Shen Jiale had another dream about the time when she was sent down to the countryside as an educated youth and was violated by someone. The sensation this time was even more real.
When she used to dream, her eyes in the dream were always shut tightly. Besides fear, she felt humiliation.
That man was kissing her face gingerly.
At this moment, Shen Jiale forced herself to stay calm and desperately wanted to open her eyes to see clearly who was taking advantage of her.
Because her life had reached its end, she wouldn't even have the chance to dream anymore.
That incident from years ago became a lifelong shadow for her, a nightmare haunting her for many years.
She kept yelling inside her mind to open her eyes! Open her eyes!
Perhaps her will was too strong, suddenly, she really opened her eyes.
After her eyes were able to see the light, Shen Jiale strongly pushed away the person who was kissing her.
The man was caught off guard and was pushed to the ground.
With their eyes locked, Shen Jiale was incredibly shocked and the man was in utter panic.
How could it be him?
Lu Mingfeng.
The CEO of Lu Corporation.
The business tycoon who came from a small mountain village after the start of economic reform and the open door policy.
It was also the person who took care of me when I was seriously ill and hospitalized.
......
At that time, my brother and sister-in-law went for a maternity check-up at the hospital, and they collided with a drug-driving vehicle, causing everyone involved to die.
She could not bear the shock, fainted, and was sent to the hospital. The hospital then informed her to immediately get hospitalized because she had cancer, and it was already in its late stages.
During her hospitalization, in order not to disrupt business operations, she transferred all her assets to her son and let her husband, Jiang Haoran, take care of the business, including the inherited estate from her deceased brother.
Unexpectedly, after that, Jiang Haoran never showed up at the hospital again, only hiring a relatively indifferent caretaker to look after her.
When she called Jiang Haoran, he claimed that he was too busy handling the newly handed business.
Later, she received an anonymous letter and only then did she find out that her husband, whom she had lovingly dedicated many years to, was actually having an affair and even had two children out of wedlock.
The woman, Shen Jiale, was also someone she knew; her very own close friend whom she treated like a sister, Wang Yanhong.
Her son, whom she singlehandedly raised, was actually an illegitimate child of her husband.
During her days in the hospital when no one sought her out, Lu Mingfeng appeared.
It was this man who accompanied her through her final journey.
She once asked him, why he chose to do this.
He said, it was because he owed her.
Their biggest grudge was just a small conflict when she was a youth during the cultural revolution.
She told him not to mind, as it was all in the distant past.
But he kept shaking his head, saying it was all his fault.
Lu Mingfeng pledged to avenge her and seize back the Shen Family's property that had been occupied by Jiang Haoran.
The condition was that Shen Jiale would have to marry him.
Only in this way could he assist her rightfully.
Shen Jiale made a request, she suspected her brother's and sister-in-law's car accident was not that simple, as her sister-in-law was pregnant and her brother wouldn't drive fast.
Upon investigation by Lu Mingfeng, it indeed had issues with her brother's car accident.
After discovering Jiang Haoran's involvement, Shen Jiale regretted deeply and her illness worsened.
Lu Mingfeng quickly arranged a divorce for Shen Jiale and hastily set up the wedding ceremony, but he was still too late. On the way to the wedding ceremony, she couldn't make it.
The man, bitterly sobbing and almost collapsing in grief, begged her to hang on.
He was a far cry from the decisive and formidable magnate in the business world.
She believed that Lu Mingfeng would surely fulfill his promise, but she had not yet fulfilled hers.
Could it be because she did not fulfill her promise that her dream replaced him with Lu Mingfeng, as a form of compensation?
......
Just as Shen Jiale was reminiscing about the past, the sound of footsteps came from outside the room. Lu Mingfeng was even more anxious than Shen Jiale.
"Quick... Tie up the door... Don't let anyone come in!" Shen Jiale was lying on the kang
a traditional Chinese heated bed
, so weak that she could barely breathe, as she hurriedly said to Lu Mingfeng.
