The collapse of the Gu Group came faster and more completely than anyone expected.
The bet agreement expired, and the overseas market share was seriously below the target. Gu Hanshen had to pay an astronomical amount of liquidated damages. He mortgaged everything he had, but still couldn't fill the huge hole.
The court announced that Gu Group officially entered bankruptcy liquidation procedures.
All his assets, including the villa halfway up the mountain, were seized and auctioned by the court.
Overnight, the business emperor who once stood at the top of the pyramid in City A turned into a penniless and debt-ridden pauper.
When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter.
When he was in good shape, his friends and partners were all brothers and sisters. Now that he is down and out, they all avoid him like the plague. When he called to borrow money, no one answered. When he wanted to find a job, no company dared to hire him.
The name "Gu Hanshen" has become a joke in the business world of City A, a synonym for failure.
He was kicked out of the villa and had to move into the cheapest and most mixed village in the city, dragging a suitcase.
The room was small, damp, and smelled musty. The walls were covered with yellowed newspapers, and the sounds of quarrels and fights from the next door were clearly audible.
He lay on the creaking hard bed, with his eyes open, looking at the cockroach slowly crawling across the ceiling. For the first time, he experienced what despair was.
He thought of Jiang Wan five years ago.
Has she ever been unable to sleep all night on such a cold and desperate night?
He remembered the promise he had made to her.
"Wanwan, wait for me. I will give you the most grand wedding in the world."
But he pushed her into hell with his own hands.
Now, retribution has come.
He lost everything, was deserted by his friends and family, and ended up living on the streets. He finally became the person he once despised the most.
He began to drink heavily, using the lowest quality alcohol to numb his nerves every day. He stopped shaving and taking care of himself. The once handsome and well-dressed Mr. Gu turned into a bearded and drunken homeless man.
He would go places occasionally.
Go to the door of Jiang Wan's newly opened restaurant called "Rebirth" and watch from afar.
He saw Jiang Wan, wearing a chef's uniform, busying herself in the bright kitchen. On her face was a kind of serene smile from the heart that he had never seen before.
He saw that Huo Yunchen would drive to pick her up after get off work, would naturally take the things in her hands, and would gently straighten her hair that was messed up by the wind.
They stand together, so well matched.
That kind of happiness made Gu Hanshen's eyes hurt.
He knew that everything should have belonged to him.
It was he who lost it himself.
On an evening with light rain, Jiang Wan's "Rebirth" restaurant was about to close.
She saw off the last guest and was about to close the door when a staggering figure appeared at the door.
The man was soaked, his hair was messy and stuck to his forehead, his face was full of stubble, and he smelled strongly of alcohol and sour food.
Jiang Wan frowned and was about to say "We're closed" when the man raised his head.
Under the dim light, Jiang Wan paused at the sight of the haggard face that still retained its former features.
It's Gu Hanshen.
He looked at Jiang Wan, his cloudy eyes filled with complex emotions, regret, pain, unwillingness, and a hint of begging.
"Wanwan..." he spoke, his voice hoarse as if it had been sandpapered.
Jiang Wan didn't say anything, just looked at him coldly.
With a "plop" sound.
Without any warning, Gu Hanshen knelt down in front of her.
The rain flowed down his trouser legs and spread out into a small stain on the floor tiles at the restaurant entrance.
"Wanwan, I was wrong."
He knelt on the ground and looked up at her. This once invincible man was now humbled to the dust.
"I know it's too late for me to say anything. I don't ask you to forgive me, I just ask you... to give me another chance. I can do anything, even be your slave, as long as I can stay by your side and watch over you."
His tears, mixed with rain, slid down his face.
In the restaurant, the staff who were packing up were all stunned. They couldn't believe that this man kneeling on the ground like a beggar was the legendary CEO of Gu Group who was once a powerful figure.
Jiang Wan looked at him quietly.
Looking at this, she once loved and hated the man to her core.
He knelt at her feet, gave up all his dignity, and begged for her forgiveness.
She had imagined this scene countless times in her mind. She thought she would feel very happy and feel the pleasure of revenge.
However, when this moment really came, her heart was as calm as a pool of stagnant water.
There is no hate and no love.
It's like watching a stranger who has nothing to do with you performing a lame one-man show.
She finally understood that the moment she decided to live for herself, Gu Hanshen had completely disappeared from her world.
