Chapter 65
Inside the company, Xiang Wan was still reading last week's weekly report. On the table was an invitation from one of its subsidiaries for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of a chain brand it had invested in.
She was still listening to Secretary Huang's report when she heard her phone ringing on the table. She glanced at it and saw it was a video call from Wang Yidong.
She gestured for her secretary to leave first, then answered her call: "What's wrong?"
Seeing Xiang Wan unharmed in the video, Wang Yidong visibly breathed a sigh of relief: "Although Xiao Yan said you were fine, I was still a little worried until I saw it with my own eyes."
Before she could say anything, a noisy argument broke out on the other end of the video call.
"let me see."
"Xia Yueshen, don't push."
"You can't see me anymore."
Xiang Wan watched the two bickering on the other end of the video call and couldn't help but tease them: "I thought neither of you cared about me. Only Chen Yan called me."
"..."
Upon hearing this, Xia Yueshen muttered a curse under her breath, while Wang Yidong, standing to the side, immediately had tears in his eyes.
Seeing her sadness, Xiang Wan regretted her inappropriate words. She looked at Wang Yidong with a helpless expression and said, "Why are you crying? I'm perfectly fine."
Although Wang Yidong was 12 years older than her and was also a maid who took care of her daily life, she was often more emotionally vulnerable than Xiang Wan, who was 12 years younger than her.
Wang Yidong was wiping away tears with the corner of her clothes. Xiang Wan didn't urge her, but looked at her with a comforting gaze. After a while, she calmed down a bit and then said, "After we saw the news this morning, we've been looking for you."
"When Chen Yan couldn't reach you, we went to the apartment management office and were relieved to learn that there were no casualties."
Compared to Wang Yidong, who was more emotionally sensitive, Xia Yueshen was much more carefree: "You little ingrate."
As if remembering something, Xia Yueshen added, "Chen Yan's eyes were red at the time, and we thought he was going to cry."
Hearing that Chen Ruilin's eyes were red, Xiang Wan was also a little surprised. She remembered that when he called her, his voice seemed quite calm, and she could not even hear any panic in his voice.
Thinking of the ruthless CEO Si Rong from her previous life, Xiang Wan was momentarily lost in thought. It wasn't until Secretary Huang opened the door and gestured to her that she looked at the two people on the other end of the video call: "I have some things to do at the company right now. I'll call you back when I get back tonight."
Hearing that Xiang Wan was coming back today, the two seemed quite happy: "Okay, we'll wait for you."
*
On the other side, in a rented room in the basement.
After Zhou Xinyi left, Zhou Chengze felt a little sleepy and fell asleep on the bed.
He thought he was sleeping, but little did he know that his consciousness had returned to his past life...
Like watching a revolving lantern, he looked back at his past life, experiencing his long life.
Zhou Chengze looked at his past self, and after being slapped by Xiang Wan, he stood there stunned.
Zhou Xinyi, standing nearby, spoke with concern and anger, criticizing Xiang Wan on his behalf: "Her heart condition wasn't caused by you, brother, so why did she hit you?"
Zhou Xinyi asked him if it hurt, but in the dream, he seemed to wake up as if from a dream, crawled from the ground to Xiang Wan's side, and pulled her hand close to his cheek.
"A-Wan." His voice was filled with confusion and helplessness, as if he couldn't believe that the white moonlight in his heart was really dead.
As Xia Yueshen followed the stretcher team and they carried the person to the ambulance, Zhou Chengze held her hand tightly as they passed by.
Xia Yueshen had never liked him in the first place. She flung his hand away, shoved him to the ground, and said to the arriving stretcher team, "Go to the hospital quickly."
Once in the car, the accompanying doctor checked Xiang Wan's pulse and discovered that her heart had stopped beating.
He looked at Xia Yueshen and said, "This patient has already passed away; it was too late to save him even after he was taken to the hospital."
"I'm asking you to save her—"
"But……"
"Save her!!!"
