Chapter 46: Warm Sunlight Comes to the Rescue

Mo Chuchu, who was lingering among the crowd to watch the spectacle, slipped away quietly the moment she saw Tong Zhenzhen being obediently carried out in Jun Lengche’s arms. A deep sense of depression filled her heart. How wonderful it would have been had the two of them engaged in a fierce quarrel that ruined Jun Lengche's reputation.

In that case, Jun Lengche would inevitably blame Tong Zhenzhen.

Afterward, she could report the incident to Elder Madam Jun, thereby intensifying the old lady's aversion toward Tong Zhenzhen.

Gradually, she could plot and instigate a few more conflicts. The Jun family, which had always placed the utmost importance on Jun Lengche's future, would certainly not sit idly by and would step in to interfere.

From Mo Chuchu's perspective, there was no marriage that could not be dismantled; one only needed to be persistent enough.

What a pity. Just as it was reaching its climax, the show was abruptly cut short.

Regretful as she was, Mo Chuchu nevertheless decided to pay a visit to Elder Madam Jun and recount everything she had just witnessed.

As for Tong Zhenzhen's protective amulet—that child—Mo Chuchu already had a plan forming in her mind.

...

Jun Lengche carried Tong Zhenzhen all the way to the hospital parking lot, where the surroundings grew sparse and quiet.

"Can you put me down now, Dr. Jun? There's no need to put on a show out here, is there?" Tong Zhenzhen said coldly.

"I'll take you home." Jun Lengche did not loosen his grip. "Her and I..."

"Stop right there. I have no interest in hearing about your romantic escapades." Tong Zhenzhen immediately retorted, denying him the chance to offer any explanation.

*Is this little girl jealous?* Realizing this, a trace of faint joy bloomed within Jun Lengche's heart.

Still, he felt it necessary to clear things up to prevent the barrier between them from growing thicker.

Just then, however, his cell phone rang.

He pulled it out, saw that it was a call from his grandfather, and pressed the "reject" button.

To his surprise, the phone rang again immediately.

Call after call, relentless and persistent.

Could there be an emergency?

With no other choice, he set her down and turned away to answer the call.

It had been a while since he last heard Commander Jun roaring on the other end of the line, ordering him to get his ass back to the main estate immediately.

"Little girl..." After finishing the call, he turned back around, only to find that she had vanished.

He glanced around in all directions, but with no other option, he got into his car and drove away.

A gust of north wind swept past, rolling a few fallen leaves across the ground.

Hidden behind a massive pillar, Tong Zhenzhen watched Jun Lengche's car speed away into the distance. She pulled her coat tightly around her shoulders. The weather was beginning to turn chilly, yet the sky appeared exceptionally blue.

Unwilling to return home, she wandered aimlessly toward the elevators and, on a whim, pressed the button for the tenth floor.

Standing in the corner of the elevator car, she watched other passengers board and exit until she was the only one left inside.

Life was probably just like this, she thought. As time went on, many people drifted apart, disappearing until one was ultimately left entirely alone.

Reaching the tenth floor, she pushed open the rooftop door and stepped out.

In the embrace of the late autumn sunshine, the rooftop still retained a gentle warmth.

She walked over to the edge of the railing and looked down.

The people and cars on the ground below had shrunk to the size of ants, scurrying back and forth.

Then, she raised her head, facing the sun and bathing in its radiance. Closing her eyes, she found the golden brilliance as bright as ever.

She longed to get even closer, to let the warmth melt the layer of ice encasing her heart.

Stepping up onto the rooftop ledge, she faced the sun and spread her arms wide like a bird about to take flight, a relaxed smile blooming on her face.

"What kind of magnificent scenery is this? Let me have a look too." A pleasant male voice sounded from behind her.

Before she had a chance to turn her head, a pair of arms wrapped around her in an embrace, pulling her back safely from the precipice.

Tong Zhenzhen never expected to be scooped away from the perilous height. Irritated, she turned her head to glare at the "meddler."

