In the poorest year, I sold myself to Zhou Jinyan for 300,000 yuan to be the substitute for his white moonlight.
I was forced to drink by his friends until I had a gastric hemorrhage.
They asked him, “Do you feel bad?”
He lowered his eyes and said indifferently, “She’s just a substitute.”
Later, in order to save his white moonlight, Zhou Jinyan watched helplessly as I fell into the sea from a cliff.
The search and rescue team never found the body.
He suddenly went crazy and looked for me all over the world.
Five years later, I was invited to return to the country and met him at an event site.
He stared at me intently, his eyes red – rimmed, “I knew you didn’t die. I’ve been looking for you—”
I took a step back and smiled politely but distantly, “Sorry, who are you?”
1
In Zhou Jinyan’s heart, I was just a girlfriend in name.
In fact, I was just Lu Sisi’s substitute, and a low – quality one at that.
Who made her a noble and popular female star, the center of attention.
While I came from a humble background.
Zhou Jinyan spent 300,000 yuan, and that was enough to buy my self – esteem.
The day Lu Sisi returned to the country, topics about her were at the top of the hot search.
Zhou Jinyan went to the airport to pick her up for a party. Before leaving, he only left me with one sentence.
“I won’t be home for dinner tonight.”
But after just an hour of reading, he called again.
“There’s a bottle of precious red wine in the wine cabinet. Find it and bring it to the restaurant.”
My study state was interrupted. After hanging up the phone, I sighed, but still went to the cabinet to find the bottle of wine and drove to deliver it.
In the restaurant box with excellent privacy, the lights were bright, and it was a scene of luxury.
In the middle were Lu Sisi and Zhou Jinyan, surrounded by others like stars around the moon.
She was wearing a flowing silver dress, her body slightly leaning towards Zhou Jinyan, in an intimate posture.
Everyone was cheering, “Sisi is finally back. You don’t know how long Ah Yan has been waiting for you.”
I walked over and stood in front of Zhou Jinyan, “The red wine you wanted. I found it according to the label. There should be no mistake.”
The originally harmonious atmosphere froze for a moment because of my arrival.
After putting down the wine bottle, I turned to leave.
Lu Sisi said coldly behind me, “Stop.”
“Come here and open the wine and pour it for us.”
I turned my head and instinctively looked at Zhou Jinyan.
He was wearing a shirt with two buttons undone, leaning back in the chair, looking at me indifferently, “Can’t you understand?”
“I can understand.” I lowered my eyes, “I’ll go out and find someone to get a corkscrew.”
The moment I went out, I heard Lu Sisi’s question behind me, “Is this the kind of person you like now?”
Zhou Jinyan remained silent.
His friend beside him defended him, “Don’t be angry, Sisi. Brother Yan only has you in his heart.”
“Yeah, we can’t blame Brother Yan. She’s been pestering him and won’t leave.”
After the wine was poured, Lu Sisi still wouldn’t let me go.
She was holding a grudge and asked me to serve her soup and peel shrimp for her. Then she asked me with a smile, “Which university did you graduate from?”
“Polytechnic University.”
“Such a famous school, didn’t it teach you what self – respect and self – love are?”
She sank her face and suddenly raised her hand, pouring most of the bowl of soup on my chest.
“Sticking to Ah Yan shamelessly. Aren’t you cheap? Do you really want to climb up the social ladder so much?”
The liquid soaked through my clothes, leaving a burning pain on the surface of my skin.
Zhou Jinyan held Lu Sisi’s hand, gently soothing her, not even looking at me.
“I’ve ordered the pink diamond necklace you like. Don’t be angry with me, okay?”
Some busybody friends mixed red, white, and beer into a full glass and pushed it in front of me, “Drink it. Consider it an apology to Sisi.”
Another person shouted dissatisfiedly, “Such expensive wine is wasted on her.”
In Zhou Jinyan’s circle of friends, Lu Sisi was everyone’s white moonlight.
Therefore, none of them looked down on me and tried every means to make things difficult for me and tease me.
Zhou Jinyan never stopped them.
Moreover, this time, it was in front of Lu Sisi.
I picked up the glass of turbid wine and drank it all in one gulp.
The intense burning sensation brought by the alcohol spread from my throat to my stomach.
Tears welled up in an instant.
I bent down, unable to help but hold the table and retch.
“Okay, stop spoiling our appetite. Get out.”
Zhou Jinyan casually picked up the corkscrew and threw it at me.
He didn’t control the force well, and it hit my forehead. After a sharp pain, blood gushed out and flowed down my cheek.
He was stunned for a moment, instinctively stood up, and took a step towards me.
I covered my forehead, bowed, and then turned around and ran out in a hurry.
2
After returning home, I took a bath and simply treated the wound.
Only then did I find that Zhou Jinyan had also come back.
His face looked very bad.
I kind of understood, “Did you quarrel with Lu Sisi?”
“Yu Ning!”
He scolded in a cold voice, strode up to me, grabbed my wrist, and pushed me against the bedside.
I struggled to push him away, but the strength difference between Zhou Jinyan and me was huge.
The lamp swayed, and the light was so dazzling that I instinctively closed my eyes, but tears kept seeping out.
He paused for a moment, pinched my chin, and forced me to raise my face, “Why are you crying? Do you feel wronged?”
“Yu Ning, didn’t you say you like me and that you can be with me in any capacity as long as you can stay by my side?”
The kiss that landed on my lips was forceful.
Soon I tasted the sweet – fishy taste of blood.
Zhou Jinyan ordered me, “Have you forgotten what I taught you before? Close your eyes.”
“Your eyes are the least like hers.”
Under his not – gentle actions, the pain intensified.
The moment I opened my eyes in confusion, I happened to meet his inexplicably gloomy eyes, as if it was some kind of emotional vent.
I suddenly understood.
I made Lu Sisi unhappy, and Zhou Jinyan was punishing me.
I was engulfed by a huge sense of shame and vaguely thought of the past.
When we first met, I was a penniless poor student.
While he was the high – and – mighty President Zhou.
In the bar where I worked part – time, he got drunk and, looking at my face, got angry.
“Don’t do such despicable things here with a face similar to hers!”
Later, my grandmother, who I depended on, was ill. I borrowed money from all platforms, but I was still short of 300,000 yuan.
For this 300,000 yuan, I sold myself to Zhou Jinyan.
I took the initiative to throw myself into his arms.
The price was that he didn’t allow me to continue studying for a postgraduate degree.
