In the solitary courtyard, the fire blazed up to the sky. At the top of the adjacent villa, a petite figure swayed dangerously, as though a gust of wind could blow her straight into the burning yard below.
"You acknowledged me as your daughter again just for the sake of your precious daughter Gu Mingzhu, right?"
Xu Nianhua's face was ashen as she looked indifferently at the man before her, her biological father by blood.
"Just say the word, and I'll save Gu Mingzhu, even if it costs me my life, I wouldn't refuse, I'd be willing."
The glaring firelight illuminated the resolve in Xu Nianhua's eyes as her tears pit-a-patted down. She choked out, "But, you clearly promised me, you would take good care of them, you promised me that."
Xu Nianhua stepped back, her crying turning into laughter, and she said, "Do you really think Gu Mingzhu can survive?"
"Hahaha~" Xu Nianhua laughed uproariously to the sky. Amid his stunned gaze, she leaped into the Sea of Fire.
She was dead, and Gu Mingzhu had no chance of living either!
"What did you do to Mingzhu?"
Gu Hai yelled at Xu Nianhua, but she had disappeared into the Sea of Fire, her figure no longer visible, and only her eerie laughter could faintly be heard.
Madness, utter madness!
...
It was uncomfortable, impossible to breathe, as if something were desperately squeezing her all around.
Xu Nianhua's instinct to survive made her struggle, trying to escape this unbearable feeling.
"Little sister."
Who was calling her?
Xu Nianhua made a great effort to open her eyes.
'Cough~'
After coughing up water, seeing Xu Nian'an, she embraced him excitedly, crying, "Second brother, I've finally seen you again. Have we been reunited in hell? Where are mom and dad, and big brother? Where are they?"
Xu Nianhua's vision was blurry with tears as she looked around at the mountains, still thinking to herself, why does this hell look so familiar?
"What reunion in hell? What nonsense are you spouting? Look, how many fingers am I holding up?" Xu Nian'an wiggled two fingers in front of Xu Nianhua.
Xu Nianhua stared blankly at Xu Nian'an and said, "Two."
"You're not silly, so why speak foolish words?" Xu Nian'an reached out to feel her forehead. It was cool to the touch, and she didn't have a fever.
"Second brother."
Suddenly, Xu Nianhua gripped Xu Nian'an tightly, feeling his warmth, and looked at him bewilderedly. She had clearly already died, so how come she woke up to see her young Second Brother?
Where was this place?
"Silly girl, why are you being so foolish? So what if you didn't do well in English? So what if you don't get accepted this year? There's always next year, isn't there?"
"I know you're worried the family's too poor to afford school, but don't worry, even if I don't go to school, I'll make sure you do."
"You don't need to worry about our grandparents either, I will persuade them to let you continue your studies."
"Little sister, you mustn't think of doing something foolish like jumping into the lake again."
Xu Nian'an's incessant words left Xu Nianhua stunned. After her memories overlapped, she recalled that during her first college entrance exam, she had missed the English exam due to a stomachache, and fearing she wouldn't be able to attend school, Xu Nianhua ran off to cry on the back mountain. Afterwards, it seemed she saw something and then accidentally slipped into the lake.
So, she was not only alive but had also returned to the past?
Xu Nianhua stared wide-eyed in shock at the placid lake surface, looking dazed and bewildered.
"Little sister, life is only once, and you must not let this upset you to the point of despair." Xu Nian'an, still thinking his little sister was troubled, tightly grasped Xu Nianhua's hand and said, "You still have mom and dad, you still have me, your second brother, and our big brother who also cares about you. You can't just leave us behind."
Startled by Xu Nian'an's urgent shouting, Xu Nianhua's consciousness gathered back. Seeing Xu Nian'an so anxious and worried she might jump into the lake, she suddenly laughed and said, "Second brother, I didn't jump into the lake."