Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Jin Qingyan put on the thumb ring, and only then could he could see the pattern on it clearly. “I thought it was a snake, but the pattern on it is actually a dragon. You said it’s the lifeline of our family, what use does it have?”
Mr. Jin coughed lightly. “I’m not sure about what it does specifically either, because I’ve worn it for so many years and haven’t found anything special about it. Your grandfather said it hadn’t been made for me. Even if it doesn’t have any obvious effects, keep it on. Don’t take it off.”
Jin Qingyan was about to remove it and wear it only after he got home when he suddenly realized that the ring was stuck on his thumb and could not be removed.
“Father, I can’t take it off anymore.”
Mr. Jin was dumbfounded and immediately stood up to check. “But that’s impossible. It’s been on my hand for so long, but this never happened to me before.”
“Look…” He reached out his hand. Mr. and Mrs. Jin, as well as old Mrs. Jin, crowded around him and couldn’t take their eyes off his hand. Mr. Jin took his hand and, no matter how he pulled, the ring really could not be removed anymore.
“It seems I’ve been wearing this ring in vain for so many years. When you wore it, its effect took place. Don’t worry, when you grow older and reach the time to pass it down to your successor, you’ll naturally be able to remove it.”
“That’s interesting. Where did our ancestors find such a thing?” No matter how Jin Qingyan looked at it, he disliked the color of the piece of jade.
“How would I know?” Mr. Jin turned and returned to his room.
“Qingyan…” old Mrs. Jin said with a grin. “This is a magical item, I feel that it’ll help you a lot in the future.”
“It’s just a piece of jade, how would it help me? But I know — I shouldn’t belittle it. Even if I don’t believe in its uses, I should maintain respect towards it.”
Old Mrs. Jin nodded. “You should really give me a grandson soon. You’re already married. If not now, when will you have children?”
Not again…
“Grandmother, I’ll leave first. I still need to go to the office.” He hurriedly got up and left.
“That little bastard. He sneaks off when I start talking to him about serious things.” Old Mrs. Jin cursed at his figure.
Mrs. Jin broke into an amused laughter. “Mother, they’ve just been married for a few months. You’re being too anxious, let them have some time together on their own first.”
“As you get older, you’ll feel like seeing vibrant, energetic children.” At this, old Mrs. Jin reminded her, “In about two more months, Qingyue is getting married. Aren’t you going to prepare her dowry?”
“I’ve given her the betrothal gifts from her in-laws already, I’ll just buy some stuff to add onto her dowry when the time comes. There’s already nothing else that’s needed.”
Old Mrs. Jin sighed. “This Qingyue, why is she so different from Qingyan? Did she lose her brain or something?”
Mrs. Jin nodded sulkily.
Wearing the ring passed down from his ancestors, Jin Qingyan had a dream that night. In his dream, he was flying on and on and could not stop no matter how much he wanted to. It was eventually An Xiaoning who shook him awake. He woke up in a cold sweat, and his body felt weak. He drank a cup of tea in one mouthful and finally felt slightly more at ease.
“Did you have a nightmare?”
“Umm. I think it’s because of this.” He began explaining the origin of the thumb ring to An Xiaoning.
An Xiaoning stared at the thumb ring and asked, astonished, “Is that the pattern of a dragon on it?”
He nodded. “Yes. No wonder I kept dreaming that I was flying, I must have been affected by this.”
An Xiaoning lay down. “Ancient people have said that jade can be pretty scary. Gu Beicheng gave me a jade bangle and made me wear it, but I’ve never worn it. Somehow I feel that if I wear it, I’ll be its master. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
Jin Qingyan questioned, “Bangle? When did he give it to you?”
“The day we got married, he gave it to me as a gift. It looks very pretty indeed, so I asked him where he bought it, but he just said that it isn’t sold outside. I reckon it’s one that he collected. I’m not sure anyway, but I’ve kept it well. It looks really expensive; if one day I become poor, I can even pawn it for money to spend.” Even though she said that, she had no thoughts of pawning that jade bangle, because she indeed liked it very much.
“You’re really a moneygrubber indeed. There are many kinds of jade which are made to protect the one wearing them, and they’re good for the body. You should get an expert to take a look at it one day. If it’s a good jade, leaving it lying around is pointless anyway, you might as well wear it.”
“Umm.” An Xiaoning turned to hug him. “I was sleeping well originally, but now that you’ve woken me up, I can’t get to sleep anymore. You need to take responsibility for this.”
He laughed softly. “How do I take responsibility for it? Do you want your husband to help you fall asleep easier?”
She knew what he was getting at. “No.”
“Yes?”
“No,” she reiterated. “Are you deaf?”
“Alright, since you want it so badly, your husband will do everything to serve you.” He was bent on doing the opposite of what she wanted.
An Xiaoning could no longer take it. “Jin Qingyan, you’re becoming more and more shameless.”
“Like wife, like husband.”
“…”
She had originally wanted a good night’s rest. Well, now, it was out of the question for her!
The whole month went by very smoothly until, at the start of February, something happened to the Shi family again.
An Xiaoning’s prediction was right. Early in the morning, Matriarch Shi was found dead on the bed by a maid serving her.
The news spread and the whole of S Nation were in an absolute frenzy.
The news also left the police station in a state of shock.
After Shi Shaochuan’s engagement, members of the Shi family met their deaths one after another, and they were all elders of the Shi family. It was simply an unimaginable mystery.
Shi Shaochuan kneeled down at his grandmother’s coffin, crying tears of devastation.
At this moment, it finally became clear to him that it was not that his grandmother’s time had come.
He also understood that the ritual he did previously was completely useless and a waste of money.
A bunch of media reporters added to his misfortunes by surrounding the front gate of the Shi family, waiting to interview Shi Shaochuan. However, he did not leave his house for a long time.
He was about to get married this month, but first his parents, and now his grandmother had died. As can be imagined, this cast a huge shadow in his heart.
Jin Qingyue was also in shock by this. She composed herself and went to look for An Xiaoning again.
Unfortunately, when she went to the police station to look for An Xiaoning, An Xiaoning had gone away to investigate a case and could not return for the time being.
Those in the know were aware of the reason, but outsiders were clueless about it.
Jin Qingyue’s reputation as a curse to the Shi family became cast in stone.
Before she was even married into the family, her reputation had become tarnished already. To her, it was definitely not a good thing.
She did not know who Wang Fangfang’s next target would be. But at this point, she knew why Wang Fangfang did not find Shi Shaochuan for revenge directly but instead used such a method. It was because watching one’s loved ones die one after another would be the biggest torture to anyone.
What was more direct than this kind of pain?
Three days later, when Matriarch Shi’s body was being buried, reporters from across the island crowded at the funeral. Even though it was obvious that Shi Shaochuan was in a horrible mood, they were intent on surrounding him to ask questions that went straight for his heart.
“Mr. Shi, may I ask — since your engagement, your parents and grandmother had passed away one after another. Do you think all these are coincidences?”
Shi Shaochuan remained silent while displaying an unshaven look. With the reporters surrounding him blabbering away non-stop, he finally could not help but answer resolutely with tears brimming in his eyes, “I don’t think these are coincidences, but I don’t believe in anything that is not backed by scientific evidence!”
