17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKIonezIUR
White Family Mansion, Hilltop in the City Center
After parting ways with his two sons, Bai Shikun continued to handle business affairs, working late into the night before returning home.
This mansion, with at least an eighty-year history, is situated in the city’s most valuable area. Only the wealthiest and most prominent families could own a house here.
Moreover, the Bai family mansion occupies the best location in this district, offering expansive views. Nearly every room in the house enjoys sweeping vistas of both sides of the harbor, with a line of sight that stretches all the way to the city’s border.
At night, standing on the balcony of the master bedroom and gazing at the city lights below, one would feel as if the myriad twinkling lights at their feet coalesced into a magnificent jewel, glimmering in the palm of one’s hand.
Every night in the past, before going to bed, Bai Shikun would sit on the balcony for a while, sipping half a glass of red wine and admiring this unique and breathtaking night scene. Since returning from registering his marriage with Long’er in the gambling city, he has shared this habit with his young wife.
Now that the media had exposed their relationship, he simply admitted it openly.
Tonight, he returned home later than usual, feeling a bit anxious. When he entered the bedroom, he saw Long’er sitting on the bed, not yet asleep. She was gently massaging her rounded belly with small circles, her beautiful, tired eyes cast downward, long lashes resting on her cheeks, focused only on her stomach, murmuring softly—who knows what she was saying to the life growing inside her.
Seeing this girl always softened Bai Shikun’s heart. He walked over to the bed and said in a gentle voice, “Long’er, why aren’t you asleep yet?” Long’er looked up and gave her husband a lazy smile. “This little one is so naughty, I can’t sleep well. And when you’re not here, I sleep even worse.”
Hearing this, Bai Shikun felt a surge of tenderness. Just as he was about to lean down and embrace his beloved, he caught sight of a magazine on the bed. The cover featured a candid photo of them in the gambling city, with the headline: “Evil Flower Enters the Mansion—A Century-Old Family Doomed.”
At once, Bai Shikun’s silver brows shot up and his expression darkened. “Long’er, you need to focus on your pregnancy. These vulgar and meaningless things are nothing but harmful!”
He was truly angry. These days, he’d been exhausted by the business crisis, and every night at home with his beloved wife was his time to “heal.” To protect Long’er’s mood, he had already instructed the servants to keep all negative news out of the house.
“Who gave you this to read?” Bai Shikun asked sternly.
Long’er, unconcerned, giggled, kissed him lightly, and snuggled into his arms, whispering, “Don’t blame them. I took it myself. Even if I don’t read the magazines, the news will still be on my phone and TV.”
Shifting her pregnant body into a more comfortable position as she embraced her husband, Long’er continued, “I know what’s happening outside. I know your difficulties, too.”
After hearing this, Bai Shikun gently stroked her hand and, although his tone was soft, his words were resolute: “Long’er, for now, just eat well, sleep well, and focus on giving birth to our child. You don’t need to know or worry about anything else.”
This silver-haired old man lowered his head and kissed his wife’s dark hair, murmuring, “If you keep this up, I’ll get angry.”
Long’er looked up at him with big eyes. “There’s no need to get angry. I don’t know anything, so I can’t meddle.” Bai Shikun, exasperated but amused, pinched her slightly chubby cheek. “Hmph, your courage is growing—I’m starting to lose control over you.”
In his heart, Bai Shikun couldn’t help but smile. All his life, he had been seen as a “dragon among men,” raised as the Bai family heir. His commanding presence was evident from a young age, and the women around him had always been both respectful and fearful. Long’er was completely different.
Except for her natural shyness when they first met, she soon revealed her true self. Towards him, she showed no worship, no fear, no flattery. Was it the confusion of passionate love? It didn’t seem so.
Bai Shikun undoubtedly loved Long’er deeply, but what was he to her, he had often wondered.
If he had to say, he seemed more like her “childhood companion”—as if they’d always been together, and would naturally continue to be.
Yes, it was precisely this “naturalness” that made her so pure and genuine. That, he realized, was why he was so helplessly captivated by her.
“Shikun.”
Now, just as before, this girl—who was over fifty years younger than him—called his name so naturally, without any awkwardness. That strange feeling had long become an addiction for Bai Shikun.
“Hmm?” His heart melted at her call, and he hugged her close, responding softly.
“I won’t meddle in your affairs, but… don’t you want to be involved in mine?” Long’er asked.
It is said that every happy family is alike, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. In truth, the misfortunes of families are not so different at their core.
Long’er’s mother grew up in the slums—a delinquent girl who, before she was fully mature, fell in with a street thug. Soon, she became pregnant. Before she could even tell her boyfriend, he was killed in a gang fight.
During her pregnancy, the girl received no proper care and didn’t know how to look after herself. She died from excessive blood loss during childbirth, at just sixteen years old.
