I became the Counterpart of the Winner in a Period Novel-Chapter 394 - 336: The Breaking Point

Yang Cui increasingly hated Jiang Zhenzhu. Her pride and joy, her son, had his future ruined because of that woman—a person marked by two penalties, where could he possibly be accepted now?

And it was all thanks to the shameless woman in front of her.

"Jiang Zhenzhu, today I’m going to fight you."

Seeing Yang Cui’s stance, Jiang Zhenzhu turned and ran, not because she couldn’t handle Yang Cui, but for the sake of face; she didn’t want to be surrounded by a crowd.

"Stop there, why are you running? What, you’re scared? Why didn’t you think about this when you seduced my son? You shameless thing, my son’s a high school graduate, chosen by his teacher, with a bright future ahead—until you, a shameless wild child, sabotaged him, leaving him with no road to follow. You’re married, can’t you behave yourself? Today, I’m gonna teach you a lesson."

One ran ahead, the other chased behind, and in a blink, they were at the Lan River’s edge.

"Don’t run, stay put."

"Ah!" Yang Cui stepped on a stone, and she fell straight into the nearby river, instantly splashing up a circle of water.

The sound was off to Jiang Zhenzhu. Looking back, she realized something was wrong and rushed back to save Yang Cui. But just as she took a step, she stopped; she noticed there was no one around. If she left, no one would see. She hesitated for just a moment before retracting her foot, turning to continue forward.

She was unaware, however, that Ning Yan had chased after her and saw her every move clearly.

Someone had run to tell him that his mother was chasing a thief and might be in danger. Upon hearing that, he rushed out, thinking about how dangerous a cornered thief could be—they might turn around and knife you.

But what he didn’t expect was to see Zhenzhu like this, with Zhenzhu, and a mother struggling in the water behind her.

In that moment, Ning Yan’s mind went blank, his legs went limp, and his arms weakened. Although deep down he wished to save his mother the next second, his legs seemed disobedient and couldn’t muster the strength.

Watching his mother struggle weakly, her hair sinking below the water, and watching as she then sank, only then could Ning Yan’s own will break through the confinement. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Mom!" Ning Yan desperately jumped into the water, but he was a non-swimmer; he floundered in the water, unable to control his body. Fortunately, the water was clear, and he could see his mother submerged in the dense weeds. Driven by a burst of adrenaline, Ning Yan managed to drag Yang Cui to the shore.

By then, people had noticed the situation, including a recently retired old doctor, who, seeing the helpless Ning Yan, did not hesitate to squat down and perform rescue.

But even with resuscitation, it wasn’t enough. Yang Cui had been underwater for too long, past the point of no return.

"Mom..." A heart-wrenching cry echoed in the air.

The incident at Lan River quickly spread through the entire street.

Mrs. Jiang heard about it and wasn’t feeling well.

After all, they came from the same village, so she went to see if they needed help, only to be informed by onlookers that Ning Yan had run off, leaving only his recently deceased mother behind, so someone at least covered her with a white cloth out of respect for the deceased.

With the son not there, Shen Fanghua couldn’t make decisions, but she had her nephew run overnight to Qingshan Village, at least to notify Yang Cui’s husband.

And Ning Yan?

He went to find Jiang Zhenzhu.

In Ning Yan’s heart, Zhenzhu was the apple of his eye for his entire life, regardless of whether that "apple" could be his, he would treat her well for a lifetime.

He would never forget when he was seven years old, it was Zhenzhu who dragged him out of the fires of a blaze, otherwise he’d have burnt alive while sick and home alone as his family worked.

From then on, Zhenzhu was his light.

But he never expected that light would one day turn into lightning to strike him. He wasn’t blind; just now Zhenzhu watched as his mother fell into the river but ran away heartlessly. Just one more minute, and the doctor said it—if it had been one minute earlier, his mother wouldn’t have died. It’s all Jiang Zhenzhu’s fault!

