PDLP Chapter 63 Lin Zhou was stunned: What exactly happened 7 years ago?
Chapter 63 Lin Zhou was stunned: What exactly happened 7 years ago?
The excruciating pain deep in my mind felt like countless red-hot steel needles were churning wildly.
The orange in Lin Zhou's hand was crushed to pieces, its sour juice dripping from between his fingers onto the dusty ground, but he was completely unaware. His features were slightly contorted with pain, and cold sweat poured down his forehead like beads from a broken string, instantly soaking the stray hairs on his forehead.
Not right.
This is not just a headache; it's more like a violent earthquake on a level of consciousness.
In his understanding, or rather, in the "original owner's memories" he received after transmigrating, the plot was clearly like this:
Eighteen-year-old Lin Zhou is a complete loser. His family has fallen on hard times, his parents have passed away, and he is so poor that he can't even afford to eat. Yet, he still shamelessly pesters the high and mighty school beauty, Su Qingge, like a mangy dog.
Taking advantage of Su Qingge's misfortune and abandonment by her family, he used some dishonorable means—perhaps moral blackmail, perhaps relentless harassment, or even taking advantage of her vulnerability—to force her to register their marriage.
For the past seven years, he has lived with the guilt of "I am a despicable person" and has taken Su Qingge's indifference and disdain for granted.
But now, Su Qingge stands on the stage, in front of the whole world, and tells him with tears in her eyes:
not like this.
You saved me. You gave me a home. You used all your savings to pay my breach of contract penalty. You willingly confined yourself to a self-imposed prison, remaining invisible for seven years to fulfill my dreams.
Two completely different scripts collided wildly in Lin Zhou's mind, sparks flying everywhere.
"Well……"
Lin Zhou let out a painful groan, clutching his head tightly with both hands, his body sliding uncontrollably downwards.
The cheers and commotion around us seemed to turn into distorted electrical sounds at this moment, sometimes near, sometimes far, and indistinct.
"Lin Zhou!"
An anxious call pierced my eardrums.
A fragrant breeze wafted over, and then a pair of soft, slightly cool hands cupped his face.
Su Qingge panicked.
She had just been immersed in the emotion and shyness of confessing her feelings, waiting for Lin Zhou's response. But when she ran off the stage and saw Lin Zhou's deathly pale face and his head covered in sweat, all her romantic thoughts vanished instantly, leaving only a heart full of panic.
"What's wrong? Don't scare me! Are you feeling unwell?"
Su Qingge squatted down in front of him, ignoring the dust on the ground that had soiled her skirt. She took out tissues from her bag and hurriedly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, her movements incredibly gentle, her eyes filled with concern that was about to overflow.
"Is it because your blood sugar is low? Or was that orange too sour?"
The live stream cameras faithfully recorded this scene.
The barrage of comments that were initially encouraging people to "give each other a kiss" instantly turned into a screen full of question marks and worries.
"Holy crap? What's wrong with Lin Zhou? He looks like he's in so much pain!"
"Could he have fainted from excitement? After all, being publicly confessed to by a superstar is a blessing that most people can't handle."
"It doesn't look like acting at all; her face is so pale. Goddess Su is so gentle! That gesture of wiping her sweat... I'm speechless!"
"This is love! One second she's a cold, aloof queen, the next she's a gentle, loving wife. Lin Zhou, if you dare to betray her, I'll be the first to object!"
Lin Zhou couldn't hear anything from the outside world at this moment.
His consciousness seemed to be caught in a huge vortex, constantly falling.
Just when he felt his brain was about to explode, that familiar, cold, mechanical synthesized voice suddenly rang out from the depths of his mind.
[Ding! Extremely intense emotional fluctuations detected in the host!]
[WARNING: The external information (Su Qingge's letter) has a serious logical conflict with the implanted memory!]
[Data correction in progress... The fog of memory is dissipating... Current progress: 5%...]
The system's voice acted like a tranquilizer, slightly relieving the excruciating, tearing pain.
A fog of memory?
Implanted memories?
Although Lin Zhou had a splitting headache, his mind became unusually clear at this moment.
Could it be that the "original owner's memories" he inherited when he transmigrated were altered? Or were they incomplete?
The so-called "simp" and "gold digger" are just appearances, aren't they?
Is the true past sealed beneath this veil of mystery?
"Honey? Say something! Don't scare me!"