There were two doctors traveling with them, one of whom, a female doctor, recognized Xiang Wan by her appearance. She nudged her straightforward colleague and began performing first aid on Xiang Wan in the car.
"Call the dean and tell him to get ready."
Seeing her colleague still standing there in a daze, she shouted at him while performing first aid, "Hurry up!"
When they arrived at the hospital, the hospital director was already waiting outside. Xiang Wan's heart had stopped beating, but the director still personally went into the operating room to perform emergency treatment on her.
By the time he pushed the person out, Xiang's parents had already arrived at the hospital by helicopter.
At Beiyi University Affiliated Hospital, an entire floor was strictly guarded by bodyguards. Reporters could not and dared not enter, and could only wait outside.
The dean looked at Xiang's parents and took off his mask: "I am very sorry... when your daughter was brought here, her heart had already stopped beating, and there was really nothing we could do to save her."
Upon hearing this, Xiang's mother collapsed to the ground, bursting into tears. Xiang's father also seemed to have suffered a great blow, his back hunched over. Wang Yidong and Xia Yueshen, who were standing nearby, also wept uncontrollably.
Hearing Xiang Wan's death sentence, Zhou Chengze, who was in the corner, leaned weakly against the hospital wall. It was only because Zhou Xinyi next to him did her best to support his body that he did not fall down.
In the seven days following Xiang Wan's death, no one from the Xiang family came forward to respond to the rumors, but the news of the Xiang family's eldest daughter's passing still spread.
Immediately, the entire internet was abuzz with speculation about the cause of death of the Xiang family's eldest daughter. Some said it was an accident, while others guessed it was murder.
The week after Xiang Wan's death, a memorial service was held at the Xiang family's ancestral home. The event was so grand that almost all the second-generation members of the prominent families in Bei Yi attended.
Jiang Zhuochun and Che Nanbei, who were originally in Beiyi, naturally attended the memorial service. Even Shen Feiyang and Zhao Luyu, who were abroad, made a special trip back to China to attend the service.
Zhou Chengze and his sister also arrived. Although Zhou Chengze was Xiang Wan's betrothed, the engagement banquet had not yet been held. He was currently there as a representative of the company's employees, and given his status, he could only stand in the middle or back row.
In the front row of the memorial service, a father with white hair bid farewell to his son with black hair; even his temples had grown many more white hairs.
He lost not only his beloved daughter, but also the company he had personally groomed and chosen as his successor. Under this double blow, he was completely distraught.
After Xiang Wan passed away, even the funeral was handled by Li Xia, who was the housekeeper. From the invitation to the organization of the memorial service, Li Xia also took care of everything by herself.
As for Xiang's mother, she also fell ill after her daughter's death. At that time, she was still unconscious in the VIP ward, receiving an IV drip, so she did not attend the memorial service.
It was Xiang Wan's grandfather who read the eulogy on stage.
After the memorial service, everyone except Xiang's family went home. When Zhou Chengze returned to the villa, he was in a daze.
However, after the car stopped at the villa, Zhou Chengze gave the driver another address and asked him to drive there.
After saying that, he looked at Zhou Xinyi who was standing to the side and said, "Xinyi, you go back first."
The address he gave was none other than his and Xiang Wan's marital home.
Although their engagement party hasn't been held yet, Xiang Wan had already prepared their wedding home a long time ago. It was renovated several months ago, but Zhou Chengze had only visited it and hadn't lived there yet.
When Zhou Xinyi heard that her brother was going to their bridal chamber, a hint of jealousy flashed in her eyes. She grabbed his arm and said, "Brother, I'm a little scared to be alone today. I want to go with you."
Zhou Chengze didn't say anything more, but instead said to the driver in the front seat, "Let's go."
Once inside the bridal chamber, Zhou Chengze unlocked the door using Xiang Wan's birthday, and the two walked into the small villa together.
He walked into his and Xiang Wan's bedroom, lay down on the soft mattress, and was momentarily dazed.
