Chapter 84: Biased Love

With one slap, Zhuo Suli was completely stunned.

Her dry, tangled hair stuck to her face. She stared blankly at Xu Lingjia, her chapped lips moving. “What did you say, Jiajia? You watched me sink into the river? You wanted me to die?”

She anxiously reached for Xu Lingjia’s hand, unwilling to believe it, her breathing ragged. “Jiajia, Jiajia, how could you want Mom to die? Mom loves you so much—”

Xu Lingjia shoved her away and roared, “Love me? If you really loved me, you should never have appeared in my life! You’re fucking here just to ruin me!”

Cheng Ningyu had already put on her sunglasses to hide her swollen face. Seeing this scene, she laughed out loud. “Oh, a dog-eat-dog fight? I told you so. Does Xu Lingjia even need us to teach him? He’s very good at it himself! I, for one, wouldn’t be able to do something like forcing my own mother to her death!”

Xu Lingjia turned to Cheng Ningyu with a grim face, his gaze menacing. “Have you forgotten what I said?”

The moment Cheng Ningyu thought that this jinx was not her biological son, the nerves that had been tense for days finally relaxed. “I don’t care what you said! I’m telling you, Xu Lingjia, you’ve eaten my food, worn my clothes, and used my things for all these years. I sent you to good schools, took you on variety shows, invested in movies for you, and now I’m even paying your debts. I have done everything I possibly could! Since you’re not my biological son, and your real mom has come looking for you, you’ll pay back all this money to me, every single cent!”

“Haha, variety shows?” Xu Lingjia suddenly laughed. “You mean that parent-child show? The production team didn’t even want to invite you and Xu Yuanjin! You knew one of the selected children had asthma, so you had me steal his asthma medication, causing that child to have an asthma attack and be hospitalized. Only then did the spot open up for you to fill! If I hadn’t stolen it, would you have gotten the recording qualification? Would you have made a comeback? The way I turned out is really thanks to your teaching by words and example!”

Cheng Ningyu’s face changed. She threw the sunglasses in her hand at Xu Lingjia. “What nonsense are you talking about?”

“Nonsense?” Xu Lingjia raised his voice. “Tax evasion, donation fraud, those are all small things. You and Ye Mei, you drugged Jin Wenli’s wine, sent her to an old man’s bed, where she was horribly abused. Not long after, she committed suicide by charcoal burning! You and Ye Mei knew, and you even said she had poor mental fortitude! You were jealous that Jiang Xuexiao won an award and you didn’t, so you and Ye Mei—”

“Xu Lingjia, are you crazy!”

A short cry of pain. Xu Lingjia was punched in the face by Xu Yuanjin. This punch was full force. Xu Lingjia’s body swayed, and with a “thud,” he fell to the ground, his head hitting the edge of a flowerbed. The pain made his vision go black.

The reporters present saw that Xu Yuanjin was trying to shut Xu Lingjia up, but how could they let that happen? The size of their bonuses depended on how much dirt Xu Lingjia could dig up!

Simultaneously, several reporters rushed forward, quickly restraining Xu Yuanjin who was still trying to stop Xu Lingjia from revealing more. Two others thrust their microphones and recorders to Xu Lingjia’s mouth. “So what happened? What did they do?”

Not knowing where the blood was coming from, Xu Lingjia spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and continued, “Them? They had someone pour glue into Jiang Xuexiao’s cup. You all know about the ‘glue incident,’ don’t you?”

Several gasps were heard from the surroundings. “Good heavens! Wasn’t it said to be the work of anti-fans? And the rumor about Jin Wenli was that she was trying to climb the social ladder herself. Amazing, to think there’s a follow-up after all these years!”

Xu Lingjia took two gasps of air and continued, “Also, Cheng Ningyu’s good friend, Bai Fenglai, married into a rich family and was pregnant with a son. Cheng Ningyu and Xu Yuanjin, one deliberately poured water on the stairs, and the other specifically led her there, causing her to fall and have a miscarriage. And Luo Qian being photographed cheating, that was also a setup by them. Xu Yuanjin wanted to get on a music variety show, so of course he had to find ways to squeeze out his competitor.”

Looking at Cheng Ningyu and Xu Yuanjin, Xu Lingjia laughed neurotically, his voice full of venom. “I warned you, we are grasshoppers on the same rope. If we’re going down, we’re going down together. No one gets to live!”

The reporters exchanged glances, their eyes filled with excitement. This trip was so worth it!

Who would have thought that they had originally come to dig up a big story about a child swap, but ended up with such explosive news waiting for them! The key point was, it wasn’t just one or two!

Xu Yuanjin was released. Countless microphones and cameras swarmed towards him and Cheng Ningyu.

