.

Zhuo Zhixuan looked at Chen Wan, unable to say a word.

So, he had never forgotten—not for a single day, perhaps not even for a single minute or second.

There was madness and darkness flowing in Chen Wan’s blood, suppressed only by his morals and character. Zhuo Zhixuan had known this about him since the day they met.

Chen Wan was the kind of person who could, without batting an eye, stomp a bullying upperclassman’s leg until it fractured.

At nine, he drove a pair of scissors straight through Liao Quan’s palm.

At twelve, he set fire to Xiaolan Mountain.

At thirteen, when he helped Zhuo Zhixuan and Zhuo Shengyan fight, he never held back. Fourteen years had passed, and Zhuo Shengyan still avoided him whenever they crossed paths.

At fifteen, he stood coldly at a banquet, watching the lady of the Chen family’s main branch suffer a stroke and collapse alone in the garden. He said nothing. Had she been discovered any later, she wouldn’t have survived the emergency treatment.

People were complicated—part devil, part saint. Zhuo Zhixuan didn’t know what had temporarily bound Chen Wan’s darkness, coldness, and willingness to challenge the limits, keeping him wrapped in the guise of gentleness and kindness, allowing him to live as if he were just another ordinary person.

In fact, sometimes it felt like he had overcompensated. Chen Wan had a self-sacrificing personality, though only towards his friends and family.

But as they grew older, Zhuo Zhixuan increasingly felt something was off. That was why, eventually, Monika came into Chen Wan’s life.

After a long silence.

“Even so,” Zhuo Zhixuan swallowed, irritatedly lighting a cigarette. “Even so, something this big—you can’t just go at it alone without saying a word. Have you thought about the consequences?”

But in truth, both he and Chen Wan knew that while projects could be handled through Tan Youming and his connections, bringing down an official was an entirely different matter.

For powerful families, interests were deeply intertwined. Something like this wasn’t a small issue even for Tan Youming and Shen Zongnian. Only deep, long-standing relationships could make something like this possible.

Chen Wan would never place Zhuo Zhixuan in such a dangerous and risky position. Seeking help from Tan Youming or Shen Zongnian would be forcing them into an unethical situation, leaving them with an impossible dilemma—helping would be difficult, but refusing to help would be equally troublesome.

Chen Wan wasn’t someone who would do that. This was his own mess to deal with. If revenge was possible, he would see it through personally. If it wasn’t, he wouldn’t drag innocent people into it.

Most importantly, Chen Wan would never let anyone else know about what happened at Xiaolan Mountain—especially not Zhao Shengge.

Fortunately, a murder case had occurred there later, triggering an investigation by the regulatory authorities. The deeper they dug, the more tangled the web of vested interests became. The scandals from sixteen years ago had long been sealed away, buried by time. Even now, retrieving those records was nearly impossible.

Thus, Chen Wan’s past was sealed along with it, granting him a temporary sense of peace.

Cigarette butts littered the floor. Neither of them spoke again. The silence felt tangible. Zhuo Zhixuan no longer knew what to say to Chen Wan—or if there was anything left to say at all.

Once Chen Wan made up his mind about something, no one could change it or interfere.

Not Zhao Shengge.

Let alone Zhuo Zhixuan.

Only when the cigarette burned down to his fingertips did Zhuo Zhixuan swallow hard and say, exhausted and helpless, “Ah Wan, can you be a little kinder to yourself?”

He had thought for so long about what to say, but in the end, this was all he could think of. It was the only thing he wanted to ask of Chen Wan. Not even a request—just a plea.

Of all the words he could have said, this was the only one that made it out.

Can you be a little kinder to yourself?

“Forget Luo Qiansheng,” he continued. He had no right or standing to say anything about that. One should never advise others to forgive pain they had never endured. But he ground out his cigarette and added, “From now on, when it comes to business, don’t use yourself as collateral.”

“If not this deal, then the next one, and the one after that. You take every single one—will you ever finish? Can your body even handle it? Look at yourself right now—you’re neither human nor ghost. I really don’t know if one day you’ll just—”

Chen Wan pressed his lips together and said, “Ah Xuan, I haven’t been unkind to myself.”

But the reality was, aside from Luo Qiansheng, he would still do this.

