Chapter 118 Chapter 118 Uncle, why not...

Even Shen Qingyuan found this hard to believe. In the distant memories of his other personality, his uncle had always loved children. Ever since Shen Qingyuan was two or three, he had loved clinging to this little uncle. Compared to his mother's moodiness and his father's complete indifference, his uncle was a remarkably patient and entertaining elder. Almost all of his happy childhood memories were related to his uncle.

Shen Qingyuan suddenly had a splitting headache. The sharp pains like needles kept coming out, making his whole face twisted. He tried desperately to dispel the influence of those memories on himself.

After all, he had never experienced the warmth and kindness that his other personality had felt. And not long ago, his good uncle had beaten him to a pulp, nearly killing him.

Shen Qingyuan hugged Yao Yingxia tighter in an instant. He did not control the strength of the hand holding the knife well, and a bloody mark was drawn on her fair skin. A few drops of blood instantly appeared, which looked shocking.

A barely detectable flash of panic flashed across Shen Xingchuan's eyes. He tried to remain calm, trying not to provoke him any further. "Qingyuan, don't be impulsive. You just want my life. You can take it yourself."

At this point, it was really annoying that his uncle was still plotting against him. Once the dagger left his sister's neck, his uncle would fight to the death without any scruples.

Shen Qingyuan sneered and brought the dagger closer, signaling him not to come any closer. "Uncle, why don't you just end your life? If you can think of a novel and interesting way to die, perhaps I can keep the child."

The word "novel and interesting" was simply creepy when used here. Yao Yingxia couldn't stop trembling. She found that Shen Xingchuan actually started to think about this problem.

The study room they were in only displayed some daily necessities. Even if Shen Xingchuan wanted to die by blooming a flower, he really had no way to do it. Jumping from here would not kill him, and dying by hitting his head against the wall probably could not be considered "novel and interesting".

After thinking hard but to no avail, Shen Xingchuan simply asked, "Does my nephew have any suggestions?"

This name was too old and made Shen Qingyuan feel extremely unfamiliar, but his uncle's voice was relaxed, as if he was just asking him where he wanted to go for fun or what he wanted to eat for dinner.

His headache became even worse, and some residual memory fragments flooded into his mind frantically, including scenes of his uncle celebrating his birthday, helping him attend parent-teacher meetings, and teaching him skiing, surfing, and skydiving.

An abnormal paleness instantly invaded his face, and Shen Qingyuan's eyes became even gloomier.

Delay would lead to unexpected events, so he couldn't waste any more time.

Shen Qingyuan's eyes fell on his shirt collar, and he praised sincerely, "Uncle, your tie is very beautiful."

It was a dark-colored, retro tie with dark patterns, which was usually only worn in more formal occasions and rarely worn in private.

Yao Yingxia recognized it as the gift she had given to Shen Xingchuan. It was just a small toy she had bought to keep Shen Xingchuan steady before planning her escape.

At that time, she didn't even carefully choose the pattern, she just asked the clerk to get the most expensive one. But because Shen Xingchuan wore it every day, she still remembered this tie.

Yao Yingxia's gaze fell on his wrist again, where there was indeed a pair of square cufflinks inlaid with sapphires and diamonds. It was the birthday gift she gave him during his sophomore year.

In that moment of turmoil, Yao Yingxia did not think carefully about what Shen Qingyuan's words just meant.

Shen Xingchuan understood what he meant and pulled off the tie with one hand.

It was easy to deal with smart people. Shen Qingyuan was very pleased and reminded him kindly: "Uncle, water and fire are merciless. We don't have much time."

The heat wave in the room was already unbearable, even the floor began to get hot, and no one knew how long this study could last.

Shen Xingchuan looked towards the center of the roof.

There happened to be an abandoned chandelier hook there, so he stepped onto the low cabinet next to the desk without hesitation, hung his tie on it, and struggled to tie a knot with his left hand and teeth.

Finally, he looked at her and said, "Xia Xia, don't be sad for someone like me."

Yao Yingxia never admitted that Shen Xingchuan loved her. No one's love could be so suffocating and painful. She was unbearable and in pain.

But at such a cruel moment, she would rather Shen Xingchuan remained selfish and bad instead of torturing her heart like this.

The tie was just the right length, allowing him to easily pass his jaw through it. Shen Qingyuan eagerly urged, "Uncle, get ready to go."

The girl in his arms ignored the threat of the sharp blade and suddenly climbed onto the table, trying to get to his side: "Shen Xingchuan, are you crazy? Go! Get out of here quickly!"

Shen Xingchuan certainly wouldn't let go of this sudden turn of events. He stepped onto the desk and was about to grab Yao Yingxia's arm.