“Jin Wenli’s death was caused by you and Ye Mei. After she committed suicide, did you not feel guilty?”

“Jiang Xuexiao’s throat was damaged and she can no longer sing. You even brought gifts to visit her in the hospital back then, right?”

“Aren’t you afraid of retaliation from Bai Fenglai and her husband!”

One reporter thought for a moment and realized that a life was involved, and likely more than one. They immediately called the police.

No one had time to pay attention to him anymore. After a wave of intense pain and dizziness, Xu Lingjia propped himself up with his arms. In his mind, countless images flooded out.

He stared at the bare branches of the tree above his head and let out a low laugh.

What precognitive dream? It wasn’t a precognitive dream at all! It turned out he had been reborn. But because he had hit his head that day, his memories of rebirth were incomplete, which was why he had thought it was a precognitive dream.

His previous memories had ended around a few months later. Now, in the countless new memories, he searched frantically, not knowing what he was looking for.

Until he remembered the memories of Shen Xici from his past life.

Shen Xici actually died?

Xu Lingjia was excited for two seconds before he discovered that the movie Shen Xici had starred in, “No. 33 Yongyuan Road,” had won him the Best Actor award at the Flanders Film Festival! The internationally renowned director he had worked with accepted the award on his behalf and cried uncontrollably at the awards ceremony, praising Shen Xici as one of the most outstanding actors he had ever met.

After Shen Xici’s death was announced, countless fans went to mourn him. The flower shops in the entire city were sold out. Countless memorial videos were made. Shen Xici’s roles as the undercover agent A’Zheng, the underground clinic doctor, Yu Yan, the negotiator, the high-IQ mastermind behind a serial murder case… even the one or two-minute cameo roles he played were all compiled, repeatedly analyzed, praised, and lamented.

Even the country’s top awards ceremony had set aside five minutes for him.

All the media said that he was a meteor that had streaked across the film industry too quickly, and the light and shadow he left behind were missed by all.

And at that time, whether it was him, Cheng Ningyu, or Xu Yuanjin, their resources were getting worse and worse, even to the point where they had to sell properties to maintain their daily expenses and dignity. And in the end—

Why?

Xu Lingjia’s hand on the ground clenched tightly. He gritted his teeth, and blood once again trickled from his mouth.

Forget the last life. Cheng Ningyu and Ye Mei couldn’t suppress Shen Xici, and that idiot Zhuo Suli was on the side ruining his plans.

But he was reborn! He was the one chosen by fate. Every step he had taken since his rebirth was clearly the most correct one. Why had he ended up in a worse situation than his previous life?

A wave of unwillingness exploded in his heart. Xu Lingjia suddenly had a flash of inspiration, a wave of ecstasy—that’s right! Now, he had exposed the truth of all these old stories. Cheng Ningyu, Xu Yuanjin, and Ye Mei would inevitably be swamped with scandals and face retaliation from those they had harmed in the past. There would be no place for them in the entertainment industry anymore.

Whoever got close to such people would be tainted.

So isn’t that perfect?

Now it was different from the last life. As long as he shouted it out now, that their biological son was Shen Xici, public opinion loved to play the moral blackmail card. Because of this blood relationship, Shen Xici would be a ready-made blood bag, and sooner or later, he would be dragged down to death by Cheng Ningyu and the others!

A light shone in his eyes. Xu Lingjia flipped over and sat up, about to find a reporter to tell the truth, when he suddenly noticed a Maybach parked quietly across the street out of the corner of his eye.

The black car body, the shiny paint reflecting the dense leaves of the trees.

It had no presence at all.

Xu Lingjia’s heart suddenly leaped, his heartbeat quickening. He tried his best to see the license plate. The moment he saw the numbers on the plate clearly, a huge fear pressed down on him like a mountain! His eyes widened in terror. He stumbled back two steps and fell back onto the ground.

He would never forget, even in death. In his past life, his face had been brutally stomped on the ground by a man whose face he couldn’t see clearly, mangled and excruciatingly painful. There were also blades inserted between his fingers. If he moved even a little, the flesh would be cut even deeper—all this, just because he had once pretended to accidentally stab Shen Xici’s hand with a knife during filming.

He still didn’t dare to think back on that memory in detail. He only remembered that he thought he was going to die in that unknown place and would never get out.

But he never expected that the man would let him go.

The wound on his face festered. He anxiously went back to find Cheng Ningyu and the others, wanting them to contact a familiar plastic surgeon to treat his injury quickly. Unexpectedly, he suddenly learned that Cheng Ningyu and Xu Yuanjin had been in a serious car accident together. All the negative news about their family had been exposed, and everyone knew about it.

