Xu Ruowei had always been by his side. In the past, when he was with An Nuan, Xu Ruowei had always helped with his company. Now that he had everything, and even though Xu Ruowei had become like this, he bore responsibility.
Xu Ruowei had sacrificed too much for him; he could not let her down.
Looking at An Nuan, who had fallen to the ground, he chose to ignore her.
Xu Ruowei said she hadn't pushed An Nuan, that she had fallen on her own. In the end, Shen Xizhou believed her story.
Xu Ruowei said, "Xizhou, I don't want An Nuan to appear before us. I know this request is unreasonable, but An Nuan will hurt me."
Shen Xizhou had felt a pang of sympathy, but when he met Xu Ruowei's pitiable gaze, his heart softened.
He thought that perhaps doing as Xu Ruowei suggested wouldn't be so bad.
Xu Ruowei's gaze fell on Shen Xizhou. Now, she felt that Shen Xizhou seemed hesitant.
Her hands clenched tightly, her eyes filled with malice.
See, An Nuan still held some place in his heart. Otherwise, why would he be so indecisive?
Xu Ruowei's hand landed on Shen Xizhou's waist and explored it. Shen Xizhou instinctively wanted to push Xu Ruowei away, but what Xu Ruowei said next made him freeze, his action of pushing her away completely halted.
"Xizhou, this was in your first year of high school. Something happened, and you almost died."
"It was me who gave you my kidney."
"I was unconscious for a long time before I woke up." Xu Ruowei's eyes, once full of light, became dispirited as she spoke, her emotions lost. "I was so happy then that I could save you."
"But when I went to the hospital, I saw you with An Nuan."
"Everyone said An Nuan saved you, and you believed it too. In the end, I never spoke up again."
"Xizhou, seeing how much you cared about An Nuan then, how much I wanted to step forward and tell you loudly, 'You're wrong, you're wrong.'"
"'The one who saved you was me, not An Nuan.'"
"But seeing your happy face, I didn't want to ruin it all."
"So, I swallowed everything and didn't say a word."
Xu Ruowei said with a face full of helplessness, "But I'm telling you now because I see you still care about An Nuan so much, and I've become jealous."
"I can't stand it anymore, so I'm saying it directly."
Shen Xizhou looked at Xu Ruowei in surprise, as if pondering whether what she said was true or false.
In the end, he chose to believe Xu Ruowei.
When Shen Xizhou's gaze fell on An Nuan again, there was no pity, only disgust.
He never imagined that An Nuan would even claim such a thing. If he had known back then, he would have only compensated Xu Ruowei financially, but it was different now.
"An Nuan, what Xu Ruowei said is true, isn't it?" Shen Xizhou said menacingly.
He had never thought that the woman he had loved for so many years was unworthy of being human.
"An Nuan, you're not speaking because it's true? You have nothing to say, right?"
"Shen Xizhou, will you believe anything Xu Ruowei says?"
An Nuan glared at Xu Ruowei. Meeting Xu Ruowei's provocative gaze, she didn't flinch. She looked at Shen Xizhou, "If I explain, will you believe me?"
"If it were useful, this situation wouldn't have happened now."
"Shen Xizhou, when you face Xu Ruowei, you're not just blind, your heart has become blind too."
Shen Xizhou's brows furrowed. He said coldly, "An Nuan, you don't need to try to change the subject. Given your current state, I naturally believe everything Ruowei says."
An Nuan looked at Shen Xizhou. She felt as if the man before her had become utterly strange and cruel.
Her mind suddenly went blank. She suddenly remembered that when Xu Ruowei came to her earlier, she seemed to be holding something, and her arm felt like it was pricked by something, causing extreme pain.
It was then that she suddenly fell to the ground.
She had thought about falling to the ground to corner Xu Ruowei, but she had never imagined that Xu Ruowei had planned this from the beginning.
"Everything was done by Xu Ruowei. This was all her scheme."
"Xu Ruowei ruined everyone around me and took you away."
"Originally, all the fault was hers, but why is all the fault mine now?"
"Why do I have to bear so much hurt when none of this was my fault?"
Shen Xizhou's brows furrowed.
The An Nuan before him seemed somewhat delirious.
What she was saying now sounded like nonsense.
Shen Xizhou wondered if An Nuan had gone mad to say such baseless things.
Xu Ruowei noticed Shen Xizhou's gaze fixed on An Nuan, never wavering. Her eyes held a cruel glint. She knew she had to 'perform' well.
Xu Ruowei cried out in pain, seemingly in great discomfort, but unable to articulate where the pain was.
In the end, Shen Xizhou picked up Xu Ruowei and left directly.
...
Hailing District.
Hailing District had very poor public security and was quite remote, rarely frequented by ordinary people. Most of the inhabitants here were homeless and extremely vicious.
The people here had low moral standards and were beyond anyone's jurisdiction.
In this place, if you weren't strong, you would only endure humiliation and torment.
An Nuan's head was heavy. When she woke up and looked at the unfamiliar surroundings, and at everything around her, her heart turned cold.
This was Hailing District, a place no one should be.
She hadn't known or seen it before. Shen Xizhou had told her about it.
During college, when she had gone backpacking with Shen Xizhou, they had passed by here. She hadn't realized it and almost stumbled into it, but Shen Xizhou had stopped her in time and educated her about its horrors.
At that time, she had trembled all over listening to him. If Shen Xizhou hadn't told her, she would never have believed it.
She was terrified. Shen Xizhou held her in his arms and gently whispered in her ear, "Nuannuan, don't be afraid."
"I'm here for you. I'll protect your safety even at the cost of my own life."
"With me here, I won't let you suffer the slightest grievance."
"Nuannuan, don't be afraid, don't worry."
An Nuannuan had been undeniably happy then.
She had a man who loved her and protected her with all his heart and soul.
At that time, she felt she was the happiest person in the world.
But the happiness she felt then was matched by the desolation she felt now.