Chapter 154 Omniscience × Precognition
Zhou Mian was caught off guard by the development of the situation. He paused for several seconds before slowly reacting, "It was my mother who asked you to come."
"Yes, Master Zhou Mian."
Through Assistant Rong's oral narration, Zhou Mian got a general understanding of his mother.
His mother was Xu Mengxiu. After his father died, she gave birth to him and then fell in love with a young master from a branch of the Qin family. The young master did not like Zhou Mian, and she had no money to raise a child alone. Therefore, she had to reluctantly send Zhou Mian to an orphanage.
"Wait, the welfare home?" Zhou Mian interrupted Assistant Rong and asked in surprise, "Isn't it right in front of my grandma's house?"
Assistant Rong had a puzzled expression on his face. He pushed his glasses and said subtly, "Madam, you're talking about the welfare home."
Zhou Mian paused before letting Assistant Rong continue.
After abandoning Zhou Mian at the door of the welfare home, Xu Mengxiu successfully became Master Qin's second wife. Now that her position in the Qin family has stabilized, she has begun to think about finding her son.
Zhou Mian thought it was ridiculous.
Almost twenty years have passed, and she only just remembered to look for herself?
No matter how he ran from the welfare home to his grandmother's house, it could not change the fact that he was abandoned.
But Zhou Mian still decided to meet his mother, not for anything else, just to end this ridiculous mother-son relationship.
Zhou Mian told Tong Ming about this, and he couldn't help feeling a little regretful. Tong Ming said he would make soup for him in the evening, but now he probably won't be able to drink it.
In a high-end restaurant, Zhou Mian met Ms. Xu Mengxiu.
Ms. Xu Mengxiu was well-maintained. She looked at him gently. She first pulled Zhou Mian and spoke softly for a long time before she explained her purpose, which was almost the same as what Assistant Rong had said: she wanted Zhou Mian to return to live in the Qin family.
Zhou Mian pursed his lips and refused: "No, I have nothing to do with the Qin family, it would not be appropriate for me to live there, and besides, I am living a good life now."
Ms. Xu Mengxiu's smile froze, and she continued to persuade: "I've also heard about your grandmother's illness, Xiao Mian, you must be very short of money now. If nothing else, the Qin family can help you relieve the pressure."
Zhou Mian said softly: "Now there is no shortage."
Xu Mengxiu's attitude was so strange that Zhou Mian couldn't help but use his predictive skills to see Xu Mengxiu's future, and only then did he figure out the whole story.
It turned out that the Qin family had heard about Zhou Mian's predictive ability, so they wanted to use Xu Mengxiu to bring Zhou Mian into the Qin family, and then push Zhou Mian out for marriage in exchange for more benefits.
It's ridiculous!
Zhou Mian found it incredible. Was his life really so worthless? Everyone wanted to use him, everyone wanted to step on him. Even his biological mother, who was connected to him by blood, reappeared after many years, just to use him and squeeze out every last bit of value from him.
Zhou Mian laughed miserably and had to remind his mother: "I can see it."
Xu Mengxiu's face became panicked. She suddenly grabbed Zhou Mian's hand and said almost beggingly: "Xiao Mian, please help mom. If you don't go back with mom, they will, they will..."
"You'll let your second son marry out, and then you'll lose your foothold in the Qin family again, right?" Anger and disappointment intertwined in his heart, and Zhou Mian questioned his nominal mother in great confusion: "Am I not your child? Aren't you worried that I'll be abused by the other party if I marry out? Why don't you think about my situation? You abandoned me, why do you still expect me to help you?"
As he spoke, Zhou Mian became very excited. Tears filled his eyes, but he stubbornly refused to let them fall.
Xu Mengxiu also became excited: "I am your mother. Do you know that I almost died of heavy bleeding while giving birth to you? If you don't repay me, then give me this life!"
