to the check. "This five hundred thousand dollar check, that night, was all that fool had left. It was his entire life. But now, for that fool, it's worthless."After saying that, he relaxed his grip...The woman on the sofa slept restlessly, and soon beads of sweat formed on her forehead.

In a dream

For a while, it was the scene of her life in the old Jian family house when she was a child, with her grandfather still healthy. For a while, it was the scene of her passionate pursuit of Shen Xiujin. For a while, it was the scene of her being at her peak at eighteen, once infinitely brilliant and prosperous.

The scene changed, showing her being imprisoned.

A moment later, it was the scene of Ah Lu's foolish girl dying again. The scene changed once more, she was released from prison, and despite all the hardships of life, she couldn't escape that person.

In the dream, there were still her parents, but they were almost blurry.

"Tongtong, Ashu will accompany Tongtong for a lifetime and will always want Tongtong to be happy."

A guileless and pure voice rang out.

She suddenly opened her eyes, staring at the snow-white ceiling. For a long time, she was dazed, finally coming to her senses and realizing that what just happened was just a dream.

The woman got up from the sofa. The sliding door to the balcony was ajar, and wind whistled through the gap, sending a chill down her spine. She shivered suddenly, realizing she had been sweating profusely without noticing.

Wiping the sweat from her brow, she sat down on the sofa as if in meditation, motionless like a sculpture.

This dream felt so real, like a replay of her entire life.

From prosperity to decline.

From arrogant and fearless, to trembling and afraid to face people.

Thanks to this dream, she remembered many things.

When she was little, her grandfather Jian was still around. She didn't understand much back then, but she knew that her grandfather was strict with her, yet he was also very good to her. He treated her better than her own parents did.

In the blink of an eye, she reached school age and enrolled in the same elementary school as her older brother.

Her grandfather didn't make a big fuss about sending her to school. Her brother had always received more care and love from their parents, so their days were not the same.

Her brother has a driver to pick him up and drop him off at home, but she doesn't go to school with her brother.

When she first started school, she didn't stand out in any way. After just a few days, she was targeted by bullies at school. During breaks, she would be cornered in the restroom and subjected to various pranks.

Grandfather's requirement for her was that she must not use her family background to oppress others. If she had the ability, she should handle those who bullied her herself.

But back then, she was small and weak. The upperclassmen girls liked to hang out in groups and often bullied people, usually several of them at once.

She came home every day with some bruises. Those bullies, though cruel, weren't dumb. They always aimed for places covered by her clothes.

Thus, neither the grandfather nor the servants at home noticed it.

Until one day, after she finished dinner and went upstairs to do her homework as usual, her brother silently blocked the stairway and dragged her into his bedroom. He pulled her school uniform collar down to her shoulders. She still remembers how angry she was at that moment, her whole body felt dizzy, and she lashed out at her brother with angry words.

She still remembered how her brother stealthily took out the medicine box from under the bed, silently treating her wounds. She was sulking at the time, ashamed and unwilling for anyone to see her bruised state, so she sarcastically rebuked her brother, telling him not to meddle in her affairs and forbidding him from reporting it to their grandfather.

What was said at the time

"Jian Mo Bai, don't think you have me figured out. I can handle those girls myself, so don't even try to use this against me in front of grandpa."

Her brother looked down on her at the time: "Tsk tsk~ It's just that you lost a fight, what's so great about it I get into fights all the time, otherwise do you think I'd keep a first-aid kit under my bed" After saying that, he grabbed her collar and threw her out the door without hesitation. With a bang, he closed the door.

At that time, as the girl in the family, a girl who lacked parental love, she was very jealous of her brother. Looking at the tightly closed door in front of her, she stomped her feet and shouted: "Jian Mobai, I will win. It's just a fight! I'm sure I can beat those gang girls!"

Later on, every day she would become even more defiant towards those bullying senior girls and always got hurt. Her brother took her to his room for a whole week to apply medicine, after which he'd just throw her out.

When she finally subdued those bullying upperclassmen, the latter called in some thugs from outside. Those thugs back then were actually middle or high school students, and the "ancient gangster" style was popular at the time.

She was cornered behind the teaching building on campus, thinking she was done for this time. But her brother came swooping in from out of nowhere. This was the first time she saw him fight so fiercely, and in the end, he had injured himself, his face swollen like a pig's head, but he still put on a show in front of her: "Look at this, this is what real fighting looks like. What you did was just showmanship."

On the sofa, the woman was a little dazed. Those past events that had been lost in time, those small things, seemed to come into focus all at once.

She also remembered the words her brother shouted when he fought with some older delinquents: "My sister can only be bullied by me! If anyone dares to bully my sister, I'll kill them!"

She also remembered her brother's fierce look when he said that, like a wolf, as if he was about to bite anyone he saw to death the next moment.

The woman sat upright on the sofa for a full three hours.

Her eyes were vacant, unable to focus on anything concrete, yet they seemed to pierce through the empty air and gaze at a place far, far away. She appeared to be reminiscing, her lips occasionally twitching into a faint smile, only to be tightly pressed together again. She seemed lost in her own world, dwelling in memories that were not all pleasant, but within those recollections, there was beauty.

In the silent living room, the phone rang urgently. She was startled awake, her eyes turning cold and deep.

At a glance, it was Shen Xiujin.

She didn't hang up the phone, nor did she answer the other person's call.

Quietly getting up from the sofa, picking up her backpack, and walking to the entrance hall.

Then it suddenly stopped. At the entrance hall, two pairs of slippers were placed side by side.

She stood there straight, her eyes fixed on the two pairs of couple slippers, staring for a long time.

Like a sturdy stake, silent and upright.

Time seemed to have passed for an eternity. Finally, the woman moved, slowly crouching down and picking up two slippers. She walked back to the living room and tossed them into the trash can.

She turned back to the bar and tossed the couple's drinks into the trash.

In the washroom, toothbrushes, toothbrush holders, towels, anything that came in pairs, were thrown into the trash one by one.

Looking at the overflowing trash can, the woman stood before it, her pale lips curling into a sarcastic smile. ...No wonder, no wonder he pretended to be stupid.

Look, isn't this how she is slowly taking over her life step by step

At some point, pairs of things started appearing all over the house, yet she remained completely oblivious.

If she hadn't sorted it out today, maybe she would never have discovered it in her lifetime.

Turning around, no longer lingering, leaving the house.an to take her clothes off.Suddenly, Jian Tong became tense and her face drained of color. "Get away! Don't touch me!""You pushed me just now! Jian Tong stepped back nervously, her eyes fixed on the...