Xu Shiyue felt as if a hole had been pried open in her heart, and a cold wind rushed into her body, cutting into her heart with a chilling force.
Lu Shizhen appeared before him through his imagination, her dark, bright eyes staring at him as if she had never left and had always been watching him.
Xu Shiyue tightened her grip on the things Lu Shien had given her, making it hard for her to breathe.
Was it just my imagination, or did she really know that I would be unhappy after she left, and thus send me this vague and unreal message?
The fire in the building was still burning fiercely inside Xu Shiyue's body, the intense heat seemingly drying up all her tears.
Moreover, she just "saw" Lu Shizhen and spoke with her, so how can you say she won't come back?
Xu Shiyue was lost in thought when she looked at Lu Shien standing in front of her. She raised her hand and casually ruffled Lu Shizhen's hair, just like Lu Shizhen used to do, and said in a flat voice, "Go down and eat. Don't let your mother worry."
After saying that, Xu Shiyue pushed open the door and went into the study.
They simply ignored Lu Shi'en's comforting suggestion.
The night is like a finely woven net, trapping the world within it, from which no one can escape.
The news of the Lu family losing a daughter did not spread, but Xu Shouxian's demise was like a head hanging on the city wall, spreading throughout the entire circle in an instant.
Xu Shiyue thus delivered an unexpected shock to everyone by severing blood ties with her own hands.
This ruthless and almost insane cruelty made those who looked down on her young age and were planning to join forces to share the Xu family's wealth retreat.
However, their retreat and inaction did not bring the peace they had imagined.
They didn't know that their current peace was not in their own hands, but in Xu Shiyue's.
The phrase "decisive and ruthless" perfectly describes Xu Shiyue. She doesn't care how turbulent the market becomes. Originally, she planned to deal with it gradually, but she didn't expect the storm to arrive so quickly. She was still dreaming that day, and when she opened her eyes at night, she saw the blinding lights of car rooftops flashing outside the window; she was exercising her board rights in the morning, and in the afternoon, she saw the board members collectively defect...
That winter, a storm even more biting than the cold wind swept through S City, causing the interconnected rings to tremble simultaneously, as if trying to quickly dislodge the accumulated dust.
After all, the eve of the New Year is a time to cleanse oneself of impurities.
Xu Shiyue used Xu Shouxian as a clue, and anyone who had any connection with him or provided support for the fire in the building was dealt with by her.
Although this "treatment" is not a physical treatment, it is necessary to eradicate the weeds at their root, so that the weeds can no longer hinder the growth of any other plant.
The desolation of a collapsed building, leaving one to eke out a living in the gutter with no hope of ever rising again, is a tragedy that is even harder for these people, who were once admired and fawned upon, to accept than death itself.
Financial newspapers, which had been sluggish for a long time, caught a ride on the wave of popularity and sold exceptionally well in the days leading up to the New Year.
Middle-aged men who sit with tea and read newspapers will always shake their heads in a serious manner, and when asked why, they will remain silent.
The little girl who was just a topic of conversation and a source of pity and regret six months ago has now become someone people are afraid to talk about.
Everyone knows that the new owner of the Xu Group is very young, not even twenty, but he is shrewd and calculating beyond his years.
Despite these changes, none of the connections the Xu family had built up over the years were lost; in Xu Shiyue's hands, they spread out as if they had been given a cheat code.
She is shrewd and calculating, insightful and perceptive, and can speak to people in a way that is both human and ghostly, with a knife hidden in her smile.
It's as if a huge, irreparable bug has appeared in this world, killing not only the heart but also the soul; she's terrifyingly ruthless, a complete madwoman who kills without shedding blood.
The bloody upheaval began in just five days, and the turbulent waves continued to rise exponentially.
The sky was as black as ink, with stars scattered across the night. Xu Shiyue finished her work very late, and her business partner Shen Yanxing left the company with her.
"It's finally over. I haven't seen the moon in a long time. Today is the fifteenth, right?" Shen Yanxing said, looking up at the bright, round disc that still shone through the dark clouds.
Xu Shiyue remained calm, without even looking up: "Sixteen."
Shen Yanxing was taken aback by Xu Shiyue's words.
These past few days, Xu Shiyue's actions have completely disrupted the framework of the S City shopping mall. With everyone busy amidst the raging storm, they've all forgotten the date, but Xu Shiyue, as the busiest person, remains incredibly sensitive to the date.
As if remembering something, Shen Yanxing lowered his eyes slightly and then said, "So it's the sixteenth? No wonder my grandma always said that the moon is roundest on the sixteenth than the fifteenth."
Xu Shiyue pursed her lips slightly and said nothing more.
The cool night breeze brushed past the two of them, and the atmosphere once again became as unfamiliar and boring as the distance they maintained.
The clock face on the distant clock tower ticked silently, then a deep, distant chime drifted towards us on the hour.
Shen Yanxing subconsciously glanced down at her watch; it was already eleven o'clock. She had thought that since the day ended early, the time would be earlier.
