Cen Lingqiu left.
Before she left, she said, “Tomorrow, I will give you a birthday present.”
“This is what I promised you.”
Yu Mingjiao covered her face with her hands, consumed by an immense hatred. The rims of her eyes were already crimson.
She hated Cen Lingqiu’s silence.
Hated her hypocrisy.
Hated her games.
This hatred was different from the hatred she had felt for her in the past. She couldn’t explain the origin of this feeling in her heart. What was this hatred like?
It was like the twisted struggle a young child feels after being abandoned.
Cen Lingqiu had promised Yu Mingjiao a birthday gift. Although Yu Mingjiao would likely not accept anything from her now, she still had to do it.
December twenty-second, the winter solstice.
This was Yu Mingjiao’s birthday.
Cen Lingqiu went to an ancient town in the suburbs, following the route provided by the System to a certain house.
She knocked on the door.
After waiting for a while, the door opened.
“You are…”
A dignified and gentle woman spoke.
Cen Lingqiu nodded. “Auntie Shen, hello. I’m a friend of Yu Mingjiao.”
The woman was a close friend of Yu Mingjiao’s mother. After Yu Mingjiao’s mother died, because both her own parents were already gone, the woman had heard about her best friend’s suicide and rushed to Yu Lianyi’s house to take all of her belongings back with her.
And among these belongings was a diary.
That was precisely what Cen Lingqiu was looking for.
In the original plot, to make the female lead happy, the male lead found this woman and asked for the diary. Because of this, the female lead’s attitude toward the male lead softened slightly.
Cen Lingqiu knew this diary was very important to the female lead, so she wanted to give it to Yu Mingjiao as a gift.
After hearing her request, the woman slowly took a sip of tea and thought for a long time before asking, “Is that child doing well?”
Cen Lingqiu’s tone was humble. “Not very well. At seventeen, she fell from a building in an accident, and her legs were unfortunately crippled.”
The woman’s hand trembled. “What happened?”
Cen Lingqiu told the woman about Yu Mingjiao’s life.
The woman was silent for a long time, her gaze lost. Finally, she sighed.
“Two unfortunate souls.”
The woman stood up, went to the study, and gave her a box.
“Her mother’s diary is inside, along with some other things.”
Deep wrinkles had formed around the woman’s eyes, and her tone was laced with deep bitterness. “When her mother died, I always felt that it was the child’s birth that killed her. Because of that, I didn’t want her things to have any contact with the child, so I took them all away.”
“Sigh, in the end, they are both just two ill-fated people.”
The woman gave a bitter smile. “When you give this to that child, please help me tell her one thing: I’m sorry.”
The woman held Cen Lingqiu’s hand and spoke with her for a while, asking about Yu Mingjiao’s situation over the years.
Cen Lingqiu selected a few things to tell her.
By the time she was ready to leave, the sky had already darkened.
Cen Lingqiu bid the woman farewell and drove back.
The mountain road from the ancient town was remote and sparsely populated. Because it had snowed a little in the morning, the road surface was very slippery, and she didn’t dare to drive too fast.
She glanced at her phone. Seven o’clock.
I should be able to give it to her before midnight.
Cen Lingqiu wondered about Yu Mingjiao’s reaction to her gift. Would she be disgusted? After all, the girl no longer trusted her.
Yu Mingjiao must hate me right now.
After today, she could leave this world.
There was a sense of dazed unreality.
Sigh.
To think that she and Yu Mingjiao would part on such unpleasant terms.
Cen Lingqiu thought aimlessly.
Just then, a car driving on the wrong side of the road suddenly rushed toward her. Seeing that her car was about to crash, Cen Lingqiu violently turned the steering wheel, but the front of her car was still hit slightly. Her car was sent veering toward the cliff!
Because of the snow, the tires skidded. No matter how Cen Lingqiu turned the wheel, the vehicle uncontrollably swerved.
Bang—
Cen Lingqiu’s eyes widened as she watched helplessly as the front of the car crashed into the guardrail at the cliff’s edge. Immediately after, the entire car flipped over the cliff!
Her entire being was filled with a dizzying, overwhelming pain. Cen Lingqiu was barely conscious enough to comprehend what had happened. A huge, piercing crash sounded in her ears, making it impossible for her to open her eyes.
By the time her surroundings fell silent, she was in too much pain to move.
It hurts so much.