"Okay, I will give it back to you. I will give you my whole life back." Zhou Mian closed his eyes and smiled. As tears rolled down from the corners of his eyes, an impulse suddenly surged in his heart. Since no one cared about him and since living was so painful, he might as well end it all.
Zhou Mian reached for the knife on the table and slashed his neck without hesitation.
Amidst screams, Zhou Mian's wrist was grabbed tightly and the dinner knife fell to the ground with a clanging sound.
Xu Mengxiu was frightened, looking at the person who suddenly appeared with a pale face. The person held Zhou Mian's hand tightly and looked at her coldly: "I really don't know how you have the nerve to ask Zhou Mian to return your life to you."
"Your heavy bleeding was caused by Zhou Mian's father and the poor skills of the doctors at the black clinic. But you don't blame them, you only blame a child who couldn't decide his own birth."
Zhou Mian leaned against Tong Ming, his whole body trembling. Because he was too excited, his breathing was rapid and heavy, and his face became paler. Tong Ming was anxious to comfort Zhou Mian, resisting the urge to tear the human in front of him to pieces, and coldly threw the last words to her.
"Stay away from Zhou Mian, otherwise, I will make you and the entire Qin family completely penniless."
Zhou Mian was taken back by Tong Ming. He didn't say a word all the way. Tong Ming asked him to sit on the sofa and wiped his face with a hot towel. When he came back, he saw Zhou Mian hugging his knees, curled up into a small ball, and his thin shoulders trembling slightly.
Zhou Mian liked to hide in a corner and cry alone. He didn't like to cry out loud and let others hear his vulnerability. But this time, he was probably too sad, and the sobs that he couldn't suppress turned into soft sobs.
Tong Ming was rarely at a loss.
In fact, Tong Ming had made Zhou Mian cry more than once. At that time, Tong Ming did not feel much when he saw Zhou Mian's tears. But now it was suddenly different. Zhou Mian's tears seemed to fall on him, making his eyes start to blink uneasily.
Quanzhi racked his brains, trying to coax Zhou Mian, but he had only eaten humans before, so how could he coax a human being? His usually eloquent mouth suddenly became stiff. He held it in for a long time before asking Zhou Mian, "Do you want more soup?"
Zhou Mian sobbed for a while before uttering a muffled sound: "I want to."
Tong Ming breathed a sigh of relief and brought the soup over. Zhou Mian finally raised his tearful face, took the bowl, picked up the spoon tremblingly, and drank a mouthful of the soup, as if trying to draw a tiny bit of warmth from it.
Tong Ming looked for a while, sighed, took the soup bowl from Zhou Mian's hand, put it aside, picked up Zhou Mian and let Zhou Mian sit on his lap.
"Xiao Zhou, Xiao Zhou," Tong Ming sighed in Zhou Mian's ear, "Don't be sad for a profit-seeking stranger."
Zhou Mian clutched Tong Ming's arm, breathing tremblingly: "She, she is my biological mother."
"She said something about you, didn't she?" Tong Ming slowed down his voice: "Don't listen to her, she has no right to say that about you."
"How could she do this to me?" Zhou Mian seemed to have finally found an outlet to vent his feelings. He covered his face and said, "If you didn't want me, why did you give birth to me? When you remembered I was useful, you came back to me, as if I were just a stray dog that can be summoned and dismissed at will. I really..."
"Our Xiao Zhou is not a stray puppy," Tong Ming wiped Zhou Mian's face with a hot towel. "According to what you said, I am also a stray with strange eyes. My father doesn't love me, my brothers don't love me, I live in insecurity, and I have to fight with my cruel brothers and sisters for the family property."
Zhou Mian frowned slightly and couldn't help but retort: "At least Principal Hiccup cares about you."
"You're talking about my fourth brother," Tong Ming thought for a moment, then spoke reluctantly, "Well, to be honest with you, he and I were enemies before. He used puppet silk to cut me once, and I used intelligence to trick him once. There was no room for maneuver."
