On a late autumn morning, after a night of autumn rain, everything outside was shrouded in a misty fog, inexplicably imbued with a strange sense of loneliness and desolation.

One autumn rain brings one chill.

At this moment, in the dimly lit room, the man on the bed was still covered with a thin summer blanket. He was trapped in a nightmare, and beads of sweat were seeping from his forehead. His brows were furrowed, his eyelids and eyelashes were trembling, and his breathing was becoming more and more rapid. He even began to mutter in his sleep.

"No...no...no Ningning!"

After a gasp, the man sat up abruptly on the narrow bed, his face showing obvious shock.

He didn't know how long he had been sitting there in a daze. He closed his eyes, raised his hand to touch his cold forehead, took a deep breath, turned around and picked up his phone from the bedside table. He saw that it was only four o'clock.

The man lay back down on the bed, staring at the ceiling above him, which he could only make out as an outline. As he stared, he suddenly chuckled softly. After a couple of chuckles, he covered his eyes with his hand, and soon the chuckle turned into a low sob.

Five years have passed.

Ever since he parted ways with Tang Ning on Sakura Island, he has been having nightmares about all of Tang Ning's experiences. Whenever he falls asleep, he will dream about all of Ning Ning's painful and tragic experiences.

And in every dream, he could only watch helplessly as she repeatedly and tragically walked towards the end of her life.

At first, he experienced these dreams, went through periods of pain, madness, and self-harm. He sought help from hypnotists to change his dreams and even stayed awake for three days and three nights, but none of his attempts worked.

He could only hopelessly and frantically watch in his dreams the Ningning he had broken off their engagement with, the hysterical Ningning, the Ningning he had driven away in the wilderness in his anger, the Ningning chasing after his car with red eyes, the Ningning sold into a wild and desolate mountain village, the Ningning who was beaten, scolded and humiliated, the Ningning lying in a pool of blood...

All sorts of Ningning.

If it weren't for him, what a bright future Ningning would have had!

She learns everything quickly, faster than anyone else. Everyone who gets to know her will like her. She will finish high school and college well, meet a man who truly loves her and cherishes her, get married, have children, and live a happy and fulfilling life, full of ups and downs.

But he ruined all of that, he destroyed it all!

If it weren't for him, she would never have had any interaction with Yin Yuqing and Mu Sheng. If it weren't for him deliberately provoking her and then ficklely trying to abandon her, she would never have experienced all of what followed.

Jiang Yao moved his hand away, his eyes vacant as he thought to himself.

So these past five years of nightmares were all his retribution.

Even his father's failed investment left him with a huge debt, and now the three of them are crammed into this tiny rented room, struggling to pay off the debt every day as soon as they open their eyes – it's all retribution.

Everything was retribution for him ruining Ningning's life.

Thinking of this, Jiang Yao slightly tugged at the corner of his mouth.

The alarm I set on my phone went off right at five o'clock.

He was on the early shift today and needed to be at the company by 6:00 AM sharp, so he set his alarm for 5:00 AM.

Jiang Yao mechanically raised his hand to turn off the alarm, took a deep breath, and got out of bed.

His dad drove all night and is now sleeping, so he needs to move very quietly, very quietly.

After washing up, before dawn, Jiang Yao put on his helmet and headed straight for the company through the white morning mist.

Jiang Yao's father had already lost money in his investments before Jiang Yao finished high school. To pay off his debts, Jiang Yao had to stop studying. But in today's society, without a degree, he can't do anything. He can only rely on his youth to work as a food delivery driver, working twelve hours a day. With the help of his family of three, they are able to pay off the interest every month.

As for the future, Jiang Yao hadn't thought about it, nor dared to think about it. What future did a scoundrel like him need?

Just as Jiang Yao had started working, in another neighborhood, a pale-faced man opened his eyes. Perhaps because the weather had been getting colder recently, the man began to cough violently as soon as he woke up.

Although he tried to suppress his cough for fear of waking the people in the next room, coughing is something that cannot be completely suppressed.

Sure enough, he had only held back his cough for a short while when he suddenly let out a deafening cough, as if he were coughing up his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys. His previously pale cheeks also flushed with an unusual redness.

Soon, the man's door was pushed open from the outside.

"Jin Yan, Jin Yan, why are you coughing again? Drink some water, come on, drink some hot water."

The middle-aged man, carrying hot water, entered the room with a worried expression and said this.

