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In the old city, buildings are crowded, and people and cars are constant, creating an incongruous mix of liveliness and shabbiness.
Despite so many places to go and things to do, Cheng Mi had only been moving between two points for the past two days: home and school. She and Si Tingyan took the bus to and from school, and she had also requested time off from her job at the bar.
After school in the afternoon, Cheng Mi came out of the classroom and went upstairs to find Si Tingyan.
Si Tingyan didn’t have a competition class in the experimental building today. He wasn’t planning on leaving yet and was doing practice problems at his desk.
Cheng Mi walked into his classroom, passed the podium, and went to Si Tingyan’s desk.
Si Tingyan’s deskmate hadn’t left yet either and was writing furiously with a pen. Although her head was down, Cheng Mi knew who she was. She had run into her a few times when she came to find Si Tingyan before.
As before, Fu Xinwei didn’t even look at her properly, but her attention was clearly on Cheng Mi. As soon as she arrived, Fu Xinwei’s face visibly became unhappy. She put her pen in her pencil case, put her notebooks and workbooks in her backpack, zipped up her backpack, and got up and left.
Cheng Mi glanced at her but didn’t pay much attention. She looked back at Si Tingyan: “Are you going back?”
Si Tingyan said: “Sit down and do your homework first.”
Since he wasn’t leaving yet, Cheng Mi pulled out the chair of the student in front of Si Tingyan and sat down in front of him.
She took out the practice papers that the teacher had handed out from her backpack and started doing them with her pen.
Only a few students lived far away and stayed in the dorms at Fengxun High School. Most students were day students. After a short while, only a few people were left in the classroom, with only the students cleaning the classroom still there.
The students cleaning the classroom closed the windows and left together. The classroom suddenly became silent.
Cheng Mi was writing calculations on a piece of scrap paper when Si Tingyan’s voice suddenly sounded from behind her.
“Did that guy named Chen find you?”
The tip of Cheng Mi’s pen paused.
She looked up for a moment as if she could see Si Tingyan, then lowered her eyes two seconds later.
She didn’t refute, didn’t argue, and didn’t try to hide it. It was useless.
She asked: “How did you know?”
Si Tingyan said a not-so-heavy sentence: “By questioning you to find out.”
Qi Yunmiao only told Si Tingyan about Chen Zhaochi and Zheng Hongkai’s dirty plans that could ruin someone’s life, and she never mentioned that Chen Zhaochi had contacted Cheng Mi.
Cheng Mi put down her pen, turned her body, and then looked at Si Tingyan: “So you were questioning me.”
Si Tingyan looked into her eyes: “Did you ever think of telling me? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have let me find out so easily.”
Cheng Mi had to admit that Si Tingyan really understood her in some ways.
It was inconvenient to talk like this. She didn’t say anything, turned back, put her pen back on the desk, and got up from the chair.
Si Tingyan’s gaze never left her.
Cheng Mi pushed the chair under the desk so that the back of the chair was against the edge of the desk.
She leaned on the back of the front desk, facing Si Tingyan, and looked into his eyes: “Si Tingyan, you are smarter than me. There are some things that I tell you, and you can understand them, right?”
Si Tingyan seemed to see through her. He lowered his eyes and continued to do his practice problems in this situation: “How do you know I’ll understand?”
Seeing him like this, Cheng Mi knew that he had guessed what she was going to do next.
She looked at him and said in a normal but gentle tone.
“You have to understand.”
“Be a good boy, Si Tingyan.”
Si Tingyan couldn’t resist this side of Cheng Mi and fell silent.
A few seconds later, Cheng Mi started telling him her plan: “If nothing happens, based on their words alone, the police station won’t file a case.”
Without injuries or deaths, and no evidence of a crime, even if she called the police, they could only give a verbal warning. A case could only be filed if there was evidence of a crime.
Si Tingyan must also know this.
Cheng Mi said: “So they have to do something so we can send them to jail.”
Si Tingyan looked up at her: “So, you’re going to use yourself to create consequences?”
Outside the window, the green trees were connected. The sun didn’t show its face much today. The sky was overcast. Si Tingyan’s voice was almost integrated with this cold and gray atmosphere.
Cheng Mi was seen through by him but remained very calm.
In fact, Chen Zhaochi’s methods of revenge were nothing more than despicable means. She could figure out how Chen Zhaochi would take revenge on her.
