Chapter 193: The Second Half of Her Life |
What the hell is Mother's Eye Gift?
And seriously, this is the power of an A-Class card? From an individual perspective, it doesn't feel as strong as Heart Slave.
Advanced technology reports? You tell a caveman the principles of an atomic bomb—can he build one? And the cooldown is ridiculously long.
Whatever, I'll just use it once.
[Mother's Eye Gift] Activated!
As the skill activated, a book suddenly materialized in Jiang Linyuan's mind.
"The Second Half of Her Life"
Ha-ha, don't tell me this is the name of the so-called advanced technology report?
System! You're seriously overdue for an audit!
Su Muzhi walked beside Jiang Linyuan and shot him a curious glance.
"No, it's nothing."
Jiang Linyuan shook his head.
Sure enough, the A-Class card from the system wasn't that straightforward.
The skill names given before all matched their effects.
Refreshed and Renewed, Wall Street Wolf, Superhero Robust Physique, Overclocked Single-Jump Brain, and Heart Slave.
Even though the names were a bit crude, they at least fit.
But this Mother's Eye Gift? A tech report from the future?
Why not call it Asshole's Regret instead?
Looking at "The Second Half of Her Life" in his mind, Jiang Linyuan forced himself not to flip through it.
I'll read it when it's quieter—the amusement park is too noisy.
Thinking this, Jiang Linyuan and Su Muzhi walked out of the amusement park.
Then they saw Shen Wanyu standing at the entrance.
Alone, her shadow stretched long under the lights.
"I called a car. It'll be here soon."
Shen Wanyu glanced at them and said calmly.
"No need. Tonight, he and I are going back to my family's house in Yanjing. Don't you think so?"
Su Muzhi looped her arm through Jiang Linyuan's, squinting with a smile.
"Let's go back with the Department Head first. A lot of my stuff is still at her place."
Jiang Linyuan said.
[Fine, it's more convenient anyway.]
[Fine, it'll be cleaner to break things off.]
Two completely different voices echoed into his mind.
So Heart Slave can read multiple people's thoughts at the same time? It's just a bit taxing on the brain.
The three stood together, and soon the car arrived.
Jiang Linyuan quickly jumped into the front seat, while Shen Wanyu and Su Muzhi sat in the back, keeping a wide distance between them.
The car was quiet; no one spoke.
Damn it, sitting up front, I can't see Xiao Su or the Department Head, so Heart Slave won't activate?
Does this skill depend on line of sight? I thought it was a domain-type ability!
Fine, I'll deal with it tomorrow.
First, let's check out this Mother's Eye Gift.
Sitting in the car, Jiang Linyuan turned his head to look out the window and opened the book titled "The Second Half of Her Life" in his mind.
[Some say that every man, no matter how hard he strives to gaze at the stars or conquer the seas, will eventually return to the ordinary in the name of growing up.
February 15, 2024, I confessed my thoughts to Su Muzhi. Me? I'm going to be the king of a harem!
The Department Head was a bit down, but just watch me work!
…
The next day, when I went to the Department Head's place, Shen Guoguo opened the door. She said the Department Head had gone back to Jinling.
Wow, the Department Head is really mad! She won't even reply to my messages.
Before I left the Department Head's place to find Xiao Yilin, Shen Guoguo handed me a starry sky projector.
"Sister Wanyu said she doesn't want it anymore."
Holding the projector in my hands, I suddenly felt a hollow ache in my chest.
…
The voice AI model Zhang Shuo and I developed became a market hit. Coinciding with the school anniversary, I was dragged out by the Vice Principal as a showpiece.
Everyone around me showered me with praise, but I felt an emptiness inside.
That year, the Department Head cut off a lot of contact with me, using graduate school exam prep as an excuse.
…
Graduation came. Xiao Yilin privately asked me out for a drink. It was her first time drinking. Her face was flushed, and so were her eyes.
She said she was tired and wanted to get married.
I couldn't give her an answer. I just held her. She kept saying she liked me and then that she hated me, tears streaming as she pounded my chest.
…
Xiao Su has been getting more and more rowdy lately. Even after all this time, she still seems to take endless delight in watching me suffer. We had a fight.
It feels like I haven't been in touch with the Department Head in ages.
…
I can't find the Department Head anymore. I asked Shen Guoguo, I asked Shen Pingyan, I asked her mom—none of them knew where Shen Wanyu had gone.
I suddenly realized it wasn't that they didn't know; they just didn't want to tell me.
But I wasn't the young me anymore.
…
While watching the stars in the northwest, I met a very beautiful girl. She had a cold personality, didn't talk much, but she could always read what others were thinking.
I spent a few weeks with her. Then, without leaving any contact information, she left.
I had another fight with Su Muzhi. She always ran out of breath halfway through arguing and could only flail her hands weakly against my chest.
