Five years after being dumped, President Jiang became increasingly entangled in...

"I...I really don't know, Jing Si, how did Auntie die? When did she die?"

Seeing her pitiful appearance with red eyes, Jiang Jingsi found it all laughable.

"It's all because of you, Xu Chaoxi. You're the one who hurt her, you're the one who made me lose my mother, you're the one who made me lose my only family member."

"Didn't you want to atone for your sins? Then you should stay here and atone for my mother's sins in peace."

After saying that, Jiang Jingsi turned and left.

Watching his departing figure, Xu Chaoxi felt a pang of heartache.

"Auntie..." she choked out, her voice trembling with sobs.

Then, she slowly knelt before Shu Lan's tombstone, tears streaming from her eyes, and involuntarily reached out to touch the photo on the tombstone.

"Auntie, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She lowered her head in remorse and pressed her forehead against the tombstone.

Jiang Jingsi stood not far away, watching Xu Chaoxi kneeling and weeping in front of the tombstone. For some reason, he took out a ring from his pocket, rubbed it on his finger a few times, and then casually put it back in its original place.

Then, he went down the mountain.

It started raining at some point, beginning with just a few raindrops, but then it rained harder and harder.

She didn't realize until she was completely soaked that it was already dark.

She raised her head, and the rain hit her face, cold and painful.

Her knees and legs were numb, and she struggled several times to stand up. When she finally stood up, she could no longer feel her legs.

She limped out.

The cemetery was unusually quiet late at night; only the sound of rain hitting the ground and her own footsteps could be heard.

She walked all the way down the mountain but didn't see Jiang Jingsi anywhere.

Did he abandon her?

A bitter smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

He should abandon himself; he has no reason to care about her.

Thinking of this, she unconsciously squatted down and hugged her knees.

It was too remote. She didn't have her phone, and there were no cars coming from the roadside. She could only walk along the road, hoping someone would pass by and give her a chance to call for help.

She didn't know how long she had walked, but the rain was so heavy that she couldn't keep up and collapsed forward.

Her face slammed heavily onto the ground. Luckily, she managed to brace herself with her hand and avoid a head injury, but her arm felt like it was broken, and it hurt terribly.

She gritted her teeth and tried to stand up, but to no avail.

Her consciousness gradually faded, her vision blurred, and then she fainted.

When she opened her eyes again, everything was white, and the air smelled of disinfectant, as if telling her that she was still alive.

Is she in the hospital?

She was somewhat incredulous.

"You're awake?" Seeing that she had opened her eyes, Zhong Qingli breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"You scared me to death! I thought you..."

"I..." She was about to sit up when her elbow was pressed down, causing her to scream in pain.

"Be gentle!" Zhong Qingli was terrified and quickly went to help her up, then said worriedly, "Be careful, your elbow is broken, you can't exert any force."

"A fracture?" She looked down at her elbow.

"Who saved me?"

"A passerby," Chung Ching-li said.

The man was wearing a suit and driving a Cullinan; he didn't look like a random passerby.

When Xu Chaoxi was brought in, she had a high fever and was delirious. She also had multiple abrasions and dirt on her body, and it was unclear where she had gone.

Xu Chaoxi didn't think much of it.

Seeing her pale and bloodless face, Zhong Qingli looked distressed: "I contacted you all night last night, I almost went to find Jiang Jingsi, I thought..."

She didn't continue speaking and could only return Xu Chaoxi's phone to her.

"My phone?"

"Yes, I went to your company to see you yesterday. It was Cui Xingye who gave it to me."

Xu Chaoxi accepted it and said gratefully, "Thank you."

"Where exactly did Jiang Jingsi take you?"

Thinking about what happened last night, Xu Chaoxi's eyes welled up with tears again: "Qingli, do you know? Jiang Jingsi's mother is dead."

"Yes, I know." Hearing her mention this, Zhong Qingli lowered her eyes and her voice also softened.

Xu Chaoxi suddenly grabbed her arm with her uninjured hand, a glimmer of hope in her eyes: "You...you know? Do you know what happened?"

Zhong Qingli looked at her with complicated eyes: "Chaoxi, the 100,000 yuan you took back then was his mother's life-saving money. You took it, and his mother couldn't have the surgery, so... she died despite all efforts to save her."

As soon as she finished speaking, Xu Chaoxi's hand fell limply to her side, and the little color that had returned to her face vanished instantly.

"How could this happen?" she murmured, her heart filled with despair.

How could this be? How could this happen? She…

The pain on her face made Zhong Qingli feel a little sorry for her.

"Chaoxi, don't blame yourself like this. You had no choice back then. If you could choose, you definitely wouldn't have done it. If you had known, you would have even forced yourself to marry that scoundrel Meng Xingyuan rather than take that money."

"But I killed her. I killed someone who was so good to me, Qingli. I... I deserve to die."

Her tears flowed uncontrollably, surging forth uncontrollably.

"Chaoxi, don't say that." Zhong Qingli was deeply moved, and her eyes gradually reddened.

"It's all my fault." She sobbed with self-reproach, her heart aching as if countless needles were piercing it.

Chung Ching-li wanted to comfort her, but found herself unable to say anything.

She had no way of saying it.

"Qingli, please go out. I want to be alone for a while, okay? Please." Her eyes were pleading.

Chung Ching-li couldn't bear it, worried that she might do something foolish on her own.

Xu Chaoxi's moral standards are too high; she can't bring herself to pretend these things never happened.

"I'm fine." Xu Chaoxi forced a smile, a smile that looked incredibly awkward. "Don't worry, I'm really fine."

Zhong Qingli couldn't persuade her otherwise, so she had no choice but to leave, looking back every few steps.

Shortly after closing the door, she heard Xu Chaoxi's almost uncontrollable sobs, and her heart was filled with mixed emotions.

-

"Kyoto Market? Kyoto Market?"

Cen Nian called out several times before Jiang Jingsi regained his senses.

He snapped out of his daze, met Cen Nian's gaze, and was momentarily stunned: "What's wrong?"

"My dad's idea is that our wedding has been delayed for too long, so why don't we skip the engagement and go straight to the wedding next month? What do you think?"

"I'm fine with either." Jiang Jingsi nodded perfunctorily. "You guys decide."

It's all about marriage alliances anyway, so getting married or engaged is the same thing.

Cen Nian smiled politely and turned to continue discussing the matter with her father.

Since Jiang Jingsi had already agreed, they continued talking.