"Ha... Ha—"
Zhong Qing's heart felt like it was being squeezed by a big hand. It was hard for her to breathe. She was like a fish that had left the water and was gasping for air on the shore. She fell on the carpet, and the pain spread from her five viscera and six bowels to her limbs and bones.
The smooth and snow-white carpet twisted into a ball as Zhong Qing struggled. Her fingers, which were like dead branches, clutched the corner of the carpet tightly. Her long hair was soaked in sweat and scattered all over the carpet. Zhong Qing's body twitched like a spasm. She barely opened her eyes, and the dazzling light made her unable to move.
It hurts... it hurts...
It turned out that this was the feeling of near death. Zhong Qing's vision gradually blurred. She felt that her body was getting colder and colder, and bright red blood flowed from her wrist, soaking a large part of the carpet.
She was gradually losing consciousness, but the horrible pain in the depths of her soul still did not let go of her. In the muddle-headed pain, Zhong Qing's memory was pulled to the moment before she committed suicide—
She wore a snow-white dress and stood by the pond outside the hotel with Zhong Nian. Her sister, who had grown up with her since she was a child, was her father's child, but Zhong Qing had never been biased against her over the years.
But why did the child who once held her hand and called her "sister" suddenly become so terrible?
"Sister, do you want to know who Gu Zihan really cares about?" There was a strange smile on Zhong Nian's lips. Before Zhong Qing could catch hold of her, she fell backward.
"Bang—" The pond exploded, and the water droplets fell on Zhong Qing's face.
She opened her eyes wide in horror. She did not know why Zhong Nian would suddenly fall into the pond.
"Help! Help!" Zhong Nian cried in the pond. "Sister! Sister, save me! I beg you to save me!"
Zhong Qing was scared silly. She even forgot to breathe. She just watched Zhong Nian slowly sink in the water.
At this moment, a black figure suddenly jumped into the water. Zhong Qing was shocked. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the black figure. It was her fiance, Gu Zihan.
"Young Master Gu is in the water! Someone! Someone!"
"Young Master! Young Master!"
At some point, many men in black came from all directions, including the guests who should be waiting for the engagement ceremony in the hotel. They were all gathered by the pond.
Zhong Qing watched her half-sister Zhong Nian being held in her arms by her fiance, Gu Zihan. They came out of the water wet. Zhong Nian had been holding Gu Zihan's neck from beginning to end. They were so intimate... It seemed that he was an outsider standing next to her.
"Xiao Nian!" Chu Shuzhi pushed aside the crowd and ran over with Zhong Jingyun. Zhong Qing was pushed aside by Chu Shuzhi on purpose. Wearing high heels, she lost her balance and fell to the ground.
Unfortunately, no one cared about her. Everyone's attention was focused on Gu Zihan and Zhong Nian.
"My daughter, my daughter!" Chu Shuzhi held the shivering Zhong Nian in her arms, and her tears fell like rain. Zhong Jingtian, who was next to her, was even more worried.
"Zhong Qing! What do you want us to do?" Chu Shuzhi turned her head and said angrily to Zhong Qing in front of everyone, "Xiao Nian and I have promised you that we will not rob you of the property of the Zhong family. We just want the family to live a safe life. Why don't you let us go?"
"You know that Nian doesn't know how to swim. Why did you push her down? Zhong Qing, we have never dared to provoke you. Why are you doing this to us..."
As she spoke, Chu Shuzhi wiped away her tears. Zhong Nian curled up in her mother's arms. Zhong Qing had no idea what had happened. She only saw her fiance, Gu Zihan, take out a blanket and put it on Zhong Nian.
"Sister, do you want to know who Gu Zihan really cares about?"
It was like a sharp warning! Zhong Qing's hands and feet instantly turned cold. She did not dare to think about the meaning of what Zhong Nian had just said.
"No, it's not me." Zhong Qing looked at her father's suspicious eyes and the surrounding guests' jokes. Zhong Qing's explanation was very pale. "I didn't push her. Zihan, believe me, I didn't..."
Gu Zihan, who was already soaked in his suit, stood up and looked down at Zhong Qing. At this time, Zhong Qing found that Gu Zihan, who she thought was not cold-hearted, had never shown his feelings in front of her.
Now... who was the man standing in front of her who looked displeased and even disgusted? He had the same face as Gu Zihan. Why did Zhong Qing feel that he was so strange?
"I respect you, but you bully her again and again. Zhong Qing, haven't you played enough?" Gu Zihan's voice was like an extreme glacier in the North Pole, which made Zhong Qing shiver.
"I didn't bully her. I really didn't!" Zhong Qing climbed up from the ground awkwardly. Ignoring the dirt on her body, she grabbed Gu Zihan's sleeve and explained, "She jumped into the pond by herself. I really didn't. Zihan, believe me!"