“A substitute should have the appearance of a substitute.”
He said in a flat tone, deciding my life in a few words.
“Didn’t you say you like me? At least for these three years, stay by my side and don’t go anywhere.”
At that time, Lu Sisi left him because she went abroad for further study.
Zhou Jinyan wouldn’t allow the same situation to happen a second time.
From that day on, my dream of scientific research and further study really became a distant dream.
Grandma couldn’t survive the complications after the operation. She held on for half a year and then passed away.
I was in a trance and sat in the cemetery all night.
In the middle of the night, it started to rain淅淅沥沥.
Suddenly, an umbrella appeared above my head.
It was Zhou Jinyan.
He lowered his eyes, looking down at me, and his tone was rarely gentle, “How long are you going to stay here? I’ll accompany you.”
We were together for three years.
I took care of him meticulously.
During some moments of getting along, there were also brief moments of warmth.
But I knew that Zhou Jinyan actually looked down on me.
That time, he also had a gathering with some of his childhood friends. I went to pick him up and was stopped by a few people who were起哄.
They looked at me and said with a smile, “She really does look a bit like Sisi— I heard she’s a top student from Polytechnic University and has worked on patent projects?”
“Is it true? Hey, how do you do projects, top student? Show us here.”
I pinched the palm of my hand and looked at them, “Scientific research is a very serious matter, not for joking and performing.”
The man who took the lead in teasing had a contemptuous look, “What are you pretending for? Talking about scientific research, aren’t you just trying to sell yourself at a good price?”
The wine bottle was pushed in front of me, “Not happy? Then drink. Finish this bottle, and we’ll let Ah Yan go with you.”
Throughout the whole process, Zhou Jinyan was leaning on the sofa, playing with the lighter in his hand, looking at me.
Probably because of the alcohol, the usually cold – faced man had a slight smile on his lips and lazy eyes when he looked over.
“Drink. Let everyone see your drinking capacity.”
I was silent for two seconds and asked him, “If it were Lu Sisi standing here today, would you also let her drink?”
That day, Zhou Jinyan got very angry.
He snatched the wine glass and threw it directly at me, “What are you? How dare you compare yourself with her?”
“She’s not as cheap as you. She wouldn’t sell herself for 300,000 yuan.”
I blinked my sore eyes hard, picked up the wine glass that rolled on the ground, “Fine, I’ll drink.”
The lives of poor people are worthless, let alone dignity.
I really took 300,000 yuan from him.
This was what I deserved.
3
Before Lu Sisi went abroad, she was already a popular first – line female star.
After coming back from her overseas study, she had countless film contracts.
She called and said that she had just returned to the country and needed a useful assistant.
“I think that Yu Ning beside you is not bad. She seems to be good at serving people.”
Zhou Jinyan was silent for two seconds.
She chuckled, “What? Reluctant?”
“No.”
Zhou Jinyan said lightly, “Since you need her, I’ll send her over.”
I followed Lu Sisi into the film crew.
During the break, Lin Jia, the second female lead, came over to talk, “Sisi, your assistant looks quite similar to you.”
“Just the eyes are not very similar. She has a tear mole and looks more charming than you.”
Lin Jia was originally supposed to be the lead actress in this play. Unfortunately, Lu Sisi came back from abroad and took her role.
She was unhappy.
She deliberately said this to annoy Lu Sisi.
Sure enough, Lu Sisi’s face changed, and the hatred in her eyes when she looked at me was hardly concealed.
After work in the afternoon, she said her ring was lost.
“I still had it when filming the scene by the lake. It should have fallen into the water.”
Her eyes turned, and finally landed on me, “Yu Ning, go to the lake and help me find it.”
The artificial lake wasn’t very deep, only reaching my waist.
I soaked in it, bent down, and groped through the silt at the bottom of the lake bit by bit.
The setting sun in the sky was as red as blood.
As night fell, the light dimmed inch by inch.
Everyone knew that Lu Sisi was deliberately making things difficult, and they all watched from the shore, silent.
No one would stand up for an unknown little assistant.
My fingers were soaked in the cold water until they turned white and wrinkled. When I picked them up, the mud on them fell down.
I suddenly thought of my college days.
I was soaked in the laboratory, doing my graduation project.
My hands had to be kept dry and clean. I picked up test tubes, petri dishes, and slides to observe the results and record the data.
My senior sister and tutor said that I was a very talented student and would surely go far on this path.
But the lives of ordinary people can’t withstand a single storm.
Just a little setback can destroy everything.
It had only been three years, but it seemed as distant as a past life.
Finally, when it was completely dark, the stylist said, “Sisi, your ring has been found. It’s on the table in the dressing room.”
“I might have left it there by accident.”
Lu Sisi took the ring and casually threw it into her Hermès bag.
“Come up, Yu Ning. Clean yourself up. Don’t make it look like I’m bullying you.”
After work, Zhou Jinyan would come to pick her up.
I sat wet under a few pear trees outside the film set.
I don’t know how long it had passed, but that black Rolls – Royce came back.
Zhou Jinyan got out of the car and walked up to me, “Go home and change your clothes.”
I didn’t look up.
He softened his tone slightly, “Don’t blame Sisi. She’s just in a bad mood and will be fine after venting.”
Seeing that I still didn’t respond, Zhou Jinyan lost his patience, “That’s enough, Yu Ning. Who are you throwing a tantrum at?”
I sniffed, held back my tears, and looked up at him.
“Zhou Jinyan, it’s been three years. Now Lu Sisi is back.”
“Let me leave.”
His face changed slightly, “Where are you going?”
I picked up the canvas bag next to me and took out a paper document from it.
“I applied for a postgraduate degree in life sciences at a top foreign university, and they have sent me an admission notice…”
Before I could finish speaking, Zhou Jinyan suddenly snatched the few pages of paper and tore them to pieces.
He grabbed my wet wrist and pushed me into the car.
His hot palm was pressed against my cold arm, and the temperature gradually transferred.
Under the dim car light, Zhou Jinyan looked at me with cold eyes.
“Don’t even think about it. You’re not allowed to go anywhere.”
“Yu Ning, you’re my girlfriend.”
4
After that day, I didn’t go to the film set anymore.
Zhou Jinyan found a new assistant for Lu Sisi and then arranged for me to work in his company as his personal assistant.
“From now on, you’ll follow me.”
He played with the pen in his hand, looked up at me, and softened his tone slightly.
