Back Then, I Adored You

Back then, if I had not acted the way I did during Old Master Gu’s 80th birthday, would my family members still treat me as their little princess and love me so?

Liang Doukou could continue with her questions, but none of them would make any difference now. She could not turn back time to change the fact that she had betrayed her relatives. She’d made the mistake of realizing too late that she could not fix mistakes such as these.

With that being the case, because she was the one who had started everything, she felt the need to personally end it. She was still of use to Zhou Jing, so on the afternoon of January 16th, Zhou Jing had invited her into her house with a smile on her face when Liang Doukou had shown up on her doorstep.

The two of them acted like they always had, chatting and gossiping with some business discussed, but after some time Zhou Jing suddenly had started having trouble breathing.

Arsenic is very poisonous, and death comes knocking within an hour.

Zhou Jing’s gaze had been incredulous, and Liang Doukou had been so calm that, when their eyes met, the moment was terrifying. Zhou Jing had wanted to call the police, but Liang Doukou had cut the telephone line and took her mobile phone away.

Zhou Jing had asked her “why” repeatedly, but Liang Doukou had never told her the reason, maintaining her silence until Zhou Jing was dead.

She had waited until Zhou Jing was motionless on the ground before she had walked up to her and checked to see if she was breathing. After confirming that she wasn’t, Liang Doukou had suddenly started cackling.

Zhou Jing is my best friend, but I killed her with my own hands… It’s ridiculous just thinking about it!

….

When Liang Doukou recalled all of this in the interrogation room, she started laughing quietly. In the confines of the room, her laughter was exceptionally clear and sharp.

No one would ever know Liang Doukou’s motive for killing Zhou Jing, nor how she gave up everything in her life to protect the man whom both she and Qin Zhi’ai loved despite how much the former hated the latter.

And no one would ever know that she truly felt regretful for all the foolish things she had done in the past, because no one would give her a chance to regret anything. Everyone had deserted her, including herself—In the end, she had also given in to crazy despair, as well as given up on herself.

Liang Doukou’s laughter grew louder and louder. At the end, it sounded more like crying.

……

“Nuannuan… Are you and Wu Hao… Really not getting married anymore?” Lu Bancheng asked Xu Wennuan after he stopped her in her footsteps.

Xu Wennuan seemed puzzled by his sudden question. There was a delay in her reaction before she nodded and hummed in response.

“Nuannuan, I overheard everything between you and your mother during your phone call…” Lu Bancheng said honestly.

Xu Wennuan bit her lip. She remained quiet, as she knew that Lu Bancheng had not finished what he wanted to say.

Lu Bancheng seemed to be hesitating, as well, about how he should approach the topic. He leaned against the door and, after a minute of silence, moved his lips. “Nuannuan, I can help you pay back the one million–dollar dowry.”

Xu Wennuan had not expected Lu Bancheng to suddenly say something like that. Her eyes were filled with surprise as she gazed at him.

“You see, my mother has been pressuring me to get married, but you know how things are with me. I haven’t found someone suitable for me yet, and I don’t really want to get married. So, if you’ve decided that you’re not going to marry Wu Hao, you can consider faking a marriage with me so I can get my mother off my back…”

Lu Bancheng paused momentarily before he continued. “Let’s just stay married for a year. We can get a divorce after one year. I won’t interfere with what you do on a daily basis, and all you have to do is to accompany me to dinner at my parents’ place once every month. Of course, I won’t touch you…”