7

Even though they lived under the same roof, Li Zitong hated him to the core, and Jiang Hao understood this.

To save their relationship, he did his best to please Li Zitong. She hated the smell of cigarettes and would feel nauseous at the mere smell of them. Jiang Hao gritted his teeth and quit smoking. When he couldn't hold it any longer, he would smoke a cigarette from a distance under the pretext of taking a walk. He remembered that Li Zitong liked sweet things. When they were in the welfare home, he begged a candy from the teacher, cut it into pieces with a knife, and shared it with Li Zitong. That week, her face was filled with a sweet smile. So he bought piles of candies, gummy bears, and chocolates, and even asked someone to get imported high-end desserts. But she didn't eat a single bite, not even a glance at them.

Li Zitong never spoke to him. Jiang Hao had no way to deal with her. In the past, when he was bossing people around, he could control the city's thugs so that none of them dared to look him in the eye. But with Li Zitong, he always spoke softly. Even he himself was surprised at why he was so patient with her.

It was her birthday. Jiang Hao had sold his gray-market watch for a low price. It was the last valuable item he owned, and he'd been reluctant to part with it because he loved it. He used the money to buy a wooden music box at a boutique. It was incredibly heavy, and when the metal arm turned, it would play a song in a foreign language he couldn't understand.

When Li Zitong got home from work, the first thing she saw was flickering candlelight, a birthday cake, and a singing music box. But her expression remained unchanged, and she didn't linger. She changed her shoes and went straight back to her room, closing and locking the door.

Jiang Hao finally couldn't sit still anymore. He rushed to the door and slammed it hard, "Get out of here and see how I deal with you!"

To his surprise, Li Zitong immediately opened the door. She gripped the doorknob, her eyes cold yet fearless. Under her gaze, Jiang Hao was defeated once again.

That night, he couldn't sleep, pacing the living room. He considered knocking on Li Zitong's door several times, but ultimately decided not to. On the one hand, he knew Li Zitong had a pair of scissors hidden under her pillow, and if they came to blows, his size wouldn't necessarily give him the upper hand. On the other hand, he couldn't help but remember the days of laughter and playfulness they'd shared as children. He'd had his share of success, and had slept with many women. But she was the only one who had ever smiled genuinely and openly before him.

In this way, the two of them spent a year living under the same roof. Similar conflicts arose several times, but Jiang Hao always gave up. He always had the illusion that they were still young and that Li Zitong would eventually forgive him. Sometimes, if Li Zitong looked at him for a second longer, he would secretly be happy for several days.

But one day in late summer, Li Zitong vanished from his life without warning. She left behind only a short message, saying she was going to college and leaving the house to him. He only asked him not to look for her again, as she would never come back.

Jiang Hao tore up the letter, refused to eat or drink, and lay in bed for two days. He never imagined that Li Zitong would secretly review, take the college entrance examination again, and leave this small town.

Two days later, he felt hungry again. He climbed out of bed and dug out a frozen bun from the refrigerator, chewing on it. Who cares? As long as she's happy, that's all that matters. The fledgling's wings have hardened, and you can't keep it. But at least he has this nest.

In the third year after Li Zitong left, the balance in the bank card left by the Li couple officially reached the bottom, and Jiang Hao realized that it was time to find a job to make money.

Although he had legal status, it relegated him to being a minor. He couldn't get a proper job or start a small business. He also despised the slow pace of income. It was exhausting, with no hope of making a breakthrough.

During his years of seclusion, the world had changed dramatically. Following several crackdowns, public security had improved significantly. Organized theft and robbery had all but vanished, leaving only a few individual thieves. His former accomplices had long since dispersed, and those who remained had mostly changed careers. He didn't want to contact them, as it would only bring him trouble.

Didn't he have any special skills to show off? He asked himself, and found that he did have some. During his years in the underworld, he had played cards with his men frequently, honing his skills and making bold bets. With a quick glance, he could calculate the probability distribution of the game.