“That day on the film set, it was Lin Jia who deliberately provoked the relationship between you and Sisi. I’ve already talked to someone, and no one will use her to film anymore.”
Seeing that I didn’t show any expression and didn’t respond, Zhou Jinyan’s face darkened.
He warned, “Yu Ning, don’t push your luck.”
Was I pushing my luck?
Lin Jia was just dissatisfied because she lost her role and deliberately provoked Lu Sisi a few words.
Both Zhou Jinyan and I knew very well who the real culprit was.
But because I made him angry that day, he ignored my wet body and deliberately tormented me in the car for a long time.
These days, I had been having a low – grade fever.
After taking medicine, I was groggy and didn’t have the strength to argue with him.
I just lowered my head slightly, “I know.”
In the evening, after Lu Sisi finished work, I drove Zhou Jinyan to have dinner with her.
As soon as she saw me, she said coldly, “Ah Yan, I don’t want to quarrel with you. Don’t bring anything that spoils my appetite.”
Zhou Jinyan glanced at me, “Go wait in the car.”
I nodded and turned to leave.
On my phone was an email from the tutor of the applied school.
“Ning, the admission notice has been mailed to you. When can you come to the school to report? After reading your resume, I’ve helped you apply for the highest – amount scholarship. I’m looking forward to teaching such a talented and hard – working student like you.”
I made a virtual fist in the air.
As if I could catch the fragments of the admission notice that Zhou Jinyan had torn up and thrown away.
That night, Zhou Jinyan didn’t go home.
He sent me a message, “I’m going to send Sisi home. Don’t wait for me.”
“Will you stay there overnight?”
He was unceremonious, “Yu Ning, this is not something you’re qualified to ask.”
I drove the car to the suburban cemetery.
Grandma was buried there, and it had been more than two years.
The photo embedded on the tombstone was taken when she was on her deathbed.
At that time, she was seriously ill.
The money she had saved over the years by living frugally and the money she had borrowed from teachers and classmates with shame.
Added together, it was still more than 300,000 yuan short. That was just the amount of money Zhou Jinyan and his friends might spend on a night’s worth of drinks, or the price of a bag he’d give to his female companion. But to me, it was an insurmountable chasm.
After the surgery, Grandma held my hand tightly and repeatedly told me that just because the money was insignificant to Zhou Jinyan, we shouldn’t take it lightly ourselves. So for these three years, I obeyed Zhou Jinyan’s every word and agreed to even the most unreasonable demands.
“But should I really waste the rest of my life, my ideals and pursuits, here?”
The cemetery was empty, with only the sound of the wind and the chirping of insects. Grandma on the tombstone just stared at me silently. She would never answer me again.
5
One afternoon, a familiar person suddenly came to me. It was Lin Jia. No longer the proud woman who had confronted Lu Sisi on the set, she was now in a complete mess. She sat in the corner of the coffee shop and asked me, “Lu Sisi treated you like that. You must be very angry, right? I know you finally managed to latch onto Zhou Jinyan, but all that was ruined as soon as she came back. I got someone to take pictures of her and Zhou Jinyan spending the night together. Once it’s exposed, if you stand up and say you’re the real girlfriend, she’ll be finished. ‘The only pure white jasmine is actually a mistress who knows she’s a mistress. Hehe.'”
I finished a whole glass of lemonade, shook my head, and refused her. But I underestimated Lin Jia’s madness. Her acting career, which she was so proud of, was easily destroyed by Zhou Jinyan, and she had lost her mind.
That night, intimate photos of Lu Sisi and Zhou Jinyan hit the hot search. The so – called insider爆料 said, “Zhou Jinyan has a girlfriend. They’ve been together for several years. I’ve seen them having dinner together, and it’s not Lu Sisi at all.” To prove that what she said was true, she also posted a photo. Because it was a偷拍, the picture quality was a bit blurry, but you could still see that the woman in the photo had short hair, a slender figure, and a tear mole at the end of her eye. She was looking up at the man across from her with bright eyes.
I stared at the photo, a bit dazed. This was taken not long after Grandma passed away two years ago. I had been in a bad mood. Zhou Jinyan took me to a new, niche restaurant. The food there was the cuisine of my hometown. The seasonings used were exactly the same as Grandma’s habits for decades. I took a bite, knew he had brought me here on purpose, so I looked up and thanked him earnestly.
“Thank you, Mr. Zhou.”
He just tugged at the corner of his lips and smiled, “Yu Ning, is this how you address your boyfriend?”
He asked me to call him A Yan. I couldn’t get used to such intimacy, so I could only call him by his full name. Later I found out that was how Lu Sisi had called him since she was a child.
“Yu Ning!”
I came back to my senses and saw Zhou Jinyan enter the door with a sullen face. He strode up to me, slapped me across the face, then grabbed my collar and pushed me to the edge of the table. A photo was thrown forcefully in front of me. It was a picture of Lin Jia and me sitting in the dimly – lit corner of the coffee shop.
His voice was cold, “What more do you want? If it weren’t for this face that resembles Sisi’s, when your grandma was lying in the hospital, you wouldn’t even have the资格 to sell yourself to me for money. Now, you’re colluding with others to frame Sisi. How could there be such a vicious woman like you!”
My cheek stung painfully. The collar that was tightly grasped was choking my neck, and a sense of suffocation welled up. I opened my mouth and said with difficulty, “It wasn’t me.”
“I refused her.”
Zhou Jinyan didn’t believe me. He forcefully pinched my chin, looking up and down at my face, as if he恨不得 to gouge out a piece of flesh with his eyes. After a long while, he sneered, “Third – rate trash. So cheap.”
He let go of his hand, watched me collapse weakly to the ground, and then slammed the door and left.
6
The direction of the hot search quickly changed. Zhou Jinyan’s friends came out to clarify that I wasn’t his girlfriend. “Mr. Zhou took pity on her back then and paid for her family’s medical bills. Unexpectedly, she’s been pestering him ever since, trying to throw herself at him. The meal in the photo was also when Mr. Zhou wanted to make things clear to her.”
Zhou Jinyan had someone release several photos. There were pictures of me selling alcohol in the bar and being harassed by customers, but from the shooting angle, it looked like I was playing hard – to – get. There were also photos of Lin Jia having dinner with an investor. And finally, the photos of us in the coffee shop.
Someone came to the conclusion, “So it’s Lin Jia who, because she lost her role, harbored a grudge and joined forces with this nightclub girl to spread rumors. Poor Lu Sisi.”
