“No!” Without thinking, Wen Lan Sheng jumped into the small stream. The winter river water was more bone-chilling than ice. Wen Lan Sheng hunched his thin body, groping in the small stream. Hot tears flowed down his face, cold water crawled all over his body. His body was almost frozen solid, ready to shatter at a touch. He couldn’t feel anything but still desperately searched for the ring. It was the witness of all the love he had given, as precious to him as life itself. Even in the most difficult times, he hadn’t sold that ring.

Fan Xia held the ring in her palm, smiling sarcastically. She returned to the car and drove away.

Hearing the sound of the engine starting, Wen Lan Sheng raised his head in panic.

“Don’t go.” His colorless lips murmured, then the fear in his eyes grew larger and more terrifying.

His hands and feet, already numb from the icy water, crawled and rolled onto the road surface, desperately chasing after her car. He fell, got up, fell again, and got up again. His knees and elbows were scraped raw, but he didn’t care. He shouted heartbreakingly: “Fan Xia, Fan Xia-”

But the car became smaller and smaller in his eyes until it completely disappeared. Wen Lan Sheng knelt on the ground powerlessly, crying his heart out. As he cried, he suddenly began to laugh maniacally, the red bloodshots in his eyes like twisted worms, taking root and devouring in his eyes.

“Is it here?” Xie Cen hurriedly brought Wen Jing in an electric tricycle, haggling for a long time to reduce the 25 yuan fare to 22 yuan. Their life was now unbearably hard, even three yuan had to be carefully calculated.

“The location is right here, no mistake. The location is right here.” Wen Jing said, holding her phone.

“Isn’t this-?” Xie Cen’s eyes widened. This was the place their whole family had never dared to return to.

But now Wen Lan Sheng was kneeling on the desolate old road, crying and laughing like a madman.

“Gotcha, finally caught you.” Xie Cen went up and grabbed Wen Lan Sheng’s hair, cursing loudly. With one hand disabled and suffering from repeated injuries, Wen Jing was even more vicious than Xie Cen: “Look what you’ve done to me, Wen Lan Sheng. Don’t think you can run away.”

“Yes! Your mother’s in jail and you don’t care, your sister became disabled because there was no money for surgery. All of this is your doing, ruining us so badly.” Xie Cen pulled the now deranged Wen Lan Sheng, his eyes filled with hatred.

Wen Lan Sheng didn’t make a sound even when beaten, just crying and laughing madly, allowing the two to drag him back home.

“At least he has a degree certificate. He can go out and work, earn some money to support us.” Xie Cen said.

These days, his old bones were almost worn out. Every day he worked at a hotpot restaurant delivering dishes until late at night. In the morning, he would go to the vegetable market to pick up some rotten leaves that others didn’t want, barely managing to bring them back to make porridge for Wen Jing. His body was severely overdrawn.

“Now a clerical job should pay about 4000, if we don’t buy social insurance, it should be 4500. We’ll keep his ID card then, so he can’t run away. We’ll also keep his salary card, not giving him a penny. We just need to keep him fed and alive.” Wen Jing looked at her wrist that could no longer move, her eyes filled with twisted hatred.

Xie Cen nodded excitedly, looking forward to easier days ahead.

But they had miscalculated. Since Wen Lan Sheng was brought back by them, he had been like a madman, babbling nonsense. Sometimes he would smile stupidly at the sky, sometimes he would look at his empty ring finger and shed tears, and he would even pick wild grass by the roadside to weave into a small ring, putting it on his ring finger pretending it was a real ring.

No company dared to hire him. Even small restaurants that relied on odd jobs and manual labor were unwilling to employ such an abnormal man. Xie Cen and Wen Jing were so angry they repeatedly tormented him at home. Xie Cen even took a broom and beat Wen Lan Sheng fiercely: “You jinx, look what you’ve done to us. I’ll beat you to death!”

A madman and a lunatic entangled together. Xie Cen, whose legs were already not good, fell on his backside during the fight. Lying on the ground, he cried out in pain, his two hands grabbing wildly in the air, but his legs couldn’t muster any strength.

Meanwhile, online, because of the apology Wen Lan Sheng had posted earlier, an even bigger storm was brewing.

“Sincerity fed to dogs, speechless.”

“So it was fake, you’re really disgusting, Wen Lan Sheng.”

“Don’t rush to scold the original poster, Rong Xiu’s family is powerful, maybe he was threatened?”

“That’s right, the power of capital can’t be underestimated. The original poster is just an ordinary person, easily targeted. Everyone please keep your eyes open.”

“The above is right, stay rational. Unless the original poster posts a video, everything should be treated as if he’s under personal threat.”

But soon, a piece of news broke these discussions.

Attached was a certificate of unmarried status issued by the Civil Affairs Bureau.

This caused a huge uproar.

“Let’s not talk about whether Rong Xiu is a mistress or not. Wen Lan Sheng calling an ex-girlfriend who he never officially married his wife-master, using netizens’ sympathy as a weapon, this itself is disgusting enough.”

“Tired, really tired. There’s not a single truth in Wen Lan Sheng’s mouth, only the netizens’ sincere feelings… I’m such a fool!”

“No wonder he admitted to the rumor-mongering so quickly. Turns out he knew Miss Fan Xia was about to make a big move, so he chickened out.”

“Earlier, some people said Wen Lan Sheng was threatened by capitalist forces. Is that slapping your face now? Can a certificate of unmarried status issued by the Civil Affairs Bureau be fake? Fan Xia and Rong Xiu are really unlucky to encounter such a madman.”

“Agree with the above. This is why when finding a man, you really need to keep your eyes open. Don’t compromise downwards, and especially don’t find someone with such a burdensome original family.”

“A man full of lies, average education, average looks, terrible family, compared to an independent career man, extremely good-looking rich second generation. Put together, only a blind person would choose Wen Lan Sheng. Personally, I think Miss Fan Xia made the right choice in breaking up. If they had really gotten married, she would have been sucked dry by the family of parasites, and the children wouldn’t even be able to take civil service exams.”

“Wuwuwu, finally someone said what’s in my heart. When it first came out, I thought Rong Xiu and Fan Xia really matched. The abstinent male boss and the gentle, tolerant female subordinate are really a perfect match, but they suffered undeserved disaster because of a mad man. I hope those who cursed them before will come out and apologize!”

When Fan Xia released the statement, Rong Xiu was in a drowsy sleep. It was Zhuang Nian who excitedly called to tell him the news.

“Chief Assistant Fan is really killer. I never thought they hadn’t even registered for marriage. After showing the certificate of unmarried status, no matter what Wen Lan Sheng says, netizens won’t believe him anymore. More importantly, it clarified that you’re not a mistress. Now netizens are all leaning towards your side, wishing you both well.”

Rong Xiu propped himself up against the soft pillow, scrolling through the frequent well-wishes appearing on his phone. He didn’t know how many were water army and how many were real people, but these comments at least looked comforting.

Buzz buzz buzz – The phone rang. It was Fan Xia’s call.

Her voice on the phone was very joyful: “Everything’s been handled. I’m on my way home now. Is there anything you want to eat? I’ll bring it back for you.”

Rong Xiu’s lips curled into a slight arc: “Nothing I want to eat, just come back early… I miss you a bit.”

“Okay.” Fan Xia’s voice rippled with a soft smile. The night wind brushed her face, her hair light: “Rong Xiu-”

“Hmm?”

“The moon is very round tonight. Tomorrow should be good weather. Let’s go register our marriage.”