In her previous life, Ji Yingqi got cancer, and everyone hid it from me.
To set me free, he started having an affair, verbally abusing me and giving me the cold shoulder.
I couldn’t stand it anymore and finally agreed to a divorce.
However, his friends, standing on the moral high ground, told me about his good intentions and the truth of his cancer.
I was so devastated that I committed suicide to follow him in death.
But after my death, Ji Yingqi was saved.
I watched him cry bitterly in front of my tombstone.
Then, persuaded by friends, he pulled himself together and married the person with whom his ex had an affair.
Returning to the day of the party, Ji Yingqi jokingly said, “Let’s get a divorce.”
I wasn’t angry. Instead, I said calmly, “Okay.”
1
After I said this.
The scene suddenly fell into an eerie silence.
In the large and luxurious private box, only I continued to bow my head and eat the bird’s nest in my bowl, seemingly unaware.
The hand that Ji Yingqi had been holding Ning Lan with slowly loosened.
His handsome face, which had playfully said that he had fallen in love with someone else and wanted to divorce me, gradually became stiff and ugly.
He seemed completely unexpected that I would say this.
Or rather.
He knew how much I loved him.
So even if it was just a seemingly joking remark, I would take it seriously, get angry, and then start making a scene.
How could I possibly say the word “okay” so calmly?
The people around him, each with their own ulterior motives, looked at each other in dismay.
For a moment, the premeditation of watching me get angry, cry, and make a fool of myself shattered.
The plot took a sharp ninety – degree turn, catching these people off – guard.
But I wasn’t very happy.
I calmly swept my eyes over the faces of these people in front of me one by one.
Finally, my gaze fixed on Ning Lan’s face, which was full of glamorous features.
In my last life, I regarded her as my best friend.
But I forgot.
She and Ji Yingqi were childhood friends who grew up together.
Normally, she was so protective of me and so loyal.
But at the crucial moment, the knife she stabbed in my back was so deep and painful.
Ning Lan’s expression became a little unnatural under my gaze.
She subconsciously glanced at Ji Yingqi.
Seeing him staring at me intently, his face gloomy, his jaw clenched.
Her eyes dimmed for a moment.
Then she immediately put on a hearty smile and came over to pull me.
“Come on, don’t be angry. It was just that lousy idea of Zhou Xu. We were just kidding with you.”
I took a step back, avoiding the hand she stretched out.
With no smile on my face, I looked at Ji Yingqi and said, “But I’m not joking.”
“Seriously, let’s get a divorce, Aqi.”
2
Ning Lan stood between me and Ji Yingqi.
Looking at me and then at Ji Yingqi, she seemed extremely at a loss.
Her acting skills had always been excellent.
If I hadn’t died once and my wandering soul had seen her kick over my tombstone with a look of disgust on her face.
I’m afraid I wouldn’t have known.
Under the skin of such a hearty and generous mature woman as Ning Lan, what a twisted and resentful heart is hidden.
It was rare for her to show such a helpless look.
Although it wasn’t caused by me.
But because of her, the blame of everyone present was directed at me.
Zhou Xu pushed his chair hard and walked over, shouting at me irritably and impatiently, “Xie Qingyu, don’t go too far!”
“We said it was a joke. You have to make it so embarrassing. Can’t you take a joke?!”
This was really interesting.
Obviously, they were the ones joking, and I was the victim.
But they blamed me for not being able to take a joke.
Zhou Xu had always been unpleasant to talk to, speaking with a sharp tongue.
I used to think that was just his personality, and he was like this to everyone, so I endured it as much as I could.
Later, I found out.
He was actually only like this to me.
As Ji Yingqi’s wife.
From beginning to end, I was never accepted by his friends.
I pretended not to hear what Zhou Xu was barking.
My eyes were always looking into Ji Yingqi’s.
Seeing that I showed no sign of backing down, Ji Yingqi finally realized that what I said just now was very likely to be serious.
He was so angry that he laughed.
He let out a cold sneer.
Then, he grabbed Ning Lan’s arm and yanked her into his arms.
He stared at me fiercely and said vengefully, “Fine, you said it. Don’t regret it.”
“Go home and pack your things. We’ll go get the divorce certificate tomorrow.”
After that, in front of everyone.
He suddenly lowered his head and kissed Ning Lan’s lips.
This was a passionate and predatory kiss full of emotions, from the close contact of lips and teeth to the gradually deepening sound of entanglement.
