The Rise of a Special Forces Soldier Abandoned by a Wealthy Family

The night scene in Beijing is fragmented into pieces of light and shadow by neon lights.

Zeng Long's desolate figure stretched long, very long under the cold streetlights!

It was as if the endless past he carried had all been absorbed into this lonely shadow.

He took a deep breath of the crisp, dry air, characteristic of the North—

The cold wind felt like fine steel needles, pricking his resolute yet weary face.

He looked up and gazed at the night sky, which was somewhat hazy due to the city's light pollution!

His gaze seemed to pierce through the barriers of time and space, returning to that "scarred land" filled with pain and struggle, buried deep in his heart.

Scenes from the past that he found unbearable to recall flashed through his mind like out-of-control film reels, bringing waves of lingering pain.

Just then, a clear, cold female voice, trembling almost imperceptibly, rang out behind him, breaking the deathly silence:

"Can we... talk for a bit?"

Zeng Long slowly turned his head, his movements somewhat hesitant.

Under the dim, flickering glow of the streetlights, Yan Ruge's figure was clearly visible.

She was wearing a thin coat, and her figure looked somewhat frail in the cold wind, but her clear, cold eyes were surprisingly bright at this moment, staring at him without blinking.

A genuine look of doubt and confusion flashed across Zeng Long's eyes.

He couldn't understand why, at this time, in this place, this girl who was always known for her cold and even aloof demeanor—

Why would she take the initiative to approach him and make such a request?

Yan Rugo met his probing yet distant gaze and spoke softly, her voice sounding somewhat ethereal in the night breeze:

"I saw a lot of confusion in your eyes."

She paused slightly, as if organizing her thoughts or gathering her courage.

"I... I'm feeling lost right now too. So... how about we take a walk together, and talk it out?"

After she finished speaking, she even tried, somewhat awkwardly, to force a very faint, tentative smile at Zeng Long.

Zeng Long didn't speak, but silently turned around and continued walking into the deeper night.

His lack of refusal might in itself be a form of tacit consent.

Yan Ruge immediately quickened her pace, jogging a few steps to walk alongside him.

There was a polite yet not overly distant distance between the two.

Two people who were bound by fate and engaged eighteen years ago—

At this moment, under the deserted night sky of Beijing, we finally had our first truly meaningful, private, and quiet time together.

I don't know how long I walked, only the sound of my footsteps echoing in the empty street.

In the end, it was Yan Ruge who broke the suffocating silence first.

She turned her head to look at Zeng Long's angular profile in the dim light, her voice tinged with nervousness:

"Would you like to hear about my past?" She cautiously observed Zeng Long's expression and added—

"Perhaps... part of it is related to you."

"Oh?" Zeng Long's response remained flat, devoid of emotion. "Your past...is it related to me?"

"Yes!" Yan Ruge seemed afraid that he would change his mind, and before he could reply, she eagerly began to narrate.

Her speech quickened slightly, carrying a long-suppressed urge to confide:

"Eighteen years ago, I was born on the same day as a boy."

Her gaze drifted into the distance, lost in memories:

"On the day we were born, we were taken away by our respective grandfathers and betrothed in a heavily guarded courtyard house in the eastern suburbs."

Her voice lowered, carrying a hint of bitterness:

"But after that boy was taken back to the hospital... he was silently... switched with another boy."

"And so, without anyone knowing, I grew up with the boy who was switched at birth... together, and grew up together."

Her tone carried an indescribable sense of humiliation and helplessness:

"Everyone in the capital city is convinced that I will marry this switched boy and have children with him."

"But..." Her voice suddenly turned tinged with disgust and coldness:

This boy has shown too many bad habits and vices since he was a child!

He is extremely petty and vindictive;

He is arrogant and domineering, yet cowardly as a mouse;

He often bullies the weak to demonstrate his ridiculous "power"!

He even... he never spared his own sister (referring to Zeng Lingyu)!

Her breathing quickened slightly, as if the unbearable memories were suffocating her:

Many times, when he did something wrong, he would try to make me take the blame for him!

At that time... I felt helpless and desperate... I asked myself countless times, why?

Why is the boy I'm engaged to such a... disgusting villain?!

I can see almost no light in the future, only despair.

"But," her tone suddenly shifted, carrying a sense of absurdity and cruel twist of fate:

"Just a few years ago, he was in a serious car accident and became... a vegetable."

"However, during the surgery performed on him at the hospital, it was unexpectedly discovered that... his blood type was completely incompatible with the Zeng family's!"

Yan Ruge's voice trembled slightly, as if she still found it unbelievable:

"He... he's not a member of the Zeng family at all! He's not the boy I was betrothed to! He... he was switched at birth!"

She abruptly raised her head, her gaze fixed intently on Zeng Long, and said, word by word:

"And the boy I'm actually engaged to... he's Zeng Rong's grandson! His name is... Zeng Linglong!"