Chapter 1

Chapter One

It was August, the hottest time of summer, and the entire city was shrouded in sweltering heat with no escape.

Until a sudden rain shower came last night.

Ji Ran was huddled on the small couch by the window, holding a book, but her gaze was fixed on the rain outside the French doors. The rain had started again in the afternoon and showed no signs of letting up.

The oppressive heat that had hung in the air was dispelled after the rain fell like a sharp sword, creating a sense of coolness that could be felt even through the window.

As Ji Ran was lost in thought, a knocking sound came from outside the door.

At first, Ji Ran didn’t want to respond, but when she had ignored the knocking yesterday and Aunt Zhao had called the family’s driver to break down her door, fearing she might do something desperate…

So, to avoid a repeat of that, Ji Ran spoke softly, “Just leave it at the door; I’ll eat it later.”

Aunt Zhao, upon hearing her speak, felt slightly relieved and placed the fruit plate on the floor.

But as Aunt Zhao left, she looked back at the door with a mixture of pity and regret.

The Ji family was a wealthy family, and this house they lived in was worth millions. In theory, it shouldn’t be Aunt Zhao’s place to sympathize with Ji Ran.

However, three days ago, Ji Ran had a high fever, and neither of her parents had come to see her. After recovering, the young girl locked herself in her room.

Aunt Zhao genuinely felt sorry for the girl.

Look at how her parents neglected her.

Moreover, not everyone knew about the Ji family’s master and madam—Ji Qingli and Pei Yuan were in the midst of a divorce.

In her room, Ji Ran withdrew her gaze and turned her head slightly to get a clearer look at herself in the dressing mirror next to her.

She was wearing a pure white nightgown, and her long, thick, and lustrous hair, untouched by any chemical dyes, fell smoothly over her shoulders.

Her facial features were not only beautifully rounded, but her skin was also delicately fair with a rosy flush. Her large black eyes were clear and watery, gleaming like glass beads.

Her innocent and charming appearance instantly transported Ji Ran back ten years.

Three days ago, Ji Ran had woken up from a high fever.

Originally, Ji Ran’s last memory was of being in a car accident, her whole body aching until she lost consciousness…

But when she woke up again, she was actually in the villa she had lived in ten years ago. After seeing her own face in the mirror for the first time, in astonishment and disbelief, Ji Ran finally confirmed one thing:

She had been reborn.

She had actually gone back to her seventeen-year-old self.

The impact of being reborn in this life was so profound for Ji Ran that she didn’t leave her room for a full three days. It wasn’t until she heard the sound of rain mixed with the sound of a car that she got up.

Ji Ran stood by the window; her room was on the second floor, and it faced the front door, so she could clearly see the car that was driving in at this moment.

It was quite a coincidence that her parents, who hadn’t shown up even when she had a persistent fever, had now returned one after the other.

The marriage of Pei Yuan and Ji Qingli had completely failed before Ji Ran’s sophomore year in high school.

Ji Ran remembered it very clearly.

She didn’t expect that in this new life, she would have to witness this divorce battle again. If there was one thing Ji Ran wanted to change in her rebirth, it definitely wouldn’t include her parents’ divorce.

She didn’t rush downstairs and waited until there was a moment of silence downstairs before she stood up.

This was the first time she had stepped out of her room since being reborn. As she walked down the stairs, she took in everything in the living room as she stood on the landing.

The Ji family’s house was elegantly decorated and had a distinctive style. After all, both Ji Qingli and Pei Yuan were excessively wealthy.

However, whether it was the chairs in the living room, the tables, or even the paintings hanging on the walls, they all had sticky notes attached. Ji Ran glanced at the painting on the wall and saw the name “Pei Yuan” written on a red sticky note.

That was her mother’s name.

Not far away, a blue sticky note had “Ji Qingli” written on it.

At this moment, Pei Yuan and Ji Qingli were sitting separately in the living room. Since the sofa had been purchased by Pei Yuan, Ji Qingli no longer had the right to sit on it, so he sat in an antique chair that he had purchased.

Both of them had relatively calm expressions; they had already argued and quarreled before.

Pei Yuan raised her head and calmly said to Ji Qingli, “I will take all the things I bought for the house with me, and our child will be with me in the future.”

Ji Qingli immediately raised his head, somewhat displeased, and said, “Why should the child belong to you?”

Originally, Ji Ran had been wondering whether to use a blue or red sticky note on herself. Now that they had started discussing, she would just listen quietly. In fact, the last time her parents divorced, Ji Ran wasn’t present at the scene.

Pei Yuan had directly sent her to the Pei family’s old house for two months, and when she returned, the assets and Ji Ran had been clearly divided.

Ji Ran went with her mother, but Ji Qingli would give a substantial amount of child support every year.

