Draft
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If Su Jingyang was a "step too late" and endlessly regretted Xiang Cao's incident, then Su Jingyang had deep powerlessness for Lu Qian's choice.
Lu Qian was originally depressed because of his betrayal of Gao Zhanfei and his love for Lin Jia. Lin Jia had a special growth environment and his brain worked in a completely different way from him. Lin Jia probably never thought that Lu Qian would leave him to die. He really believed what Lu Qian said, thinking that going to the kitchen to steam ten Yiyan rabbit buns would make Lu Qian forgive him, excitedly calling Xiao Er to help prepare the flour so early in the morning.
Gao Zhanfei's death, Lin Jia's miscalculation, and Lu Qian's sensitivity and overthinking were destined to not have good results.
Su Jingyang was stopped by Rong Ci that day and couldn't go to see Lu Qian for the last time, but when he found out that Lu Qian heard the truth about Gao Zhanfei's approach to him before he died, he could no longer hold back his heart from tearing. At that time, Lu Qian was shocked and desperate. The happy interludes and memories in his heart that even Lin Jia couldn't destroy were just a scam full of maliciousness! But for the man who lied to him, he left behind the one he loved and ended his life with his child. Everything is irreversible... This was truly chillingly cruel.
Su Jingyang had a high fever for several days, Ling Li silently helped cook the medicine and porridge, while Rong Ci cared for him. Su Jingyang burned in a daze the day before and accidentally vomited on Rong Ci. After that, he remembered feeling overwhelmed, but Rong Ci didn't mention it and continued to take care of him.
Su Jingyang felt dizzy, waking up from sleep, and finally opening his eyes. He found Rong Ci standing by the bed again and changing the cold towel on his forehead. He couldn't help but say, "Ah-Yi, just go... I really have no conscience. I won't remember your kindness to me. Stop wasting your time."
Rong Ci ignored his words completely and found that his spirit looked much better than before. His black eyes were solemn, staring at him for a while. He suddenly asked in a deep voice: "Su Jingyang, I want to ask you, you always like to match others up, is there any special reason?"
Su Jingyang's heart seemed to abruptly stop, staring at for a while Rong Ci in a daze. Avoiding his direct gaze, he said in a hoarse voice: "What reason could there be? If you really have to ask, I can only say I was born as a nosy humanitarian."
Rong Ci didn't believe it. He had always felt that Su Jingyang was trying hard to leave here, but he wasn't simply just trying to mix in, it was as if he had to complete some specific task, it wasn't something simple enough to be called meddling.
But he didn't find any traces of any curse or poison on Su Jingyang's body.
Rong Ci asked: "Have you ever had anything unusual happen before, or, did you have any lasting difficulties..."
"No, no, no! It's nothing! I just like being nosy, stop asking, go away!! I've woken up and don't need your care." Su Jingyang knew that he asked about this because he cared about him, but he still became upset when asked about it. He pulled the quilt over to cover himself, turned his back, and stopped talking.
Su Jingyang who was wrapped in the quilt and breathed in a few times, suppressing the disturbance in his heart. He soon realized that he was too willful.
Su Jingyang listened for a long time with his ears erected but didn't hear the sound of Rong Ci leaving. He hesitated for a moment and poked his head out of the quilt, he turned his face away only to find Rong Ci leaning his head gently against the bed frame with his eyes closed. At the moment, a shadow was cast over him, he seemed to be asleep. Even if he had fallen asleep, that face was still full of coldness.
Su Jingyang took off the towel on his forehead and got up from the bed, silently staring at him for a long time. He finally pulled off a thin sheet of cover from the bed and gently placed it on him.
Hearing the movements of him lying down again, Rong Ci opened his eyes and looked at the back of the head full of tangled hair facing him. His lips curled slightly.
When Su Jingyang's fever finally retreated, Xu Mei and Mu Jin made time to see him. Xu Mei was embarrassed when he heard about Lu Qian. He wanted to take Su Jingyang out to relax, but Su Jingyang wasn't in high spirits, he didn't want to disturb the interest of the newlyweds, so he smiled and said that he had just recovered from a serious illness and wasn't suitable for going out.
