Wu Pengpeng had a long dream. In the dream, she was in a black sea area, surrounded by an endless expanse of sea.
She was floating on a small boat on the sea. Suddenly, a huge wave came and capsized both her and the boat, sinking them to the bottom of the sea.
She struggled to wake up from the suffocating feeling and found herself lying in a hospital ward.
The room was very quiet, only the ventilator making regular sounds.
Outside the window, the sun was shining brightly. It was a rare fine day in winter.
Wu Pengpeng stared blankly at the window for a while. Her head was in a daze and she couldn't remember why she was here.
Just as she reached out to remove the oxygen mask, she heard a slight noise at the door. She looked up and saw the hospital ward door being pushed open a crack.
Zhao Bufan tiptoed in, gently closed the door behind her, and when she turned around, her eyes met Wu Pengpeng's.
The two stared blankly at each other for a few seconds. Then Zhao Bufan suddenly ran over crying and threw herself on Wu Pengpeng. "Pengpeng!"
Her loud cries alerted the people outside the door, and a group of people filed in one by one.
Probably thinking that Wu Pengpeng was dead again, they were all stunned when they saw that she was intact.
Finally, Wu Junchen was the first to react. He reached out and tapped Zhao Bufan on the head, gently scolding her. "What are you doing? You scared us."
He looked down at Wu Pengpeng, his eyes full of tenderness. "Pengpeng, are you feeling better? Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?"
Wu Pengpeng shook her head and sat up dizzily.
"What happened to me?" Her voice was hoarse. Her throat felt like it had been cut by a knife, and the pain made her frown involuntarily.
Wu Junchen thought she had lost her memory again. Not wanting to mention the sad thing, he ruffled her hair and comforted her. "It's nothing. You had a bad cold..."
Wu Pengpeng listened absent - mindedly. Her head felt like it was filled with a sticky paste.
By chance, her eyes swept across the room and she suddenly saw Jiang Xinyu standing behind Wu You. That face so similar to Wu Junyu's instantly pulled out the memories that her subconscious had deliberately avoided.
The dilapidated and drafty high - rise building, the towering mountains in the distance, the gloomy and irritable Wu Junyu, and the always - smiling Jiang He...
Those memories that had been blocked by her subconscious because they were too hard to accept flashed through her mind like a fleeting shadow.
They clearly and cruelly restored the truth. A week ago, she had been kidnapped by Wu Junyu, and Jiang He had died together with the kidnapper in order to save her.
Because of her, Jiang He was dead.
This realization made the violent factors that Wu Pengpeng had deliberately avoided in her heart boil up instantly. She yanked out the needle from her hand, threw off the quilt, and was about to get out of bed.
Wu Junchen noticed the change in her mood and instinctively reached out to hold her down.
Wu Pengpeng didn't know where she got the strength, but she actually pushed Wu Junchen away.
She stumbled over to Jiang Xinyu, raised her hand, and slapped her hard across the face, shouting hoarsely. "It was your brainless instigation that killed Wu Junyu and Jiang He!"
These words were like a thunderbolt, leaving everyone stunned on the spot.
Jiang Xinyu's face turned ashen. Wu Junyu was dead?
A few days ago, Wu Junyu had told her that he was doing something big. After it was done, the Wu family would be in the pocket of their mother - and - son duo.
She wanted to ask in detail, but Wu Junyu refused to say more, saying that he was afraid it would go wrong if she knew. So she didn't ask further, but she vaguely guessed something in her heart.
She had been secretly praying that Wu Junyu would succeed and that Wu Pengpeng would completely disappear from this world. Then Wu You would no longer miss that woman.
But since yesterday afternoon, she hadn't been able to contact Wu Junyu, and Jiang He's phone was also turned off.
Although Wu Pengpeng had been rescued by He Qianshan and said that she had been kidnapped, in such a short period of time, the police hadn't investigated who the real mastermind was.
She still held out hope, thinking that Wu Junyu had escaped safely. She thought that as long as she could get rid of Wu Pengpeng when no one was paying attention, there would be no evidence left.
But since Wu Pengpeng had been sent to the hospital, the Wu family had been guarding her closely, and she had no chance to take action.
Now, suddenly hearing the sad news of Wu Junyu's death, Jiang Xinyu was completely desperate. She was in a daze for a while before bursting out a heart - rending wail.
But it was only one cry. Then she suddenly rushed at Wu Pengpeng like a madwoman, grabbing her by the neck. "I'm going to kill you. It was you who killed my son."
Wu Pengpeng was caught off guard and was almost strangled to death. She instinctively struggled.
Wu You beside them quickly tried to pull Jiang Xinyu away, but Jiang Xinyu was determined to die together with Wu Pengpeng and her strength was astonishing.
Wu You saw that Wu Pengpeng's face had turned a dark purple color. He raised his hand and slapped Jiang Xinyu hard.