Gossip always piques curiosity, and Zhou Mian's attention was indeed diverted: "What happened next?"
"Later, he brought a bird and asked me about the third way to become a god. I don't know why he suddenly changed his mind about slaughtering all my brothers and sisters, but he told me that if he really found that way, he wouldn't have to kill me."
Tong Ming curled his lips and said, "He's a madman. He actually went to work with the equally madman [Fate] and used [Time] to reverse the status of all the candidates."
"As you know, my combat power is very low. Once a war between gods breaks out, my chances of survival will definitely be low. Therefore, I must choose to cooperate with other monsters."
"In this strange world, there is no talk of feelings, only of interests."
Tong Ming sighed. Perhaps because Zhou Mian's gaze was too serious, devoid of any other emotions, Tong Ming unconsciously revealed some of his true feelings: "Don't think that I get along well with Fourth Brother now. In fact, I am very scared."
"Fear?"
"Yes, I'm afraid," Tong Ming said with a wry smile. "I'm afraid that he'll eat me immediately after he regains his memory. After all, when he returns to the Yaoyue class, he can completely ignore the school rules set by the old principal of the Hongyi class. Whether he eats me or not will depend entirely on his conscience."
Tong Ming's words sounded pitiful. Zhou Mian thought about it and couldn't help but said sincerely, "I don't think he will eat you."
Tong Ming deliberately asked, "You've only met him a few times, and you already understand him? Are you fooled by my fourth brother's appearance?"
Zhou Mian hesitated for a few seconds and looked away guiltily.
Tong Ming glared at him: "Are you feeling guilty? Zhou Mian, you are also one of those superficial people who only care about appearance!"
Zhou Mian opened his mouth, but could not utter any words to defend himself.
It's not that he values appearance above all else, the principal is really good-looking. Anyone with a normal sense of aesthetic taste will definitely think so.
Tong Ming refused to give in, staring at him intently and asking, "So, tell me, who's prettier, me or my fourth brother?"
Zhou Mian looked at Tong Ming and asked seriously, "Tong Ming, do you really need an answer?"
Tong Ming said faintly, "I definitely have to."
"Okay," Zhou Mian said solemnly without hesitation, "Your fourth brother."
Tong Ming immediately flew into a rage: "Zhou Mian, you won't even lie to me. You have no heart. I'm going to punish you!"
Zhou Mian had no time to feel sad, because the person holding him turned into a bunch of eyes, drilling into his body in every possible way. Zhou Mian tried to hide from the eyes everywhere, but was finally caught by Tong Ming and taken back to drink his soup.
In the evening, Zhou Mian was still in Tong Ming's arms. Just as he was about to fall asleep, he heard Tong Ming say in his ear: "Xiao Zhou, forget everything that happened today. Just treat her as a passerby who met you once."
"I didn't eat her because of your kindness." Tong Ming's voice sounded a little softer in Zhou Mian's ears: "One life for another, you don't owe her anything anymore."
Zhou Mian opened his mouth for a long time before he whispered one word: "Okay."
Tong Ming added, "Xiao Zhou, not all humans can be loved. Perhaps you were born unlucky, so no one is willing to favor you a little more."
"But I prefer you."
Zhou Mian's heart skipped a beat.
Tong Ming said: "Your soul and life belong to me. My eyes have only stayed on you for this long. Even if everyone despises you and tramples on you, I will always be by your side and keep watching you."
After hearing these words, Zhou Mian turned his back to Tong Ming and shed silent tears.
Why say these things to him?
Why was it Tong Ming who said such things to him?
Zhou Mian would rather Tong Ming continue to treat him the same way as before than have Tong Ming's attitude towards him soften like this.
If Tong Ming continued to be as despicable as before, Zhou Mian could watch coldly without any burden until Tong Ming finally paid a huge price for him.