Xu Mei couldn't help but chat a few more words with him before leaving with Mu Jin.
Su Jingyang was ill not disoriented. He still remembered what day it was that night, and refused to allow Rong Ci to take care of him, nor did he allow Ling Li to come to accompany him. Ling Li knew that he wanted to sleep alone every few days. Although he was still worried about him, he didn't insist on it. When it was time to go to bed, he took Ah-Xuan and left.
Rong Ci stayed for a while longer. His eyes were locked on his face, and he didn't seem to want to go very much. In the end, Su Jingyang got up and pushed him out step by step.
Diving into the familiar dream again, Su Jingyang was actually active but seemed to have lost desire, laying there like a corpse and letting that person stick to him with a numb expression.
In fact, starting from some time ago, the guy in the dream began to stop entangling with him as long as he did at the beginning, and usually only limited to doing it twice. But today, something seemed to have made him go crazy, his movements were more intense. He went on till the dead of the night and reluctantly stopped, hugging and kissing him for a long time.
Su Jingyang could only guess the cause for this person's sudden abnormality was either because he had lost his willpower to resist and surrendered to the control of the system, or because he... imagined him as someone else.
After Su Jingyang returned to his bed, he fell asleep tiredly, but even though he had fallen asleep, the irritability in his heart kept burning; he felt truly pitiful and pathetic!
He had another dream, no, to be precise, it was the ghost of that system. Some of the cases it had received were directly transmitted into his mind, and those painful and real pictures have been looping endlessly since.
There were people who have been endlessly abused through domestic violence, but not everyone, like Xiang Cao, revolted against it. Some people were ruthlessly cast out because of infertility, but not everyone was as lucky as Xu Mei meeting Mu Jin. Some people were fooled into marriage and jumped off buildings with a bulging abdomen and overwhelming despair, repeating a bleak ending like Lu Qian...
There were also the hysterical screams and moans of various victims. The cruel suicide scenes of people jumping off rooftops, jumping into the sea, and bloodied wrists were all intertwined in his mind. This dream was full of oppressive despair! Su Jingyang was falling, he closed his eyes and sweated profusely. He wanted to wake up, but he couldn't wake up.
The voice in my mind was replaced with comments and ridicules from bystanders, "You won't learn if you're not hurt, you deserve to be beaten!" "Who else to blame but yourself for not being able to give birth? Which hen won't lay eggs?" "You are stupid and blind. You didn't want to open your eyes and see clearly before you got married, now you're hurting your children! Selfish!"
Su Jingyang was very angry. He wanted to refute that not everyone in this world is invincible, not everyone is born with a smart and sharp brain, and not everyone had strong willpower.
Why not scold the perpetrators, but instead clothe the victims with unwarranted crimes? ! !
Su Jingyang's throat choked and tremble. He slowly opened his eyes, they were fully bloodshot.
He spoke, his voice clearly full of suppressed anger, "Xiang Cao, Xu Mei, and Lu Qian you arranged for me to meet all of them?! Yes or no?"
The system sneered: "Does it need to be deliberate? There are many such things around you, too many to count. It's wouldn't be unusual for you to run into it two or three times."
Su Jingyang raised his hand and pressed it against his painful head. Blue veins danced under his forehead.
The system said again: "Besides, I just want you to experience childbirth. You scumbags, what you've wrought, I'll let you suffer in the same way. Let you, perpetrators, also taste the desolation of the victim! And you won't be merely just a bystander!"
Su Jingyang only felt blood rushing to his head. All his experiences during this period, all the grievances and injustices he suffered during the half a year he stayed in this world, finally turned into a wave of monstrous anger breaking out!
He got up and got out of bed quickly, panting heavily, and threw everything on the table. Everything he saw, he smashed fiercely. He destroyed and screamed with red eyes, "I'm the perpetrator!!! The perpetrator! What did I do wrong? I just asked one sentence! One sentence!!! What the hell did I commit a heinous crime!? Did I perform domestic violence? Did I cheat in a relationship? Did I cheat in the marriage? Everything is just in your imagination! I didn't do anything, why should I come here, why should I suffer this! Why do I have to see this?! Educate me?! Who do you think you are? The messenger of justice? You're just a stupid thing controlled by hate!!! In fact, what is the difference between you and the perpetrators you mentioned?!!!"