Ye Jinyan took several sips from his hand, and his previously heart-wrenching cough turned into a low, muffled cough.

"I think we should go to the hospital for another check-up. How can Dad be at ease if you keep acting like this?"

Ye Zhen sighed softly as he said this.

"It's alright, Dad. The doctor who performed the surgery already said that a decrease in immunity is inevitable after spleen removal. It's perfectly normal for me to catch a cold since the weather has gotten colder recently. Don't worry too much."

Ye Jinyan soothed him gently.

Looking at his son like this, Ye Zhen could only sigh inwardly again and again. He glanced at Ye Jinyan's forehead, which was damp with sweat, hesitated for a long time, and finally asked, "Jinyan, did you have another nightmare?"

Upon hearing the question, Ye Jinyan, whose eyes were lowered, instinctively twitched his overly slender fingers.

Ye Zhen, receiving no answer, looked at the silent Ye Jinyan. Over the years, after returning from that so-called Sakura Island, he had to have his spleen removed due to severe injuries. Now, his health was deteriorating day by day, and he was getting thinner and thinner. The 1.8-meter-tall man now weighed only a little over 100 kilograms. For the past five years, he had suffered from various major and minor illnesses, spending half of the year in the hospital. He not only took medicine like food, but he also had the same nightmare every night.

His first nightmare occurred right after he underwent spleen removal surgery. All he could hear was him repeatedly calling out the name "Ningning," and tears streamed down his face.

As a result, he was admitted to the intensive care unit, and the doctor even issued two critical condition notices to him.

He almost didn't make it back then.

He pleaded with Tang Qing's daughter, pleading so much, but she still refused to come.

In a fit of anger, he divorced Tang Qing.

Looking at his son like this, Ye Zhen could only suspect that one day his son would die before him.

Ye Zhen's hands trembled uncontrollably at the mere thought of such a possibility.

At this moment, Ye Jinyan turned his head and glanced at the sky outside, which was beginning to brighten. Thinking that there were still some things to deal with at the company, he started to prepare.

Yes, the company, Ye Jinyan's company.

A few years ago, Ye Zhen and Jiang Yao's father were lured into a seemingly attractive transnational cooperation project.

Jiang Yao's family suffered heavy losses and is still paying off huge loans. No matter how many times Jiang's father tried to make a comeback, he always failed. Now the whole family is huddled in a 50-square-meter rented room, working together to pay off those loans.

The Ye family wasn't much better off. It was only because Ye Zhen was quick-witted that they escaped a disaster and managed to retain some assets. With the help of Aunt Tang, they've managed to start a small company and barely make ends meet.

The reason he was barely making ends meet was that he took almost half of the company's profits on his own initiative to establish a women's charity fund, mainly to help those who had been trafficked to relearn various skills, resolve mental health issues, treat diseases and disabilities, and ultimately return to society and life in the sunlight in good health.

This was the only compensation he could think of after having those dreams.

He was willing to give everything for this.

Ye Jinyan looked at the withered and yellowed sycamore leaves outside the window and gave a slight twitch of his lips.

Good morning, Ningning.

He sent this greeting to himself.

The Ye family's breakfast was very quiet. Apart from the sound of the morning news anchor on TV constantly broadcasting various news, there was no other sound.

Watching the morning news and various other news programs has become a habit for Ye Jinyan over the past five years.

Since Ningning entered Tsinghua University in Beijing as the top scorer in the college entrance examination, netizens and media have bestowed upon her the title of "Internet celebrity academic superstar and national little sister".

After that, she would frequently make headlines. She managed to complete the seven-year undergraduate and master's program in just three years. Not only that, she was admitted to the best professor at Tsinghua University and, with just two years, developed the prototype of Skynet with her mentor's team. It is said that such a network can cover almost the entire country of China and is closely linked to the DNA of the Chinese people. Once it is successfully developed, even if women and children are trafficked to the ends of the earth, they can be found.

Almost immediately upon seeing such news, Ye Jinyan felt both proud and saddened.

He was proud of Ningning's intelligence and brilliance; given a stage, she could shine with her brightest light. He was saddened that she had never forgotten those painful and embarrassing memories, yet her heart wasn't bound by the past. Instead, she chose to reopen her wounds and help those who had similar experiences.

Ningning, who should have shone so brightly, was ruined by the four of them working together. So everything he is experiencing now is retribution, and it is only right that he suffers from illness every day.

