117 Extra (1)

◎Shi Ziqian Chapter◎

Shi Ziqian rarely returns to China anymore. He only comes back once a year on the anniversary of his grandmother's death, stays for three to five days, and then returns. This year is no exception.

The house has always been a chaotic mess, noisy and never peaceful.

In recent years, Zhu Qing has become unwilling to remain Shi Yuesheng's virtuous wife at home and has begun to get involved in business matters. There is a new housing development in the suburbs that Zhu Qing named, Jinshi Xiaozhu.

Shi Yuesheng rarely invests in real estate these days, but this property, despite its high price, is selling very well.

Shi Qiyue sneered from inside the room: "Some people really can't stop talking about their profession. They give a perfectly good real estate development a name that sounds like 'three flavors,' as if they're afraid people won't know she used to be a mistress." She and Zhu Qing have now reached the point of irreconcilable differences, especially since she came of age and got the shares. She has been used to opposing Zhu Qing all day long, and this kind of verbal sparring is nothing.

Besides, what she said makes sense.

The new residential complex is located far from the city center, extremely luxurious and expensive, gradually becoming the first choice for some men to keep mistresses. Jinshi Xiaozhu sounds like the perfect place to hide a mistress.

There was a business dinner that day, and Shi Qiyue was attending alone for the first time. Although she and Zhu Qing were at odds at home, she was still not very calm at this time. Before leaving, she stood at the door and glanced back at Shi Ziqian, who was leaning on the sofa reading a book, and said dryly, "Hey, you're coming with me."

Shi Ziqian thought for a moment, then got up.

She is still young, and what she needs right now is perhaps just a little confidence.

At the dinner table, Shi Ziqian sat next to Shi Qiyue, teacup in hand, listening indifferently as the group discussed the sordid affairs of the business world. As the conversation progressed, they mentioned a young man in the city who had recently gained some fame, having risen to prominence by leveraging his father-in-law's influence and now becoming a rising star on the city's wealth rankings. His good relationship with his wife was well-known in their circle, but in the end, he too kept a mistress. Oh, and it was at that Jinshi Xiaozhu too!

Everyone was talking enthusiastically, but when they looked up and saw Shi Ziqian, they immediately fell silent. Jinshi Xiaozhu was a property under the Shi family, how could they have forgotten about this? Someone chuckled, "Speaking of which, you might know that guy sometimes, he also graduated from a school under the group, what's his name... oh, Xu Shen!"

Shi Ziqian jerked his hand, spilling tea all over himself.

Seeing his reaction, the people at the table realized they had said the wrong thing, exchanged glances, and fell silent. Shi Qiyue also glanced at him with a curious look, seemingly lost in thought.

Shi Ziqian composed himself, pulled out a few tissues to casually wipe the water stains off his clothes, and asked casually, "Does his wife know?"

"Oh, well, you should know that, right?" Seeing that he was interested in this, everyone immediately started chiming in. "After all, it's not uncommon. Which man who becomes successful doesn't have affairs outside? His wife usually turns a blind eye. Who would really investigate? I think everyone knows it. If it escalates and they get divorced, they'll lose both their wife and their money."

Shi Ziqian clenched the damp, crumpled tissue in his hand. Should he turn a blind eye? Others might, but Zhan Xinyue wouldn't.

That night, after returning home, Shi Ziqian sat alone in the dark, staring at Zhan Xinyue's profile picture on his phone for a long time.

She hasn't changed her profile picture for many years. When she first started college, she changed it frequently, often using quirky cartoon avatars, and occasionally posting a selfie, but she would always change it again after a couple of days.

Back then, she loved posting on social media, often sharing cute musings, recording how the maple trees outside her dorm turned red and green again, or complaining about how difficult her final exams were. Many times, she would suddenly update with a bunch of photos of the food she'd recently eaten in the middle of the night, prompting a string of comments like, "Late-night food porn! Posting food at this hour makes me so hungry I'm scratching my head," to which she would reply with a long string of "hahahahahaha." Shi Ziqian was different from those commenters. He was separated from her by a border and a 13-hour time difference, so he always saw her posts in the evening, enough time to go out alone and try to find the same food in her photos in a foreign land.