Everything that could be smashed in the room had been smashed. Su Jingyang was full of pain. He held his head and shouted with heartbreak: "I want to go home, you let me go home!! I don't want to stay here! You fucking let me go home!!!"
When Su Jingyang shouted the last sentence, tears began to fall from his eyes. His face was flush, tears surged, and he suddenly knelt on the ground weakly.
The system laughed hehehe and said: "Do you think you can still go now?"
Rong Ci and Ling Li heard the unusual movements and rushed in one after another, looking at the mess in the house. Rong Ci and Ling Li were shocked at Su Jingyang sitting on the ground, crying and shaky.
The two of them helped Su Jingyang up first, but Su Jingyang didn't even look at them. He broke away from their grip and wiped his face. The tears on his chin were still trickling, his eyes were blank. Putting on a piece of clothing casually, he put on shoes and walked out.
Rong Ci and Ling Li followed silently, and when they reached the entrance of the inn, Su Jingyang turned his head and roared like a furious lion: "Don't follow me! Don't you follow me! Go away! Go!"
Ling Li's eyes were red and confused, Rong Ci frowned, "What's the matter with you?"
The gloomy anger in Su Jingyang's heart was burning, and his tearful eyes were full of coldness. It was as if he had changed to someone else, what he's saying seems to be completely out of his control, "I'm doing nothing wrong! What's wrong with me is none of your business! I've warned you time and time again, I have to leave sooner or later, don't expect anything from me! Out! Get out!"
Rong Ci's eyelashes trembled fiercely, and the curvature of his mouth became as cold as ice. He stared at Su Jingyang's pale and ghostly face.
Seeing Su Jingyang turn and leave, Ling Li eagerly followed him. Su Jingyang used all his strength to suppress the violent hostility in his heart. With a tense voice, he said with great difficulty, "Ah-Li go back first, I want to relax by myself."
Ling Li clasped his hands tightly, his face was full of panic and unease. He looked at him and said with a trembling voice: "Then you... then you must come back. Jingyang, you must come back, I'll be here waiting for you, I..."
Su Jingyang had already walked far away.
Su Jingyang only had on his shoes and clothes, wandering aimlessly in the streets with a head full of tangled hair. It felt like he had returned to the first day he came here; always filled with confusion and helplessness, ridiculous and absurd.
When his legs became too tired to walk, he simply found a place to squat down. He raised a hand and touched his forehead, it felt it was starting to burn again.
Su Jingyang exhaled a hot breath and stared at the ants on the ground in a daze.
System no. 1 struggled to come out and chatted with Su Jingyang for a while.
The anger in Su Jingyang's heart had gradually dissipated after a whole morning of bitter marching, leaving only a void.
"Just now, I heard the dog say; let the perpetrator taste the taste of the victim, if so... Xiang Cao, Lu Qian, they are..." After Su Jingyang calmed down, he felt a little chill go down his back because of his thoughts.
"No, someone from this world can only be thrown into another world, otherwise, it will collapse completely. However, in other worlds, there are indeed people who were punished by no. 2 like them. It removed their previous memories and changed their genders. Those who engaged in domestic violence became trapped in domestic violence. Those who drive out their wives out of the house with verbal abuse will become abandoned in turn. Those who deceive in marriage will also be deceived and hurt, and they will never escape such shackles. A tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye." System no. 1 sighed softly, "Although such an approach is understandable, using violence to control violence isn't the right way after all. And it's getting more and more extreme, more and more innocent people like you are becoming involved."
Su Jingyang was stunned, he didn't know what to feel for a while.
Su Jingyang told it about the pictures in his dreams, and System no. 1 said that they were all recorded from real lives.
It said: "It's far more than you can perceive. However, badness is gender-neutral, but there are relatively more women in disadvantaged groups, so I chose this path at the beginning."
