Sayuri Matsumoto was just sharing some amusing childhood sweetheart stories with two adorable students.
When the subject of their chat walked into the room, she quickly signaled to Sonoko Suzuki and Ran Mouri not to blurt out what they'd just heard.
The bride didn't immediately acknowledge Toshihiko Takasugi, but he wasn't annoyed. Instead, he let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Seizing the moment, he picked up Sayuri's half-drunk lemon tea. Muttering, "Why do you always drink such cheap stuff?" he slyly slipped some sodium hydroxide he'd prepared earlier, along with an empty capsule, into the can.
—The sodium hydroxide was for poisoning, and the empty capsule was to confuse the timing of the poisoning, creating an alibi for himself.
...
After warning the two students, Sayuri glanced back at Toshihiko's retreating figure and then looked down at the drink he'd just returned to the table. She fell silent for a beat.
Then, with a casual smile, she walked over and spoke to Toshihiko as she picked up the lemon tea again.
Feeling the cup—it was hotter than before—her faint hope sank.
In this on-again, off-again twenty-year relationship, Sayuri Matsumoto knew far more than Toshihiko Takasugi.
After running into each other again in college, Sayuri discovered Toshihiko was very likely the neighbor boy she'd had a crush on way back then.
So, without asking him directly (too awkward if she'd got the wrong guy), she quietly investigated what had happened twenty years ago.
Her digging not only confirmed Toshihiko was indeed her childhood sweetheart, but also uncovered the accident that caused his mother's death.
Putting the pieces together, and reading Toshihiko's subtle attitude, Sayuri vaguely guessed why he was really with her.
Even after knowing all this, she hadn't broken up with him. Instead, she kept thinking about how to help Toshihiko let go of his "hatred" from twenty years ago.
A while back, after accepting his proposal, she planned to stage a police-and-thief play inspired by current events. Through it, she hoped to subtly tell Toshihiko that her father hadn't abandoned the woman to die back then—he just hadn't seen her in his blind spot.
But she hadn't expected Toshihiko's hatred to be so deep... that he wanted to kill her.
...
Just then, a staff member hurried past the door, then quickly returned: "Mr. Takasugi, you're here! It's almost time, please both prepare." Then he rushed off again.
Toshihiko was startled—he hadn't expected the wedding to start so soon. This meant Sayuri wouldn't have time to drink the beverage, and the poison he'd placed...
"Don't worry," Sayuri suddenly said beside him. "You go ahead. I'll be right there."
Toshihiko felt his fiancée's attitude was oddly off at that moment but couldn't put his finger on what exactly.
He finally decided he must be wearing "guilty glasses" that made everyone look suspicious... With that, he nodded and left with Ran and Sonoko.
...
After their footsteps faded, Sayuri stared at the poisoned lemon tea in her hand. Her gaze flickered before settling on a look that said: I don't want to live anymore.
She lifted the straw, ready to drink.
But just then, a click came from the window behind her.
Startled, Sayuri whipped around to see a small boy clinging to the window. He seemed to have tried climbing in but hadn't expected the window to be locked.
The kid was younger than her students—probably just starting elementary school—and wore a scarf around his neck. Even though it was summer, he gave off a refreshing vibe.
Seeing him, Sayuri stopped her sad sip, walked over, opened the window, and pulled the child inside.
She was about to ask whose naughty bear child this was when she suddenly froze.
—Isn't this room on the second floor?! And the first floor here is unusually high, so the second-floor windows are way up... How did a child climb all the way up here?
Jiangxia noticed her shock and casually picked a topic to start with: "There's sodium hydroxide in your lemon tea."
Sayuri's eyes flashed with confusion for a moment, but then she recalled that this kid might have been hiding outside earlier, watching Toshihiko's poisoning move—and her confusion faded.
She gently stroked the adorable child's head and sighed, "I know."
Sayuri actually had a lot to say, but thinking it might be inappropriate for a kid, she swallowed her words.
She was about to find someone to take the child home, while she herself would continue drinking that bitter lemon tea alone—backed by some sad background music.
But then the child reached into his pocket, rummaged around, and suddenly pulled out a small blood pack. He held it out: "Here."
Sayuri took it instinctively, a question mark hanging above her head.
"It's a blood pack for the play. I stole... borrowed it from the stage crew," the child said calmly, eyes clear but unfathomable, as if he'd seen through everything. "You want to drink the poison, don't you?"
Sayuri fell silent.
Jiangxia looked at her, then cleared his throat and recited lines from Xiaobai's script: "Theoretically, I don't recommend you do that—it seems there are misunderstandings between you that aren't resolved yet. Whether it's guilt about your father, or disappointment in the groom, or in the world, taking poison is too rash."
Sayuri blankly listened to an elementary schooler spout such long-winded lines. Something felt off, but she couldn't find a good moment to interrupt.
The child ignored her hesitation and continued, steady as ever: "You can think of this blood pack as a 'regret pill'—only by truly experiencing it can you see the consequences clearly, and avoid a bleak future.
"Otherwise, if you really poison yourself, and the other person regrets it too, you'll just have one in the graveyard and one in prison... Is that really what you want?"
When someone's blinded by love and won't listen to reason, you have to pick the right method.
Sayuri wanted to drink the poison badly; words like "ending up in the graveyard" might not stop her.
But if a remorseful Takasugi showed up right now, her resolve would crumble.
First, stop her suicide attempt, then follow Xiaobai's script...
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 52/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*