Chapter 341

He recalled a New Year's Day many, many years ago, when Shu Ying wore a bright red cape trimmed with white mink fur, waving a burning sparkler in her hand, happily skipping and jumping in the street. The wind was no longer cold and chilly, but instead carried her joyful laughter.

Its small and adorable appearance is like a strawberry cream cake that has come to life.

It had just snowed, and although the road workers had swept the snow to both sides of the road, the middle of the road was still a bit slippery.

Shu Ying skipped and hopped along with her sparkler in both hands for a short while before she accidentally slipped and stumbled.

She swayed and steadied herself, but when she looked up, she realized that the sudden forward fall had caused the large hood of her cloak to fly forward and get stuck on her head.

The hat and the white mink trim completely covered half of her face, making it impossible to see where she was going.

The little girl was completely lost. She stumbled and swayed a few steps, trying to pull her hat off, but the sparklers in her hands were still burning, and she had nowhere to put them.

She really liked it so much that she couldn't bear to throw it away. So she just stood there holding the fairy wand for a long time, stubbornly pursing her lips as she groped her way forward.

In his memory, Du Chenzhou watched from afar, amused and unable to help but laugh.

When the sparklers finally finished going off, Shuying reluctantly let go and threw the hat away, then painstakingly pulled it off with her little hands.

As luck would have it, just as she took off her hat and looked up, she met Du Chenzhou's secretly smiling face.

Du Chenzhou was stunned for a moment, but it was too late to take back his smile.

I thought the little girl would be angry, but to my surprise, she grinned and laughed.

The little girl's face was small, but whether it was because of the bright red dress or something else, her complexion was exceptionally rosy and radiant.

Wrapped in a bright red cloak, she looked exactly like a lychee freshly picked from the tree in summer—very beautiful.

Du Chenzhou immediately sensed that this girl seemed different from the other girls.

He tentatively tried to smile at her again, but unexpectedly, Shu Ying's father suddenly appeared, took her hand, and left.

His memory ended there, and then Du Chenzhou heard his mother's voice.

The image of my mother gritting her teeth and cursing is still vivid in my mind; her vicious voice seems to be saying—

"That damned woman Yang Wan is a complete vixen. She looks so proper, but all she does is use those seductive tricks to seduce men. She's a shameless, promiscuous slut!"

"And that little bitch Yang Wansheng, what's her name, Shuying? She's a little vixen too. She's so young and already so bad-natured. She has such a seductive face. When she grows up, she'll definitely be just like her mother, doing all sorts of despicable things!"

He still remembers his mother repeatedly lecturing him back then.

"Let me tell you, Xiaozhou, our family and the Shu family are sworn enemies. In this life, and the next, and the life after that, we'll be adversaries. It's either him or us who live!"

"Never give them a kind look whenever you see them in the future. None of them are good people!"

"If we have the chance to bring them down, we'll bring them down; if we have the chance to kill them, we'll kill them! Their family deserves to be destroyed, their wives and children separated, and their lives filled with misfortune!"

The sounds of her mother's angry shouts seemed to be in conflict with the memories in her mind.

As these curses rang in his ears, images of Shu Ying kept flooding his mind.

There are photos from her childhood, from kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, and even up to high school graduation...

He was surprised to find that he had all of Shu Ying's student days in his mind.

In kindergarten and elementary school, she was soft and cute, with a pink and tender face that looked like a small peach, making people want to get close to her.

During her middle school years, her features gradually matured, and her eyebrows and eyes possessed the unique bright and elegant beauty of the Shu family, like a beautiful painting drawn with rich and vibrant colors.

Every smile, every gesture, exudes a unique charm. No matter the angle from which you look, she is breathtakingly beautiful.

But in these memories, he only quietly watched Shu Ying, and there were almost no scenes of them getting close and talking.

Shu Ying rarely even smiled at him.

Her smiles always seemed reserved for others.

He never appeared by Shu Ying's side and never received a genuine smile from her.

It was only then that Du Chenzhou realized that he had not participated in every stage of Shu Ying's growth, but rather that he had been hiding in the shadows, silently witnessing Shu Ying's growth process.

He was not a participant in her growth process, but merely an observer who never even received a glance from her.

It was him who had been secretly in love with Shu Ying all along, fantasizing about one day being able to walk into her side, make her smile at him, and make her only have eyes for him...

But all of these are just wishful thinking.

The moment these memories returned to his mind, the pocket watch that they had been fighting over just moments before instantly became a joke.

But he is an even bigger joke.

He actually indulged in wishful thinking, holding this watch and fantasizing more than once about reuniting with Shuying and living a happy and fulfilling life together.

He himself found it ridiculous.

No wonder his heart would skip a beat every time he held the watch and looked at the people in the photos, as if it were reminding him of something.

It turned out to be a reminder of his unrequited love, a love that only he knew about, a love that had never begun and never ended.

It's utterly ridiculous.

Du Chenzhou felt a mix of shame, self-mockery, and anger at unrequited love...

A mix of emotions welled up inside him, and before he knew it, his fists clenched tighter and tighter. Large beads of cold sweat poured from his forehead, streaming down his face and soaking his clothes.

By the time Howard and Lusca noticed that his face was getting paler and paler, Du Chenzhou could no longer stand.

His body swayed violently, and he fell forward with a thud, landing on his knees and sprawling on the ground.

"Zhou, are you alright?!"

Howard and Lusca were quite frightened and rushed over to support him, their worries written all over their faces.

"How did you fall so hard? Should we go to the hospital? Does your leg hurt?"

"Doctor, is there a doctor here?"

Shu Ying hesitated for a moment, then subconsciously tried to step forward, but Xie Zhiyan grabbed her arm.

Xie Zhiyan also subconsciously stopped her, frowning as he looked at Du Chenzhou on the ground and gave her a look.

Now, Du Chenzhou has suddenly appeared, getting involved in the case, and he even managed to find the pocket watch that Du Chenzhou had left at the border.

This person's movements are strange in every way.

There is currently no way to determine Du Chenzhou's true identity.

After all, he and Shu Ying hadn't seen each other for many years. Times change, and even the world can change, let alone people's hearts.

He does look like he has amnesia, but we can't rule out the possibility that he's faking it.

Xie Zhiyan couldn't shake off his worries.