At the same time, at the villa halfway up the mountain.
Chi Ye was the playful type.
Even though he was almost thirty now, a man who wasn't married was still essentially a boy.
So, under normal circumstances, he was never short of his drinking buddies.
"This game is lost."
Chi Ye picked up the black piece unhappily.
The man opposite him smiled faintly, his presence filling the room, "There was still room for a comeback."
"Forget it, playing with you, it's always a loss. I won't struggle on my deathbed." Chi Ye was very self-aware.
"Second Master Fu's chess skills are indeed superb; I heard he was taught by a national master."
"As his closed-door disciple, his chess skills are naturally beyond comparison to us common folk. Only someone like Master Chi can put up a few moves."
"With Second Master Fu's excellent chess skills, it's no wonder his business is also doing so well."
A crowd of people around them chimed in with flattery at every opportunity.
After all, he was a rare magnate from the capital, and it was a chance to get acquainted with him when he finally came to visit.
Fu Yuchuan smiled faintly and started a new game, with Chi Ye still holding the black pieces.
However, before a move was made, the outside began to stir.
The noise reached the inner room, and Chi Ye yelled impatiently, "Chirping incessantly, can you come in and talk properly."
The group of people quickly entered, and in rapid succession, they relayed the drama at the Xie family as a joke to the two magnates.
Chi Ye had no strong feelings for Xie Liangzhe, only remembering that he was very dirty.
As for Xie Jin Yi?
"That young girl seemed quite normal, why is she so crazy?"
Everyone speculated, and Chi Ye's head ached, so he quickly raised his hand, "Alright, what was Xiao Wen's reaction?"
This was what he cared about.
Yu Wenli doted on Wen Tingxue like his own eyeballs.
Could she tolerate such great injustice without a reaction?
Chi Ye wanted to watch the show, but the show hadn't even started yet.
"This... we haven't heard anything."
The others looked at each other, unable to provide an answer.
Chi Ye rolled his eyes, "What good are you? Keep watching."
As he raised his hand to make a move, he paused and added, "And keep an eye on my own brat."
When Madam Xie heard the commotion and went upstairs, Xie Jin Yi was barely clinging to life.
Her whites were showing, looking terrifying.
"I'll strangle you to death! If I had known today would come, I should have just thrown you to your death back then! You useless piece of trash, I raised you for so long, and you're no good at all, and you've caused me so much trouble!"
Xie Liangzhe was completely on the verge of collapse.
He didn't notice Xie Jin Yi's condition at all, only wanting to strangle her.
"Are you crazy?!"
Madam Xie rushed over and screamed sharply.
"No matter what, she's still your daughter. Do you want to go to jail because of her?!"
As she pulled forcefully, she also scratched his hand with her nails.
For some unknown reason, Xie Liangzhe suddenly let go.
Xie Jin Yi fell to the ground, coughing violently, as if she were going to cough up her internal organs.
She looked utterly pathetic, but her beauty and temperament made her even more striking in her misery.
Especially with her disheveled hair and bruised face, the brokenness was heart-wrenching.
No man could resist it.
Xie Liangzhe regained his composure and squinted, "If you still want to live, you'd better handle this properly. I'll find a wealthy family in the capital to marry you off, and then my raising you won't have been in vain."
Xie Jin Yi coughed, her throat aching terribly, and paid him no mind.
Madam Xie, however, nodded repeatedly, "Don't worry, I'll definitely raise her well and never let her cause trouble again."
"Hmph!"
Xie Liangzhe snorted coldly and left without looking back.
Before leaving the door, he received a call from the capital.
"Who is it?"
His tone was extremely impatient.
The other party smiled, "Hello, Mr. Xie, I am Second Master Fu's special assistant, Jiang An."
Second Master Fu?
The Fu family from the capital?!
Xie Liangzhe's face instantly turned obsequious, "Oh, it's Assistant Jiang. My apologies, my apologies, I was just..."
"Why are you throwing a tantrum with your father? You still rely on him for your meals!"
Madam Xie nagged unhappily, and Xie Jin Yi looked at her with reddened eyes.
Her eyes were as cold as ice.
If her throat hadn't been too sore to speak, she would have asked her: As a mother, why didn't you even ask if I was in pain?
Madam Xie babbled on with a lot of nonsensical things, but not a single word of concern.
Disappointed, Xie Jin Yi stood up, slammed the door, and locked it.
No matter how much Madam Xie scolded her outside, she pretended not to hear.
After a long while, the surroundings finally quieted down.
Xie Jin Yi's throat felt a little better. She took out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and sat on the bay window, smoking slowly.
A tablet was playing an anime by her leg, the volume not too loud, making the room feel exceptionally quiet.
Xie Jin Yi exhaled smoke rings with practiced ease. The marks on her neck were already turning purple.
But she didn't care at all, just smoking one cigarette after another.
Actually, when she was asked for help at the infirmary that day, she had thought about giving up.
But at that time, she hadn't seen her own heart clearly and thought she liked Yu Wenli.
Therefore, she couldn't stand Yu Wenli buying her sanitary pads.
Driven by her obsession, she couldn't help herself and acted again.
If she had a chance to do it over, she would rather not have had the incident at the snack street; then her heart wouldn't have been broken.
After finishing the last cigarette, Xie Jin Yi blinked blankly at the pitch-black night.
Her eighteenth birthday had been a complete disaster.
After a long while, she rubbed her fingertips and took out the bracelet Wen Tingxue had given her from her pocket.
And the peace charm she had personally begged for.
It was the first time in her life anyone had gotten her a peace charm.
And on her birthday, she had lost it...
Xie Jin Yi chuckled self-mockingly and prepared to turn off the tablet to take a bath.
However, the moment she raised her hand, a line came from the screen:
"You met someone, made a mistake, you want to atone, to pay it back, only to realize in the end that you are powerless to turn back time..."
Yes.
She was indeed powerless to turn back time.
From the moment Shang Ziqian appeared, she knew she was finished.
Her world was once again left with only herself.
Actually, it wasn't that she hadn't thought about explaining, but some things couldn't be mended with explanations.
Since that was the case, why should both of them suffer?
She was used to suffering her whole life, and a little more wouldn't matter; as long as she was okay.
Xie Jin Yi held the bracelet and the peace charm, and under the influence of the anime, she cried silently yet heartbreakingly.
The only friend she had in her life had drifted away on her eighteenth birthday.
"I'm not afraid, I'm just afraid of implicating you."
"It will pass, everything will pass, everything will get better, I'll wait with you for the dawn."
Alas, she would not see the dawn.