The light pouring down from above created a perfect atmosphere.
The woman’s soft waist bent under the force, and the man’s large, slender fingers with distinct phalanges pinching her slender neck were like the most passionate scene in a TV drama.
I saw Ning Lan push a few times on Ji Yingqi’s chest as if reluctantly.
Not being able to push him away, she unconsciously reached up and hooked his neck.
I heard someone gasp, and then there was the excited sound of everyone taking out their phones to take pictures.
I was the closest to them and saw the most unspeakable details.
I opened my pale and trembling lips, wanting to say something.
But I didn’t know what to say.
Just a soft part of my heart was impacted.
As if something very precious that I had hidden deep inside.
At the moment when Ji Yingqi kissed someone else without caring about me.
Gently, and silently, it shattered.
Then, I closed my eyes tightly, with a numb face, and turned around and walked out.
3
It started to rain lightly outside.
The world was in chaos, the streetlights were dim and yellow, and the branches on the side of the road, shrouded in darkness, were waving menacingly in the cold wind.
A couple stood beside me, mumbling in a low voice for a while.
Then the boy took off his coat, covered the girl with it, and the two of them hugged tightly and rushed into the rain curtain together.
I watched them quickly get into the car parked on the side of the road.
My expression was a little dazed.
I felt like I had forgotten something.
But I couldn’t remember it.
It wasn’t until I got home and started packing things in my room.
Suddenly, I found an umbrella at the bottom of the box, and my tears couldn’t hold back any longer, bursting out like a flood.
It was a transparent folding umbrella.
Inside the umbrella, my favorite cartoon patterns were drawn with a black marker.
One day after school, it rained heavily.
I was originally going to go home with my classmates.
But then I saw my deskmate. He was standing under the eaves, looking at the gray sky with a distant and lonely expression.
He should have forgotten his umbrella.
However, there was no one in his family who could bring him an umbrella anymore.
I suddenly felt a little soft – hearted.
After struggling for a few times, I finally stuffed the umbrella in my hand to him.
“Don’t need to return it! Consider it as a thank – you for teaching me how to do the questions!”
I used a generous and nonchalant attitude to cover up my girlish feelings and gave away my favorite umbrella.
Then, without even daring to look at his reaction, I turned around and ran into my classmate’s umbrella, urging her to leave quickly.
My classmate laughed at my blushing face.
I got angry and started fighting with her.
But my eyes couldn’t help but look back through the rain curtain under the umbrella.
The boy was wearing a blue – and – white school uniform. His tall and slender figure was particularly eye – catching in the crowd, and he was holding the umbrella tightly in his hand.
The rain was falling, and only the sound of my heartbeat was audible.
The next day, the rain was still continuous.
I forgot what kind of mood I had when I saw him again.
But I still remembered every subtle movement when he walked in from the back door of the classroom.
That transparent cartoon umbrella didn’t end up sitting in a row with a group of colorful umbrellas in the corner of the corridor.
It was held in the boy’s slender and fair hand, and the rain on the umbrella surface was wiped dry little by little with a soft handkerchief.
Then the umbrella was smoothed out, folded, and carefully put away and stuffed into the desk together with his textbooks.
At the age of eighteen, Ji Yingqi looked up and met my gaze that I couldn’t dodge in time.
He smiled, and his eyes were as curved as a crescent moon.
He said.
He would cherish it for a lifetime.
At that time, the thin layer of window paper hadn’t been pierced yet.
But in the violent and suppressed heartbeats of two young people.
We both knew.
He meant that he would cherish me for a lifetime.
The rain stopped.
I dried my tears and calmed down.
Then I picked up the umbrella that had been forgotten by its owner for many years.
Its surface was old and yellowed, the cartoon paintings were blurred, the frame had long been rusted and rotten, and it was emitting a bad smell.
I looked at it, sitting by the bed, facing the night, without sleeping for a whole night.
I don’t know how long it passed, the night faded away.
A ray of dawn broke through the clouds, making my figure clearly black and white.
I moved my cold and stiff hands and feet, stood up, picked up the old umbrella, and threw it into the trash can.
Then, I dialed Ji Yingqi’s phone number.
The summer rain in my youth.
It was time to end.
4
The phone rang many times before it was finally answered.
But what came into my ears was a lazy female voice as if she had just woken up.
“…Hello? Who is this?”
She then yawned.
But in my dead – silent silence, it seemed a bit deliberate.
After a while, Ning Lan’s voice continued.