Haishi was a bustling metropolis, paved with gold and brimming with opportunities. But it was also ruthless—it devoured people whole, leaving nothing behind. Beneath the glittering gold lay a bed of white bones. The competition was fierce, a thousand poles rising, a hundred boats racing forward. If one were to play by the rules and follow the conventional path, how could there be any business left to do?

For Chen Wan to have climbed to his current position had not been easy—not easy at all.

The tides of commerce ebbed and flowed, the landscape ever-changing and treacherous. In this merciless harbor where the strong preyed on the weak and survival of the fittest reigned supreme, the grid-like offices on Andrew Avenue were always lit, the CBD district on Admiral Street never closed, and every month, someone leapt from the 170-story financial skyscraper after being crushed by bankruptcy. A moment’s negligence could mean elimination, abandonment, and burial, all in the blink of an eye.

Not even a name would be left behind.

Countless billionaires had collapsed overnight like mountains crumbling. That was why Chen Wan never dared to relax. He meticulously planned every step, oversaw everything personally, and remained constantly vigilant—terrified that a single misstep would see him swallowed by the currents of the commercial battlefield.

Among the towering poles, he aimed to stand alone at the crest of the waves. He didn’t need to be too close to that person, but at the very least, being able to watch from afar—like gazing at the sun—was enough to satisfy him.

Zhuo Zhixuan came from a different background and had a different life experience. He neither understood nor agreed with Chen Wan’s choices and actions. But Chen Wan didn’t force him to, didn’t mind, and had no desire to explain.

None of that stopped them from being true friends.

The more deeply he was immersed in this world of power and ambition, the more Chen Wan understood Zhuo Zhixuan’s rarity and value.

“You claim you haven’t been unkind to yourself,” Zhuo Zhixuan scoffed lightly. “But Monica told me you haven’t picked up your medication in half a month.”

“Yes,” Chen Wan rubbed his temples. “I’ve already apologized to Monica. I scheduled a visit this weekend and even asked her to rearrange her appointments. But this time, I set a reminder. I’ll definitely go on time.”

The irritation Zhuo Zhixuan had just tamped down flared up again. “Why are you always worried about inconveniencing others? The important thing is your own health, not a doctor’s schedule. Do you even take this seriously?”

“I know what I’m doing.”

“You don’t know anything,” Zhuo Zhixuan no longer trusted his words. “Send me the appointment details. I’ll take you there myself.”

The follow-up was scheduled for Sunday. Zhuo Zhixuan and Monica were close colleagues, and she told him that Chen Wan’s latest test results weren’t promising. She hoped Zhuo Zhixuan could persuade him to reduce his workload, ease his stress, and pay more attention to his lifestyle and mental health.

Zhuo Zhixuan sighed. “That’s going to be difficult.”

Monica sighed as well. “Then at least make sure he does the bare minimum—taking his medication on time.”

Zhuo Zhixuan exhaled heavily. “I’ll talk to him.”

On the drive back, Zhuo Zhixuan brought up Tan Youming’s invitation to a banquet with the shipping tycoon. He asked if Chen Wan was available and said that if he was too tired and wanted to rest, he could decline the invitation on his behalf.

Although, if Chen Wan continued avoiding such events, the group of rich young heirs would probably come knocking on Zhuo Zhixuan’s door to demand an explanation.

Chen Wan chuckled, saying Zhuo Zhixuan was exaggerating.

Zhuo Zhixuan clicked his tongue. “Just wait until you see for yourself—then tell me if I’m exaggerating.”

Chen Wan seemed born to love others but had never considered the possibility of being loved himself.

What Zhuo Zhixuan didn’t know was that someone who had never truly been loved wouldn’t even have the concept of it in their mind.

Chen Wan simply smiled, saying nothing. Now that the project was settled, he had finally pulled himself out of endless overtime.

After a moment’s hesitation, he finally asked, “Will he be there?”

Zhuo Zhixuan responded, “Why does it matter? If you want to go, go. If you don’t, then don’t.”

Chen Wan had only asked in passing. He replied, “I’ll go.”

If not for himself, then at least for Tan Youming.

Chen Wan had received too little kindness in his life. Whoever gave him even a little, he would return it tenfold.