Su Jingyang looked at the distant crowd with blank eyes and whispered softly: "Some people who are bad are really bad, but I'm innocent, I'm really innocent. I... when will I finally be able to go home?" He didn't know whether he was asking the system or himself.
System no. 1 remained silent for a long time, and finally just said: "You... I'm afraid you won't be able to leave for the time being."
Su Jingyang thought it meant that he was still far from finding the protagonist. His already cold heart seemed to get even colder, so cold that it hurt.
System no. 1 soon went offline again. Su Jingyang was tired from squatting and sat on the ground. He sat there in a daze, as if he couldn't feel the passage of time. It wasn't until his body got heavier and heavier that he realized that something was wrong with him. Just as he tried to stand up, his eyes went black and he fainted.
Su Jingyang was completely dizzy, when he woke up, he found himself lying on a very spacious and comfortable bed, the sky outside was already bright.
Su Jingyang thought his promise to Ling Li to go back. He panicked and hurriedly sat up, wanting to lift the quilt to get out of bed, but his head was still spinning.
He was still struggling to get out of bed. He was wearing his shoes when someone came in. Su Jingyang looked up and saw a man with a solemn cold-faced guard. He held a bowl of medicine in his hand and put it on the table, saying: "Take the medicine before leaving."
Su Jingyang knew that he must've saved him. He was very grateful. He walked over to pick up the medicine and drank it, and then he thanked him.
The guard said, "You wandered around where our master lived for a long time muttering to yourself. You're lucky you weren't locked up for questioning. You can leave after drinking the medicine."
Su Jingyang was secretly surprised. He was confused yesterday and didn't know where he had gone. From the words of the guard, he must have met some big man. If he stayed for a while longer, he would just be suspicious. Su Jingyang no longer stayed and walked outside honestly.
This is a big house. Su Jingyang followed the guard who led the way and turned a few times along the corridor. It happened that a young man wearing a golden attire and jade crown was passing surrounded by another group of guards.
He has picturesque eyebrows, a tall nose, a fair complexion, and an extraordinary noble look about him. It was completely different from Liang Lu's young master temperament, but a breathtaking and awe-inspiring atmosphere.
The guard hurriedly pulled Su Jingyang, who had been stunned in place, aside. But Su Jingyang was so shocked that he reacted only after a while and quickly gave way. His head was currently a mess.
"The master is asking you something." The guard pinched Su Jingyang severely and gritted his teeth.
Su Jingyang raised his head hurriedly, facing cold black eyes like twin cold stars, he swallowed nervously. Asked what! ? He didn't hear it at all!
"I..."
"Your eyes, why did they keep following me? Do you know me?" The young nobleman looked at him, his tone was slightly slow, his voice was very nice, even a bit soft, but Su Jingyang was a little numbed inexplicably.
Su Jingyang shook his head hurriedly and then smiled pretendingly, "Of course I don't know thou. I was thinking about how to thank you personally for saving me."
The corners of the young nobleman's mouth curled to a smile, but there was a bone-biting coldness in his expression, "You lied, you were greatly shocked just now."
Su Jingyang thought: You and Ah-Xuan look like you've been carved out of the same mould, how can I not be shocked? ! !
Su Jingyang had already speculated about his identity at this time. He must be Ah-Xuan's other father who had got away. However, Ling Li said at the time that there seemed to be some misunderstanding with this person. Su Jingyang didn't dare expose Ling Li and Ah-Xuan easily. He forced himself to look back at the person in front of him and said cautiously: "Then... I'll be honest. I implore the nobleman to please not blame me if I offend."
The young man stared at him but didn't play according to the routine, "You shouldn't say that I mustn't blame you. You tell me first, I'll judge it according to the situation and decide whether to blame you."
Su Jingyang had no choice but to scratch his head, pretending to be honest, and said: "That's right, I- I've just come from a small place. This is the first time I've seen such a good-looking person like you. I was stunned."
"..." The young man stared at him for a long time and was about to leave without expression when suddenly, someone came in and whispered a few words into his ear. He unexpectedly glanced at Su Jingyang and said: "Let him in."