She said: “Chen Zhaochi will definitely find people to mess with me. I have to let them leave evidence of a crime.”
Si Tingyan looked at her.
“Otherwise—”
They would just be like Li Chu back then. She was bullied, and her whole life was shattered, but she didn’t leave any evidence.
Because there was no evidence, Chen Zhaochi had been free for so many years.
Cheng Mi didn’t continue.
Si Tingyan also didn’t say anything, but Cheng Mi could vaguely feel the air pressure around him becoming more and more wrong.
She comforted him: “Don’t worry. Even if I die, I won’t let their dirty plans succeed.”
“I’ll find a way to stall until the police get there.”
The classroom fell into silence without a word.
After Cheng Mi finished speaking, Si Tingyan didn’t say anything either.
And since Cheng Mi planned to tell Si Tingyan, she was going to discuss it with him. She couldn’t push Si Tingyan out. She had to deal with her own problems herself.
Cheng Mi said: “Listen to me, okay?”
Cheng Mi originally thought that Si Tingyan would not be so easy to convince on this matter, at least not in the calm way he was now, not getting angry at her at all.
But Si Tingyan really didn’t say anything more and started to pack his things.
Cheng Mi was a little surprised. Did he agree?
Si Tingyan packed his things and got up from his chair. His attitude was unrefusable about going home: “Let’s go.”
He didn’t bring up the previous conversation again.
Cheng Mi couldn’t find any emotions on his face that would give him away. She smiled at him: “I’ll pack my things.”
She went to pack her practice problems and pen.
________________________________________
Li Chu hadn’t returned home since she left Cheng Mi’s room in the middle of the night to find Chen Zhaochi.
Li Chu was with Chen Zhaochi. She must have known everything they said and did in private, but she hadn’t called to check on Cheng Mi once.
The next day, when Cheng Mi and Si Tingyan got home from school, Li Chu was surprisingly back.
She was curled up on the sofa watching TV, tearing open a bag of potato chips.
Hearing the door open, she turned to look at them, then turned her head back.
Cheng Mi walked in front of Si Tingyan. Si Tingyan was blocked behind her and said: “Go inside.”
Cheng Mi’s hand then let go of the doorknob and walked into the entryway.
Si Tingyan closed the door behind her.
Cheng Mi changed her shoes in the entryway and handed her backpack to Si Tingyan.
Si Tingyan knew she was going to go talk to Li Chu. He took her backpack and went to his room.
A soap opera was playing in the living room. Just the scene that was playing on the TV now showed a deluge of melodramatic entanglements.
It was strange. Li Chu didn’t usually like watching these things. She watched more movies. She hadn’t watched a soap opera in eight hundred years.
But today, she was sitting on the sofa watching it.
After watching her for a few seconds, Cheng Mi walked over slowly, picked up the TV remote control that was on the sofa, and sat down next to Li Chu: “When did you start liking these things?”
Li Chu didn’t look at her. She kept watching the TV but didn’t remain silent and ignore her: “People’s preferences change.”
Cheng Mi also looked at the TV.
The two of them sat side by side on the sofa. The female lead’s cries were mournful on the TV.
Cheng Mi looked at the female lead’s tear-stained face and suddenly asked Li Chu: “Did Chen Zhaochi force you to dye your black hair?”
Since Jiang Xunzhi’s death, Li Chu’s hair color had been the same grandmother-gray for years, because Jiang Xunzhi said this hair color looked good on her, and Jiang Xunzhi liked this color.
Li Chu was very fair, and the grandmother-gray color complemented her beauty.
Since the last time they ran into each other at the barbecue restaurant, Cheng Mi had noticed that Li Chu had dyed her hair, a hair color that she had cherished like her life.
When Cheng Mi asked if Chen Zhaochi had forced her to do it, Li Chu said: “There was no need. I was happy to do it myself.”
Cheng Mi fiddled with the remote control in her hand: “Is that so? Did Chen Zhaochi ask you to change that hair color?”
The living room was silent for a moment.
Li Chu didn’t say anything.
Just then, Li Chu’s phone suddenly vibrated. The buzzing broke the stagnant air.
She moved her eyes away from the TV, took out her phone, and glanced at it. She didn’t say anything more to Cheng Mi. She stuffed the bag of potato chips in her hand into Cheng Mi’s hand, got up, and left the sofa to answer the phone.
Cheng Mi looked down. It was barbecue flavor.
One of her favorite flavors of chips.
