Chapter 1 A Circle

Many people think that life is a straight line, with various things arranged for you along the way, just waiting for you to walk past.

But life is more like a circle. When you think you've jumped off the straight line and start to embrace yourself and choose to resist, you walk and walk, going around in a circle, only to find that you've returned to the beginning.

The very thing you wanted to escape has reappeared before you.

"Boss!"

Yingying shouted to Zhou Ze as she climbed the stairs.

Zhou Ze hurriedly pushed the drawer back in and lay down on the bed.

He felt a little guilty.

"Boss, are you tired?"

Yingying came in and walked to Zhou Ze's side. She took off her shoes and got into bed wearing her white silk stockings. She skillfully placed Zhou Ze's head on her lap and began to massage his head.

"Not tired, I'm fine."

Just a little stimulated.

Time slowly passed. Zhou Ze lay there enjoying the massage, and Yingying diligently and gently massaged his head.

They both enjoyed this atmosphere of being alone together, especially since Zhou Ze had felt so unaccustomed to Yingying's recent coma.

"Boss, a familiar face is looking for you!"

The old Daoist downstairs shouted.

Zhou Ze could only get up with a hint of reluctance and went downstairs, finding a haggard-looking Wang Ke standing at the door.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Ze asked.

"Has Rui Rui been here?"

"No," Zhou Ze shrugged.

"She's gone. Can you help me find her? She's gone."

The usually calm and capable Wang Ke seemed very anxious.

"She's gone? Why are you looking for me? Call the police," Zhou Ze said.

"No, I was doing a new round of treatment for her mother. I thought it was successful. Her mother seemed to be doing very well, everything was normal.

But somehow, her mother suddenly pulled out a knife from her sleeve and stabbed me.

Rui Rui, who was standing next to her, reached out and grabbed the blade.

Her hand bled a lot,

Then she snatched the knife away and left, left the house.

I settled her mother down and have been looking for her ever since, but I haven't found her. It's getting dark, I'm worried."

Zhou Ze looked at Wang Ke, his gaze meaningful.

Back then, Wang Ke was able to discern his identity through some small details. Although they were childhood friends, they hadn't contacted or seen each other for many years, yet he could still recognize him.

So,

What about his daughter?

Had he never noticed anything unusual about his daughter?

She was, after all, the person closest to him.

"Don't worry, I'll go look with you."

Zhou Ze nodded, changed his clothes, and walked out of the bookstore with Wang Ke.

Little Lori wasn't just Wang Ke's daughter,

She was also Zhou Ze's subordinate,

She,

Couldn't be lost.

………………

Night fell,

Dispelling the summer heat.

A girl wearing a pleated skirt and red leather shoes, with a delicate hair clip, sat on a stone bench by the side of the road, giving off a very cute and sweet feeling.

She sat there silently,

Her eyes somewhat vacant.

She lowered her head,

And saw her hand,

Which still had a terrible gash on it, although she had bandaged it simply, it was still bleeding.

She felt somewhat lost.

When that woman thrust the knife at that man,

She almost instinctively reached out and caught the blade.

Without hesitation, without doubt,

Not caring whether she would be hurt, she just did it.

Feeling the sharp blade cut through the palm of her hand, a part of her heart seemed to tremble.

Like a beautiful dream,

Suddenly awakened,

You need to face reality.

Somewhat self-deprecating, and somewhat absurd,

Just a while ago,

She told Zhou Ze that she liked this body, liked this identity, liked the feeling of this family,

But this time,

She was a little scared.

She was Lin Ke, not Wang Rui.

In her previous life, she was a powerful woman, a state-owned enterprise manager, who made her fortune by privatizing state-owned assets during the state-owned enterprise reform, and from then on, she was unstoppable.

If she hadn't died in an accident, she might have had a place in the national market, not just in Jiangsu.

But she was starting to blur,

Blurring the past self,

Blurring the present self,

She was even starting to forget who she was, forgetting her true identity!

This was poison, an addictive poison. At first, when you swallowed it, it was sweet as honey, but when you woke up, you found yourself on the edge of a cliff.

Last time,

A corpse demon came to her home, preparing to attack her father. She had just returned from Rongcheng, seriously injured. Knowing that Zhou Ze was right next to her, she couldn't help but try to save Wang Ke.

She knew that Zhou Ze was watching, waiting, seeing if she had really returned.

She also knew that Zhou Ze was her father's childhood friend, and they had grown up together in an orphanage. Zhou Ze probably wouldn't watch Wang Ke die.

But she didn't dare to gamble,

She didn't dare to gamble Wang Ke's life on Zhou Ze's "sense of loyalty."

So she came downstairs,

She took action,

After which Zhou Ze discovered the fact that she had returned, and Zhou Ze successfully took advantage of the situation, forcing her to become his subordinate.

She had used many reasons to numb herself,

Using many excuses to perfunctorily justify herself,

But this time,

When the knife came over, that instinct,

Made her afraid.

She couldn't continue like this,

Otherwise,

She might become another of Zhou Ze's sister-in-laws.

She stood up. No matter what, she should have her wound treated at the hospital first, and then she could leave this home and go to an independent environment.

She couldn't get rid of this body for the time being, nor could she abandon it, so she needed a new environment to sever ties with everything.

