In the shabby alleyway, men and women of all kinds embraced each other, entering the old hair salon before closing the door behind them.
Moments later, short but excited sounds drifted out.
Shen Wangshu, dressed in expensive clothes, appeared here looking completely out of place.
After turning down six people who asked how much she charged per night, she finally reached the end of the alley.
She was five minutes late for the agreed time.
A rickety sign hung by the door, its lettering blurred and barely legible—just enough to make out the word “Clinic.”
She raised her hand and knocked on the weathered door.
A hurried voice came from inside: “Coming, coming, just a moment.”
Standing outside, she could still hear the rhythmic sound of a bed frame hitting the wall from within.
Two minutes later.
The door opened.
The air that rushed out was a mix of disinfectant, medicinal smells, and an unidentified odor.
A woman hurried out at the same time, smoothing her hair and adjusting her skirt as she rushed away.
Shen Wangshu stepped aside expressionlessly, then walked in.
The man in the white coat still had some unidentifiable stains on his cuffs.
He was buttoning his shirt as he walked out from the pharmacy, striking first: “You’re seven minutes late.”
Shen Wangshu placed the examination report on the table and called out obediently, “Hello, doctor.”
The man paused, then picked up her prenatal exam report. “Intrauterine early pregnancy, twin pregnancy, about seven weeks. You really don’t want them?”
Shen Wangshu hummed in confirmation.
The man asked again, “What about your husband?”
He glanced at the age—19—on the prenatal report, then corrected himself: “What about your boyfriend?”
Shen Wangshu answered truthfully, “I don’t have a husband, and I don’t have a boyfriend.”
For the past year, she had been frequently entering the hospital to prepare for kidney transplant surgery—all for Si Yingchu, her adoptive mother’s biological daughter.
It wasn’t until she discovered she was pregnant in her previous life that she realized this was never a kidney transplant.
It was Si Yingchu’s plan to marry into the Pei family by leveraging a child, without having to endure the pain of pregnancy and childbirth.
In her previous life, during the later stages of her pregnancy, Shen Wangshu’s hands and feet were chained to the bed.
For seven full months, she ate, drank, and relieved herself in that tiny space. When she went into labor, she suffered a massive hemorrhage.
The Si family didn’t save her.
She died.
After death, her soul didn’t dissipate immediately.
She watched the Si family happily holding the child, preparing to force their way into the Pei family.
But when the Pei family ran a paternity test, the child had no relation to Pei Haonan whatsoever.
Her adoptive parents’ family had planned for Si Yingchu to marry into the Pei family at all costs;
They also planned to smear Shen Wangshu’s name at any moment to maintain Si Yingchu’s image of purity and innocence;
And they schemed to kill the child without any guilt.
The child was Shen Wangshu’s.
Something had gone wrong somewhere.
The child’s father had changed from the original Pei Haonan to a complete stranger.
Those twins didn’t survive the night the paternity test results came out.
Shen Wangshu’s resentment was too heavy, and she was swept into another world.
It wasn’t until yesterday that she was reborn.
The man asked again, “Have you had any abortions before? Any gynecological conditions?”
Shen Wangshu answered calmly, “No abortions, no gynecological conditions.”
The doctor looked at her clothes—clean, and judging by the style, quite expensive.
He said, “At the very least, you should have the child’s father come with you.”
On Shen Wangshu’s phone, a live broadcast was playing—a manned spacecraft had just landed successfully, and the astronauts were emerging from the capsule.
The man in the spacesuit had refined, jade-like features, carrying the composure and wisdom that came from years of knowledge.
When facing the camera, he had a kind of aloof detachment, appearing difficult to approach.
Shen Wangshu pointed at her phone: “My child’s father just came back from space. He doesn’t have time to accompany me.”
The man looked at her like she was insane.
He asked again, “Then what about your parents?”
“I don’t have parents.”
The man’s expression relaxed. He took out several surgical consent forms for her to sign.
After being reborn, Shen Wangshu had done a divination for herself.
She would still die from massive hemorrhage on the day of delivery.
Unless she could get close to the child’s father and absorb his fortune, she wouldn’t die on delivery day—but she wouldn’t survive either.
Of course, there was another way to get through childbirth safely.
That was to hold the child’s father every day, or kiss him.
But let alone the Pei family that the Si family was trying to curry favor with—even among countless business tycoons, everyone had to respectfully address Gu Qingyan as Chief Judge.
With Shen Wangshu’s current status, she couldn’t possibly get close to the child’s father.
After signing the forms, the man led her into the “operating room.”
The room was dimly lit, with yellowed, outdated medical advertisements pasted on the walls.
Discarded syringes, blood-stained cotton swabs, and crumpled paper balls with unknown stains were scattered in the trash can, emitting a nauseating odor.
The sheets had suspicious spots, and the medical instruments looked extremely old.
Noticing Shen Wangshu’s scrutinizing gaze, the man spoke up: “Don’t judge by appearances. I’ve performed abortions on this bed for plenty of misguided young girls like you, and none of them had any complications.”