She said in a low voice, with a bit of apology and embarrassment, “I took the wrong phone. Wait a moment, I’ll wake Aqi up…”
“No need.”
I interrupted her.
Then I said calmly, “Please tell him that I’ve prepared all the materials. I’ll see him at the Civil Affairs Bureau at 3 pm.”
Without giving the other party a chance to react, I hung up the phone directly.
I hadn’t eaten anything from last night until now.
But I felt very nauseous and wanted to vomit.
What love me, what unwavering love.
As a result, he could sleep with someone else in a blink of an eye.
The person who is going to cheat will eventually cheat, no matter what the reason is.
I remembered in my last life, after I “accidentally discovered” this.
I was so heartbroken that I almost fainted.
I lost all my rationality and questioned the two of them like a shrew.
As a result, Ning Lan had an apologetic look on her face, but she said it was a misunderstanding, an accident, and hoped that I wouldn’t blame Ji Yingqi.
And Ji Yingqi didn’t even bother to defend himself.
He let me cry, make a scene, and question him whether what he said before still counted.
He just remained silent, as if he had some unspeakable difficulties.
He looked like he was wronged, had endured a lot, but didn’t say anything.
In the end, everyone stood on Ji Yingqi’s side.
They said he had his reasons, he didn’t do it on purpose, and I shouldn’t blame him like this.
They were the ones who did it.
But I became the one in the wrong.
He was so calm, making me look like a madman.
It made me start to doubt myself. Was I really making too much of a fuss?
Was it me who shouldn’t have made unfounded accusations and slandered the pure friendship between him and Ning Lan for so many years?
That led to Ji Yingqi acting impulsively and simply confirming the ambiguous relationship with Ning Lan.
I was in a daze and finally agreed to the divorce.
But after Ji Yingqi handed me the divorce agreement, his condition worsened when he went back.
Zhou Xu and the others seemed to be unable to stand it anymore. They rushed in front of me and accused me, saying that I had stimulated him.
He asked me if I knew.
Ji Yingqi had done all this retaliatorily in order not to drag me down.
He and I were deskmates in our youth and entered marriage from campus.
Ji Yingqi’s parents died.
I was his only family.
He knew that no matter what, I wouldn’t leave him.
So, he chose this extreme way to drive me away.
I had just managed to accept the reality that he had an affair and no longer loved me.
But Zhou Xu and the others said that he did this because he loved me too much, so he hurt me like this.
Originally, Ji Yingqi could have lived for two more years.
Now, because I made too much of a fuss, his condition suddenly deteriorated.
It was all my fault.
I only had one mouth and couldn’t argue with a group of them.
Finally, I completely broke down mentally.
After taking a look at Ji Yingqi, who was unconscious in the intensive care unit, I rushed to the hospital rooftop and jumped off.
Thinking about it now, I was really stupid.
If I could do it again, I would choose to let myself go and let go of everything in the past.
However, I waited at the Civil Affairs Bureau for a long time.
It was not until the staff got off work that Ji Yingqi finally arrived late.
5
“I wasn’t feeling well and just woke up half an hour ago.”
Before I could ask, Ji Yingqi took the lead in explaining.
His breathing was uneven, and the collar of his shirt inside the long – style windbreaker was a bit messy.
He didn’t even have time to tidy his hair, which was fluffy and messy, as if he had just gotten out of bed.
He glanced at the closed Civil Affairs Bureau, let out a breath.
I couldn’t tell if he was sighing or relieved.
Then he turned to me and said coldly, “Let’s make another appointment.”
There was no other way.
I told him to contact me when he was free, and then, not wanting to say another word, I turned to leave.
But Ji Yingqi suddenly said, “You called me in the morning, and Lanlan answered. What did she say to you?”
I was inexplicably angry at his probing tone.
The long – accumulated resentment in my chest suddenly burst out.
I turned around and said to him sarcastically, “Aren’t you two lying on the same bed? Don’t you know what she said?”
Ji Yingqi paused.
To my surprise, his expression suddenly softened, like spring breeze melting the ice.
As if he had confirmed something.
He really let out a sigh of relief.
He said to me in a rare gentle tone, “You misunderstood. I drank too much last night. She sent me home. I happened to be not feeling well, and she stayed to take care of me because she was worried.”
Not to mention how absurd his words sounded.
Given our current relationship, I didn’t know why he still felt the need to explain this to me.
But soon, I understood.
Ji Yingqi suddenly coughed in front of me, and his face instantly turned a bit pale.
