Only she knew who was in her dream.

At that time, a white woman sat up on her mattress and walked over to the one at the most corner. After standing there and looking for quite some time, she picked out a tiny piece of gold and placed it at Xia Ruoxin’s head area. Of course, Xia Ruoxin did not know anything as she was dead tired, including Shen Wei who was sleeping beside her.

After all that she had done, the woman with a high nose secretly crawled back to her mattress and lay down. She smirked, and the smile was mixed with coldness and harshness.

The next day, there was a loud band on the door; and Xia Ruoxin sat up. She did not think much and instinctively took her clothes to wear. Once she finished wearing them, the fat woman came over; and there were a few big-sized henchmen beside her.

With this impressive entry, Xia Ruoxin knew that someone had not handed in the gold again so she came over to catch the thief.

Everyone squatted down in understanding and allowed them to flip their stuff. When these people’s hands were on it, everything on the mattress would fall to the floor, including the toilet papers that Xia Ruoxin used as a pillow.

When the thin blanket was pulled open, a small sack was found. The woman took the sack over and opened it, and her face darkened.

Shen Wei held Xia Ruoxin’s arm.

Xia Ruoxin shook her head. She had no clue. She had never seen this in her life.

The fat woman made some gestures, and quickly, two women had Xia Ruoxin’s left and right arm, dragging her out of the place. She turned around and shook her head towards Shen Wei before mouthing,

‘Don’t care about me. Don’t move.’

When she was done, she turned back and was clearly clueless.

It was her first time at this lone house with nothing inside. Before she could think much, a slap had already landed on her face.

The fat woman walked in front of her before slapping her again and started saying words that Xia Ruoxin did not understand. Even though Xia Ruoxin did not get it, many of the languages in this world were similar; and she must have been saying how she stole the gold and she was now going to get punished.

Xia Ruoxin tore the corner of her lips and followed by the pain of the tear, her lips were broken; and this was only the beginning.

Piak! A stick landed on her leg, and her knees instinctively caved in as she knelt on the floor. Humans were made out of flesh and blood; how could they not hurt and not feel pain? However, at this place, she knew very clearly that no matter how hard she screamed, no one would come to her rescue.

Another stick landed, and this time, it struck her hand. Suddenly, her hands swelled up; and it was a blur between her blood and her meat.

“Save me…” Her dry lips moved from time to time, but she could not make a sound.

“Save me…

“Save me…

“Chu Lui, save me…”

Again, she could not take it and yelled miserably as another stick landed on her originally hurt left arm.

Vaguely, Shen Wei could hear Xia Ruoxin’s cries. Even though she did not know what Xia Ruoxin was experiencing, she had to use all of her body’s might to stop herself from being impulsive and rushing forward.

Her gaze landed on the woman with a high nose, and once she noticed it, she quickly turned around nonchalantly. At this time, everyone was starting to be petrified by the cries that struck their ears from time to time. Only the woman with a high nose could be nonchalant and even bite on her fingernails.

Another stick landed, and it directly hit Xia Ruoxin’s forehead. She opened her eyes, and there was only a sea of red in front of her.

…

“Ruoxin!” Chu Lui suddenly sat up. He closed his eyes, and his forehead was filled with sweat… even the pajamas he was wearing were drenched.

He turned around and saw Rainy sleeping soundly with her cheeks as red as ever. He adjusted the blanket for his daughter before getting off the bed, taking out the lighter and the cigarette from the drawer and heading to the balcony.

He could not pinpoint his feelings, but he just could not sleep all of a sudden.

He took a huge breath of the smoke. The smoke went from his nose to his lungs, and it numbed it for a second or so before it became clear amongst his breathing.

He took another mouthful and as he leaned against the balcony, mouthful after mouthful, stick after stick. The street lights were still bright, and there were pockets of pedestrians and cars on the streets. He squinted, and the warm street lights seemed to rise to heaven.

The sky was clear and was filled with stars. Not far away, Venus was still hovering above his head.

The sky was about to brighten, but why was it so slow?

He took another puff, and the wind blew over. Perhaps it was because of the weather or his body condition, he suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

The wind blew away the sweat on his forehead, but his clothes were still wet.

He extinguished the flame and took another stick. After some time, Venus started to darken while the horizon started to lighten up. Between the stars and the moon, there was the sky that was currently grayish.

It seemed like it was about to rain. He looked far and wide, and there were already a few cigarette heads thrown by him at the balcony. The wind blew over and took away the nicotine smell on his body, but it could not remove the cloudiness in his heart.

He put out the smoke again, and he went into the room. A warm gush of air welcomed him, but there was not much warmth in his eyes.

He opened the door and found the child still sleeping obediently. She really knew how to recognize people: in the past, she recognized her mother; and now, she recognized her father. If her father did not come home, she would not sleep. She wanted her father to feed her and him to tell her stories.

He understood that his daughter was starting to depend on him which was what he wanted all along, but not with this type of ending. He was not willing to sacrifice Rainy’s mother to fulfill his fatherly love.

If he could choose, he rather Rainy called him ‘Uncle’; and both the mother and daughter were still around.

“Mommy.”

The small child used her hand to grab her blanket.

Chu Lui walked over, sat beside her daughter, and held her small hands in his big palm. “Behave, baby. Don’t worry. Daddy will find Mommy back for you. Definitely.”