Chapter 147 The Last Tenderness
Lu Jiunian slowly squatted down in front of Shi Nianzhi. He looked up at Shi Nianzhi carefully and asked, "Nianzhi, how did you go blind?"
Although Shi Nianzhi could not see Lu Jiunian, he still lowered his head slightly.
"Because I got my comeuppance, are you satisfied now?"
A faint smile played on his lips, a smile that pierced Lu Jiunian's heart.
Lu Jiunian held Shi Nianzhi's hand gently, as if afraid that if he increased his strength even slightly, he would break the brief peace between him and Shi Nianzhi.
“Nianzhi, come home with me. Without me holding your hand, you won’t be able to find your way home. If you can’t find your way, I’ll be worried if you get lost.”
There was a hint of pleading in the man's voice.
Shi Nianzhi pulled his hand out of Lu Jiunian's palm. He was so indifferent. "Third Master, please don't joke with me. Have you forgotten Old Madam Gu? Have you forgotten Gu Zijian?"
“You’ve already paid off Madam Gu’s debt. You don’t owe Gu Zijian anything anymore, so I won’t hold it against you anymore. Come with me, and I’ll take good care of you. Shi Er isn’t taking good care of you; look how thin you’ve become.”
"Just say what you really want to say clearly, stop beating around the bush."
“Nianzhi, you won’t get proper care and a good life without me. I regret letting you go.”
Lu Jiunian paused, then said, "I can support you, support you for the rest of my life. I may never give you love again, but I will take good care of you and make sure no one can hurt you."
"A mistress, a third party?"
Lu Jiunian was silent for a while, then said, "If you don't want to, it can be your family."
Shi Nianzhi smiled slightly, "Thank you."
“No need, Nianzhi, you never need to be polite with me. I know about what happened in your hometown and I saw the surveillance footage of you kowtowing to Zijian at your doorstep. I didn’t know any of this before. I thought breaking up with you was the best thing for you, but it turns out it wasn’t. I know you were forced to stab me in the back, you did it to get money from Lu Bing, right? From now on, you don’t have to be so submissive anymore. I’ll give you whatever you want.”
"Thank you for what you said before."
"Um?"
"Hold my hand and lead me home when I can't find my way. Even though I know it's a lie, I still think it sounds beautiful, even more beautiful than when you said you loved me."
"......"
Lu Jiunian looked at Shi Nianzhi, puzzled.
At that moment, he finally felt as if he was really about to lose something.
Shi Nianzhi reached out and touched the table. He stood up and forcefully overturned the table.
It turns out that the "thank you" was Shi Nianzhi's last act of tenderness towards Lu Jiunian. He was finally driven mad by Lu Jiunian and personally tore off the docile and kind skin with his own blood. He swallowed that blood-stained human skin and his resentment finally turned into sharp thorns all over his body.
He pointed towards the door and said, "Get out, get out of my house forever."
Lu Jiunian stood up and looked at Shi Nianzhi. The usually calm and collected man finally showed a hint of helplessness. "Nianzhi."
"Get out!"
Shi Nianzhi lunged forward to push Lu Jiunian, he did so with such force, he was hysterical.
Lu Jiunian's voice betrayed his disappointment, "Wasn't I good enough to you?"
“My dad, my dad, you shouldn’t have let me come to you when I came home, you shouldn’t have let me treat you with all my heart. How could you deserve such sincerity? You should have colluded with someone like Gu Zijian. You will never understand love, because Lu Jiunian, you have no heart.”
Shi Nianzhi stepped on the glass on the ground, bent down to pick it up, and slid it forward.
The glass cut Lu Jiunian's arm; the sharp glass tore through his clothes and cut his skin.
The air was instantly filled with the smell of blood.
Shi Nianzhi did not stop. He slashed again with all his might, even though the sharpness of the broken glass was two-way, and his own palm was covered in blood.
He didn't care; he was no longer in pain.
"My father's body is barely cold, and you come here to tell me that his death atons for our sins. How ridiculous! What sins have we, father and son, committed?! Tell me, what sins have we committed?!"
Shi Nianzhi seemed to have gone mad.
The assistant outside the door had to come over and pull Lu Jiunian away. "Third Master, Young Master Shi's emotions are very unstable. Let's come another day. Otherwise, it won't just be you who gets hurt, but also Young Master Shi."
Lu Jiunian frowned and looked at Shi Nianzhi's blood-strewn fingers with a sullen face. He finally had no choice but to speak, "Nianzhi, think about it calmly. You have to plan for your future. When you've thought it through, give me a call. What I say to you always counts."
"But you said you would love me for a lifetime, you were just lying to me."
Lu Jiunian promised, "This time it won't happen."
Shi Nianzhi forcefully threw the broken glass in her hand to the ground, and blood splattered along with the glass shards, much like a farewell.
"roll!"
The footsteps faded away, and the door closed.
Shi Nianzhi crouched slowly amidst the chaos, unable to see anything; his vision was completely black.
