Chapter 3: The Wish

The sports car sped down the empty highway on the way back, the interior enveloped in a heavy, stifling silence.

Zhao Qinglang drove with one hand, glancing sideways at Gu Sheng. Seeing her distant, lacking the bubbly and attentive demeanor she once held, he felt a mischievous impulse. He slammed on the brakes, then roared forward with a sudden burst of acceleration.

In the past, this was his favorite way to tease her.

However, the violent force of the sudden lurch terrified Gu Sheng. Her eyes widened, her face turned pale, and she bit her lip hard to keep from screaming. In contrast, Zhao Qinglang, seeing her shocked expression, narrowed his eyes in amusement.

After a long moment, Zhao Qinglang, seeing his prank reach its conclusion without the usual response of Gu Sheng squealing and playfully swatting at him, slowed the car with a look of disappointment. "You’ve changed, Sheng-sheng. You’re not the same as you used to be."

In his memory, the old Gu Sheng was cheerful and lively. Even after her family fell into ruin and she became an orphan, she had never known true hardship, raised by his family like a princess, living a life of comfort and envy. But now, her personality had undergone a drastic shift. She was no longer capricious or spoiled; instead, she was cold and listless.

Gu Sheng was still trembling, her face drained of color. Having suffered no shortage of bullying in prison, her greatest fear was sudden, jarring shocks. The stimulation made her break into a cold sweat; her reflexive instinct was to lash out with a curse, but Zhao Qinglang spoke first, offering an apology.

"I'm sorry," Zhao Qinglang sighed, smiling in an attempt to appease her. "Our Sheng-sheng has been through so much."

Those words forcibly stifled the fire rising in Gu Sheng. She calmed herself, then replied stiffly, "It’s fine."

She let the incident pass.

As the sports car left the suburbs, putting the desolate landscape behind them, Gu Sheng’s gaze gradually sharpened. Watching the scenery transition into the bustle of the city, she suddenly remembered that the day she was taken to prison, she had traveled this very overpass. She lowered her eyes, her mood complex.

Beside her, Zhao Qinglang drove, his peripheral vision catching the scars on Gu Sheng’s calves, exposed beneath her skirt. He frowned. Fearing she might be cold, he reached out to adjust the air conditioning, then asked out of the blue, "Sheng-sheng, I’ve been meaning to ask—are you actually close with He Wenzhou?"

The sudden mention of that name caused Gu Sheng to freeze. "Why would you ask that?"

She and Zhao Qinglang had been childhood sweethearts for twelve years, and later lived under the same roof, their social circles completely intertwined. He knew her interpersonal relationships better than anyone, so the question seemed entirely baseless.

"Are you really not close?" Zhao Qinglang knew they were alumni and peers in the same industry, but he clearly didn't believe it. "Then it’s strange. You two are neither kin nor friends, so why has he spent the past year pulling out all the stops to file appeals for you?"

Zhao Qinglang’s words hit like a sudden storm on a calm plain. Gu Sheng’s heart shook violently. "You weren't the one who hired him?"

Faced with the challenge, Zhao Qinglang kept his eyes on the road and offered a sheepish laugh. "Of course not. You know how things were back then..."

He paused, his mouth opening silently, but he ultimately chose to remain silent about the past.

At that moment, as Gu Sheng stared at the smooth contours of Zhao Qinglang’s profile, the expectations she had held for him completely collapsed. She realized that the person the female prison guard had spoken of—the one who cared for her—was He Wenzhou.

It made sense, really. If it had truly been Zhao Qinglang’s doing, why would he have never come to the prison to visit her?

Yet it had been He Wenzhou, someone she had almost no connection to. Why?

Gu Sheng couldn't fathom it, but she realized with chilling clarity that over the past year, Zhao Qinglang had forgotten her entirely. She had sent word to the Zhao family countless times from prison, but her messages had vanished like stones into the sea, and not once had anyone come to see her. During those dark, grueling days, she had clung to the hope that perhaps they were simply unable to visit.

But she had been dreaming. Even the vows Zhao Qinglang once made to her, his eyes reddened with emotion, were nothing but empty air.

Mist welled up in the corners of Gu Sheng’s eyes, but she bit her lip and endured it in silence, not even wanting to utter a word of complaint.

The car fell silent once more.

Being ignored made Zhao Qinglang feel inexplicably irritable. He steered the car around a bend with one hand, and unable to bear the quiet, he took a deep breath, suppressed his irritation, and started a new topic.

"Sheng-sheng, you wouldn't believe it. When Mom and Dad heard you were going to be acquitted, they were absolutely shocked." His tone was boisterous. "I have to admit, that He fellow really has talent. He even dares to look down on the Wang family. If it hadn't been for his relentless efforts to overturn your case, I suspect you would have spent the rest of your life behind bars."

Listening to his callous, thoughtless banter, the look in Gu Sheng’s eyes turned icy. "Is it really that strange that I was acquitted?" She raised an eyebrow and asked with genuine seriousness, "Isn't that just how the facts should have played out?"

Zhao Qinglang’s face stiffened at her retort. "Y-yeah, of course. I know you were innocent, I just meant..."

Gu Sheng turned her head to look out the window, ignoring him.

Stung by her coldness, Zhao Qinglang felt his palms sweat. He felt that the current Gu Sheng had become cold and sharp, covered in thorns that made him feel extremely uncomfortable. He swallowed hard and shifted the conversation again. "Sheng-sheng, you wouldn't believe how much our family’s stock has risen this year. If it weren't for the help from the Wang..."

He paused, his animated expression suddenly freezing as he realized his mistake. He stole a glance at Gu Sheng, and seeing that she didn't even look his way, he cleared his throat in relief. "Anyway, our net worth has gone up quite a bit. Things aren't what they used to be; we can even secure government projects for the Old City Development Zone now."

The Zhao family were business people who had started from scratch in real estate; such a statement showed that their status was no longer what it once was.

"That's good," Gu Sheng murmured, her eyes still fixed outside the window. "That's a good thing."

There was no further reaction.

Seeing her willing to respond, Zhao Qinglang felt his mood improve and chirped, "Sheng-sheng, your birthday is coming up. Mom and Dad said that when you get back, they'll buy you whatever gift you want. Besides, your return is a joyous occasion. Tell me, what wish do you want to make this year?"

In previous years, Gu Sheng’s birthday parties were organized entirely by the Zhao family. She would be buried in gifts, treated like a true princess with the world revolving around her.

But that was the past.

While Zhao Qinglang rambled on about the changes in the family over the past year, Gu Sheng sat in the passenger seat with a pale face. She watched the car pull slowly into the familiar villa district. She looked at the Western-style house, unchanged, with the same crabapple tree in the three-story courtyard. A breeze blew through, causing the golden leaves on the branches to rustle.

She bit her lip, realizing that after a year in prison—a period neither long nor short—there was a strange sense that while things remained the same, the people had changed.

She suddenly recalled the words her father had spoken before he died: "My dear, you must remember, in this world, one can be foolishly selfless once, but you must never give anyone a second chance to hurt you."

The moment the car engine cut off, Gu Sheng looked at the house and suddenly said, "Qinglang, I’ve decided on my wish."

Zhao Qinglang, who was unbuckling his seatbelt, paused, finally realizing she was talking about her birthday. He gave her an indulgent smile. "And what does my Sheng-sheng want?"

Gu Sheng’s eyes were as still as stagnant water as she replied with a grave expression, "I want five million."

After she spoke, a heavy silence descended upon the car.