This slap was extremely powerful. Blood immediately oozed from the corner of Jiang Xinyu's mouth, but she still didn't let go.
Wu Junchen and Zhao Bufan beside them quickly stepped forward to help. It took them a great deal of effort to pull Jiang Xinyu away.
Seeing that she had almost strangled Wu Pengpeng to death, Wu You was extremely angry. He raised his hand and slapped her again. "You crazy woman! You failed to teach your son well and you still dare to shift the blame onto others!"
Jiang Xinyu was slapped to the ground. Half of her face was swollen like a pig's head. She spat out a mouthful of blood and laughed maniacally. "Wu You, stop pretending to be a gentleman! The woman you like is your sister - in - law. Now, you can't even let go of your own niece?"
These words were like a heavy bomb, exploding the most embarrassing secret of the Wu family.
Wu You was like a person who had been slapped in public. He stood there stiffly, looking extremely embarrassed.
Wu Pengpeng walked over and kicked Jiang Xinyu to the ground with a kick to the chest.
She bent down, stared down at Jiang Xinyu menacingly, and said word by word. "If you dare to talk nonsense again, I'll definitely kill you!"
Soon, Jiang Xinyu was taken away by the people called by Wu Xian, and the hospital ward returned to tranquility.
Wu Pengpeng briefly told them about how she had been kidnapped by Wu Junyu and how Jiang He had died together with the kidnapper to save her.
This was a difficult and cruel process. During the telling, she had to recall everything that had happened at that time again.
Although she tried her best to hold back, when she finished the last sentence, she still couldn't help trembling slightly.
"I'm tired. You all go back!" She really didn't have the energy to deal with a group of people, even though they really cared about her.
Seeing her exhausted look, everyone had to turn around and leave.
Wu Junchen was a little worried about her, but he knew clearly that what she needed now was not comfort but to digest these things by herself.
When he reached the door, he suddenly heard Wu Pengpeng say softly. "Big brother, can you stay and accompany me?"
"Okay." Wu Junchen walked back and sat down beside the hospital bed.
She didn't say anything, and he didn't ask anything either.
The two sat in silence for a long time. Then he heard Wu Pengpeng say in a very small voice. "Big brother, when I was... there, second brother once asked me to make a choice. I could only choose one between you and him and asked who I would choose."
At that time, Wu Junyu knew that being tough with her wouldn't work, so he started to use a psychological approach. He told her the secret that he wasn't Wu You's biological son.
Maybe he thought she was going to die and it didn't matter to tell a dying person. Maybe he wanted to use this sad secret to gain her sympathy.
Or maybe, he had kept this secret for too long and was just looking for someone to talk to. It didn't matter who that person was.
"I chose you." She raised her hand to cover her eyes. After a long time, she said choking. "... He hated me until he died."
Wu Junchen looked at Wu Pengpeng who had survived a near - death experience and felt extremely heart - broken.
Actually, he had called Wu Pengpeng a few days ago, but she had declined the call, saying it was inconvenient. She had sent him several messages.
If he had observed carefully at that time, he would have found that the person who sent the messages wasn't Wu Pengpeng. Usually, when Wu Pengpeng sent messages, she was used to adding cute emojis and putting a full stop at the end of each sentence.
At that time, it should have been a distress signal from He Qianshan, but he hadn't noticed anything.
Thinking that he had almost never seen her again, Wu Junchen felt as if his heart was being stabbed by a knife. "I'm sorry, Pengpeng..."
"This is not your fault." Wu Pengpeng wiped her face, looked up, and gave him a smile. "I just want to tell you that I'm willing to trust you. Go and accompany second uncle. I want to take a nap."
After Wu Junchen had walked far away, Wu Pengpeng forced herself to endure the exhaustion and ran into the sea of consciousness to find the Heavenly Dao.
The Heavenly Dao knew that it had made a mistake in this matter and was determined to play dead.
Wu Pengpeng frowned coldly. "Get out here!"
The Heavenly Dao reluctantly showed up and said bravely on the surface but weakly inside. "What?"
Wu Pengpeng stared at him as if she was going to rush up and strangle him the next second. "Did you tell him?"
The Heavenly Dao mumbled an "um". When Jiang He had revealed the family's secret, it had also been caught off guard. But the rules were the rules and it couldn't change them.
So it deliberately let Jiang He overhear their conversation, hinting to Jiang He that only if he died could Wu Pengpeng live.
Although she had already guessed the answer, when this cruel fact was presented in front of her again, Wu Pengpeng still found it hard to accept.
"Why?"
"... Because I want you to live." The Heavenly Dao said. "You are the first person I'm guiding on the path. I don't want you to die."
All of Wu Pengpeng's words of interrogation and complaint suddenly got stuck in her throat.
It was all for her to live. What right did she have to blame others?
She walked out of the sea of consciousness in a daze, covered her head with the quilt, and cried silently.