His handsome brows knitted tightly, as if in some pain, and he coughed several more times.
I couldn’t tell if he was faking it or it was real.
Anyway, it had nothing to do with me.
I turned my head and left.
There was a rapid sound of footsteps behind me, and Ji Yingqi grabbed my arm.
His face was pale and ugly, and his jaw was tightly clenched.
He almost gritted his teeth and said, “I said I’m not feeling well. Don’t you care at all?”
I knew he was ill, seriously ill.
But so what?
I moved my arm and frowned, “Let go.”
Instead of letting go, Ji Yingqi increased his grip on me, and his expression became extremely bad.
He was the one who wanted to divorce me.
Now that I readily agreed to the divorce.
He was unhappy again.
Ji Yingqi stared at me fiercely for a while, then suddenly shook off my hand.
He coughed violently and said in a deep voice, “…Fine, I’ll let you go.”
He was suppressing his anger, as if there was an indescribable pain in his heart.
Without saying a word, I raised my leg and left.
But suddenly, there was a loud noise behind me.
Ji Yingqi fainted.
I quickly called an ambulance and rushed him to the hospital.
After hesitating for a moment, I called Ning Lan.
Anyway, after divorcing me, Ji Yingqi would marry her sooner or later.
It wasn’t appropriate for me, a soon – to – be ex – wife, to stay here.
After learning the news, Ning Lan didn’t say anything and quickly arrived at the hospital.
She came with Zhou Xu.
I stood up from the bench in the corridor. Just as I was about to tell them that Ji Yingqi had been sent to the emergency room.
I saw Ning Lan rush in front of me with a cold face.
Suddenly, she raised her hand and slapped me hard.
I was stunned.
I only heard Ning Lan say to me in an unprecedentedly cold and hateful voice, “You’re simply a jinx! Do you have to kill him to be satisfied?!”
6
I touched my numb cheek where I was slapped, feeling the sharp buzzing in my ears. I raised my head to fight back. However, Zhou Xu was quick – witted. He stepped forward and pushed me hard, knocking me to the ground. He stood in front of Ning Lan, looking down at me. He angrily shouted, “You still have the guts to fight back? Try hitting me!”
I was propping myself up on the cold ground with both hands, trembling with anger. At this moment, the light in the emergency room went out, and the doctor came out. Ning Lan didn’t care about settling scores with me and immediately rushed forward. Zhou Xu followed closely behind. But when he passed by me, he paused. Then, the expensive Italian handmade leather shoes on his feet stepped hard on the back of my hand that was propping on the ground. His tall 1.8 – meter body, with firm muscles, almost crushed all his weight onto me. I cried out in pain, and tears welled up involuntarily. I looked up at him. But I saw him under the ceiling light in the corridor, his outline blurred, with an extremely malicious and evil smile.
“Go ahead and call the police if you dare.”
Like the breath of a devil, he taunted me with his mouth. In an instant, I seemed to be dragged back into that dark time of my last life when I was morally bullied and my spirit was in chaos. The piercing cold water poured over me from head to toe, making me cold all over. The original thought of calling the police instantly died out like dead ashes. I suddenly remembered. Zhou Xu’s family was extremely powerful. Calling the police was tantamount to directly calling Zhou Xu and accusing him of bullying me. What could I get besides a bout of ridicule?
Previously, perhaps he would still be cautious because of Ji Yingqi. Even when joking with me, he didn’t dare to go too far. But now, my relationship with Ji Yingqi has completely broken down. He no longer conceals his malice towards me. I used to not understand. Why did he dislike me so much? But now I know. He, Zhou Xu, is just a dog of Ning Lan. Ning Lan likes Ji Yingqi, so he follows Ji Yingqi’s lead. Ning Lan hates me, so he hates me to the bone.
I sat on the ground for a long time, waiting for the pain to subside and my hands and feet to regain their senses. Then I stood up, without looking back, and left in a hurry, feeling embarrassed. I called a moving company, packed all my luggage, and left the bustling city center. I returned to the old house in the suburbs. Pushing open the door, there was a drowsy period drama playing on the TV. The room had a musty, old smell. The old woman sitting in a wheelchair, dozing on the balcony, heard the commotion and lifted her dim, sagging eyelids. Seeing me walking in with big and small bags of luggage, as if she had expected it, she twitched the corners of her mouth and asked me mockingly and triumphantly, “Look at that. What did I say? Kicked out by others?”
