After what happened in his previous life, Xia Shule's mental state had been deeply troubling, and he had shut himself in his room. The immense trauma had caused him to subconsciously forget those memories, locking them away in the depths of his mind.
That was why, in the days that followed, he had held no one accountable and blamed no one. He had clung to Jiang Gechen just as before and remained friendly toward Zhou Anyang.
He wanted to tell everyone that he had not been debasing himself. He had simply been ill. He had simply forgotten everything.
A few days later, Jiang Gechen had pushed him into the water, and in that instant, the buried memories had come flooding back.
In other words, the moment Xia Shule was reborn-the moment he opened his eyes in the banquet hall-had been the moment when the blow he suffered was at its most devastating.
Jiang Gechen, who had gone unpunished in his previous life, had escaped punishment in this one as well. Xia Shule was not surprised by that. If some things could be changed, then there had to be things that could not.
But Xia Shule himself had not noticed that his expression had already fallen.
He began picking at his hands uncontrollably, his eyes vacant. Something looked wrong.
Yan Zhiyi had kept his attention on Xia Shule the entire time, so he noticed the change immediately.
He sat down beside Xia Shule and wrapped a large hand around his shoulder, offering a sense of security as he asked gently, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Xia Shule came back to himself, unaware of what he had just been doing unconsciously. "What? No, I'm not feeling unwell. Thinking about Jiang Gechen just makes me a little... sick."
Xia Shule had simply remembered what happened in his previous life, but he had no way to tell Yan Zhiyi that. Who would believe something like that?
Yan Zhiyi stroked his back with his large hand, assuming Xia Shule simply thought the punishment was insufficient. Never mind Xia Shule-he thought it was insufficient too, especially when he saw the bandages on Xia Shule's hand.
The kid was still so young. This might well have left him traumatized.
"Don't worry. With me here, he won't get off easy."
Unexpectedly, those words lifted a weight from Xia Shule's heart. He did not even know what that weight was. All he knew was that he felt much lighter.
Xia Shule clutched the hem of Yan Zhiyi's clothes, hope shining in his eyes. "R-really? Uncle Yan, you have to punish him harshly... Only... only you can help me."
"Don't worry. What do you want to happen to him, Lele?" Yan Zhiyi thought that whatever the kid wanted, he would make it happen.
Xia Shule's gaze went blank. "I want... I want him to get on his knees and beg me to spare him."
Suddenly realizing what he had said, Xia Shule snapped back to himself and cautiously glanced at Yan Zhiyi.
But Yan Zhiyi only looked slightly startled before saying, "All right."
The two looked at each other in silence, yet both seemed to have a thousand things to say.
Xia Shule, especially, could hardly describe the shock he felt. Yan Zhiyi had just... just agreed so easily?
"Did you... did you not hear what I said?"
"I heard you clearly. My answer is yes."
Xia Shule was speechless.
Why was he willing to help me like this? Just because of our deal to get married? From the very beginning until now, this man had treated him far too well.
Xia Shule had no shortage of people who treated him well. On the contrary, he had long since grown used to it. What was rare was having a man like this treat him well. Someone who struck fear into people's hearts, whether in the original plot or in real life, would actually treat him...
The little devil inside Xia Shule seemed to have found a kindred spirit. "All right, then. No going back on your word."
Meanwhile...
Because the dose of the drug had not killed Xia Shule, and because he had inflicted the wound on his wrist himself, which fell outside the scope of the drugging offense, Zhou Anyang received a sentence of only six months.
Jiang Gechen found a way to reduce it to one month and promised to give him more once he got out. This was merely a stalling tactic.
And so... Zhou Anyang hated Xia Shule even more.
He believed that if not for Xia Shule, he would never have ended up like this. If Xia Shule had not made such a fuss, he would not be in this situation. Xia Shule had never minded their little antics so much before, yet this time he had suddenly gotten angry.
Every day he spent locked up, he cursed Xia Shule and waited for Jiang Gechen to come rescue him.
Meanwhile, Jiang Gechen was overwhelmed with company affairs and had no time to spare for Zhou Anyang. A massive gap had opened in the Jiang Corporation's funding chain.
Every day, Jiang Gechen was either dealing with company business or arguing with his father. Jiang Shou was the classic example of someone with no ability and a terrible temper. He offered one idiotic suggestion after another, then flew into a rage whenever one was rejected.
Whatever brains Jiang Gechen had probably came from his mother.
Jiang Gechen suspected that Xia Shule had retaliated after learning he had not been imprisoned. Remembering the last time he had seen Xia Shule made his heart ache a little.
And since when had the Xia Family become so powerful?
With Jiang Gechen so busy over the past few days, even Song Dimu had enjoyed a few days of peace. He no longer had to race to his boss's side every day as though he were speeding down a racetrack, only to face his unpredictable moods.
Jiang Gechen's hand began to itch, and he called Song Dimu. No one answered the first time. The anger bottled up inside him already had nowhere to go, and listening to the ringing phone only made him more agitated.
He called a second time. Finally, just before the call was about to disconnect, Song Dimu picked up.
"Hello?" Song Dimu's voice was hoarse and weak, as though he had just woken up.
"What the fuck were you doing? Why did you take so long to answer?!"
The moment Song Dimu heard Jiang Gechen's voice, cold sweat broke out all over him. The lingering fear was still written on his face as he gulped down fresh air, clearly not yet recovered from certain things.
He ran a hand through his sweat-soaked hair. "I had a nightmare."
"Hurry up and get ready. Come see me at the office."
"Beep..."
The call ended. Jiang Gechen did not care what Song Dimu had dreamed about or how he was doing. His tone was as commanding as ever.
Setting down his phone, Song Dimu sat on the bed in a daze. Jiang Gechen's attitude meant nothing to him.
He had had a long, agonizing dream. It had hurt so much that it felt as though his heart had been cut open, so much that he had felt like a robot following a route laid out long ago.
He had dreamed of Lele... Lele had been... by Jiang Gechen...
And he had watched helplessly as the other man... After it was over, he had actually married Jiang Gechen.
Their married life had seemed happy, but Jiang Gechen's possessiveness had grown increasingly obvious. And because Lele's death weighed on his conscience, Jiang Gechen had begun tormenting him.
Finally, one day, after being tormented until he barely resembled a human being, he had resolved to kill himself.
Only then had Jiang Gechen realized his mistake. He had knelt beside his hospital bed, crying as he spoke. He said he had not known to cherish Lele back then, and now Lele was gone. Then, because of someone who was already dead, he had failed to cherish the person right in front of him.
In the end... he had forgiven Jiang Gechen, and they had lived happily together.
Why?! Why?
He was the one who made every mistake, yet everyone else bore the punishment.
It had been too real-so real that Song Dimu still could not recover.
His lips trembled as he dialed a number.