She looked at Ji Qingli, who was sitting across the room. Even though there was quite a distance between them, she could still see the challenge on his face. He didn’t actually want Ji Ran, but he was simply accustomed to not giving in to what Pei Yuan wanted.

This was a habit they had developed over the many years of their marriage.

Pei Yuan sneered, “Are you suggesting that I follow you and then become a stepmother to some unknown child?”

“Your words don’t have to be so harsh.” Ji Qingli was annoyed by her poking into his innermost thoughts, but he managed to restrain himself from getting angry.

Pei Yuan looked at him with a smirk and said, “My words are not as ugly as your actions. You can’t wait until after the divorce to start parading around with someone else.”

Ji Qingli felt like he was being backed into a corner. “Don’t push it.”

Pei Yuan looked at the man in front of her, sneered, and didn’t want to argue with him anymore. She said with a haughty tone, “I won’t argue with you anymore, and I won’t stop you. It’s up to Ji Ran to choose.”

Ji Ran quietly observed Ji Qingli, who looked much younger than he did ten years later.

Suddenly, she remembered that in her previous life, after the divorce, Ji Qingli had found a new partner rather quickly, or, to be more precise, he was in a hurry to divorce Pei Yuan because of this new partner.

Without Pei Yuan or Ji Ran to interfere, Ji Qingli, his second wife, and the daughter she brought into the marriage quickly formed a happy and harmonious family.

Originally, this didn’t have much to do with Ji Ran because, under Pei Yuan’s strict requirements, she had been admitted to Stanford University after graduating from high school, worked for a Wall Street investment bank after college, and returned to China at the age of 26.

She didn’t expect that it was only after going to City B for work that she found out that the girl known as the Ji family’s young lady was actually the daughter of her father’s second wife. This girl not only flaunted the things that belonged to Ji Ran but also came to Ji Ran with a haughty attitude.

Ji Ran didn’t care about these things, but she couldn’t allow others to take what belonged to her. Moreover, because of Pei Yuan’s attitude toward men after the divorce, she had not remarried, and her father’s second wife somehow thought that Pei Yuan still had a thing for Ji Qingli. Several times, she tried to sabotage Pei Yuan’s company from behind the scenes.

Maybe taking something from someone else was too easy, to the point where these people not only had no guilt but even became arrogant in front of the rightful owner.

Ji Ran had not yet had the chance to deal with the mother and daughter, and she was reborn.

During these three days, she had locked herself in her room, pondering that in the past ten years, she had never stopped working hard under Pei Yuan’s strict requirements. It was like finally leveling up a low-level character with great difficulty, but suddenly she was reset and had to start over from scratch.

At first, she didn’t understand the meaning of her rebirth.

Now, seeing Ji Qingli so smug, eager to leave behind everything for a brighter new life, Ji Ran suddenly understood.

It turned out that there were some people who had lived too comfortably without facing any consequences, not even from the heavens. Bringing her back made them all uncomfortable.

After all, what belonged to others had to be repaid.

“Ji Ran, what do you think?” Ji Qingli asked as she continued to stare into space without speaking, reminding her.

Ji Ran refocused her thoughts and looked at the man in front of her. Of course, she knew Ji Qingli’s intentions. He didn’t care about taking care of her; he just wanted to save face in front of Pei Yuan.

So she smiled faintly and said, “I choose Dad.”

Divorced and not having to take care of a child was indeed a good deal.

Ji Qingli had a look of astonishment on his face, clearly taken aback by Ji Ran’s choice. Beside him, Pei Yuan chuckled, not missing Ji Qingli’s intentions. She thought Ji Ran would definitely choose her, so he was pretending to be coy here.

Ji Qingli heard Pei Yuan’s laughter and immediately showed a happy smile. He said, “Good, you’re indeed Daddy’s good daughter; you didn’t disappoint Daddy.”

Ji Ran put on a docile look and smiled faintly as she looked at her father.

She hoped he could continue to be this happy.

Two weeks later,

When Ji Ran came out of the airport, she had brought no luggage except a backpack. After the divorce, Ji Qingli immediately returned to City B, while Ji Ran stayed with her grandparents for half a month.

She initially thought that choosing Ji Qingli would require some effort to convince Pei Yuan. However, she didn’t expect Pei Yuan to let go so easily.

Before coming today, Ji Qingli had called her to say that he had some urgent business and couldn’t come to pick her up. He would send the family driver.

When Ji Ran came out of the exit, she didn’t see the driver. Instead, her phone rang.

“Miss Ji, have you arrived?” The driver on the other end was quite polite.

Ji Ran nonchalantly replied, “Yes, I’m here. Where are you?”

“Area B, the license plate ends with 05…” The driver hadn’t finished his sentence before there were a series of busy signals.

Ji Ran brought her phone closer to her and realized that her phone had automatically shut down due to a low battery. She recalled that she had been listening to music the entire flight.

So, Ji Ran went into the elevator and headed to the underground parking lot.