My phone number was exposed. Tens of thousands of abusive text messages flooded in. Some people even dug up my certificates and demanded that the school revoke my graduation certificate and degree certificate on the grounds of bad character. And Lu Sisi cleanly escaped from the舆论 storm.
The next night, she gracefully posted a photo of a diamond ring on her Weibo. “Engaged.”
In the comment section, countless people sent their blessings. The cyber – violence against me intensified. For several consecutive days, I didn’t dare to turn on my phone.
Zhou Jinyan never came back. My stomach problem flared up again, and I planned to go out to the hospital to get some medicine. But I was tied up and thrown into a white van.
In an abandoned factory by the sea, I saw Lu Sisi, who was also tied up. Her expensive dress was covered in dust and tattered. Her meticulously – groomed, satin – like long hair was as messy as withered grass. She looked at me with hatred and cursed, “It’s you again!”
I pursed my lips, “I should be the one saying this.”
“What right do you have to talk to me like this? Poor wretch!” Lu Sisi shrieked, “Ah Yan doesn’t love you at all! If it weren’t for your face being similar to mine, you wouldn’t even have the资格 to be his substitute!”
She lost her composure. The always – high – and – mighty female star was abducted in the most brutal way, locked in a dusty factory, and couldn’t even get a sip of clean water. She shouted, cursed, and tried to bribe, but all she got in return were punches and kicks from the kidnappers.
After two days, Lin Jia showed up. I sighed, “I guessed it was you.”
She looked at me with a smile, “You see, you think about Zhou Jinyan, but he doesn’t consider your situation at all. Now both you and Lu Sisi are here. If only one person can be saved, I’m really curious who he’ll choose.”
In fact, the answer to this question didn’t need to be verified at all. So when the sound of police sirens approached, and Lin Jia and the people she hired hurriedly pushed me to the edge of the cliff, I just calmly glanced at Zhou Jinyan. He didn’t even look at me, just looked at Lu Sisi and said, “Sisi, don’t be afraid.”
Lu Sisi, who had always been arrogant, shed tears. She sobbed and called Zhou Jinyan’s name over and over again, “Save me, A Yan!”
I looked at the churning white waves under the cliff and didn’t say anything. Lin Jia asked me, “Aren’t you going to struggle?”
“No.” I said softly, “I’m a bit tired.”
They seemed to say something else, probably about negotiating terms. My stomach hurt more and more, and cold sweat broke out on my forehead and back. Finally, I heard Zhou Jinyan’s voice.
He called me, “Yu Ning.”
“I’ll save you too. Look at me.”
“Look up and look at me.”
I didn’t look up. I only heard Lin Jia laugh coldly and say, “It’s not that easy. Zhou Jinyan, I’ve worked hard for so many years to get to where I am, and you’ve ruined it all. You have to pay the price.”
Suddenly, a force came from behind. My body became light, and then there was a sense of weightlessness as I fell. The white waves in front of me got closer and closer. Lu Sisi’s screams gradually faded away.
I belatedly realized that she had pushed both me and Lu Sisi off. Before being swallowed by the sea, I heard Zhou Jinyan call me one last time. It was a voice I had never heard before, filled with great fear and despair.
“Yu Ning!!”
…
7 (Zhou Jinyan’s perspective)
Three days after Yu Ning fell into the sea, the secretary called and said that the search and rescue team still hadn’t found her. The best rescue time had passed, and I’m afraid her chances of survival were slim.
“Miss Lu has come from the hospital and is waiting outside for you.” She looked at Zhou Jinyan hesitantly, “Do you want to see her?”
He stood in front of the floor – to – ceiling window, looking at the darkening sky outside. It took him a long time to say, “No, tell her to go back and rest.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Sisi pushed the door open and came in, looking at him coldly, “What does this mean? Are you going to blame Yu Ning’s death on me?”
There was a bruise on her cheekbone, and her arm was cut with a long gash, still wrapped in gauze. But compared to Yu Ning, whose life and death were unknown, this injury wasn’t serious.
Zhou Jinyan avoided her gaze and said lightly, “No, you’d better go back and rest.”
Lu Sisi didn’t leave. She stood there, looking at him with red – rimmed eyes.
“You regret it, don’t you?”
“Regret what?”
“Regret getting engaged to me, regret that the person you grabbed that day wasn’t her!”
Zhou Jinyan pursed his lips and didn’t speak. But Lu Sisi immediately understood, “Zhou Jinyan, you should be clear that she’s just a substitute who’s willing to degrade herself for money!”
She was carrying her Hermès bag, wearing a pink diamond ring. The total value of her outfit was over a million. For some reason, Zhou Jinyan thought of the first time he saw Yu Ning. In the dimly – lit bar, amidst the chaos of neon lights and wine, she was wearing a washed – out white shirt with short hair. A customer, deliberately teasing, stuffed tips into her collar. She calmly took it out, carefully put it in her pocket, and even thanked the person.
There seemed to be a fire burning in those eyes. And later…
She took the initiative to come to him and throw herself into his arms for 300,000 yuan. When he heard rumors about Lu Sisi, he was angry and deliberately tormented her during their intimate moments. There were many times when she bent her back, and the fire in her eyes might have dimmed briefly, but it never went out completely.
Zhou Jinyan admitted that he looked down on Yu Ning at first. Their lives were as far apart as two different worlds. On the first chaotic night, he almost vented his emotions on her. Yu Ning endured it silently. Only in the dim, swaying light, her eyes were lowered, and her eyelashes trembled violently, as if she was enduring great pain.
The next morning, she asked him if she could borrow some money from him. “Consider it a loan from you.”
Zhou Jinyan felt even more contemptuous. At least among the female companions he had had before, none of them had so eagerly revealed their purpose. Even so, he still asked, “How much?”
“300,000 yuan.” After she said that, she paused and then added a bit nervously, “If you can give me a few more ten – thousands, it can be used as a backup.”
His pen tip stopped on the check paper. He suddenly felt it was absurd. The breakup fee he casually gave to his previous girlfriend was more than ten times the amount Yu Ning asked for.
In fact, he should have realized at that time that she was different from those people. She approached him not because of vanity, but because she was desperate.
Later, he found many wounds on Yu Ning’s body, deep and shallow scars. She didn’t care much and said that when she was a child, she had to walk on mountain roads to school, and sometimes she would fall when it rained, leaving scars.
