"Dad, do you think that's possible? He's a heartless person, how can you expect him to have a change of heart? He's a selfish person by nature, he'll do anything for money!" Chen Zhuo said, getting agitated. His eyes were bloodshot with anger, the veins on his neck were bulging, and he was on the verge of losing control and going crazy.
"Okay, okay, don't get excited. Your parents know." Song Xiaowen hugged Chen Zhuo tightly, feeling sorry for him, and quickly winked at Zhou Shanhuai behind his back.
Zhou Shanhuai quickly hugged Chen Zhuo to comfort him: "Yes, yes, we won't trust him so easily anymore. No matter what his purpose is in returning this money, as long as we ignore him and don't listen to anything he says, he won't be able to scheme against us anymore!"
Chen Zhuo took deep breaths, and his agitated emotions finally calmed down.
He buried his face, filled with pain and guilt, in Song Xiaowen and Zhou Shanhuai's shoulders, and tried to keep his voice calm as he said, "Mom and Dad, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to yell at you..."
“We know, we all know,” Song Xiaowen replied, her voice choked with emotion.
Zhou Shanhuai didn't speak, but his large, gentle hand stroked Chen Zhuo's thin back again and again.
That night, Chen Ke, who was sleeping on the train, suddenly woke up from his dream. His usually calm eyes showed some ripples, like a mysterious and dangerous dark light in the abyss.
"What's wrong, Master? Is there a disturbance in your spiritual sea?"
Chen Ke shook his head, his voice a little hoarse, "No, it's just that memories from the original owner's subconscious suddenly surfaced, which surprised me."
"Hmm? Memories from the original owner's subconscious? I can't detect them here. What kind of memories are they?"
After hearing the system's question, Chen Ke paused for a moment before slowly saying, "The original owner did not die accidentally."
"What? Not an accidental death? Then who killed him? The plot says it was caused by a ship sinking." The system was even more surprised than Chen Ke. This was the first time the original owner hadn't directly transmitted information to Chen Ke through it.
"It's Chen Zhuo."
"Hiss!" The system gasped, then asked incredulously, "He... he killed his brother, causing the entire crew of a ship to... perish at sea?"
"Hmm." Chen Ke looked out the dark window and recalled Chen Zhuo in the original owner's mind before he died. Chen Zhuo was wearing a crisp military uniform, his chiseled and cold face had a relieved smile, and his phoenix eyes were blood red, which frightened the original owner into thinking that he had attracted evil ghosts by tomb raiding too much.
However, at that time, Chen Zhuo was no different from a demon. In an instant, he could take hundreds of lives with a wave of his hand. He didn't even blink when he stabbed his own brother in the chest with a sharp knife, and there was even a slight smile on his lips.
"It's fair to say that the original owner was most likely scared to death by Chen Zhuo before sinking to the bottom of the sea."
After hearing the whole thing, the system felt terrible. "...It feels like the world is starting to become unpredictable."
Chen Ke's face was expressionless. After taking a sip of water from the kettle, he fell asleep again.
No matter how awesome he becomes later, he's still just a sixteen or seventeen-year-old kid. Kids, if their thoughts are crooked, they can be corrected; if they grow up crooked... they can be corrected.
When Chen Ke saw Chen Zhuo in person a day later, he realized that he had been thinking too simply.
In the alley outside the restaurant, Chen Zhuo was stunned when he saw him. Then, a furious hatred visibly gathered in his eyes, like a raging fire that wanted to burn Chen Ke to ashes.
Chen Ke: ""
He was certain that Chen Zhuo knew that the original owner had sold him for money when he was a child, which was why he was so angry and resentful towards the original owner when he was abandoned a second time.
"What are you doing back here?" Chen Zhuo suppressed his overwhelming hatred, each word seemingly forced out from between his teeth.
The person in front of me has actually come back looking all high and mighty. Hah, he's spending the money they saved to save his life, he must be living a very comfortable life, right? Abandoning him should be easy, right? Anyway, he's wanted to do that since he was a kid.
The more Chen Zhuo thought about it, the more his anger surged. He felt an uncontrollable urge to burst out of his body. The violence made his eyes bloodshot, the veins on his neck bulging, and his hands clenched into fists. He looked like a powder keg that could explode at any moment.
Seeing this, Chen Ke sighed softly. The original owner had caused too much damage to Chen Zhuo, to the point that it had even triggered a stress response.
"Heh, what's wrong? You don't even dare to talk to me anymore? What's the purpose of your return this time? You still want to swindle our money? But you'll be disappointed. We're so poor right now that we can't even afford to eat. I'm afraid we don't have any money to swindle from you."
Chen Ke hesitated, wondering how to speak to Chen Zhuo without causing him to lose control and do something rash on the street. When Chen Zhuo saw that he was not speaking, he suppressed his anger and launched into a barrage of sarcastic remarks.
Chen Ke suddenly knew how to get along with Chen Zhuo now.
He took two steps forward with a blank expression.
But Chen Zhuo shouted at him sharply: "Don't come any closer, or I can't guarantee I won't hurt you."
Chen Ke, seemingly indifferent, put the suitcase he was carrying on the ground, casually leaned against the wall with his long legs crossed, and then took out a cigarette and lit it.
"Heh, now you've even taken up smoking. But I'm not surprised. With your rotten nature, I wouldn't be surprised if you started smoking opium one day. I'd even applaud it and wish you a speedy ascent to paradise!"
Chen Ke: ······
Young man, I haven't said a word, but you've said a whole bunch of things. So who hates whom?
"What are you doing here?" Chen Ke asked in a surprised tone, as if he had just met Chen Zhuo by chance.
Chen Zhuo was taken aback for a moment, then sneered, "What are you pretending for? If you had the money, you would have run away from Shanghai long ago. You didn't come back specifically to find me, did you come here to go shopping?"
A screeching sound of car brakes rang out outside the alley. The driver, wearing white gloves, got out of the car very respectfully and bowed to Chen Ke, "Sir."
Chen Ke threw away the cigarette in his hand, crushed it with his foot, bent down, picked up his small suitcase, and got into the car in one smooth motion.
———
Chen Zhuo stood there blankly, his eyes widening as he listened to the sound of the car starting.
At this moment, Chen Ke rolled down the car window, turned his head and coldly said to Chen Zhuo, "Just pretend you've never seen me, and don't mention me to anyone." Chen Ke paused here, and then curled the corner of his mouth as if mocking himself, "It seems a bit redundant to say all this. Anyway, you don't treat me like a brother anymore. That's it. I'm leaving. Goodbye, Chen Zhuo."
The car started moving and drove off as soon as he finished speaking.
Chen Zhuo was left with his mouth agape...
The hatred and anger that filled his heart had not been vented, but it was as if it had been absorbed by a sponge. All sorts of complicated emotions choked his chest, but in the blink of an eye, he felt empty and didn't know what to fill the void.
Chen Ke, who was peering out the back window of the car to check Chen Zhuo's expression, said: "Thank goodness we chartered a car in advance."
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