Volume 1, Chapter 58 (A Major Climax of Punishing the Scum) Zhou Jinghuai, Spilled Water Cannot Be Recovered!

Yet, Zhou Jinghuai refused to let go.

Covered in wounds and broken in spirit, Ye Wu looked back at Zhou Jinghuai with a chilling question.

"One slap, half of my grandmother’s life, and half of Gu Jiucheng’s hearing."

"Zhou Jinghuai, do you really think I would ever turn back? You always use me when convenient and abandon me when not; whenever I needed you, you were never there. Was your fleeting affection always just an act of charity, weighed and measured by gains and losses?"

"Zhou Jinghuai, why on earth would I ever want you back?"

...

Zhou Jinghuai had no words to defend himself, for everything Ye Wu said was true. He had always failed her, always brought her pain, yet now he was willing to make amends.

Proud as he always was, a trace of humility now stained his voice: "If I restore Gu Jiucheng’s left ear, if I treat you well from now on, would you be willing to come back to me?"

"Come back to you?"

Ye Wu slowly turned around, her tone steeped in utter desolation. "And continue to be hurt by you, to be hurt by the sluts you keep on the side? Zhou Jinghuai, spilled water can never be gathered back up. That is what we have become."

She stopped looking at him. Pressing her palm flat against the glass, she gazed at the man who had fought so hard to shield her.

She did not love Gu Jiucheng, but the debt of gratitude she owed him was one she could never repay in this lifetime.

Ye Wu refused to leave; she insisted on staying until Gu Jiucheng woke up.

It felt like an eternity passed before Gu Jiucheng’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, and then his eyes slowly drifted open...

Gu Jiucheng had woken up.

With her palm pressed against the glass, Ye Wu tapped it gently. Her lips trembled uncontrollably as she called his name in a hoarse, broken whisper: "Gu Jiucheng, Gu Jiucheng..."

Hearing her, Gu Jiucheng slowly turned his head, his gaze quiet and tender as he looked at Ye Wu through the glass.

Ye Wu tapped the glass once more.

She was crying and laughing at the same time...

With immense effort, Gu Jiucheng offered her a faint, gentle smile, his eyes filled with warmth. Beside him, Gu Nian'an covered her mouth, sobbing in suppressed grief.

In the dimly lit corridor, Zhou Jinghuai stood pale as a ghost.

...

With Gu Jiucheng now awake, Ye Wu finally agreed to go and rest.

She refused to speak to Zhou Jinghuai, refusing his care entirely. Inside her heart, she had erected a desolate island, a forbidden territory where Zhou Jinghuai was never allowed to set foot.

Over and over again, she told him to leave, to just leave...

For the very first time, Zhou Jinghuai felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness.

At eight o'clock in the evening, a nurse entered carrying a silver tray and said to Zhou Jinghuai, "Mrs. Zhou has injuries on her lower back. Could you please help apply her medicine?"

Zhou Jinghuai nodded.

After the nurse left, Zhou Jinghuai gently patted Ye Wu’s shoulder, saying softly, "Let me help you with the medicine."

Ye Wu remained unresponsive.

As Zhou Jinghuai gently turned her body and reached out to lower her hospital gown, a wave of revulsion washed over Ye Wu, and she suddenly slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me."

Zhou Jinghuai froze, feeling utterly humiliated.

Dead silence filled the hospital room.

A knock sounded at the door. It was a maid sent by Mrs. Chen with nourishing tonics. Being a sharp and perceptive woman, she guessed the situation at a glance and eagerly offered, "Men are too clumsy with their hands. Let me help Mrs. Zhou apply the medicine instead."

Not wanting to agitate Ye Wu further, Zhou Jinghuai hesitated for a moment before agreeing.

He stepped out of the ward, walked to the far end of the corridor, and lit a cigarette in the drafty alcove...

A pale blue plume of smoke drifted upward, blurring the man’s features.