7
I ignored her as if I didn’t hear, silently packing my luggage. My mother straightened up from the wheelchair, tremblingly picked up her reading glasses and put them on. She didn’t ask anything, didn’t care about anything. She just started eagerly promoting the son of the downstairs neighbor to me again.
“I told you long ago not to aim too high. Why would a rich person like you? You have no chest, no butt. Now, you’ve been played by him for a few years, and he kicked you out just like that.”
“I didn’t think that guy surnamed Ji was a good person from the beginning. Fortunately, you two didn’t have a child, so you can still get married.”
“I’ll call Aunt Xu and see if her son is at home. Stop packing. Hurry up and get dressed to meet him.”
She was looking for the numbers one by one on the old – fashioned mobile phone. I threw my clothes into the box with force, and said unbearably, “What? Can’t I live without a man?”
“If you like Aunt Xu’s son so much, you marry him!”
“You keep talking about meeting him as soon as you meet him. I don’t know how good he is! I just want to ask if he’s out of prison yet. You’re introducing me to a guy who messes around outside without a proper job? Am I really your daughter?!”
My mother’s face instantly darkened, and her eyes were so fierce that she seemed to want to swallow me alive. She scolded, “It’s already good enough that he doesn’t mind you being divorced! You’re still picky. If you keep being picky, no one will want you. Do you want to drag me down for the rest of my life instead of getting married?!”
I felt a lump in my throat, unable to go up or down, almost suffocating with frustration. I couldn’t reason with her at all. She couldn’t listen to anything. Her old – fashioned and rotten ideas had penetrated her bones. Even her own flesh and blood had to give in to them. I simply stopped packing my luggage, stuffed everything into my room, and closed the door.
“I won’t drag you down. I’ll move out in a few days.”
Outside the door, there was the sound of the wheelchair rolling. Then came the violent knocking on the door. My mother was angrily scolding me, saying that I had grown wings and was becoming rebellious. She said, “Even if you move out, you still have to go on a blind date for me! Your divorce has already shamed me enough. Do you want to make me lose face in front of the neighbors?!”
“Besides, what’s wrong with Xiao Xu? Don’t listen to others. I’m your mother. How could I harm you…”
I found earplugs and stuffed them into my ears forcefully. Then I started looking for rental houses on my phone. This home was still the same as before. Staying for one more second made me feel suffocated. I originally thought. As long as I found a place to hide, waited for Ji Yingqi to wake up and divorced him. My world would be peaceful. But things didn’t go as I expected. After another time of not being able to eat and vomiting in the bathroom, I held a pregnancy test stick and stared blankly at the two red lines on it.
8
At this time in my last life, I was still arguing fiercely with Ji Yingqi. At that time, my spirit was on the verge of collapse. Because of the affair between him and Ning Lan, I was suspicious every day. I didn’t notice the changes in my body at all. In this life, in just a few days. I had already decided to divorce Ji Yingqi. And his condition worsened in advance, and he was hospitalized. I didn’t stay in the hospital but left directly. So Ning Lan and the others didn’t have the chance to tell me the truth about Ji Yingqi’s cancer and use this to attack me. And I, by accident, discovered that I was pregnant. That is to say. When I died in my last life, I was also pregnant with a baby in my belly. One corpse, two lives.
I pressed my forehead against the mirror in front of the washbasin, closing my eyes. It was hard to express the sadness and pain in my heart. But when I opened my eyes again, tightly pursing my pale lips, looking at myself in the mirror. I knew that this child couldn’t be kept. It came at the worst time. I still had a tough battle to fight with Ji Yingqi and the others, and I simply didn’t have the ability to take care of it. I stroked my belly, and a plan gradually took shape in my mind. Even though my relationship with Ji Yingqi was tense now. But after so many years of feelings, it wasn’t that easy for him to let go. As long as he still cared. Then the role of this child that was destined not to be kept could be maximized. I let out a breath and whispered an apology to the baby.
Early the next morning. I tiptoed out of the room, originally wanting to sneak out. But I didn’t expect my mother to get up so early. She was still sitting on that small balcony. The morning light outside was dim, making it hard to see her expression at the moment. Her voice was faint, like a ghost’s, “Getting up so early. Which man are you going to see?”
I felt very uncomfortable hearing this and retorted, “Anyway, it’s not your Xiao Xu.”