Besides these everyday details, she would also post photos of herself and Xu Shen. They studied together in the study room, decided to go out for barbecue outside the school late at night, and traveled together during winter and summer vacations... He didn't like seeing these photos, but he would still click on them and look at them carefully for a long time each time.

Later, her daily life gradually quieted down; she stopped updating her profile picture frequently and stopped posting on social media. Shi Ziqian knew she had switched to another social media platform long ago, and after going through several roundabout ways, he found out her newly registered WeChat account, but he still couldn't muster the courage to add her.

Because the last post she made was a group photo.

In the photo, she's wearing a formal dress, standing side-by-side with Xu Shen in the center of a brightly lit stage, surrounded by a large circle of classmates and friends. The caption reads: "I got proposed to! I'm even happier than I could have imagined!"

That was the only photo he didn't dare to open the larger version of.

After that, she never updated her social media again. He still wanted to know how she was doing, but he was also afraid of seeing something even more cruel on her new social media platform.

But news about her still gets around, like she's getting married.

Her wedding invitation appeared in the long-dormant class group chat, and the group immediately erupted in excitement. Everyone exclaimed, "She's getting married right after graduation! Is Old Xu in such a hurry?" Xu Shen sent several laughing emojis and replied smugly, "No need to be jealous of me." Zhan Xinyue also chimed in, still with her gentle demeanor, saying, "Everyone is welcome to our wedding!"

Shi Ziqian had imagined Zhan Xinyue in her wedding dress many times, but none of them matched the beauty he saw in person. He flew 14 hours back to China and saw her at the wedding, arm in arm with Xu Shen, her face beaming with undisguised happiness.

A girl as good as her deserves to be happy forever, and there will never be a place for him by her side.

He had never doubted that Zhan Xinyue would be happier with Xu Shen than with him. But... Xu Shen, how dare you?

Because of this accident, Shi Ziqian's stay in China this time became much longer.

He had someone investigate Xu Shen and discovered more details. Xie Wanzhi, the illegitimate child—Xu Shen betrayed her completely.

For a moment, he considered the possibility of ruining Xu Shen's business career, but quickly abandoned the idea. Xu Shen held the Zhan Xinyue family's business; he couldn't do that.

After thinking about it for many days, he finally sent a message to Zhan Xinyue's chat box for the first time: Be careful of Xu Shen, he has someone else outside.

He wasn't sure she would see it, but a few days later he received her reply, albeit only a question mark.

She really didn't know.

He spent a long time deleting and modifying the chat box before finally sending a name: Jinshi Xiaozhu.

He didn't say anything more, but he knew she would definitely go and check on him.

He printed out a photo of Zhan Xinyue from her university days and gave it to the security guards at Jinshi Xiaozhu, instructing them to inform him if they saw her outside the community.

He wasn't sure how Zhan Xinyue would react to the sordid truth. Would she forgive him because of her deep love... or would she resolutely break up with him? He began preparations, contacting lawyers and collecting substantial evidence of Xu Shen's infidelity, waiting to provide it to her when she needed it. If Zhan Xinyue chose to leave him, he would make sure Xu Shen regretted his infidelity for the rest of his life.

And then, if she gets divorced, then...

It must be admitted that he harbored a secret hope, a flame that had never been extinguished in his heart.

The waiting was agonizing, but finally, on a rainy day, he received a call from security.

Following closely behind was a video. In the video, Zhan Xinyue stood bewildered, watching the departing figures of Xu Shen and the other two. Her umbrella slipped from her hand and fell to the ground, and she was soaked to the bone by the heavy rain.

He never expected that she would run right into that cruelest moment.