He owes her.

As Ye Jinyan was thinking this, he suddenly heard the female news anchor, speaking in a slightly somber tone, announce, "...Ms. Tang Ningtang, a master's researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences who participated in the construction of Skynet, passed away at 4:50 a.m. today due to illness after failing to respond to treatment at the hospital. She was only 22 years old. She had been..."

Upon hearing such news, the spoon Ye Jinyan used to drink porridge slipped from his hand, fell to the ground, and shattered into pieces.

He stiffly looked up at the television, only to find that his gaze met Tang Ning's black and white photo.

For a moment, he even... even doubted whether he was still in a nightmare.

After a buzzing sound in his ears, Ye Jinyan's mind went blank. He felt as if he could no longer hear any sound. He looked at Ye Zhen sitting opposite him, who was anxiously moving his lips, but he couldn't hear anything.

Tears fell from his eyes without warning. The next second, a strange sweetness rose in his throat, and Ye Jinyan opened his mouth and vomited, spurting out large amounts of blood.

The blood he coughed up seemed to steal all the warmth from his body.

The chilling cold emanating from his very bones made Ye Jinyan's teeth chatter. Suddenly, everything went black, and with Ye Jinyan's terrified screams, he fell straight to one side with his eyes closed.

In a dimly lit, cramped room, Xu Xingbo, whose one hand was completely unusable, had just returned home after buying breakfast. He turned on his computer, having spent five years honing his skills to write code with only his left hand, all in order to be able to search for all of Tang Ning's information online.

Turning on his computer every day to check on Tang Ning's news was the happiest moment of Xu Xingbo's day.

Whenever he had free time, he couldn't help but scroll through all of Tang Ning's news again and again, as if knowing that she was doing well and was happy was the greatest comfort to him.

Having the memories of his past life, he should have found it much easier and simpler to succeed in the internet industry than he did in his previous life. But he didn't. He remained holed up in his small room, eating the worst food and doing the hardest work. This was his punishment for hurting Tang Ning so deeply.

Even after dreaming about her for five years, he still had no feelings for Yin Yuqing whatsoever. He couldn't even understand why he was so infatuated with her in his dreams.

He knew all too well for whom his heart beat, and for whom it beat.

The next second, Xu Xingbo's expectant expression froze on his face after seeing a news article. He turned off his computer, lay back on the bed, and swallowed several sleeping pills in one go, eventually drifting off to sleep.

But not long after, he regained consciousness with bloodshot eyes.

No, no, why not!

Why can't he dream anymore? Why can't he have that dream anymore?

He took the sleeping pills again and fell asleep, but woke up again shortly afterward.

This time, he still failed to achieve the nightmare that had haunted him for five years.

Xu Xingbo stared blankly at everything in the room, as if he had suddenly lost all his spiritual support. He paused when his gaze fell on the photo of Tang Ning, the top scorer in the college entrance examination, which he had carefully cut out from a newspaper and pasted on the wall.

First he laughed, and the louder and louder he laughed, the more exaggerated his expressions became. Then he covered his face with his intact left hand, and after a moment, hot tears streamed out from between his outstretched fingers.

So this was the greatest revenge he could ever suffer!

After her death, she cruelly prevented him from seeing her even in his dreams.

Heh, hehehehe...

Xu Xingbai's laughter gradually turned into a low and desperate sob.

At this moment, Jiang Yao, who was still busy delivering food, entered an old residential area. After delivering the food to a family, he suddenly found that his delivery vehicle was surrounded by a circle of people.

"Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! You'll kill me if you keep hitting me!"

"What's wrong with you, man? Let me tell you, I've already called the police. Domestic violence is illegal, even if she's your wife!"

"Exactly! There are people like that!"

"Hey, what's wrong with you? Why are you hitting me? Stop it!"

What are you doing? Try touching me again!

"You think you're right to hit a woman? You dare to lay a hand on me?"

"Ah! You just wait... Are you dead? Didn't you see your husband being beaten up?!"

"What...what are you doing? Why did you hit my husband? I..."

"Holy crap, what's wrong with you, woman? Someone helped you, and you sided with your husband to beat them up? Is that how you behave?"

"Damn it, it seems like this couple is a perfect match, one willing to give and the other willing to receive, they're really enjoying themselves!"

