After a commotion, young Xu Qingzhu was once again blindfolded, her world plunged into darkness. She cried out in a trembling voice, "Sister..."
Liang Shixing replied, "I'm here, don't be afraid."
Liang Shi said, "Be bold, I'm fine."
...
That's where her PTSD started.
Post-traumatic stress disorder involves many fears, and she has tried her best to control herself.
But if a disease can be controlled, then it is no longer a disease.
No patient would voluntarily become a patient.
Xu Qingzhu's tears fell onto Chen Liuying's hand, some even flowing over the sharp knife. Chen Liuying wiped her hand, then smiled and said, "Baby, are you scared already?"
Xu Qingzhu still couldn't speak.
Seemingly finding talking to herself pointless, Chen Liuying reached out and ripped off the tape from her mouth, but the knife landed on her lips. In a strange tone, she said, "Baby, keep your voice down. If you're too loud... I'll get angry, and my knife might cut your face. If you're not pretty, I won't like you."
Xu Qingzhu's lips were dry. When the other party violently tore off the tape, some dead skin was also torn off her lips, but in a life-threatening situation, this injury was insignificant.
She asked in a hoarse voice, "What do you want?"
This was the most rational thing she could maintain.
The other party laughed: "What I want... is very simple, it's... for you all to die!"
When he said the last two words, his tone changed, filled with indescribable anger.
"Do we have a grudge?" Xu Qingzhu's voice trembled, but she clenched her fingers tightly into her palms, trying her best not to be afraid and to create an opportunity for herself to have an equal dialogue with the kidnappers.
How could I not be afraid?
In this environment, all the frightening memories are stirred up, those that were thought to have been forgotten are brought back to mind, and every scene is found to be so vivid.
She desperately tried to suppress it... to suppress it...
"You ruined me." Chen Liuying's voice became increasingly eerie, filled with madness. Although she was laughing, she was using laughter to mask her anger: "Baby, you ruined me. My whole life was ruined by you."
"Do you know how hard I worked to get all that? Do you know how hard I worked to climb the social ladder? You people who are born with everything don't understand, yet you can so easily destroy all that effort." Chen Liuying pressed the knife closer to her face, accidentally slicing her skin.
Xu Qingzhu felt a stinging sensation on her face and instinctively gasped.
Chen Liuying sneered, "Baby, can you still feel pain? Oh, I forgot, you're a delicate little princess, untouchable and unassailable by others. So what? You're still in my hands now, and I quite like you."
Chen Liuying's warm breath was all exhaled onto Xu Qingzhu's face.
Xu Qingzhu smelled a strong aroma of alcohol.
She only remembered receiving a phone call in her office saying that flowers had been delivered downstairs. She thought Liang Shi had bought them and felt a surge of joy when she received the call.
Even though it was out of season, I still received Liang Shi's little romantic gestures.
Xu Qingzhu didn't think much about it at the time. She went downstairs without even putting on a coat. Then she received another call saying that she was on the other side. She followed the instructions on the phone and went there. As soon as she turned the corner, something was injected into the back of her neck, and she lost consciousness.
She never imagined that this person would be so bold as to do such a thing in public, in such a bustling area.
Xu Qingzhu didn't know where she had taken her, but she probably hadn't left Haizhou City.
I don't know who the other person is, or what they want.
She is currently completely unaware of the situation and is facing a life-threatening situation.
In essence, she and the kidnappers were not equal.
All Xu Qingzhu could do was stall... stall for time.
I'm hoping someone will notice I'm missing and come to my rescue.
"Is this how you show your affection?" Xu Qingzhu asked lightly. "Why don't I feel your affection?"
The other party was speechless for a moment.
A moment later, Chen Liuying removed the black cloth from her eyes, allowing her to see again. Her fear lessened, and she regained some of her composure.
Xu Qingzhu was only slightly surprised when she saw that it was Chen Liuying.
Surprisingly, Chen Liuying managed to tie herself up all by herself, but predictably, she would do something so heinous.
“You don’t seem surprised,” Chen Liuying said. “Do you think I didn’t know you were showing that expression?”
"What kind of expression do you want to see on my face?" Xu Qingzhu lowered her eyes. "Anyway, I'm already in your hands. What do you want to do? Money or revenge? Do you want to get back at me, or do you want to kill me?"
Her earlier words trembled slightly, revealing her fear, but the last three words were spoken with utter fearlessness.
Compared to the first thing, she was very calm about the second.
Chen Liuying sheathed her knife slowly and deliberately, and scoffed, "My darling, how could I bear to kill you?"
Her fingers traced Xu Qingzhu's jawline, and her somewhat long nails suddenly dug lightly into Xu Qingzhu's delicate face. She pinched Xu Qingzhu's chin hard, forcing her to look up at her. "Xu Qingzhu, I'm going to... show you how the person you love is in unbearable pain."
Chen Liuying shoved her chin away, almost dislocating Xu Qingzhu's jaw.
At that moment, Xu Qingzhu briefly found a bit of humor in her misery, thinking, "Luckily, this chin is real."
But when she heard the second half of the sentence, her eyes changed, “Chen Liuying.”
Xu Qingzhu called her name very seriously, "I was the one who did that back then. If you want revenge, come find me."