…
Xiao Su was hospitalized.
Her attending physician was Yu Songsong. She told me Su Muzhi's body was too weak—she couldn't have children.
I didn't care about that. All I wanted was to see her smile and pick another fight with me.
…
Shen Guoguo suddenly came to see me. We hadn't met in a year. The last time was at her twenty-fifth birthday party.
She looked more and more like Shen Wanyu—quiet, no smiles.
Expressionless, she handed me a letter. Then, without a word, she walked away with clear disdain.
The letter was simple.
"I wish I had never met you. I wish you had given up."
"I liked you, Jiang Linyuan."
Shen Wanyu's handwriting.
…
Shen Wanyu's mother died of illness.
Shen Wanyu killed herself.
After the funeral, Shen Pingyan found me. Having lost both his wife and daughter, he still wore no expression.
"If… I had backed down just one more step, and you had been a bit more stubborn, would the ending have been different?"
It rained heavily that day. I couldn't tell if he was crying.
…
A major epidemic hit. Xiao Su's body grew weaker, her heartbeat slower and slower.
I acquired a company called Haile Biotech and ventured into the medical industry.
To my surprise, one of the shareholders holding thirty percent of the shares was a girl who had just turned eighteen. She looked vaguely familiar, like I had seen her somewhere before.
…
Too late. Everything was too late.
If I had been earlier, if I had been bolder…
Would things have been different?
What was I afraid of? What was I worried about?
Ha! Forty years of chaos, knocking down walls east and west, only to find it was all a ridiculous farce!]
Technical Appendix: "Intravenous Myocardial Targeted Engineered Exosome Delivery of YAP Signaling Activators to Reverse Myocardial Fibrosis Technology"
Tucked between the pages of the book in his mind were a few photos. One showed Xiao Yilin sitting and crying. Another showed Su Muzhi lying in a hospital bed, smiling weakly from the side. One showed the Department Head sitting on the grass, expressionless, looking up at the stars. And one showed a grown-up Shen Guoguo coldly handing over a letter.
Holy shit!
What the hell?
This is Mother's Eye Gift? Predicting the future?
Xiao Su gets critically ill? The Department Head commits suicide?
What the fuck is all this?
Setting everything else aside, if this really were my future, why isn't there a system at all?
Jiang Linyuan let out a long sigh, calmed himself down, and turned to look at the two girls in the back seat.
"Xiao Su, what's the deal with your aftereffects?"
[Why is he suddenly asking about this?]
Su Muzhi paused for a moment, then squinted with a smile.
"It's old news."
"Is it related to your heart?"
Jiang Linyuan asked firmly.
[Did Dad say too much?]
Su Muzhi wore a resigned expression.
"Just a small price I paid for resisting when I was a kid. It's nothing serious. It might get troublesome when I'm older, that's all…"
Yeah, Xiao Su's issue isn't urgent. In that future, even though she was frail, it was a normal state.
If it weren't for that major epidemic, she probably would've been fine.
The real problem is the Department Head! What the hell are you doing?!
Jiang Linyuan glared at the indifferent Shen Wanyu.
[What's with him? Why's he suddenly mad at me?]
You ask me why I'm mad?!
Why the hell did you kill yourself?! Did your brain rot?!
"Jiang Linyuan, I don't like that look in your eyes. It seems like you think I'm going to do something stupid."
Shen Wanyu said flatly.
Jiang Linyuan had a million things to say, but in the end, he just let out a sigh.
"Department Head, we've got a long road ahead of us."
Yeah, the current Department Head doesn't seem like the type to kill herself at all.
The problem definitely started when I went to the northwest to watch the stars with her!
And then Xiao Su got into a fight with me about it!
Plus, that weird comment from my future father-in-law. The me in that book definitely chose the wrong path!
But the damn book didn't even say what actually happened!
And what about Xiao Yilin's side?
Truly, a page full of absurdity, a handful of bitter tears.
Shen Wanyu stared at Jiang Linyuan for a long time, furrowed her brows, opened her mouth, but said nothing.
[Whatever. He's been like this for a while now.]
"What do you mean, 'whatever'?! Shen Wanyu, that's exactly why you're in this mess! 'Whatever' this, 'whatever' that—just wait until I take care of you!"
Jiang Linyuan didn't want to look at Shen Wanyu anymore. The more he looked and read her thoughts, the worse he felt.
If you have something to say, just say it! Don't bottle it all up inside!
Look at Xiao Su—she's so straightforward, doesn't hide anything from me.
In comparison, he found Xiao Su even more adorable.
Department Head! Just wait until I've got you under my thumb! I'll teach you a good lesson too!
But, for now.
Jiang Linyuan flipped through the technical appendix in his mind again.
Mm, I can't understand the specifics.
The goal seems to be for treating heart failure, even reversing structural damage from it.