"Hey, isn't that the couple next door? Hey, don't pull them away! These two are really weird. Last time, her husband beat her so badly she ended up in the hospital. The police even came, and the policewoman advised her to get a divorce, which she agreed to. But who would have thought that the very next day, her husband would coax her back into a good mood, and then the two of them would file a complaint against the policewoman, accusing her of ruining their family happiness. They caused quite a scene at the police station, and even made the policewoman cry!"

"There are such exquisite items?"

"Exactly. This kind of person is the kind of person who is pitiful but also hateful. I wouldn't be surprised if her husband beat her to death one day. Tsk."

...

Hearing this, Jiang Yao, who had already boarded the electric scooter, frowned. Just as he was about to put on his helmet, he met Yin Yuqing's gaze from the dispersing crowd. Yin Yuqing, whose face was bruised and swollen, was still fawning over a tall, strong man beside her with a smile.

With just one glance, Yin Yuqing, who was still dressed very thinly despite the weather, froze on her face with a smile. Combined with her bruised and battered face, she looked extremely comical.

She immediately averted her gaze, even pulling her hand away from the man's arm.

Her change was immediately noticed by the tall, strong man. He glanced at Yin Yuqing beside him, then at Jiang Yao opposite him, who was otherwise quite handsome except for a scar above his eye. Without thinking, he forcefully pulled on Yin Yuqing, causing her to stumble.

"What are you looking at? Go home! Just wait and see what I'll do to you when we get back!"

The man, dragging the silent Yin Yuqing along, shuffled away in his slippers, grumbling and cursing.

After walking quite a distance, Yin Yuqing suddenly turned back for a second, only to find that the spot where Jiang Yao had parked was now deserted.

At this moment, she suddenly let out a low sneer and began to say all sorts of flattering things to the man beside her.

Jiang Yao delivered meals from 6 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. before finally getting a break.

It only takes about two hours. I have to start work again at 3:30 pm and can't get off work until about 8:30 pm.

During those half hour, he needed to eat and take a short nap, so there wasn't enough time. As soon as he got his lunchbox, Jiang Yao sat down in the flower bed by the roadside and started shoveling food into his mouth.

until--

"Hey, have you seen the trending topics on Weibo? That internet celebrity academic star died! I heard he was only 22, the prime of his life!"

"Yes, the key is that she was so beautiful, even more beautiful than those so-called beauties in the entertainment industry. So beautiful and so smart, was even God jealous of her? That's why He arranged for her to die so young..."

"Sigh, it's such a pity. Her name is so beautiful, Tang Ning. It sounds like she's a great beauty."

"At once……"

Before the other person could finish speaking, she suddenly felt a shadow fall directly over her head.

Looking up, I saw a man with a scar on his right eye, wearing a yellow food delivery uniform, his eyes were bloodshot, and his voice was extremely hoarse.

"You just said...who died?"

"Tang...Tang Ning".

Just those two words made Jiang Yao feel completely dizzy. He couldn't control himself and ran to the trash can, vomiting up the boxed lunch he had just eaten, bit by bit, until he couldn't vomit anything more. Only then did he shakily take out his phone and open Weibo.

At a glance, I saw Tang Ning's photo, which had been turned into black and white on the trending topics.

At roughly the same time, Tang Ning, who had been trapped in darkness for five years, heard a soft "thank you" in her ear as the original owner of the body died.

Yes, she did say that she wanted to give Tang Qing a complete daughter, so she simply used the profits from this world to bring the original owner back to live with Tang Qing for five whole years. Anyway, she didn't have any special needs and didn't want to be reborn, so she just switched it.

All the achievements of the past five years were due to the original owner's own efforts.

She spent five whole years in darkness, hearing no sound except for 54088 constantly talking to her.

But isn't this a great deal?

——

Seven days later, Changping Cemetery in Beijing.

After watching all of Tang Qing and Tang Ning's classmates and friends who had come to pay their respects leave, Jiang Yao, who had come from Shanghai to Beijing, slowly walked out.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he stepped onto the stairs, he met the cold, indifferent eyes of Ye Jinyan and Xu Xingbai.

Even when they met, the three of them didn't exchange pleasantries. Instead, they carefully placed the flowers they had brought in front of Tang Ning's grave.

The three men dressed in black then closed their eyes and began to speak in their minds in front of her grave.

After an unknown amount of time, the three of them finally slowly opened their already red eyes.

"I can no longer have that dream, can you?"

"We stopped doing it seven days ago."

