Mr. Gu's wife is a little naughty

Inside the Dongli Club, a meticulously planned dinner party ended in a farce. Beichen sat alone in the empty yet luxurious private room, the brilliant lights around him seemingly devoid of their former warmth, reflecting the indescribable loneliness and resentment within him.

He raised and lowered his glass repeatedly, the amber liquid swaying gently within, a reflection of his chaotic state of mind. His numbness to the alcohol was more like a deliberate attempt to block out all the external disturbances. Inside the private room, only his heavy breathing and the occasional crisp tap of his glass against the table echoed through the empty space, making it seem especially desolate.

The assistant and the driver stood quietly outside the door of the box. They were very nervous and didn't dare to say a word. The atmosphere seemed very depressing for a while.

"Someone is coming."

Finally, Beichen's voice was heard in the dull box. The assistant froze for a moment, took a deep breath, opened the door and walked in.

"Doesn't that loser from the Long family want to cooperate with me? Promise him and tell him to come to my company to see me tomorrow."

He raised his glass again and drank it all in one gulp, his action filled with unquestionable determination and dominance.

The assistant didn't say anything and nodded silently.

"Wait a minute, drive to Huadu."

Huadu is the most famous nightclub in Fanjiang. It is said that the consumption there in one night is enough to make an average family a year, but the identity of the owner behind Huadu has always been a mystery.

Tian Zhenyuan didn't go home directly, but instead reunited with Hong Dancheng. The two old men were both renowned veterans in Fanjiang. Although their friendship had been like the river over the years, seemingly calm on the surface, undercurrents swirled, each plotting their own hidden chess game.

Both of their cars drove to the bank of Fan River, facing the river breeze, which was able to blow away some of the summer heat.

Not far away, the estuary of the Fanjiang River unfolds leisurely, a scene painted with nature's most delicate brushstrokes, a wondrous spectacle: sea and river water intertwine and linger, like the gentlest embrace between heaven and earth. On one side, a deep azure water carries the call of the distant; on the other, a jade-like green, bearing the warmth of the earth. From above, a delicate and mysterious waterline quietly emerges, acting as both a boundary and a fusion, gently dividing and yet tightly connecting two distinct bodies of water.

"Old Tian, ​​what do you think of what Lin Dawei said?"

Hong Dancheng's words drifted softly in the breeze. He wore a windbreaker, the sleeves of which rustled in the river breeze, like a sail about to sail away. Time had left mottled traces in his hair, which was sparse and slightly silvery, and slightly messy in the river breeze, adding a touch of unruliness and vicissitudes of life.

Tian Zhenyuan rested his hands gently on the cold iron railings by the river, his gaze piercing the night sky, gazing out at the dazzling lights on the other bank. Amidst the dimming lights of countless homes, countless unfulfilled stories and dreams seemed hidden. A flicker of depth flashed in his eyes, then they returned to calm, as if he were engaging in some kind of silent dialogue with the vastness of the river.

"Ah! Fifteen years have passed without me realizing it." Tian Zhenyuan's face, once a warm smile, has faded, replaced by an indescribable calm and the traces of time, as if every wrinkle carries the vicissitudes of life. "I thought my perseverance was meaningless, but I didn't expect that child to really come back."

At this moment, Tian Zhenyuan's heart seemed to be gently brushed by an imperceptible breeze, stirring up ripples of past memories. His eyes, traversing the corridors of time, could vaguely capture that profound scene—his last, gentle yet complex glance toward the child.

At the corner of the dark, deep staircase, the light seemed to retreat in fear, leaving only mottled shadows, shutting out all tenderness and brightness. In this corner, forgotten by the world, a frail figure huddled, like a leaf swaying in the autumn wind, helpless and trembling. Every subtle movement revealed an indescribable desolation and fear.

Tian Zhenyuan couldn't help but feel an indescribable pang of grief. That child was like a painful memory he didn't want to touch yet couldn't forget. Every time he thought about it, it was a profound reflection on the coexistence of human fragility and resilience. That glimpse wasn't just a lingering sight, but also a deep sympathy for that child's innocence and helplessness, and a regret for being unable to change it.

Hong Dancheng also stood beside him, leaning against the railing and looking at him sideways, "Do you really believe what Lin Dawei said?"