How does it work? I'm curious too. Future tech, kid.
Huh? The author's name is a coincidence, isn't it? Ha-ha, it's the same name as Haji Yao.
No way, Haji Yao, you were this talented on the medical research path?
And this Haile Biotech—let's acquire it and get it moving fast!
But why did the future me make a point of mentioning that little shareholder?
By that time, I'd be nearly forty or fifty. Was I really still eyeing a young girl?
Shameless old bastard!
"We're here."
The driver stopped the car and announced.
They all got out.
Shen Wanyu was the first to go open the door.
"Sister Wanyu, you're back?"
Hearing the noise, Shen Guoguo walked out of her room with a smile.
But when her eyes landed on Jiang Linyuan and Su Muzhi standing together, she snorted coldly, ran over to grab Shen Wanyu's hand, and pulled her inside the house.
[Stupid jerk, bad woman—not a good person among them!]
This is the Guoguo I love.
Jiang Linyuan glanced at the picture of a grown-up Shen Guoguo in his mind. You couldn't even tell she was like this as a kid.
Guoguo, I won't let you turn into that!
Without another word, Jiang Linyuan and Su Muzhi went to pack their things.
"You're leaving already?"
While Jiang Linyuan was packing, a sour voice came from beside him.
Turning his head, he saw Shen Guoguo leaning against the doorframe, pouting, and looking at him sideways.
Huh? Where's the inner voice?
Oh, Heart Slave's duration ran out.
"I've been in Yanjing for days now. Wasn't Guoguo always trying to kick me out?"
Jiang Linyuan said with a grin.
"That's because you're not doing human things!"
Shen Guoguo said huffily.
"I know. Guoguo is mad because I brought Xiao Su along, right?"
"If you know, why did you still bring her here?"
Jiang Linyuan walked up to Shen Guoguo and smiled.
"Next time, next time I'll sneak over to play with Guoguo alone. Consider it my apology."
"…Don't. You should go find Sister Wanyu."
Shen Guoguo turned her face away, a bit embarrassed.
What does he mean, "come play with me"?
"And what if the Department Head doesn't want to talk to me?"
Jiang Linyuan asked again.
"That won't happen. As long as you don't do something Sister Wanyu really hates, she won't ignore you."
Shen Guoguo said very seriously.
"When I was a kid and didn't know any better, I played all kinds of pranks on Sister Wanyu, but she never got mad."
"Pranks? What did Guoguo do?"
Jiang Linyuan asked curiously.
"Mm…"
Shen Guoguo's gaze wandered, her fingers fidgeting restlessly.
"Sister Wanyu actually hates cats. When she was napping, I secretly brought a cat and put it by her bed."
That deserves punishment! Guoguo!
Punish you to put me next to the Department Head's bed next time. I can be a gentle cat boy!
But…
"The Department Head hates cats? I never noticed?"
Jiang Linyuan suddenly understood why the Department Head had let go of the cat Su Muzhi gave her.
She was probably itching for that cat to leave as soon as possible.
"Yeah, hates them badly. If it even brushes against her clothes, she frowns. But it's strange—there was a time when Sister Wanyu would actively approach cats."
"She hates cats but still went near them?"
"Yeah, weird, right?"
Shen Guoguo nodded.
Jiang Linyuan also found it odd. For the Department Head, no one could force her to change her preferences.
She's the one who could splash coffee on her own father!
"What's taking you so long to pack?"
Su Muzhi's voice came from not far away, urging him on.
"Guoguo, I'm leaving. Can I take one thing?"
Jiang Linyuan asked.
"What thing?"
"The starry sky projector in the living room."
"No way. That's not mine; it's Sister Wanyu's."
Shen Guoguo immediately shook her head.
"It's fine. Just say I forced you to hand it over."
Jiang Linyuan patted his chest.
You wanted to give it to me tomorrow? Shen Wanyu, I'm taking it!
You don't get to make that choice anymore!
Shen Wanyu, if you still dare to kill yourself, I'll become your leash in the next life!
If you want to hit, I'll soften up. If you try to lie down alone, I'll stiffen up! That way, you can only touch me, not anyone else!
"No way, no way."
Shen Guoguo shook her head firmly.
"If you say no again, I'm going to kidnap you!"
Jiang Linyuan put on an angry face.
"It's still no! That thing is really important to Sister Wanyu!"
"That's exactly why I have to take it. That way, the Department Head will come looking for me."
"Huh?"
"The Department Head and I are actually in a fight. You noticed, right, Guoguo? I'm afraid she'll never talk to me again."
Jiang Linyuan said pitifully.
Shen Guoguo thought it over for a long time before finally speaking weakly.
"If you're going to take it, I can pretend I didn't see anything."
Sorry, Sister Wanyu. We'll deal with your anger later.