But the flesh around her neck suddenly flipped open, and bright red blood dripped down like rain. This was the price she paid for breaking free from Shen Qingyuan's grasp. Fortunately, the blood didn't spurt out, so it probably hadn't damaged any arteries.

At this moment, his irrational little nephew was raising the blade in his hand high, wanting to pierce Yao Yingxia's heart and nail her to the table.

"Qingyuan!"

He roared and finally regained his nephew's sanity for a short time, but in the blink of an eye, he missed the opportunity to save Yao Yingxia.

Shen Qingyuan suddenly grabbed her waist and dragged her back.

This sudden change made him very angry. Shen Qingyuan simply put the tip of the knife to Yao Yingxia's throat and threatened desperately: "Uncle, retreat, it's time for you to go on your way."

Shen Qingyuan's arms were shaking erratically from excessive excitement, and the tip of the knife repeatedly pierced her skin, leaving several more wounds. "Or do you want me to die with my sister?"

Yao Yingxia's entire neck was almost stained with blood, which made Shen Xingchuan fully understand his determination.

Shen Qingyuan is not afraid of death at all, and will not show any mercy.

After all, being able to die with Yao Yingxia is one of his current wishes.

If anyone else became a hostage, Shen Xingchuan would not allow himself to fall into such a situation. He could try every possible way to deal with the situation, looking for an opportunity to achieve a surprise victory, or simply remain indifferent and completely disregard the life and death of others.

But when this person became Yao Yingxia, he didn't dare to gamble on any possibility.

There is only one way left.

Yao Yingxia watched him retreat back to the stool and put his head into his tie.

Shen Qingyuan said his final goodbye, "Uncle, when I went to pick up my sister just now, I actually wanted to kill you, but my sister was crying so pitifully, so I didn't do it. Now you should die without regrets, right?"

This was the last gift my uncle gave me before he died.

After hearing this, Shen Xingchuan was indeed slightly stunned.

The invisible sharp blade pierced his heart and spun around inside, turning him upside down.

He felt that he had no regrets in dying, but also felt that life was short.

Before his emotions completely got out of control, Shen Xingchuan kicked over the stool under his feet.

His wife was indeed soft-hearted and kind, and not without conscience.

He had wronged her in the past.

Yao Yingxia finally broke down and burst into tears. The surging tears blurred her vision, but she could still see Shen Xingchuan's face turn red instantly and the blue veins bulging on his forehead.

Shen Qingyuan had originally wanted to see his uncle off one last time, but his sister struggled so hard in his arms that he reacted. He lowered his head slightly and licked the blood from his sister's neck.

Even my sister's blood is sweet.

He was confused and thought there was something wrong with his sense of taste, but when he tasted his sister's tears, he found them bitter.

The bitterness flowed down his tongue and throat and into his chest.

Shen Qingyuan asked desperately, "Sister, just because he's willing to die for you, does that mean you should forget the past and love him? What if I'm willing to die for you too?"

Yao Yingxia couldn't hear what he said at all, and just begged bitterly, "Qingyuan, he is your uncle, please let him go, and save me, Qingyuan, Qingyuan..."

My sister kept calling his name, but was she really calling him as a person?

The pain that almost crushed his brain made his face pale as paper. His crazy eyes were stunned for a moment, and he finally remembered the original intention of his lover a long time ago.

He liked the Yao Yingxia who worked hard in her studies, the Yao Yingxia who depended on him in dangerous situations, and the Yao Yingxia who lied and claimed to be his girlfriend in order to help him out.

When you love someone, you should hope that everything goes well for her, that she is healthy and happy, instead of watching her bleed and cry.

Shen Qingyuan suddenly hugged her tightly and said in a trembling voice, "I'm sorry, Yingxia."

He cannot escape blame for letting himself go to this extent.

Shen Qingyuan raised the blade in his hand high, and then brought it down with all his strength.

When the cold light flashed, Yao Yingxia closed her eyes in despair, but the pain she had imagined did not come.

When she opened her eyes again, she found that Shen Qingyuan had nailed her left hand to the desk.

The slender blade pierced through his palm and almost completely sank into the wood grain, leaving only the handle on the back of his hand.

The face that had lost all its color finally lost its crazy undertone, and he opened his other arm to set her free.

Yao Yingxia stumbled towards Shen Xingchuan.

He was already at the end of his strength. His entire face had turned a terrifying crimson due to excessive congestion, and even his eyeballs were bulging.

At such a fatal moment, Shen Xingchuan was just thinking: If only I could die in a different way.

He really didn't want Yao Yingxia's last memory of himself to be so twisted and ugly.

But soon he could no longer think about even such insignificant things.

The whole world became blurry, collapsing smaller and smaller, and finally turned into darkness. The only sounds could be heard: the rushing of blood and the throbbing of the heart.

Just when he was about to step into the gates of hell, he suddenly felt an upward force under his feet.