The Shen family and the Xu Group were quite far apart. Shen Yanxing thought it was getting late and decided to find a hotel to stay in. However, the words that came out of his mouth somehow turned into something else: "It's so late again. I thought it would be early today. Why don't we go to the hotel across the street? We have a video conference with F country tomorrow, starting at eight o'clock. Let's not go back and forth, it's time-consuming and tiring, and we won't get a good rest."
Today, S City experienced more snow than in previous years, with another heavy snowfall this morning that was not predicted by the weather forecast.
The snow on both sides of the road had not yet melted, and the piled-up snow formed a vast expanse of white under the night sky, making it take longer to get home than usual.
The green light at the distant intersection flickered twice slowly in Xu Shiyue's eyes, as if foreshadowing something about to happen.
Xu Shiyue's hands were still in the pockets of her cotton-padded coat. The words of refusal were on the tip of her tongue, but she felt the restraints when she tried to speak.
Because the subsequent actions and language did not align with the direction that force desired, that force took action.
The dim streetlights barely illuminated the road in the darkness, and the light couldn't penetrate the darkness in his eyes, which showed a slight change.
These days, Xu Shiyue has been peacefully coexisting with the constraints that are pushing her along, almost exhibiting a hollow obedience, like a soulless puppet being manipulated.
But Xu Shiyue is neither a doll nor a frog being boiled in lukewarm water.
This power can only be used by her, not manipulated, bound, or used against her will.
She wants to go home.
There are people waiting for her at home.
She didn't want to go home, but there was no one there.
"No."
Xu Shiyue's thin lips parted slightly, and a cool breeze rushed into her throat, trying to stop her, but it was too late.
The strings that controlled the puppet's joints snapped, and one by one, the buried ropes were pulled out, connecting her nerves and flesh. An unreal pain burst forth from beneath her skin.
As soon as she finished speaking, Xu Shiyue's world suddenly fell silent.
The sound of the electrical circuit breaking pierced her eardrums, like a computer program malfunctioning and emitting a piercing warning.
Xu Shiyue's expression remained calm as always, but her hands, hidden in her pockets, were already clenched tightly together.
The darkness provided an opportunity for everything to hide, and no one could see the bulging veins on Xu Shiyue's wrist that were visible through her sleeve.
Xu Shiyue's eyes revealed a deadly stubbornness. If there was any program still running through her body, it was going home.
No one could stop her from going home, back to the place that smelled of Lu Shizhen.
Ignoring everything else, Xu Shiyue continued to tell Shen Yanxing, "I still want to go home and rest."
Shen Yanxing pursed her lips slightly: "You've been like this for the past few days, always coming home no matter how late it is."
She silently counted the days in her mind, saying cryptically, "Today is the seventh day, isn't it?"
Xu Shiyue knew what date Shen Yanxing was referring to, so she gave a soft "hmm" to indicate that it was correct, and then said nothing more.
The word "death" is always something people are afraid to talk about, especially the closer the relationship.
Xu Shiyue's behavior these days has been more ordinary and there is nothing unusual about it, but it reveals a kind of abnormal collapse everywhere. Shen Yanxing can see this almost pathological obsession clearly.
That's why she felt that what she said earlier didn't make sense.
Shen Yanxing frowned slightly, somewhat confused about what he was doing.
She didn't know why she still wanted to invite Xu Shiyue to the hotel. After a moment's hesitation, she said cryptically, "Then it's really not okay for you to go to the hotel. It would be too lonely if Yuanzi waited at home by herself."
“Yes.” Xu Shiyue nodded, agreeing with her.
There was still some snow left on the cleared road, and shoes made a faint sound when they stepped on it, as if something was being crushed or broken.
After a brief conversation, the two people walking together ran out of things to say, but the atmosphere was much more relaxed than before.
The streetlights cast the shadows of the two people side by side onto the pure white snow, dim and hazy. As if sensing the gentle warmth of the moment, the restless wind also calmed down.
The green light at the intersection had turned red, and Xu Shiyue's car slowly drove over and stopped at the roadside in the still night scene.
Shen Yanxing was always a polite and considerate person. She had already decided to stay at the hotel across the street and was not in a hurry to send Xu Shiyue there.
The two walked forward in silence, like a monotonous and uninteresting painting.
Whether Xu Shiyue didn't notice or for some other reason, a loose, melted piece of snow appeared under her feet. Her unstable high heels couldn't handle the situation, and she was about to twist and fall.
"Be careful." Shen Yanxing said, and promptly reached out to support Xu Shiyue.
It's not that the two people were particularly close at that moment; it's just that their winter coats were fluffy, and they could easily touch each other if they got too close.
The dim, yellow light was not clear, but it cast a hazy glow on the two figures whose bodies were stretched open by their coats, making them seem almost identical.
The winter wind lowered the night temperature by another degree, as if to urge those traveling together to huddle closer together.
The wind, sharp as a blade, swept across the building's walls, and in the shadows where the streetlights couldn't reach, it made the hood of the girl hiding behind it flutter.
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