It was as if a drowning person had just broken free from their restraints, Zhou Wang suddenly sat up from the lounge chair, his body seemingly still retaining the burning sensation, an intense dry mouth and throat making him unable to bear it.
"So thirsty... water, give me water quickly!"
In Lin Ran’s bewildered gaze, Zhou Wang grabbed the freshly squeezed lemon water from her hand and drank it down in big gulps.
Lin Ran felt a bit embarrassed because there was a clear lipstick mark on the cup’s rim.
However, such a minor scene naturally didn’t catch any attention from Zhou Wang or Xu Wenqian. Xu Wenqian, seeing Zhou Wang wasn’t quite right, quickly handed over her own cup of juice as well.
After gulping down two large cups of juice, Zhou Wang finally let out a long sigh, feeling as though he had come back to life.
"Boss, what happened to you? Did you have a nightmare? Are you okay?"
Xu Wenqian asked with concern.
"I..."
Zhou Wang looked around, the sky was vast and clear, and the river breeze was gentle. He was still on the Huangpu River yacht, and everything he had just experienced seemed like nothing more than a fleeting dream, yet it all felt so real.
He remembered the soft touch of Ding Yi’s lips, remembered the weight of Nie Xiaoyun surpassing her appearance, remembered Ding Yi’s father’s sighs mixed with anger...
For a moment, Zhou Wang couldn’t even tell whether it was all just an illusion or a memory he once forgot.
"I’m fine, just had a nightmare."
Zhou Wang waved his hand, "Don’t say anything, I want some peace."
With Zhou Wang’s instructions, the two women obediently closed their mouths, one silently lighting a cigarette for Zhou Wang, and the other went to refill the juice.
After finishing a cigarette, Zhou Wang finally slowly calmed down, although his head still had a lingering sharp pain, somewhat like a hangover swelling, which felt quite uncomfortable.
Thinking for a moment, Zhou Wang pulled out his phone. Although it was just an "instance," he was quite curious about what actually happened to Ding Yi’s parents on the real timeline?
He then looked it up, and indeed, that year’s mayor of Jing City was Ding Baiyu, and Nie Xiaoyun serving as a general manager at Chi Hong Company in Jing City also actually happened.
"So, everything else might be true, only the ’incident’ is false?"
Zhou Wang, feeling dazed, thought about how Ding Yi might have really attended high school in Jing City, and a rather strange feeling arose.
But anyway, that supposed fire with some ulterior plot and strange traces... it surely didn’t happen, right?
With inexplicable unrest in his heart, Zhou Wang searched online, and indeed, there were three reported fires that year in Jing City, only one in the downtown area, and it was a regular house fire causing the death of a couple.
There were no records online of a large warehouse fire or reports of casualties from any other accidents.
"Seems like I overthought it, indeed just a system-fabricated time and space..."
Only then did Zhou Wang breathe a sigh of relief.
For some cautious reason, Zhou Wang gave his dad, Zhou Dajun, a call.
"Hello, son, what’s up?"
The call connected quickly, and Zhou Dajun’s steady voice came through.
In the background, Zhao Guihua’s nagging could be vaguely heard, "What’s up? The son hardly calls back; you still need to ask what’s up..."
Hearing his mom’s chatter, Zhou Wang felt somewhat ashamed.
He truly was contacting his family less and less, partly due to being busy, but also because often when his parents called, unless it was something important, Zhou Wang wouldn’t feel like answering.
"Dad, you and mom are together, but it sounds like there are others?"
"With your Uncle Jiang and Aunt Guan playing cards, we also planned to go to KTV for a sing-along tonight."
Zhou Dajun replied with a laugh.
Zhou Wang felt both pleased and helpless hearing that his parents were once again "hanging out" with Jiang Qingkui’s parents.
Pleased because, with the change in status, Zhou Dajun is really considered someone in Jing City now, and his social circle is changing subtly.
Back then, even when living on the floor above or below, the relationship between the two families was good, but they weren’t actually this close.
Additionally, under the influence of Jiang Qingkui’s parents, his parents’ lifestyle and entertainment habits are becoming more diverse and fashionable, no longer limited to just square dancing or playing mahjong.
Overall, it’s surely a good thing... indicating that his parents are living better and better.
But what gives Zhou Wang a headache is that the better the relationship between his parents and the Jiangs, the more trouble it’ll be for him to handle his relationship with Jiang Qingkui in the future.
This is also why, during the talent show round, he immediately passed on the "Jiang Qingkui instance" without a second thought.
Money can be the foundation for solving problems, but it can’t be the only means to resolve them.
For now, Zhou Wang had no better solution.
His mind wandered randomly, and Zhou Wang quickly shelved the irrelevant thoughts, asking, "Dad, I want to ask you something."
"Go ahead,"
"Do you remember in 2020, the year I took the college entrance exam... was there any major accident in Jing City? Like a fire?"
"Accident?"
Zhou Dajun was taken aback, "Not really, such a small place like our Jing City hasn’t had any major issues over the years. If you’re talking about the counties below, there might be a few..."