Zhuang Yan had no idea what people were saying about him; he was busy looking for a place to live and a job right after the annulment of the engagement.

He blocked Zhuang Zhongming and Tang Jing, and when he couldn't contact them, he simply stopped their SIM cards.

They thought that as long as they deprived him of money, he would admit his mistake and go back to his original position, then obediently follow their arrangements.

He is 24 years old, not 14. He already knew how to earn money back in high school, and he never spent a penny of their money during college.

The money in his WeChat account is more than enough for his living expenses from now on.

Zhuang Yan rented a two-bedroom apartment. The apartment wasn't big, but it was decorated very warmly. The apartment was in a prime location, so the monthly rent was 5200, which wasn't cheap.

Zhuang Yan thought it looked good, so he paid the money and filled out the contract. He didn't have much stuff, so it was easy to pack it up.

After tidying up, he lay on the sofa, turned on the TV, and picked the most popular variety show to watch. Coincidentally, the guest on the show was Gu Qian.

It's often said that big screens make people's faces look wider and uglier, and celebrities who look good on TV often look even better in real life.

After watching for a while, Zhuang Yan felt a little hungry. Instead of ordering takeout, he bought some vegetables at the supermarket downstairs and cooked a simple bowl of noodles.

At nine o'clock in the evening, Zhuang Zhongming, who had not received any news from Zhuang Yan, began to get anxious.

He used someone else's phone to send Zhuang Yan a text message, succinctly telling him that if he wanted to break off the engagement, it would mean he was disowning his parents. Since he was disowning his parents, he should return the child support payments he had received over the years.

Zhuang Yan clicked on the attachment and almost laughed when he saw the terms and conditions. In short, all the big and small clauses added up to a total of 300 million yuan that he had to repay.

Three hundred million? Anyone who didn't know better would think he was working illegally.

His parents have disliked him ever since he can remember.

It is said that no parent in the world dislikes their child; if they do, there must be a reason.

Zhuang Yan once had a younger sister. Everyone told him that he threw his two-year-old sister off the second-floor balcony, and she died.

It is said that people have no memory of what they were like before the age of five, but for some reason, Zhuang Yan remembered that blood all over the place so vividly.

His mother went mad after that. Whenever she saw him, she would beat and curse him, saying that he was a demon, that he carried supermale genes, and that he was a born terrorist.

Every day, Zhuang Yan was consumed by self-reproach and self-destruction. It was as if an axe was hanging over his head, and he constantly hoped that the axe would fall and cut off his short life.

If he dies, will his parents stop resenting him? If he dies, will he be able to go from hell to heaven? If he dies, will he be able to see his sister and apologize to her?

When he was six years old, his elderly grandmother took him to the countryside to raise him, despite his many injuries.

He was raised for ten years, during which his parents ignored him completely.

Zhuang Zhongming said that Tang Jing was recuperating and taking medicine, and that seeing him would trigger her illness, so he told him not to disturb them.

Indeed, every time she saw Tang Jing, she would curse him as a murderer who didn't deserve to live, as if she had gone mad.

He saw a psychologist and had his body checked. The doctor told him that he did not have supermale genes and that he was a normal person, not the born devil his mother described.

In his previous life, Zhuang Yan lived cautiously, filled with regret and guilt, trying his best to be filial to his parents and hoping to gain their forgiveness.

He dared not resist the things his family arranged for him. If he showed any resistance, they would use his sister's death as a moral high ground to curse and bind him.

If Zhuang Yan hadn't been reborn, she might have continued to live a life of hard work and dedication, only to learn the truth after Zhuang Zhongming's death.

...

How could a five-year-old child pick up his three-year-old sister and throw her off a balcony 1.2 meters high?

Tang Jing was indeed ill, but Zhuang Zhongming was not. In order to appease his wife, or perhaps out of habit of using repressive education, he chose to keep this secret. In this way, a five-year-old child lived for 50 years with the burden of a human life on his shoulders.

Under such education, Zhuang Yan lived up to expectations, becoming an obedient puppet who fulfilled their wishes while destroying his own.

How could Zhuang Yan not resent them for giving birth to them but not raising them?

His grandmother raised him, so why should they demand 300 million yuan in child support, and why should they exploit him?

He won't fall into the same trap twice. Since they all think he can't survive without the bookmaker, he might as well sever ties completely.

After finishing his noodles, Zhuang Yan contacted a lawyer, explained the whole story to him, and then sent him a table detailing his expenses over the years.

The lawyer objectively told him that it was legally impossible to sever ties with his parents, but he could help him break free from the gambling den and would only be responsible for alimony after he turned 60.

Breaking free from the bookmaker is not an easy task. In his early twenties, Zhuang Yan had no money or status in Rongcheng. He could earn money, but without status, he was afraid that the bookmaker would trip him up and make things difficult for him.

Zhuang Yan decided to confront them completely with the "truth".

Zhuang Zhongming was a born egoist. He cared too much about his reputation. It would have sounded better if his five-year-old child had accidentally thrown his younger sister off the building than if his wife had gone mad and killed their daughter.

By shifting the blame onto a five-year-old child, even if people discuss the matter, they will assume that the child is too young to understand, and that even if a child commits murder, they will not go to jail or bear any legal responsibility.

If Zhuang Yan chooses to expose this matter, it's hard to say who will pressure whom.

He was busy until the early hours of the morning. Zhuang Yan stretched his limbs, picked up his phone, and saw that Xia Wan had called him several times.

He had it muted and didn't hear it. Of course, even if he had, he wouldn't have answered, not wanting to ruin his mood before bed.

My inbox was also full of random text messages, all asking about gossip.

Zhuang Yan read the entire message with one click, then tossed her phone aside, grabbed her clothes, and went into the bathroom to take a shower.

On the other side.

Xia Wan kept her promise and stayed with Gu Qian until her birthday was over before leaving.

Even though I didn't do anything all day, I'm still incredibly tired and want to take a short nap, but I just can't fall asleep.

Xia Wan rubbed her throbbing temples, glanced at the night outside the car window, and then took out her phone to continue calling Zhuang Yan.

There was still no answer; the cold, impersonal tone was incredibly annoying.

What's going on with Zhuang Yan?

If you can't get through during the day, you can explain that he's busy and something has delayed him, but it's already past midnight, even if he's busy, he should have finished by now.

Even if Zhuang Yan was already asleep, he should still answer her call, even if he was dreaming!

All of her contact information was pinned to the top of Zhuang Yan's contacts, with her own special ringtone and reminders.

No matter when you call him, he will answer immediately and be there whenever you need him. Not to mention midnight, even if she calls him at three in the morning to ask him to drive to pick her up from out of town, he will get up without saying a word.

She's made four calls today; there's no way Zhuang Yan didn't see them.