Chapter 390: Revenge Begins

Upon hearing Jia Qi's words, tears streamed down my face.

What on earth... what on earth am I doing?

I've been in the darkest corners of this world, telling the person I least wanted to be with that I'd do anything for them. And in front of the only person who truly likes me, I've shown the side of myself I most wanted to hide.

I'm truly heartbroken.

The kinder Jia Qi is to me, the more I want to run away.

I shouldn't drag him down any further.

"Chen Ze... what's wrong with you?" Jia Qi readjusted my coat and smoothed my hair. "Did something happen last night? Do you need me to help sort it out?"

"I..."

I knew that if I spoke about this, it wouldn't just be my problem anymore—Jia Qi would be dragged into it no matter what.

Even if I were the one to kill that family of three, he'd become an accomplice for knowing and not reporting it.

"It's nothing..." I could only shake my head, burying all the past inside me, just like every day before.

Article 274 of the Criminal Law states that extortion involving a relatively large amount or repeated acts shall be punished by up to three years of fixed-term imprisonment, detention, or control.

If Cheng Cai served three years in prison, it wouldn't mean anything to me. After he got out, I'd be facing an eternal hell.

Jia Qi looked at me for a long time before slowly giving a bitter smile. "Chen Ze, I came across an interesting question. Let me ask you."

"Um." I snapped back to attention and nodded.

"If someone gave you ten million yuan, would you want it?"

"What?" I didn't quite understand.

"Suppose someone offered you ten million yuan right now—would you take it or not?" Jia Qi repeated.

"If someone was giving it away for free... of course I'd take it." I stared at him blankly.

Jia Qi nodded with a smile. "What if, after getting the ten million yuan, you'd die at dawn the next day? Would you still take it?"

"I..." I gave a bitter laugh and sighed. "Then I'd definitely say no."

"In other words, in your eyes, waking up tomorrow morning is more important than ten million yuan." Jia Qi placed his hands on my shoulders and said seriously, "So every day when we wake up, we should tell ourselves that this is a day more precious than ten million yuan, and we absolutely can't waste it."

"What...?"

"Chen Ze, every day you wake up is more important to me than countless ten million yuans." Jia Qi still had that firm and clear expression. "We have a long future ahead—let's cherish every day and keep moving forward."

He buttoned up my shirt one by one, then gently touched my head. "You don't need to do anything in front of me that you don't want to do, because I don't just want to be your 'boyfriend'—I want to be your true other half."

Ah, my life.

My tragic life—it's been one mistake after another.

If I had accepted Jia Qi's love a little earlier, maybe my whole life would have turned out differently.

If there was someone in this world who could love me like this, I could completely give up on that elusive family bond and stop holding any illusions about those blood relatives.

I could never naively go back home and give my brother a red envelope as his sister.

I could never naively think that after twenty years away, their hostility toward me would lessen. Or that after twenty years, the changes in my hometown would make things better.

And I'd never be locked in that dark room again.

Unfortunately, I've never been a smart person—just a stubborn ordinary one. Every time I make a choice, I never think about how it will end.

So this is all my own fault—I have no one else to blame.

Stop being kind to me—I don't want to have any hope left.

Because I'm about to "destroy my entire family," becoming the undeniable devil of this world.

In the following days, I acted as if nothing was wrong and stayed with Jia Qi, just waiting for the fifth day to arrive.

On the fifth day at dawn, I turned on the air conditioner and TV at home, then went downstairs and disconnected the dash cam in my car, disabling my phone's location services.

Next, I contacted the most expensive scalper online, but I didn't call them—I insisted on communicating via WeChat.

After spending 18,000 yuan, I successfully bought a front-row ticket to Zhou Jie Lun's concert from the scalper, and then asked them for some Zhou Jie Lun merchandise, which cost another 200 yuan.

I took a photo and posted it to my WeChat Moments, hiding it from Cheng Cai, with the caption "So excited."

As people started liking it, I anonymously shared the QR code from the ticket stub—which said "Do not disclose"—to Zhou Jie Lun's fan forum, along with a post asking, "Is this a real ticket?"

If all went as planned, even if I didn't go to the concert, that ticket would be used up.

Then, I reached out to a few people from the "gray areas" who had previously asked for my help with legal matters. I had them discreetly buy some essentials for "arson and murder," and I gave them a hefty fee to keep quiet.

The final step was going to a street copy shop to print two blue-background numbers to stick on my license plate and change the plate number. I didn't need to alter all the digits—just two, and the car wouldn't be mine anymore.

Once everything was ready, I drove toward "home" with the sunrise.

I avoided all highways and national roads, sticking to small village paths as much as possible to evade cameras, even though I'd changed the plate.

By evening, after winding through the last mountain road, I parked my car in an inconspicuous spot at the village entrance. Then, I opened a ride-hailing app and ordered a car from my family's building to the Zhou Jie Lun concert venue.

A few minutes later, the driver called.

"Hello?"

"Miss, I'm here. Where are you?"

"Driver, I'm not getting in. Just go straight to the destination, and I'll pay the fare."

"What?"

"That's it. I'm hanging up."

Watching the app show "Trip started," I locked my phone, set it to silent, put it in my pocket, grabbed my handbag, and headed into the village.

I took the least noticeable path, avoiding everyone's eyes, until I reached my "home."

I hid my handbag by the water jar at the door and knocked.

They seemed to be watching TV, laughing as a family, and it took a while before someone came to open the door.

"Zhang Lai Di?" Cheng Cai opened the door and broke into a delighted smile. "You're back?!"

"Yes, let me in." I smiled at him. "I want to chat with you all."

"Mom, Zhang Lai Di is back," Cheng Cai called out.

"You damn brat!"

The woman had been cheerfully watching TV, but as soon as she heard Cheng Cai, she stormed out cursing. "What the hell are you doing back here?! What did you do? Why did the police take Old Ma away?"

She waddled over, her bulky body moving quickly, and pointed at my nose, yelling, "The whole village says you're a jinx who brings bad luck to husbands! What the hell did you do?!"

"Hey! Enough! Enough!" My old man pulled the woman back with a grin. "Lai Di finally came back—don't start cursing."

Seeing my old man's beaming face, I smiled and walked toward him, pushing him aside as I entered the room behind him.

This warm and happy room was covered in photos of me.

In every photo, I was crying.

But they had just been laughing here.

Of course, I now understood why my old man always smiled when he saw me.

He always had that smile when he looked me over.

My new sister-in-law was holding one of my photos and spitting out sunflower seed shells. She'd been laughing at the TV the whole time, not even glancing at me.

"Sister-in-law," I called.

"Ha ha ha!" She laughed and spat out shells, then gave me a sideways look.

If possible, I didn't want to harm this girl, because she might have gone through the same things as me.

Before I could say another word, she thrust the sunflower seed shells into my face. "Here, throw these away for me."