He sensed a glimmer of hope and stepped forward recklessly, desperately grabbing the tie to save his neck.

The moment he fell to the ground, Shen Xingchuan vaguely saw Yao Yingxia sitting down beside him, and finally realized that he had just stepped on her shoulder.

No wonder it is so weak, but surprisingly very tough.

He breathed heavily and hugged his wife tightly.

He is selfish and mean.

He is arrogant and moody.

He is good at playing with people's hearts and only cares about his own happiness.

Even though he was in such a bad state, his wife couldn't bear to see him die.

He wanted to cry so badly.

Big tears fell on Yao Yingxia's shoulders, and she heard the broken cry from the severely injured throat.

It sounds very unpleasant.

And a little pitiful.

She finally raised her arm and patted his shoulder, as if comforting a puppy that had escaped death.

Shen Xingchuan seemed to wake up from a dream. He suddenly picked her up, poured all the water in the vase on the windowsill onto his sleeves, then covered Yao Yingxia's mouth and nose and ran out the door.

She struggled to look inside the house: "Qingyuan is still in there."

Shen Xingchuan didn't listen at all and just wanted her to escape from danger as soon as possible.

The last scene Yao Yingxia saw was Shen Qingyuan sitting upright on the leather chair, his palms still firmly nailed to the desk, covered in blood and unable to be seen in their original form.

But he seemed not to feel any pain. He just smiled and waved at her, saying softly, "Yingxia, goodbye."

At this moment, she was surprised to find that this room was very familiar, almost exactly the same as the study in Shen Suxi's villa.

During high school, Shen Qingyuan often worked with her there to practice exercises and correct mistakes, and occasionally they would chat about their future plans.

Shen Qingyuan's dream was to become an astrophysicist. He loved the grandeur and vastness of the universe, had a strong interest in black holes and stars, and was curious about whether parallel universes really existed.

No one could have imagined that he would reach this point today.

"Qingyuan, go, don't die here." Yao Yingxia helplessly called out to the young man who was determined to die, but she only saw him shaking his head.

The fire outside was completely out of control and the corridor was burned off. Shen Xingchuan took a few steps and led her over to the window they had just seen.

Sure enough, the bodyguards were still waiting downstairs. He was speechless and could only gesture for them to catch Yao Yingxia. After everyone gathered downstairs and stretched out their arms to form a circle, he threw Yao Yingxia down.

When she saw that she was caught steadily, Shen Xingchuan disappeared behind the window again.

The bodyguards shouted at him at the top of their lungs: “Mr. Shen, come back quickly, this house can’t hold on for much longer!”

However, the only answer they got was the crackling sound of flames madly devouring everything. A moment later, Yao Yingxia heard a huge and distorted noise, and then half of the house collapsed in front of her.

The whole earth was shaking, flames shot up into the sky, burning half the night sky red.

The heat wave poured out from the originally airtight house, instantly sweeping over everyone around it.

Yao Yingxia only felt cold. Not only was her body cold, but even the wound on her neck began to hurt. The pain made her cry and her heart felt like it was pierced by thousands of arrows.

Soon, the familiar rumbling sound came to her ears again. The remaining half of the building was about to collapse. She almost fainted at such a tragic scene. She closed her eyes and suddenly heard a cheer:

“Mr. Shen!”

“It’s Mr. Shen!”

The orange-red flames almost became his battle armor, shining brightly in the dark night. Shen Xingchuan supported his unconscious nephew with one hand and jumped out of the window together.

The pile of clothes on the lawn was thick and soft, and did not cause him much pain. The long night stopped looming, and it seemed that daylight was about to break.

He saw his wife crying with joy from afar, and he started laughing too.

On the way to the hospital, Shen Xingchuan seemed to want to say something, but his throat was so badly injured that he could only take out his phone and type something, then hand it to her: "Xia Xia, can you give me another tie for my birthday next year?"

It was just a very simple request, but Shen Xingchuan sat up straighter than ever. Even though he was trying to remain calm, a hint of nervousness appeared in his eyes, as if he was afraid that she would not agree.

Yao Yingxia thought about it for a long time and finally decided to accept her fate.

It's just a tie. You can give it as a gift this year, or even buy one tomorrow.

But when I thought about how he just wanted a promise, I nodded and said, "Okay, wait until next year."