"Sister..."
Zhong Nian, who had stood up with the help of Chu Shuzhi, had spent most of his makeup. Tears streamed down her face, making her look especially pitiful. Without saying a word, Gu Zihan shook off Zhong Qing's hand, walked to Zhong Nian's side, and held her in his arms.
This was the same as giving Zhong Qing a resounding slap in front of the elders of the Gu family and the Zhong family!
"I, I just want to wish you and Brother Gu good luck. I mean no harm..." Zhong Nian's shoulders kept shaking. She looked at Zhong Qing with fear in her eyes. Everyone who knew Zhong Nian knew that she was a timid person. Now she looked like Zhong Qing had done something to her.
Zhong Qing looked at Zhong Nian in disbelief. She didn't know why her sister would lie like this.
"Zhong Nian, you..."
"Sister, I beg you to spare my mother and me." Zhong Nian knelt in front of Zhong Qing and kowtowed to apologize. "I have never wanted to compete with you for the property of the Zhong family. My mother and I can do nothing. I beg you to let us go! I just want my father and mother to be safe. I can give you everything else..."
His words caused a stir in the crowd.
"The eldest daughter of the Zhong family is such a person?"
"I thought she had a grudge against Chu Shuzhi and Zhong Nian. I didn't expect her to be so ruthless. Do you really think Zhong Jingtian can protect her?"
Zhou Han looked at Zhong Qing and could not stand still. He lifted his skirt and wanted to help her, but his brother Zhou Qingyu grabbed his arm. On the other side, Gu Ziyu was warned by his mother Wei Mengjun and was not allowed to come forward to help.
No one stood on Zhong Qing's side, because everyone was used to pitying the weak. However, it was not like what Zhong Nian had said. Zhong Qing's mind was in a mess. She did not know how such a thing would happen, and how could she explain it to herself?
"Pa!" Zhong Jingtian slapped Zhong Qing in public. Zhong Qing turned her head to one side, and the tears in her eyes were scared back. In Zhong Qing's memory, her father had never slapped her since she was a child.
How... how could it be...
Zhong Nian was gently helped up by Gu Zihan. Zhong Qing looked at the two of them, who were as intimate as a couple, and her heart ached as if it had been gouged out. She had loved Gu Zihan for many years, but she had fallen in love with Zhong Nian.
"No... I didn't... I didn't..."
No one believed Zhong Qing's weak explanation. This engagement party was like a joke. The Zhong family had lost so much face in front of everyone, and Zhong Jingtian had already lost face. With a daughter like Zhong Qing, he was really disgraced!
"Get lost! We don't have a unfilial daughter like you in our Zhong family!"
Zhong Qing still remembered that she was trembling at that time. Those who had watched the show had left, and Gu Zihan had helped Zhong Nian leave. No one looked at Zhong Qing anymore. She was a joke more ridiculous than a clown.
Zhong Qing opened her eyes and stared at the snow-white ceiling.
There seemed to be a ball of fire on her chest that was about to burst out. Zhong Qing tore at her clothes. Even though she lost a lot of strength because of the pain, her nails still left a bloody mark on her chest.
"She isn't dead yet?" She subconsciously held the wrist in her left hand, but the wound on her hand was gone. Zhong Qing struggled to sit up from the ground, but she couldn't find the fruit knife that cut her wrist...
She stumbled to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. Her face was pale and her mouth was pale. She looked like a zombie.
"Ha." Zhong Qing put on a self-mocking smile. She washed her face with cold water and then moved back to the living room with difficulty.
May 4th.
Zhong Qing held her phone tightly and looked at the date on the screen. She couldn't believe her eyes.
She should be dead.
How... how did it return to three months ago?
Zhong Qing's brain was racing, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't explain clearly what had happened. What shouldn't have happened had happened. She had returned to three months ago when she was engaged to Gu Zihan.
"Is this a joke made by God?" Zhong Qing could not help smiling bitterly. She did not dream. The reality was even more dramatic than the dream. She had returned to all the nightmares.
"What's this? Did God give me a chance to come back?" Zhong Qing rubbed her chest, and the feeling of depression finally dissipated. It seemed that a long, long time ago, the sadness that was so painful that she didn't want to live had happened.
"Gu Zihan... Gu Zihan..." Zhong Qing held her legs on the sofa. She wanted to cry, but she couldn't. The name that could smile happily when she said it turned into a needle in Zhong Qing's heart.
She still remembered how Zhong Nian framed her, how Gu Zihan hated her, and how his father, who took care of her, abandoned her...
It turned out that everything was fake. Everything was just an illusion that she thought was beautiful. A tear fell from the corner of her eye. In this empty and cold room, Zhong Qing finally burst into tears.
But fortunately, God gave her a chance to see clearly again and asked her to restrain the fate of being deceived and manipulated!
