Reborn in 2006, I met Mr. Zhou from the past.

As they were talking, Su Fengnan put down her pen and prepared to get up, but Zhou Chenyu quickly reached out to stop her and said softly, "Keep writing, finish before class."

"Okay, I'm almost finished writing, just wait a moment."

Su Fengnan felt a little embarrassed, but thinking that she would finish copying soon, she didn't stand on ceremony with him and sat down to continue writing.

Zhou Chenyu stood beside her, his gaze fixed on the Xuan paper.

It was written in neat, small characters, showing that the person who copied it was very devout.

"The Heart Sutra?" Zhou Chenyu's gaze shifted from the Xuan paper to Su Fengnan's face, his expression slightly surprised.

"Mm," Su Fengnan replied.

Zhou Chenyu then praised, "That's good. There aren't many young people who can calm down and copy scriptures these days."

Su Fengnan wasn't used to being praised so directly, and her cheeks instantly burned. Her mind was in turmoil, and with Zhou Chenyu standing right beside her watching, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

Seeing that she was writing faster than usual, Zhou Chenyu said softly, "Don't rush, take your time."

After saying that, he sat down in the chair next to Su Fengnan and watched her write silently.

The air fell silent instantly, accompanied only by the melodious sounds of the guqin, and Su Fengnan's emotions gradually calmed down.

That night, Zhou Chenyu didn't go to the bar to find Jiang Shaoqing and the others. After tutoring Su Fengnan, he went straight home, turned off his phone, and went to sleep.

In the dead of night, he had a dream.

In a luxurious room, a naked man and woman are making love on the bed...

Inside the luxurious room's wardrobe, a boy, his hands and feet bound and his mouth taped shut, was awakened by the noise in the room. He lay sprawled in the wardrobe, his eyes wide, staring intently through the crack at the scene on the bed. When he saw the man on the bed, the boy was instantly terrified, his breath caught in his throat, his body trembled uncontrollably, fear and anger overwhelmed him, and tears streamed helplessly down his face.

He tried to move his hands and feet to make a sound, but found himself completely powerless and unable to move. He could only close his eyes and wait helplessly until the sounds in the room finally stopped, at which point he slowly opened his eyes.

At this moment, the boy abandoned his pitiful and helpless demeanor, his eyes filled with murderous hatred, and his body seemed to be writhing like a raging, furious leopard.

"Jihong, that person has contacted me again recently, what should I do?"

"What did he say to you?"

"He said he knew who stole the lab report back then. If he informs you, you'll be investigated by higher-ups."

"What is he trying to do? What happened back then has nothing to do with me."

"It has nothing to do with you, but that person said the person who stole the report has been in contact with you for many years. Even if they weren't the main culprit, they're still an accomplice, and they can't escape the charge of harboring a criminal. What if it really affects you?"

"I've had dealings with many people over the years, do I have to investigate them all? What does he want?"

He said he wanted Xie Siya. If you're willing, he'll wipe the slate clean.

"Let me think..."

The boy in the closet didn't hear what the man and woman said afterward; he fainted again.

After the man on the bed got up, dressed, and left, the woman slowly put on a revealing slip dress and walked towards the closet.

She stood in front of the wardrobe, opened the door, dragged the boy out, threw him on the floor, and slapped him twice. A moment later, the boy slowly woke up. The woman watched him take out a tape recorder and press play—it was the sound of the man and woman making love in bed earlier.

After the recording finished playing, the woman laughed provocatively and said, "You little bastard, did you hear that? Zhou Jihong just left my bed and even asked me to have his baby, hahaha... So do you think you still have any reason to exist? Even if you unfortunately get lost, he probably won't come looking for you, hahaha..."

The woman turned and sat on the sofa, took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a puff, her action of blowing smoke rings was incredibly seductive.

"Since you're about to disappear from this world, I'll be a good person and tell you. Before Zhou Jihong married your research-obsessed mother, we were already a couple. Hmph... Xie Siya, that bitch, was just a shield Jihong used to refuse the arranged marriage. Now that her mission is complete, it's time for her to leave."

The woman got up, walked closer to the boy, squatted down, pinched his cheek, and said viciously, "Once you and your mother are completely gone, I will be Ji Hong's wife, hahahahaha..."

The boy trembled upon hearing these words, wanting nothing more than to tear the woman before him to pieces. His body could no longer hold on, and he fainted again.

The scene shifts. At night on the beach, a mother and son are squatting in a bread cart, back to back, untying the rope binding their hands.

After finally managing to untie the ropes and escape, men in black with flashlights soon caught up with them. The woman hid the boy in a roadside trash can.

"Yu'er, don't come out. Don't come out no matter what you see. Promise me you'll live well."

The woman ran away alone to distract the men in black, but she was soon captured by them. She didn't beg, gritting her teeth and enduring the pain.

The boy witnessed the woman being brutally beaten by men in black. Several men tore at her clothes, amidst the lewd laughter and insults of the men: "Still trying to run? Hand over the stuff, and we'll make you wish you were dead!"

The woman was already breathless from the beating, but she still vehemently denied it, saying, "I didn't... I really didn't..."

An impatient man in black kicked the woman in the head, and she instantly went still. He checked her breath to confirm she was dead before stopping.

"ah--!"

A gasp caught in his throat, and Zhou Chenyu woke with a start. He sat bolt upright, gasping for breath, and rubbed his forehead, only to find himself covered in a thin layer of sweat. Recalling everything that had happened in the dream—fear, panic, anger, heartache… it felt so real, as if he had experienced it himself. That woman seemed to be his mother.

He exhaled a long breath and closed his eyes to think it over. Suddenly, a sharp pain in his heart struck, his throat churned, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood before fainting again.

When Zhou Chenyu woke up again, he was in a hospital bed. Jiang Shaoqing was by his side.

"You're awake? How are you feeling? Is anything bothering you?"

"Water..." Zhou Chenyu said weakly.

Jiang Shaoqing raised the bed, poured him a glass of warm water, and fed it to him through a straw.

After drinking a glass of water, Zhou Chenyu felt like he had come back to life. He could now recall the events of his dream, the part of his memory he had lost. But by now, he had calmed down.

He pondered how to investigate the events of that year discreetly and bring the perpetrators to justice. If it truly was a blood feud for his mother's murder, then it was an irreconcilable hatred. Only after making up his mind did he begin to worry about his grandmother's reaction.

"How is Grandma?"

Jiang Shaoqing put down his cup, sat down on the chair by the bed, and said, "Grandma is fine. Tell her you fainted because of a cold and fever. You can stay in the hospital for a couple more days before being discharged."

"Quickly call Grandma to let her know you're safe, so she won't worry."

"If you're awake, you can call yourself. I've been watching over you all night, and I need to catch up on my sleep now. I'll check on you again when you wake up. Someone will bring you breakfast in a bit, so eat and get some rest."

Zhou Chenyu hummed in agreement and waved for him to leave quickly.

Seeing that he was indeed alright, Jiang Shaoqing turned and left the ward.