Return to before death

Nine years have passed since 08. The naivety has faded, replaced by fortitude, but the arrogance and wicked charm in his eyes have not disappeared.

It was him, it was him!

He is not dead!

Overjoyed, Yan Ran zoomed in on the photo, and an even bigger surprise descended from the sky.

He was wearing the amulet she remembered around his neck.

A talisman to help her travel through time, a talisman that brings her from death to life!

It turns out she didn't fall at home, but in the past, where he found her!

In less than twenty minutes, there were already seven or eight cigarette butts in the transparent ashtray. Zong Zhengjing's figure disappeared into the wisps of smoke. His originally sharp eyebrows were lowered. He lowered his head, and his meaningful gaze lingered on the scar on his left arm. Suddenly, the image of Yan Ran when she first appeared appeared before his eyes again.

A simple ponytail, a white T-shirt, jeans, a camera slung over her shoulder, and she looked as if she were standing in the sunlight.

He walked out of juvenile prison.

Yan Ran's sister-in-law was five years older than him. At that time, she was a newly intern reporter, while he was a juvenile murderer. No one believed his innocence. In fact, because of his past fighting and his reputation as a spoiled brat, people on the internet clamored for him to die. Newspapers, social media, Weibo... reported on him endlessly, and rumors kept emerging. It was impossible to suppress them.

Even his top lawyer was attacked on the street.

If it weren't for Yan Ran's appearance, her stubborn belief in his innocence, and her withstanding all the pressure and insults to find the truth, perhaps his life would have been truly ruined.

But why did she come for him, only to fall in love with his older brother and become his sister-in-law?

Knock, knock, knock—three knocks on the door.

In this family, after Mom went abroad to relax because of her brother's passing, the servants would knock on the door and call out "Young Master." There was only one person who would quietly wait for him to open the door.

Zong Zhengjing quickly stubbed out his cigarette. On the day he regained his freedom from prison, he had promised her that he would quit smoking.

He opened the window, forcefully blowing away the smoke in the room, before carefully cracking the door open a crack. "Did you find it?"

Yan Ran frowned slightly. "Uncle, do you know Sheng Xuanling?"

Sheng Xuanling?

Zongzheng Jing's gaze became misty. Was this name appearing too frequently? He hadn't heard of any connection between Yan Ran and the Sheng family.

"Hmm," he replied casually. "We've met once or twice, so I wouldn't call us acquaintances."

Upon receiving this answer, Yan Ran's tense expression finally eased a little. "Can you take me to see him?"

"Yan Ran, you rarely concern yourself with the family's businesses or the people they associate with. Why do you suddenly want to get to know Sheng Xuanling?"

Yan Ran bit her lower lip lightly. She had just arrived in a hurry and hadn't thought about many of the questions in detail. Now, suddenly being asked this question, she didn't know how to answer for a moment.

After a moment, she smiled faintly, "If it's inconvenient, I'll figure something out myself."

“Yan Ran.” He grabbed her wrist. “I will never have any inconvenience with you, but you need to recover from your injury first.”

A week later, Chairman Sheng Huayan's 50th birthday celebration was held at the Sheng family's Shengshi Haoting, a typical Chinese banquet, with 66 tables set up just for business guests.

From the general manager to the vegetable-washing staff, everyone at Shengshi Haoting had been undergoing comprehensive training and preparation for three days.

When Yan Ran and Zong Zhengjing got out of the car, it was almost noon. The guests in front of Shengshi Haoting were lively, but orderly.

Upon entering the banquet hall and handing over the prepared congratulatory gift to the person in charge, Yan Ran couldn't wait to search for Sheng Xuanling's figure. The entire banquet hall was very large, filled with business guests inside and out. People were in twos and threes, fours and fives, and the new generation of rising stars and the wives of wealthy families were chatting in their own social circles.

Apart from Sheng Liuli, the eldest daughter of the Sheng family, who was greeting guests, the rest of the Sheng family members were nowhere to be seen.

As if sensing Yan Ran's eagerness, Zong Zhengjing gently patted the back of Yan Ran's hand to bring her back to her senses and said softly, "I'll take you to greet Miss Sheng."

"Mm." Yan Ran nodded obediently and came to Sheng Liuli with Zong Zhengjing. Sheng Liuli was wearing a dark blue cheongsam, her hair was tied up high, her delicate chin was slightly raised, and her eyes were sparkling as she subtly looked at everyone.

"Miss Sheng, it's been a long time. You've become even more radiant."

"President Zong is even more charming now." Sheng Liuli smiled politely, her gaze naturally falling on Yan Ran. Most of the guests present today were acquaintances, so the sudden appearance of a new face naturally attracted attention.

Especially in today's setting, if someone were to be so rude as to bring some strange woman along...