As she prepared to hail a taxi, before she could raise her hand,

A taxi stopped in front of little Lori. The driver was a middle-aged man, bald, with a stubbly beard, small eyes, and a greasy face.

"Little girl, need a ride?"

Little Lori nodded and got into the car.

She wasn't afraid,

She didn't have anything to fear.

"Where to?" the driver asked little Lori, his eyes constantly scanning her body.

It was a little presumptuous,

A little excessive.

Perhaps other children wouldn't feel anything about this kind of gaze because they weren't so sensitive, but little Lori was different. Inside her lived a mature soul.

She was disgusted by the driver's gaze.

"Ah, your hand is bleeding!"

The driver saw the bandage on little Lori's hand and the blood seeping through it, and was startled, saying:

"I'll take you to the hospital."

Little Lori nodded.

The driver started the car and sped off.

But instead of going to the Tongcheng General Hospital, he turned into a small neighborhood and stopped in front of a small clinic.

"Come on, here!"

The driver took the initiative to open the car door for little Lori.

Little Lori glanced at the driver, then at the small clinic, didn't say anything, and got out of the car.

After walking in,

A male doctor came out, not young either. The driver ran over and spoke to the doctor for a while, then the doctor called little Lori over.

He slowly unwrapped the bandage on little Lori's hand, started disinfecting, applying medicine, and then re-bandaged it.

While bandaging, the doctor glared at the driver, looking very helpless.

After bandaging, the bleeding stopped.

The driver led little Lori out.

"Hungry?"

Little Lori didn't speak.

"I'll take you to get something to eat."

Little Lori still didn't speak, but still followed the driver to a nearby mala tang (spicy hot pot) shop.

The driver ordered three bottles of beer and a glass of sour plum juice for little Lori,

Canned.

Little Lori looked at the sour plum juice in front of her for a long time, lost in thought.

Had this kind of drink become so popular?

Little Lori didn't want to eat mala tang, but she couldn't resist the driver's constant urging. She randomly selected a few things, probably about thirteen yuan worth.

The driver ordered some for himself, but mostly drank beer.

The mala tang owner came over from time to time to talk to the driver.

The driver complained that he had lost money gambling on soccer and playing cards, and had been unlucky recently.

The meal of mala tang lasted about forty minutes,

The driver cursed the German team for about thirty-nine minutes,

Saying how the German team couldn't even beat the Koreans, causing him to almost go to the roof to queue up this morning.

After the meal,

The driver got up and said to little Lori:

"I'll take you home?"

Little Lori looked at the driver,

Still didn't speak.

She was in a bad mood,

Very confused,

When people are confused, they want to find something to do.

Perhaps because he had drunk some alcohol, the driver's eyes were a little red as he looked at little Lori, and his gaze had changed a bit.

"Home?" the driver asked again.

Little Lori still didn't answer.

The driver immediately slapped his head again, regretting, "Damn it, I drank alcohol, I can't drive, I can't take you back."

Little Lori's mouth twitched,

Heh.

"Where do you live? Who's at home? Did you run away from your parents after a fight?"

Little Lori nodded.

"Where do you live?" the driver asked again.

Little Lori didn't say her home address, but said the bookstore address.

"Oh, on South Street."

The driver immediately waved, and a three-wheeled motorcycle taxi nearby drove over.

The driver got on first, then signaled little Lori to get on the car as well.

The motorcycle started to drive wobbly,

Little Lori closed her eyes, giving people the feeling that she had fallen asleep.

Along the way,

The driver's eyes were red as he stared at her,

Never leaving for a moment.

Twenty minutes passed,

When little Lori opened her eyes again,

She saw that the motorcycle had arrived at the door of the bookstore.

The driver got off the car with little Lori,

Reached out and wiped his eyes,

Oh,

He was crying.

"Kid, did you run away from your parents after a fight?"

Little Lori didn't answer.

"Is this wound self-inflicted?"

Little Lori still didn't answer.

The driver took a deep breath and said:

"Go back."

Saying that, he pointed to the bookstore, "I want to watch you go back."

Little Lori turned around and walked towards the bookstore. When she reached the door of the bookstore, she stopped and turned around again.

Tilting her head slightly,

She looked at the driver with some surprise.

Yes,

Very surprised.

The driver and the motorcycle driver he knew shared a cigarette. Seeing little Lori turn around to look at him, he waved his hand and said:

"Go back quickly, I want to see your family pick you up."

"The fare."

Little Lori reached into her pocket, but found that she had left her wallet and cell phone at home.

"What are you talking about for money, forget it! Uncle has plenty of money!"

The driver waved his hand magnanimously.

"You're really generous, haha, taking a little girl to the clinic at your own door, eating mala tang at your own door, isn't it because you gambled all your money away? It's convenient for you to owe money to the neighbors at your door, right?"

The motorcycle driver said while blowing smoke rings.

"Shut your trap!"

The driver slapped the motorcycle door unhappily.

Little Lori said expressionlessly:

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, little girl, in the future, if there's anything else going on at home, don't hurt yourself, it's not worth it!

Even if you have a conflict with your parents, don't run away alone, it's too dangerous!"

"Oh."

Little Lori responded, turned around to leave, but stopped because of the driver's next sentence.

"My daughter, she ran away from home after arguing with me, and then... she was gone."