What exceptionally clear eyes—they resembled the cloudless sky of a crisp autumn day. Not only that, but the man holding her emitted a pleasant scent of warm sunshine.

Those brows and eyes—why did they look so familiar?

The man seemed to share the same thought. "You... have we met somewhere before?"

Where could it have been?

Tong Zhenzhen wrinkled her nose, searching through the archives of her memory.

A flash of inspiration struck.

Both of them realized it at the very same moment, speaking in unison: "The rooftop of No. 1 High School's teaching building! Ten years ago!"

The man standing before her was none other than the boy who had once given her a glass marble.

Back then, overwhelmed and depressed by her parents' impending divorce, she had fled to the school rooftop.

Standing at the high edge and looking down, she had actually wondered if ending it all by jumping would solve everything once and for all.

Just as she was lost in that daze, an unexpected embrace had pulled her away from the dangerous brink.

Rubbing his sleep-laden eyes, the boy had complained with mild dissatisfaction, "You're blocking my sunlight."

Having held back her tears ever since learning of her parents' marital troubles, she had broken down completely, weeping uncontrollably on that warm afternoon in front of a complete stranger.

The boy had simply sat with her on the rooftop, offering his shoulder as a crutch.

When her wails finally subsided into soft sniffles, he had remarked lazily, "You should go to Africa."

"Why?" she had asked tearfully, blinking in confusion.

"All these tears of yours could irrigate plenty of parched land. Who knows, you might even turn the Sahara into an oasis." He had blinked and flashed her a mischievous grin.

That had made her too embarrassed to keep crying.

"Eight or nine out of ten things in life don't go as planned." Seeing that her emotions had stabilized, the boy had stood up, dusted off his pants, and said, "I'll give you a lucky ball. Whenever you're unhappy in the future, just hold it up to the sun, and you'll see all the colors of the rainbow. Your bad luck will vanish."

He had rummaged through his pants pocket and tossed a small mesh bag into her lap, inside of which rested a golden glass marble.

Following his instructions, she had picked it up and held it against the sunlight. It was truly breathtaking.

"How wonderful it is to be alive, to be able to see such beautiful scenery. Well, starting today, I'm ceding this prime spot to you. After you've vented, life still has to go on." Stretching lazily and twisting his torso, the boy had turned his back to her, waved his hand, and walked away.

Later on, she had returned to the rooftop several times, hoping to run into him again, but she never crossed paths with him until she went abroad.

If not for that lucky marble, she might have thought it was all a dream.

Perhaps he was an angel sent by God to guide her toward resilience.

As time flowed on, the boy's features had grown blurry in her memory, yet he had transformed into a ray of sunshine that remained forever lodged in the depths of her heart.

Never did she imagine that years later, at the lowest ebb of her life, the boy would reappear in the exact same manner.

The facial features before her overlapped with the lingering image from years ago, taking on a vivid, three-dimensional reality.

Space and time seemed to collapse in an instant; the blurred details had not been forgotten, merely deeply concealed.

Was this fate?

All of her troubles receded into the background, overwhelmed by the shock of this miraculous reunion.

"Hello, I am Tong Zhenzhen." Breaking free from the man's embrace, she stood face-to-face with him and extended her hand.

"Haha, your habit of lingering in high places hasn't changed at all." The man scratched the back of his head and shook her hand. "My name is Yang Yang."

Under the sunlight, Yang Yang's teeth were stark white and his smile was radiant. He was the epitome of a sunny, wholesome man.

"I never expected you to grow so tall," Tong Zhenzhen sighed softly, realizing he was a head taller than her.

"I just shot up like a weed, what a waste of food," Yang Yang laughed heartily. "You, on the other hand, have grown even prettier."

This was the first time since returning to the country that she had received such a direct compliment. What a blunt fellow.

"Come on, beauty. Let me treat you to a drink." Yang Yang had originally gone up to the rooftop to catch some sun, never imagining that the moment he pushed open the door, he would find a slender figure standing so high she looked ready to fly away.