The sound of the door closing came from the entryway. Li Chu had gone outside into the hallway to answer the phone.
The sounds of arguing were still hysterical on the TV. Cheng Mi turned off the TV and went back to her room.
When she got back to her room, Cheng Mi found that Li Chu had been in her room.
The room wasn’t messy. On the contrary, it was tidier than when she left at night, and it seemed a little emptier.
Whether it was the scented candle on the table or the clothes casually draped over the back of her chair.
Including the lighter that was casually thrown on the desk before.
Cheng Mi walked over to the closet and opened it. Sure enough, the clothes she had hung up for Li Chu inside were also gone.
Cheng Mi frowned slightly. A strange feeling quietly emerged in her heart.
She closed the closet door.
Cheng Mi glanced around the room but didn’t see Li Chu’s luggage.
The sound of the door opening came from the entryway. It should be Li Chu coming back. But Cheng Mi’s phone rang at this moment.
She glanced at her phone. It was a call from the owner of the bar where she was working recently. Cheng Mi pressed accept and walked to the window to answer the phone.
The bar was short-staffed. There were two resident singers. She had taken time off, and the other one had also taken time off.
The owner really couldn’t find anyone and asked Cheng Mi if she could make some time to go over tonight.
Chen Zhaochi and his friends were probably squatting somewhere outside. Although Cheng Mi was waiting for them to come knocking, the time was not ripe yet. She wasn’t foolish enough to go out and stir up trouble herself.
With a group of hot-blooded boys, a girl like her had no chance of winning. Overestimating herself wasn’t courage.
She took a cigarette and apologized to the bar owner, saying she couldn’t go.
The bar owner tried to persuade her a few more times. In the end, seeing that it was no use, he was probably annoyed and hung up the phone abruptly.
Cheng Mi knew she had lost her job.
While talking on the phone with the bar owner, Cheng Mi kept an eye on the door outside.
She didn’t hear the door open. Li Chu probably hadn’t gone out again after she came back.
Cheng Mi wanted to go out and talk to her. The door was not closed. She walked out of the room.
But as she walked out of the room, her gaze didn’t yet find Li Chu.
The scene at the end of the hallway window was the first thing to pierce her eyes.
Cheng Mi’s steps slowly stopped. Her eyes were looking over there.
At the window at the end of the hallway, Si Tingyan was holding a half-full glass of water.
And he wasn’t alone there. Li Chu was standing in front of him, looking up to kiss him.
Unsurprisingly, Si Tingyan avoided it with a look of indifference.
And as Si Tingyan turned his face to the side, his gaze also came over.
Cheng Mi’s eyes met his squarely.
Si Tingyan hadn’t done anything to feel guilty about, so he naturally didn’t explain anything to Cheng Mi.
Cheng Mi naturally wouldn’t misunderstand him either.
Si Tingyan’s gaze didn’t linger on Li Chu’s face for a second. He also didn’t say anything to her and left from in front of her.
And Cheng Mi’s gaze had already moved away from Si Tingyan and was on Li Chu.
Li Chu turned her head back. Her gaze met Cheng Mi’s. Her double eyelids were like a thin, sharp blade. Her eyes were still as sharp as usual.
There was not a single hint of guilt in the way she looked at Cheng Mi.
Si Tingyan walked toward Cheng Mi, grabbed her wrist, and was about to lead her into the room.
Cheng Mi was still looking at Li Chu and said to him: “I’ll talk to her.”
Si Tingyan looked at her, didn’t say anything, left the space for her, and went into the room.
The moment the door closed, the air in the hallway outside the room was frozen.
All sounds seemed to have been put on pause.
The window at the end framed a gray and white sky. Buildings were crowded together in the distance. Bare branches stretched toward the sky.
Li Chu stood there, just looking at Cheng Mi.
Cheng Mi had been bored while talking on the phone with someone earlier and lit a cigarette, but she hadn’t taken a single puff until the call ended.
She didn’t have time to take a puff of the cigarette she was holding between her fingers. The red tip had already burned down a small section on its own.
After standing for a while, Cheng Mi walked toward Li Chu at the end of the window.
Li Chu didn’t show the slightest fear or guilt.
Cheng Mi walked over and stopped in front of her. The ash on the cigarette she was holding had been building up for too long and flaked off.
Her tone was not one of shame or anger, but rather calm and relaxed: “Li Chu, do you believe I’ll press this cigarette butt on you?”
