The white rose I picked up cried and said she liked me.

After a hellish night, the next morning, Xu Nian, who had been tormented all night, hugged her legs tightly, squatted in the corner, and remained silent.

His body was covered in bruises and fingernail marks, and he was in excruciating pain. The slightest movement felt like his bones were about to fall apart.

The most striking feature was his neck, which was covered with love marks left by kisses.

In contrast, the girl standing in front of him was full of energy and did not look like she hadn't slept all night.

She licked her fingers, stretched out a small, pink foot, and placed it on the man's knee. A captivating smile appeared on her lips.

Tell me, do you like her, or do you like me?

Xu Nian lowered her head and remained silent.

He was not worthy of liking the girl in front of him, nor did he dare to.

Now, Xu Xi brings him only endless fear.

He has been imprisoned in this villa for three months, and his wounds have never healed.

If it weren't for the occasional glimpse of Xu Xi's presence emanating from this dangerous girl, he would have already planned to escape.

Seeing that the man didn't answer for a long time, Xu Xi was unusually not annoyed.

She gave a wicked smile, bent down, and gently bit the man's ear.

"It's okay if you don't like me."

Let me tell you something quietly.

"That woman, I sent her to meet the sharks."

Xu Nian's pupils suddenly contracted.

He took a few steps back, stood up, and stared incredulously at the girl's dull and empty eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

"I said, that woman, I sent her to meet the sharks."

Xu Xi took two steps forward, cupped the man's trembling face, and laughed coldly.

"See, you really do care about her."

"If you don't care, why do you react so strongly when I mention her?"

"Are you crazy?!"

Xu Nian shoved her away, pointed a trembling finger at her nose, and roared.

"Ten years ago, Zhou Xiaoman donated 300,000 yuan to pay for your medical treatment—that was her entire fortune! Now that you're cured, this is how you treat her?!"

"What does this have to do with me?"

Xu Xi burst into laughter, but her laughter gradually became unrestrained.

"The person she saved was Xu Xi, not me."

"Anyone who tries to interfere with our feelings deserves this fate."

After saying that, she pushed the man down and, ignoring his resistance, attempted to force herself on him.

Just then, a buzzing cell phone interrupted her actions.

Xu Xi released the man, answered the phone with displeasure, and her face showed anger.

As she listened to what was being said on the other end of the phone, her fists clenched slightly.

After hanging up the phone, she put on her clothes and hurriedly left the villa.

Watching the sports car disappear into the distance, Xu Nian's eyes instantly welled up with tears, as if all her strength had been drained away.

He stood silently, his surroundings a blur.

Zhou Xiaoman died because she acted in a play with him and was killed by Xu Xi.

No, she is not Xu Xi.

If that kind little girl from my memory still existed, she might be jealous and resentful, but she wouldn't commit such a vicious act as taking someone's life.

Xu Nian returned to the basement and began packing her belongings.

He wanted to leave this place, to leave that crazy girl.

The villa's main gate was securely locked with a combination lock, which Xu Xi had specially installed to prevent him from escaping.

He tried Xu Xi's birthday.

Incorrect password.

I tried my own birthday again.

Still not right.

He circled the villa and, finding no window he could climb out of, returned to the front door and continued studying the combination lock.

Eight eights, six sixes, Xu Xi's ID number... He tried every password he could think of, but all ended in failure.

After a certain number of incorrect attempts, the combination lock will automatically lock for a period of time, preventing the user from entering the password.

The more times you do it, the longer it will take.

If she enters the wrong number again, the lockout will last until tonight, when Xu Xi goes home.

If Xu Xi discovers that I'm trying to escape, I'll definitely be handcuffed again, and then I'll have no chance to escape at all.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Xu Nian's forehead.

He trembled as he typed in the last string of password he could think of.

That was his and Xu Xi's birthdays, a number combined.

"Click".

The heavy door slowly opened.

Xu Nian dragged her suitcase and left the villa without looking back.

His first stop was the cemetery.

After giving Zhang Feng two bottles of wine, he erected a new tombstone.

On a gloomy, rainy day, the man stood silently before the brand-new stone tablet, head bowed.

That woman, adrift like duckweed, spent her entire life without finding happiness of her own.

The only trace she left in this world is this short inscription.

The Tomb of Zhou Xiaoman

The man closed his eyes, and scenes from the past floated before his eyes.

He promised her that if there were an afterlife, he would repay her even if he had to be her slave.

But she went first to the path to the afterlife.

Xu Nian felt remorseful and blamed herself.

If only he hadn't asked Zhou Xiaoman to act in that play with him back then.

Perhaps now, she wouldn't be persecuted by the insane Xu Xi.

He wronged her.

After leaving behind a handful of fresh violets, Xu Nian left the cemetery before sunset.

You must leave Yuncheng before Xu Xi returns home and discovers that he has escaped.

Otherwise, with her abilities in Yuncheng, finding him would have been easy.

"Where to?"

At the train station ticket window, the ticket seller took Xu Nian's ID card and scanned it on the machine.

"Train 346, to Taoxian."

"Hard seat 273.5, sleeper berth 496.5, which do you want?"

"Hard seat, please."

After paying, Xu Nian took the light red paper ticket from the ticket seller.

Bathed in the afterglow of the sunset, he held it in his hand and examined it quietly.

Ten years have passed, and everything has become unfamiliar.

Only this train heading north remains unchanged.

The departure time and ticket price were exactly the same as I remembered.

This time, it's really time to leave.

"Train 346, bound for Taoxian, is now boarding. Passengers who have purchased tickets for this train, please proceed to gate 1A on the second floor to board and enter the station."

Xu Nian picked up her luggage and followed the flow of people through the ticket gate.

Standing in the middle of the long platform, he gazed into the distance.

The Huanyu Shopping Mall outside the station, perhaps due to poor management, has turned off its lights that were on day and night.

Several construction workers are dismantling its enormous signboard.

The high-rise buildings surrounding the station square are either being renovated or rebuilt.

Everything became extremely unfamiliar.

Time has passed, and things have changed.

He no longer felt any attachment to this city.

"Buzzing..."

A loud blast of a steam horn interrupted his thoughts.

He turned his head and looked in the direction of the sound.

The familiar locomotive, pulling one green carriage after another, slowly pulled into the platform.

It was this enormous creature that brought him to this city.

Now, he is about to take it and leave Yuncheng, where he has lived for more than 20 years.