It hurts so much.
It was the same kind of pain as when she was eighteen, dying all alone in that storage shed.
Her eyelids were half-open, her whole body unable to move. She could only feel the cold rapidly draining from her body.
So cold.
She thought hazily, if only Yu Mingjiao were here.
She was so cold and wanted to be close to the warmth of Yu Mingjiao’s body.
Oh.
The gift.
I haven’t given it to her yet.
Cen Lingqiu breathed weakly, her eyes vacant.
The snowy night was utterly silent, save for the ticking of a watch.
Cen Lingqiu’s eyes were slightly open, her eyelids blinking with extreme slowness. Amidst the sharp pain, she slowly closed her eyes.
Yu Mingjiao spent her birthday alone. Cen Lingqiu didn’t come.
She sat silently on the balcony, from day until night.
At the stroke of midnight, it began to snow.
A heavy, heavy snow, a snow that seemed capable of burying a person.
Her birthday was over.
Her twentieth birthday was just like all the others.
She withdrew her gaze and left the balcony.
After that day, she never saw Cen Lingqiu again.
Yu Mingjiao didn’t care, because she didn’t want to see that person anyway.
She went to school and prepared for her exams as usual, but she had started to eat poorly again, getting by on just one piece of bread a day.
After school, her eyes would unconsciously drift toward the giant plane tree by the street.
That was where Cen Lingqiu often waited for her.
“Mingjiao, what are you looking at?” An Wu followed her gaze. “Are you looking for someone?”
Yu Mingjiao said flatly, “No.”
An Wu added, “By the way, Mingjiao, how come that big sister hasn’t come to pick you up these past few days?”
Yu Mingjiao’s expression turned cold. “She won’t be coming anymore.”
An Wu noticed her mood, pressed her lips together, and said no more.
The day she passed her second interview, Yu Mingjiao’s final exams had just ended.
When she returned from school, she saw a strange man standing at Cen Lingqiu’s door.
Yu Mingjiao gave him a faint glance and paid him no mind. Just as she was about to open her own door, the man suddenly stood up, walked a few steps toward her, and called out, “Little girl—”
Yu Mingjiao turned and looked at him quietly.
The man scratched his head and smiled. “Um, do you know the owner of this apartment? A lady named Lin Qiu.”
Although the man was smiling, he had a long scar on his face, a tall build, and the air of a ruffian.
Yu Mingjiao narrowed her eyes slightly. “What do you want with her?”
Seeing that she knew her, the man leaned in and said, “That lady… she owes us a bit of money. I want to get it back, but I can’t reach her by phone. Can you help us contact her?”
Yu Mingjiao wanted to ignore the man. After all, that woman’s affairs were no longer her concern; whatever happened to her had nothing to do with her.
But her body seemed to be out of her control, showing no intention of turning away.
Yu Mingjiao’s sixth sense told her that this man must have some kind of transactional relationship with Cen Lingqiu.
But why would that woman know someone like this, and even owe him money?
A young lady like her, how could she possibly owe someone money?
Even if she didn’t want to admit it, to this day, she still desperately wanted to know anything and everything about Cen Lingqiu.
Yu Mingjiao’s tone was calm. “I’m her friend. She’s busy with something recently. I can help her pay it back—”
The man’s eyes lit up.
Then Yu Mingjiao added, “But you have to tell me exactly what kind of debt she owes you.”
The man’s throat tightened.
Seeing him hesitate, Yu Mingjiao said in a harmless tone, “I’m her friend. I just want to show some concern for her.”
The girl before him looked completely harmless, with clear eyes. She was also disabled and was willing to pay Cen Lingqiu’s debt. She must be a simple-minded person.
Since she was willing to pay the debt, it meant their relationship was good. It probably wouldn’t matter if he told her the truth.
The scarred man thought for a moment, and in order to get the money, he told her the truth.
The man was the older brother of one of the loan sharks. His younger brother had been commissioned by Cen Lingqiu to first trick a man into participating in their gambling, then trick that man into taking out a high-interest loan from them, and finally, using the man’s inability to repay the debt as a reason, give him a beating.
During the beating, his younger brother had accidentally had his knife snatched by the man and was stabbed in return. Although it wasn’t serious, he wanted to get some money from Cen Lingqiu for medical expenses and other compensation, treating it as a work-related injury.
He briefly explained the matter to Yu Mingjiao.
