By the time Gu Zhi was about seven months pregnant, Lu Shuyuan was already insisting on returning to Shanghai.
But Madam Lu flatly refused.
“I’m telling you, absolutely not. If we go back to Shanghai, what about your father? The Huo family is our only hope. Stop causing trouble. If you want to go back, go by yourself!”
Lu Shuyi joined in with a sneer. “If you want to make yourself miserable, don’t drag us down with you. We’re eating and living well here. I certainly won’t go back!”
…
In times like these, they all understood that without money or influence, it was nearly impossible to get anywhere.
Master Lu had been stripped of his position and his wealth confiscated. The only valuable thing left was the ancestral residence.
But all those concubines and children in Shanghai were living there, and the family had to pay to feed them all. If they went back, how could their lives possibly be as comfortable as they were here?
At the Huo residence, at least they did not have to worry about food or daily necessities. It was no exaggeration to say that even a little of what slipped through Fourth Concubine’s fingers would be enough for them to live well for some time.
Sigh, who knew where Gu Zhi had found the luck to catch Fourth Young Master Huo? Comparing yourself to others really could make you die of frustration.
Seeing how shortsighted they were, Lu Shuyuan could not help feeling contemptuous. She snorted.
“Do you think they’ll really let us live here forever? If we keep staying day after day, even if you’re shameless enough not to mind, sooner or later they’ll throw us out! When that happens, there won’t even be a pretense of goodwill left!”
“Fine. If you won’t leave, I’ll go by myself!”
…
There were actually two reasons Lu Shuyuan insisted on leaving.
First, she knew perfectly well that Fourth Concubine could not support them indefinitely.
Besides, there had hardly been a moment’s peace since they moved into the Huo residence. Lu Shuyi and He Xun alone had already had several spectacular fights.
Now, even the Huo family’s servants looked at them with barely concealed contempt.
Second, and most importantly,
she had to hurry back to Shanghai to save Huo Xingchao.
She had already noticed that Huo Xingchao had not returned for several days. Working out the timing, Gu Zhi was now over seven months pregnant, so it was almost time for him to be shot and go missing in Shanghai.
In the television drama, a grandfather and grandson delivering firewood had found and rescued him.
A debt owed for saving one’s life was greater than the heavens. Later, he had taken the little grandson as his godson.
If she arrived a little earlier and saved him herself, all that gratitude would belong to her alone.
With the Huo family’s power behind her and knowledge far beyond this era, how could she fail to make a success of herself here?
She still remembered the timing very clearly.
That day, Police Chief Chen Pinglin had happened to execute three prisoners by firing squad outside the police station, causing quite an uproar.
The alley where Huo Xingchao lay injured and unconscious was also near the police station.
As for exactly which day it was…
…Never mind. She would not worry about that.
Shanghai was only so big, and there were only so many streets near the police station. Once she got there, there was no way she would miss the gunshots.
Things would work themselves out when the time came. Right now, the most important thing was getting back to Shanghai.
…
But Lu Shuyuan, who had transmigrated into a wealthy family and then sheltered at the Huo residence through the upheaval of her father’s dismissal, probably still had not fully grasped that this was nothing like the era she had once lived in.
In this era, meat was still a luxury, communications were limited, public safety was poor, and men and women were nowhere near as equal as she imagined.
With all these factors combined, and her family having fallen so far, life in Shanghai was nothing like the comfortable existence Lu Shuyuan had pictured.
In any case, after a great deal of trouble, she finally arrived home to find a desolate residence.
All the servants had been dismissed, and even several of the concubines had left. Almost all the furnishings had been removed. The empty rooms looked bleak and unsettling.
Lu Shuyuan pressed her lips together, filled with an unpleasant mixture of emotions.
She had known things at home might be different, but she truly had not expected such a complete upheaval.
Once their fortunes fell, they had fallen utterly.
“Shuyuan, you’re really back?”
Summoned by First Concubine, Master Lu froze when he saw his daughter, then immediately brightened.
“Has Commander Huo agreed to help? What did he say? Did he promise when I would be reinstated? Tell me everything, carefully. Don’t leave out a single word!”
…
“What do you mean by that?”
“I chose to come back myself.”
Lu Shuyuan raised her head and looked straight at him. “It has nothing to do with the Huo family.”
“Dad, give up. The Huo family won’t agree to help.”
Master Lu’s expression immediately darkened. With a snort, he swept out of the room.
