Going to and from Libei and Yanzhou in the span of a single day, Xu Tingsheng’s physical fatigue was still secondary. He was primarily feeling mentally somewhat out of it.

Only at night did he return to Libei’s bounds. Then, Xu Tingsheng received a text from Zhou Yuandai.

“I’m not very happy,” She said.

Xu Tingsheng glanced at it but did not send a reply. Just as Cen Xishan had said, this woman was a madwoman. A terrifying, unhinged madwoman.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

“Just like when we talked about Apple in our last call, I ask and you answer. This is a state I can accept. Including your interactions with that young girl, they’re all fine. Still, getting engaged and getting married, no way,” She sent again.

“Are you sick in the head?!” Xu Tingsheng finally could not help but reply.

Since the other party was so blatant and had no reservations in the least, Xu Tingsheng too saw no need to be polite.

After a while, Zhou Yuandai replied, “What do you think?”

There was a photograph after these words, depicting a man’s hand pulling the collar of a Golden Retriever, its body suspended in mid-air.

Xu Tingsheng recognised that Golden Retriever. It was Xiang Ning’s precious Dongdong.

Dongdong was six this year. While he was not all that obedient, he had such a characteristic. Unless brought outside by others, he would definitely never leave the house on his own.

Therefore, the meaning Zhou Yuandai wished to convey was: If we can randomly pull out a dog from that building without anybody noticing...well, a person is no different. She was threatening Xu Tingsheng.

Xu Tingsheng called Du Jin who was at the Xiang family home.

“Is Xiang Ning home?” He asked.

“She is. Rest assured, she returned not long after you left,” Du Jin said.

“Have you seen Dongdong?”

“He was still here a moment ago. Hah, where could he be...” Du Jin seemed to be holding her phone while looking for Dongdong as she said after a while, “There he is. He just slunk in from outside with his tail between his legs...but why all of a sudden? Is anything the matter?”

This meant that she had not noticed anything whatsoever.

Xu Tingsheng hesitated for a bit. He did not remind her to step up in her protection of Xiang Ning. From Zhou Yuandai’s stance and the actual situation, this would not be of any use.

“It’s nothing. I was just casually asking,” Xu Tingsheng said and hung up.

His handphone screen indicated a new text from Zhou Yuandai. Xu Tingsheng did not dare to not read it.

“Relax, I don’t want to hurt you. I also don’t want to hurt those around you and provoke you. Things are fine the way they are,” She said.

“But just why, exactly?” Xu Tingsheng sent a reply.

“It’s probably because we are tied by fate. When you were in twelfth grade, you ran to the roof of the dormitory in the middle of the night. I just happened to be living in the teaching dormitory. I was on another roof. That night, I played the guitar while you sang. Have you forgotten?” Zhou Yuandai asked.

Xu Tingsheng dared not send her a reply for fear that he might inadvertently reveal something.

This was the strangest thing of Xu Tingsheng’s post-rebirth memories. He simply did not have any memory of doing this at all, not in the least. Still, whether it was Huang Yaming and Fu Cheng’s memories or the school’s investigation and disciplinary actions, all signs pointed towards this incident having happened.

“It’s her? It was Zhou Yuandai that night? So that is to say that this incident really happened. But why is it that I alone do not have any impression of it at all?”

“Did she do something to me? At that time, I was still not the reborn me. There should not have been anything special about me. So, how is it possible?”

“Her sudden disappearance from the school should have happened right after that, in the few days before I was reborn.”

“If that really is the case, and she was really only an ordinary music teacher at Libei Senior High before, how is it possible that she accumulated such frightening wealth and power in a mere two to three years, controlling Ruanjin included...”

“And what happened with Apple’s father? The time doesn’t match...”

“...”

Xu Tingsheng simply couldn’t understand it. Even if he assumed that Zhou Yuandai had been reborn like him, this similarly could not be explained in terms of time and logic.

“What if she actually isn’t the actual Zhou Yuandai then? She could be the woman who did a full-body plastic surgery at that clinic in the US, turning herself to look like Zhou Yuandai and replacing her...”

This still wasn’t a good explanation.

Firstly, it made no sense. Zhou Yuandai was not a figure with a prominent background and an exalted status or an unparalleled beauty. Why would someone undergo plastic surgery to look like her? Had they nothing better to do?!

Next, from what she had said before, also including her familiarity and mutual understanding with Fang Yunyao as their conversation had been smooth and without error, she had really resided in the school for a long period before. Also, she understood everything about Zhou Yuandai!

How could somebody be frequently undergoing plastic surgery in America while being an ordinary teacher in a school for many years without being seen through?

Xu Tingsheng still remembered that the chubby nurse at the clinic had said that that person who had undergone full-body plastic surgery had had surgery at their clinic for more than ten years.

Xu Tingsheng called that nurse, wishing to enquire about a few things. In the end, he found that her number was already no longer in use. Calling the clinic, he was told that she had resigned and left some time back, having had no contact with them since.

Xu Tingsheng spoke to the boss of the clinic, Professor Wayne. He expressed that his patient was not like how Xu Tingsheng described. As for more information about them, he could not reveal it as it went against their professional code.

So, it wasn’t her then?

“If it was her, it’s impossible for Apple’s father not to have mentioned something as important and strange as her constantly undergoing plastic surgery to completely become someone else. That is to say that this possibility can be eliminated considering Apple’s father.”

The sole explanation remaining seemed to be that while Zhou Yuandai had established and also controlled a corporate empire, she had enjoyed a simple life in being an ordinary teacher at a school for so many years...comparing this to the personality and style of that Zhou Yuandai known by Xu Tingsheng, who would believe that?

“Also, if it’s like that, how could I possibly have no memory of her at all?” Xu Tingsheng quickly denied that final possibility.

While he clearly knew that it was strange, he had no way of pursuing the matter.

Xu Tingsheng pondered on matters till his brain nearly exploded. His chaotic state of mind caused him to crash his car not far away from his home, into a rocky wall by the roadside.

Mr Xu just happened to be driving at the time. He was first to the scene.

While the car was a little damaged, Xu Tingsheng was actually completely fine apart from feeling a bit dizzy. He had been driving very slowly at the time.

After confirming that he was okay, Mr Xu heaved a sigh of relief but still brought him to the hospital for a thorough examination.

The doctor’s verdict was just as Xu Tingsheng himself had thought. He was totally fine and did not even have to stay at the hospital for further observation.

He was driven back by Mr Xu who scolded his son as he drove, rebuking him for still being so careless as someone who was even already getting engaged.

“Thankfully, you were unhurt. Otherwise, we’d have had to delay the engagement.”

Hearing this, Xu Tingsheng was silent for a while before he suddenly asked, “Dad, after we go back, can you say that I suffered a bit of a light injury?”

Mr Xu stopped the car, carefully looking to confirm that his son had not suffered a concussion and was not kidding.

“What happened? Why?” Mr Xu asked.

“I’d like to put the engagement on hold for a bit,” Xu Tingsheng said.

“Huh? Hadn’t you totally set your mind on that girl? ...You’re hesitating now? Actually, she’s not bad. Your mother and I also both...”

“No. It’s not that,” Xu Tingsheng hesitated for a bit but dared not tell his father about Zhou Yuandai’s matter, “I just feel that she’s really still too little...so, I’d like to put it on hold temporarily.”