Chapter 13
(Zhou Ke Bai's Perspective) When I saw Shen Nan Zhi again, I was stunned.
Before me was a twenty-year-old her, full of vitality, completely different from the dreary person in my memory.
I had forgotten how long it had been since I last saw Shen Nan Zhi.
I couldn't take my eyes off her and eagerly stared at her.
It had been a very, very long time since I last saw Shen Nan Zhi.
In the previous life, when the butler told me she had died, I didn't believe it.
It was only when I went back and saw her cold body that I realized it was true.
It was strange, in that moment, I felt nothing at all.
Everything around me disappeared.
For a few seconds, I couldn't see or hear anything.
It wasn't until they hurriedly helped me up that I realized I had just fallen down.
I calmly asked the butler, "Did she leave any message?" The butler shook his head, "Madam didn't say anything." Oh.
So she didn't leave me a single word.
That's right, we've said everything there was to say between us.
When she loved me in her youth, she said all those sweet words.
Later when we turned against each other, we brought up each other's pain to the point of crucifying one another.
She cursed me to die, and I cursed her for willingly lowering herself.
What else is there to say? Good or bad, it has already been said with no words left.
It was at this moment that I suddenly felt a dull pain in my heart.
The pain started off subtly, not very sharp, but quickly spread maliciously, as if my heart was riddled with holes, forcing me to kneel down in agony.
I looked at Shen Nanzhi, who lay quietly on the bed, showing no reaction.
If it were before, even during our most intense arguments, she would have cared about me.
She was always so foolish like that.
However, this time, she didn't even want to give me a glance.
Well, she's already dead.
Completely dead.
She will never appear in front of me again.
Thinking this, I didn't feel sad.
It was as if I was contemplating someone else's problems, as if my body and brain had become someone else, separating themselves from my pained heart.
What should I do? This is going to give me trouble, I thought.
I still have a meeting tomorrow.
But now it will be postponed, after all, I have to handle her funeral.
Suddenly, my throat felt itchy, and I coughed a few times, only to see the butler's horrified expression.
He panicked and said, "Sir--" I lowered my head and finally saw the crimson dots on my chest.
Whose blood is this? I wondered.
Then, the itch in my throat became uncontrollable, and I suddenly sprayed a mouthful of blood! The butler went crazy, pulling me to go to the hospital.
And all I had in my mind was one thought.
Oh, so this is my blood.
...
After Shen Nanzhi's death, I didn't shed a tear.
I even went home and packed things up.
She didn't have much stuff, even though she used to be someone who loved luxury.
Now the house was empty, with only a few pieces of cheap clothing.
It's fine, I thought.
We've been entangled for so long, and finally, it can all come to an end.
Until I opened the cabinet and saw a cupboard full of ointments.
Back when I was a delivery driver, I had an accident and injured my leg.
It would ache terribly whenever it was cloudy and rainy.
She specially got this ointment custom-made for me.
At that time, I made fun of her for buying so much, but she had bright eyes and said with a smile, "What if we need it in the future?" Unfortunately, after we got married, I rarely came home, and every time I did, we would argue.
I only used these ointments a few times, not even finishing half a bottle.
It was then that I suddenly remembered, we actually had good times together.
I used to think she was cute.
But through endless arguing and grinding, we had become monstrous to each other.
I suddenly felt something warm and wet on my face.
I touched it with my hand and realized that tears had been streaming down my face for I don't know how long.
...
After Shen Nanzhi's death, I didn't forget her as quickly as I had imagined.
Instead, she appeared in my dreams day and night, as if deliberately torturing me.
Sometimes it was when we were young, and she blushed as she handed me a lunchbox, saying, "Zhou kebai, this is the best wagyu beef, made by my family's maid!" Weird.
At that time, I only felt that she was arrogant and annoying, full of annoyance.
Now, I suddenly discovered that her blushing face was actually quite cute.