He saw the girl’s face suddenly turn pale, her expression becoming grim.
“What’s that man’s name?”
The scarred man thought for a moment. “Uh… I think his surname is Yu or something. I don’t know which ‘Yu’ it is.”
Yu Mingjiao’s eyelids trembled violently.
“That money…”
Yu Mingjiao gave the man a sum of money. After receiving it, the man left, satisfied.
After the man left, Yu Mingjiao remained outside the door, not entering for a long time.
She was like a robot that had been paused, completely still.
The man’s words had been too shocking for her to recover.
According to the man, Cen Lingqiu’s goal was to drive her father into a dead end.
But why would she do that?
Doesn’t she still hate me?
Otherwise, why would she give her father money? Wasn’t it to join forces with her father and Lin Dong to drag her into their scheme?
It was all too contradictory.
A wave of panic suddenly surged in Yu Mingjiao’s heart. She had a vague feeling that her suspicions were not correct.
Yu Lianyi.
She had to find Yu Lianyi and ask him clearly.
Yu Lianyi was lying on the sofa. After fainting that day, his injuries had worsened. Now, he didn’t even have the strength to go to the bathroom.
Let alone sending Yu Mingjiao to Lin Dong’s side.
It was all that damn girl’s fault.
Yu Lianyi thought hatefully.
He moved his body slightly, and his face contorted in pain.
The door was suddenly thrown open violently, startling Yu Lianyi.
“Son of a—” His words caught in his throat. With a ferocious expression, he said, “You wretched girl, you dare to come back.”
Yu Mingjiao said nothing. As soon as she entered, she picked up the fruit knife from the coffee table, walked up to him, pinned down his uninjured hand with one of hers, and held the knife to his neck with the other.
Terrified by her actions, Yu Lianyi didn’t dare to move. His eyes widened, and he stammered, “What… what are you trying to do?”
Yu Mingjiao’s expression was terrifyingly calm.
“Why did that woman give you money? What did she say to you? Why did you have Lin Dong’s phone number? What were the three of you planning to do?”
Being interrogated by his own daughter, Yu Lianyi’s pathetic machismo flared up. He roared at her, “Is that how you talk to your old man? And this knife, have you gone crazy, you damn woman?”
As he spoke, he tried to shake Yu Mingjiao off.
But his body was completely useless now; he couldn’t even fight off a small child.
Yu Mingjiao twisted his broken arm, and the man cried out in pain.
She had no patience left for the man. Her gaze hardened, and she pressed the tip of the knife against his neck. A bead of blood quickly trickled out.
“Tell the truth.” Beneath her calm exterior hid a massive storm. Her eyes were dark and sinister, like a snake that had long dwelled in a cave, utterly cold.
Yu Lianyi was a coward by nature. He instantly lost his earlier bravado. Under the threat of the knife, he told the truth in a trembling voice.
Bang.
Her self-righteous suspicions finally collapsed, shattering into a mess of bleak, gray embers.
She had been wrong.
In that instant, a strange sense of joy bloomed in Yu Mingjiao’s heart.
She threw the knife into the trash can and paid Yu Lianyi no more mind.
This man was already a wreck. Even if he recovered later, the enormous high-interest debt would follow him.
His life was already ruined.
Yu Mingjiao returned home as fast as she could and went to Cen Lingqiu’s door.
The suspicions that had caused her so much pain had shattered, and hidden within the ashes was a long-lost trace of joy and astonishment.
That woman hadn’t been trying to harm her.
In fact, everything Cen Lingqiu had done was for her own good.
Although she didn’t know why she had kept it a secret, it didn’t matter. She wouldn’t hold it against Cen Lingqiu anymore.
She seemed to have lost her temper with her back then and said some awful things.
Would she be angry?
If I apologize to her, will she continue to be good to me?
For the first time, Yu Mingjiao experienced the feeling of having made a mistake.
She didn’t know what to do.
Yu Mingjiao stood at the door, hesitating to knock.
“What are you doing here?”
Wen Zhi walked toward her, carrying a bag.
“Where’s Lin Qiu?”
Wen Zhi looked at her in disbelief, her expression tinged with pain.
“You don’t know?”
Yu Mingjiao felt a vague sense of unease and frowned.
“Know what?”
“Lin Qiu is dead.”
Enjoy uninterrupted reading experience with instant access to all chapters at your convenience.