“Lie down.”
Shen Wangshu didn’t lie down. She simply raised her hand to glance at her wristwatch and counted down, “Three, two…”
The man was still puzzled as to why she was counting down.
Until Shen Wangshu said the final “one,” the already peeling door was kicked open from the outside by someone.
“Freeze! Hands up!”
The man was subdued, shouting loudly that he was innocent.
An officer walked up to Shen Wangshu: “Next time you’re feeling unwell, go to a proper hospital. Do you know this man was running a human trafficking operation?”
Shen Wangshu calmly looked at the fully equipped officers outside the door, then nodded: “I know. I’m the one who called the police.”
“Xu Kangshi, male, 45 years old. He previously served as deputy chief physician in the obstetrics and gynecology department at a tertiary Grade A hospital. He was later convicted of attempting to traffic newborns. After his release from prison, he ran an unlicensed clinic, specializing in abortions for women in vulnerable situations.”
“In reality, after drugging his patients, he would collaborate with others to transport them to remote areas for human trafficking.”
Under everyone’s gaze, Shen Wangshu pushed aside the dilapidated medicine cabinet against the wall.
Revealing a dark, gaping opening behind it.
This was a staircase leading to a basement.
She said: “There are two more women inside who haven’t been transported out yet.”
After saying these words, she found a stool and sat down, her voice breathless.
Since childhood, the Si family had been draining Shen Wangshu’s fortune.
Her health had always been poor.
Over the past year, she had undergone frequent surgeries at the hospital.
Her health had deteriorated even further.
The police quickly brought out two disheveled women from the basement.
Their eyes were vacant, clearly having been locked up for quite some time.
If no one had come looking for them, they would have been transferred to the mountains, completing the final step of the human trafficking operation.
One officer examined the wall-height medicine cabinet, reached out and pushed it hard—it didn’t budge an inch.
He looked at Shen Wangshu.
Shen Wangshu was still catching her breath, joking as she explained: “I do have a little bit of strength. If my health weren’t so poor, maybe I could even win a gold medal for the country.”
The man was arrested, and Shen Wangshu was also taken to the police station to give a statement.
Shen Wangshu told the police everything she had calculated.
When the officer asked why she was so familiar with the situation.
She replied in a joking tone: “I can tell fortunes and make predictions. I calculated it.”
Then she was sternly warned by the officer: “Superstitious beliefs are not acceptable.”
Shen Wangshu nodded and smoothly responded: “I know a little bit of deduction.”
After a series of convincing fabrications that blurred the line between truth and lies, the officer finally believed that she had deduced it.
He looked at Shen Wangshu’s personal information: “You’re so good at deduction. Are you interested in applying to the police academy?”
Shen Wangshu thought for a moment: “No, I have something more important to do.”
Even though the officer didn’t ask, she still smiled and replied: “I need to chase after my husband.”
It seemed hard to believe that those words had come out of Shen Wangshu’s mouth.
The officer in front of her held back for a long time before speaking earnestly: “Being lovesick is not advisable.”
Shen Wangshu nodded in agreement, then continued: “I want to chase after Gu Qingyan.”
These words left the officer even more speechless: “Why don’t you take my advice—focus on getting healthy and winning a gold medal for the country. That might be easier.”
“I’ll consider it, but my husband is a must-chase.”
If she didn’t win over Gu Qingyan, she would still die on the day she gave birth.
Having barely gotten a second chance at life, she didn’t want to die.
Two more officers walked in with a tall, lanky young man wearing ear studs, dressed in motorcycle gear, with a carefree demeanor.
Shen Wangshu knew him.
Gu Qingyan’s younger brother, her future brother-in-law, Gu Lingyun.
But Shen Wangshu wasn’t waiting for him.
Gu Lingyun was taken to the interrogation room.
Officer Liu, who was taking Shen Wangshu’s statement, told her: “You can go now. If there are any issues, we’ll notify you to come back.”
Shen Wangshu touched her pocket, feigning embarrassment, and said: “I’ll rest for a bit before heading back.”
Officer Liu looked at her frail, wavering frame.
He capped his pen and tucked it into his chest pocket: “How about I wait until I’m off duty and give you a ride home?”
Shen Wangshu readily agreed: “Thank you, Officer.”
She naturally stayed at the police station and even helped herself to a cup of instant noodles.
Since being reborn yesterday, just escaping the Si family had taken all her strength.
She had also done a fortune-telling for a passerby and earned two hundred yuan.
With that money, she took a cab to the hospital and had a prenatal checkup.
After confirming her pregnancy, she sat in a 24-hour convenience store all night.
Early the next morning, using her last coin, she made a call from a roadside phone booth to report the case.
This was the fastest way Shen Wangshu could calculate to get close to Gu Qingyan’s family.
She slurped her instant noodles, eating very slowly.
By now, the Si family probably knew about her pregnancy and were searching the city for her.
After finishing her noodles, just as Shen Wangshu was starting to doze off—
The person she was waiting for appeared.