Later, Zhou Jinyan often thought that the brief pain that suddenly emerged in his heart at that time should actually be the beginning of his heart – beat. But he forcibly ignored it.
He had liked Lu Sisi for so many years. She was like a flower that was always carefully cared for, without a trace of dust, and it was natural for her to be proud and arrogant.
And Yu Ning…
Was like a clear lake. She always silently followed him, accepting all the deliberate difficulties from him and his friends without complaint. The more they looked down on her, the more their meanness and despicability were reflected in her bright eyes.
Zhou Jinyan sometimes felt restless and anxious. Because he felt that he had never really had her. She was only forced to stay by his side because of the money, because of the so – called kindness brought by that ridiculous 300,000 yuan.
He knew that she would secretly read books in places where he couldn’t see, as if she was always ready to leave him. The eager and passionate gaze she had when reading books, he had never received even for a second.
He just wanted Yu Ning’s eyes to contain him, even if it was hatred or disgust. So one wrong step led to another.
Ten days after Yu Ning fell off the cliff, everyone said that she couldn’t have survived. A friend advised him, “Forget it. It’s already like this. Don’t make things difficult with Sisi for a dead person. Besides, didn’t you say she was just a substitute?”
Zhou Jinyan looked up. His eyes were bloodshot. Lu Sisi was crying beside him.
She questioned him, “The news of Lin Jia’s imprisonment has been released. If you announce the cancellation of the engagement at this time, aren’t you telling others that you’ve been acting with me?”
“A Yan, don’t you really consider my career?”
At this time, she still called him A Yan. With a gentle and plaintive tone, her eyes full of a pitiful look. Zhou Jinyan suddenly realized that Yu Ning had never called him so intimately. At first, she called him Mr. Zhou. Later, under his order, she only agreed to call him by his full name. Polite and extremely distant.
Zhou Jinyan started to dream of Yu Ning frequently. In his dreams, he didn’t humiliate and look down on her, didn’t keep her by his side with the excuse of repayment, so her attitude towards him gradually became gentle, and she was willing to call him “A Yan” with her heart opened. He went to pick her up from the research institute after work, with a large bouquet of roses hidden in the car. She took the bouquet in surprise and finally smiled sincerely at him.
But when he woke up, there was nothing. On the bedside were the books Yu Ning had read, the papers she had written, and the experimental results she had secretly studied. That was her world, and he had never entered it for a single moment.
Three years passed like this. One day, in the news, at a scientific research achievement conference abroad, he caught a glimpse of a slightly familiar figure in the corner. Zhou Jinyan was so shocked that he almost thought he was still in a dream. He asked someone to check, and the other party quickly replied that the person wasn’t Yu Ning, but a doctoral student in the life sciences major at a foreign university.
As if falling from a warm and illusory beautiful dream, Zhou Jinyan stared at the window in silence for a long time. Then he said word by word, “She’s still alive.”
Yu Ning’s body was never found. That meant there was always a glimmer of hope that she had survived, even if it was extremely small. Zhou Jinyan started to look for her all over the world, starting from that cliff. Where the sea current flowed, who had been there, and the hospitals large and small nearby. Time and time again, hope rose, and then he watched it shatter with his own eyes. He was almost driven crazy by this repeated tug – of – war.
For two full years, he found nothing. But he still held a glimmer of hope in his heart and was still waiting. Waiting for the day in the future when she would be willing to appear in front of him. Maybe it was out of hatred and revenge, but that didn’t matter.
8
The plane slid into the landing track. After a brief tinnitus, I took off my blindfold and took down the suitcase from the luggage rack. The hotel where I was staying was arranged by the event organizer, and the hall was downstairs.
When I went there, there were already quite a few people at the scene. Tang Yue, who had cooperated with me on a project before and was relatively familiar with me, asked me, “Do you know? Today, several big bosses were also invited to the scene. It’s said that there are project investments, with a commercial nature…”
Before she could finish speaking, the sound of someone greeting warmly came from not far away, “Mr. Zhou is also here!”
Zhou Jinyan nodded slightly, “Yes, I’m here to take a look.”
Tang Yue saw him and changed the topic, “Look, that person is Zhou Jinyan. He was originally engaged in the entertainment and IT industries. In the past two years, for some unknown reason, he started investing in some biological and medical projects.”
I smiled, “Is that so?”
She nodded and continued gossiping, “Yes. Do you know his fiancée? Lu Sisi who was a popular first – line actress. But for some reason, she went for plastic surgery a couple of years ago—”
As she was speaking, Zhou Jinyan and the people around him had walked close to us.
“Mr. Zhou, this is the guest we specially invited back from abroad, Dr. Cen Yuxing, a cell biology doctor from Mizhou University.”
Under a bright crystal lamp, Zhou Jinyan’s indifferent gaze swept over and suddenly fixed firmly on my face.
People around keenly sensed something was wrong.
But he seemed oblivious, just looking at me with red – rimmed eyes, “I knew you didn’t die. I’ve been looking for you—”
I took a step back, dodging the hand he tried to reach out, “Sorry, who are you?”
The atmosphere froze for a moment.
Finally, the staff came to smooth things over and politely led him away.
Zhou Jinyan took his seat in the VIP area, his eyes looking at me through the crowds, not willing to move away for a moment.
Tang Yue asked curiously, “Do you know Mr. Zhou?”
“No.”
I curved my lips, “Maybe he mistook me for someone else.”
The event went smoothly.
Finally, the staff of Mingcheng Life Sciences Research Institute announced the list of specially – hired doctors, and my name was赫然 on it.
Cen Yuxing.
I went on stage to give a few remarks. For a moment, my eyes met Zhou Jinyan’s in the air.
“I will be staying in Mingcheng for the next few years. I hope to have academic exchanges with all my peers.”
I bowed and stepped down, sitting back next to Tang Yue.
She suddenly slapped her thigh, “I remembered!”
“Yuxing, you look quite similar to Mr. Zhou’s fiancée, Lu Sisi, before her plastic surgery. He probably mistook you for Lu Sisi.”
I finally smiled sincerely, “I think so too.”
9
After the event ended, as expected, I saw Zhou Jinyan’s Rolls – Royce downstairs at the hotel.
He was leaning against the car, looking at me almost greedily.
“Aning.”
I nodded politely, “Mr. Zhou.”
A trace of pain flashed in his eyes, “You hate me, don’t you?”
“Don’t think like that, Mr. Zhou.”
