Fifteen thousand and fifteen

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After catching Xu Hanrui’s look, Xu Mengrui’s palms began to sweat behind the study door, her heart filled with resentment. She had witnessed Xu Hanrui’s favoritism toward Xu Luofu before. Except for the time Xu Luofu caused a scene that left him utterly humiliated, Xu Hanrui had never looked at her with such eyes.

Both were his daughters, after all…

Xu Mengrui closed her eyes, alarm bells ringing loudly in her mind. Who was he just speaking to? Could it have been Song Mo?

Before she could dwell on it further, a WeChat notification sounded. She saw that Li Chongjing had finally accepted her friend request.

At last! Although Tao Yuzhe hadn’t mentioned any unusual attitude from Li Chongjing toward Xu Luofu these past few days, she was still deeply worried and had even begun considering how to transfer Xu Luofu to another school.

She hurried back to her room.

Xu Mengrui: Hello, Li Chongjing. I want to ask if you received a letter some time ago?

After a while, Li Chongjing replied: What letter?

As expected, he hadn’t received it! Registered mail really was unreliable; she should have sent it by courier.

Xu Mengrui sighed in relief, then sent Li Chongjing a document.

The last letter she sent to Li Chongjing had been typed up and printed from a document, and she still had the draft. During the wait for Li Chongjing to accept her friend request, she had browsed through it and felt it wasn’t detailed enough. Xu Luofu’s evils were indescribable, an endless litany.

So, as she read, she couldn’t help but keep adding more and more—several entries each day, turning the original few pages into many more.

When Li Chongjing downloaded the document, he saw a super detailed account titled “The Life of Xu Luofu (Previous Life Version)” from Xu Mengrui’s perspective.

This time, Li Chongjing finally read it carefully.

From Xu Mengrui’s writing, one could sense how much she loathed Xu Luofu. Though she tried to maintain a mature and composed image, her deeply ingrained prejudice and obsession seeped through every line.

In her words, Xu Luofu and her mother were thieves who stole the happiness that belonged to her and her mother; worse, they were robbers who broke into their home. Whenever they struggled to grasp some happiness, Xu Luofu and her mother couldn’t bear to see it and came to snatch it away.

Not only did they take from her; they took from others as well. Since childhood, Xu Luofu had been arrogant and ruthless, committing every imaginable evil. Her mother was like Yu Zhenghui, always cleaning up Xu Luofu’s messes, suppressing others with power and oppressing them with money.

In a future Li Chongjing did not yet know, he would be admitted to Jing A University and meet Xu Luofu there. Somehow, he would be fooled by her facade, fall in love with her, and become her devoted admirer, while she toyed with his feelings for amusement, never reciprocating or offering anything in return.

He would be manipulated, emptied of his wealth, dragged into wrongdoing, and even after her death, remain obsessed, ultimately meeting an untimely, violent end.

The evils Xu Luofu inflicted on Xu Mengrui included physical abuse, verbal insults, framing, bullying, isolation, causing a miscarriage, and much more.

This part was written with particular detail, as if it had truly happened, making Li Chongjing frown deeply, his eyes filled with disgust.

But this disgust was no longer aimed at the losses he suffered—being drained of money and dragged into misdeeds—nor was it truly directed at Xu Luofu. It was aimed at Xu Mengrui herself.

She painted herself as so innocent, yet the facts he saw were that she and her mother had destroyed Xu Luofu’s family, driving them out of the capital to separate cities thousands of kilometers apart.

Xu Luofu did hit people, but never initiated; she only retaliated.

She even helped children bullied by unruly kids, taught them manners, and bravely protected him from a perverted exhibitionist bully.

People tend to beautify themselves and vilify their enemies.

Li Chongjing suppressed his nausea; he still needed to fish for more information. Xu Mengrui was strange—always targeting Xu Luofu and seemingly trying to recruit him. He wanted to find out the truth before getting trapped.

Li Chongjing: Are you writing a novel?

Xu Mengrui: I’ve always had more inspiration than others since childhood. These have all been dreams I’ve had, and later I realized they were true events that would happen in the future.

This was a carefully considered explanation; she couldn’t mention rebirth, but claiming prophetic dreams was plausible, as the world was full of strange stories, easily found online.

Moreover, this explanation gave her agency—if anything was wrong, she could simply say she made it up, while those who believed blindly would be fools.

Li Chongjing narrowed his eyes, pondering for a moment, then asked: So you took your mother to the capital ahead of time to confront Xu Hanrui and preemptively oust Xu Luofu and her mother?

Xu Mengrui had hidden her name in the document, writing from a third-party perspective, but Li Chongjing was fishing.

