Chapter 1, World Champion in Diving Competition

"I don't care whether you have money or not, I just want you to love me and spoil me, and not lie to me, but you hid it from me and borrowed more than 600 million from outside..."

"My parents didn't agree with me following you in the first place, saying that you're so much older than me and not as stable as you are. Now that something like this has happened, how can I face them?"

"Say something. Aren't you usually quite talkative? Just say something."

"If you're still a man, cheer up. At worst, you can hide your identity and find a job here to live a stable life. No one can find this place. Please."

"Drinking again?! Fine, I can't control you. You can do whatever you want in the future."

"Still drinking, why don't you drink yourself to death sooner?"

"I beg you, please stop torturing yourself and let me go~ I really can't hold on any longer. My parents have been forcing me to break up with you, otherwise they will cut off all ties with me."

"Just go away, let's just pretend we've never met..."

Nearing New Year’s Eve, Li Zehua was squatting by the river with a half-smoked cigarette butt in his mouth.

The colorful lights decorating the river bank reflected brightly on the pale face, making it look so out of place.

At this moment, his eyes lost focus and wandered aimlessly. His mind was like a video recorder, replaying the scene that had happened over and over again...

"Alas, it's hard to accept!"

After an unknown amount of time, Li Zehua came to his senses and tried to put out the cigarette, but he had no strength left and could only throw the cigarette butt at his feet.

At this time, there were already quite a few cigarette butts scattered there.

"Young people should never start a business lightly. The end of starting a business is debt, and the end of being a boss is being a deadbeat." Looking at the endlessly flowing river, he laughed at himself helplessly.

I wanted to jump off countless times and take the opportunity to escape from this endless suffering, but in the end I had concerns in my heart and did not dare to take the last step.

"Do you think I want to? But starting a business is a bottomless pit. If I fail once, all my previous efforts will be wasted. I can't bear to lose so much sunk cost!"

"Plus, I was a spendthrift, spending two to three million a year without blinking an eye. When the crisis came, I had no money to deal with it."

"Tap, ba~ huh~~~~" The wind by the river was getting colder. Li Zehua shivered and took out the cigarette box, took out the last one and lit it.
Then he crumpled the empty box into a ball and threw it on the ground. After that, he did not forget to stomp on it hard with the sole of his shoe, as if this was the only way to vent his dissatisfaction.

"You are still too arrogant! But I am really afraid of poverty. When I was a child, I didn't even have food to eat. During the New Year, I had to borrow rice from every household."

"Poverty! Poverty is the original sin! Even relatives look down on me! I finally got rich. Things I didn't dare to buy before, I now buy them without asking the price! Things I didn't dare to think about before, now I have money, I can get them easily! Living a life of drunkenness and dreams, in the land of tenderness, who wants to wake up?"

As if finding an excuse for his behavior, he became unusually excited.

"When Liu Bei wandered for half his life and married Sun Shangxiang in Dongwu, he was also very happy and obsessed with it. What's more, I am an ordinary person. I have finally gotten up. Isn't it normal for me to eat and drink a little?"

"Who knew it would turn out like this? How unlucky! How could I not control my hands? $24, gone in three minutes."

After a while of random thoughts, I glanced down at my phone which had been turned off due to arrears and low battery.
Li Zehua's face became even more bitter. "I can only sell my phone tomorrow to collect some money for the trip back home. When I accept the reality of mediocrity and face the current situation and stabilize it, I will look for an opportunity to make a comeback. After all, I still have my connections, experience, and vision."

Perhaps only these nice words of self-comfort could temporarily calm his disordered and restless heart.

But, can I go back?

"You should keep a low profile at ordinary times. Don't show off. Even if you are poor, you still show off. You have a little money but don't even know your last name. You don't know what to do when you go back this time. What will you do when your relatives ask you about it? Who knows how much ridicule and criticism you will receive."

"I also told my mom that I found a beautiful wife and we are planning to get married in the next two years. What a headache!"

He looked up and saw the tall buildings in the distance were brightly lit. As New Year's Eve approached, every family had wedding invitations and lanterns hung up. The festive atmosphere became increasingly strong, making him seem even lonelier.

At this moment, it was as if the street lights had dimmed. In this corner where no one cared, he was like a stray dog, powerless to lick his wounds...

"Oh my god, why is there someone here?!" After an unknown amount of time, a voice suddenly rang out from the deserted corner of the river bank, startling Li Zehua who was deep in thought.

I slowly raised my head and saw two figures huddled together not far away. They seemed to be a couple?
At this moment, the girl seemed to be frightened. She was hiding in the boy's arms, looking over here nervously.

He didn't dare to look Li Zehua in the eye. The unkempt and gloomy look of the man in front of him gave him a bad impression.

"Ah?" Li Zehua was at a loss, wanting to say something but was speechless.

The boy patted the girl's back carefully to ease her panic.

He looked at this man again, who was squatting on the ground smoking and looked a little scared?

"Since there are people here, let's go over there."

The boy said this, picked up the girl and turned away.

"It's so scary. What era is this? There are still homeless people? It's scary to see them squatting there!"

Perhaps she was unhappy about having her date interrupted, or perhaps she was resentful about being frightened, the girl vented her dissatisfaction as she walked.

"I don't know. Let's go quickly. What if he is a lunatic?"

"Yeah, but I remember there's a security booth in the parking lot. Let's tell them to come and take a look. What if it's a bad guy?"

The receding figure gradually became blurred, but the whispered conversation still reached Li Zehua's ears, making him feel helpless and helpless.

Fearing that he might get into trouble in this temporary shelter, Li Zehua could only prepare to move.
At the same time, he muttered unconvincedly, "I'm leaving now. It's New Year's Day, don't bother the security guards."

As soon as these words came out, the couple stopped walking and started running, even faster, as if there was a ghost chasing them from behind.

"Oh, what's going on?" Li Zehua was helpless and was about to grab the railing on the river bank and stand up.
After squatting for too long, my blood circulation was blocked and my legs and feet were numb. I stumbled and fell into the river.
“Oh, shit~!”

There was only a crisp "plop" sound, and a figure quickly disappeared on the river bank...

"Huh? Where did that person go? Did he leave so quickly?"

The boy, who was worried that he might be heard and might suddenly hurt someone, looked back worriedly and was then a little shocked.

Such a big living person, it’s only been a few seconds, where is the person?
The girl stole a glance and trembled as she asked, "Is there a ghost?"

After being certain that there was no one there, the whistling cold wind made me feel a little unwell.

"Ghost!"

"Run."

Almost at the same time, two figures rushed out one after the other until they could no longer be seen...

“I can’t swim!!!”

Under the dark night sky,
In the river,
A figure appeared and disappeared on the water...

Only the broken river bank guardrail was littered with cigarette butts still warm.

It seems to tell the starry sky and the earth that someone once stayed here...

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(End of this chapter)