…
It was the truth.
If they really wanted to help, surely anyone could tell what she and her family were hoping for after staying at the Huo residence for so long.
Yet they had continued to ignore the matter, maintaining their lofty, indifferent attitude.
She even suspected that Huo Xingchao had something to do with her father’s inexplicable dismissal.
After all, only a few days after she told Huo Xingchao about her mother’s and Lu Shuyi’s “crimes” that night, a phone call had come from Shanghai saying that something had happened at home.
With the timing lining up so neatly, it was difficult not to suspect Huo Xingchao.
But no matter how strongly she suspected him, Lu Shuyuan did not dare say so.
Because, when it came down to it, she was the one who had started everything.
If what happened that night came to light, whatever else might happen, her father would certainly not spare her.
Even beating her to death would be letting her off lightly.
What she did not expect was that, even if she said nothing, her decision to return to Shanghai would become the greatest regret of her life.
Her greatest, greatest regret.
…
When Gu Zhi was eight months pregnant, on that night of gunfire, the night that had changed Gu Zhi’s entire life after Lu Shuyuan transmigrated,
Huo Xingchao was still dodging bullets in the alley.
This time, however, he had brought plenty of men with him.
As he evaded pursuit through the twisting alleys, his subordinates drew some of the attention away. In the end, only a handful of men managed to catch up with him.
So after killing the last man following him, Huo Xingchao had suffered nothing more than a graze on his arm.
…
Last time it had been his right arm. This time, it happened to be his left.
When he got back and Gu Zhi saw it, she would probably write another poem mocking his “beauty of balance.”
Honestly, Huo Xingchao could have avoided the whole incident. After all, he knew even more details than Lu Shuyuan did.
But he could not do that.
Overlord Xing was only staying in this body temporarily. After he left, its memories would automatically be erased and repaired. “Huo Xingchao” himself would have no memories of Overlord Xing at all and would simply continue along the altered course of his life.
And that altered course had to make sense and fit the original owner’s personality.
If he relied entirely on his foreknowledge to change the plot and save the little star, he would leave behind far too many inconsistencies.
For instance, why would he suddenly retaliate against Lu Shuyuan and hurt her before she had done anything?
Or why, when he had an urgent mission tonight, would he know he was going to be attacked and deliberately avoid it?
None of these actions fit “Huo Xingchao’s” own memories or usual way of doing things. Making changes at will would only cause this world to collapse.
When he first entered this body, his arm had been injured because of the open and covert fighting among his brothers. That made him decide not to keep Gu Zhi hidden any longer. Then, on his wedding night, Lu Shuyuan told him what the Lu mother and daughter had done, so he thoroughly investigated the Lu family and had Master Lu dismissed. When carrying out his mission in Shanghai, he brought extra men because of the tense situation and successfully avoided the shots that would have struck his vital points.
Then he encountered Lu Shuyuan, who had suddenly appeared at the entrance to the alley,
and began to suspect her deeply, very deeply.
…
This was the sequence of events that would ultimately remain in Huo Xingchao’s mind.
To him, it would all follow naturally.
The man leaned against the alley wall. His arm was still bleeding, though it was difficult to see in the darkness.
He held a gun trained on the girl at the entrance to the alley, his gaze cold and his voice sharp with suspicion.
“Why are you here?”
“I… I…”
Looking at the dark muzzle, Lu Shuyuan panicked. She had grown up in peacetime and had never encountered anything like this before. She could not stop trembling in the cold winter night.
“I was just out for a walk, a walk, and then I heard gunshots, so I came running to have a look and accidentally ended up here…”
How could this be happening?
This was nothing like what the television drama had shown.
When the grandfather and grandson found Huo Xingchao, he had been shot in the leg. The bullet had hit an artery, and he had collapsed here, unconscious from blood loss.
How could he possibly still be so alert?
Huo Xingchao straightened and stared at her coldly, never lowering his gun.
His dark eyes were as fathomless as the unlit muzzle, making her skin crawl.
“You wandered over to the police station in the middle of the night? You heard gunshots and came to look instead of running away? And you accidentally turned into the dead-end alley furthest inside?”
He came closer and closer until the cold muzzle pressed directly against her temple. His voice above her head was exceptionally clear, chilling, soft, and unhurried, like a devil drawing near.
“If you don’t tell me the truth, do you believe I’ll shoot you dead?”
Discover more from Lilly Translations
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.