The airport’s parking lot was indeed vast, and even in just one section, it seemed like there were hundreds of cars parked. She casually began her search for the car with the license plate ending in 05.

She continued to search through one parking space after another until she finally saw a black Mercedes with the license plate 05. She let out a small smile. She had found it.

As she approached the car to open the back door and get in, she was surprised to see a pair of legs propped up on the front passenger seat. So she leaned over and looked inside the car at the person who was lying down.

At first glance, she didn’t see his face because he was wearing a black duckbill cap with the brim pulled down so low that it covered most of his face, revealing just a hint of his cheekbone.

He was dressed entirely in black, from his clothes to his shoes, and even the sneakers he had on were all black.

The only part of him that was visible was his forearm, which rested on his abdomen, with his sleeves rolled up just below the elbow, exposing a clean and slender wrist with exceptionally fair skin.

A relative of the driver?

Ji Ran lowered her head to look at his long, straight legs stretched out on the car seat. He occupied more than half of the back seat’s space.

She took a deep breath, contemplated whether to wake him up, and quietly sat in the only available spot in the car. After a moment, she reached into her backpack and pulled out a duckbill cap to put on her own head.

After a few minutes, the driver still hadn’t returned.

Ji Ran rested her head lightly against the back of the seat, feeling the tiredness that came after a flight.

After a while, her eyes also closed.

Ji Ran slept soundly, and she wasn’t sure how much time had passed when the car gradually came to a stop.

Before long, the two people in the car got out. Xia Jiangming, the driver, had been holding it in for a while and was about to start gossiping when the people waiting for them in the park across the street immediately waved and called to them.

The black-clad teenager strolled lazily over with his hands in his pockets, looking tired and indifferent, exuding an aura that warned others not to approach him until he had slept enough.

This was a small park next to a restaurant street in the city.

Now, with the dimming sky and a gusty breeze, it was the perfect time for a showdown.

Two groups of teenagers, all around sixteen or seventeen years old, had been waiting for these two.

One of the leaders across from them, a guy with a shaved head, started heckling when he saw Xia Jiangming arrive. He had a cigarette in his mouth and yelled, “You finally showed up, you turtle’s son. I thought you were too scared to come.”

It was clear that Mr. Shaved Head was the leader of the other group.

At this point, Xia Jiangming wasn’t intimidated by the taunt. He shouted back in disdain, “Don’t act so arrogant, you little punk. I’m here now, and I’ll make you cry for your grandpa later.”

After he finished, he turned around and realized that their big shot wasn’t standing beside him. He looked around and saw Shen Zhi standing in the crowd, still looking disinterested as if he hadn’t had enough sleep.

Xia Jiangming hurried over and whispered, “Zhi-ge, don’t hold back when you make your move. After all, your little sister-in-law is watching.”

He had a full-on, sycophantic appearance.

Shen Zhi half-raised an eyelid and looked a little bewildered. “Who?”

Xia Jiangming was stunned, turned around, and realized that Ji Ran had just woken up. She was leaning against the car window, propped up on her arms with her hands clasped together, her chin resting on her arms. Her cheeks were slightly raised as she gazed in their direction.

Ji Ran had just woken up.

When she woke up, everyone in the car had disappeared. She looked outside and found the car casually parked by the roadside, with two groups of teenagers nearby who seemed ready for a brawl.

In her previous life, Pei Yuan had been strict with her, even filtering her friendships. She had never witnessed such a showdown scene, let alone seen those delinquents. She had a chauffeur to pick her up from school, and there was no way she would have witnessed such a scene.

So she rolled down the car window and leaned out to watch the spectacle quietly.

Shen Zhi and everyone else followed his gaze to the girl in the car. She was propped up against the window, with her hands clasped together and her chin resting on her arms. Due to the distance, they could only see her dark, long hair and fair, translucent skin, but it still made her appear unexpectedly beautiful.

Especially under the warm orange streetlight that bathed her, the hazy beauty emanated even more charm.

She seemed like a sudden little fairy.

“Holy crap, Zhi-ge’s wife is beautiful,” someone murmured, not sure who it was.

Shen Zhi squinted his eyes and gazed at the girl in the car. His originally apathetic eyes gradually changed.

As for Ji Ran, she didn’t expect that she had merely wanted to watch a bunch of hot-blooded teenagers duking it out, only to unexpectedly see her arch-nemesis.

Shen Zhi.

He was her biggest competitor at the investment bank. Ji Ran had been dominant her whole life, but when she encountered Shen Zhi at the bank, not only did he snatch projects away from her, he also outperformed her at every turn. Even her chances of promotion were taken by him.

Upon seeing Shen Zhi in the crowd, Xia Jiangming immediately yelled, “Zhi-ge, they not only want to bully me but also have their eyes on my little sister-in-law.”

Shen Zhi turned back slowly, his expression indifferent.

“Looking for trouble.”