Tian Zhenyuan tilted his head slightly, his eyes met Hong Dancheng's, then slowly moved away, immersed in the deep night again, as if looking for answers, as if recalling the past.

"Why, are you reluctant to give up everything you have now?"

Hong Dancheng smiled faintly, "Whether we are willing to give up or not, in the end we are just pawns in someone else's hands. What can we do?"

As he spoke, Hong Dancheng's face unconsciously stained with a hint of helplessness. He slowly pulled a pack of slightly stale cigarettes from his shirt pocket, gently twisted out a cigarette, and handed it to Tian Zhenyuan beside him. Tian Zhenyuan lowered his eyes, lingering on the cigarette for a moment, a flicker of hesitation in his eyes, but he couldn't resist the pull of old feelings and slowly took it.

"Crack~"

With a light "click" sound, the lighter in Hong Dancheng's hand drew a bright flame. He carefully used his palm to block the wind for the flame, lit a cigarette for Tian Zhenyuan, and then skillfully lit one for himself. Two wisps of smoke intertwined in the air.

Tian Zhenyuan took a deep breath, and as the smoke swirled around him, he couldn't help coughing a few times, but a smile spread across his face. "I haven't smoked in many years, but the taste is still quite familiar."

Hong Dancheng is an old smoker. He leisurely exhaled a light and long puff of smoke, which dissipated into the air with the river breeze.

Tian Zhenyuan's words were like a gentle breeze that caressed his heart, tinged with nostalgia and indifference. He lowered his eyelids, his gaze gently glancing over the familiar cigarette in his hand, his tone quite calm. "Have you been smoking this brand of cigarettes all these years?"

Hearing this, Hong Dancheng's eyes flickered with tender reminiscence, and he nodded slowly. "Back then, right here, we also smoked this cigarette, and Jiangning Manufacturing was born with just a few cigarettes. Back then, Big Brother was so ambitious, and each of us was so passionate, not afraid of the future. Later, facts proved that Big Brother did it, and so did we."

He paused, his gaze crossing the river, as if catching sight of those glorious days. His voice softened, "But time flies, and in the blink of an eye, we're all old. The ideals and aspirations we had back then seem to have faded with the passage of time. But even though we're old, the Fan River still flows, and we're still alive, aren't we?"

Tian Zhenyuan slowly exhaled the last wisp of smoke, and flicked his fingertips lightly. The cigarette butt, which was still warm, was like a flash of fire in the night sky, elegantly breaking through the silence of the night, and finally disappearing in the endless flow of Fanjiang River.

"Do you regret it?" Tian Zhenyuan asked calmly.

Hong Dancheng was slightly stunned, and a faint smile appeared on his face, but he did not answer Tian Zhenyuan's question.

"Before the accident, my eldest brother came to see me." Hong Dancheng also threw the cigarette butt in his hand, and it flew farther than Tian Zhenyuan's. "He told me not to resist, to try my best to survive, and to live well with his dream and the dreams of all of us."

"Big Brother and I are saying the same thing. Among the six of us, Big Brother trusts you and me the most, right?"

An indescribable sadness and desolation quietly emerged on Tian Zhenyuan's face. The six brothers who had come out together to make a living had shared wealth but not suffering.

"Do you think my brother is still alive?" Hong Dancheng suddenly looked at Tian Zhenyuan seriously.

"Alive!" Tian Zhenyuan replied confidently. "The Jiang family has been sending me information about them over the years to keep me safe, so I'm sure of that."

"What about my sister-in-law?" The sister-in-law Hong Dancheng was referring to was Tian Zhenyuan's wife, not the current woman named Jiang Lai, but Tian Zhenyuan's real wife in name only, Shangguan Yishui.

"She's still alive." Tian Zhenyuan's face was filled with even more sadness. Shangguan Yishui had disappeared on the same night as Lin Haitao. Tian Zhenyuan and the others knew she was being controlled by the Jiang family.

Hong Dancheng sighed, "Okay!" As if he had made some big decision, "I will follow you in whatever you want to do. Whether it's the Jiang family or the Long family, we can't let them hurt my brother's child again."

Tian Zhenyuan's lips remained still upon hearing this, but a more resolute light quietly gathered in his deep eyes, as if two unyielding wills had quietly merged at this moment, their mutual understanding deep and unspoken, without words. An inexplicable tension hung in the air, the fearlessness and determination of two souls, embodied in the shared faith and responsibility.