Luo Wencheng was astonished. Such a mighty and powerful looking man could be so upset about not being able to get what he wanted.

His intuition was very keen. This one-eyed man smelled more dangerous than the most violent thug he had seen in prison and his imposing sense of presence was several times stronger than that of Luo Kaifang, the richest man in Haining, even though he didn’t flaunt it.

He asked, “Is that person your lover?”

The one-eyed man said calmly, “Yes.”

Luo Wencheng suddenly changed his outlook on the man and said in admiration: “I think you’re a very gentle person.”

The man raised his eyebrows slightly, “Why?”

“Only people who are gentle at heart and serious about their feelings will cling to their past lovers, ah. The powerful people I’ve met are all focused on material and physical pleasures. Their feelings are pitifully barren and their hearts are only filled with fame and fortune. Let alone waiting for someone, they don’t even know what it is to like someone.”

The man laughed, and Luo Wencheng looked dumbfounded. Only then did he realise that this man was quite good looking, no, it should be said he was handsome.

It was surprising that such a man was alone. Luo Wencheng couldn’t help but feel sorry for him in his heart.

The man’s smile quickly disappeared, but his gaze at Luo Wencheng became softer: “Why are you here? Where is your family?”

Luo Wencheng shook his head in a daze, “I have no family. I have nowhere to go.”

The man thought for a moment and took a wallet out of his coat pocket, pulled out a card from it and handed the wallet to Luo Wencheng.

Luo Wencheng was stunned for a moment and subconsciously took it: “This is…”

The man withdrew his hand, “Go find a place to stay, it’s not safe outside at night.”

With that he turned around and left. After a while Luo Wencheng regained his senses, opened the wallet and saw a stack of red banknotes (100 yuan), not a thick stack, but twenty or thirty of them. He jumped up and hurriedly chased after the man, “Sir, please wait!”

The man stopped and looked at him. His gaze and the strong sense of oppression caused by getting too close to him made Luo Wencheng’s little heart tremble. He vaguely felt the scent floating from the other party, like tobacco and some perfume, clear and fresh like grass. He took a step back and said hurriedly: “Thank you so much, sir. I know that this money may not be much to you, but it is very timely for me. Can you give me contact information and I will return the money to you in the future?”

The man looked at him indifferently, his gaze no longer as soft as it had been earlier. Luo Wencheng’s heart jumped; he knew that he had made the other party impatient. Rich people can give generously in a good mood for a while, or they can make you miserable every minute because they are unhappy.

He smiled quickly and said, “I, I mean my name is Luo Wencheng. I will remember your kindness and I will definitely repay you when I see you again. You, you take care.”

He took two steps back, trying to decrease his sense of presence as much as possible. His cramped appearance made the man’s gaze relax, and he stretched out his hand: “Consider me buying those two wooden carvings of yours.”

Luo Wencheng froze for a moment and looked at the man with a surprised smile on his face, then hurriedly took out the two carved wooden walnuts, put them in the bag and offered it to the man with both hands, “It is not well made, please don’t dislike it.”

The man didn’t say anything else and walked away with the paper bag that was so different from his whole style. Luo Wencheng was clutching the wallet in his hand and watched in a daze as the man walked away, down the flyover and into the car that seemed to have been waiting for him for a long time. He felt like he was dreaming.

“What a nice, kind man,” he murmured, watching the car drive away, his eyes full of complicated feelings and his heart full of gratitude. Then, he couldn’t help jumping up and down in joy.

He had money!

Ten minutes later Luo Wencheng sat in a noodle restaurant, ordered a large bowl of beef noodles and had a hot meal; then he went to a nearby shopping mall to buy some affordable sportswear and underwear, booked a hotel, took a shower, changed into new clothes and lay down in the soft bed with a contented sigh.

For the first time since he was reborn, his heart finally felt a trace of peace and joy. Exhaustion came like a tide. He looked at the wallet at the head of the bed. Some warmth flashed in his gaze; he curved his eyes in a smile, then dived under the quilt and soon fell asleep.

……

Luo Wencheng felt himself floating up, floating through the long, white corridor to a cold, clean white room.

Where was it?

Luo Wencheng felt familiar with this place, but this familiarity was mixed with a deep disgust, and he rejected everything about it.

He wanted to leave, but the next moment his gaze suddenly froze and he saw a man – a man lying on a hospital bed with many tubes inserted in his body.

The man was so thin that his ribs protruded like racks; his chest heaved with difficulty, and every time he breathed out, his throat made a strange sound, as if he would not be able to breathe in the next moment.

Luo Wencheng shivered. This man was him, the one who had been suffering in the hospital for years before he died.

Hadn’t he been reborn? Why was he back to that time again?

The door was suddenly pushed open and a young man in a white shirt, with soft black hair, a slender body and a delicate baby face walked in: “Yo, you’re not dead yet.”

The young man laughed sweetly and softly, but what he said was extremely vicious. He patted the cheek of the person on the bed contemptuously, his eyes evil and cold: “Your life is really hard. Your heart stopped last night, but you were rescued. You even made Big Brother rush over in a hurry. You didn’t see the way he looked; what so good about you that he was so afraid you’d die?”

Luo Wencheng clenched his fists and stared at the young man. Luo Wenjun!

The “Luo Wencheng” on the bed also stared at Luo Wenjun, who didn’t care about the hateful expression in his eyes and laughed easily, “Your life is so cheap but you just can’t die, huh? You couldn’t be killed in those three years in prison, and you can’t die now… I really want to thank you. You know how much money you’ve made me? The good doctor is almost crazy with joy, and says you’re the best test subject he’s ever seen.”

“Oh yes, the medicine he uses on you this time is his new creation. It will keep you alive while leaving you in excruciating pain all the time. You won’t be able to move or speak but your senses will be magnified a dozen times. You’ll get uglier and uglier, rotting away bit by bit, rotting to the point you’ll get infested with worms…”

Previous / ToC / Next