Outside the East Courtyard was a private farm. When Gu Qingjiao had passed by here yesterday, a small black dog had suddenly appeared and circled around her.
She had come today specifically to find that little dog.
The little black dog was quite familiar with the surrounding environment and wasn’t timid at all. Catching the scent of a familiar person, it quickly ran over, wagging its tail.
Gu Qingjiao squatted down to pet its round head, took out the modified chip collar she had prepared, and fastened it around the puppy’s neck. “Good doggy, I’m going to have to trouble you from now on.”
Good doggy, from now on your whereabouts are going to be tracked by that pervert Shi Lijin. The pressure is going to be huge, and it’s going to be so exhausting.
As Gu Qingjiao was comforting the soon-to-be-overworked dog, a commotion sounded from behind her. She turned around and saw an old man walking out of the opposite greenhouse.
The old man was wearing a pure black duckbill cap, making it barely possible to see the lower half of his face. He held a blue watering can, his figure leaning forward slightly with a slight hunch.
Gu Qingjiao stared blankly for a long time.
In her childhood memories, her grandfather was the one who wore that exact kind of duckbill cap, hunched over as he folded paper stars for her through countless pitch-black nights.
She couldn’t help but piece together the image of her grandfather in her mind.
Sniffing out its master’s scent, the puppy immediately turned around and trotted over to his feet, wagging its tail. Its short, thick neck twisted in an immensely clever way, seemingly showing off the toy it had just acquired.
The old man patted its head, then picked up the collar on the puppy’s neck to take a look. A few seconds later, he smiled kindly at Gu Qingjiao and said, “Thank you for the gift.”
Gu Qingjiao froze once more.
The old man’s deep voice completely matched the vocal timbre of grandfather in her mind.
(Note: This was a book world.)
The old man turned around, walked back into the greenhouse, and came out carrying a watermelon.
Noticing that his right foot had a slight limp, Gu Qingjiao quickly ran forward to meet him. When she reached him, the man handed over the watermelon in his arms.
The old man: “This is a return gift.”
Gu Qingjiao caught the large watermelon and smiled sheepishly. “Actually, that wasn’t…”
“The gift is great, and Little Black likes it very much. Thank you.”
Only then did Gu Qingjiao dare to look boldly at the old man.
That truly was just an unfamiliar face.
Truth be told, she couldn’t remember what her grandfather actually looked like anymore, either; she was merely moved by the realization that she could find a trace of her childhood flavor in a stranger.
“Thank you for the watermelon, Grandfather.” Gu Qingjiao said with a polite smile.
The old man had originally been about to leave, but upon hearing this title of grandfather, he paused. He pushed his cap up slightly, revealing a smiling face as he said, “What grandfather? Am I that old? Call me Uncle Long.”
Gu Qingjiao could now see his appearance fully, the weathered yet cheerful face of a genuine old man. He was probably the kindest person in the entire South Manor.
“Alright, thank you, Uncle Long.”
Uncle Long seemed very busy. He quickly waved his hand dismissively and said, “Don’t be so polite, hurry back now. In this weather, you shouldn’t eat too much watermelon.”
Gu Qingjiao said her goodbyes to him and turned to leave. It was the depth of winter, so the large watermelon in her arms was a rare delicacy. She had even figured out all the fancy ways she could eat it once she got back. However, she had barely left the farm when a mechanical voice sounded in her head:
[Prompt opening. The system detects that the host is in danger of death. Danger level: ★★★★★
Please prepare to kick the bucket at any time.]
Gu Qingjiao: “What?”
Shi Lijin is here?
He is going to assassinate me?!
System: [There is poison in the watermelon.]
Gu Qingjiao lay leisurely on a lounge chair, sipping milk tea. Across from her was a sky-blue outdoor swimming pool.
She couldn’t figure it out. Why would such a kind-looking old man choose to put poison in a melon?
Could it be because he knew she was the young miss of the Gu family and might collude with others in the future to usurp the Shi family’s assets, and thus deliberately gave her a poisoned melon to eat?
Hiss, it looks like while everyone in the Shi family’s South Manor is a villain, they are all still quite loyal to the head of the family. Gu Qingjiao nodded approvingly.
Detecting the host’s distorted thinking, the system quickly popped out: [Why do you always stand on the wrong side? Remember, you are a black-and-white, highly righteous female protagonist; you must never get mixed up with those bad things.]
Gu Qingjiao: “My Civics teacher taught us when I was little that there are no absolute bad people in this world. A bad person is bad because there must be a reason behind it.”
System: [What happened to that teacher in the end?]
Gu Qingjiao: “They got fired.”
System: [There you go! Rather than saying there are no absolute bad people in this world, it’s better to say there is definitely never a teacher who wholeheartedly looks out for you.]
Gu Qingjiao: “Let’s not go off on this tangent. Speaking seriously, I don’t think Uncle Long is bad by nature.”
System: [How do you judge whether someone is bad or not? I told you long ago, everyone in the Shi family’s South Manor is a ruthless person.]
Gu Qingjiao didn’t want to answer this question because if she told the system she judged him based entirely on an ordinary-looking duckbill cap, she would definitely be nagged endlessly.
She fell silent for half a minute, her fingertips absentmindedly rubbing against the milk tea cup as she muttered to herself, “I will definitely find proof that he is not a bad person.”
Meanwhile, up high in the tall observatory, Shi Lijin had been staring fixedly in a certain direction.
He had unconsciously observed someone for a long time, watching as she drank milk tea, stretched, ate cake, and drank milk tea, until now, when she fell asleep motionless.
Such a good-for-nothing slacker who only knew how to eat and sleep, he truly couldn’t figure out what kind of capacity this person possessed to stir up the situation.
