After that, Pei Jiangmu and Meng Ruozhao grew up together like childhood sweethearts.
Or, to be more precise, Pei Jiangmu personally planned and participated in most of Meng Ruozhao's growth trajectory.
He "advised" her adoptive parents on which primary school and which middle school she should attend, after taking into account her interests and abilities.
He naturally kept her following in his footsteps and made her his junior schoolmate.
He screened her friends for her and isolated all possible malice and harm -
Although most of the time, his way of isolation was overly domineering and paranoid.
He remembered that her first menstruation happened during a study - tour activity.
She was so scared that her face turned pale and she didn't know what to do.
It was him who, with a blushing face, rushed to the nearby supermarket.
Then, under the surprised looks of the shop assistants, he calmly bought back sanitary pads of various brands and types.
He even managed to find a physiology handbook and a pack of brown sugar from somewhere.
He stuffed the things into her hands and told her in a fierce tone to go to the toilet and take care of it herself, while his ear - roots were red as if they were bleeding.
Moreover, he was present at every important juncture in her life.
Her birthdays, her first stage performance, the moment she won the design competition trophy... He was there at every moment.
He was like a silent and loyal guardian, as well as a paranoid territory - marker, firmly marking her within his own territory.
They relied on each other and redeemed each other.
He was the floating log she grabbed onto again after being abandoned by the whole world.
She, on the other hand, was the only warmth and vitality he could feel in the coldness of his family and the traumas of his childhood.
He taught her how to protect herself in a complex environment and how to become strong.
And she, with her smiles and presence, gradually melted the ice in his heart bit by bit.
They were the most special existences in each other's lives.
They were a deep - rooted habit and an inseparable symbiosis.
So he never thought that one day, she would want to escape from him.
And precisely because he had never thought of it, he was extremely angry.
...
"Smash."
The sound of a broken glass pulled Pei Jiangmu out of his memories.
Inside the factory building, the struggle among the three members of the Du family had reached a fever pitch.
Du Xixi's hair was in a mess, and there were scratch marks on her face.
Du Changlin was black and blue all over and trembling all over.
Du Feng was out of breath, with his old face flushed.
And the "safe" glass of wine had been knocked over on the ground during the struggle.
It was Du Feng who reacted first. He pounced on the ground, not caring about his dignity or the dirt, and tried to drink the remaining wine on the ground.
Then he shouted, "It's me who drank the third glass. It's me. I don't need to choose. I don't need to choose..."
Du Xixi and Du Changlin, who just then realized what had happened, collapsed on the ground as if they had lost all their strength.
"Then you three, hurry up."
Pei Jiangmu's cold voice sounded, and his subordinates immediately brought the glasses in front of the three of them.
Their crying, begging, threatening, and anger were all in vain.
Finally, Pei Jiangmu got impatient. With a wave of his hand, someone picked up the glasses and forced them to drink.
"They're really all cowards."
He gave a cold comment.
If they had been a bit more heroic and drunk the wine on their own initiative at this moment, he might have thought more highly of them.
It was a pity that none of them had any backbone.
After the three of them were forced to drink the wine, they all looked ashen - faced and lay on the ground, nervously feeling the changes in their bodies, fearing that the excruciating pain would come the next moment.
Pei Jiangmu watched their reactions with great interest, just like observing white mice in a laboratory.
Only Du Feng had an ecstatic look on his face, as if he had survived a disaster.
However, Pei Jiangmu's next words sent him back to hell again.
"Oh, I forgot to say that the third glass was also poisoned. A family should be in the same boat, right?"
"It's just a little joke. You shouldn't mind, right?"
The three of them froze instantly.
It meant that the glimmer of hope they had fought for so disgracefully was all fake?
"Hahaha, old man, you deserve it. You thought you could live?"
"You're the one who has done the most evil. You can't live at all. Hahaha, you deserve it, you deserve it!"
Du Xixi laughed maniacally.
The struggle they thought was smart was actually a well - designed death game by this demon from the very beginning.
He never intended to spare them.
Pei Jiangmu didn't look at them anymore. He stood up and straightened his perfectly neat sleeves.
"Clean up the mess."
He gave a calm order, then turned around and walked out of the factory building.
Behind him came the desperate and crazy wailing and cursing of Du Feng and the others as they realized that death was inevitable.
The sunlight shone through the holes in the factory building, casting a long, lonely and dark shadow behind him.
His Ruozhao was still lying in the hospital.
The blood and pain of these people were just the beginning.
He would never spare anyone who had hurt her or tried to separate them.
...
In the corridor outside the intensive care unit, the lights were always a pale white.
The cold and pungent smell of disinfectant filled the air, freezing all emotions carefully.
Pei Jiangmu stood quietly outside the huge glass window, staring at the figure lying on the hospital bed inside, with all kinds of tubes inserted into her body and connected to the cold instruments.
Meng Ruozhao's face was still as pale as if it were transparent. Her breathing was weak, and she relied entirely on the instruments to maintain her life.
She was like a fragile glass doll, sleeping quietly and knowing nothing about the outside world, including the man who had caused a blood - bath for her.
In just a few days, Pei Jiangmu had lost a lot of weight.
There were dark circles under his eyes, and stubble had grown on his chin.
The always noble and tidy man now had his coat casually draped over his arm, and the collar of his shirt was slightly open, showing an undisguised sense of exhaustion and fragmentation.
Only his eyes, when looking into the ward, were still terrifyingly persistent, as if he wanted to transmit his vitality through his gaze.
I don't know how long it had passed when a series of hasty and heavy footsteps came from afar, breaking the silence of the corridor.
Pei Jingdu rushed over in a hurry, with an undisguised look of anxiety and anger on his face.
He saw his younger brother by the window at a glance, who seemed to be on the verge of breaking at any moment. His heart ached as if it had been severely pinched.
But following that was greater fear and anger.
He stepped forward a few steps and grabbed Pei Jiangmu's arm with such force that it almost broke his bone. He growled in a suppressed voice.
"Pei Jiangmu! Are you really crazy?!"
Pei Jiangmu's body stiffened slightly, but he didn't turn back. His eyes were still fixed on Meng Ruozhao.
Seeing his unyielding attitude, Pei Jingdu's anger flared even more.
"Do you know what you're doing now?! Four people from the Du family have disappeared at the same time! And Wu Qian can't be reached either!"
"You've caused such a stir and blatantly taken revenge. Are you afraid that others won't be able to catch your handle?!"
He forcefully turned Pei Jiangmu's body around, forcing him to face himself.
Then he stared into his deep eyes, which were now so empty that it made people feel panicked.
"I heard that you took the four members of the Du family to the suburbs? What do you want to do? Huh?!"
"Do you really want to cause a few deaths to be satisfied? Do you think the law is just for show? If things really get out of hand, the Pei family won't be able to protect you either!"