Jiang Zhenzhu ran all the way back to the courtyard, the throbbing of her heart thundering.

"Meow," a sound startled her to the ground, only for her to realize it was a cat, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief.

But increasingly rapid footsteps approached, causing Jiang Zhenzhu to retreat in fear. After all, it was someone all too familiar—she knew who it was just by the footsteps.

Ning Yan wasn’t staying with Aunt Yang?

That left only one explanation: Ning Yan came eagerly to confront her.

"Zhenzhu, open up!"

Sure enough!

She felt a weird sense of relief, like everything had come to a head.

"Boom!" Not waiting for Jiang Zhenzhu to open the door, Ning Yan kicked it open directly.

The Ning Yan in front of her was someone Jiang Zhenzhu had never seen before, like an otherworldly grim reaper.

"Ning, Ning Yan, don’t act rashly, it wasn’t related to me. It was Aunt Yang herself who chased after me, I swear to you, I didn’t push her, she fell into Lan River by herself. It’s true, don’t believe otherwise."

"So, that so-called thief was you? Jiang Zhenzhu, what did you do to my mom?"

Ning Yan initially only wanted an answer, a reason why she didn’t save her, even though she saw. But now he heard—hearing what? Ning Yan’s mind filled with black smoke, and in one step he seized Jiang Zhenzhu’s throat. With just one forceful move, he’d avenge his mother.

Jiang Zhenzhu had never seen this side of Ning Yan, leaving her wanting to hide in fear, though she obviously couldn’t.

"Ning... Ning, Ning Yan, let go of me first... I did nothing to Aunt, I swear, she stumbled into the Lan River herself. Ning Yan, believe me."

"Why didn’t you save her? She obviously didn’t need to die."

Jiang Zhenzhu was stunned, what did she hear?

"You’re saying Aunt Jiang she..." But immediately thinking that there was not a person around then seemed reasonable too, but how did Ning Yan know it was her?

It must have been that Jiang Mingyue woman.

"Jiang Zhenzhu, why didn’t you save her? At least you could have called someone. Why did you watch her die with your own eyes? Have you forgotten when you were young, you chased after Jiang Ming’an and fell into a ditch? If not for my mom risking her own danger to rescue you, you think you’d still be alive now? "I repaid that debt long ago. If it wasn’t for me, you would’ve been burnt to a crisp long ago. Ning Yan, I really owe nothing to the Ning Family."

In that moment, it seemed something flashed in Ning Yan’s mind, his strong beliefs shattering, meeting Jiang Zhenzhu’s eye once more, not a trace of warmth remained.

"Fine! Since you’ve said it like this, let’s just sever ties from here on out. You walk your own path while I’ll cross my own bridge."

Yang Cui’s body was carted back to Qingshan Village overnight, but since she died outside and had a short life, the village customs dictated she couldn’t enter the village, and she was buried the next day in the marked-off mountain land.

Someone well-off went into the city, only to return covered in a white cloth, a turn of events that made the villagers sigh.

At this time, an insider revealed Yang Cui’s death was related to Jiang Zhenzhu. Delving further, the real story was uncovered: Yang Cui indeed died because of Jiang Zhenzhu.

First Jiang Zhenzhu provoked, and then Jiang Zhenzhu stood by as Yang Cui perished. The entire village buzzed with talks.

"That girl is too wicked! Even if it were a stranger who fell into the river, you’d save them, let alone kind Yang Cui."

"Heartless! An evil seed."

"Truly heartless. Over the years, Yang Cui treated her as her own daughter, and now she loses her life because of her."

If Jiang Zhenzhu ever had any standing in Qingshan Village, due to the Yang Cui incident, she was entirely blacklisted by the villagers, even warning their children not to become like Jiang Zhenzhu—heartless, faithless, and harmful.

Ever since then, Jiang Zhenzhu became a cautionary tale in Qingshan Village, treated with disdain by children who mentioned her.