“Xiaojin, the butler kept saying he couldn’t find you. I knew you would have run over here.”
A warm male voice came from behind. Shi Lijin snapped back to his senses and turned his head to glance at him.
The newcomer sat with a kindly smile in a wheelchair. He was Shi Lijin’s older brother, Shi Feng.
Shi Feng followed his previous gaze downward and spotted someone lounging and sleeping peacefully over there.
“You seem very concerned about this girl.”
Shi Lijin withdrew his gaze and said flatly, “If you were pushed into the water by someone, you would also find yourself unable to help paying attention to her.”
Shi Feng, however, couldn’t help laughing. “Wasn’t it you yourself who wanted to bully a young girl? How did you end up getting pushed in instead?”
“Some girls put on a pitiful appearance on the outside, but are extremely cunning on the inside.”
His eldest brother wasn’t actually unfamiliar with Gu Qingjiao, but he looked at people without Shi Lijin’s paranoia. Shi Feng spoke in a gentle voice, sounding as though he were reasoning with him: “Xiaojin, why don’t you just treat Miss Gu like an ordinary girl?”
“Not a single person sent by Shen Kewen is ordinary.” Shi Lijin completely shifted his gaze away from the opposite side, turned to look at Shi Feng, and placed his hands on both ends of the wheelchair’s armrests for support. At the same time, his gaze grew increasingly dark. “Brother, what she wants isn’t just the inheritance and the South Manor.”
Shi Feng met this gloomy, brooding gaze without surprise and without dodging.
An unspoken telepathy between brothers welled up naturally. He knew Shi Lijin hadn’t finished his sentence. What that person wanted indeed wasn’t just those two things. What she might want was Shi Lijin’s life.
Shi Feng and Shi Lijin were biological brothers. Shortly after giving birth to Shi Feng with his first wife, their father quickly divorced her and married his second wife, Shen Kewen. It was just that at the time, he didn’t know his ex-wife was already pregnant with a second child. When the man finally learned of this news, Shen Kewen happened to be pregnant as well, leaving him unable to attend to both sides, so he could only sneak around to secretly visit his ex-wife in his spare time.
Once the affair came to light, Shen Kewen was furious. Half a month later, doctors discovered she was carrying a stillborn fetus and informed her that she would never be able to conceive again.
That was why she hated; that was why she wanted Shi Lijin’s life, especially after seeing her husband pass away with her own eyes, leaving Shi Lijin without his protective umbrella. Only then could she openly bleed the Shi family dry and uproot its foundations.
Shi Lijin’s gaze grew increasingly frigid, as if black, blood-stained beads were about to drip from his pupils at any moment.
“Don’t forget how your legs were crippled back then, Brother. Only by clearing away all obstacles can we live properly.”
Usually gentle and steady, Shi Feng finally felt a trace of fear well up inside. He swallowed with difficulty, taking a moment to calm himself before looking meaningfully at Shi Lijin and asking in a low voice, “Xiaojin, have you not been taking your medicine properly during this time?”
Hearing this, Shi Lijin started slightly and avoided his gaze.
Shi Feng continued, “Older brother knows these past few years haven’t been easy for you, but so much time has passed already. You should try to look at the bright side of things. Besides, the life we have now is something countless people can only dream of.”
Shi Lijin remained silent, raising a hand to casually adjust the gauze on his wrist as if losing patience.
Shi Feng wasn’t actually surprised by this reaction; he knew saying more was useless. He simply sighed softly, silently turning his wheelchair around. When he reached the doorway, he paused again, tilted his head back to take a deep breath, and said, “With crippled legs, do you think I don’t hate? Xiaojin, I hate her more than anyone else, but I still have attachments in my heart. If you could also have attachments here, that would be wonderful.”
Shi Lijin: “I have no attachments.”
Late at night, Shi Lijin suddenly broke into the South Manor’s annex and dragged out Gu Qingjiao, who was currently studying the watermelon.
Moving with the speed of flying feet, he offered no explanation for his actions.
Seized by the wrist, Gu Qingjiao was hauled through a winding maze of corridors until she was brought into a dilapidated little house. It wasn’t until she saw him lock the door shut that some context suddenly flashed through her mind.
So he was really going to assassinate her after all!
Good grief, he had hidden it and reined it in for three whole days, and finally couldn’t help himself anymore, right?
Meeting those hawk-like, sharp eyes, Gu Qingjiao beamed brightly and asked, “Dragging me to a place like this in the middle of the night, what do you want to do?”
Shi Lijin casually picked up a length of hemp rope and stated succinctly, “What do you think?”
Gu Qingjiao feigned surprise and said, “Oh my, so this is your thing.”
Shi Lijin curled his lips in a fake smile, glancing up at the high rafters above.
Gu Qingjiao followed his line of sight upward, her expression utterly calm.
The gears of fate had ultimately ground down onto her body. He wanted to hang me.
Right, System?
System?
Little Glitch?
Strange, why isn’t Little Glitch sending death prompts today? Did it fall asleep?
Shi Lijin tossed the hemp rope to her and slowly turned to walk toward the window. Outside, the night was still, and a light snow drifted sparsely across the sky.
After a long while, he spoke in a flat voice: “Time flies so fast, it’s about to be a new year again. Some people live day by day just to survive, while others live day by day to make someone else survive. Gu Qingjiao, neither you nor I are lucky people; we aren’t worth using each other. If fate is destined to have shackles, we might as well gain release a little earlier.”
He lowered his gaze for a moment, feeling that the time should be about right.
Turning around, Shi Lijin wore a calm expression, his eyes looking like a layer of frost.
Unfolding directly in front of him was a brand-new, beautiful swing.
Along with someone beside it smiling even more beautifully.
Shi Lijin: […]
What on earth is she playing at?