"At the age of eight, if you hadn’t appeared, I would have killed that old man and then fled the mountains. I had already planned my escape and was prepared to wander everywhere, but you reached out your hand and took me back home," Jiang Nanshu paused here.
"After all the trouble, I never had a home in the end."
Zhou Yanxu remained silent for so long that Jiang Nanshu thought she had woken from her dream.
His eyes were gentle, and his tone was soft, "You already have one, people who care about you, love you, and whom you care about, the people you want to love. You’ll have a happy home in the future, I won’t let you die."
Jiang Nanshu scoffed.
Do you think you are a god?
To control her life and death.
The dream ended quickly.
Jiang Nanshu opened her eyes; it was already broad daylight outside.
She looked somewhat bewildered; how could she be dreaming?
She had taken sleeping pills.
Ever since she dreamed of Lu Qingyan last time, she increased her dosage to avoid such bizarre scenes.
Where he could grasp her pain, making her jumpy and even somewhat terrified.
Damn it, even in her dreams, he caught her. How terrifying is that?
And the Lu Qingyan in her dreams was clearly very different from his usual self, very abnormal.
Jiang Nanshu didn’t know if time flowed at the same rate in that world as it did in hers; if so, she had been dead for nearly two years.
Lu Qingyan had probably found someone new by now.
And long forgotten her, a person of the past.
And this time’s dream with Zhou Yanxu was strange, as if she was really speaking to the real him.
She shook her head and pushed the dream out of her mind.
Beijing’s winter was very cold.
Jiang Nanshu couldn’t be bothered to go to her company, spending her days warming herself at home or visiting the hospital to get medication to stabilize her condition.
Close to New Year’s, Jiang Nanshu received an invitation from Uncle Qi.
He wanted her to come home for the New Year.
Jiang Nanshu glanced at the invitation letter once then turned and threw it into the fireplace.
She had forgotten how many invitations Uncle Qi had sent her, and she had never accepted any.
For her, a betrayed affection held no significance.
Little did she expect that this invitation would be Uncle Qi’s "final letter."
On the first day of the New Year, he committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning, dying in the courtyard house.
It was said that he died with a peaceful expression, dressed in neat clothes, having cleaned all the rooms, even taking care of the old cat, holding a letter of confession, and dying with regrets.
Jiang Nanshu sneezed, holding Xiao Xiao.
The cat had been sent to her by Uncle Qi, and she was the first to discover Uncle Qi’s death.
She just looked at him once, then called the ambulance.
Even though he had already stopped breathing by then.
Jiang Nanshu didn’t read the letter of confession in Uncle Qi’s hand.
She didn’t want to see those words that spoke of a life for a life again, using his death to stop her from seeking revenge on Zhou Yanbai.
Return to the Zhou Family a peace.
Is that even possible?
Jiang Nanshu sat by the window, holding Xiao Xiao. She stroked the cat’s head and pinched its ears, "Xiao Xiao, it seems you’re the only one who grew up by my side."
Xiao Xiao tilted its head and glanced at her, "Meow."
It didn’t know that Uncle Qi, who had taken care of it for a long time, had passed away.
It just rolled playfully on Jiang Nanshu’s lap, trying to please her by rubbing its head against her palm.
"You really are carefree," Jiang Nanshu said with a chuckle as she flicked its ear.
"It’s happier to be a cat, eat, then sleep, sleep then eat, and not have to do anything," Jiang Nanshu complained while pinching its chubby face.
Xiao Xiao meowed discontentedly, struggled free from Jiang Nanshu’s hand, and walked over to the stove to warm up.
Uncle Qi’s funeral was quite lively.
His son invited her to attend.
Jiang Nanshu didn’t go.
She hadn’t returned while he was alive, so there was no reason to go now that he was dead. Jiang Nanshu was always petty.
She couldn’t tolerate even a speck of dust in her eyes.
Zhou Yanbai, the gambler, was disastrously deep in debt by the next spring.
He devoured the dividends from a hedge fund, his desires growing larger, resulting in him investing almost all his assets. Yet, he constantly chose investments that lost more than they gained. Even the largest company couldn’t withstand his destructive ways.
Plus, he never liked running a company. Directors with changed intentions ruthlessly threw out shares of the Zhou Group, plunging his company into a slump. To cover the fund losses, he had no choice but to sell his properties.
Until Zhou Yanbai came to her door for the second time, his eyes red, asking for money.
Jiang Nanshu just looked at him and smiled, pulling out a contract, "You lost, so come to fulfill the bet."
"No, I haven’t lost. I can still win. Just give me one billion... No, two billion, and I can double the money and earn it all back. I’ve mastered the secret to making money, Jiang Nanshu, partner with me. We’ll split the profits fifty-fifty, how about that?"
Jiang Nanshu looked at him with pity, "Poor thing, you’ve no chance of turning this around anymore. You need to sell all your properties to pay back my one billion. Your company, your houses, I want it all."
Zhou Yanbai’s impulsive brain momentarily cleared, "Did you do this on purpose? Did you manipulate the stock market to bankrupt me? This is illegal, you’re stealing my money."
Jiang Nanshu looked down at him from above.
Even if Zhou Yanbai were to live a third lifetime, he would still be irredeemably foolish.
He was arrogant, selfish, and greedy. In any world, a leopard can’t change its spots.
Even if he returned with the memories of this world. Zhou Zhenghui would still crush him completely.
This vast fortune had never truly belonged to him.
Jiang Nanshu’s lips curled into a smirk, "I don’t have the capability to control the financial markets yet, Zhou Yanbai. People must learn to accept their fate, and stop blaming others for their comfort. Just like you shifted the guilt of killing your brother onto me. You blamed me for taking away the attention your brother should have given you, leading to your extreme behavior. So you tortured me in every way to ease your conscience. You and I are not the same, I am a person, and you are trash."
She clapped her hands lightly, "Take him away."
Burly bodyguards burst through the door.
Jiang Nanshu propped her chin up and watched him, smiling as he struggled and panicked. She then slowly said, "Just lock him up next to that chemical factory I once stayed at. I don’t want you to die just yet. Why not retrace the path I once took?"
Zhou Yanbai never expected that the "path from the past" Jiang Nanshu spoke of was the torture he inflicted on her over those two years.
Every day he had to kneel and repent, and any disobedience was met with more than just a lash. He had to endure eye pain to peel sesame seeds, and he wasn’t allowed to close his eyes to sleep unless he finished.
He only ate leftovers, and that was when he was lucky. If unlucky, he had to eat even what dogs wouldn’t.
In just three days, Zhou Yanbai couldn’t take it anymore.
Jiang Nanshu thought it over. She had endured for a full two years. This was hardly enough.