The hospital managed to contact the girl’s mother. With the help of the Sisters of Mercy, the funeral was arranged. The grandmother, not yet forty, took the granddaughter in, as she herself had given birth to her daughter at seventeen or eighteen. She never knew who the father was, since she’d been a prostitute in the slums.
She named her granddaughter Long’er—not after any wuxia novel, for she couldn’t read. It had been her daughter’s name, and now she simply reused it. Her family name was Long; she hadn’t bothered to come up with a proper name for her daughter, just tacked on the character for “child.” She certainly had no energy to think up a name for her granddaughter.
Her daughter’s death changed little. She continued her life as usual, barely managing to raise her granddaughter. Two years later, she was hit by a car and left the world without a sound.
Left with no family, Long’er was sent by kind people to a small orphanage run by the Sisters of Mercy. There, she spent fifteen years. It was the elderly nun in charge who told her about her background.
The nuns took relatively good care of her, but perhaps due to her grandmother’s neglect, Long’er seemed to have psychological barriers before she could even understand the world. She didn’t start speaking until she was five and grew up to be very withdrawn, always silent, preferring solitude and reading, naturally without friends.
For a frail orphan girl to live independently in this society was no easy task. Long’er knew the orphanage couldn’t keep her forever. But she realized she possessed a few survival tools: first, her beauty—stunning and ethereal; second, her extraordinary powers of observation; and third, her unbelievably sharp intuition.
So, at seventeen, she applied to a modeling agency. Long’er still remembers: when she walked in, dressed in a simple, cheap white dress, everyone present—male or female—was dumbstruck by her beauty. The company boss’s eyes sparkled as if a golden goose had just walked through the door.
Long’er knew her life was bound to improve, though she hadn’t expected her fortunes to rise so quickly. Before she’d even officially started working, she was invited by the boss to a wealthy person’s party, where she met Bai Shikun and caught his fancy, becoming his mistress.
Fate’s springboard catapulted her from the slums at the foot of the hill to the mansion at its summit. Now, every night she accompanied Bai Shikun, gazing down at the city lights and across to the direction of the slums—the place where she was born, raised, and desperately longed to escape. That spot was now just a tiny gleam in the dazzling nightscape below, a testament to fate’s strange unpredictability.
Bai Shikun held his wine glass and quietly listened to Long’er tell her story.
They didn’t go out to the balcony but sat together on the comfortable sofa inside, near the balcony. With his wife about to give birth, Bai Shikun didn’t want her out in the chilly air.
“So, that’s my story.” Long’er took a sip of hot milk, all the while watching Bai Shikun’s reaction as she spoke.
His face was calm, clearly listening intently, but it was hard to guess what he was thinking.
“So, those gossip columns aren’t exactly slander. My background really is not just poor, but also…” Long’er started to say with a bitter smile, but her husband interrupted her, not allowing her to belittle herself.
“That just proves you’re special. You’re truly a lotus rising unstained from the mud,” Bai Shikun said firmly.
Long’er held her hot milk tightly, gazing at her husband. Her beautiful black-and-white eyes held a trace of astonishment and challenge. “Shikun, you are a man above men. I know you love me, but do you really not mind the mother of your child having such a background?”
Bai Shikun put down his wine glass, stroked Long’er’s face, and looked at her seriously. “No one else can represent you. Your grandmother and parents are not you. You are an orphan, you’ve done nothing wrong, and then you met me—nothing more.”
He spoke with conviction and hugged his young wife tightly. “People of every social class, if they live long enough, have time to feel dissatisfied and to desire more. They might do shameful things for all sorts of reasons. The people who look the brightest are just better at hiding it.”
“Have you never suspected that I—a seventeen-year-old girl—am with you only for a life of wealth?” Long’er asked softly.
Bai Shikun sat up straight, facing the stubborn look in her eyes. What was she trying to confirm? The silver-haired old man suddenly burst out laughing.
“Ha! Long’er, you really are something. No woman has ever asked me that!”
He looked at her and replied, “I’m not so conceited as to believe that a seventy-year-old man could attract a young beauty. As long as you’re loyal to me, whatever I give you is worth it.”
Long’er smiled, her gaze warm. “Shikun, thank you for your trust. But they’re right—I am unlucky.”
She looked away from her husband, gazing at her empty cup—the milk was gone.
“The year before I left the orphanage, I secretly visited a fortune teller. He said my fate would bring disaster to those closest to me. My grandmother and parents were proof. If I were to marry, I must choose someone with a large age difference to lessen the doom. That’s partly why I’m with you…”
As she spoke, her voice trembled. “…But now, I’m so afraid…that it’ll still happen!”
