In this metropolis built of concrete and steel, sunlight refracted back and forth, like sprites dancing through it.
Ren Yuanhao shrugged, and the ice queen rested her small head against him.
However, as she made this motion, she was like a third-rate actor unfamiliar with her lines, everything appearing so unnatural.
But for Ren Yuanhao, this was already a big step.
"DiDi, intimacy is continuously rising, please continue to strive."
The more proud and lonely a soul, the more it possesses a heart as tender as water. It's just that it needs layers of ice to wrap that soft heart, to face a world sculpted by blades.
"Thank you."
Zhao Yishu savored this brief and unprecedented experience.
"What's there to thank? Actually, we were all the same once. I also liked to go to the rooftop of my rented apartment when I felt down. However, it wasn't this tidy or clean up there. To move to the railing, I had to jump over a broken sofa, mud, discarded drink cans, deflated basketballs, and even had to step over rat nests. The air conditioner fan blades were oiled, emitting a rhythmic and ear-piercing 'creak, creak' sound, making it impossible for you to think calmly."
Ren Yuanhao mocked himself, then suddenly laughed, "It's just that, back then, it was mostly because of money, unlike you. Every time I summoned the courage to jump from up there, I found I couldn't be so resolute with this world. I had reservations, and reservations make one timid."
"Everyone has their own helplessness. Perhaps you were driven by money back then, while I, after countless times wanting to jump from here, was haunted by a shadow that would not leave my mind, a shadow like a maggot on a bone."
Zhao Yishu's voice finally lost its edge.
"If you're willing to talk, I can be a loyal listener."
"Thank you." Zhao Yishu felt the unique scent emanating from Ren Yuanhao, a scent like freshly washed bedding, dried in the sun, warm and gentle.
"Have you ever witnessed your relatives or close friends die before your very eyes?"
As Zhao Yishu finished speaking, Ren Yuanhao suddenly froze. His face turned pale instantly, a storm of thoughts raging in his mind. Through this tempest, a cavern, like a monstrous mouth swallowing heaven and earth, slowly approached him.
That was his reverse scale, his cage, his karma.
"It seems you also have karma you can't escape," Zhao Yishu’s intuition was quite sharp.
Ren Yuanhao nodded, "I have seen it, which is why I swore I would do my utmost to protect those I want to protect. But later, I realized human ability is truly limited; I couldn't even protect those few people."
His mind was once again flooded with images of the snake woman, as if a rain of blood was falling before his eyes, chilling him to the bone.
"Isn't that true? When I was young, I thought I might be the luckiest child in the world, living a life of luxury that other children could only dream of," Zhao Yishu recalled her happy times, her stern and harsh expression gradually softening, then furrowing.
"At that time, my mother was a movie star, but my father was an incredibly ordinary man. Even now, thinking back, I don't know how he managed to win over a woman like my mother. I hated him, even though he was my father." Zhao Yishu seemed to have been completely trapped in a cage that had tormented her for years.
"That year, I was nine years old. My father was on a business trip, and my mother was rushing to film a scene. Because our apartment had recently suffered a severe break-in, resulting in the deaths of the entire family of three, she was worried and took me to the set."
"I looked somewhat like my mother back then, so the crew was very considerate. I sat beside the director, watching my mother, dressed in flowing white, untouched by dust, as ethereal as a celestial fairy."
As she spoke, Zhao Yishu's complexion suddenly turned ashen. Her previously calmed emotions were stirred once more.
"Sometimes I feel heaven is fair; it gives you some things and is destined to take away other things from you."
Ren Yuanhao could see she was struggling to control her emotions, like someone standing on the edge of a cliff, gazing into the abyss while the abyss gazes back.
"My mother was such a stubborn and resolute person; even for fight scenes, she insisted on not using a double. However, that fight scene cost her her life."
Zhao Yishu’s nerves were stretched to their limit by this point. If Ren Yuanhao hadn't kept stroking her shoulder, she might have collapsed.
"The prop swords and knives used in filming, due to some mistake, the fake props became real. I personally watched my mother being pierced through the heart with a long sword. That flowing white dress was finally stained with blood. At first, I thought it was a prop, fake. You know, I was even smiling at the time, smiling at how realistic the props were, until everyone ran madly towards my mother..."
Zhao Yishu's voice choked, her eyes no longer held any arrogance, but the bewilderment of a lost child on the street, unsure of where to go or what path lay ahead.
That helplessness made Ren Yuanhao's heart ache. He couldn't imagine the pain of witnessing his own mother's death at such a young age.
He continuously stroked Zhao Yishu's hair, and her gaze suddenly turned sharp, like shattered ice, scattering snowflakes everywhere!
"But, ironically, do you know where that man was at the time?" Zhao Yishu's eyes held a sharp, knife-like ferocity. "You'd find it unbelievable, but that man, for a woman like my mother, was still not satisfied. On the day my mother died, he was in some rented room, seeking pleasure with another woman!"
"From the moment I learned of that, I never lived with that man again. I returned to my grandmother's house. It is precisely because of this that I have always refused to interact with any man and have feared the spotlight. My personality also became increasingly reclusive, until I met you. I realized that perhaps not all men are so irresponsible, so cowardly, so incompetent."
Zhao Yishu's turbulent emotions seemed to be slowly stabilizing due to Ren Yuanhao's warmth. At this moment, Zhao Yishu's phone rang.
"Hello, Big Sister, come quickly! A man claiming to be your father is here! And he's brought several menacing debt collectors with him!"
"My father?"
Zhao Yishu froze for a moment, then hung up the phone, appearing to have no intention of taking action.
"Escaping will never solve problems. Some difficulties in the world can only be overcome by facing them."