A_Ray_of_Light

Years later, the people of Yucheng still regard the bygone scandal of the aristocratic family as an after-dinner topic.
A cunning woman of the streets ascended to the summit of society, becoming the esteemed lady of a high-priced aristocratic family. 
She was addicted to gambling, once accumulating millions in debts.
Her demeanor was worldly and vulgar, known as a prominent socialite.
Yet, Gu Hansheng still favored her.
Until, this femme fatale of the century dug her own grave, causing the demise of Mr. Gu's beloved, the White Moonlight.
Henceforth, she vanished from Yucheng without a trace.
People say: "Blood debts must be repaid with blood, and death settles it all."
No one knew that night became a thorn in Gu Hansheng's heart.
On the snowy streets, a woman wrapped in a coat stood trembling beneath neon lights, delicately reaching for the car door.
The window lowered, a man gazed at her, softly laughing: "Madam Gu, there is no one in this world more cold-hearted and ruthless than you."
She grasped the door handle, lips pallid, face filled with grievance, "Hansheng, I'm cold."

The dead are colder than you.

The black silhouette departed into the night.

In the rearview mirror, snowflakes fluttered like tattered fragments, nearly engulfing the woman's shoulders.

In later recollections, in the midnight reveries, Mr. Gu could always hear her saying, "Hansheng, I'm cold."

The most missed when departing

In the ear, there was the sharp and piercing sound of the truck's brakes, the wheels rubbing against the ground, piercing the silence of the night. The truck driver, wearing a black baseball cap, stuck his head out of the window and cursed at the woman on the ground, "Get the hell away, it's late at night, don't bring bad luck to the road!"

The phone in her hand was thrown several meters away, but the illuminated screen still showed the ongoing call.

The woman's screams, the sharp sound of the brakes, and the intermittent barking of dogs all poured into Lu Jinsheng's ears, replacing the anger in his heart with confusion and fear in an instant.

He shouted a few words into the phone on the other end, "Liang Shu, what the hell are you doing?! Have you gone mad?"

A dull pain shot through his head, for reasons unknown.

Liang Shu propped herself up with her hands and sat up from the ground. The two stray dogs had already run to her side, circling around her. Liang Shu smiled and whispered, "I guess you two still have a bit of conscience."

From the nearby telephone receiver came the exasperated voice of a man. Liang Shu blinked as she got up from the ground, picked up the phone, and impatiently said to the other end, "Stop making a racket."

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

By now, Liang Shu had safely crossed the street. She dusted off the dirt from her clothes and laughed, "Even if I die, Mr. Lu, I'm afraid you'll dig me out of the grave and whip me. How could I dare to let you move a finger to repay that mountain of debt for me?"

Lu Jinsheng couldn't stand Liang Shu's tone and immediately frowned. "Don't be so damn sarcastic in front of me!"

On a late summer night, a cool breeze passed by, and Liang Shu comfortably stretched her eyebrows. The corners of her eyes were filled with a frivolous smile, carrying an indifferent arrogance. "Is this considered sarcastic?"

Without waiting for any reaction from the other end, she lifted her lips, seemingly mocking, "Then again, your Lu family, including you, Mr. Lu, have never endured such humiliation. It's my fault, I apologize."

Lu Jinsheng's eyebrows tightened, and if Liang Shu were in front of him at this moment, she would probably have been torn to shreds by his devouring gaze.

She stood by the roadside with the phone in her hand for a full two minutes, not hearing a word. Instead, what came was the beep of the other party hanging up the call.

She coldly curled her lips and put the phone back in her pocket.

The phone rang again, this time from Qian Hui.

"Ah Shu, I'm reminding you specifically, stay away from the underground casino these days. A lot has been happening there. Not only are security guards arresting people, but they're also starting to clean house internally."

Liang Shu was wearing high heels today. As she answered the phone, she happened to step off the curb and, upon hearing this, her high heel got stuck in a crack in the pavement.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't pull it out.

She was annoyed, gritting her teeth, "Are these people forcing us not to earn money?"

Qian Hui remained silent for a moment before saying, "Don't confront them. Ah Shu, as long as the green hills are preserved, there will be no shortage of firewood. The crackdown has been intense lately, and the underground casino is too unstable."

"I need money. Even if whatever I do is just a drop in the bucket, it's better than nothing." She took her foot out of the high heel, reached down to pull out the stuck heel.

She was about to hang up the phone, but Qian Hui's tone suddenly changed, "You don't have a powerful background. Who guaranteed your mountain of debt for you?"

"Some fool blinded by greed back then."

"Then find that person. It's better than turning to us."

Liang Shu's eyes and brows showed visible hesitation. "Then I might as well be tired of living."

Chapter 20: Blind Eyes