It was still raining outside. Mrs. Gu, the young lady of the Gu family, thought that the woman would stop when she saw the heavy rain. However, to her surprise, the woman rushed into the rain without hesitation. This further confirmed Mrs. Gu's belief that the woman was there to steal something. Without time to call for help, she grabbed an umbrella from the rack by the door and followed her.

But the closer she got, a strange feeling began to arise in her heart. The woman ahead appeared too thin in stature, and that piece of clothing, no matter how she looked at it, seemed extremely familiar...

Suddenly, Madame Shaofu's pupils contracted—those were Xia Ran's clothes!

No, no, no. The young lady shook her head. She rubbed her eyes in the rain, thinking that Xia Ran was already dead. How could he possibly appear here? She must have mistaken it... Or perhaps it was just a coincidence that their clothes were similar. Yes, that must be it.

But the woman's eyes, wide open in her dying moments, her piercing screams, and the hateful and despairing gaze fixed on her, kept flashing before Lady Shao's eyes. Her hand gripping the umbrella handle trembled, almost losing hold of the umbrella. With a gust of wind, it was blown right out of her hand, and the rain instantly soaked her collar and long hair. Lady Shao turned back on the steps, hurriedly reaching out to grab it.

"Ah!" She suddenly opened her eyes wide, her body uncontrollably tumbling forward.

"Bang!"

A voice sounded, and her head hit the ground heavily, as if a watermelon was falling from a great height, splattering bright red on the ground, flowing continuously along with the water and sand, dripping down the stairs.

"Demon, demon..." She stared fixedly with her eyes, gazing at the person on the steps, then went silent.

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The next day, news of Madam Gu's accident spread throughout the Gu family. It turned out that she had fallen down the steps in the backyard after stepping into a water hole, leading to her death. With Madam Gu's sudden demise, a dark cloud descended upon the Gu family, and no one was willing to take charge of canceling the agreement.

But these two incidents happened too closely together, and when Cen Xiuzhi found out, he was also stunned. Mrs. Gu, is she really dead like this?

This, regardless of the original plot or the plot after Su Che traveled through, has never happened. Moreover, it's late at night, with heavy rain outside. Why would the Madam go to the backyard alone? Could it be that something happened that night?

On the day of the incident, apart from Gu Jin and Gu Lin who were not at the Gu residence, everyone else was present. However, there was no other news circulating about that night, and it was unknown whether it was suppressed or indeed, Mrs. Gu accidentally fell down the stairs in the evening.

On the other hand, since officially entering high school, Gu Jin rarely came to Chu's house to look for Cen Xiu Zhi. He didn't know what he was busy with, but Cen Xiu Zhi knew that he had his own plans, so he didn't want to disturb him too much.

Gu Jin and Cen Xiu Zhi attended the same high school, but they were in different areas during their first and third years of high school. Chen Yi Han was two grades higher than Gu Jin. Although Cen Xiu Zhi and Chen Yi Han were in the same grade, they were in different classes. During their first year of high school, Gu Jin attended a nearby high school affiliated with his middle school in order to accompany Cen Xiu Zhi. However, after Gu Jin was admitted to Cen Xiu Zhi's school, his family arranged for him to transfer to a regular class.

After class, Chen Yihan waited outside for Gu Jin to come out. As they were walking towards the cafeteria, suddenly a girl darted from the side and stuffed a pink letter card into Gu Jin's hand, saying, "P-please, take this!" Then she quickly ran away.

Gu Jin quickly realized what was happening and said to Chen Yihan, "You go and have your meal first, I will return this to her."

This is not the first time something like this has happened. Every time, Gu Jin politely refuses. Chen Yihan asked, "Young Master, why don't you tell others about your engagement with Mr. Chu?"

After entering high school, Gu Jin's height rapidly shot up, and his childish face gradually matured. One could vaguely foresee how his future face would drive women crazy with infatuation. However, his complexion appeared icy white. When he didn't smile, his expression seemed chilling, always giving people a shudder-inducing feeling.

It must be said that Gu Jin is truly a person worthy of possessing the Gu Lin genes. Even though he experienced exclusion and suppression during his childhood, as he grew up, that inherent sense of oppression still clung to him. The longer time went on, the more Chen Yihan understood why Su Che wanted to target Gu Jin so early on.

Hearing Chen Yihan's words, Gu Jin's tone turned slightly colder: "The engagement with the Chu family? If my mother were still alive, I would be free now."

Chen Yihan paused for a moment, then turned to look at Gu Jin.

Gu Jindao: "Why are you so surprised?"

Chen Yihan lowered her gaze and said, "I thought the young master really liked Mr. Chu."

"If I don't let Chu Fan think that I like him, the Chu family has no value for me," Gu Jin said. "Well, it's fine. Not canceling the engagement is also good. I am doing this now to protect someone important. Until that goal is achieved, I still need the Chu family's help."

Chen Yihan's eyelids twitched, "When you say an important person, are you referring to...?"

"You don't need to know about this." Gu Jin smiled and, after saying that, walked in the direction the girl had left.

Chen Yihan watched Gu Jin's departing figure and quickly revealed a mocking smile in his eyes. He and Gu Jin had always been inseparable, so it was not surprising that Gu Jin would confide his thoughts to Chen Yihan, as Chen Yihan was the person closest to him right now.

He had already guessed that the important person Gu Jin mentioned was Su Che, but he didn't expect Chu Fan to wholeheartedly stay by Gu Jin's side and end up being used as a stepping stone. It's truly pitiful. Thinking of Chu Fan, Chen Yihan felt a strange sensation in his heart, shook his head, and walked towards the direction of the cafeteria.

Gu Jin walked down the corridor and stopped when he reached the trash can by the doorway.

Afterwards, he took out the letter and tore it into small pieces before tossing them all into the trash bin.

Cen Xiuzhi was still waiting for him on the rooftop. After Gu Jin used the key to unlock the door and walked up, Cen Xiuzhi finally turned his head and looked at him, furrowing his brows as he asked, "Why are you so late?"

"He needs to be sent away first." Gu Jin walked a few steps to Cen Xiu's side, his gaze falling on the lunch box on the ground, and asked, "Fan Yi ge, did you make these?"

"No," Chen Xiuzhi crouched down and opened the lid of the lunch box, "I didn't have the time during my senior year of high school, so the housekeeper brought it over."

"I won't eat then."

Gu Jin sat at the table, his head lowered as he watched Cen Xiuzhi spread the tablecloth. A glimpse of fair skin appeared beneath the loose black strands at the nape of Cen Xiuzhi's neck, causing Gu Jin to suddenly feel parched and tongue-tied.

Cen Xiuzhi's heart said that he wouldn't eat if he didn't want to, but he couldn't resist spoiling this child. In the next second, a heavy weight fell on his back, and Gu Jin's warm lips touched the skin on the back of his neck. His hands reached directly under his school uniform shirt.

"Don't touch me, Gu Jin. I have something to ask you," Cen Xiuzhi grabbed his hand and turned his head to look at him seriously. "Is there any connection between you and the death of Mrs. Gu?"

Gu Jin's hand briefly paused, and then he smiled at Cen Xiu Zhi, "Brother Fan Yi, what are you saying? I was staying at school on the day the Madame passed away, so of course I had nothing to do with it."