"You probably guessed right, it's just as you thought," Zhi Xia said. "Hurry up and see what's behind, maybe you're there too."
Pei Jing was stunned, suddenly realizing that this was perhaps what she was most worried about.
Pei Jing closed the notebook and handed it to Zhi Xia, "No need to read on. This thing that shouldn't have existed in the first place, it's better to get rid of it. Take it into your space and burn it. I'm afraid someone might see it if it's outside, and it would be bad if another Zhao Runze showed up with more missing pages."
Everyone has their own normal life trajectory, and those memories that they have never experienced before suddenly appearing in their minds will still have some impact on them to some extent.
He had investigated Zhao Runze's past, and he had a good reputation, having been named an outstanding teacher for two consecutive years, but the obsession and regret in his eyes whenever he talked about An Meixia still shocked him.
It took Zhi Xia a lot of effort to finally make the decision to let him know about the past.
She thought that if he had the memories from that life like Zhao Runze did, he could avoid many pitfalls in this life, which might not be a bad thing.
Also, if he could still treat her the same way as before even after knowing, she would never let him down in this life.
It was time to make a decision today, dragging it out made her feel uneasy, and there was still Zhao Runze out there, including those missing pages, no one knew what would happen next.
"Since you refuse to read it, then I'll take a look." Zhi Xia took it and flipped to the back quickly, although very fast, she read every protagonist's name on each page very carefully.
She was looking for Pei Jing's name. Since Gao Meiyun had recorded so many important figures, Pei Jing was also very successful in that life, there was no reason he would not be included.
But unfortunately, there was no mention of his name all the way to the end. Instead, she saw the name Pei JianGuo.
In Pei JianGuo's life record, there were also appearances of An Meixia, with some abusive words after each name, which showed how much Gao Meiyun detested this name.
"Surprisingly there's no mention of your name." There really wasn't any Pei Jing. Zhi Xia didn't know if she should feel happy or worried.
Pei Jing took it very well, also relieved, "I see that the people written in it are those who will achieve great success in the future, either in wealth or career prospects. Since I'm not included, it can only mean that I'm just an ordinary person. It looks like I can only let you and our child live this ordinary life this lifetime."
"That's not necessarily the case. After all, one person's perspective is limited, it's impossible to know all the important figures. Maybe the person who wrote this just didn't know about you." What Zhi Xia actually thought was that Pei Jing's pages had probably been torn out.
"Since I'm not in it, then let's burn it. Otherwise it wouldn't be good for it to spread out." Zhi Xia said.
Pei Jing nodded in agreement.
In fact, he had noticed the page she paused slightly at for a moment, although it was upside down from his perspective, but Pei Jing had professional training after all. With just a glance, he could see it clearly.
Pei JianGuo had a son with An Meixia.
So was this what she was worried he would find out?
Actually there was no need at all. He and Zhi Xia were of the same mind, no matter what happened in their past lives, he didn't know and didn't want to dwell on it.
They were doing great now, and that was enough.
Also, he wasn't stupid. Zhi Xia was obviously different from what Zhao Runze knew. She even only had annoyance and unease when talking about Zhao Runze, completely unlike Zhao Runze's description of their deep love.
So she absolutely could not be the non-existent An Meixia.
Some unclear, vague things tend to make people more apprehensive. Once placed right in front, one realizes there was nothing to it.
There are no insurmountable obstacles in life, only those we don't want to get over.
The fact that Zhi Xia worried about Pei Jing's inability to accept those things and leave her, while she was capable of ensuring a living for herself and their child, meant she had developed feelings for him and was uncertain about their future.
It wasn't that he didn't provide her enough sense of security, her own past experiences led to her current personality, anxiety, unease.
"By the way, who did you get this from?" Zhi Xia had guessed but didn't have confirmation.
"Gao Dalin, or more accurately, Gao Second Sister." It was thanks to a cousin from Zhou Village who helped get it done.
Life had been hard on Gao Dalin and his siblings over the past few years. Shunned by everyone in the village, paid less when working more, they barely got by.
