Dong Yue stood at the doorway, watching the scene that had just unfolded before turning away with a dim expression.
He had originally thought that Ni Manxin had no heart and naturally wouldn’t understand love. But it turned out this was all self-deception—she wasn’t incapable of understanding, it was just that the person wasn’t him.
What must I do for you to look at me again? I want to return to how we were before, yet I fear that if you remember, you’ll drift even further away from me.
Fang Yi watched Dong Yue’s dejected retreating figure, then turned her gaze to the two people playfully teasing each other inside the room before quickly hurrying after Dong Yue.
Several days later, Ni Manxin paused before the campus bulletin board. The general notice stated: The school will hold a recruitment fair at month’s end. Graduating students must report—no exceptions for latecomers!
So fast—she was about to leave this place and truly step into society.
Before she could even lament the passage of time, she received a call from Tang Yubo. She hurried to the restaurant they had agreed upon, where Tang Yubo was already waiting for her by the window.
“Tang Yubo, you called me out so urgently—did you get news about my father?” Ni Manxin asked anxiously before even setting down her bag.
Tang Yubo smiled. “What’s the rush? Let’s order something first and talk slowly.”
Commotion came from the entrance, and Ni Manxin curiously looked toward the door. She saw Dong Yue in blue attire entering with Fang Yi. Wherever they went, they carried an aura that made them a beautiful sight.
Ni Manxin found it strange—why did she run into him everywhere? It felt as if he were haunting her.
Dong Yue had learned from Fang Yi that Tang Yubo was meeting Ni Manxin tonight. After much internal struggle, he had still come here with Fang Yi.
“Dong Yue, see what you’d like to eat?”
Dong Yue pushed the menu toward Fang Yi, using his eyes to convey: I’m fine with anything, you choose.
Fang Yi understood perfectly that Dong Yue had no mind for ordering, his gaze frequently drifting toward Ni Manxin’s table.
Ni Manxin unfolded the note Tang Yubo handed her, and a chill shot straight to her head. Her father, Ni Yuan, still hadn’t learned from last time—he had repeated his old tricks and signed a gambling debt of two million.
Although two million wasn’t as much as the previous debt, it was still a substantial sum! Ni Manxin instantly lost her appetite.
“Your father said he’s too ashamed to face you after this gambling debt. He’s going to wander around for a while before returning. He hopes you’ll forgive him when you meet again.” Tang Yubo spoke while watching her expression.
Seeing that Tang Yubo had repaid the two million for her father, Ni Manxin felt a pang of sorrow.
She hated exposing her family’s disgraceful side to outsiders, yet she knew clearly: if he hadn’t repaid this large sum for her father, how could she possibly come up with it now? Last time it was selling the house—what would it be this time?
After a long silence, Ni Manxin smiled bitterly at Tang Yubo. “Thank you for helping my father out of this predicament. I’ll find a way to repay you this money.”
Tang Yubo grabbed her hand, gazing deeply at Ni Manxin. “Ni Manxin, I like you—I always have. I know this might seem sudden, but I must say it now, immediately. Will you marry me?”
As he finished speaking, he produced a large bouquet of flowers from somewhere, kneeling on one knee while looking tenderly at her.Ni Manxin was so frightened by Tang Yubo’s sudden actions that she didn’t know how to respond, and could only sit frozen in place staring at him.
Instantly they became the center of attention in the restaurant, with all eyes fixed upon them. Watching Tang Yubo’s heartfelt confession and considering how he had helped her family out of trouble, she felt she ought to accept him.
Yet for some reason, her chest grew warm at that moment, and she seemed to glimpse a figure in blue garments drifting away from her. As she watched the receding figure, Ni Manxin fainted.
Just as Tang Yubo was about to carry the suddenly unconscious Ni Manxin home, Dong Yue unexpectedly got there first.
“Who are you? Don’t go, tell me who you are? Why do you keep appearing in my dreams?”
Dong Yue sat beside Ni Manxin, gently smoothing her disheveled long hair.
He opened the pendant on her chest and looked at the red hair preserved inside. He couldn’t imagine what state of mind Ni Chang had been in when she cut it off.
He cast a spell on the warm red hair, instantly cooling it. As he placed it back, Dong Yue noticed the container holding the hair didn’t seem like an ordinary mortal object. Where had Ni Chang obtained this pendant? Dong Yue couldn’t resist examining it carefully.
Suddenly Dong Yue sensed spiritual energy slowly emanating from the object. Finally he understood how Ni Chang had managed to survive so long without a heart.
This must be the Celestial object her mother had left her.
Who exactly was her mother? Why did she return to the mortal world to marry an ordinary human? These questions would have to wait. Probably even Ni Chang herself didn’t know.
Under the cover of night, a dark figure appeared in the trees, having witnessed the entire scene. So this was what he had been searching for. The man revealed an eerie smile.
Tang Yubo opened the private room and saw Ni Yuan still unconscious on the floor, inwardly cursing him for being so fragile.
He walked over and stepped on his buttocks. The already dried pants instantly became stained red with fresh blood under his foot.
“Answer me! Don’t play dead!”
Tang Yubo shouted while continuously kicking him all over his body.
Finally, the prone Ni Yuan reacted with two coughs.
Tang Yubo rushed forward, grabbed his hair and demanded: “What is that pendant on Ni Manxin’s chest? Has she had it since birth?”
Ni Yuan said: “I don’t know if she was born with it, but I know she never takes it off.”
“You don’t know? How could you not know? You’re her father! How can you tell me you don’t know if she had it at birth?”
Tang Yubo was furious. Even facing death he refused to talk – it seemed he needed to be taught a lesson.
“Heh, does the daughter I raised have to be my biological child?”
Tang Yubo froze on the spot. What did this mean? Was Ni Manxin not his daughter?
“Then whose daughter is Ni Manxin?”
Ni Yuan shook his head and continued: “That person just asked me to raise her, saying they’d give me a large sum of money when the time came. I didn’t believe it at first, but that very day a lot of money appeared in our home. I used that money to buy the villa – the one I mortgaged to you.”
Tang Yubo didn’t care about Ni Manxin’s past lives. He only wanted to obtain what he sought as quickly as possible. Probably the pendant on her chest was the object he had been searching for all along.
He left the private room, keeping Ni Yuan confined there. The next step – seizing the object from her chest – shouldn’t be difficult.
Ni Yuan lay motionless on the ground, his thoughts drifting back twenty years.
At that time, he had already reached thirty years of age. Being notoriously poor in his hometown, he had never managed to marry.
Just when he thought he would remain a bachelor for life, something unbelievable happened.
It was a stormy late night. As he returned from work and was about to open his door, he intermittently heard an infant’s cries from the doorway. Approaching, he found a swaddled baby girl left by the wall. He quickly brought her inside.
Surprisingly, the heavy rain hadn’t drenched the little one, but though puzzled, he didn’t dwell on it. Unwrapping her blankets, he discovered a note inside: “Good people enjoy peace. Receiving this girl brings wealth. Please care for her. When she grows up, you will be richly rewarded.”
He noticed a peculiar pendant hanging on her chest. Trying to remove it, he found it impossible to open or detach no matter what he did. Eventually, he gave up on it. As for the promise of future reward, he dismissed it as a joke.
But the next day, returning from work, he was shocked to discover tens of millions added to his household savings. The scare nearly killed him – in all his life, he hadn’t even seen one million, let alone ten!
This girl was none other than Ni Manxin, grown up.
The mortal world approaches its end, the Netherworld is about to arrive. Have you been anticipating this?