Back Then, I Adored You

With his eyes focused on the table, Lu Bancheng didn’t say anything.

I never would have thought that the team captain I’ve known for so many years could possibly be her…

Moving her fingertips, Xu Wennuan looked up at Lu Bancheng. “What’s wrong?”

Lu Bancheng replied, “Nothing.”

“Oh,” Xu Wennuan answered, looking back at her phone screen to concentrate on her game.

Lu Bancheng stroked his phone screen with his fingertips and glanced at Xu Wennuan from time to time.

Who knew she’s the boss always leading me to victory every day?

Life… always surprising me with the unexpected.

Indeed, life is always a surprise.

……

Gu Yusheng had spent great energy at the party trying to figure out whether or not Qin Zhi’ai had anything to do with his little troublemaker.

Although he could not be sure about that yet, he had discovered something else, purely by accident, that he had been puzzled about for many years.

He had not expected Qin Zhi’ai to be part of the answer.

……

You never know what could happen next: a tragedy or a tomorrow.

In the past, Qin Zhi’ai had always thought of this saying as one of many clever old proverbs.

It wasn’t until the annual party that she realized just how relevant this saying is. Her life seemed as if a tragedy had inexplicably occurred, of the variety that only happens in novels.

That tragedy hadn’t literally killed her, but it was enough to have destroy her entire life.

……

At the end of the party, Qin Zhi’ai needed to go to the bathroom again. Xu Wennuan was deep into playing her game, so Qin Zhi’ai went by herself.

I’m not a three-year-old. I’m not going to get lost on the way. And I’ll be right back.

Guests were steadily leaving the party, and by now the bathroom was almost empty.

When Qin Zhi’ai came out of the stall, she stood in front of the gleaming sink, turned on the water to wash her hands, and heard someone come out of a man’s stall.

Qin Zhi’ai glanced in the mirror in front of her and saw a man in a waiter’s uniform. She didn’t think much about it and lowered her head to continue washing and, as she reached for the handle to turn off the water, the waiter approached and stood behind her.

Her body became instinctively stiff. Before she could make a sound, he said, “If you dare to shout, I will inject this poison into your body.”

Qin Zhi’ai swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue, lowered her head slightly, and looked at her own waist while feeling odd. The man was holding a syringe that he’d stuck into her dress but had not yet pierced her skin.

Qin Zhi’ai dared not to move for fear that the needle would enter her skin and the poison would spread throughout her bloodstream.

The man’s low voice spoke into her ear, “I hope you’re smart enough to follow me out of the back door now; otherwise, I’ll kill you on the spot.”

Qin Zhi’ai’s heart trembled. She pursed her lips, finally nodded to the man, and was forced out of the bathroom. They left the banquet hall unobserved through the back door.