No one knows if there's any divine retribution; all of this was orchestrated by Xu Keke. Her sole purpose was to prevent Meng Zikang from bothering them again for the time being.
Before the college entrance examination, Xu Keke was called to the principal's office by Dou Yi again.
This time, Dou Yi didn't beat around the bush and told her directly, "Your exam qualification has been revoked."
Xu Keke said she understood. As she was about to leave, Dou Yi said to her somewhat unhappily, "You're so young, you don't need to pretend to be so composed. It's okay to be a little unhappy."
Xu Keke only reiterated that she knew, without offering much further comment. She was about to leave.
Then Dou Yi said, "There's a guaranteed admission spot at Xinjiang Normal University, do you want it?"
"Yes, I want it!" Xu Keke exclaimed in delight.
Dou Yi reminded her, "It's a bit far, and you'll be assigned to stay in the local area afterward. Go back and think it over, then come back and talk to me."
“No need to think about it,” Xu Keke said excitedly, feeling that even God was on her side. “I originally wanted to apply to Xinjiang Normal University.”
Dou Yi looked at her with some confusion, "Why?"
“Isn’t the country recently advocating for this? Of course, I also want to contribute to the construction of our motherland. Besides, I originally planned to apply to a teacher’s college because the state provides room and board for teacher’s students. If I go to Xinjiang, I can bring my younger sister with me. I know some friends whose parents are in Xinjiang. I won’t be left without anyone to take care of me when I get there.”
Dou Yi put away her scrutinizing expression. "That's good. Since you've made up your mind, I'll submit it for you today."
When the people in the courtyard heard that Xu Keke was going to Xinjiang Normal University, they were all shocked.
Wei Jie looked at Qi Chang in disbelief, "Engineer Qi, you're being transferred to Xinjiang. You two didn't plan this together, did you?"
Qi Chang and Xu Keke exchanged a smile. Neither of them explained, but that smile said it all.
Feeling Gao Jiale's gaze, Xu Keke looked back at him and gave him a distant smile.
Seeing Gao Lan suddenly burst out, hugging Xu Keke and shaking her arm vigorously, she didn't know how to express her surprise.
Gao Jiale then realized that he and Xu Keke weren't actually that close. Their relationship was just that of ordinary neighbors and classmates. He wasn't even sure if he could call her a friend. Gao Lan dared to tell her that he would go to Xinjiang to visit her in a few years, and even asked her to promise to prepare good food and drinks for him.
He couldn't say anything, because they never seemed that close. Like a child, he was always buried in his own world, struggling with himself, never trying to enter hers. He had tried to get closer to her, but it seemed he had been silently rejected.
Some unspoken secrets grew slowly in the young man's heart. He couldn't express them, nor did he know who to share them with. By the time he wanted to confront them, it was too late. These became indelible marks on his heart—faint, yet ever-present.
Later, Gao Jiale was admitted to a military academy. During a visit home, he met Luo Xi. She was working in a factory, a factory worker. The proud girl was gone, but she remained tall and beautiful. Gao Jiale realized her feelings for him.
Back at her unit, Rosie began writing to him, letter after letter. At first, he didn't refuse; he wrote back to her. He thought he'd leave everything to time and let things develop naturally.
One day, Rosie mentioned the past in a letter. She said that her family already knew who wrote the anonymous letter back then. She said she never imagined that people could be so wicked, and if it weren't for that person, she wouldn't have ended up in this situation.
In just a few words, Rosie's hatred was practically leaping off the page.
Gao Jiale knew who she was referring to; in fact, he'd known for a long time. It was mentioned by Manager Lin when he was drinking with his father. No one found it strange; none of them thought anything was wrong with what that person was doing. Because Meng Zikang was a scoundrel. It would be truly unjust if someone like that lived a good life.
Gao Jiale felt that Luo Xi should hate herself. If she hadn't run to her sister because of Xu Keke's words at the school-run factory that day, perhaps their family wouldn't have been punished along with Meng Zikang.
But all of this is predicated on the fact that Rosie's father did not use his position to arrange a job or promotion for Meng Zikang. Therefore, all the problems stemmed from his own wrongdoing, which allowed others to exploit the situation. If after all these years, he still hasn't grasped this point...
Gao Jiale wrote a letter to Luo Xi, telling her that he was busy with training recently and would not be able to reply to her letters for a while. He also said that he had a mission in a few days and would not receive any more letters from her, so she didn't need to write to him anymore.
Rosie didn't understand at first and continued to write to him as usual, but after the first three letters went unanswered, all the subsequent letters were returned as if the sender didn't exist.
Rosie tried visiting the Gao family's house. She had heard from Gao Jiale that Gao Lan had already gone to work in the border region. Gao Jiaqing had long since stopped going to school and spent all his time at his maternal grandmother's house. So when she went there during the day, she only saw the gloomy-faced woman sitting in the courtyard.
She knew this woman; she was Meng Zikang's former mistress.
To her surprise, this woman also recognized her. She looked at herself with a mocking smile.
"Your sister must be suffering a lot right now. She never thought she'd end up like this, did she? Heh,"
The woman let out an eerie laugh, and her laughter did not stop.
"Meng Zikang just wanted a son, but it turned out to be a daughter. And now he's infertile. This is karma. Tell your sister I need to thank her; thank goodness she married Meng Zikang back then. They really were a perfect match. This is all retribution..."
The woman kept muttering to herself, and her eyes sent chills down one's spine.
Rosie was so frightened that she ran out and never dared to go back into that yard.
Rosie saw Gao Jiale again many years later. By then, she was married. Having been childless for years, she had divorced her husband and looked haggard. Gao Jiale walked past her without recognizing her.
If Xu Keke were here, she would be surprised, because the man Luo Xi married was the same person Meng Dong married in her previous life.
Unbeknownst to her, Rosie had embarked on Meng Dong's life path.
In this life, Xu Keke didn't live to see the end of her natural life; she 'died' before she did. She thought it was because she had failed her mission. Unexpectedly, as she left this world, she saw Meng Dong's image.
Meng Dong thanked her, not only for fulfilling her wish but also for making her feel much better. There were things she had always considered rebellious, which was why she had never spoken of them. She thought she didn't care, but after Xu Keke punished Meng Zikang, she realized that those were actually the things she most wanted to do but felt she couldn't.
As Xu Keke watched her figure fade away, she thought to herself that she had fulfilled her wish. Wasn't her wish to make Gao Jiale fall in love with her? Could it be...? But when did she fulfill it? How come Gao Jiale herself didn't know?
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