HE IS WARMER THAN TIME

Chapter 1: Her Wretched Life.

Flowers bloomed in my heart before my rebirth

But swords were in my hands after I’m born again. – Song Ran

In July, the parasol trees before the inpatient department of the municipal hospital were in full bloom. The scorching sun and the cicadas crying on and off were vexing.

A lady in her forties strolled into the white building where the inpatient department was located. Her dress appeared expensive, and she looked good for her age. With her brand name clutch under her arm, she stepped into the elevator and headed to a ward at the end of the corridor on the third floor. This chapter was first shared on the Ñøv€lß1n platform.

Song Ran was lying on the hospital bed, holding on to her last breath. She was dying, and it looked like she wasn’t going to make it.

But gradually, her distracted gaze settled on the person standing at the door.

“What are you doing here?” she said, her resentment oozing through her words.

Wen Huihui trod to her in her clattering high-heels and said, “My husband Gu Jinghang died yesterday.”

Out of reflex, Song Ran’s hand grasped the bedsheet covering her. Even though she could barely breathe, she managed to ask, “What has that got to do with me?”

Wen Huihui lit a cigarette. “Don’t mind if I smoke, do you? Oh, you’ve got a terminal illness, and time is running out for you. So I guess it doesn’t matter.”

Song Ran gritted her teeth and did not say a word.

Wen Huihui took a puff. The smoke lingered in the ward as her voice seemed ethereal and unreal.

“You are still the same as you were thirty years ago. Too proud and never saying what you mean. Do you still remember that day in 1988?”

Song Ran remained silent.

Wen Huihui continued, “On the account that you’re dying, I’ll tell you everything so that you can die in peace.

“That day, I asked you if you liked Gu Jinghang, the one who was introduced to you by someone else. What did you say? You replied to me that he was just a poor country bumpkin. So what if he was the team leader of the research institute? You wouldn’t like him anyway.”

Song Ran gasped loudly. No, that wasn’t true.

She had loved Gu Jinghang. But then Wen Huihui was well aware of her proud character. She had manipulated her into saying something that was not from the bottom of her heart.

Wen Huihui patted her hand and soothed her. “Ran, what you didn’t know is I got Gu Jinghang to come over to your house that day. When you made that speech, Jinghang was just right outside your door.”

Song Ran’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Why did you do that?”

“Because I have better taste. I knew that the poor lad you didn’t appreciate would achieve great things someday. It turned out that I have made all the right bets.”

Song Ran was almost out of breath. She was in such a state that she forgot to press the emergency bell.

Wen Huihui leaned back and took a puff from her cigarette. A wave of superiority washed over her as she watched this person on the brink of death. “By the way, you knew about that night. But what you didn’t know was, in fact, I had a few tricks up my sleeve. I drugged him.”

“Shameless, Wen Huihui. You’re utterly shameless! Why did you have to resort to this?”

Wen Huihui sneered, “If I’m not shameless, would I have moved up the social ladder, being constantly driven around by drivers? Would others respect me wherever I go? Song Ran, you’re just too naive.”

Song Ran was raving mad as she spit out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Wen Huihui leaned over to her ear and whispered her words clearly, “That night, Gu Jinghang was calling you. Ran... Ran... How sweet and tender he was. Look at me. Look at how I endured it. I survived the humiliation and reaped wealth that lasted me for a lifetime. Song Ran, you loved him, didn’t you? Since you couldn’t stay by his side in this life, you can accompany him after you’re dead.”

Song Ran’s eyes widened. Gripped in a moment of sheer rage, she drew her last breath.

Wen Huihui stood beside her, emotionless. Only she, herself, knew that her glory was surface deep.

That night, Gu Jinghang did not touch her. As a result, she had to sleep with someone else just to fake her pregnancy and deceive him so that he had to marry her.

After they got married, she was invisible to him. For his entire life, he never touched her once. The woman on the bed was the only person he had ever loved.

But so what? She, Wen Huihui, had the last laugh, right?

Chapter 2: Back To The ’80s

Outside the window, the cacophony of cicadas filled the air. The old electric fan continued to squeak loudly as it turned. In the big room, the windows were left ajar and the aqua blue curtains billowed open from the breeze coming in.

Someone was lying on the princess bed. Due to the heat, she was frowning. Despite the whirling of the electric fan, she still felt uncomfortable.

Suddenly, Song Ran opened her eyes. She held her chest tightly, taking short breaths.

She looked around her, but Wen Huihui was nowhere in sight. Did she leave after angering her?

She peered around, studying the layout of the room. When she saw the calendar on the wall, she was stunned.

23rd of July, 1988. Immerse Yourself in the Storyverse: N♡vεlB¡n.

Was this a dream? What was she doing here?

On this exact day, Wen Huihui had set up a trap to snatch away her man.

From then on, Gu Jinghang had a meteoric rise and Wen Huihui naturally rode on her husband’s success.

The Song family who used to be extremely wealthy had their assets cleaned out by people with wicked intentions. The family fortune suffered a reversal and they were unable to recover.

Song Ran tried hard to recall what had happened. Chronologically, this seemed to be about the time when Wen Huihui had approached her about her feelings towards Gu Jinghang.

Gu Jinghang was introduced to Song Ran by the supervisor of the research institute, which was opened by her uncle. She actually liked him a lot, but she was a pampered child. Furthermore, Wen Huihui was constantly pushing them together, exclaiming how their lives in the future would be exponentially better if Song Ran and Gu Jinghang got together, but it seemed that Gu Jinghang had intentions to do just that just so that he could rise to a higher social position.

That was why she had said what she said. “He is merely a poor guy from the village. So what if he is the team leader?”

Without knowing it, she had fallen into Wen Huihui’s trap. Yup, Wen Huihui was her best friend and she had always gone out of her way to be nice to Wen Huihui. She had never done anything to entail Song Ran to have her guard up around her until very recently.

Gauging by the time, Wen Huihui had left for about two hours. It was five in the evening. Roughly, this would have been about the time she would have taken the opportunity to drug Gu Jinghang’s wine, just so she could become his lover girl.

No, I cannot let her have her way!

Song Ran grabbed her small handbag which she had placed on her dressing table and dashed out of the house without thinking twice.

Her life had begun slowly going downhill at this point. Hence, she must do everything in her power to rewrite history.

Gu Jinghang was a nice man, and she should not have been so arrogant. She should not have been so cold to him after realizing what had transpired between him and Wen Huihui and ignored him for good.

He wanted to explain things. Despite knowing that she looked down on him, he still wanted to be with her, making grave attempts to salvage their relationship.

However, Song Ran was proud like a peacock. Since he had an affair with another woman and still had the guts to come back to her, she despised him from the bottom of her heart.

Just like that, she had pushed Gu Jinghang another step closer to Wen Huihui.

Wen Huihui was too conniving. She calculated and waited for this day because she knew it was her ovulation period. One month later, she had a doctor check-up and told Gu Jinghang the news that she was pregnant.

Gu Jinghang was a responsible man. Since his heart had been broken by Song Ran, he accepted his fate and married Wen Huihui.

Song Ran carried her handbag and rushed out. Her sister was shouting at her from downstairs, “Isn’t it scorching hot outside? The sun is so bright. Where are you going?”

That was her elder sister. She wanted to hug her very badly and tell her that she missed her a lot.

However, she had more urgent things to focus on.

“I’m going out for a while.”

“Girl, Mother Wu cooked some green bean soup. I have cooled it for you. Have some before you go.”

“Nope, Sister. I’m going to be late.”

She rushed out of the house and onto the roads without turning back.

Wow, the ’80s sunshine was so beautiful!

Chapter 3