After Awan slapped him, he felt something had changed. He could feel that in that instant, someone had attached themselves to his body and occupied half of it.
Like the protagonist in a novel, he suddenly develops self-awareness and is shocked by his own shamelessness, not understanding how he could flirt with his sister Zhou Xinyi.
It was while I was accompanying Awan to try on wedding dresses.
Xiang Wan's death was like a huge slap in the face, completely waking Zhou Chengze up and making him start to reflect on his past life.
He was still deep in thought, lying on the soft mattress, when a sudden light dazzled his eyes, and he instinctively shielded them with his arm.
Only after his eyes gradually adjusted to the brightness did he look at the person who had come in—it was Zhou Xinyi.
She walked over and took his arm, her voice slightly coquettish: "Brother, I'm a little scared here, let's go back quickly."
Zhou Chengze looked at her with complicated emotions. He had always tacitly approved of her transgression, and they were both responsible.
But he is her brother, and even if she went astray for a time, he should have stopped her in time. Strictly speaking, he bears more responsibility.
He calmly withdrew his arm, his voice resolute: "Xinyi, I love Awan. As for us, we will always be brother and sister."
Zhou Xinyi was initially surprised by his seriousness. After realizing what he was saying, her eyes gradually reddened. Zhou Chengze ignored her sadness and continued, "In the next life, and the life after that, we will only be brother and sister."
"But brother, you clearly said that I'm the person you love the most..."
Zhou Chengze looked into her eyes, his expression a mixture of helplessness and apology: "I made a mistake. I shouldn't have given you the wrong signal, nor should I have allowed you to overstep your bounds."
His voice grew softer and softer, so soft it seemed to float in the air: "My sins are grave. If there is a next life, I will slowly repay them to Awan."
"But she's already dead, brother. Are you going to stay with her for the rest of your life?"
With his back to her, Zhou Chengze looked at the wedding photo of him and Xiang Wan on the wall, his expression gentle: "Why not? This is what I owe her..."
*
After Zhou Chengze saw himself in his dream and said those words, the scene before him collapsed again, and everything surged forward like waves.
The dream that followed was like it was sped up many times over; everything was like a movie.
He glanced at his dream self, observing how he transitioned from youth to middle age, and how he transformed from middle age into a white-haired old man.
In his dream, he lived a lonely life until his death. Even though Zhou Xinyi accompanied him for a lifetime and never married for his sake, his attitude towards her was always one of slight aloofness.
At first, Zhou Xinyi didn't take Zhou Chengze's words, "I will remain unmarried for life in place of Xiang Wan," to heart, thinking that time could change everything.
But as the years went by, the women around him changed one after another, and he never had any romantic involvement with any of them.
Even if he wavered, every time he stepped into the bridal chamber and saw the wedding photo hanging on the wall, he would still firmly say no the next day...
*
When he woke up, Zhou Chengze thought of himself in the dream, dying alone, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he wronged Xiang Wan in his past life, her death was not caused by him, and he paid the price for his betrayal.
Although he could no longer see Xiang Wan from his past life, he had atoned for his sins. Zhou Chengze felt that the shackles on his body had finally been removed, and he could finally look her in the eyes openly.
He couldn't wait to tell Xiang Wan that in his past life, he never married in order to atone for his sins.
He glanced at the time; it was just past 6 p.m. He remembered it was Thursday, and Xiang Wan would go back to school every night from work to write his graduation thesis.
Knowing that Awan must be at school right now, Zhou Chengze headed straight for the school without a second thought.
Before setting off, he even took a shower and shaved, afraid that he would look too disheveled.
He went straight to the library, but after searching around, he couldn't find her. He thought she wasn't at school today, and he was a little disappointed.
But thinking that he could find her at the company tomorrow, Friday, he suppressed his urgency and calmed himself down.
He was thinking of going back to his dorm to get something, but on his way back, he saw Xiang Wan and Chen Yan kissing passionately under the cherry blossom tree downstairs...
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