It is dangerous to have an emotional connection with Tong Ming, because fate has already told him that he will bring a bad future to Tong Ming. In order to take revenge on Tong Ming, he insists on ignoring the prediction of fate and signs the contract with Tong Ming.
If he really falls in love with Tong Ming, how will he accept the future he has brought to Tong Ming?
The tears from the corners of his eyes were wiped away by a hand, and Tong Ming hugged him tightly, just like the dream Zhou Mian often had when he was young.
Even though his dream had come true, Zhou Mian was not that happy.
He was in a bad mood, and Tong Ming was worried that he would have self-destructive thoughts again, so he found various ways to take Zhou Mian out for a walk to relax.
He took Zhou Mian to the Arctic to chase the aurora, to the desert to photograph the starry sky, and to the snow-capped mountains to watch the golden mountain in the sun.
Tong Ming shared all the scenery that Quanzhi could see with Zhou Mian.
"Beyond this world, there's actually an even more vast universe." Tong Ming walked with Zhou Mian in the vast grassland, looking at the starry sky above him with emotion: "If Fourth Brother doesn't eat me, when Fourth Brother becomes a god, we might have a chance to go out and see it together."
Zhou Mian looked up at the starry sky with him, a little dazed.
He had originally planned to leave with his grandmother after she passed away. But for someone like him, what future is there?
"Xiao Zhou, if your labor contract with the Heresy Monitoring Bureau is terminated, what are you going to do?" Tong Ming came to ask him about his future plans again.
Zhou Mian was in a state of confusion. After trying to think about it, he randomly gave an answer: "Maybe I will go back to farming."
"You want to farm with your body?" Tong Ming looked at him with disdain, looking very unconvinced.
Zhou Mian himself also felt that this was unrealistic, but he still insisted: "Grandma's fields must be taken care of."
If grandma passed away, those things would be the last memories she left for him.
But Zhou Mian didn't expect that even this last thought would be shattered so quickly.
Zhou Mian received a notice of his grandmother's critical illness. When he rushed to the hospital, the old woman was already on her deathbed.
Zhou Mian didn't have time to figure out why his grandmother's condition suddenly worsened. He pushed through the various unfamiliar relatives crowded in the ward, came to his grandmother's bedside, and held the old woman's thin and cold hand with a blank expression.
"Grandma, I'm here."
The frail old man opened his eyes with difficulty, looked at him, and uttered a weak voice in his throat: "Mian."
Zhou Mian's voice trembled as he tried to get closer to listen: "Grandma, I'm listening to everything."
"Grandma left it to your uncle," the old man looked at him, with a hint of guilt in his eyes.
Zhou Mian was completely frozen, his mind going blank.
"Can you help grandma look after your uncle, okay?"
The familiar feeling of suffocation came over Zhou Mian again. Zhou Mian felt breathless and could hardly understand these words.
Zhou Mian felt that these words, every word, were like sharp thorns, and every word was cutting a big hole in his heart, revealing his bleeding heart.
Even in her final moments, what grandma was most worried about was her only remaining son.
Not her grandson.
She was planning for the future of her good-for-nothing son, but didn't care about Zhou Mian's future. There was no doubt that in her heart, her son would always be the first.
Zhou Mian felt like a death row inmate who had received the final judgment, with a sense of relief that the dust had settled.
Yes, admit it, in this world, no one loves you, no one cares about you.
You are destined to be alone and homeless.
The old woman looked at him, tears in her eyes: "My child, grandma is sorry for you."
The ECG monitor made a shrill sound, and my uncle shouted in extreme sadness, threw himself to the bed, and shed tears.
At this moment, the only relative Zhou Mian cared about in this world left him completely.
Zhou Mian didn't know how he left the ward. He walked forward in a daze. All the passers-by seemed to become silhouettes. His grandmother's last words kept circling in his mind.
After being abandoned by his mother, he was abandoned again by his grandmother.
