Chapter 1
682 Words
Shang Xiuwen’s father was facing imprisonment for intentionally inflating construction budgets, with the second trial scheduled a month away.
On the final day of the year, the first snow arrived. The "Xincheng Shanshui" estate was swallowed by a boundless blanket of white.
Inside the new apartment on the 17th floor, Shang Xiuwen packed his few belongings, staring blankly at the vibrant wedding photos hanging on the wall. At this moment, his heart felt as if it were being sliced by a knife.
Kaiyin stood alone in the center of the living room. The crystal chandelier on the ceiling cast a pale blue light over her face, which looked as lifeless as a walking corpse, yet possessed a haunting, cold beauty.
"...Goodbye."
They had been in love for four years. While he was stationed at a distant Air Force base, she had waited for him through those long years, only for it all to end with such a simple farewell.
Kaiyin laughed miserably, her teeth flashing white, though her gums looked as if they might burst with blood at any second. She pointed toward his heart.
"Do you... do you actually have a place for me in there?"
If a person hesitates for even three seconds before answering, the response is no longer true. She laughed desolately, raising her right hand to show the diamond wedding ring on her finger.
"Shang Xiuwen, then why did you give me this?"
His shoulders were trembling, but she didn't notice.
She shrieked at him with a piercing, sharp voice: "Shang Xiuwen, if there is only one bowl of rice left and a man leaves it for the woman to eat, that's called being useless! A real man works hard for his woman to earn two bowls so they can eat together! To encounter an obstacle and claim you're leaving 'for her own good' while you toss and turn in regret behind her back—that’s cowardice! A real man fights with every ounce of his strength to stay together until the whole world accepts them! A true man doesn't retreat when things get hard; he takes responsibility!"
His teeth chattered, and a cold shiver ran down his spine that made his hair stand on end. He seemed desperate to escape the room, so he pushed Kaiyin away with great force.
"Think whatever you want."
Those were the last words he left her. Kaiyin leaned against the wall, standing alone in the new home where everything remained the same, but the people had changed. The dream wedding they had planned would never happen.
***
The white snow was like a shroud, blurring his vision. Beneath the 17th floor, which was shrouded in a dark mist, sat a single black private car.
As he approached, the car window rolled down slowly. In the bleak, dim light, one could vaguely see a refined man wearing gold-rimmed glasses in the driver's seat. His name was Tang Ze, and he was the only confidant of *that* man.
Shang Xiuwen leaned over the passenger window and threw the keys to the new apartment inside. He let out a desperate, hollow laugh: "Tell your master that from now on, he can do whatever he wants."
The apartment had already been transferred to Kaiyin as compensation, but he had given this set of keys—the ones belonging to the master of the house—to that devilish man.
Staring with bloodshot eyes, his tears finally fell like rain: "But tell him to remember: the hatred of having one's wife stolen is irreconcilable. No one can escape God's judgment."
Tang Ze’s brow twitched slightly. Watching Shang Xiuwen walk away through the windshield, he picked up his phone and expressionlessly dialed his master's number.
After a brief silence, the deep voice of that man came through, sounding like the low vibration of a violin’s final string: "Yes?"
That man’s voice commanded such presence it felt like a military flag standing tall before one's eyes. Tang Ze instinctively lowered his head: "Sir, it is done."
"...Good work."
That man seemed to chuckle as the call disconnected.
- Writer
