"Fortunately, the stab didn't hit any vital organs, and since it was treated promptly with only a small wound, stitching it up will be enough," the doctor at Zhongwu Hospital told Ye Shuang the next morning, discussing Chen Qin's condition. "But even a small wound can be dangerous if it hits the heart or similar areas."
"Understood."
After exchanging a few more words with the doctor, Ye Shuang entered the ward to check on Chen Qin.
She was lying in bed, with several nurses attending to her.
When Chen Qin saw Ye Shuang walk in, she playfully flashed a peace sign. "I'm fine, yay!"
"Just rest for now," Ye Shuang said, sitting beside the bed.
"Should I contact Uncle Chen and the others?"
"No, they’d be terrified," Chen Qin replied, forcing a lighthearted tone. "I prefer sharing only good news."
"Telling family would just make them worry without helping anything."
Ye Shuang could only sigh. "Then let me be the only one worrying."
Chen Qin giggled. "Sorry to trouble you~"
But her complexion was pale—she was clearly putting on a brave face just to ease Ye Shuang’s concerns.
"What about work?"
"The doctor said I’ll need at least half a month of bed rest, but it’s fine. I’ll just work from the hospital," Chen Qin said.
"I’ll stay here and help handle company matters too," Ye Shuang offered. "Luckily, the knife missed all the vital organs. The doctor said the angle was extremely tricky but somehow avoided everything important."
"Huh? A stroke of luck in misfortune, then."
"How can you still laugh about it?" Ye Shuang asked.
"Because I’m happy."
"Happy?" Ye Shuang was puzzled. What was there to be happy about?
"Because I only got a minor injury," Chen Qin said, tilting her head. "But what if the knife had hit you somewhere fatal? Even if Zhao Mengyao just meant to scare you with the knife, I was so afraid of losing you."
"If it happened again…"
"I’d still choose to do the same."
Ye Shuang: "..."
"You’re such a fool," Ye Shuang murmured. Then, after a pause, he suddenly asked,
"So… we’re really not dating?"
"Nope," Chen Qin said, then proceeded to recount everything about Ye Shuang and Zhao Mengyao from beginning to end.
Ye Shuang listened quietly. Though it was his own story, it felt completely unfamiliar—as if it had happened to someone else.
"None of that matters now," Ye Shuang shook his head and said earnestly,
"Be with me."
Chen Qin stared at him blankly before smiling and shaking her head.
"No."
"Why…?"
Chen Qin lowered her head, deep in thought.
"I really do like you, but…"
"I don’t want you to be with me out of obligation or guilt."
"I don’t want you to be with me because of those jumbled memories."
"Of course, at first, when I realized you’d replaced Zhao Mengyao in your memories with me, I was overjoyed…"
"It felt like we had shared memories, like… the girl you worked so hard to please… was actually me."
"But then I realized—that just made me a substitute."
"Zhao Mengyao is Zhao Mengyao."
"And I am me."
Chen Qin placed a hand over her chest. Even wounded, bathed in the morning light streaming through the window, her smile seemed to glow brilliantly.
"This lady is one of a kind! I’m no one’s replacement, and I don’t need anyone’s pity."
"I love you for who you are, and I want a love that’s just as unique."
"I want you to genuinely like this girl, not just feel like you owe her."
"Ye Shuang, I want you to remember everything."
"And then, properly tell me, ‘I love you.’"
Ye Shuang gazed at the radiant girl before him, momentarily speechless—she was so dazzling that he felt like a corpse dragged out of the gutter and forced into the sunlight.
She was extraordinary, with her own pride and dignity. Even if Chen Qin could humble herself to the bone for Ye Shuang, that didn’t mean she’d accept being a stand-in or a bandage for his wounds.
Right.
Ye Shuang suddenly understood.
They’d grown up together—he remembered Chen Qin’s favorite foods.
So why, during dinner yesterday, had Zhao Mengyao’s preferences overwritten those memories?
Chen Qin was Chen Qin. Zhao Mengyao was Zhao Mengyao.
"Memories…"
A sharp pain shot through Ye Shuang’s head, but nothing came back to him.
Noticing his discomfort, Chen Qin gently reassured him, "Take your time. I don’t know what happened to you, but I’m sure you’ll be okay."
"After all, this lady isn’t going anywhere."
"..." Ye Shuang smiled. "Yeah."
Just then, his phone rang.
It was the police station.
"Hello? Yes… What? Seriously? Alright." Hanging up, Ye Shuang frowned slightly, lost in thought.
"Huh?" Chen Qin asked.
"Zhao Mengyao…"
"She got arrested?" Chen Qin sounded displeased. "What a joke. My injury barely counts as minor."
Ye Shuang shook his head. "No, when she ran out of her apartment, she was in such a hurry that…"
"She got hit by a dump truck at the corner."
Chen Qin: "..."
"You’re kidding?"
"Nope. The police said it was instant—they couldn’t even find her head." Ye Shuang felt neither sorrow nor joy. While Zhao Mengyao didn’t deserve death, it seemed too lenient for her.
Rather than a quick end, rotting in prison with regret would’ve been more fitting.
After all, death was over in an instant.
"As the Analects say, ‘Heaven punishes the wicked. If Heaven won’t, I know a thing or two about fists.’"
Ye Shuang laughed. "That’s in the Analects?"
"Heh."
They exchanged a glance and smiled in unison.
"Hey, Ye Shuang."
"Yeah?"
"It hurts…"
"Idiot. Lie down already."
Not long after Zhao Mengyao’s encounter with the dump truck, Tang Hao also ran into trouble overseas. While transferring assets, he was betrayed by someone he trusted, losing everything before getting robbed by locals in a "zero-dollar shopping" spree.
After that, news of Tang Hao simply vanished.
Overseas, death often goes unnoticed.
With Zhao Mengyao’s demise and the collapse of the Zhao Corporation, the chapter closed—erasing her not just from the world, but from Ye Shuang’s life as well.
As if she’d never existed.
And with this interlude over, Yinshan Academy finally welcomed its annual sports festival—
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