He simply followed his instincts and hugged his knees, tilting his head slightly, his eyes dull and lifeless.
"Lu Jiunian, you said you would love me for a lifetime, how could you lie to me?"
"It's all a lie."
The phone suddenly rang shrilly.
Shi Nianzhi stood up amidst the mess, frantically searching for her phone, calling out in a panic, "Mom..."
He couldn't find it; he couldn't reach his phone.
The ringing stopped, but thankfully it started ringing again soon.
After ringing countless times, Shi Nianzhi finally managed to touch his phone with his hands covered in blood. He frantically swiped the screen and saw that the phone was still ringing.
He didn't care anymore and just wiped the blood from his injury casually on his clothes.
The bell stopped ringing again, and it didn't ring for a long time afterward.
Shi Nianzhi panicked. He held his phone, his fingers tapping randomly. "Mom, Mom—what should I do—"
He was sweating profusely, tears streaming down his face, holding his silent phone, crying like a lost child.
Finally, the phone rang again.
This time, Shi Nianzhi answered the call and quickly put the phone to his ear, "Mom—, I just, I just..."
He hadn't finished speaking.
Li Zhi's voice was calm on the other end, "Mom called to say goodbye to you."
A bad feeling welled up in Shi Nianzhi's heart. He groped his way to walk outside, as if he could find Li Zhi if he walked out like this.
"Mom, where are you going?"
"Mom, we're going to find Nianzhi and your dad."
My father is dead. My mother says she's going to go find him. What does that mean?
Shi Nianzhi finally found the door. Without hesitation, he opened it and began to walk downstairs, caressing the door.
"Mom, you still have me. Please don't do anything rash. I beg you. I will earn a lot of money, I will support you, I will take care of you for the rest of my life. I'm going back right now. You don't need to come looking for me, I'll come to you! Whatever it is, I'll share it with you."
“You have always been a very sensible child, but you are not Nianzhi. In fact, you were bought by your father from human traffickers. At that time, I went crazy because I lost my child, and your father bought a child who was about the same age as my dead child.”
Shi Nianzhi shook his head. He finally walked out of the stairwell. It was snowing outside, and the wind and snow made his face sting.
Upon hearing Li Zhi's words, Shi Nianzhi's first reaction was that Li Zhi was lying to him. "No, if I really was bought back from human traffickers by my father, how come I don't remember?"
"You were bought with a high fever, and when you woke up you didn't remember anything."
"Then who am I?"
“We don’t know either, but Nianzhi, live well, you will find your family eventually. Nianzhi, take care of yourself, Mom is gone.”
"No, Mom, we are family. Regardless of blood ties, we are family."
Li Zhi remained silent for a long time. Shi Nianzhi stopped and held his breath. "Mom, I beg you, I have nothing left. Please don't leave me. I beg you."
Shi Nianzhi's voice, trembling with sobs, was so desperate that it was heartbreaking.
"Take good care of yourself."
"No, I can't take care of myself yet, Mom, I beg you..."
"......"
The call was disconnected.
Shi Nianzhi ran forward desperately, even though the road ahead was pitch black. He seemed to be carrying hope, feeling that he could find Li Zhi in the darkness.
His mother.
It must be a joke, Li Zhi must be joking with him. How could any of this be true?
Was everything just a nightmare he was having? If he just keeps running like this, will the nightmare end?
When he opened his eyes, was he still surrounded by lush green fields and weed-covered ridges?
Shi Dazhuang, driving the ox, smiled innocently as he waved the whip, "You lazybones, I told you to herd the ox and you're sleeping here. Hurry up and go home for dinner, your mother made your favorite braised pork."
Smoke rose from his chimney, and Li Zhi came out of the kitchen carrying dishes, her smile so warm.
Without Lu Jiunian, there would be no love, and no tragedies.
The phone rang again, shattering Shi Nianzhi's unrealistic fantasies and expectations.
Memories brought tears to his eyes. Shi Nianzhi answered the phone; it was the village chief's voice on the other end, "Nianzhi, you must accept my condolences. Your mother... your mother jumped from the hospital and died instantly..."
Shi Nianzhi stood still, his ears filled with the sound of his own heart pounding so hard.
Bang bang.
Bang bang ——————
The world seemed to fall silent, and he could no longer hear what the village chief said afterward.
He threw his phone into the snow, clutched his head, and screamed in a hoarse voice, filled with pain.
Shi Dazhuang taught him to be kind, simple, and generous, and he always acted accordingly, never suspecting others of wrongdoing, always thinking of others first, and never causing trouble for anyone...
But why did Gu Zijian, who committed so many bad deeds, receive all the favor, while he ended up like this? Why?
Shi Nianzhi knelt in the snow and screamed loudly.
Suddenly, a dense, sharp pain shot through my brain, initially like being pricked by needles, but eventually becoming an excruciating electric shock.
Those memories that belonged to him broke free from their confinement, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, and surged into his mind.
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