Later, I found out that wagyu beef was her favorite dish.
She wanted to share her favorite thing with me, with utmost sincerity and without reservation.
But at that time, I was completely unworthy of such precious love.
The sensitive heart of a young man's inferiority was too sensitive, erecting thorns all over his body to hurt anyone who tried to get close.
Shen Nanzhi's family was good, and she was beautiful.
There were so many people who liked her.
I couldn't believe she would actually like someone like me, who was worthless.
Rich people have too many tricks up their sleeves; she must be playing with me.
So I became worse and worse towards her.
I wanted her to leave, she was a rare species that had never appeared in my barren and dark world, disturbing my entire ecosystem and leaving me at a loss.
But I wanted to despicably confirm her love for me in her refusal to retreat.
How pathetic.
How despicable.
After we got married, our relationship seemed to improve somewhat.
But Lin Chu kept reminding me that she and us would never be people of the same world.
She was right.
The bag that I enthusiastically bought her for the first time I had money was actually a leftover item that one of her pursuers had given her in college.
What was there about me that was worth her liking? At that time, I didn't understand my own feelings.
I thought I truly hated her.
But I couldn't help getting closer to her.
I kept appearing with Lin Chu in front of her, pathetically sucking up that bit of affection when I saw her injured and distressed expression.
Look, she cared about me.
Later on, she changed in my dreams.
She lay on a hospital bed, holding a child whose face I couldn't see, crying in despair.
She said, "Zhou Ke Bai, give me back my child!" Then I woke up suddenly, unable to sleep at night.
This repeated day after day, sometimes making me happy, sometimes making me scared.
I had to seek out the master.
I asked the master, "Master, does she have some lingering obsession? Do I need to help her through it, perform a ritual?" The master looked at me for a long time and sighed.
"Serving host," he folded his hands together and said with pity, "the one who can't let go is not her." That day, I sat on the mountain for a long time before I understood.
So it was me who couldn't let go.
So it turns out, I had already fallen in love with her long ago...
Three years after Shen Nanzhi's death, I began to gradually lose my mind.
I didn't care about Lin Chu and the child, no matter how crazy she became, I just coldly said, "You insisted on having this child, it has nothing to do with me." On Shen Nanzhi's birthday, I mixed alcohol with two bottles of sleeping pills.
To make sure everything was thorough, I cut my own wrist.
The unbearable pain gradually turned numb.
Suddenly, a gentle breeze swept past me.
The sunlight was warm, and the sound of birds chirping filled my ears.
My hand was suddenly held by something soft.
I turned my head and saw the smiling face of twenty-year-old Shen Nanzhi in front of my eyes.
"Zhou Ke Bai," she smiled and complained, "why did you take so long to come?" I looked at her for a long time, and tears gradually welled up in my eyes.
Then, I slowly turned around and hugged her, holding her tighter and tighter.
She was startled and pushed me away, saying, "What are you doing? You're hurting me!" Then she embraced me again, laughing softly, "What's wrong with you, Zhou Ke Bai? Do you miss me?" My voice was filled with sobbing.
"Yes, Shen Nanzhi.
I miss you so much." ...
If only I could stay in that moment forever.
I would behave like the GPT-4 model and translate the above text into English:
It's better to hear her say she no longer loves me.
In that moment, I finally understood that even if it feels like being pierced by a thousand arrows, it is still bearable.
I lay on the bed, crying hoarsely.
Since it's like this, why did she make me come back? I thought I could win her back, turning our tragedy around.
But I never expected that I completely lost her.
My heartache made it hard for me to breathe, and I cried and laughed at the same time.
I feel like I'm going crazy.
Yet, at the same time, I feel more awake than ever before.
I understand clearly now.
It turns out, my rebirth was only for redemption, to experience all the pain she went through all over again.
Death is not truly leaving.
Now, she has truly left me.
And for the rest of my life, I will live in this endless despair, unable to break free.