Naturally it was the same for marriage prospects. No matter who it was, upon hearing what the Gao family had done, even widows wouldn't marry into their family. Gao Second Sister was also unable to get married, and could only rely on each other with Gao Dalin to survive.
When a man reaches a certain age, curiosity about women is inevitable. Gao Dalin had been with a widow from the same village for a while. The widow was also struggling to make ends meet and simply wanted to take advantage of him, otherwise she wouldn't have refused to marry Gao Dalin.
Pei Jing happened to see this and asked his cousin from the Zhou family to set up Gao Dalin. They made the widow coax him into stealing Gao Second Sister's belongings.
After all, having an affair was no small matter. With this incident held over her, the widow was also afraid and naturally had to look out for herself first.
...
Speaking of which, they were unaware the commotion this operation of his had caused over in Anle Village.
Although Gao Second Sister hadn't opened that box for a long time, she had seen the records inside and thought there would definitely come a day when they could be put to use, so she kept it well preserved and would take a look every now and then.
Of course the money inside had long been taken out and used up. Apart from that, ordinary people wouldn't want the pen and notebook either, so even if a thief came they might not take those items.
The only reason she took them originally was because there was money inside. Who knew the things recorded in that notebook would bring her such a big surprise.
It was just a pity that she was unable to enjoy some of the surprises herself, and not only did none of her several plans succeed, but she was robbed every time.
But when she opened the cabinet today, the box hidden under her clothes at the bottom was gone.
Gao Second Sister instantly erupted and rushed to Gao Dalin's room to question him, "Brother, did you take something from my cabinet?"
Gao Dalin's eyes shifted around, certainly not daring to admit it, "No, why would I take your stuff? Second sister, what's missing?"
Among the siblings, Gao Second Sister was the smartest. Although Gao Dalin looked very tough, in reality over the past few years, major and minor matters were all decided by Gao Second Sister.
"The box under the clothes in my cabinet." Seeing the look in Gao Dalin's eyes, if he claimed the missing item wasn't taken by him, she would beat herself to death before believing that.
The two grew up together since childhood, how could she not know a person like Gao Dalin well?
"Gao Dalin, I'm warning you. What was hidden inside is something that can help the two of us turn our lives around in the future. If you want to stay emasculated and trapped in this little mountain village all your life, then go ahead and keep this up!" Fortunately, she was smart and understood that one shouldn't put all one's eggs in one basket. So after discovering something off about the item, she had picked out and separately stored some parts. The missing stuff was all recorded in her head anyway, so the loss wasn't too significant.
That An Meiyun was also stupid. What a waste for her parents to go through so much trouble to protect her.
To possess so much information in her brain yet placing all her thoughts on those unimportant contests, completely failing to properly utilize connections and relationships. Instead she offended all her backing.
If it were her, she would definitely have laid low and acted deferentially the moment little Cao returned home. After raising her for so many years, she was still their birth daughter who had been replaced through such means. Some special treatment would still be warranted when first getting her back.
Even if she couldn't see eye to eye about things, she still shouldn't go against others openly. In the end she got herself killed, and deserved it.
Gao Dalin also knew his sister was smarter than him. Hearing her say this, his heart tightened instantly, "Second sister, what exactly was that stuff?"
"You don't even know what those things are yet you dared to give them to someone else. You might as well throw your brain into the pigpen to feed the pigs!"
It was Gao Second Sister's first time blowing up so badly. It made Gao Dalin even more aware of the gravity of the situation.
He had seen what was inside too before, just a notebook and a pen. That widow had been cajoling him the last couple days and even agreed to marry him. He got muddled for a second and gave it to her.
But all this was built on the current circumstances. If he could turn his life around in the future, what kind of wife wouldn't he be able to find? Was it still necessary to marry a widow?
"No, I'm going to find her and get your things back from her," Gao Dalin reacted and headed out, with a fierce look on his face as if he was ready to kill someone.
