"Su Nian, you naughty child, don’t pull on mom’s skirt like that. You’re going to tear it."
Mrs. Su, although physically healthy, was still of advanced age. Being excitedly tugged and pulled outside by a vigorously energetic little boy was enough to wear her out.
"Look, there’s my sister," Su Nian said cheerfully, pointing outside the fence at Su Li.
Mrs. Su looked up just then, her eyes meeting the smiling eyes of Su Li.
But the next second, a wave of high-pitched wailing erupted.
Mrs. Su burst into tears, her demeanor nothing like that of a dignified lady.
The initially grinning face of Su Nian was startled by his mother’s sudden emotional outburst. He paused in shock and then started to sob loudly as well.
This time, Mrs. Su couldn’t even care for her beloved younger son. She dashed outside in a flash and landed a few hits on Su Li.
"You dead child, traveling is one thing, but you might as well have gone to outer space! Three years without a single word. Your father and I thought you were..."
Mrs. Su cried and laughed, making Su Li feel extremely guilty and ashamed.
She hadn’t really traveled to outer space, after all—it was a Different Space, impossible to communicate with from here.
Su Li could only sheepishly change the subject, "Mom, that’s my little brother, right?"
"Indeed, look at your brother, almost three years old now."
If it weren’t for their little son to keep them going, upon discovering their daughter had long been uncontactable, they might have gone mad.
Even now, they had never given up the resolve to find their daughter.
It was also knowing that her parents had this new focus that allowed Su Li to courageously venture into the Different Space to investigate.
Su Li’s return brought joyful smiles and laughter back to the Su Family.
In the course of their conversation, Su Li also pieced together some news about the An Family after her departure.
Mrs. Su always felt that it was because of the An Family that her daughter had to go far away to clear her mind, thus she felt a sharp sting hearing about their news, especially when they weren’t doing so well, which somewhat pleased her.
Ye Qiu had completely turned into an ordinary woman; after the research institute could extract no more value from her, they released her.
Thus, she and An Yingming met again.
At the time, Ye Qiu had lost her previous memories, truly becoming clueless and incapable of surviving on her own, and for some reason, An Yingming took her back home; they even registered their marriage.
But life didn’t treat them well.
Su Li remained silent; they got what they wished for. Didn’t Ye Qiu always like to experience the mortal pleasures of love? Wasn’t An Yingming attracted by her naive purity? Perfect, both had their desires fulfilled.
Ye Qiu was genuinely naive now, but it was hard to say whether An Yingming could still tolerate her under the added pressure of survival when both struggled.
Listening in briefly, Mrs. Su saw her daughter’s lack of interest and gladly shifted the topic, dispelling the shadows cast by those troubling matters as if they had completely dissipated.
In this world, Su Li enjoyed the life of a pampered young lady, living leisurely until the end of her natural life.
During her time, many outstanding men pursued her, but she remained alone.
Only when her much younger brother’s grandchildren could run around did she pass away amidst her family’s cries of profound grief.
This lifetime, she experienced the ultimate in familial love, which moved her slightly. However, upon returning to the Chaotic Space, everything gradually faded away like a water-soaked ink painting, slowly blurring until only faint traces remained.
An Yingming, who was over forty, stepped out of the building with a box of his personal belongings, and spit toward the building behind him in indignation, "They look down on people."
Back when he had been in charge of a major corporation, that grandson had probably been nowhere, probably "eating shit."
However, after cursing and swearing, An Yingming’s face became numb.
This was the twentieth time he had been laid off. Once an heir to a great enterprise, he now found himself humiliated by a young manager who could be his own son. It was truly tragic.
But there was nothing he could do; he still had to survive.
At home, there were two elderly people lying in bed, waiting to be fed.
An Yingming, who once thought that he could easily secure a high-paying job with his capabilities, had been so beaten by reality that he had lost such thoughts. Now he took any job that could just get by; but he was always dismissed for various reasons.
Now, as he grew older, the range of options grew narrower. Even street sweeping was coveted by a mass of elderly people from the countryside.
An Yingming knew that his own character was a big reason for his constant dismissals. But those more than twenty years of affluent days had left an indelible mark on his life, that made him, often, unwilling to lower his proud head.
With such wasted opportunities, life was quickly passing him by.
Sometimes, An Yingming would reflect on the beautiful days he had once lived. He would remember Su Li, but more often than not, he was troubled by the hardships of life.
After returning home, the yelling and screaming inside could be heard even from a distance.
His parents were scolding Ye Qiu again.
An Yingming did not immediately enter but rather stood outside the door, slowly smoking a cheap cigarette.
The two elderly people had been repressed for too long and this was the only way they unleashed, even occasionally beating each other.
Once the noise inside had somewhat subsided, An Yingming finally entered.
In a corner of the living room, Ye Qiu was curled up, her knees hugged to her chest. Startled by the sound, she looked up fearfully, then quickly buried her head again.
Her beautiful, pitiful face became even more pronounced.
Her body, nourished by energy, made Ye Qiu appear much more attractive than an average woman.
Stunned, a sinister desire suddenly arose in An Yingming, and he grabbed Ye Qiu by the arm and dragged her into the bedroom.
Having mingled in the lower levels for long, An Yingming was no different from the vulgar men commonly found in the streets.
Soon, ongoing moans emanated from the bedroom, provoking the neighboring An parents to spit repeatedly, "Vixen."
Afterward, lying back on the bed smoking a cigarette, An Yingming suddenly had a wicked thought pass through his mind.
Really, he had brought Ye Qiu home twenty years ago, but her appearance seemed not to have changed at all. Out in public, people even thought she was his daughter.
However, An Yingming, knowing her past identity, wasn’t surprised at all, only that no matter how hard he tried, she seemed unable to bear him a child.
If that was the case, why not...
Soon, a beautiful woman appeared among the streetwalkers in the red-light district.
Counting a stack of money in his hand, An Yingming praised the panting Ye Qiu lying on a small bed, "You did very well; take on a few more clients tomorrow."
While happily counting money, An Yingming completely failed to notice the woman half-covered by a torn sheet on the bed, whose eyes shadowed in anger flickered a stark contrast to her usual submission.
It seemed that Ye Qiu had recovered part of her memory, and being ceaselessly tormented by these filthy, lowly creatures was unbearable for her.
Three days later, the news that the nephew of the Black Tiger Gang’s Hall Master had died in the bed of a lowly prostitute spread swiftly. But soon, the woman was captured and brought back, along with the husband who had pimped her.
As for the tortures they would face afterward, who cared?