At that time, he had guessed that it must have been that man, it must have been that man’s doing! Shen Xici was dead, and that powerful man had gone mad. He did all this to avenge Shen Xici!

According to his past life, that was four or five years later. Maybe that car was parked across the street by chance. How could Shen Xici have known that man so early? There had been no news at all!

Xu Lingjia held onto a sliver of hope. He looked around cautiously and found that most of the reporters were surrounding Cheng Ningyu and Xu Yuanjin, but there were three others who, although holding cameras, hadn’t moved a step. No, they hadn’t even turned on their cameras!

Almost as soon as he looked over, those three people stared at him.

They weren’t reporters! They were sent by that man to watch him!

Xu Lingjia even recognized one of the “reporters.” He had seen him once by that man’s side in his past life!

His heart was seized by fear. Xu Lingjia’s whole body stiffened. He didn’t dare to move. His lips parted, but he didn’t dare to make a sound.

The wail of police sirens came from a distance.

Under the roadside trees, Shen Xici sat in the passenger seat, looking across the street.

“Zhuo Suli would make a lot of clothes every year. Whenever she had free time, she would start knitting sweaters, making cotton coats, and sewing socks. She made a lot, and kept them all in a wooden box. She was telling the truth. She didn’t care if Xu Lingjia could make money or if he was a star. She would starve herself to find a bite to eat for Xu Lingjia.”

Feeling his hand being held by Sheng Shaoyan, Shen Xici smiled. “It’s okay, I’m not sad. Maybe I was sad when I was very little, but not anymore. Grandpa He said my family ties are weak and I shouldn’t force it. I later learned that if you can’t get something, then just don’t want it.”

Sheng Shaoyan gently rubbed his knuckles. “‘Not force it’ implies that you once ‘tried to force it,’ right?”

After a pause, Shen Xici lowered his eyes, watching the movement of Sheng Shaoyan’s fingertips, and told the truth, “Yes. When I was a child… I once tried to ask her, ‘This piece of clothing is so warm, who is it for?’ She glared at me and told me it was none of my business, and also told me to watch my hands and not get the yarn dirty. Actually, I was very envious of that person, who I didn’t know where or who they were. They could get Zhuo Suli’s unconditional love without doing anything at all.”

Sheng Shaoyan suddenly leaned in, kissed him, and asked, “And now? Are you still envious?”

Shen Xici didn’t quite react. “What?”

Sheng Shaoyan said, “Haven’t you noticed? You don’t have to do anything at all to get my unconditional love.”

Seeing Shen Xici’s eyes widen slightly, Sheng Shaoyan smiled. “You don’t believe it? Then it seems I haven’t worked hard enough yet.”

“No,” Shen Xici quickly shook his head. “A’Shao, I know. I can feel it.”

What did it feel like to be loved by Sheng Shaoyan?

He could clearly feel that Sheng Shaoyan’s love was like an orange-red flame in the darkness, bright and hot. It made him feel as if he were about to be melted by this intense love. He often felt a sour, swelling feeling in his heart, making him want to kiss, wanting to use more intimate contact to dilute this emotion.

This love was like a sharp arrow, causing the illusory bone spur that had been a constant dull ache in his body to finally crack and break, leaving only a wound waiting to heal.

Sheng Shaoyan played with Shen Xici’s long, well-proportioned fingers as if admiring some perfect work of art, occasionally giving them a gentle bite. “So what are you thinking about?”

Shen Xici looked out the car window. After a while, he said softly, “I was just thinking, if the me from my childhood knew that I would meet you in the future, I would definitely have wanted to grow up faster.”

Looking at Shen Xici’s side profile, Sheng Shaoyan’s breath caught.

He knew too well the weight behind these words.

He had always remembered that Shen Xici had once said that when he was ten, there were a few moments when he had thought about death.

Finally, Sheng Shaoyan let out a soft “mm,” and said seriously, “I am very honored to be your anticipation.”

Shen Xici turned back to him, amazed. “A’Shao, you’re so good at saying sweet things. Did you secretly practice?”

“Do I need to practice?” Sheng Shaoyan didn’t think so. “I just know how when I see you.”

Damn it, Shen Xici felt he had been charmed again!

The clamor outside the car window continued. Shen Xici suddenly remembered the scene from his past life, in front of the Xu family villa’s main gate, where Cheng Ningyu, Xu Yuanjin, and Xu Lingjia were hugging and crying together in front of a crowd of reporters’ cameras.

At that time, he had been left alone in the car by Xu Yuanjin, quietly watching that scene through the window.

This time, he was no longer alone.

He had already received another person’s complete and biased love.