Seeing that Lin Zhou kept his eyes closed and didn't speak, Su Qingge was so anxious that tears were about to fall again. She didn't care about her image and directly pulled Lin Zhou's head into her arms, letting him rest against her soft chest. She kept stroking his back with one hand, trying to help him catch his breath.
"Are you too tired? I shouldn't have made you write the letter, and I shouldn't have forced you to go on stage..."
She muttered to herself in self-reproach, her voice trembling with tears.
Lin Zhou leaned against that warm embrace, the familiar fragrance of Su Qingge lingering around his nose.
The smell gradually relaxed his tense nerves.
He struggled to open his eyes, his vision still somewhat blurry.
What came into view was Su Qingge's face, so close to his, filled with anxiety and love.
His image was reflected in those eyes, focused and affectionate.
This is definitely not an act.
If the original owner was truly a scoundrel who took advantage of others, how could a proud woman like Su Qingge possibly look at him like that seven years later?
There is only one truth.
That's what Su Qingge said in her letter; that's the truth.
"I'm fine..."
Lin Zhou spoke weakly, his voice terribly hoarse. He raised his hand and, with some effort, grasped Su Qingge's hand that was wiping his sweat, managing a reassuring smile:
"Maybe...maybe I was too excited. Honey, that letter you just wrote...it was a bit too much for my little heart to handle."
Hearing that he could still joke, Su Qingge finally felt half relieved.
She burst into laughter through her tears, playfully punching his chest, but not with any real force.
"You scared me to death! I thought something had happened to you! You're so pathetic!"
Although she complained, she didn't let go. Instead, she hugged him even tighter, as if she were guarding a lost treasure that had been found again.
Seeing this, the surrounding villagers and guests breathed a sigh of relief and then burst into good-natured laughter.
Holding a megaphone, Yan Min jokingly remarked, "Looks like Lin Zhou's dad's been blinded by happiness! Cut this part out... Oh wait, this part absolutely has to air! This is what true emotion looks like!"
However, only Lin Zhou himself knew that things were far from that simple.
As the system notification faded, a tiny crack seemed to appear in the fog deep within my mind.
A torrent of memories, both strange and familiar, surged forth through that crack.
The surrounding bonfire, crowds, and noise seemed to fade in color at this moment, turning into a black and white backdrop.
Lin Zhou felt as if he had traveled through time and returned to that summer seven years ago.
That summer that changed the fate of him and Su Qingge.
"Splash—"
The deafening sound of rain filled my ears.
It was a rare downpour; the rain poured down from the sky like water being splashed, hitting the ground and creating sprays of water.
The whole world was shrouded in rain, becoming blurred and indistinct.
The scene changes.
It was a cramped, damp, and musty old-fashioned rental room.
That was the only place in the city where the original owner's family had fallen on hard times.
Young Lin Zhou—or rather, seven years ago—was wearing a faded vest, sitting in front of a table full of instant noodle buckets, staring blankly at the computer screen.
The screen displayed countless rejected resumes and a message indicating that the bank card balance was less than two hundred yuan.
At the end of the road.
Just then.
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
A sudden, urgent, and violent knocking broke through the sound of rain and exploded in the quiet night.
The voice sounded somewhat panicked, somewhat desperate, and even carried a hint of... a plea for help.
Lin Zhou, in his memory, paused for a moment, then got up and walked to the door.
After hesitating for a moment, he reached out and grasped the cold doorknob, slowly turning it open.
"Squeak—"
The old security door let out a piercing groan and slowly opened.
A damp, cold draft mixed with rain hit my face.
But outside the door, in that dark stairwell where the rain was pouring down.
Standing there was a girl who was soaking wet and looked utterly disheveled.
She was wearing a thin white dress, now completely soaked, clinging to her body and outlining her trembling form. Her long, black hair was disheveled and plastered to her face, with raindrops constantly dripping from the ends.
She was barefoot, her ankles covered in mud and abrasions.
She looked up.
His face was as pale as paper, devoid of any color, but his eyes shone with an astonishing brightness, burning with a desperate madness and...despair.
Lin Zhou's pupils suddenly contracted.
That is……
Su Qingge, 20 years old.
The scene from my memory is frozen here, as clear as if it were right before my eyes.
In reality, Lin Zhou leaned against Su Qingge's chest, slowly closed his eyes, and tried to capture the truth that was about to surface.
He heard the girl from his memory speak her first words to him in a trembling yet firm voice:
"Lin Zhou, please... marry me."