Return to before death

Seeing a smile appear on Yan Ran's pale face, Zongzheng Jing's thin lips curled up, "I just went out on business and stopped by on my way back to pick up Tangtang."

Yan Ran looked up, her moist gaze falling on Zong Zhengjing and melting into deep gratitude.

If, after Zhengqing left, besides Tangtang, the only thing in this family that still gave her even a sliver of warmth and something to miss was her uncle.

As for that high and mighty Madam Zong…

From now on... she'll probably have an even harder time in this family...

If only she could leave with Tangtang and win custody of her from Madam Zong...

However, this lawsuit was doomed to fail before it even began.

She could only stay in the main family.

Yan Ran gently shook her head, casting aside those distracting thoughts, and smiled faintly, "Thank you, Uncle."

Upon hearing the words "uncle," Zongzheng Jing's smile froze slightly, and the warmth in his eyes turned cold. His deep voice rang out quietly, "It's just on the way. I have other things to do, so I'll leave Tangtang to you."

Unaware of the change in Zong Zhengjing's tone, Yan Ran responded softly, her attention immediately turning to Tangtang in her arms.

After dinner, I put Tangtang to sleep. It was already late at night. The Zong family villa, which stood in the suburbs, was as peaceful as a deserted grassland.

After taking a shower, Yan Ran sat at her desk in a loose nightgown and took out the items from the cardboard box one by one. Memories of her past with her husband flooded back like a tide, hitting her heart with the unique coldness and piercing pain of the sea.

Huh? What's this?

A medium-sized transparent plastic bag was placed at the bottom of the box, containing some unfamiliar items.

She personally took care of all of Zhengqing's things. She knew him too well; she could tell at a glance that these weren't Zhengqing's things.

Did the police officers make a mistake?

Yan Ran picked up the plastic bag. The label on it read: "2008.10.22, items left at the scene of Sheng Xuanling's death."

Sheng Xuanling?

Yan Ran suddenly remembered that letter, which seemed to mention this name. Then she thought about how it said that Sheng Xuanling had died in 08, and that the letter asked her to stay away as much as possible. She suddenly found it very funny.

How can a dead person avoid "drifting away"?

The letter was probably a joke, so they just picked a random name that happened to resemble the deceased.

Yan Ran laughed self-deprecatingly; she had actually taken such an absurd and pretentious letter seriously.

Just as she was about to put the bag back so that someone could send it back to the police station tomorrow, Yan Ran's gaze casually swept across the area, but it immediately settled on a yellow amulet.

That amulet was very simple, but it was a very old design. These cloth amulets with a gold swastika and Buddhist symbol were all handmade, which was time-consuming and laborious. They had already fallen out of fashion when her grandmother was still alive and were gradually phased out. It's been more than ten years, and I never expected to see one again.

She remembered that when she was 16, her grandmother sewed one for her and specially went to a temple in the countryside to ask the abbot to bless it, hoping that she would have a peaceful, smooth and happy life.

A peaceful and happy life is the simplest wish in the world.

But who could understand how much those eight words meant to her at that time?

Her father favored boys over girls and treated her like a financial burden, which made her mother even more eager for her to bring honor to the family. From a very young age, she knew that her mission was to study, earn money, and bring honor to the family. No one ever asked her if she was happy or willing.

Only her maternal grandmother truly loved her.

Perhaps because of her deep attachment to the past, Yan Ran opened the bag as if possessed and took out the amulet inside. The back of the amulet was stained with traces of blood, and the four characters "Wanfa Yuansheng" were embroidered in thread that was similar in color to the yellow fabric of the amulet itself.

“Wanfa Yuansheng.” Yan Ran murmured these four words. Before she finished speaking, a dazzling white light burst out from the amulet.

Everything went white before her eyes. She was sitting, but suddenly felt the ground beneath her give way, and she fell heavily onto the cold tiles with a loud thud.

Before she could even understand what was happening, where she was, or whether it was a dream or an illusion, she saw the ponytail-wearing woman who had been facing away from her, wearing a white nurse's uniform and aiming a gun at the tall, thin boy in front of the window, turn her gun around and aim it at her.