"Ha, she really doesn't want to see us again! Heh..."

The first person to come down the stairs was Xu Xingbo, who kept laughing.

The second was Ye Jinyan, whose face was deathly pale, like a dead man.

Finally, it was Jiang Yao who was reluctant to leave.

After the three of them left, it was almost evening, and the previously gloomy sky finally started to rain. Autumn rain always carries an indescribable sense of sadness.

Then, at that moment, tap, tap, tap.

The sound of leather shoes approached from afar.

Soon, a large black umbrella appeared on the steps. The black umbrella continued to rise until it reached Tang Ning's grave, at which point the owner of the black umbrella revealed his true identity.

The newcomer was so thin that his cheekbones were very prominent, like a skull covered with a thin layer of flesh. But who else could this face belong to Mu Sheng, who had long since died on Sakura Island?

At this moment, Tang Ning, who had been monitoring the situation from within the system space, immediately instructed the little system to find out exactly what had happened.

It was at this moment that Tang Ning realized that the person who died on Sakura Island was actually a stand-in for Mu Sheng, who had undergone multiple plastic surgeries to resemble him. This was the strange thing she had subconsciously sensed back then. Unfortunately, Jiang Yao and the other two arrived too quickly, and Mu Sheng's favorability rating had reached 100, so she didn't bother to investigate. After all, whether he was really dead or not, it wouldn't affect her at all.

She watched as Mu Sheng stood before Tang Ning's grave, dropped the large umbrella he was holding, and sat cross-legged in front of her tombstone. He reached out to touch her cheek, but just as he was about to, he withdrew his hand.

Are you surprised to see me?

The man's voice had long been ruined; in fact, there wasn't a single part of his body that was in good condition. On that day on Sakura Island, although his subordinates had used a switcheroo to rescue him, and even removed Tang Ning's jade Buddha from his neck and stuffed it into the imposter's hand to make it look real, there was little difference between him being alive and being dead.

Over the past five years, he has undergone countless surgeries. Even while lying on the operating table, he felt like he was no longer a human being, but a lump of flesh, a breathing lump of flesh that knew nothing of dignity.

For five years, he never stopped paying attention to Tang Ning. He watched her become more and more dazzling and radiant, and he felt that perhaps the greatest kindness he could show her was to not appear before her, since she despised him in such an ugly and disgusting way.

She was so beautiful, so dazzling, loved by so many people. For her, dying like a lump of mud five years ago was the greatest comfort, wasn't it?

Wrongdoings must be punished, so he devised a perfect international cooperation for Ye Zhen and Jiang's father. Unlike Ning Ning, he was not merciful and allowed them to live a life of ease and comfort. Repentance fades over time, and he wanted them to struggle for survival in poverty and hardship forever.

Thinking of this, Mu Sheng couldn't help but touch the photo of Tang Ning that was embedded in the stone tablet in front of him.

As he stroked her, tears began to fall.

But what can I do, Ningning? I really miss you so much...

Five years of living a life worse than death, a life of mere survival, cannot compare to the longing I feel for you.

I thought that no matter what, I would always be behind you, but I never expected...

Actually, you were lying to me when you said you'd never had feelings for me, right?

I saw it.

In the surveillance footage I retrieved from Ouran High School Host Club, I saw the tears you shed after I died. I really saw them...

You just want to completely deny the version of yourself that was with me, right?

Now, I can't even dream about you anymore, what am I going to do?

I've lost even the only motivation I had to keep going...

If possible, Ningning, could you wait for me a little while on the road to the underworld?

I've said it before: if I survive, please give me a chance to get to know you again.

You should have received that text message, right?

So, wait for me, okay?

Forget it, don't wait for me. I'll try my best to catch up with you, and after I catch up...

As darkness fell, Mu Sheng, whose clothes were already soaked through, gently pressed his head against the cold tombstone, a slight smile playing on his lips.

After a long while, a gunshot rang out.

Blood splattered everywhere.

Hey, let's get to know each other again. My name is Mu Sheng. What's your name?

Author's Note: This concludes the story. This was my original outline. The next story is about a real heiress who becomes cannon fodder, involving domestic intrigue and palace drama.

Targets for romance: 1. The dashing young general, the young marquis Wei Jing

2. The seemingly纨绔 (playboy/spoiled brat) and handsome young master in white, Helan Ruo.

3. The tyrannical and ruthless villainous Emperor Situ Yin, who can take your life at will.