"I won't." Chen Liuying casually sat on the high place, looking down at her. "I like to slowly torture people, so you can feel the pain I felt that day."
Those despicable public relations tactics plunged her from joy into an abyss.
She wants all of them to try it.
As soon as she finished speaking, Xu Qingzhu's phone lit up, and Chen Liuying picked it up and played a voice message.
It was Liang Shi panting heavily.
She said, "I'm here, where are you?"
Hearing this, Xu Qingzhu felt an indescribable heaviness in her heart.
Xu Qingzhu only hoped that Liang Shi's future life would be filled with flowers and red carpets, and a broad road ahead.
All the painful memories can remain vividly in her mind, becoming indelible marks on her life.
She thought, Liang Shi, don't remember, don't recall.
—Let those embarrassing, dark, and painful memories disappear from your life.
—Please, please don't remember it.
//
When Liang Shi pushed open the door to enter the dilapidated factory, the iron door creaked dully.
She was soaked to the bone, and her hair was wet and hanging down her body.
She was wearing a black loungewear set, a very ordinary style, but it had a unique charm on her.
That pretty face is the best filter.
Her clothes were now soaking wet and clung to her body, and her face was deathly pale. With her still-good eyesight, she spotted Xu Qingzhu in the factory at a glance.
She immediately started running forward, but was stopped halfway by Chen Liuying: "Stop!"
Chen Liuying's knife landed on Xu Qingzhu's side of the neck.
—Boom!
A deafening clap of thunder suddenly erupted, and the sky seemed to be torn apart by light, flashing a faint glimmer that illuminated the dark factory.
Liang Shi stopped in her tracks and immediately said, "I'm not moving!"
Chen Liuying stopped what she was doing with satisfaction. She stared at Liang Shi and said quietly, "You did the PR that day, didn't you? Hiding behind the internet like a villain, you two, you really know how to work together."
Liang Shi: "..."
Her face was wet, but she didn't care. Her eyes were fixed on Chen Liuying's knife, afraid that she might stab her if she was unhappy. She could only comfort her and say, "Yes, all the ideas that day were mine. Because I know the entertainment industry too well and I know how to manipulate online public opinion, I forced Xu Qingzhu to take my advice. I know you want revenge, but you have to find the right person. What's the use of hurting Xu Qingzhu? You should come to me."
She spoke with such certainty, as if Chen Liuying would be a fool if she didn't come looking for her.
Fearing Chen Liuying wouldn't believe him, Liang Shi continued, "Otherwise, why would I go into acting? I went because I know how. What kind of environment did I grow up in? It must have been full of scheming and backstabbing. Your little tricks are child's play. Xu Qingzhu is just a bookworm who only knows how to study. All she does is study and take exams. What does she know? I taught her everything."
“Even when she called Bai Weiwei, I typed the message for her, and she just read it from the script,” Liang Shi said. “You call me.”
Chen Liuying was stunned for a moment, then laughed, "Bai Weiwei said that your marriage was a plastic one, a marriage of convenience, and that you didn't like each other at all. I really laughed. It seems that you two are deeply in love with each other. That stupid woman Bai Weiwei, after being your best friend for so many years, still can't figure out what you like."
As Chen Liuying spoke, she moved closer to Xu Qingzhu again, and Xu Qingzhu instinctively dodged.
Chen Liuying smiled and said, "That makes things easier."
She stood up. She wasn't as tall as Liang Shi, but because Liang Shi was soaked to the bone while she was clean, their appearances created a stark contrast. Liang Shi's aura didn't seem as strong as hers.
Liang Shi's act of showing weakness put Chen Liuying in a good mood, so she smiled as she took out another military knife from her pocket. The knife was thrown on the ground with a clanging sound.
The moment Liang Shi saw the knife, she suddenly remembered that the system had said that major events would not be changed and that her arrival would not cause a huge butterfly effect.
All major events are bound to happen.
Sure enough, Chen Liuying's next sentence was: "Pick up that knife and cut out your glands."
Liang Shi: "..."
After she came into this world, she caused Chen Liuying to be taken out of the story ahead of time. As a result, Chen Liuying's storyline was brought forward. Originally, she removed Xu Qingzhu's glands because she loved her. Now, she hates herself and kidnaps Xu Qingzhu to force her to remove her glands.
Liang Shi didn't care. She had lived without glands for over twenty years, and even without glands, it wouldn't affect her much.
She picked up the knife from the ground. "Will you release Xu Qingzhu if I cut off her glands?"
Since we can't change it, let's just go with the flow of the story.
Chen Liuying laughed: "That depends on my mood."
Liang Shi cursed the dog in his heart, but also pointed the knife at his gland.
Chen Liuying watched her calmly, but Xu Qingzhu shouted, "No! Liang Shi!"
Liang Shi smiled at her, "Xu Qingzhu, don't be afraid."
She always liked to say these words: "Don't be afraid" and "I'm here," as if as long as she was there, she could help overcome all difficulties.
A familiar feeling washed over her again, and Xu Qingzhu's tears flowed uncontrollably as if a switch had been flipped. Her voice choked with sobs, "Liang Shi... please don't..."
Please don't do that.