Unexpectedly. This time, she didn’t quarrel with me. Instead, she said to me softly, “Mom has inquired for you. Xiao Xu will be back in a few days. You go and meet him…”
With a click, I closed the door. I didn’t want to listen to what she said later. It was probably the same old story. I came to the hospital where Ji Yingqi was staying. But I didn’t go directly to his ward to visit him. Instead, I hid in the dark and observed. Ji Yingqi had already woken up. Ning Lan stayed by his side the whole day. Zhou Xu didn’t stay in the ward for long. After a while, he would come out and go to the stairwell to smoke in frustration. But he was reluctant to leave. He could only, like self – torturing, watch his beloved showing gentle concern to his best brother again and again. At this time, I walked down the steps step by step. Hearing the noise, Zhou Xu looked up. Seeing it was me, Zhou Xu immediately frowned. He exhaled a smoke ring and said unkindly, “What are you doing here? Haven’t you had enough of the lesson last time?”
I stared at him and suddenly smiled.
“I’m wondering why a young lady like Ning Lan is so cheap, knowing she’s a mistress but still acting like one?”
Zhou Xu’s face instantly changed. He pointed at me, his expression fierce, and angrily said, “Watch your mouth!”
I raised my eyebrows and quietly approached him. I continued, “I’ve changed my mind. I’m not divorcing Aqi.”
“In this way, she will never have the chance to take my place.”
“But a loose woman like her is really a perfect match for a shameless dog like you.”
Zhou Xu cursed, and the veins on his forehead bulged. He habitually pushed me hard. He was about to hit me again. But unexpectedly, I missed a step and rolled down the stairs directly. Zhou Xu was stunned for a moment, frowning and looking down at me coldly. Until I curled up, covered my belly, and said with a pale and trembling face, “My baby…”
Zhou Xu’s fingertips trembled violently, and the cigarette fell from his hand. His whole face showed a look of shock.
9
Although I was sent to the hospital in time, the child couldn’t be saved. This was inevitable. After all, to be on the safe side, I had taken abortion pills before coming. When I opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was Ji Yingqi, wearing a hospital gown, his eyes red, guarding by my side. When he saw me wake up, he immediately sat up straight, wanting to hold my hand. But his palm stopped halfway and then dropped down dejectedly. His eyes were a little moist, and he said hoarsely to me, “The baby… is gone.”
We had always wanted to have a child of our own. For this, Ji Yingqi had started preparing for pregnancy a long time ago, reducing company entertainment, quitting smoking and drinking, and having regular physical check – ups. It was through this check – up that the problem was found. I showed a look of shock and sadness. As our eyes met, tears rolled down my cheeks. Noticing Zhou Xu standing in the corner, head down and silent.
With great difficulty, I raised my finger, pointed at him, and said with a sobbing voice full of resentment, “It was him. He pushed me down the stairs.”
The incident happened suddenly, and everyone was caught off – guard. At this moment, when Ji Yingqi learned the truth that the child was gone, he turned his head to look at Zhou Xu, almost in disbelief. Zhou Xu opened his mouth but couldn’t defend himself. After all, even if what I said was harsh, the fact that he hit me was undeniable. The next second, Ji Yingqi got up and rushed over, punching Zhou Xu’s head aside. He grabbed Zhou Xu’s collar tightly, furious, and shouted at him, “Are you crazy?! She’s my wife!!”
“That was my child!!!”
The two of them fought fiercely. Basically, it was Zhou Xu who was getting beaten. He didn’t dare to fight back. Until Ning Lan came to stop them and was pushed hard by Ji Yingqi. Then Zhou Xu got angry and counter – attacked, “What about Ning Lan? What exactly do you take her for?!”
In the ward, the air suddenly froze. Ji Yingqi glanced at me, lying on the hospital bed, weak after just losing the child. He calmed down his rapid breathing. He coughed and held it back.
Ning Lan wanted to step forward to smooth his back.
It was such a similar scene. But this time, Ji Yingqi said in a deep voice, “I’ve always only regarded Ning Lan as a friend.”
As soon as these words were spoken, Ning Lan took a step back in a daze, looking at him with disappointment and pain. Zhou Xu cursed and pushed him away forcefully, dragging Ning Lan out of the ward. I watched as Ji Yingqi called the nurse, asking to add a hospital bed next to mine. He wanted to move in and take care of me. It seemed that everything was back to the beginning. He put away his thorns, those sarcastic remarks and hurtful words, and showed the love he had for me. He said that even though the person was Zhou Xu. But since he had hurt me, he would definitely avenge me and our child. Hearing this, my heart couldn’t help but tremble slightly. But just as my emotions were slightly softening. I suddenly heard a strange mechanical voice –
Detected a change in conditions. Now shortening the strategy time.