The home he shared with his grandmother now belonged to his uncle. Where should he go? Where should he return to?
He was completely homeless.
At the end of the wandering road, Zhou Mian suddenly bumped into someone, who hugged him tightly and did not let go.
"Zhou Mian, you are completely alone now."
The voice came from above: "Come to me, let me take care of me, let me love you."
Zhou Mian listened to the voice almost in a daze.
Who is this person? Why do you say you love him and why do you want to take care of him?
He is just a poor guy abandoned by everyone. How can he be worthy of love?
But that person really took him back home, coaxed him to eat and sleep, and indulged him in hiding in the dark and escaping from reality in a collapsed state.
One day, Zhou Mian finally remembered that his contract with Tong Ming had ended at the same moment his grandmother passed away. There was no need for Tong Ming to continue taking care of him, so he mentioned this to Tong Ming: "Our contract has ended, you don't have to do this."
Tong Ming laughed angrily: "Zhou Mian, do you think I took care of you before just because of the contract?"
Zhou Mian's head ached dully, and he was too tired to think: "I don't know"
Tong Ming sighed and held him in his arms: "Zhou Mian, let's sign a new contract."
"You give me your soul, and in exchange I will give you mine."
"You also possess my soul, so you don't have to worry about being abandoned anymore."
Zhou Mian raised his eyes blankly and saw Tong Ming's expression which did not seem fake.
For a moment, Zhou Mian wanted to agree, but almost at the same time, Zhou Mian thought of that future
Tong Ming will pay a huge price because of Zhou Mian.
Zhou Mian was not sure what the price was, so he didn't dare to gamble. If he didn't want to implicate Tong Ming, it would be best to keep his distance from Tong Ming.
So Zhou Mian rejected Tong Ming's proposal, left Tong Ming and returned to the real world.
Ms. Xu Mengxiu probably still didn't give up. She got Zhou Mian's contact information from somewhere and sent him a text message.
When Zhou Mian saw the text message, he remembered something.
He had been in a daze for a while and had forgotten many suspicious points, such as Xu Mengxiu had clearly abandoned him at the door of the welfare home, but he appeared at the door of his grandmother's house.
There was also money and letters in his uncle's mouth, stuffed in his swaddling clothes.
If Xu Mengxiu didn't send him to his grandmother's door and leave the letter, then who left the letter?
A pair of rose-red eyes suddenly flashed through Zhou Mian's mind.
He caught a glimpse of Fengdu Ghost City and briefly locked eyes with "Fate".
At that time, Zhou Mian had a premonition that perhaps he had seen "fate" at some point in his life.
In order to get the letter, Zhou Mian went to his uncle's house and used the props given to him by Tong Ming to threaten his uncle to hand over the letter.
Sitting on the edge of the field, Zhou Mian carefully examined the letter in his hand. The envelope was not the usual black lettering on a white background, but red lettering on a black background. On it was written "Zhou Mian" in neat small blood-red characters, which vaguely revealed a sense of foreboding.
Zhou Mian turned the envelope over and saw a red string. This red string was like the sealing string on a file bag, tightly wrapped around the seal. Zhou Mian took a deep breath and just as he reached out his hand towards it, the red string untied itself.
Zhou Mian paused and took out the letter paper inside. Unlike the strange envelope, the letter paper of this letter was a kind of floral paper with a faint fragrance.
Zhou Mian had a vague premonition. He gently unfolded the letter and read it:
[Zhou Mian, when you read this letter, you should be 22 years old.]
[We did meet once. When you were abandoned at the door of the welfare home, I picked you up and brought you here.
You may wonder why I would do this, and that is why I am writing this letter to you.
Now that I have seen your future and know your story, let me tell you my story.
This is a story full of misfortune. It begins with death and, perhaps, will end with death.
The author has something to say:
After thinking about it, this crazy elder sister [Destiny] deserves a little extra story, so let's do it [sunglasses]
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