Drawing on his past experience, he quickly made friends with those who weren't serious about gambling and began playing high-stakes poker games. Initially, he made a small profit, but as time went on, he lost all his initial capital. Enthusiastic friends generously lent him money to help him make up for his losses. He became obsessed with gambling, and by the time he realized it, he was already owing over a hundred thousand yuan in gambling debts. His friends then turned hostile and began to collect on his debts.

Fortunately, it wasn't all for naught. Along the way, he figured out the rules of the gambling game and got to know the true upper echelons. It turned out his friends were just thugs, their job to lure people into the game and collect commissions. Gambling is unfair; no matter how skilled you are, the banker always wins in the end.

Someone in management appreciated him and offered him the opportunity to work as a henchman to earn money to pay off his debts. He lived up to expectations and quickly became a top performer. Within a few years, his earnings were comparable to those of his peak years.

Having tasted the sweetness of success, he began organizing his own team. Since this type of business in China was risky and low-return, he developed a model of targeting wealthy individuals and bringing them to overseas casinos in places like the high seas and Southeast Asia. Although he only closed a few deals a year, each one yielded a huge profit.

Just as his business was steadily prospering, a familiar blow struck again. His business model was reported by victims, and the police shut down his entire team. However, he learned from past experience and used agents throughout, temporarily escaping the situation. However, the gang's domestic financial accounts were frozen.

In desperation, he swallowed his pride and sought help from Li Zitong. Li Zitong had already begun her own directing career and was no longer the helpless little girl she once was. However, unable to resist Jiang Haoyu's desperate threats, she offered him odd jobs on the set and temporary housing.

While idling away his time on the set, Jiang Hao closely observed the police's progress in cracking down on gambling cases. He noticed the situation was becoming increasingly precarious, and the manhunt was closing in. The wealthy people he'd previously defrauded were starting to wake up and begin searching for him. Many of them were wealthy and powerful, and he simply couldn't afford to offend them.

Time for another escape, he thought. Li Tianci had been using his identity for so many years, he'd already made enough money. When he was in the gambling business, he had a partner overseas who had invited him to directly manage the casino business in Southeast Asia. As long as everyone thought he was dead, he could live peacefully in Southeast Asia without worrying about his enemies coming to retaliate.

Based on the address given by the "hunchback", Jiang Hao found his way to a village in Pingyao, Shanxi, and tricked Li Tianci's adoptive parents into revealing his whereabouts.

Li Tianci was working alone in the city, with few friends. Jiang Hao approached him with a Chengguan accent, and he took the bait. He said he had been abducted and trafficked, and had been searching for clues to his hometown for years.

Jiang Hao took advantage of the situation and offered to help him find his roots. Li Tianci was completely unprepared for the culprit who had kidnapped and trafficked him. Instead, he thanked him profusely, bought two tickets, and boarded the train back home the next day.

Returning to the town he'd longed for, Li Tianci was thrilled to find everything familiar. But that very night, he was killed by his enthusiastic "fellow villagers." Jiang Hao dumped his body into the old house, where a large infestation of rats had already taken root in the kitchen.

After finishing the scene, Jiang Hao poured a glass of wine on the ground and silently mourned a few words in his heart, "You have finally returned to your roots. Even as a ghost, you should think more open-mindedly and stop bothering me."

He booked a ticket to Guangxi, intending to leave the country from there. But before leaving, he hesitated. He wanted to see Li Zitong, to say goodbye, otherwise he would never have the chance again. He knew that if his identity was exposed at this point, his plan would be ruined. He also knew that Li Zitong didn't want to see him, but he couldn't stop thinking about her.

He used his relationship with the assistant director to sneak into the new crew, wearing a hat and a mask to hide his appearance, hoping to find an opportunity to stop Li Zitong and have a chat.

He was knocked down by a tall man dressed in white collar clothes, whose face he recognized.

When Jiang Hao was eighteen, Li Zitong invited him to a video store to watch a film she had made. He had no idea what was happening on the screen, but he was deeply interested in the identity of the boy in the picture. When he asked Li Zitong, she replied, "His name is Su Jie, just a friend."