I sighed, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving.”
“Don’t go.”
He reached out and grabbed the hem of my clothes, his voice trembling, almost like an entreaty, “That day at the cliff, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to save you. I just… subconsciously grabbed Lu Sisi.
Later, I sent people to look for you. They all said that the cliff was so steep, and with your hands tied, it was very likely that you wouldn’t survive if you fell.
But that day, I saw you in the news…”
I looked down at the watch on my wrist.
Time was running out. I really didn’t want to stand by the roadside and listen to his self – analysis on the second day I was back.
So I smiled politely and interrupted him, “Sorry, I have something else to do. I’ll be leaving.”
He asked me, “Where are you going?”
Just then, a bright orange Porsche pulled up beside us.
The driver got out of the car and opened the door, “President Cen has reserved a restaurant and asked me to pick you up.”
Zhou Jinyan’s face instantly turned pale.
He watched me get into the car. As the car door was about to close, he suddenly reached out to hold it open and asked me, “Who is President Cen?”
“This doesn’t seem to have anything to do with you, does it?”
I twitched the corner of my lips, and my eyes fell on the Rolls – Royce behind him. I couldn’t help but stab him, “After all these years, Mr. Zhou, not changing your car might not be in line with your status, right?”
The car drove far away, and from the rear – view mirror, I could still see him standing there silently, looking at me.
In the sky – garden restaurant in the center of the city, Cen Yuqi was waiting for me.
She was leaning against the wheelchair backrest, looking at me lazily, “Did you see Zhou Jinyan?”
I briefly recounted what happened and ended with a self – criticism, “That last sentence I said might have been a bit mean.”
“Mean? I think it wasn’t aggressive enough.”
She flipped through the menu, casually ordered two dishes, and then handed the menu to me, “Next time you see him, remember to throw those words back at him.
“Zhou Jinyan, you’re just a third – rate person. Don’t be so cheap.”
I propped my face on the table, “You really hate him.”
“Of course I do. While you were studying for your master’s and doctorate degrees abroad, I was competing with him in the domestic market and snatched several projects from him. Every time you had a reconstructive surgery, I arranged a negative hot search for Lu Sisi.”
She squinted and smiled, “You may not hold grudges, but I’m very vengeful.”
The warm yellow light shone on her face. Her eyes sparkled with a sharp look.
The first time I saw Cen Yuqi, she was like this.
With disabled legs, sitting in a wheelchair, but showing no signs of dejection.
She smiled and said, “It was me who had you fished out of the water.
“Little friend, you’re really smart. You cut the rope before being pushed off, but left a bit of it so that no one noticed your little move. Now Zhou Jinyan has hired a search and rescue team to look for your body in that area.
“If my yacht hadn’t been nearby, how long would it have taken you to swim to the shore?”
I was soaking wet, wrapped in a bath towel, and said in a low voice, “However long it takes.”
As long as I could completely escape from Zhou Jinyan’s side, anything was fine.
She swirled the wine in the goblet, slowly drank a whole glass of red wine, and then asked me, “Let me help you, okay?”
10
I sent an email to my tutor saying that I lost the admission notice.
He said it didn’t matter as long as I went to report in person.
Cen Yuqi helped me change my name, get a new ID card, and then sent me to the hospital.
There were small wounds on my wrist from cutting the rope with a knife, a broken arm from the impact of falling off the cliff, and my cheek had been severely scraped against the reef, almost to the bone.
I had several surgeries later to repair them.
Each healing period was long and painful.
At first, when I returned to campus, I couldn’t adapt to that kind of life.
During the three years I stayed with Zhou Jinyan, he and his friends trampled on my self – esteem and ideals, crushed them, and made fun of them wantonly.
They didn’t even treat me as an equal person.
I often had nightmares. I dreamed that after Zhou Jinyan saw the gossip news about Lu Sisi, he would sullenly throw things at my face.
Pressing me in the mess, venting his anger without mercy.
I dreamed that his friends would force me to drink, and I would vomit all over the floor, with blood in my gastric juice.
He would just look at me indifferently and say, “So useless.”
That wasn’t the life I wanted.
It never would be.
I put all my energy into academic research. I spent my vacations and weekends in the laboratory and library.
So much so that my tutor often sighed to my senior and junior classmates in the group meeting, saying that he had never seen a more hard – working student than me.
But in this busyness and fatigue, my floating heart finally landed steadily.
Two years ago, I knew that Zhou Jinyan was looking for me.
Many times, the clues he was chasing were cut off by Cen Yuqi.
She told me, “Study hard, pursue your ideals and career. I’ll take care of everything else.”
I once asked her why.
Cen Yuqi was silent for a long time, and then asked me, “Do you know how I lost my legs?”
She was ten years older than me.
When she was young, she also had her own ideals.
Her parents handed over the family business to her brother to inherit, but when the company was in crisis, they forced her to get married.
Finally, she said lightly, “Since they’re a bunch of useless people who need me to sacrifice myself to maintain the company, then I might as well take over the family business.”
Her legs were broken when her angry brother pushed her downstairs.
That night, Cen Yuqi and I sat face – to – face on the balcony.
She covered my hand with hers, sighed softly, “If only I had met you earlier.
“You wouldn’t have wasted three precious years of your life on him just for a mere 300,000 yuan.”
This time when I returned to the country, I had a patent project.
The research institute hired me with an annual salary of 900,000 yuan.
That was an amount that the young and desperate Yu Ning could never have imagined.
After five years, I calmly accepted the offer, signed the contract, and then bought red wine to celebrate with Cen Yuqi.
She drank wine, and I drank milk.
My recurring stomach problem made me completely give up drinking.
I held the milk cup and thanked her.
She said, “There’s no need to thank me. I just see myself in my youth in you.”
11
After dinner, I said goodbye to Cen Yuqi.
She half – jokingly pointed at the Porsche and asked me, “I’ll give you a car for easy commuting. Are you really not going to take it?”
I laughed, “The research institute has arranged a single – person apartment just across the road from the institute. What do I need a car for?”
She pouted, “Okay, if you need anything, come to me.”
I had just been in the research institute for a few days when Zhou Jinyan came again.
He found me in the cafeteria, sat down opposite me, and stared at the mole at the end of my right eye for a long time.
After a while, he asked softly, “What happened to the tear mole?”
“Oh.”
I replied casually, “When I fell off the cliff, my face was injured. After the reconstructive surgery, it doesn’t look the same as before.”
