“……”
Wen Tingxue’s face flushed as she stammered an explanation.
“Compared to Xie Liangzhi, he’s a much better husband. Who else do you think you’d be a wife to? It’s as plain as day…”
The young girl’s flustered explanation was endearingly shy.
Her eyes, bathed in a soft glow, were lively and captivating.
Yu Wenli couldn’t help but lower his head to touch her cheek, only to be met with a mouthful of liquid foundation and powder.
Rarely seeing him flustered, the young girl burst into laughter, tears nearly streaming down her face.
Yu Wenli: “……”
Did he usually annoy her that much?
She was laughing so heartily.
Yu Wenli, both exasperated and amused, wiped away her tears of laughter. The troubles weighing on his heart seemed to dissipate along with them.
His mood improved considerably.
“If you’re going to compare me to Xie Liangzhe, there are plenty of good men. Can’t you pick someone else?”
“……” The young girl blinked. “In my eyes, a man who doesn’t cheat is a good man.”
“……”
Yu Wenli was speechless. “Then, in your eyes, a woman who doesn’t cheat is a good woman?”
Wen Tingxue subconsciously denied it, a string of virtuous and dutiful adjectives flashing through her mind.
Then, she froze, lost in thought.
She suddenly remembered a video call with her mother a long time ago.
She had clearly seen many men around her mother, some even reaching out to help her.
But she hadn't doubted her mother at all. Instead, she had been suspicious of her father and his secretary, who had no physical contact with her mother.
Wen Tingxue couldn’t quite articulate what felt wrong, but she found this way of thinking very strange.
It was as if men were inherently prone to cheating, while women were expected to be virtuous, devoted, and loyal.
Although Xie Liangzhe had influenced her, it was more the ingrained beliefs from her grandmother at play.
Wen Tingxue shook her head, as if hearing the sound of flowing water.
“I think I need to correct my flawed thinking.
“We’ll discuss this topic another time.”
Yu Wenli smiled. “Actually, you don’t need to wait. You just need to remember.
“Setting aside absolute biological differences, any virtue or right or obligation that is demanded of only one party, but not the other, is unfair.”
“Oh…” Wen Tingxue nodded, understanding dawning slowly. “Then, where do you think Teacher Sha has a problem?”
She steered the conversation back.
Yu Wenli shook his head.
It wasn't Sha Zhengxin who had a problem; it was his words.
-
Three days were promised, and three days it was.
Shang Ziqian looked at the bag of money in front of him with a calm expression.
“Do you want me to count it?”
Xie Jinny, wearing sunglasses, spoke with a hint of urgency, clearly not wanting to be seen.
Shang Ziqian shook his head and then picked up the bag to leave. Xie Jinny blinked in surprise.
Given his personality, it would be unusual if he didn’t make a sarcastic remark or two.
Never mind.
He wasn't normal anyway.
Xie Jinny stood up and left through the back door.
Shang Ziqian, carrying the money, traveled from afternoon to evening, from the hospital to the residential area.
Now, there wasn't much money left in the bag.
And he was sitting in the visitation room of the detention center.
Across the glass partition sat his boss, looking considerably haggard.
“I sent some emergency funds in your name to the brothers who were in urgent need of money.
“As for the other brothers, I also gave them a certain amount of severance pay. Don't worry, they're all settled. You stay put inside, and we'll wait for you to come out.”
Shang Ziqian said with a smile.
“Thank you.”
The man behind the glass smiled and cried. “At this point, you’re the only one who thinks of me like this.”
Shang Ziqian curved his lips. “You’re my boss. When you get out, have someone contact me.
“I won’t change my number. No matter how far away, I’ll come pick you up.”
“Okay.”
The man said tearfully, “We’ll definitely drink until we drop then.”
“Mm.”
Shang Ziqian nodded and then left.
Before exiting the detention center, he used his last bit of money for a bribe, hoping the man inside would be treated a little better.
-
Shang Ziqian had been reckless for years, making too many enemies.
So many that he himself couldn’t keep count.
Now that the underground casino was a thing of the past, he naturally no longer had his former prestige.