A lock of Li Chu’s hair fell from behind her ear. She smiled: “I believe it. You like Si Tingyan so much.”
“You and I are friends,” Cheng Mi said. “But I don’t like sharing my boyfriend.”
Li Chu’s gaze stayed on her face for a second, then moved away: “Is that so?”
Then she looked out the window: “Then have you ever thought about why I kissed him? Cheng Mi, have you ever thought that I’m the one who should be with him instead?”
Cheng Mi said: “What do you want to say?”
Li Chu’s gaze moved back from the window: “Nothing much. I just want to tell you that Jiang Xunzhi signed an organ donation consent form when he was in college.”
Cheng Mi knew she hadn’t finished yet and didn’t interrupt.
Li Chu’s thin lips moved a few times: “He donated all the usable organs after his car accident, but in the end, only his heart and kidneys were usable. All the indicators ended up matching a certain heart patient.”
Before she finished this sentence, Cheng Mi already knew what Li Chu was going to say.
Sure enough, Li Chu said next: “You should know what I’m going to say. It’s just like you’re thinking. Jiang Xunzhi’s heart was transplanted to Si Tingyan.”
Even though she knew this was the answer, when Li Chu said these words one by one, Cheng Mi’s heart still inevitably tightened at that moment, even though she knew that Li Chu hadn’t provided any evidence to convince her.
But the guilt she felt for Jiang Xunzhi and Li Chu had quietly taken root in her blood a long time ago. Their names only needed to surface together to completely shred Cheng Mi’s insides.
The emotions of pain and regret were dominant, but Cheng Mi still managed to find a trace of rationality. Her tone wasn’t flustered: “Si Tingyan never told me about the heart transplant, and Auntie Huiru never mentioned it. How can I believe what you’re saying is true?”
Li Chu looked at her deeply, then took out her phone from her pocket, tapped the screen a few times, and threw the phone to her.
It was a text message conversation.
Not only was the phone number on the screen familiar, but the contact name was also an old acquaintance.
Cheng Mi knew Jiang Xunzhi’s mother. Li Chu had stayed in an orphanage for a while when she was a child. Jiang Xunzhi’s mother was one of the aunts there. And Cheng Mi went there every day to accompany Li Chu. They got to know each other, and she ate a lot of candy from Jiang Xunzhi’s mom and Jiang Xunzhi.
And this text message on Li Chu’s phone was sent by Jiang Xunzhi’s mother.
The sending time was two years ago, not long after Jiang Xunzhi passed away.
[My child, Auntie will tell you what you asked, but your uncle and I hope you live a good life from now on, that you are smooth and safe. Xunzhi must also hope so.]
The next text message was Jiang Xunzhi’s parents’ reply to Li Chu’s question.
[Xunzhi’s heart was donated to a child from a family named Si in Fengxun. The heart transplant was very successful, and he is doing very well now.]
Cheng Mi’s mind buzzed. She suddenly remembered that two years ago, when she was in trouble, Si Tingyan was in the hospital in Jiacheng.
When she got into trouble was also when Jiang Xunzhi passed away.
The reason Si Tingyan knew about her and Chen Zhaochi at the time was because he was in the hospital in Jiacheng for a heart condition.
Li Chu said: “It’s a coincidence. You know that Li Yeheng and Si Huiru know each other, so we all know about Si Tingyan’s heart transplant. You were in the detention center at the time. By the time you came out, this had already passed, so no one mentioned it to you.”
After saying all this, Li Chu no longer wanted to say anything more to her. She snatched the phone from her hand.
She didn’t say a word and walked past Cheng Mi.
Not long after, the sound of a door opening and then closing came from inside the house.
Li Chu was gone. Silence was restored to the room.
________________________________________
Cheng Mi sat in her room for a while, then got up and went to Si Tingyan’s room.
She opened Si Tingyan’s door. He was sitting on the bed, holding a controller in his hand, facing the robot display case against the wall.
After Cheng Mi opened his room door, Si Tingyan looked up.
Si Tingyan’s eyes, at first glance, seemed calm and unperturbed, but if you stared at them for a long time, you would find that dangerous thoughts were hidden under those calm eyes.
Although he basically wouldn’t let people see it, human nature tends to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. There’s an instinctive reaction to danger.
This was Si Tingyan.
He and Jiang Xunzhi had no similarities at all.
Other than being good-looking, you couldn’t find a single similarity.
Cheng Mi looked at Si Tingyan.