His hand on the table suddenly started to tremble.
He asked me, “Did it hurt?”
This was an extremely absurd question.
I put down my chopsticks, looked up, and calmly looked at him, “Zhou Jinyan, no matter what, this question shouldn’t come from you.
“You may have forgotten the pain I endured during the three years I was with you, but I remember it very clearly.”
Abusers always easily forget and ignore the harm they have caused to others.
Looking into Zhou Jinyan’s eyes, I kindly counted on my fingers for him.
“Once I had a fever of 39 degrees. Coincidentally, Lu Sisi hung up your call abroad, and you were angry, so you took it out on me. You even said that it would be more comfortable to hold me when I had a fever.
“When I went out with you, your friends forced me to drink until I vomited blood. You asked me to take a taxi to the hospital by myself. Because there was no one to accompany me and sign, I had to have a gastroscopy without anesthesia.
“When Lu Sisi was bought negative hot searches by Lin Jia, you said I was the mastermind, called me a third – rate person, and slapped me twice.
“And there were many other times. I got used to it, so the wound – repair surgery wasn’t that painful.”
With each sentence I said, his face turned paler.
In the end, the always – high – and – mighty, noble and cold Zhou Jinyan shed tears in front of me.
I felt a bit embarrassed and looked around.
Fortunately, there weren’t many people in the cafeteria, and we were sitting in a corner, so not many people saw it.
“I’m sorry, Aning. At that time… I didn’t understand my own feelings.”
He said with some difficulty, “Lin Jia, and those people who kidnapped you, have been sentenced. I will also break off my engagement with Lu Sisi. I know she made things difficult for you on the set at that time…”
I smiled sarcastically, “Is the real culprit really Lin Jia or Lu Sisi?
“You know very well, Zhou Jinyan. The distance between China and abroad is not an insurmountable gap. With your financial resources, it’s easy for you to go abroad or even move there to live with her for a few years. If you were really deeply in love with Lu Sisi, there were ten thousand ways for you to be with her, instead of looking for female companions or substitutes.
“You didn’t love her that much, and you couldn’t stand being alone, so you always needed someone by your side. But you also thought too highly of yourself and looked down on those who accompanied you, so you tried every means to humiliate them to satisfy your psychology.”
He stared at me blankly, speechless.
In the end, he could only say with red eyes, “But Aning, I really love you now.
“I know I’ve done a lot of things to对不起 you. Give me a chance. I’ll love you wholeheartedly and make it up to you—”
I sighed, thinking he was really hopeless.
“You already have so much, but you still waste it on unrequited love and hatred.
“Don’t you understand? I never liked you and never gave you my feelings. I was willing to stay by your side because you really helped me with money.
“But I think I’ve paid off all that after falling into the sea from the cliff because of being implicated.”
I stood up with the dinner plate. Zhou Jinyan suddenly grabbed my hand.
He said incoherently, “What else do you need? Just give me a chance. Research funds, project investments, even… I’ll build a separate laboratory for you. You can set up your own business and not be restricted by others. Okay…”
He really was incorrigible.
“Don’t be so cheap, Zhou Jinyan.”
I completely lost my patience and forcefully shook off his hand.
The soup in the dinner plate splashed out and landed on his expensive suit.
I pursed my lips and looked at him coldly, “How much is the dry – cleaning fee? Ask your assistant to bring the receipt to the research institute, and I’ll compensate.”
He was in a mess, like a homeless dog, and the light in his eyes completely dimmed.
I left no room for him.
12
A few days after Zhou Jinyan left, Lu Sisi found me.
She stared at me with almost hatred, “I thought you were already dead.
“Over the years, he tried to break off our engagement several times, but I refused. So he punished me. When he was drunk, he called your name over and over again, saying that the person he really loved was you.
“Yu Ning, how do you deserve to make me your substitute?”
I looked at her face, which had been disfigured by plastic surgery, the fatigue in her eyebrows and eyes, and the restlessness of a trapped animal.
For some reason, I thought of the day she first came back.
She was high – and – mighty, surrounded by everyone.
She asked me to pour her wine and serve her soup.
With just one word from her, I had to soak in the cold artificial lake to find that non – existent ring for her.
After going through so much, in the end, she was also tortured like this.
Seeing that I just stared at her calmly, Lu Sisi’s emotions suddenly broke down.
She stood up abruptly, staring at me fiercely, “Why did you come back? Since you left, you shouldn’t have come back. Do you know that as soon as you came back, Zhou Jinyan said he would break off the engagement with me no matter what.
“He said he wanted to pursue you cleanly and ask for a chance from you.”
“I went abroad to study, do scientific research, and then brought my achievements back to continue further study and contribute to the country and the people. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”
I stirred the coffee in front of me and said lightly, “Ms. Lu, it’s you who has a narrow – minded view, confining your thoughts to useless love and hatred. What right do you have to question me?”
She stared at me with hatred but couldn’t say anything.
Lu Sisi and Zhou Jinyan were the same kind of people.
They had everything since they were born.
In their opinion, not being loved by someone was the greatest misfortune.
But all I wanted was the path to my ideals.
I ignored Lu Sisi, paid for the coffee, and got up to leave.
Unexpectedly, that night, I saw myself on the hot search.
Like Lin Jia back then, her favorite method was public opinion attack.
In that long Weibo post, she and Zhou Jinyan were an unmarried couple who had been in a long – term relationship, and I was the villain who came back to steal love.
Those people couldn’t find me, so they went to the official Weibo of the research institute to leave messages, demanding that they fire me.
“Even with a high – education halo, a person with a bad character shouldn’t be in an important scientific research position.”
This time, the public opinion was fierce.
Even a few extreme fans went to the gate of the research institute to pull banners.
I called the police directly.
Cen Yuqi was furious, “I gave her too much face. What right does a plastic – surgery freak have to jump around?”
I stopped her, “This time, I’ll solve it myself.”
There were some things that I didn’t expose back then, but I didn’t mean I didn’t keep evidence.
I registered an account and posted a video.
At that time on the set, Lu Sisi and Lin Jia had a conflict. Lu Sisi was unhappy and forced me to go into the water to find her ring.
There was actually an unknown little assistant on the scene who was always bullied. She recorded this scene and secretly sent the video to me.
She said, “If she bullies you again, expose it. These people are like this. They’ve been捧得太高 by their fans and don’t treat us as human beings…”
Five years ago, I didn’t expose it. Because I knew very well that the crux of the matter was never Lu Sisi, but Zhou Jinyan. But this time, she took the initiative to provoke me.