The video ends with her staggering away. He underestimated the impact of Xu Shen's infidelity on her; at this moment, she seemed to have completely lost her composure, so distraught that she could barely walk.

Shi Ziqian was always a very steady driver, but in this torrential rain that made the world seem chaotic, he stepped on the gas pedal to its limit for the first time in his life.

As he approached the intersection of Jinshi Xiaozhu, he was feeling uneasy when he suddenly saw Zhan Xinyue walking across the middle of the road.

It was too late to brake. He only remembered that at the last moment, Zhan Xinyue looked up and glanced in their direction.

Through the rain curtain, there was no light left in her eyes.

...

When Shi Ziqian woke up in a daze, there was no sound around him, and it was pitch black.

The lingering feeling of unease from the dream hadn't subsided, and my head was throbbing as if it were about to split open.

He could hardly tell where he was until something wet touched his palm. Startled, he saw through the darkness that it was Panpan squatting in front of him, rubbing her nose against him.

He calmed down a little and raised his hand to rub his temples, only to find his hand covered in wet tears.

"You're awake?" A familiar scent approached, followed by a warm hand taking his.

Shi Ziqian immediately grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly.

"What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?" Zhan Xinyue hugged him back and gently rested her chin on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I had a nightmare," Shi Ziqian said hoarsely. "I don't know what's wrong with me, I've been having weird dreams lately." The person in his arms felt so real, and he finally remembered that they had been watching a movie on the sofa, but he had somehow fallen asleep. Xinyue probably wanted him to sleep a little longer, so she turned off the lights and the TV and stayed by his side.

"Is the room too dark?" Zhan Xinyue reached out and turned on the light, the warm yellow light spreading out. "Don't be afraid, dreams are always the opposite of reality, I'm here."

Shi Ziqian held her hand tightly, their matching rings clicking together. He finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Yes, dreams are always the opposite of reality."

"Friday night is the happiest time of the week," Zhan Xinyue continued to comfort him, speaking gently. "It's a rare weekend, how about we go somewhere tomorrow? Panpan has been chewing on the sofa lately, I think we should buy it a chew toy. Oh, by the way, Yezi sent a message while you were asleep. She won a national scholarship this semester and said she's treating everyone to dinner. Shall we go together tomorrow night?"

Shi Ziqian nodded: "Okay."

After they got together, his life gradually became richer and more lively. He cherished this change and enjoyed how his life was filled with everything about Zhan Xinyue.

"Do you want to continue watching the movie? It seems a bit boring, and you've fallen asleep." Zhan Xinyue tilted her head slightly in annoyance, but quickly cheered up again. "Why don't we save it for when you have insomnia next time? I feel like it's incredibly effective for your insomnia, haha."

Shi Ziqian couldn't help but chuckle: "Indeed, it's quite rare to find a movie that can make me fall asleep."

When Zhan Xinyue saw him smile, she relaxed completely. He knew that she had been talking non-stop just to relieve his emotions. After kissing her forehead, he suddenly said, "I feel a little hungry, Xinyue, let's go out for barbecue."

Zhan Xinyue glanced at the time; it was 10:30 PM. Then she jumped off the sofa with a cheerful laugh: "Xiao Shi, congratulations! You've gradually grasped the true meaning of life."

The two quickly changed their clothes and went out, walking hand in hand on the road, with Panpan following beside them, making little "da da" sounds.

The night breeze was gentle, and Zhan Xinyue was in a good mood. As she walked, she would step on the fallen leaves by the roadside, which made a soft, crisp sound in the quiet night.

Shi Ziqian looked at her profile and smiled slightly.

The memory of that dream is still so vivid. In the dream, he was always alone, and could only piece together her life in his mind through a few words and a few photos.

Thankfully, it was just a dream.

At this moment, Zhan Xinyue beside him was so vibrant and alive, her face bearing the bright smile he had always dreamed of. She was very happy, with him.

He had once utterly hated everything about himself, hated his entire life. But at this moment, he sincerely felt that God had actually been kind to him.