Si Tingyan also looked at her.
About Li Chu’s words about Si Tingyan’s heart transplant, Cheng Mi wouldn’t stay silent and wonder. She wanted to come and clarify this matter. She wanted to ask Si Tingyan if he had a heart transplant surgery back then, and if he did, if the donor was Jiang Xunzhi.
Cheng Mi’s fingertips let go of the doorknob. She was about to walk into the room when she noticed something on the floor in front of her.
It was a small silver robot that Cheng Mi had never seen before.
She crouched down to pick it up. Before her fingertips could touch it, the silver robot suddenly turned away.
The robot walked into the room.
Or rather, it was forced by Si Tingyan to move out of her reach.
Cheng Mi glanced at Si Tingyan, muttering to herself that he was even jealous of a robot, not letting it take up a little of her attention.
Cheng Mi got up and walked toward Si Tingyan.
Si Tingyan also got up from the bed at this time. He didn’t look at Cheng Mi. He put the robot on his desk and didn’t let it come out to be seen by anyone.
Cheng Mi walked to his side.
Si Tingyan threw the controller back onto the bed.
Cheng Mi didn’t anticipate his next move. Si Tingyan grabbed her and was about to kiss her.
Because she didn’t expect it, her reaction was subconscious. Cheng Mi had to admit that Li Chu’s words hadn’t disappeared from her mind yet.
Before Si Tingyan’s kiss landed, Cheng Mi turned her head slightly and dodged it.
For a moment, only the sound of breathing was left in the room.
Si Tingyan’s emotions, which had been somewhat restrained, suddenly became gloomy and settled in his eyes with Cheng Mi’s movement.
It was as if something had suddenly shattered in that instant, something that Cheng Mi had given him.
Cheng Mi’s movement completely angered him, but he didn’t show any ferocity on his face. He just gradually exerted more force with his fingers, pulling her chin back.
Cheng Mi’s chin was hurting from his grip. She realized that she had just dodged his kiss and also sensed that Si Tingyan’s emotions were not right. Her back was pressed against the glass display case behind her with one hand, the one where the robot was placed.
They were moving around a lot, and a few things in the display case fell over.
Cheng Mi was about to say something, but her chin suddenly became loose.
Then, Si Tingyan’s slender fingers covered her lips.
The lower half of Cheng Mi’s face was almost completely blocked. Si Tingyan glared into her eyes.
She was wearing her school uniform jacket. Si Tingyan was pulling it off.
He wasn’t angry, he was calm to the point of being terrifying.
Si Tingyan was about to force her into his flesh, and his tone was flat: “Even if I really did receive Jiang Xunzhi’s heart transplant, you still have to get into this bed with me.”
Possessiveness and control almost eroded his sanity.
No matter what, she had to love him.
After Si Tingyan said that, Cheng Mi was stunned. She instantly realized that Si Tingyan had heard her conversation with Li Chu.
And it was only at this moment that she suddenly understood why Si Tingyan had lost control after she dodged his kiss.
Si Tingyan looked into her eyes with certainty: “So, if it’s true that I received Jiang Xunzhi’s heart transplant, you wouldn’t want me anymore?”
When he said this, his expression and tone were still normal. There were no emotions on his face. His tone was even cold and a little heavy.
But it was this kind of unreachable posture, saying words that were almost being brought into the dust by her, that made Cheng Mi’s heart collapse at once.
Cheng Mi didn’t know when Si Tingyan’s hand, which was moving her clothes, had stopped. She reached out and clasped her hand around the back of his neck, caressing it. Her eyes were on his.
“How could I not want you?”
Cheng Mi had never thought about it.
Knowing about Jiang Xunzhi’s matter, she was just uncomfortable, but the thought of breaking up with Si Tingyan had never crossed her mind.
But Si Tingyan and her had been in an unequal relationship from the very beginning.
Si Tingyan suddenly picked up the silver robot from the table next to them.
Then, with an ear-piercing crash, the robot was smashed to the ground, and metal fragments instantly scattered.
“The first time because of Li Yeheng, the second time because of your friend. I’m nothing!”
She had refused him time and time again.
Fine metal fragments scratched past Cheng Mi’s long curly hair.
Si Tingyan’s gloomy emotions finally had a crack of restraint at this moment.
Cheng Mi was being looked at by him.
Si Tingyan said to her: “You never wanted me.”
After saying that, Si Tingyan left the room.