Lu Mingfeng obediently followed her instruction and quickly tied up the door.
Shen Jiale struggled to get up from the kang. When she tried to step down, her legs couldn't support her, and she instantly fell on the ground.
Seeing this, Lu Mingfeng came over to help her up.
Shen Jiale gingerly touched her aching knee, a seed of doubt sprouted in her mind.
Isn't it said that one can't feel pain in dreams?
Why could she feel it?
Someone was knocking at the door from outside. Shen Jiale didn't have the time to think too much and asked, "Who is it?"
"Jiale, it’s me. Why did you lock the door? Jiang Haoran is worried about you and insisted that I come back to check on you."
Shen Jiale raised her hand, signaling Lu Mingfeng to hide.
Lu Mingfeng scratched his head, feeling shame for what he had just done. He did a good deed just now, and Shen Zhiqing would surely thank him afterward and have a good impression of him. But why couldn't he resist kissing Shen Zhiqing, even getting caught red-handed?
If anyone found out that he and Shen Zhiqing were alone in the room, Shen Zhiqing's reputation would be ruined, and she would hate him for sure.
He would better hide first, and then explain to Shen Zhiqing later.
Female educated youth all lived together, there was no place to hide in the room, Shen Jiale pointed at the window.
Lu Mingfeng went to the window, listened outside for a while, then opened the window and jumped out. He even closed the window before leaving.
Seeing Lu Mingfeng leave, Shen Jiale slowly went over to open the door.
As soon as the door opened, Wang Yanhong and Jiang Haoran were standing outside.
Seeing Shen Jiale, Wang Yanhong grabbed her hand and asked, "Are you okay?"
Looking at these two people who had betrayed her, Shen Jiale really wanted to pick up the bench beside her and smash it at them, but she was too weak right now.
Seeing Shen Jiale's weak body and disheveled hair, Jiang Haoran also anxiously asked her how she was.
Shen Jiale said irritably, "I'm just not feeling well, what are you guys hoping would happened to me?"
Wang Yanhong helped Shen Jiale sit on the kang
heated brick bed commonly used in northern China
, saying, "We're just worried about you. When Jiang Haoran heard you weren't feeling well, he immediately pulled me to visit you."
"I want to rest now." Shen Jiale didn't want to spend another second looking at the two of them.
Seeing that Shen Jiale didn't want to talk, the two expressed their concern briefly and then went off to work.
Before leaving, Wang Yanhong looked around the room, then closed the door and left.
Shen Jiale watched all this happen.
After the two left, Shen Jiale pinched her thigh hard.
"Hiss~" It hurt which means it wasn't a dream.
That meant she had been reincarnated.
She had reincarnated to the year 1970, when she was 18 and was a sent-down youth in Yaoshui Village.
Perhaps it was because she awoke in time; her clothes were still properly worn, and aside from feeling weak, there was no discomfort in her body.
This meant she hadn't been violated.
In her past life, she had woken up to find herself completely naked under a blanket after being roused by Wang Yanhong. She was terrified.
Wang Yanhong and Jiang Haoran then told her she had been violated. She felt as if she had been struck by thunder, her mind went blank, and she wished she could just die right then and there.
Now, in this life, if Lu Mingfeng truly harbored ill-intent, she wouldn't be able to resist.
But Lu Mingfeng did not act maliciously.
In her previous life, after such an incident, Shen Jiale always lived in shame. Wang Yanhong and Jiang Haoran managed to comfort her, urging her to think of her family, encouraging the people around her to care for her, and thus she managed to persist.
Thinking back now, if such a thing hadn’t happened, she wouldn't have hastily agreed to Jiang Haoran's proposal.
She had always considered these two people, apart from her family, to be the most important ones in her life. Yet, they were always scheming against her, making her raise their son not to mention, causing the demise of her brother and sister-in-law.
Now that fate had given her a second chance, Shen Jiale swore that in this lifetime, she would personally avenge the wrongs done to her brother, sister-in-law and herself.