Reborn a day later, I emptied my enemy's possessions beforehand.

"Dongsheng? What are you doing here?"

Sun Guiying's voice was high-pitched and hoarse, squeezed out from behind her swollen lips. She jumped up from the chair, one of her slippers falling off with a clatter, but she didn't bother to pick it up.

"Your face—no, your body—why are you covered in injuries?"

Zhou Dongsheng was stunned when he saw Sun Guiying's face.

His gaze fell on the bruises and swelling on her face, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

Standing behind him, Zhang Lijuan also saw Sun Guiying's face and subconsciously covered the corner of her mouth.

Zhou Dongsheng strode over, his voice urgent and hoarse: "Mom, what are you doing here? What happened to your face? Who hit you?"

Sun Guiying reached out and touched her face, feeling the swollen skin. She hissed in pain and pulled her hand back.

Her voice was shrill and hoarse: "I don't know! I woke up like this! You're covered in injuries, who hit you?"

Zhou Dongsheng looked down at the purplish-blue bruises on his arm and his throat bobbed.

His voice trailed off, as if he were talking to himself: "I don't know... I woke up like this..."

Sun Guiying then looked at Zhang Lijuan, who shook her head to indicate that she was fine.

Sun Guiying's gaze swept back and forth between the two people twice, and her voice suddenly tightened:

"Why are you at the police station?"

Zhou Dongsheng's voice was muffled, each word sounding as if squeezed out from between his teeth, both harsh and hoarse:

"Mom, our house... has been emptied out."

Everything was gone—furniture, appliances, clothes, computer, everything was gone.

My phone is gone, and so is my car.

When Lijuan and I woke up, we found ourselves lying on the floor, and everything in the house was gone.

Zhang Lijuan added from the side, her voice so soft it was as if she was afraid of being overheard:

"We called the police, and they brought us here."

Sun Guiying swayed and grabbed the wall next to her.

Her lips trembled, and her voice suddenly rose several octaves, becoming shrill and piercing, echoing back and forth in the lounge:

"Your house was emptied out too? You saw your dad yesterday? Did he come to see you?"

Zhou Dongsheng nodded, his voice sinking heavily:

"He came to our house yesterday and said he had something to discuss with us. Then... then I don't remember anything. I woke up like this."

Sun Guiying's hand slid down the wall and hung at her side.

Her eyes widened, and something seemed to be swirling in their sockets, but it didn't fall out.

She looked at Zhou Dongsheng, her voice suddenly dropping to a low hue, as if she were talking to herself, each word seeming to be scraped from her throat:

"Same...exactly the same as me...He also suddenly came to me, saying he wanted to talk to me about company matters..."

Then I don't remember anything... I woke up lying on the living room floor, my face was swollen, and the house was empty...

Zhou Dongsheng and Zhang Lijuan looked at each other, both wearing the same expression—

A transition from shock to bewilderment, like two people standing on the edge of a cliff looking down and discovering that the abyss beneath their feet is much deeper than they imagined.

Just then, a voice broke in from the side.

Wang Jinshan stood up from the corner and took two steps forward. His face was swollen, just like Sun Guiying's.

Even more serious, the bruise on his left cheek extended from his cheekbone to his chin, and there was a crack on his lip covered with a thick layer of scab.

His voice was muffled, but his tone was unusually calm, like a stagnant pool.

"Don't be surprised, I'm the same. Zhou Haibing came to my house yesterday and said he wanted to talk to me about a collaboration, and then I don't remember anything about it."

I woke up to find the house empty, and my face was swollen.

Zhou Dongsheng turned his head sharply and noticed that there were two people standing in the corner.

Wang Jinshan and Zhao Shuzhen, both with swollen faces, each more swollen than the other, stood in the corner of the lounge like two pieces of luggage forgotten there.

When he came in, his attention was entirely on Sun Guiying, and he didn't notice them at all.

He frowned and said, "Who did this?"

Zhao Shuzhen stood half a step behind Wang Jinshan. Her makeup was a mess, with streaks of eyeshadow and foundation washed away by tears, and lipstick smeared all over her chin.

Her lips were downturned, her eyes were red and swollen, and the bruises on her face looked particularly glaring under the pale light.

She looked at Zhou Dongsheng, her gaze moving from his face to the scars on his body, then to Zhang Lijuan behind him. Her lips moved a few times, and finally she let out a cold laugh.

The laughter was short and sharp, like something had broken in the throat.

"Besides your cheapskate father Zhou Haibing, who else could have done it?"

Zhao Shuzhen's voice wasn't loud, but every word was like a poisoned needle, sharp and piercing the eardrums of everyone present.

"You really think you can hide your mother's affair with Wang Jinshan forever? And your good father—I'm talking about Zhou Haibing—"

He must have found out—found out that you're not his biological child, that you're Wang Jinshan and Sun Guiying's illegitimate offspring. This is his revenge.

"We emptied three houses, slapped three houses in the face, transferred all the money, and left you with nothing."

Zhao Shuzhen's voice grew shriller and faster, like a knife being sharpened on a whetstone, sparks flying everywhere.

She whirled around, her finger nearly poking Wang Jinshan's nose, tears finally streaming down her face, but the fierceness in her voice remained undiminished:

"I must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to marry a scumbag like you! You're having affairs with other women, and they're even your own brother's wives!"

You went and did it, but you even had a child and had someone else raise it. Now look what happened, the truth has come out, and they're coming for revenge.

Everything I own is gone! My jewelry! My savings! My home! All gone! It's all your fault!

Wang Jinshan's face turned pale and then red as he was scolded. His swollen cheeks turned purplish-red, and the veins on his neck throbbed.

He abruptly shook off Zhao Shuzhen's hand that was pointing at him, and shouted in a loud, urgent, and indistinct voice:

"Who are you calling names? How dare you insult me? I haven't even settled accounts with you for keeping a gigolo on the side!"

"That young heartthrob surnamed Zhou, and that fitness coach surnamed Li, you think I don't know? I've known for a long time! I'm just too lazy to argue with you!"

Sun Guiying, who had been standing still to the side, suddenly bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on when she heard Wang Jinshan's words.

She forgot she was still barefoot, forgot she was in a police station, forgot her face was still swollen, and rushed over, pointing at Zhao Shuzhen's nose, her voice so shrill it could pierce the ceiling:

"Who are you calling a bastard? Say it again! Your son is the bastard! Your whole family are bastards! You're out there having affairs and keeping gigolos, what right do you have to call me a bastard?"

The three voices mingled together, like a pot of boiling swill, with all sorts of unpleasant words gushing out.