Chapter 10

“Boss, is this about right?” Qin Siran seemed like a different person, standing respectfully by my side.

“Thanks, good work,” I patted his shoulder.

The confusion in Gu Yueyue’s eyes instantly turned into panic. She realized she had fallen into a trap again.

The old chairman, Qin Lian, didn’t have an illegitimate son at all. This “Qin Siran” was just a homeless man I’d found on the street. He’d been starving for days, and after I gave him some money, he was more than happy to play along with my performance.

My “chance” encounters with Gu Yueyue weren’t coincidences either; they were all carefully orchestrated. Her various schemes against me were like performing parlor tricks in front of a magician—I was simply playing along to lead her into the trap.

While Gu Yueyue was busy investigating me in secret, “Qin Siran” made a high-profile appearance. Gu Yueyue loved powerful men, and combined with her hatred for me, she was bound to take the bait.

A turtle in a jar.

“You like playing with people so much, how does it feel now?” I asked her calmly.

“So what? At least I managed to break you and your girlfriend up.” Gu Yueyue had lost all her elegance and sweetness. She looked like a man-eating she-wolf; if looks could kill, I’d be nothing but bone fragments by now.

I couldn’t help but chuckle, wondering if this woman was simply naive or just plain stupid.

My girlfriend, Xiangling, walked in from outside. She shook the photo on her phone and said with a smile, “I used to play these little tricks all the time when I was a kid. Little sister, you shouldn’t have messed with us. We’re professional con artists.”

Gu Yueyue’s sanity completely shattered. She acted like a shrew, hurling filthy insults and curses at us—it was her final weapon.

In that moment, she was no longer that beautiful young girl. Spittle flew from her mouth, veins bulged on her neck, her eyes were wide, and fine lines appeared between her brows.

She was hideous, reduced to nothing but pure malice.

I sighed and took Xiangling’s hand to leave.

Before stepping out, Xiangling looked back at her and delivered the final, fatal blow: “Oh, by the way, you didn’t sleep with that homeless guy, did you? He went to the hospital for a check-up a few days ago, and it turns out he has AIDS.”

Gu Yueyue’s cursing stopped abruptly. Her face turned deathly pale, and her whole body began to tremble uncontrollably.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

A scream of pure despair echoed, followed by soft sobbing. I wondered if, in that instant, she felt even a shred of remorse.

【Epilogue】

“Young man, let’s talk about this slowly. You’re still young, don’t be impulsive. You have a long life ahead of you. Think about your parents, think about your friends…”

On the rooftop, a middle-aged man was trying to persuade a suicidal teenager.

The despair on the boy’s face hadn’t faded. That morning, all his self-esteem had been crushed. The girl he had liked for so long had toyed with him like a dead dog. The carefully laid traps, the lingering sense of humiliation—it all made him lose hope in life.

“Young man, are you thirsty? Come down, have a drink of water, and let’s talk, okay?”

The middle-aged man unscrewed a bottle of water and took a step toward the boy.

“Don’t come any closer! I don’t want to live anymore! If you come any closer, I’ll jump! Dammit, stay back, I don’t want to drag anyone else into this…” The boy was agitated, waving his arms frantically. The wind on the rooftop was strong, and his thin frame looked like a kite. The people below let out gasps.

“Save him, please. I think this boy is quite pitiful,” Xiangling tugged at my hand, begging me to find a way.

“Alright, I’ll try my best.”

I raised my hands and walked slowly toward the boy. We were the same age, so he wasn’t as repelled by me.

“Brother, there’s nothing in this world that can only be solved by death. As long as you’re alive, there’s always hope. How about this? Tell me what happened, and let me help you, okay?” I urged him gently.

“You wouldn’t understand,” tears of pain welled up in the boy’s eyes.

“Maybe I don’t understand, but I can certainly empathize with you,” I looked at him sincerely.

The boy froze. For a moment, his desire to die slowly dissipated. I breathed a sigh of relief and walked slowly toward him. Just then, the phone in his pocket buzzed. He took it out, glanced at it, and tears slid down his face. He slowly closed his eyes and leaned backward.

I sensed something was wrong and lunged forward to grab his hand, but I failed. He fell from the high altitude, turning into a puddle of blood.

The phone he left by the railing was still glowing. I tapped the screen and saw a message: a photo of a beautiful girl, disheveled, sleeping next to a man, a hint of mockery on her sweet face.

“A loser like you is better off dead.” — Sender: Gu Yueyue.

The wind was bone-chilling. I memorized the phone number and walked off the rooftop without looking back.