The scene seemed to have replayed from the past. Hesitating for only a fraction of a second, he had rushed forward and pulled her down.

To think she was someone he had shared a mere passing encounter with.

Years ago, because he was moving to another city with his remarried mother, he had gone to the sun-drenched school rooftop to bid farewell, only to find a grief-stricken girl standing on the edge.

As for that glass marble, it had been a gift from his father, who had passed away two years prior. For reasons unknown, driven by a sudden impulse, he had given it to her.

And now, just days after returning to this city, they had crossed paths once again.

The green girl had grown into a woman, yet the stubborn look in her eyes remained unchanged.

"Alright." Tong Zhenzhen agreed readily, descending from the hospital rooftop with Yang Yang and heading toward a cafe directly opposite the hospital.

The two sat down at a window seat facing the street.

"Did you join the military?" she asked with interest, stirring the red date and medlar tea before her.

Yang Yang took a sip of his Irish coffee and replied with a troubled expression, "Yeah. Unfortunately, I've been discharged."

"Then why were you at the military hospital?" She felt a tinge of curiosity.

"Got a few scratches on my final mission, came back for a follow-up check," Yang Yang said casually. "Next month, I'm reporting to the Anti-Narcotics Division of the Municipal Public Security Bureau."

"Wishing you a smooth transition, plenty of solved cases, and a prompt promotion." Raising her cup of tea as a substitute for wine, she offered a toast.

Yang Yang cheerfully raised his cup and clinked it against hers.

"What brings you to the hospital?" Yang Yang asked, equally curious.

Her heart gave an involuntary twinge of pain. "My husband is a military doctor."

"Married so young? What a pity, I missed my chance. What's the surname of that lucky fellow?" Having worked in reconnaissance for years, Yang Yang detected the bitter undertone beneath her smile and deliberately joked to lighten her mood.

She took a sip of tea. "Jun."

"Jun Lengche?" Yang Yang’s eyebrows arched. Surely it couldn't be such a coincidence?

Was that jerk's reputation really that widespread? Even Yang Yang, who had just returned to City G, had heard of him. Lowering her gaze, she stirred her tea. "Yes, do you know him?" Hearing Jun Lengche's name immediately summoned an unpleasant wave of discomfort.

"Oh, I saw his name on the physician directory and remembered it. Young and promising, aren't they?" Yang Yang picked up his cup and took a sip, masking the flash of gloom that flickered across his eyes.

Sensing her aversion toward Jun Lengche with acute sensitivity, Yang Yang shifted the conversation to lighter topics, and the two of them chatted away happily.

As the saying went, coincidences make a book. Every bit of interaction between Tong Zhenzhen and Yang Yang was caught by Mo Chuchu, who was watching from across the street. A surge of secret delight bubbled up inside her. Heaven truly was helping her. A venomous, insidious smirk bloomed across her face.

That afternoon, Tong Zhenzhen played host and treated Yang Yang to lunch.

By the time they parted ways, the two of them had grown as familiar as old friends and exchanged phone numbers.

"Next time you feel like sunbathing, you can call me along. See you around." After seeing her off into a taxi, Yang Yang waved goodbye with a bright smile.

The length of time people had known each other did not necessarily measure the depth of their bond.

Following their separation, Tong Zhenzhen returned to that cold, uninviting home.

After taking a midday nap, she woke up and stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the river winding like a jade belt through City G as a tide of thoughts surged within her.

Though she was currently trapped in a predicament, it was not the lowest point of her life. At the very least, she had a roof over her head, her health, and soon, a child of her own. Was there any need to torment herself for the sake of a scumbag?

Everything would eventually take a turn for the better.

Perhaps today's chance encounter was a sign sent by her guardian angel?

Holding the glass marble up to her eyes, she watched the sunlight refract into a dazzling array of seven-colored rays. A silent vow formed in her heart: she would live well and exact the vengeance she deserved!