Please complete the task of winning over the white – moonlight ex – wife within one month.
If the white – moonlight ex – wife is not willing to sacrifice herself within one month, the task will fail, and the host will lose the protagonist halo and be trapped in this world forever.
Ji Yingqi, who was gently rubbing my cold hand to comfort me, suddenly stopped. I was also suddenly stunned.
10
“…Change in conditions.”
Ji Yingqi murmured in a low voice. He seemed a little puzzled. But then, he keenly noticed my strangeness. He raised his eyelids, his deep eyes locking onto me. He smiled and said gently, “What’s wrong, baby?”
This “baby” sounded strange. Considering the strange voice just now, I couldn’t help but feel vigilant. I withdrew my hand from his palm. Meeting his inquisitive gaze. I hesitated for a moment, then lowered my eyes and said in a low voice, “I’m tired. I want to rest for a while.”
Ji Yingqi stared at me for a while longer. Seeing that I really looked tired, he finally felt relieved. He gently covered me with the quilt and then carefully drew the curtains. From that day on, Ji Yingqi moved into the same ward as me. He was a patient himself, but he took care of me personally. Several times, the nurse wanted to persuade him and tell me about his condition, but Ji Yingqi interrupted them. He obviously had something to hide from me and was being unusually nice to me. It was as if the person who had kissed Ning Lan passionately in front of me some time ago and told me not to regret it wasn’t him. If I didn’t know there was something wrong with him. I might have thought I had some kind of schizophrenia. I chose to be cautious and wait and see, treating him neither coldly nor warmly. Finally, one night, I got the answer I wanted.
At night, it was pitch – black and quiet all around. Ji Yingqi thought I was asleep, so he got up and walked to the balcony to smoke. I heard that strange voice again. Ji Yingqi was talking to it, and his tone seemed a bit anxious. He asked, “System, what is Xie Qingyu’s current love value for me?”
The system replied: 61%.
Ji Yingqi clicked his tongue heavily. He said regretfully, “No wonder she’s been like a different person since I proposed divorce. I guess I was too hasty.”
After a moment of silence. Ji Yingqi said in a low voice, “That fool Zhou Xu. I don’t know what he did to her behind my back. She even sacrificed our child just to use me for revenge…”
My heart skipped a beat. So he had seen through it. The system suddenly reminded: Host, the task time is only 25 days left.
Ji Yingqi crushed the cigarette butt and said in a deep voice, “I know. Don’t rush me.”
He started turning back into the ward. Clearly, the only sound in the room was his footsteps. But his voice was also extremely clear in my ears at the same time.
The female lead and the male supporting role are unreliable. I have to do it myself.
I’ve built an air – tight basement at home. I have plenty of ways to make her willingly die for me.
Oh, if she’s afraid of pain and doesn’t dare to commit suicide.
…Will it count as completing the task if I kill her myself?
There was a sound of the quilt being lifted beside me. Then, the bed sank, making a creaking sound. The system’s voice was so close that it seemed to be ringing right in my head. It said –
It counts.
11
My phone was taken away by Ji Yingqi. Usually, he wouldn’t let me touch it on the pretext of letting me rest well. Until the next day, my phone suddenly rang a few times. Someone had sent me a message. Ji Yingqi, who was peeling a fruit, heard the sound and picked up my phone to take a look. He raised his head and suddenly asked me with a half – smile, “Wife, who is Brother Xu? Why did he suddenly invite you to meet? You seem to have never mentioned him to me.”
I was shocked. But I suppressed my expression firmly and calmly stretched out my hand to him.
“He’s a cousin of mine. Our relationship is okay. He moved to another place a few years ago, and we’ve had less contact, so I didn’t tell you.”
“Maybe he’s passing by our hometown to visit my mom.”
After hearing wretch.
With multiple crimes combined, he was finally sentenced to death by shooting. Before that, he pleaded desperately to see me. I wanted to hear his last words, so I went. When he saw me, his eyes lit up instantly, as if he had seen a life – saving straw. At this time, he was unshaven, with dark circles under his eyes, and his expression was a bit crazy. He tried his best to coax me: “…There’s still a chance, I still have a chance… Wife, help me. The system is willing to give me another chance. As long as you help me…”
“You listen to me! I’ve cleared many parallel worlds. I’ve been an emperor, and I’ve been a god… As long as you help me! I can take you to any world I’ve cleared to enjoy life!… Don’t you love me? Please help me, okay?”
