Shen Shujiao had always believed that her eldest cousin was a gentle, refined gentleman.
It wasn’t until she saw him—after Shen Xueman had caused her death and left—that he revealed a face as ferocious as a demon, whipping her corpse inside an illegal clinic. Only then did Shen Shujiao realize that her cousin was a pervert who delighted in torturing and killing others.
In her previous life, her soul had drifted around the Shen household, watching helplessly as Shen Jinlong brought several women from dance halls back home, locked them in the basement, abused and humiliated them, and tortured them to death.
Now, facing Shen Jinlong’s sinister, gloomy gaze, Shen Shujiao forced herself to stay calm.
“Big Brother, I don’t know what’s going on with Sister. She suddenly had severe stomach pain and is rolling around on the floor. You should go take a look.”
Hearing this, Shen Jinlong—who doted on his sister—rushed into the illegal clinic like a gust of wind.
Shen Shujiao immediately grabbed the iron chain lock from the bicycle parked by the door, quickly locked the clinic from the outside, then mounted the bike and rode off without looking back.
Along the way, she pedaled so hard it felt like the bicycle might start smoking. She was terrified Shen Jinlong would chase after her, drag her back, and force her to undergo an abortion.
She rode all the way to the Shen family’s old residence.
After her parents died a month ago, her uncle had claimed that it would be too lonely for her to live alone and insisted on bringing her to live in Shen Garden.
In truth, Shen Shujiao didn’t want to leave the house she had lived in since childhood. But she couldn’t withstand her uncle’s family’s enthusiasm—they even said that if she refused to go to Shen Garden, they would move into the old residence to keep her company.
The old house was decades old and nowhere near as comfortable as the newly built Western-style house in Shen Garden.
Shen Shujiao didn’t want her uncle’s family to suffer for her sake, nor did she want the place she had lived with her parents to be tainted by other people’s presence, so she moved to Shen Garden.
Looking back now, it had been the right decision.
At least now, when she returned to retrieve the jade pendant, no one would stop her.
Yet after just a little over a month without anyone living there, a layer of weeds had already grown in the courtyard, making it look desolate.
Shen Shujiao didn’t linger in grief and quickly walked into the house.
Just as she stepped into the lavishly decorated living room, a shrill ringing of the telephone suddenly sounded, startling her so badly that her heart leapt violently.
Was it Shen Jinlong calling after escaping the illegal clinic, trying to confirm whether she was home?
Listening to the ringing again and again, Shen Shujiao hesitated over whether to answer.
She was afraid it was Shen Jinlong and didn’t dare pick up.
Yet at the same time, she felt an inexplicable unease—as if she would deeply regret it if she didn’t answer this call.
In the end, just before the ringing stopped, Shen Shujiao picked up the phone.
“Hello, this is Huo Zhoubai. May I speak to Comrade Shen Shujiao?”
The man’s low, magnetic voice traveled through the phone line into her ears, just like that enchanting night when he had whispered softly by her ear.
Shen Shujiao clenched the receiver tightly. After the overwhelming panic and fear, hearing that reassuring voice made her eyes uncontrollably grow moist.
“H-Huo Zhoubai… I—I’m Shen Shujiao.”
So at this point in her previous life, while she lay on the operating table being cruelly tortured by the transmigrated Shen Xueman, Huo Zhoubai had actually called her.
If she hadn’t listened to her uncle’s family and moved away from the old house—if she had answered Huo Zhoubai’s call and waited obediently at home for him to come get her—would she not have died such a miserable death?
Upon hearing Shen Shujiao’s voice, the weariness in Huo Zhoubai’s brows vanished instantly, replaced by brightness.
What a coincidence—he had called, and it was actually her who answered.
“Shujiao, I’m sorry. The day I arrived at the unit, I was taken away by the investigation team. I didn’t get a chance to call you until today. I disappeared without a word for over a month—did you think I was a heartless man who seduced you and then abandoned you?”
Huo Zhoubai’s voice was tense, his fingers gripping the receiver so hard that his knuckles turned white.
Huo Zhoubai knew Shen Shujiao didn’t like him. If not for her parents using special means to bring them together, she would never have agreed to marry him.
In fact, the drugs Shen Father had used would have been easy for Huo Zhoubai to resist.
But from the very first glance, he had been drawn to Shen Shujiao’s delicate, soft, bright, and beautiful face, and he had been tempted by her looks.
That night, before Shen Shujiao had clearly agreed to marry him, he had taken her. Huo Zhoubai felt despicable for it.
Yet he liked her far too much and thus made their relationship a fait accompli.
He was afraid that if he let her go that night, he would never have her in this lifetime.
She already didn’t like him, and then he disappeared without saying a word for over a month—she must dislike him even more now.
“You were chosen by my parents. I never once thought you were someone who would seduce and abandon me. My uncle told me that after the movement began, your entire family was taken away by the investigation team. I stayed at home quietly, waiting for you.”
Shen Shujiao wasn’t lying to Huo Zhoubai. In her previous life, she really had been waiting for him—especially after her parents died and the movement began. Every day, she prayed that Huo Zhoubai would come for her soon.
“The investigation into the Huo family was highly confidential. How did Shen Shengchang know that the Huo family had been taken away by the investigation team?”
Not just the Huo family—every major family in the capital that was investigated was handled in extreme secrecy. Ordinary outsiders couldn’t possibly know.
Shen Shujiao’s uncle was merely an ordinary businessman and was far away in Shanghai. How could he have found out about the Huo family?
In her previous life, Shen Shujiao had never thought deeply about where her uncle got the information. Now, hearing Huo Zhoubai say this, she knew without thinking that it must have been Shen Xueman—the transmigrator who knew the plot—who told her uncle.
“After the movement began, Uncle had been pulling strings everywhere, planning to leave Shanghai for Hong Kong. He probably heard it from those people.”
When the movement started, Shen Shujiao’s uncle’s entire family began planning to go to Hong Kong. Ten days ago, her cousin accidentally fell from a building. The very next day, they suddenly changed their minds and said they were no longer going to Hong Kong.
Most likely, that was the day the transmigrator crossed over into her cousin’s body and persuaded the family to stay.
After all, as someone who knew the plot, if she wanted to become the novel’s female lead, she had to remain on the mainland.
“Hong Kong?” A strong wave of bitterness surged in Huo Zhoubai’s heart. “Uncle… Aunt and Uncle were going to take you to Hong Kong as well?”
The current situation was turbulent, and he didn’t know when he would be able to get out himself.
If Shen Shujiao wanted to go to Hong Kong, he wouldn’t stop her.
Because right now, he couldn’t guarantee her a good future either.
“My parents died in a car accident one week after you left.”
Shen Shujiao’s voice choked with sobs. Bone-deep pain and grief traveled through the thin phone line into Huo Zhoubai’s ears.
Hearing the news of Shen Father and Shen Mother’s deaths, Huo Zhoubai was shocked—and even more heartbroken.
They had been such kind, reasonable people. How could such a calamity befall them?
During such a turbulent time, she—a delicate young woman—had to face the sudden loss of her parents and the chaos of the era, while the man who had taken her body had remained completely silent.
She must have felt utterly desperate back then.
“Shen Shujiao, I’m sorry. When you needed help the most, I wasn’t by your side. Th-then… will you go to Hong Kong with your uncle’s family? If you want to go, I can have someone make the arrangements.”
End of this chapter (Please click the next chapter to continue reading!)