She responded to him softly.
The voice was very light, but it was like the sharpest knife, completely cutting off his last bit of fantasy.
"You are not wrong."
Gu Hanshen suddenly raised his head, a glimmer of hope flashing in his eyes.
Jiang Wan looked at him and slowly finished the second half of the sentence:
"I'm so stupid."
I was too stupid to believe your promise. I was too stupid to give up myself for you and my family. I was too stupid to waste five years of my youth on someone who was not worthy.
It's not you who is wrong.
It's me.
After saying that, she stopped looking at him, turned around and closed the door of the restaurant.
The man kneeling in the rainy night and all her past were kept outside the door.
In the early morning after the rain, the sky was washed clear blue.
Jiang Wan drove a car, carrying a cardboard box, all the way to the top of the mountain on the outskirts of the city.
The wind on the top of the mountain is so strong that it makes people's clothes flutter. Standing here, you can overlook the outline of the entire city.
She opened the carton.
Inside, were all the things related to her past.
There was a yellowed verdict issued by the court five years ago. The words "traffic accident causing death" on it were once her lingering nightmare.
There were several photos of her and Gu Hanshen when they were in love. In the photos, she smiled innocently and her eyes were full of happiness.
There is also an album, which contains Jiang Rou's carefully collected "sweet wedding photos" of her and Gu Hanshen. This is what Jiang Wan asked someone to bring back from the sealed Gu family villa. In the photo, Jiang Rou, wearing the wedding dress that should have belonged to her, smiles as happily as she can, which is as ironic as it is.
Jiang Wan built a fire on the open space on the top of the mountain.
She threw the things, one by one, into the fire.
The first thing she threw in was the verdict. The paper quickly curled up in the flames, turned black, and finally turned into ash.
Goodbye, No. 734 who bears the injustice.
Then, she threw the photo of herself and Gu Hanshen in. The sweetness in the photo disappeared under the licking of the flames.
Goodbye, Jiang Wan, the naive and foolish person who regarded love as the whole world.
Finally, she picked up the wedding photo album and tore it out page by page, watching the hypocritical smiles of the couple being devoured and distorted by the flames.
Goodbye, my former lover and my former sister.
Goodbye, all my hatred and resentment.
The flames burned fiercely, illuminating her face. Her eyes were calm and resolute.
She was not burning the past, but saying goodbye to it in the most thorough way.
As the last photo turned to ashes, a black Bentley stopped behind her.
Huo Yunchen got out of the car, walked to her side, and put a windbreaker with his body temperature on her shoulders.
"Is it all over?" he asked.
"Well, it's all over." Jiang Wan turned her head and gave him a relieved smile.
That fire burned away all her shackles.
From today on, she is a brand new and free Jiang Wan.
"I'll take you somewhere." Huo Yunchen took her hand.
He didn't tell her his destination, he just drove south.
Three days later, the car stopped in front of the blue sea.
This was the first time Jiang Wan saw the sea.
The salty sea breeze caressed her face, and the endless blue made her forget all the noise and disturbance in the city.
Huo Yunchen took her, took off his shoes, and ran barefoot on the soft beach. They chased the waves like two children, letting the cold sea water wet their trouser legs.
Jiang Wan's laughter was like a silver bell, filling the entire beach.
This was the first time in five years that she laughed so happily and carefreely.
The next morning, before daybreak, Huo Yunchen pulled her out of bed.
"I'll take you to see the sunrise."
They wrapped themselves in thick blankets, snuggled up to the rocks by the sea, waiting for dawn.
When the first ray of golden sunlight broke through the sea level and dyed the entire sky and sea into a brilliant orange-red, Jiang Wan was so shocked by the beauty before her that she was speechless.
She looked at the rising red sun and felt that all the haze and darkness in her body were completely dispelled by this brilliant light.
"So beautiful," she murmured.
"Yes." Huo Yunchen turned his head and looked at her deeply instead of the sunrise. The tenderness in his eyes was warmer than the morning sun. "When you smile, you are more beautiful than the sunrise."
Jiang Wan's heart was gently touched by his words.
She turned her head and met his gaze.
Against the backdrop of the morning glow, she took the initiative to move forward and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips.
There was no lust in this kiss, only pure, newborn joy and gratitude.
Thank you, Huo Yunchen.
"Thank you for leading me out of the darkness and restarting my life."