At the age of nineteen, he faked an accidental death scene in the same video store, and thus met the father and son who broke in to disrupt the situation. To control the risk, he has been monitoring the whereabouts of the father and son. He accidentally discovered that Su Jie was also investigating them.

Meanwhile, Li Zitong also seemed to be secretly investigating Xu Lan's death. Although Jiang Hao explained to her that Xu Lan's death was an accident, Li Zitong's expression was clearly unconvinced. Two weeks later, she disappeared, clearly realizing something.

Jiang Hao was furious and anxious. Fortunately, his subordinates, all of whom worked along the railway line, quickly learned Li Zitong's whereabouts through their complex underground network. He knew he could use violence to force her back, but that would only make her hate him even more. He resorted to a compromise and asked his subordinates to leak the information to Su Jie. As expected, Li Zitong returned obediently.

After moving into the old house, Jiang Hao accidentally discovered a letter from Su Jie. The letter was full of intimate words, clearly a love letter. He was furious and threatened Li Zitong to cut off contact immediately, otherwise he would have difficulty guaranteeing the man's life. Li Zitong was forced to agree.

But now, the man named Su Jie actually appeared on the set in a swaggering manner.

Jiang Hao felt like the wires in his brain had snapped. That woman had lied to him. She'd clearly promised to end things. He'd done so much for her, saved her from being bullied, yet she only had eyes for that man.

She is now a nationally renowned emerging director. She was able to achieve such great success only because I paved the way for her, gave her the opportunity to adopt, and helped her remove the burdens that were hindering her progress. But she is completely ungrateful.

In a rage, Jiang Hao launched a risky criminal plan, stealing the "Dawn Star" in plain sight. Afterward, he disguised himself as a reporter, hoping to eliminate Su Jie. However, during a conversation, he discovered that Li Zitong had truly kept his promise. The two hadn't seen each other in years, and Su Jie's appearance on the set was purely a coincidence.

He was overjoyed to learn the truth, and the possessive desire in his heart was rekindled and he could no longer suppress it. He contacted Li Zitong privately, but she always refused to meet him.

Jiang Hao keenly sensed a slight change in her attitude, becoming even colder and more resolute than before. He guessed the reason and decided he had to address the root of the problem.

On the night of Li Tianci's funeral, he infiltrated the Li family residence, intent on eliminating Su Jie once and for all. However, he hadn't anticipated Li Kaiyi's presence. Nor had he anticipated the master bedroom door being left unlocked. Li Kaiyi remained awake, listening anxiously to every sound. Upon entering the house, he ran into Li Kaiyi and was forced to kill him to silence him. Afterward, he disguised the scene using the same tactics he had intended for Su Jie and fled before dawn.

After the incident, Li Zitong was indeed detained. He knew the police didn't have enough evidence to prove she was the murderer and would definitely release her after a while. He felt that when Li Zitong was released, she would be shocked by his brutal murder methods and perfect framing skills, and would return to the obedient state she had been in years ago.

Unexpectedly, the first call he received was from Su Jie. The man claimed to have figured out the truth of the case. Jiang Hao was completely unconvinced, but this was a good opportunity to take action. So he disguised himself as a reporter and went to interview him, but he fell into a trap and was trapped in a secret room.

He banged on the door countless times until he collapsed to the ground, exhausted. After years of ups and downs, he had finally capsized in the gutter. Although Su Jie didn't understand the truth behind the truth, once the police arrived, his true identity would undoubtedly be revealed. One wrong move, and everything would be lost.

When I was completely desperate, a familiar voice came from outside the door, "Are you in there?"

He hurriedly called for help, but Li Zitong asked him to lower his voice. Then, the sound of moving furniture was heard outside the door.

"Just listen to my instructions and you will definitely escape." Li Zitong said through the door.

He nodded repeatedly, his heart filled with joy. All these years of hard work had paid off; she was finally on his side. The door opened, and light and shadows poured in. He was free, no longer bound, and could go to where she was.

The earth played a magnificent melody. He once again stepped on the silver rails and ran towards the starry sky.

But he didn't know that his life was coming to an end.