________________________________________
The buildings in the shanty town were of varying heights. The power lines were yellow and old.
This area was about to be demolished and redeveloped. Most of the people had already left, so the atmosphere of life wasn’t very strong.
Chen Zhaochi lived in a two-story self-built house with only one room. It wasn’t spacious. The first floor was just a hallway with no door to block the wind. A rusty bicycle that had been abandoned for who knows how many years was thrown in the hallway on the first floor.
On the second floor, a bed was placed against the wall behind that door, with a window hanging to the side.
Li Chu came over after she received a call from Chen Zhaochi at home.
Chen Zhaochi had asked her to come over and sleep.
Literally, after she arrived, Chen Zhaochi really just held her and slept on the bed.
His grip was very strong. Li Chu was being squeezed so tightly she couldn’t breathe.
She asked: “Why aren’t you staying in the hospital?”
Chen Zhaochi had been in the hospital when he called her and had just been discharged.
“It was boring,” he lowered his head to kiss Li Chu’s neck. “After the check-up was done, I came out. Anyway, those cops came today.”
Anyone else with these injuries now would probably be in too much pain to even get out of bed.
Chen Zhaochi really didn’t care about his life.
Li Chu said coldly: “You deserve to die if you suddenly drop dead while walking.”
Chen Zhaochi laughed. He kissed her lips: “What’s wrong, are you hoping for my death so much?”
Li Chu slowly rolled her eyes at him: “Are you going to sleep or not?”
“Sleep. Of course, I’ll sleep.”
The word “sleep” was impure most of the time when it came from Chen Zhaochi, but not today.
The sky was getting dark. It wasn’t completely dark yet. Chen Zhaochi fell asleep buried in Li Chu’s neck.
His breathing was steady and even, and his posture was relaxed.
The longer she stayed with him, the more unguarded Chen Zhaochi became.
Li Chu was held in his arms but didn’t fall into a peaceful sleep with Chen Zhaochi.
She kept her eyes open for a long time, even though there was only the impenetrable, murky twilight in front of her.
She didn’t move at all, just lay there motionless until the sunset was completely gone, and the last ray of light in the sky fell completely into darkness.
Only then did she finally stop being like a puppet. Her eyelashes gained a life of their own.
Chen Zhaochi’s breath, which alternated between pauses and heavy breaths, brushed against her skin.
It was like he was torturing Li Chu with a knife.
This knife had been torturing Li Chu for countless days and nights. She had been tortured to the point where she had given Chen Zhaochi the illusion that their blood was about to merge.
These knives had to be paid back.
Li Chu’s hand, which was not trapped by Chen Zhaochi, reached under the pillow. Her movements were as light as if she were reaching for a cigarette.
And what she was holding in her hand was a knife.
Li Chu lay in Chen Zhaochi’s arms. After getting the knife, her movements were not hesitant at all, as if she had practiced it a thousand times.
Just then, the person next to her suddenly moved.
Chen Zhaochi seemed to be in an uncomfortable sleeping position and moved slightly.
He probably realized that Li Chu wasn’t sleeping. Chen Zhaochi’s voice was a little hoarse with sleep. He kissed her ear: “Can’t sleep?”
The knife in Li Chu’s hand didn’t hesitate for a second because of Chen Zhaochi’s kiss. Chen Zhaochi waking up had no effect on her.
Her knife was now less than half a meter away from him.
But because it was pitch black, nothing could be seen.
Li Chu turned her face around. Even though she knew Chen Zhaochi couldn’t see her, she still smiled: “Yeah, I can’t sleep. Want to take me out to play?”
She said, leaning in to bite and kiss Chen Zhaochi’s lips.
Chen Zhaochi pulled Li Chu’s head closer to him by the back of her neck, deepening the kiss.
Li Chu was passionately kissing him, her lips hot, but her eyes were as calm as ice in the place where Chen Zhaochi couldn’t see.
She could feel that Chen Zhaochi’s eyes were closed, and his long eyelashes occasionally brushed against her skin.
Li Chu responded passionately. At this moment, the tip of the knife suddenly plunged down.
It was both ruthless and steady.
Li Chu could almost imagine the sound of the knife tip sinking into Chen Zhaochi’s flesh in less than a second.
The next second, the knife tip tore a long, thin cut in his skin. The handle slipped out of Li Chu’s hand and crashed loudly against the wall.