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Author's note: There will be a wedding + baby-birth extra chapter, and a Momo perspective extra chapter, which will explain the endings of Xiao An and Qing Yuan, as well as some small daily life (important things are written at the beginning, and the two previously mentioned if lines remain unchanged)

Here are some confessions and ramblings [Please]

When writing these chapters, I was very conflicted, thinking about many aspects, and trying multiple versions of the direction, so I am very sorry for delaying the update again (I deserve to die [burst into tears]

About a month ago, I envisioned a completely different ending. It was likely that after Shen Xingchuan found Xia Xia, he would easily deal with Shen Qingyuan, and then he would continue down this path, using Xiao An to threaten Xia Xia to go through with the wedding and have a child, and using Momo to create a new constraint, trapping Xia Xia forever. Shen Xingchuan would suffer the pain of unrequited love, and Xia Xia would suffer the pain of being forced to do what she wanted. The two of them would spend their lives in pain and awkwardness. Due to depression and poor health, Xia Xia would die around the age of 40, and Shen Xingchuan would also die of a heart attack that same year. [Heartbroken]

But as I poured more and more emotion into each character, they became more and more vivid in my mind, as if they truly had life. Every time those crazy thoughts of destroying them appeared, another voice would tell me that they wanted to live, and they wanted to live a less painful life. (The opposite example is "Dark Collection". Because it is a short story, the emotions have not yet been deeply established, so each character has reached a predetermined ending.)

On the day I was feeling the worst, I even considered killing off all the main characters. But after I calmed down, I felt like I was possessed... [melted]

Later, he thought that with Shen Xingchuan's intelligence and ability to act, he would not let himself fall into such a desperate situation, so he thought of a version that could turn the situation around halfway, but this version was too bland and was quickly rejected.

Later, a version was designed in which Shen Xingchuan actually used a self-torture tactic to put himself in danger in order to make Xia Xia soften her heart.

However, at a certain moment, I suddenly realized that no matter how vicious, unscrupulous, and psychologically twisted Shen Xingchuan was, when you peeled him off layer by layer, you still found a deep love for Xia Xia at heart, and he wasn't omnipotent. Even when he was truly in a desperate situation, he was willing to die for Xia Xia, so there was no need to design those plots to highlight his scheming and means.

After all, loving someone to the end depends entirely on one's sincerity. In the end, he just got a chance to show his true heart to Xia Xia.

From Shen Xingchuan's perspective, he completely completed his self-strategy in this disaster. For him, "my wife is reluctant to let me die" is equivalent to "my wife has a place for me in her heart". Then, when he repeatedly savors this in the future, he will feel good about himself and think that "my wife loves me to death" [covering his face with laughter and tears]

In the future, every time he feels anxious, jealous, and about to go crazy, he will think of this life-or-death moment today, and then the whole person will become very peaceful. This he achieved partly through brainwashing himself [shut up]

But at this moment, has Xia Xia really fallen in love with Shen Xingchuan? I think it is mostly shocking and touching. Xia Xia herself is a very kind and grateful person. This crisis can shatter most of the fear and psychological trauma brought to her by Shen Xingchuan, but it cannot rise to the level of "love".

Besides, Xia Xia knew Shen Xingchuan too well. She knew clearly that "willing to die for her" was not the same as "willing to set her free." If Xia Xia still insisted on leaving, Shen Xingchuan would find a way to make Xiao An disappear completely, but he would do it more covertly, leaving no trace, instead of deliberately torturing her like before.

Xia Xia's emotions were very complicated at this moment, but she didn't want to trouble anyone else and cause more disasters. So this time, accepting her fate was no longer "helpless", but "muddling through".

The above are some thoughts on the ending of the main text, but it is not a template for a standard answer. Everyone has their own opinions and can have their own understanding. Everyone is welcome to discuss in the comment section.

Here is my confession.

I've been on hiatus a few times, and I'm truly sorry for everyone. On the one hand, I've been frequently ill, and there have been distractions from trivial matters in my life. On the other hand, I've often felt oppressed and tormented during the writing process. The norm is to sit in front of the computer for over ten hours a day, unable to write a single word. Then, overthinking the plot, I'd stay awake all night, feeling lost and dazed, a life worse than death.

There were many moments when I wanted to give up. I felt that I had no talent, and what I wrote was terrible. I sat there every day with no output, wasting my time and life, and I was useless.

However, even though I'm such a poor author, everyone still perseveres in leaving messages, encouragement, and following up, which helps me cheer up again and again. I'm really, really grateful to everyone. Without you, I might have given up halfway again, and then tortured myself with self-blame and regret for a long time.

Thankfully, I managed to persevere this time. Thank you all again for your support. I love you all! [Come on][Come on][Come on]

The next book will be "The Great Disaster", which is still about robbery. The heroine has a boyfriend, and then she gets entangled with a pair of brothers. Due to some reasons, the copywriting of the column was aborted. The complete copy is on Weibo. I will rewrite it later. This book will not be too long, it should be between 200,000 and 300,000 words. If you are interested, you can collect it and also collect the author [shy]

Mountains and rivers have a chance to meet, so we will meet in the special chapter~~~~[scatter flowers][scatter flowers][scatter flowers]