A young boy from the 1970s, separated from his family, fled famine and led his younger brother into

"What are you doing here?"

Zhou Yayun's voice was like ice formed in the dead of winter, cold and hard, without a trace of warmth.

She stood blocking the doorway like a lioness protecting her cubs, her eyes filled with wariness and disgust as she looked at the emaciated mother and child outside.

The joy and warmth that the spotlight brought to the living room vanished in an instant.

The air suddenly turned icy cold.

Under Zhou Yayun's icy gaze, Wu Xiuli's body trembled uncontrollably.

Her once well-maintained face, brimming with arrogance and meanness, now only showed signs of sallowness and haggardness.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but her throat felt as if it were blocked by cotton, so dry that she couldn't make a sound.

It was Wan Chao, who was behind her, who bumped her hard with his elbow.

A muffled thud!

Amidst everyone's astonished gazes, Wu Xiuli, the wife of the deputy commander who once considered herself superior in the military compound, actually knelt down straight!

Her knees slammed heavily onto the cold cement ground in front of the Lu family's gate!

"hiss--!"

The neighbors who hadn't yet dispersed in the courtyard gasped in shock at what they saw!

What...what is this?!

"Zhou Meizi..."

Wu Xiuli finally regained her voice. It was hoarse, as if it had been sanded, and filled with humility and...fear.

"I...I'm here...to apologize."

She raised her head, her once bright eyes now dull and filled only with pleading.

"I was wrong... I was really wrong..."

"I shouldn't have been jealous of your Niannian, I shouldn't have spoken ill of her behind her back, and I especially shouldn't have... shouldn't have let Wanchao do those despicable things!"

"I've been blinded by greed! I'm not human! I deserve to die!"

As she spoke, she actually raised her hand and slapped herself hard across the face again and again!

"Snapped!"

"Snapped!"

The crisp sound of a slap was particularly jarring in the quiet courtyard!

Zhou Yayun was completely bewildered by her sudden action.

She instinctively wanted to stop him.

But a small hand gently tugged at the hem of her clothes.

Zhou Yayun lowered her head and saw her daughter's calm, unwavering eyes.

Su Nianci gently shook her head at her.

Zhou Yayun's heart immediately calmed down.

She stopped looking at Wu Xiuli and instead focused her gaze on Wan Chao, who had kept his head down the whole time, like a wooden doll.

"Apologize?"

Zhou Yayun sneered, her voice filled with undisguised sarcasm.

"Wu Xiuli, what do you take our Lu family for? Do you think you can just come and go as you please, kneeling whenever you want?"

"Do you think that by kneeling here and slapping yourself twice, all the evil you've done and the words you've said can be wiped clean?"

"I'm telling you, it's too late!"

Every word Zhou Yayun uttered was like a knife, stabbing deeply into Wu Xiuli's heart.

Wu Xiuli's face turned deathly pale instantly!

"No...no..." she stammered, waving her hands frantically. "I...I didn't mean to wipe the slate clean..."

"I just... I just want to beg you, I beg Niannian, to spare our lives!"

She grabbed her son Wanchao's arm and pushed him forward forcefully.

"Wan Chao! You dead man! Say something!"

"Quickly! Apologize to Niannian!"

Wan Chao's body was as stiff as a piece of wood.

He slowly raised his head.

That once handsome face, which captivated countless young girls in the compound, is now nothing but numbness and death.

His gaze swept over everyone and landed on that small figure standing at the back of the crowd.

That girl, whom he once despised, envied, resented, and even wanted to destroy.

Today, she stands at the pinnacle of glory, radiating brilliance.

But he fell from grace and became a huge joke.

How ironic.

"sorry."

Three words were squeezed out one by one from between his teeth.

The sound was as soft as a mosquito's buzz.

After saying that, he lowered his head again.

It was as if just one glance at her had exhausted all his strength and courage.

"Oh."

A very soft, faint laugh, like a feather falling to the ground, escaped from Su Nianci's lips.

She emerged from behind her mother.

Step by step, he walked up to Wu Xiuli and her son.

She looked down at the woman kneeling on the ground, looking utterly pathetic.

Looking at this man standing there, yet seemingly already dead.

Her eyes were as calm as a bottomless ancient well.

There was no sympathy, no pity.

There wasn't even hatred.

It was as if she were watching two complete strangers.

"Aunt Wu," Su Nianci said slowly, her voice clear but carrying a coldness and aloofness completely out of character for her age, "You don't need to apologize to me."

"Because you can't hurt me."

"As for you," she said, turning her gaze to Wan Chao, "you don't need to apologize to me."

"because……"

Su Nianci tilted her head slightly, a cold smile appearing on her lips.

"Just like I said that day."

"You don't deserve it."

boom!

These three words struck Wan Chao like a thunderbolt from the heavens!

His already lifeless eyes shattered completely in that instant!

He suddenly raised his head and stared intently at Su Nianci!

The look in his eyes was no longer filled with resentment and madness, but with a despair and emptiness more terrifying than death!

Su Nianci didn't even bother to give him another extra glance.

She turned around and took her mother's hand.

"Mom, let's go inside."

"It's cold outside."

Zhou Yayun glanced at Wu Xiuli, who was ashen-faced, and Wan Chao, who seemed to have lost his soul, on the ground. The anger that had been building up in her heart for so long finally dissipated.

She nodded, took her daughter's hand, and turned to walk into the small building.

"Bang!"

The door was slammed shut in front of Wu Xiuli and her son.

The two worlds were completely separated.

Outside.

Looking at the tightly closed door, Wu Xiuli finally couldn't hold on any longer.

She collapsed to the ground and let out a wild, desperate wail!

she knows.

It's all over.

The Wan family no longer had a place to stand in this compound, or even in this city.

All of this is her own fault.

……

In the living room.

Looking at his calm daughter, Lu Zhenguo felt an indescribable mix of pride and...heartache.

He walked over and ruffled her hair as usual.

But he stopped halfway through reaching out.

He suddenly felt that his daughter had grown up.

She was no longer the little fledgling who needed his constant protection.

She already possessed her own sharp claws and fangs.

"Niannian," Lu Zhenguo's voice was a little hoarse, "you...don't blame them?"

Su Nianci raised her head, looked into her father's worried eyes, and shook her head.

"No, it's not my fault."

"Why blame it?"

It's not worth getting angry and wasting your time over two unrelated people.

"not to mention……"

Su Nianci smiled again.

That smile was somewhat sly, like a little fox that had stolen some fish.

"For them, living is more painful than dying."

"Let them live forever in regret and resentment, forever looking up to me, but never able to catch up."

"This is the best punishment for them."

Lu Zhenguo and Zhou Yayun looked at each other in bewilderment after hearing their daughter's words.

They were once again deeply shocked by their daughter's maturity and resourcefulness, which far exceeded her age!

This doesn't look like a five or six-year-old child at all.

This is clearly an old monster who has lived for several lifetimes!

Looking at her daughter's innocent little face, Zhou Yayun suddenly felt a lump in her throat and her eyes welled up with tears.

She pulled Su Nianci into her arms, her voice trembling with tears.

"My longing..."

"You're going to the capital soon."

"What will I do if I go to such a faraway place all by myself...?"

With just one sentence, the living room, which had just been filled with a somber atmosphere, was instantly pulled back into the sadness of parting.

Su Nianci nestled in her mother's warm embrace, inhaling her familiar and comforting scent.

Her heart softened as well.

Yes.

She's leaving soon.