Xu Mengrui’s heart jumped as she was exposed, but after a few minutes of silence, she gave up denying it.

Xu Mengrui: That’s right. If someone foresees a terrible fate, wouldn’t they try to change it? I’m telling you this for your own good, hoping you’ll change your destiny too.

Li Chongjing: What you say sounds absurd, like a fabricated story.

Xu Mengrui: If you don’t believe me, there’s nothing I can do. But I advise you to stay away from Xu Luofu; being close to her brings misfortune.

Xu Mengrui naturally hoped Li Chongjing would believe her, but she couldn’t provide proof.

In that previous life’s timeframe, she was either tormented by Yu Mingwan and others at Yuling International School or buried in her studies, unaware of lottery numbers or current news. Only in college could she have offered some evidence, but that was years away.

Besides, even if she knew the lottery numbers, she wouldn’t tell Li Chongjing. He was a business genius who rose swiftly—she would never give him such an opportunity to accumulate initial capital.

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She only wished to use this document to alert Li Chongjing to Xu Luofu’s true nature, so he wouldn’t be deceived by her mask and wouldn’t, as in their past life, pursue Xu Luofu relentlessly in and out of the marketplace, stopping at nothing to hunt her and Mo Yu.

Of course, if Li Chongjing remained stubbornly infatuated, she wouldn’t hesitate to snuff out this business prodigy before he could rise.

...

Injured, Xu Luofu had to stay home on Sunday to recover, her wound covered with medicated patches prescribed by the hospital. Yet, she felt their effect was inferior to the ointment Li Chongjing had applied, the pain unbearable, making it hard to even scroll through short videos.

Never one to burden herself, she messaged Niu Lipeng, asking him to buy medicine from the Li Family Clinic in Qinghe Ancient Town.

When Niu Lipeng arrived, Li Chongjing was assisting Chen Peirong in slicing some Chinese herbs. Recognizing him, Li Chongjing glanced behind him.

Niu Lipeng’s path was empty. His emotions were like a roller coaster, soaring then plunging.

Upon hearing he was there to buy medicine for Xu Luofu, Chen Peirong asked about her symptoms, and Li Chongjing stood up.

He retrieved a jar of pain-relief ointment and another of bone-healing ointment from behind the counter. “Use these two externally.”

“Alright, alright,” Niu Lipeng nodded repeatedly.

“Did she have an X-ray yesterday?”

“Yes… she did.”

“Were any internal medicines prescribed?”

“No... not really.”

“Then wait here for a moment.”

The honest, straightforward driver always obeyed doctors and other authoritative professionals. Though Li Chongjing appeared young, his calm and reliable demeanor gave him an aura of expertise. He scratched his buzz cut and obediently sat down.

Xu Luofu waited a long time with increasing shoulder pain, her anger rising sharply. Just as she was about to call and curse, Niu Lipeng returned with the medicine and rang the doorbell.

“Hmph, you escaped a scolding this time!”

Xu Luofu opened the door with a scowl and let him in, noticing he carried a thermos.

“What’s this?”

“The doctor prepared some decoction for you.”

“I only asked you to buy ointments.”

Niu Lipeng scratched his head. “The young doctor said you already paid for it yesterday.”

Xu Luofu paused, Li Chongjing’s face flashing in her mind. Strangely, her urge to curse lessened. She took the thermos disdainfully. “He prepared it?”

“Yeah, the young doctor sat out in the courtyard brewing it. It was quite a sight. Miss Xu, is he your classmate?”

Recalling the scene, Niu Lipeng felt a subtle charm. That boy was truly handsome, with a painterly aura.

In his life, he’d seen only two people who looked like living paintings: Li Chongjing and his current young boss, Xu Luofu. But they resembled different kinds of paintings, which he couldn’t articulate due to his lack of culture.

“What young doctor? Just a high school student,” Xu Luofu scoffed, noticing a sticky note on the thermos.

The handwriting was elegant and refined, clearly practiced.

Peeling it off and sniffing, she detected faint herbal medicine scents familiar from Li Chongjing.

“External and internal use for faster healing. Added licorice to reduce bitterness.”

“Oh, he gave this too.” Niu Lipeng pulled a lump of white substance from his pocket.

“What’s this?”

“Probably maltose candy.”

Xu Luofu took it. The white maltose lump was about the size of her fist, wrapped casually in transparent plastic film twisted into a rough knot.

She’d never seen maltose candy made so haphazardly before, and so huge. Tossing it onto the table, it hit with a hard thud, startling her.