13
After the video was released, there was an uproar in public opinion. Because that video was really complete and clear.
Soon, Zhou Jinyan also came out and admitted that when he was with Lu Sisi, he was indeed in a relationship with me. In other words, Lu Sisi was the mistress who took the position, and now she was trying to shift the blame.
Her reputation plummeted, and her film contracts and commercial endorsements were all terminated.
As for Zhou Jinyan’s company, the stock price plummeted.
He didn’t care and called me in the middle of the night, “Aning, how else do you want to vent your anger? Or do to me what I did to you back then, okay?”
I chuckled, “Forget it.”
“Contacting you now makes me feel dirty.”
He didn’t seem to care about my sarcasm at all.
The next day when I went to the research institute, the leader told me that the biological project I was leading had its funding doubled, and the source was Zhou Jinyan’s private sponsorship.
I was about to refuse when he winked at me.
“Since it’s funding, how you allocate it is entirely up to you. Besides, this is Mr. Zhou’s support for our scientific research project, and it has nothing to do with personal feelings.”
What a sly old fox.
I smiled and accepted his proposal.
Zhou Jinyan started coming by car every day and waiting at the entrance of the research institute. He didn’t care if I ignored him.
That afternoon, he even called those friends of his from the past.
Several expensively – dressed men stood at the entrance, bowed to me, and said they were sorry.
These days, the experimental data had gone wrong, and I was already in a bad mood. The curious glances from colleagues and passers – by coming and going made me feel even more ashamed.
I finally couldn’t hold back my anger, “Zhou Jinyan, are you crazy?”
He looked at me miserably, “Aning, I just want to apologize to you for my past behavior.”
“There’s no need.”
I looked at him expressionlessly, “I have my own life and work now. As long as you don’t come to disturb me anymore. And, take care of Lu Sisi. Solve your relationship problems by yourselves.”
Zhou Jinyan didn’t really like me. It was just that I fell into the sea in front of him but survived. That became an obsession for him, as if getting me could prove something. Just like Lu Sisi back then.
My gaze swept over him and his friends one by one, and then I suddenly said, “Do you remember? When I went to the bar to pick you up and go home, your friends stopped me and insisted that I show them my scientific research project.
“I heard from Teacher Xu that you donated funds for the project I’m currently researching.
“Well, you’re welcome to bring your friends to visit the laboratory and see how I record data and promote the progress of the project.”
Eight years later, I finally countered their mockery of that time in an open and above – board manner.
Zhou Jinyan looked at me in pain, his eyelashes trembling violently, almost unable to speak.
At dusk, the glow in the sky gradually dimmed.
The autumn wind blew the fallen leaves, swirling and falling between us.
I stood face – to – face with Zhou Jinyan, no longer in the humble and pleading posture of the past.
He took a deep breath and asked me with some difficulty, “If from the very beginning when we met, I had treated you equally and respected you, lent you the money you needed, and didn’t stop you from continuing to study for a postgraduate degree, is there a possibility that you would have liked me?”
I said without hesitation, “I would have been very grateful to you, would have paid back the money as soon as possible, and would have provided you with help within my ability in the future.”
As for liking or not.
That was never in my life’s options.
14
I didn’t see Zhou Jinyan for a long time.
The next time I heard news about him, it was actually in the news.
Lu Sisi’s life became very difficult. Her family stepped in and pressured Zhou Jinyan to marry her. Zhou Jinyan refused no matter what. Annoyed by the pressure, he drove out to relax.
As a result, the brakes failed on the mountain road, and he fell off the cliff.
When he was rescued, he was covered in blood and had fallen into a deep coma.
The police investigated and finally found out that it was Lu Sisi.
She admitted it.
“Yes, it’s me. He was the one who provoked me first. Why should he abandon me for that poor substitute? I’m not having a good time, and he won’t be able to get away easily either.”
The once – adored female star had now fallen from grace and completely lost her composure.
Some of Zhou Jinyan’s former friends came to me, wanting me to go to the hospital to see him.
I firmly refused, “I don’t think there’s any need for that, right?”
He glared at me angrily, “Do you know what Brother Yan did for you?”
“Of course I know.”
I smiled and said, “Was it taking me to your parties and letting you all force me to drink and make fun of me? Or was it releasing out – of – context photos to smear me and slut – shame me for Lu Sisi?”
His face changed drastically, and he was speechless.
After several twists and turns, the experimental project finally achieved successful results.
When the achievement press conference was held, Zhou Jinyan was still lying in the hospital, unconscious.
After the conference, I went to the cemetery again.
Grandma was still on the tombstone, smiling kindly at me.
I exhaled a breath, watching the white mist disperse in the cold air.
In fact, when Grandma was on her deathbed, she had once held Zhou Jinyan’s hand, asking him to be good to me.
She said, “I know, Ningning borrowed 300,000 yuan from you. It’s because of my illness. I’m useless. Don’t blame her. She’s really had a hard time. She’s suffered a lot over the years…”
Her withered hand showed blue veins due to the force.
She spoke more and more laboriously, “Treat her well.”
Zhou Jinyan was silent for a long time and then said okay.
Only then did Grandma leave with peace of mind.
I lay on her body, almost unable to make a sound, just crying non – stop.
Looking up inadvertently, I saw Zhou Jinyan frowning and wiping his hands with a disinfectant wipe.
He had always looked down on me and those poor people struggling to survive in the world.
But now, it was his turn.
“My experimental results are gradually being put into use, and I’ll soon participate in the next project.
“Maybe after many years, I’ll be a famous biologist who will go down in history. You’ll surely be happy for me then, right?”
I leaned against Grandma’s tombstone, talking for a long time.
Until it was completely dark, I got up and left.
Cen Yuqi was waiting at the gate.
She specifically asked the driver to drive a black car to pick me up.
After getting in the car, my frozen body gradually regained its senses.
She asked me, “Now that Zhou Jinyan is lying in the hospital and it doesn’t matter anymore, do you want to change your name back?”
I thought for a while, “That’s a good idea.”
Yu Ning was the name Grandma gave me.
I still hope that if I’m ever recorded in history books in the future, it will be under this name.
That night, the night sky was cloudless, and the moonlight was bright.
Tree shadows and streetlights flashed by outside the car window.
I finally walked on the road of my long – pursued ideals again.
This time, I won’t stop.
(The End)