Long’er, overcome with emotion, covered her face with her hands, sobbing softly, “I’m afraid I’ll drag you down…even our child…”
Bai Shikun said nothing, only held Long’er silently and stroked her back, soothing her. “Silly girl, so this is what’s been troubling you these days?”
He nuzzled her hair, his voice calm. “Long’er, listen to me: All my life, every decision I’ve made wasn’t really mine. As the Bai family heir, I had to do things, including marriage and family. But you are different. If you truly are a woman who brings misfortune to her husband, then I want to be with you even more—so I can make the one decision in my life that truly belongs to me.”
Long’er trembled and looked up at her husband’s deeply wrinkled but resolute face—what struck her most were the wise, piercing eyes beneath those silver brows.
“I believe in fate, too, but this time, fate will not control me. Heaven sent you to me, but it’s my choice to keep you. Only in this way will you truly belong to me—Bai Shikun—alone!”
Long’er said no more, only lifting her face for a deep kiss.
In that moment, she was certain: this man was worthy of her love and devotion.
In bed, Bai Shikun gently embraced Long’er and softly kissed her delicate neck. “Don’t worry about anything. Even if I’m not here, you and our child will live the safest, happiest life. Long’er…I promise, I’ll keep you pure, noble, and beautiful for a lifetime…”
Deep into the night.
Bai Shikun quietly got out of bed, left the house, and drove away.
His car sped along the highway in the darkness, heading straight for the Sisters of Mercy Primary School in the new town.
He had comforted his wife, but the pressures of reality still weighed on him. The last time he felt so troubled was when Long’er told him she was pregnant and Wang Rong was still, in name, Mrs. Bai.
Back then, he had prayed at the chapel in the primary school—though not devoutly—and the Holy Mother had resolved his dilemma.
Wang Rong died while praying to the Holy Mother.
Now, driven by an inexplicable urge, he thought again of the chapel.
Getting out of the car, Bai Shikun walked straight toward the chapel.
This time, the situation was even more difficult and complicated than before. He wondered if “she” could solve it. As before, he had little faith in the Holy Mother.
As he walked, he was suddenly drawn to the statue of Saint Wang Rong by the chapel path.
He saw the pure white statue glowing with a gentle white halo, making her face appear even more loving and holy. A ring of golden light surrounded her.
Bai Shikun hadn’t visited this place in a long time—not only because he wasn’t devoted, but also because he didn’t want to see Wang Rong’s face.
Now, staring at the glowing statue, his eyes widened in disbelief.
He stepped closer. The statue’s light was soft and pleasing, her smile even more gentle and sacred. Around her, a sea of golden roses replaced the pond that had once surrounded the Roman pavilion. Each rose bore the name and wish of a devotee, each marked with a price. As the honorary director, Bai Shikun had left the administration to others and never knew the worship of Wang Rong had surpassed that of the Holy Mother. The golden roses glowed dazzlingly.
The statue seemed to be demonstrating its power to him.
Bai Shikun glared coldly at Wang Rong, as if weighing something in his mind.
“They say the Holy Mother’s power is gone, but the Saint grants every wish. But my problem is not a small one—can you solve it?” he finally said, frowning at the statue with skepticism.
Suddenly, the statue shone with an even brighter light, and the sea of golden roses sparkled even more, as if responding to his doubt.
He lowered his eyes and, after a moment’s silence, suddenly took off one of his slippers and hurled it at the statue’s smiling face.
With a loud slap, a gray shoe print appeared on the statue’s face, breaking the sacred tableau with a touch of absurdity and making Bai Shikun burst out laughing.
His laughter boomed: “Wang Rong! Maybe you don’t know, but I only ever prayed to the gods once in my life: to ask the Holy Mother to take you away so I wouldn’t have to see your face! Now, why would I ask you—a disgraceful woman—for help? Forget it! Hahaha!”
As he laughed, a golden light from his forehead completely outshone the statue’s white glow.
“Agh! You old fool—!” A woman’s shrill scream rang out from nowhere.
At the same time, a wild wind howled. The heavy, cloudy night sky split with a jagged crack, and a blood-red light pierced down.
Wang Rong looked up and was shocked—this was no moonlight. It was—a gigantic eye?!
End of Episode 5
Copyright Notice:17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDwzSPdIJt
"The Sequel of Wang Rong: A Journey of Revenge in an Upside-Down Dream"17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRLDR6fHv6R
(Bilibili title: Wang Rong Sequel: Revenge Dream)17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfTWp0No4OT
Episode 5: An Important Decision17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4W2ELiMaDS
Written and created by Jing Xixian (Vampire L). All rights reserved.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmhHKNJcQRG
No part of this work may be reproduced, adapted, distributed, translated, or used for commercial purposes without the author’s written permission.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8RYvWF9UF
© (Kiny Heyin) Jing Xixian (Vampire L), All rights reserved
and then Add to home screen.