I had always been wary of that mysterious system. I asked him cautiously, “How do you want me to help you?”
Ji Yingqi rushed closer, eagerly saying, “My protagonist halo has disappeared. You go find the new male lead in this world! As long as you can seduce him and bring him in front of me, I’ll be able to seize his luck!”
It was really unexpected. After Ji Yingqi completely stopped pretending, his face could be so thick. I sneered, stood up, and left. Ji Yingqi climbed onto the window to grab me, but was pushed back by the police. He called out to me in despair, “…Wife! Wife!… Xie Qingyu!!”
“You! You said! You would always be by my side! Why?!”
My steps paused for a moment. But it was only for an instant, then I continued walking without looking back. Seeing this, Ji Yingqi was completely desperate. He slumped back and murmured, “It’s not fair… It’s not fair…”
“System, you lied to me! You said this was a simple mission! Why is it like this?!”
“…How could anyone in this world be willing to die for another person? You were lying to me!!!”
“I want to file a complaint… Give me another chance… I want to start over…”
His desperate voice gradually faded away from me. It was as if my painful and gloomy past life was just a very distant dream. After the dream woke up, the sky was bright outside.
He would never know. I had really died for love for him once. He didn’t deserve it.
16
By the roadside. I looked at the luxury car in front of me, which was worth tens of millions. I looked at the car, and then at Xu Lingzhou, who was hanging a long, muscular and firm forearm out of the window, wearing black sunglasses and trying to look cool. I asked him with a complicated tone, “…Did you rob a bank? Or did you join the underworld?”
Xu Lingzhou’s mouth twitched. He took off his sunglasses and looked at me speechlessly.
“Is your mouth poisoned? So mean.”
“Can’t I have earned it myself?”
He opened the car door, stepped out with one long, superior – looking leg, and then walked in front of me, pretending to be a gentleman and opened the passenger – side door. I got into the car, suspiciously buckled up my seatbelt, and looked at him with disbelief all over my face. Xu Lingzhou was very helpless. He had to explain to me, “Don’t think that just because your brother didn’t study, I haven’t been working hard in business all these years while away from home, okay?”
Business?
I was stunned for a moment, and then blurted out without thinking, “Weren’t you in prison?”
Screech –
Xu Lingzhou suddenly turned the steering wheel hard, and with a beautiful drift, the car stopped steadily by the roadside. He didn’t say anything, took a deep breath. Then he turned his head and looked at me expressionlessly, “Who told you such nonsense? And you believed it?”
“Uh… Well…”
I avoided his gaze guiltily, trying hard to recall the source of this rumor. In an instant, I suddenly understood everything. Xu Lingzhou probably guessed it too. He was both angry and amused, and couldn’t bear to really teach me a lesson. So he tapped my forehead with his finger, and said, hating iron for not becoming steel, “You actually believed that old guy’s words? He was rejected when he pursued my mom in the early years, and then he spread all kinds of rumors about our family. Have you forgotten? What were you thinking?”
I knew I had misunderstood him. I was so ashamed that I didn’t even dare to look up. Now that I thought about it, I couldn’t believe it myself. What kind of person Aunt Xu was, and Xu Lingzhou had protected me when we were kids. How could I be so bewitched that I distanced myself from them and even believed such rumors?
My thoughts were in chaos when the phone suddenly rang. It was actually… Zhou Xu calling me. I frowned suddenly. What did he want to do by calling me? Before I could react, Xu Lingzhou reached out and directly hung up the phone. He restarted the car, and his voice was steady and reassuring.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve been looking for people to deal with him recently. Now that Ji is in prison, he won’t be able to escape either.”
“With your brother here, no one will dare to bully you anymore.”
The last sentence, in the quiet car, was like a small flame igniting the temperature. I was touched in my heart, and I looked up to thank him. But I accidentally noticed his slightly red ears. Xu Lingzhou coughed to cover it up.
Then, a little awkwardly, he said, “My mom said… you agreed to go on a blind date with me? Well, come to my house for dinner tonight. My mom has made your favorite dishes.”
I turned my face away, looking at the scenery and pedestrians passing by outside the window. Suppressing the corners of my mouth. I imitated him and coughed lightly, then smiled and said, “Okay.”
(The End)
