'Mm,' came the reply from the phone before it was disconnected.

At that moment, the small truck parked a hundred meters away at the intersection suddenly started. The driver was a middle-aged man who tossed his phone aside and took a fierce swig of baijiu. His face flushed, filled with a mix of excitement and murderous intent.

His name was Ren Pi. Before he lost his job, he had been a manager at Li Jie's company. He was unemployed because Li Jie's company went bankrupt after offending Su Daiyi and Eighth Master. To make matters worse, Ren Pi had just been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had only a month or two left to live. Li Jie had found him and offered three hundred thousand for his family if he ran over a woman.

Ren Pi wanted to make life easier for his family before he died, so he naturally agreed.

His gaze was fixed on Ruan Tang as he stomped on the accelerator, muttering viciously, "Die… Just die already!"

VROOOOM—

The small truck accelerated continuously, quickly reaching one hundred and thirty kilometers per hour.

By the time Ruan Tang noticed the blinding headlights and instinctively raised her arm to shield her eyes, the truck was already just ten meters away.

Drunk, Ruan Tang forgot to dodge and could only stare blankly as the small truck hurtled toward her, right up until it was upon her.

In that brief instant, countless memories flashed through Ruan Tang's mind. The past twenty-plus years of her life flickered by like a movie.

In the end, the image froze on Xu Yiyi and… Xu Lai.

"Yiyi, Mommy's sorry," Ruan Tang murmured, wondering why Xu Lai would also appear in the last second of her life. And he was so close, so real.

"Then, is there anything you want to say to me?" Xu Lai asked softly.

"I don't like you, but I don't hate you either. Xu Lai, you're just a despicable scoundrel! You wasted five years of my life and ruined it completely!" Fueled by the alcohol, Ruan Tang shouted out the grievances buried in her heart.

Xu Lai, who had just teleported, felt his expression darken. So in her heart, nothing had changed after all.

Immediately after, Ruan Tang reached out, caressed Xu Lai's cheek, and said softly, "So, please, find me earlier in your next life. Don't you dare disappear again."

With that, Ruan Tang collapsed into Xu Lai's arms, closed her eyes, and waited for the impact.

Xu Lai paused for a moment before a happy chuckle escaped him. Gently ruffling Ruan Tang's hair, he murmured to himself, "What a foolish woman."

Xu Lai looked at the truck, now frozen in place a step away, and his radiant smile slowly faded.

The middle-aged driver's face was a mask of terror. He discovered that the truck was floating in mid-air!

"In your next life, remember to be a good person," Xu Lai said faintly.

A breeze swept by, and the small truck crumbled into dust that scattered in the wind.

...

Not far away, Li Jie sat in his black sedan, drenched in cold sweat.

The class reunion at Mingyue Tea House had cost him everything. His company had collapsed, and his friends and relatives were now avoiding him like the plague.

So he wanted revenge on Ruan Tang! It was all that bitch's fault. If she had just said yes to him earlier, none of this would have happened!

But Xu Lai had appeared like a ghost, and then the small truck had disintegrated into ash…

"Xu Lai isn't human… he's not human…"

Li Jie was consumed by terror. He trembled as he tried to start the car and flee, but it was a futile effort. The car simply wouldn't start. Sweat poured from his forehead, but no matter how he twisted the key, the car seemed to be broken.

Wait—

His arm and the car suddenly began to disintegrate, turning to ash piece by piece.

Li Jie was stunned.

But he didn't even have a chance to leave a single last word before he dissipated completely from the world, ceasing to exist.

Xu Lai silently withdrew his gaze and held Ruan Tang tighter in his arms.

He had a good temperament; after experiencing everything over a hundred thousand years, the passage of time had smoothed away all his sharp edges. However, his temper was also terrible. Once someone crossed his bottom line, they would die. It didn't matter if you were an Immortal Venerable who dominated the Universe or an ordinary person as insignificant as an ant.

Ruan Tang and Yiyi were that bottom line.

"Xu Lai, Grandma told me that people become stars in the sky after they die. Do you think my star could be near Grandma's…?"

The intoxicated Ruan Tang was adorable, her face flushed a drunken red as she murmured like a child.

But when she opened her eyes, she was so stunned by the dazzling magnificence before her that her small mouth gradually fell open in awe. She wasn't standing on the ground, but amidst the stars.

Before her was the Milky Way.

Countless stars of various colors floated before her eyes. This wasn't a view through an astronomical telescope, nor a picture from a science magazine. Instead, huge, three-dimensional stars swirled around her.

Moreover, silvery fish were swimming through the Milky Way, looking very much like the fish Xu Lai often cooked.

"So, heaven is this beautiful," Ruan Tang exclaimed in admiration. She reached out, carefully trying to touch a silver fish, but before she could, it whooshed away without a trace.

Ruan Tang giggled. Suddenly, the lyrics of a song she loved came to mind, and she began to sing:

"I fell from the edge of a cliff, into the vastness of the starry sky. The Milky Way neither clear nor murky, not knowing how to break free…"

Standing behind her, Xu Lai smiled faintly. The starry sky was indeed beautiful, but compared to Ruan Tang's smile, it all paled in comparison.

That night, Xu Lai didn't take Ruan Tang to the movies or shopping. Instead, he held her warm little hand and they strolled through the starry sky.

This was Xu Lai's idea of romance.

...

"Mommy, get up. It's nine o'clock in the morning, you know."

The sweet voice in her ear made Ruan Tang open her eyes. She stared at Yiyi's face for a long, long time.

I didn't die? No, this is rebirth! The Almighty has given me a chance to be reborn, to make up for my regrets.

Ruan Tang's eyes moistened, and she couldn't help but hug her daughter tightly. "Yiyi…"

"Mommy, you reek of alcohol. You should drink less next time, okay?" Xu Yiyi pinched her little nose and admonished, "Daddy carried you back yesterday. Otherwise, you would've slept on the street."

Carried back?

Ruan Tang looked around. This was their bedroom at home, not a hospital. That meant she hadn't died, let alone been reborn…

"Sister, still lazing in bed?" Leaning against the doorframe, Ruan Lan said with a sly smile.

"I'm a little dizzy," Ruan Tang said, pressing a hand to her forehead.

"My brother-in-law went out to buy groceries. It's just the three of us here, so you can stop pretending," Ruan Lan said admiringly. "But you pretending to be drunk in my brother-in-law's arms yesterday, insisting that he sleep with you… Tsk, tsk, talk about womanly charm!"

Ruan Tang's face turned beet-red. "Ruan Lan, I'll hit you if you say one more word of nonsense!"

"Mommy, Auntie isn't talking nonsense. You were holding onto Daddy and talking about the Milky Way and some fish."

Xu Yiyi scratched her head, then sighed with a maturity beyond her years. "Can you adults, as parents, give your children less to worry about? I'm only a five-year-old child, you know. I'm dealing with pressure no one my age should have to face."

"..."

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