"Hoo..." He let out a deep breath, frowned, and asked, "How did I suddenly fall asleep?"
The man stood by the bed with his hands in his pockets, looking down at him: "Mr. Zhu, you're not asleep, you suddenly fainted."
"...You fainted?" Zhu Xingye looked up, his eyes filled with confusion. "Why would I faint when I was perfectly fine? Is there something wrong with my body?"
The man shook his head: "No. I just gave Mr. Zhu a quick check-up. He's in good health, everything's fine, there's nothing wrong with him at all."
"only……"
"Just what?" Zhu Xingye was a little nervous at his sudden change of topic.
Man: "I'm just feeling a bit down, and my mood doesn't seem very high. Mr. Zhu, you should cheer up."
“Happy…” Zhu Xingye curled his lips briefly, his expression full of mockery, “I want to be happy too, but some people just won’t cooperate.”
"If she weren't so stubborn, and was willing to give in to me and smile, I would be happier than if I had won the lottery."
"...Placing your hopes for happiness in others is a very unrealistic thing to do. Mr. Zhu, if you really want to be happy, you have to let go of yourself and let go of those people and things that don't belong to you." The man advised gently.
But Zhu Xingye's face darkened instantly: "...I won't let her get away with this."
Man: "A forced relationship won't be happy. Mr. Zhu, not only will you be unhappy, but she will also be tormented by you. Two unhappy people together will only make life more and more bitter."
"So what if it's tough?" Zhu Xingye stared at him with a sinister look in his eyes. "As long as I can keep her by my side, I'm confident I can make her happy. It just takes a little time."
As he spoke, Zhu Xingye threw back the covers and sat up in bed: "Where's Chaochao? Has she eaten anything yet?"
Man: Not yet. She ran out into the rain while you were unconscious, and when she came back, she curled up in bed and fell asleep.
"Getting caught in the rain?" Zhu Xingye's heart skipped a beat at those two words. He stood up from the bedside, quickly put on his slippers, turned around and left the room, rushing off to find Zhu Jinzhao.
"How did she get caught in the rain? Have you checked her over? Has she caught a cold?"
The man followed behind Zhu Xingye and answered slowly, "She got soaked in the rain because she wanted to escape while you were unconscious, but because there were too many bodyguards in the villa, she was forced to come back before she could even get out of the front door."
“I just went to see her. She is in good condition. She is neither cold nor uncomfortable. She just won’t eat.”
Upon hearing the man's words, Zhu Xingye's hurried steps suddenly faltered, and all the blame and resentment he felt were instantly rendered unspeakable.
The man glanced at his slightly stiff back and sighed inwardly, "Sigh... why torture others and yourself at the same time?"
In the room, Zhu Jinzhao tossed and turned, unable to sleep soundly.
One reason was that he wanted to escape, and the other was that he was hungry.
She had been hungry for over thirty hours, and her stomach had been growling for quite some time. Moreover, because her stomach had been empty for so long, she was experiencing frequent acid reflux and a burning sensation.
She had originally intended to escape her hunger by sleeping, but after lying in bed and closing her eyes, she realized that she was too hungry to sleep.
Coupled with her eagerness to escape, she kept thinking of various ways to escape, without stopping for a moment.
"Click—"
Suddenly, the door lock was turned open.
Zhu Jinzhao reflexively opened her eyes, her vision not yet fully clear, and she sat up in bed and shrank into a corner.
Sure enough, Zhu Xingye pushed the door open and entered the next second.
Zhu Jinzhao stared at him warily. Although her mind was not completely clear, the instinct to stay away from him was deeply ingrained in her.
She watched as Zhu Xingye walked to her bedside, then stood there and looked down at her.
"Hmph..." After discovering that she had changed her wet dress, he finally smiled with satisfaction. "Not bad, not too stupid, she knows that wet clothes can't be worn."
"..." Zhu Jinzhao ignored him.
He turned slightly to the side and sat down on the edge of the bed, looking helplessly at the little hedgehog on the bed.
She's still the same; she doesn't want to get close to me or talk to me.
"Sigh..." Zhu Xingye sighed with a headache, deciding to have a good talk with this little hedgehog and ask her what it would take for her to behave.
"Chaochao, you..."
But as soon as he opened his mouth, he suddenly shut up.
For some reason, when he saw Zhu Jinzhao's eyes filled with resentment, he inexplicably recalled the dream he had just had.
In the dream, Zhu Jinzhao suffered endless humiliation because of Zhu Mingyue's schemes, and even in death, he died with his eyes wide open in discontent.
But upon closer examination, the dream was rather hasty. Many details in the dream were blurry and chaotic. Yet, for some reason, Zhu Xingye seemed to be trapped in it. Whenever he thought of that absurd and chaotic dream, his heart would tremble uncontrollably.
It was as if the things in his dream were things he had actually done; he really tormented Zhu Jinzhao like a madman and drove his sister, whom he had raised, to her death.
Zhu Jinzhao is especially afraid of him now; the fear and panic in her eyes are exactly the same as in her dream.
Zhu Xingye stared at her blankly, his gaze somewhat unfocused.
"You, you get out..." Seeing that he didn't speak again, Zhu Jinzhao boldly started to chase him away again.
He frowned, and just as he was about to question Zhu Jinzhao about why she disliked him so much, the image of Zhu Jinzhao's tragic death suddenly flashed before his eyes.
The rain in his dream was so heavy that he could barely open his eyes. He stood blankly in the rain, helplessly looking at the lifeless corpse in front of him.
The rain washed away the blood from the corpse, revealing numerous large and small wounds on its pale skin. The foul-smelling blood trickled down to Zhu Xingye's feet.
Zhu Xingye took two steps back in fear, but the next second, he heard his own voice ring in his ears.
"Zhu Xingye, what right do you have to talk to me like that?"
Zhu Xingye looked up in a panic, staring wide-eyed at the "himself" in front of him with a ferocious smile.
"In your previous life, you either verbally abused her or physically assaulted her. You finally drove her to her death, but you still won't let her go in this life."
"She's the sister you raised yourself. How are you any better than me, harboring such filthy thoughts about your own sister?"
"..." Zhu Xingye opened his mouth in horror, unable to utter a single word.
"Hmph..." The "self" in front of him chuckled and said, "Zhu Xingye, I did drive her to her death, but so did you. Your current actions are also pushing her to her death!"
"You, you, no matter how many times you do it all over again, you'll still make her die by your hand!"
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