Zhao Zhi did not say a word.
The craftsman took half an hour to repair the crack, before presenting the jade crown to him, “Gongzi, I told you earlier that it might not be restored to its original state.”
The cracks on the jade crown were still clear, the bamboo pattern was broken, and the carved branches and leaves were no longer their original shape.
Zhao Zhi held the cold jade crown, he clenched his thin finger bones with so much force that they made a sound like they were being dislocated, and blue veins appeared under the white skin, as he remained silent.
The craftsman politely escorted him to the door, “Take care, gongzi.”
Just as Zhao Zhi went out of the door, someone bumped into his shoulder, the man stooped low and continuously apologized to him with folded hands.
For this kind of small matter, Zhao Zhi would not bother to argue with people.
But this man seemed have come prepared and taking advantage of when Zhao Zhi was not paying attention, he stole his purse and quickly started to run away.
Zhao Zhi’s eyes turned harsh, and he started to chase after him with a cold face. He caught up to the man without much effort and kicked the man on the chest.
The man’s body fell on the stone steps of the street, and the item he was clutching in his hand heavily knocked on the edge of the stone steps, immediately breaking into pieces.
He covered his abdomen, about to vomit blood, and cried out in pain.
Zhao Zhi didn’t have time to care about him. He picked up the purse on the ground and opened it. That’s when he saw that the jade crown that had just been repaired was now shattered.
The man, who was still screaming, suddenly felt like he was being stared at by a pair of terrifying eyes, like a cold poisonous snake was crawling on his back.
He realized belatedly that today he stole from a man who he should never have and knelt down to beg for mercy.
Zhao Zhi’s face looked expressionless as he ordered people to throw him to the authorities bureau’s door.
The broken jade crown in the purse was so shattered that the pieces couldn’t be put together anymore. Even if someone forcibly put the pieces together, the carving on the jade no longer would have any shape or form.
Zhao Zhi carefully took out the broken pieces of jade, and their sharp corners pierced his palm, making several fine holes from which blood flowed out little by little, infiltrating the white jade.
The dense stinging pain in the palm of his hand gradually spread.
He stared at it with his head down for a long time, his eyes were very swollen, sore, and painful. Zhao Zhi laughed at himself, her things were just like her, even if he wanted to keep them by his side, he wasn’t able to.
Zhao Zhi began to resent her again, how could she just die and end things so easily? Burning the past cleanly with a big fire. She wanted to leave easily and comfortably. It was not possible.
He did not agree.
To this day, Zhao Zhi still refused to admit that Ming Zhu had lit the fire herself, after all she was pregnant with his child, even if she wanted to run away, and use death to escape him, but she wouldn’t be ruthless enough to put an end to the child’s life.
The feeling in his chest like he couldn’t breathe swept over him again. Zhao Zhi’s emotions were already a little out of control, his cold and indifferent face looked a little twisted. He slowly closed his eyes, to gradually suppress the surging pain and hatred in his chest cavity.
Zhao Zhi dreadfully squeezed hardly the broken sharp pieces of jade in his palm, his hand was bloody all over, but he didn’t care.
Yangzhou, was even more boring than he had imagined.
Zhao Zhi had not even stayed a few days that already he was feeling uninterested, he occasionally would stand beside the window to listen to the autumn rain or would go to the bridge Qikong with an umbrella and listen to the music of a guqin.
Most of the time, he went alone. Lonely and desolate.
Zhao Zhi thought that being in Jiangnan, he would at least be able to get a good night’s sleep. But this also became his excessive hope, those bloody nightmares intensified, every dream was even more realistic than the previous.
Inside the dreams, Ming Zhu was extremely obedient, like a docile and well-behaved kitten, she laid happily in the courtyard under the sun with joy, when she saw him, she could not help but blush, and talked to him with shyness.
And he was mostly cold and indifferent to her, his face was covered with a layer of imperceptible detachment. He didn’t treat her badly, but he didn’t care too much, and just treated her as a way to have fun when he had free time, or simply to fulfill the despicable desires of one side of himself.
Zhao Zhi felt that the man in the dream was him but also not him.
His cold and unfeeling side was not much different from him.
But he couldn’t bear to treat Ming Zhu like this, and even less to prepare a cup of wine in the cold winter and have people deliver it to her.
He was a man who did not regret anything he did. But this one time, halfway through, he changed his mind, and rushed to go there, but he arrived too late.
Zhao Zhi looked at those eyes full of sorrow and pain, and badly wanted to ask him, who are you exactly?