After a long while, he pulled an item from the pocket of his trousers—the safety lock pendant he had once given Ye Wu. It was shattered beyond repair.

He had pieced it back together, but broken things remained broken.

Just like their relationship: once spilled, water could never be gathered again.

...

Behind him, a flurry of hurried footsteps echoed.

Zhou Jinghuai turned around to see Bai Chuchuan and his wife rushing toward him. Mrs. Bai let out a piercing, agonized cry: "Jinghuai, for Ruo'an's sake, please spare Qianqian! She was only foolish for a moment."

Zhou Jinghuai knew that Bai Qianqian had been arrested by evening.

The crimes she had committed would land her in prison for at least twenty years.

Mrs. Bai threw herself at Zhou Jinghuai’s feet, pleading desperately. Though not as dramatic, Bai Chuchuan also begged for his younger daughter: "Jinghuai, please forgive her this once. We will send her away to Geneva; she will never appear before Ye Wu again."

The piercing night wind whipped through Zhou Jinghuai’s dark hair, brushing past his deep, unfathomable eyes.

His voice was like ice.

"Forgive her this once?"

"Did I hear that right?"

"Because of her sheer malice and self-will, my wife was almost blown to pieces, and yet you still have the nerve to come here and beg me to let her go. I will not spare her, and neither will the law and justice system. She and Zhou Jingyao can wait to rot in prison together."

...

Mrs. Bai continued to wail miserably.

Hesitating for a moment, Bai Chuchuan spoke up, fully aware of how despicable he sounded: "Consider it for Ruo'an's sake. Ruo'an is still waiting for Qianqian's blood, and she will need a kidney transplant in the future."

Zhou Jinghuai paused.

Past memories burned like raw liquor in his chest—

After a long silence, Zhou Jinghuai let out a cold, mocking laugh. "I am sure Uncle Bai will find a way."

Filled with resentment, Bai Chuchuan pressed on, "Jinghuai, have you forgotten about you and Ruo'an..."

Zhou Jinghuai’s gaze turned fiercely sinister, stopping Bai Chuchuan from ever uttering that name again. Yet, unable to hold back his bitterness, Bai Chuchuan complained, "Jinghuai, for the sake of your current wife, you have become far too ruthless."

At that exact moment, Mrs. Chen arrived and happened to overhear their conversation.

Though she did not know the whole story, it was enough for her to jump into the fray. Turning on Bai Chuchuan, she lashed out furiously, "Your precious daughter was raised without a shred of decency, and now that she has committed such a monstrous crime, you actually have the gall to come here and plead for her. If you ask me, a bullet straight to her head would be too good for her."

Mrs. Bai, who had long held a grudge against her, snapped, "Xiang Yinshuang, stop kicking people while they're down."

Mrs. Chen sneered, "A daughter like that should have been thrown into a cesspool the moment she was born, just to spare the world her stench."

The sheer rage triggered a relapse in Mrs. Bai.

Panicking, Bai Chuchuan hurriedly pulled out a bottle of heart medication for his wife, forced the pills down her throat, and rushed her toward the emergency room...

Zhou Jinghuai called Secretary Lin, instructing him to deploy twenty security guards to secure the entrances and exits of the entire floor, forbidding any unauthorized personnel from entering.

With everything arranged, he and Mrs. Chen entered the ward to check on Ye Wu.

Inside the VIP room, the maid sent by Mrs. Chen was gently applying medicine to Ye Wu's back. Seeing the horrifying patches of bruised and purple skin, the maid's heart ached, and her hands grew even lighter.

Even so, Ye Wu could not suppress a soft hiss of pain.

Knowing she was hurting, the maid tried to distract her by chatting lightly, "There is a faint mole on your waist. It is uniquely lovely."

Just then, the door to the room was pushed open.

The maid hurriedly pulled Ye Wu's gown back over her shoulder, terrified that Zhou Jinghuai might see—

A woman's body was something a husband should only admire in private...