As soon as he got out of the detention center, he was targeted.
Dodging and weaving, he wasn't safe even in the city.
“Run! Keep running!”
Under the cover of night, in the depths of an alley, the man recklessly raised a brick.
His aim was precise, targeting Shang Ziqian’s already severely injured calf.
“Weren’t you very powerful back then? Didn’t you swear to take my dog’s life?
“Why are you lying on the ground like a dead dog now? Shang Ziqian, you son of a— Ah!”
The unfinished curse was swallowed by a brick to the gut.
Shang Ziqian quickly got up and ran towards the alley entrance, risking his life.
He knew the courage of these people; they wouldn’t dare to act in crowded places.
Gasping for breath, Shang Ziqian stumbled to the roadside, watching a car speed towards him.
And with the force he exerted, he couldn't regain his balance.
He could only watch with wide eyes as the out-of-control car approached him.
Dying like this wouldn’t be so bad, Shang Ziqian thought.
Strangely, except for the approaching headlights, there was nothing else in his mind.
Didn’t people say that when you’re about to die, you recall many things, many people?
Why didn’t he?
Shang Ziqian couldn’t help but curse, calling them liars.
The next moment, his arm and hat were yanked.
*Bang——*
As Shang Ziqian fell to the ground, the out-of-control car crashed violently into a tree.
The airbags deployed. Shang Ziqian was frozen in shock.
After a long while, he finally remembered to look up.
“Xie…”
The words of gratitude were on the tip of his tongue, but he saw Yu Wenli holding his phone and dialing 120.
The remaining words refused to come out.
Xing Jiahe was figuring out how to rescue the person from the car when he glimpsed someone lurking at the alley entrance.
He turned his head, and those people immediately fled.
Xing Jiahe frowned in disgust and then continued to work on rescuing the person.
Unable to help, Wen Tingxue crouched down and handed Shang Ziqian a wet wipe.
“Wipe yourself, you’re dirty.”
She was referring to his hands and clothes.
Shang Ziqian shook his head. After a long silence, he finally said, “Thank you… you guys.”
He genuinely didn’t want to thank Yu Wenli, but he couldn’t deny being saved.
Wen Tingxue smiled. “Don’t force it. If you don’t want to owe us this favor, just pretend it never happened.
“After all, we saved a person, regardless of who it was. It just happened to be you.”
Shang Ziqian lowered his head and remained silent.
After the ambulance had taken the person away, Wen Tingxue walked a few steps and couldn’t help but say, “Actually, you should start a new life too.”
Shang Ziqian remained seated on the ground, not making a sound.
After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Jiang crawled onto him and helped him wipe his hands clean with a wet wipe.
Then, she squatted down and rummaged through his pockets.
After a series of jingles, she said, “Brother, have a candy!”
Shang Ziqian lowered his gaze, looking at the crumpled milk candy in her hand. “……”
“Brother doesn’t like sweet things, you eat it yourself.”
Jiang Jiang looked back at her dad and, after receiving encouragement, pulled out a pile of things from her pocket.
“These are all of Jiang Jiang’s treasures. Brother, you choose…”
With a reluctant tone, Shang Ziqian couldn’t help but lift his eyelids.
Then, his mouth twitched. “Are you Doraemon?”
Jiang Jiang giggled. “Jiang Jiang is brother’s Dora… something… dream.”
Shang Ziqian chuckled.
Perhaps, it really was time to start a new life.
But before that, he had one thing to do.
Hmm… perhaps what I’m writing now won’t be very popular with everyone.
But I still want to write the stories in my mind bit by bit.
So, I’ll probably reach graduation around the end of this month, as there are still two or three major events.
Sorry, I miscalculated before when I said graduation in over ten chapters.
[Thank you all for your support. I’ve read all your comments, but recently the data has been falling too drastically.
So I’ve decided not to look at the data anymore and will just focus on writing the book.
I might check my comments again after a long time. If I don’t like a comment or don’t answer questions promptly, please don’t blame me~
I won’t run away. This book will definitely be finished.]