Su Jingyang didn't know the situation and was about to leave quietly, but the young man said: "Someone's here to pick you up."
Pick him up? Who'll pick him up? Does anyone even know he's here? Su Jingyang was confused. Just as he was still scratching his head, he saw a black-clad Rong Ci walking in with long legs.
When Su Jingyang saw that it was him, he immediately remembered the words he had screamed at him yesterday. Secretly embarrassed and uncomfortable, he hurriedly avoided his gaze.
Rong Ci stepped forward, he first glanced at Su Jingyang, who turned his face away with an unpredictable expression, before looking at Ming Zhan.
Ming Zhan said with a smile to Rong Ci: "City Lord Rong, after a long absence, your spirit has become even more outstanding."
As soon as Ming Zhan spoke, Su Jingyang felt as if his brain had been hit hard by a hammer. He slowly, little by little, turned his head back in an extremely stiff and awkward posture, and looked at Rong Ci in disbelief.
——What did that young man say just now? ? ? ! !
City Lord Rong? ? ? ? ? ! ! ! !
......艹! ! !
Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck! ! !
At this time, Rong Ci had no time to take care of Su Jingyang who was breathing fire in fury. After seeing Qing Mingzhan's face, he was utterly stunned.
When Rong Ci saw him that year, he was attacked by a Gu and his face was festered. He went to Rongcheng to find a solution, Rong Ci tried his best to help him. Ming Zhan had a special status and it was inconvenient for him to stay in Rongcheng. After finding a solution, he quickly left Rongcheng and recuperated in the town where Ling Li lived.
Rong Ci never saw his real face from beginning to end. But now, one thing was clear... Rong Ci glanced behind him subconsciously.
Ming Zhan seemed to think that Su Jingyang's expression was very interesting, and said resignedly to Rong Ci: "It looks like I ruined a plan of yours."
Rong Ci dragged Su Jingyang, who was glaring at him, to his side. He held his waist and smiled at Ming Zhan, "No, I thank Young Master Ming for taking care of him. It's inconvenient to keep on bothering you, so we'll need to leave first."
"——Jingyang !!!"
Ling Li's crying voice rang, Su Jingyang and Rong Ci's froze at the same time. Su Jingyang wanted to turn around and stop him but Ling Li had already ran over with Ah-Xuan.
Because Su Jingyang hadn't returned all night, he felt like he was already going crazy. from the panic. He was afraid of Su Jingyang encountering an accident and also afraid of Su Jingyang's departure. Rong Ci found Su Jingyang's whereabouts and brought him to wait in a house next door for now.
But Ling Li was too anxious. Not long after Rong Ci went in, he also took the child in with him and entered. He didn't know why, the guard at the door seemed stunned when he saw him and the child, but he didn't stop him. Ling Li quickly took the opportunity to run in.
Ling Li rushed in front of Su Jingyang and threw himself into his arms, clinging to his neck tightly. His tears fell, full of sadness that was almost overflowing, and he choked: "You said you would just go to relax, why didn't you go back? I almost died of worry, Jingyang, don't scare me like this in the future, alright? Let me stay with you wherever you go, I beg you..."
A Xuan also took Su Jingyang's hand, he raised his delicate face and looked at Su Jingyang with big eyes, begging softly, "Uncle, uncle, come back with us, okay?"
Su Jingyang's face was also stiff, his hands were also stiff, and he put his hands on top of Ah-Xuan's head and forced him to turn around. He was about to push Ling Li slightly out of his arms, take his hand, and hurry away.
But someone else was a step faster.
Ming Zhan strode over and yanked Ling Li out of Su Jingyang's arms. He gripped Ling Li's wrist tightly and looked into Ling Li's shocked eyes full of tears. There seemed to be an undercurrent surging under his dark orbs. Gritting his teeth, he raised his voice slightly: "It's really you!"
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PastTimer: That was such a long one... the plot thickens!? No seriously, we're about to approach the main plot, the plot is about to start. There's gonna be a lot going on, it's gonna be a wild ride so buckle up. It's gonna go down, and it is gonna be dirty. (btw we're already halfway through, this has 77 chaps overall <3)