The lights came on. Li Chu was flipped over and pinned down by Chen Zhaochi.
Her arms were grabbed in his hands. His grip was so strong it felt like he was going to break her hands off.
The veins on Chen Zhaochi’s forehead were bulging, but Li Chu, on the other hand, was as calm as water.
Chen Zhaochi grabbed her face with one hand, his thumb and index finger on her chin: “Li Chu, I gave you a chance.”
How could Li Chu not know? She even knew that from the moment she put the knife under the pillow, she had already been exposed in front of Chen Zhaochi.
She knew that Chen Zhaochi was pretending to sleep.
She also knew that his later slight stir was his way of giving her a chance. As long as she stopped, he could pretend he didn’t know and not hold it against her.
Chen Zhaochi leaned in close to her: “But that’s impossible now.”
Li Chu didn’t mean to beg for mercy at all. She smiled at him: “Is that so?”
The more indifferent and relaxed she was, the more it stung Chen Zhaochi’s eyes.
Chen Zhaochi squeezed harder, almost dislocating her bones: “I told you, if you try to get revenge on me, I’ll mess you up.”
Li Chu was indifferent: “Go ahead.”
Chen Zhaochi patted her cheek: “Are you finally done acting?”
He said: “Did you know I was just waiting for you to reveal yourself? You’re quite loyal, Li Chu. You came to get close to me for that bitch Cheng Mi. Does it disgust you to death?”
Li Chu was pinned down and couldn’t move. She laughed: “So you know you’re disgusting.”
Chen Zhaochi was not provoked. He said: “Don’t you forget that Cheng Mi was the one who killed Jiang Xunzhi.”
Li Chu was very calm: “The person who killed Jiang Xunzhi back then wasn’t Cheng Mi, and it wasn’t me. It was you.”
Chen Zhaochi smiled: “But it had nothing to do with me. Jiang Xunzhi was the one who drove into the car himself.”
“And, if Cheng Mi hadn’t called him to come, he wouldn’t have come, and he wouldn’t have died, right?”
Li Chu said: “You can change the subject. But if you hadn’t had dirty thoughts about Cheng Mi every day, would any of this have happened?”
She looked at Chen Zhaochi and smiled as she spoke: “Your mom not wanting you is what you deserve. No, you got off easy. You should have died.”
Chen Zhaochi was provoked. Li Chu’s throat was immediately suffocated.
She couldn’t breathe and couldn’t speak.
Li Chu suddenly thought of Cheng Mi. Right now, she should be preoccupied with the matter of Jiang Xunzhi and Si Tingyan’s heart transplant.
Telling Cheng Mi those things, Li Chu did it on purpose.
She knew that Cheng Mi had been watching her. She had to do something to distract her so she could do what she had to do.
Jiang Xunzhi’s heart was indeed donated after his death, and the transplant was successful.
But that person wasn’t Si Tingyan. It was a boy who was in the same hospital room as Si Tingyan back then.
Jiang Xunzhi’s parents’ text message was just out of sympathy for her, wanting to leave a little hope for a young girl so she could live a good life in the future.
In fact, the boy who actually received Jiang Xunzhi’s heart transplant died a few days after the transplant two years ago.
Li Chu remembered that day was November 15th.
Jiang Xunzhi had completely died from this world.
Her neck was being squeezed tighter and tighter. Every part of her body was gradually suffocating. Li Chu’s mind gradually went blank.
This world is beautiful, but there is no place that attracts me more than being by your side.
Li Chu’s vision gradually became blurred and dark.
You son of a bitch, go to jail.
If you go to jail, you can’t bully Cheng Mi anymore.
...
But at the very last moment before she died, Chen Zhaochi suddenly let go of her neck.
Chen Zhaochi’s eyes were a little grim: “Trying to provoke me? Did you think I didn’t know what you were thinking?”
Unexpectedly, air suddenly rushed in.
Li Chu started coughing violently, as if she was going to cough up her lungs.
Chen Zhaochi looked at her, his tone more serious than usual: “Li Chu, we are both not good people. I understand what you’re thinking the most.”
“You want me to kill you so I can go to jail, and Cheng Mi will be safe, right?”
Li Chu had no strength left in her body. She couldn’t say a single word.
Chen Zhaochi got off the bed, found some ropes from somewhere in the house, and tied her hands and feet.
He looked down at her: “Don’t even think about it.”
A few seconds later, Chen Zhaochi left. The door of the rented room slammed shut.