“Who wants to eat something that’ll knock out my teeth?” she grumbled. But with her mother out and unable to apply the ointment herself, and the pain fierce, she opened the thermos and drank the medicine.

“Yuck... yuck... yuck...” she muttered, complaining about the bitterness, doubting the licorice addition.

After struggling to finish the medicine and drinking several sips of water, the bitter, odd taste lingered. She then tore open the maltose candy to lick a bit.

“Mmm? Mmm…”

Unexpectedly, the maltose tasted quite good, not as hard as it felt, sweet but not cloying, with a fresh floral fragrance.

As she licked and chewed, she unknowingly ate quite a bit.

Then Xu Luofu discovered the candy’s secret: it was filled with crushed peanuts, roasted to a fragrant crisp, creating a harmonious and delightful flavor when combined with the maltose.

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Watching anime while nibbling, Xu Luofu finished the candy completely, even feeling a bit unsatisfied. The nauseating herbal bitterness had vanished.

...

After Niu Lipeng left with the medicine and candy, Chen Peirong finally spoke to Li Chongjing.

“So this is the exception you mentioned?”

Li Chongjing tidied the herb remnants but didn’t answer.

Chen Peirong stared at him briefly, smiled, and asked again, “You’ve been at Yuling International School so long, and only now this exception appears? Let me guess... is it that terrifying transfer student?”

After that incident, Li Chongjing refused to see patients, only helping with herb preparation, avoiding any clinical work at the Li Family Clinic. Previously, when Chu Rao was injured and came for treatment, he waited for her to return to handle it, assuming no exceptions.

If there was one exception, could there be more?

Li Chongjing interrupted: “Grandma, don’t you think it’s time for Aunt Niu’s acupuncture?”

“Oh, at this hour?” Chen Peirong had no time for gossip, hurriedly grabbed her medical kit, and left.

With the jingling sound fading, the bicycle wheels rolled away.

The Li Family Clinic fell silent, filled with the scent of herbs. Sunlight streamed through the courtyard, revealing a clear blue square of sky. Goldfish played beneath lotus leaves in the water basin, and pots of various green plants and herbs swayed gently in the breeze flowing through the open door.

Qinghe Ancient Town was in its off-season, leisurely and unhurried, as if time itself moved slowly.

Li Chongjing washed the clay pot, wondering if Xu Luofu would obediently take her medicine or pour it down the sink.

Hopefully not. She was lively and restless; without medicine, who knew how long her recovery would take.

“Ding.” A WeChat notification sounded.

Li Chongjing picked up his phone and saw a voice message from Chu Rao, which he played.

Chu Rao: “Ah Chong, I got the info you asked me to find out. That company really likes to delay construction team wages, making people beg for their money. Can you believe it? Big families living in luxury, yet they torment the working class…”

Li Chongjing narrowed his eyes and checked messages in the stock trading, financial expert, and current affairs discussion groups he had joined. Someone had already answered his questions yesterday, aligning with what Chu Rao had learned.

Cross-referencing multiple sources yielded a consistent picture.

After reading the document carefully yesterday, he had screenshot certain passages and highlighted some summarized phrases, sending them to Xu Mengrui to ask who these people were and why things were like this.

Most were victims of Xu Luofu’s misdeeds, people she had bullied. Since they were unrelated to Xu Mengrui, she only mentioned them briefly.

Xu Mengrui, seeing his questions, thought he was trying to verify if she was fabricating stories. Very thorough—typical Li Chongjing.

Ha, she hadn’t lied. She quickly answered all his queries; those names and companies could be found in reality.

Li Chongjing indeed researched online and asked in groups when information was scarce, including from Chu Rao.

Now, he had a rough conclusion.

“Hmm…” Li Chongjing pondered deeply over the information, then called Xu Hui.

“Mom, introduce me to a stock trader and help me open an account.”

“What are you planning?”

“I want to study the stock market.”

Xu Mengrui claimed Xu Luofu was heartless and ruthless, bullying a friend who fell into misfortune in high school, eventually forcing that friend to transfer.

He asked for the person’s name and the reason for their family’s downfall, learning it was due to a company scandal involving a construction worker’s suicide.

A scandal and family ruin meant the company was doomed.

This was a major company, a leader in its industry. When a leader falls, second and third-tier companies and many others could profit, even altering the entire industry landscape.

Since this event happened in Xu Luofu’s high school years, it was reasonable to assume it occurred within the past two years.

Thus, if he invested in promising smaller companies now, he might earn substantial gains when the leader collapsed.

—But if this really happened, he would have to believe much of what Xu Mengrui said was true… at least most of it.