After hearing it, I remained silent for a long time.

I thought I had completely severed ties with Zhou Jihua, but unexpectedly, every step of my way was still shadowed by him.

But if he really liked me that much, why did he say to his sister back then, "I'm just playing with her, won't marry her, does she even deserve it?"

I don't understand.

So that night, I called to ask.

The person on the other end picked up very quickly.

After the call connected, there was a long silence.

I wanted to ask, but then realized I didn't know where to start. Ask him why he's different from the past life?

Ask him what happened?

Ask him if he has also been reborn?

In the end, I just said, "You've changed quite a bit."

The person on the other side let out a light laugh.

It seemed like he was talking to himself.

“Changed a lot?”

“I just felt that my previous ways were too childish, and I wanted to live differently.”

Upon hearing this, I subconsciously felt a bit of discord, but couldn't pinpoint what was wrong.

At that moment, for some reason, a piece of paper from the talisman he gave me suddenly came to mind.

[Little Candy, may you live a long life.]

I suddenly had a bold idea: “The talisman you gave me, what does the writing on the paper mean? Why write those words?”

After asking, I realized my heartbeat was frighteningly fast.

Zhou Jihua didn’t hide anything.

He said plainly:

“I had a dream, and in it, you died.”

“I knew the two of us were from different worlds. The people around me thought so too. If I kept treasuring you, some might not do anything to me, but they would definitely target you. After several hard lessons, I deliberately made you look like a small canary in front of others. They thought I was just playing with you, so they wouldn’t interfere with us, merely watching for amusement.”

“But later I realized I was wrong. I was terribly naïve. This approach undoubtedly pushed you towards a dead end, so I decided not to do that anymore. As long as I become strong enough to crush those people, wouldn't that be better?”

...

Zhou Jihua slowly described his dream.

But the more I listened, the colder I felt.

What he described was the outcome of our past lives.

It sounded like he had been reborn too. I couldn't help but laugh mockingly.

It sounded so nice.

Now he knows he was wrong and has changed.

But does that erase the harm he did to me in the past?

Whenever I think of the past, when he protected Xu Manqi, imprisoned me, broke my leg, and even made me lose our child, I find it impossible to forgive him.

After that call, we tacitly never mentioned this matter again.

He probably guessed my thoughts and didn’t propose for me to return and help him.

I didn't say anything.

I just sat in a daze for a while, then silently had my assistant check the schedule and booked a ticket back home.

A week later.

At the bottom of Zhou's building.

I looked at Zhou Jihua's stunned face and smiled faintly.

"Mr. Zhou, long time no see."

"You..."

Zhou Jihua looked at me hesitantly.

I knew he wanted to ask if I was willing to return to his side.

I smiled and shook my head.

"I’ll help you solve this matter, and we’ll be even after that."

The kindness Zhou Jihua showed me, I, Xie Tangtang, have repaid.

From now on, I am just myself.

The top Wall Street lawyer.

Extras: Zhou Jihua’s perspective

After Xie Tangtang and I broke up, I had a dream that night.

In the dream, I was much more mature than I am now, like a future version of myself.

But I didn't like it.

Because the future Zhou Jihua treated Xie Tangtang terribly.

Little Candy loved to look beautiful; she was a big star, her dancing was mesmerizing.

Yet I broke her leg, confining her to a villa all day.

Under the pretense of protection.

Little Candy loved me, wanted to marry me, and we had a child.

But at the crucial moment, fearing the child would be my weakness, I forced Xie Tangtang to get rid of it.

Little Candy hated conflict, but I placed her in the heart of the storm. Whether it was my family or Xu Manqi, they could all step on her.

I knew it, yet chose to cover it up.

Even in the end, when I had a fiancée, I didn't want to let Little Candy go. The result was that Little Candy died.

Everything in the dream was terrifyingly real.

I couldn't imagine how 28-year-old Zhou Jihua could be so cruel to Xie Tangtang?

You have to know that now, even if someone dared to badmouth Little Candy, I would immediately beat them into the hospital. No one can bully my Little Candy.

But 28-year-old Zhou Jihua was terrifyingly indifferent.

Profit above all else.

As for Little Candy, not even I could tell if future Zhou Jihua loved her or was merely obsessed.

After waking up from the dream, I sat on the bed in silence for a long time.

It was as if I suddenly understood the reason for Little Candy's departure.

Since then, I never appeared before Little Candy again.

Whatever she needed, I asked Chen Ting to help her.

And I chose a path completely different from my past life.

Anyone who bullied Little Candy in the past life, I didn’t let any of them go.

People around me said I had gone mad.

They didn't understand why I had to mess with the Xu family, even if it meant hurting myself, to drive them to a dead end.

Only I knew that Little Candy's death in the past life was no accidental tragedy.

Truck driver fatigued driving?

Didn't see someone in front?

What a joke.

It was just the Xu family’s usual tactic.

They were afraid Little Candy would become a variable in the alliance between the Xu and Zhou families, so they took her out.

The culprit walked free, even climbed up?

How ironic.

My childhood friend Zhao An always thought I attacked the Xu family because I found out Xu Manqi was the one who set the fire that harmed Xie Tangtang.

Even tried to persuade me it wasn't necessary.

For a minor character, really unnecessary.

“Moreover, Xie Tangtang didn’t die, why go so far?”

“We’ve known Manqi for so many years, why are you so ruthless? Are you crazy?”

Looking at Zhao An’s puzzled eyes.

I gave him a mild stare.

“What if she had died?”

Zhao An fell silent.

Maybe 28-year-old Zhou Jihua would have given up on Xie Tangtang for profit, but 20-year-old Zhou Jihua wouldn’t, and he wouldn’t allow his future to turn out that way.

I always thought Xie Tangtang would never notice me secretly watching her birthday, but she did.

I stubbornly wrote in the talisman:

[Little Candy, may you live a long life.]

Over and over again.

As if in doing so, Little Candy could live a peaceful life in this lifetime.

Later, my company got involved in a lawsuit.

It was very troublesome.

Little Candy still softened her heart and came back to help me.

But I also knew we wouldn't have a future together.

Watching her work seriously, I smiled.

She indeed deserves a better future.

(The End)