Chapter 1
Chapter 1: Her Wretched Life
Flowers bloomed in my heart before my rebirth
But swords were in my hands after I’m born again. – Song Ran
In July, the parasol trees before the inpatient department of the municipal hospital were in full bloom. The scorching sun and the cicadas crying on and off were vexing.
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A lady in her forties strolled into the white building where the inpatient department was located. Her dress appeared expensive, and she looked good for her age. With her brand name clutch under her arm, she stepped into the elevator and headed to a ward at the end of the corridor on the third floor.
Song Ran was lying on the hospital bed, holding on to her last breath. She was dying, and it looked like she wasn’t going to make it.
But gradually, her distracted gaze settled on the person standing at the door.
“What are you doing here?” she said, her resentment oozing through her words.
Wen Huihui trod to her in her clattering high-heels and said, “My husband Gu Jinghang died yesterday.”
Out of reflex, Song Ran’s hand grasped the bedsheet covering her. Even though she could barely breathe, she managed to ask, “What has that got to do with me?”
Wen Huihui lit a cigarette. “Don’t mind if I smoke, do you? Oh, you’ve got a terminal illness, and time is running out for you. So I guess it doesn’t matter.”
Song Ran gritted her teeth and did not say a word.
Wen Huihui took a puff. The smoke lingered in the ward as her voice seemed ethereal and unreal.
“You are still the same as you were thirty years ago. Too proud and never saying what you mean. Do you still remember that day in 1988?”
Song Ran remained silent.
Wen Huihui continued, “On the account that you’re dying, I’ll tell you everything so that you can die in peace.
“That day, I asked you if you liked Gu Jinghang, the one who was introduced to you by someone else. What did you say? You replied to me that he was just a poor country bumpkin. So what if he was the team leader of the research institute? You wouldn’t like him anyway.”
Song Ran gasped loudly. No, that wasn’t true.
She had loved Gu Jinghang. But then Wen Huihui was well aware of her proud character. She had manipulated her into saying something that was not from the bottom of her heart.
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Wen Huihui patted her hand and soothed her. “Ran, what you didn’t know is I got Gu Jinghang to come over to your house that day. When you made that speech, Jinghang was just right outside your door.”
Song Ran’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Why did you do that?”
“Because I have better taste. I knew that the poor lad you didn’t appreciate would achieve great things someday. It turned out that I have made all the right bets.”
Song Ran was almost out of breath. She was in such a state that she forgot to press the emergency bell.
Wen Huihui leaned back and took a puff from her cigarette. A wave of superiority washed over her as she watched this person on the brink of death. “By the way, you knew about that night. But what you didn’t know was, in fact, I had a few tricks up my sleeve. I drugged him.”
“Shameless, Wen Huihui. You’re utterly shameless! Why did you have to resort to this?”
Wen Huihui sneered, “If I’m not shameless, would I have moved up the social ladder, being constantly driven around by drivers? Would others respect me wherever I go? Song Ran, you’re just too naive.”
Song Ran was raving mad as she spit out a mouthful of fresh blood.
Wen Huihui leaned over to her ear and whispered her words clearly, “That night, Gu Jinghang was calling you. Ran… Ran… How sweet and tender he was. Look at me. Look at how I endured it. I survived the humiliation and reaped wealth that lasted me for a lifetime. Song Ran, you loved him, didn’t you? Since you couldn’t stay by his side in this life, you can accompany him after you’re dead.”
Song Ran’s eyes widened. Gripped in a moment of sheer rage, she drew her last breath.
Wen Huihui stood beside her, emotionless. Only she, herself, knew that her glory was surface deep.
That night, Gu Jinghang did not touch her. As a result, she had to sleep with someone else just to fake her pregnancy and deceive him so that he had to marry her.
3
After they got married, she was invisible to him. For his entire life, he never touched her once. The woman on the bed was the only person he had ever loved.
But so what? She, Wen Huihui, had the last laugh, right?
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