Chapter 524: Chapter 524: The Star of Calamity—Lonely Fate?
"Look at her quickly."
Bai Yifan suddenly jogged to Leng Yebai’s side, bumping him with an elbow and pointing at the distant figure of Zhang Chen’s back.
His face was full of gossip.
"Why should I look at her?"
Leng Yebai didn’t look, only gazing dotingly at Bai Xiqin.
He couldn’t even get enough of admiring his own wife!
Looking at others could easily affect his appreciation of his own wife!
"She wants to be your stepmother!" Bai Yifan said gleefully.
Leng Yebai: ...
The barbecue continued.
Leng Yebai and Bai Xiqin continued to be served a bunch of skewers by the Base Commander.
However, there was a hint of resentment in Leng Yebai’s eyes when he looked at the Base Commander.
If this guy really found himself a little girl as a wife, his seniority, his seniority...
He didn’t care about his own status, he was just afraid Xiao Niu’s status would be lowered too!
The Base Commander, however, had no reaction at all, as he had never even considered finding Leng Yebai a stepmother!
Even without his beautiful wife by his side, he remained faithful to himself.
On the other side.
Zhang Chen returned to her residence in a daze.
The place she lived wasn’t the crowded civilian area or the regular residential buildings but the spacious, brightly-lit villa area.
The villa was very quiet, with only her footsteps echoing up and down. Occasionally, she could hear the whimpering of a small puppy.
The puppy was held by Zhang Chen, seemingly pouring out its grievances.
Zhang Chen absentmindedly petted the puppy’s fur, her face still somewhat dazed.
The face of that man seemed etched into her mind, refusing to go away.
Sitting on the sofa, the little puppy stopped whimpering, curling up in her arms and falling into a deep sleep.
The entire villa sank into silence.
This place was nothing like that warm and lively ambiance, where the whole family was together, having a great time.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Zhang Chen’s mouth.
The Base Commander, so he was the legendary Base Commander.
In the safety base, she knew that the Base Commander had neither a wife nor a girlfriend, and although he somehow had a son, those weren’t problems.
So what if she became a stepmother?
She thought she would try her best.
Earn Crystal Cores for her stepson to marry, buy pretty clothes and jewelry for her daughter-in-law, help cook and make soup for her son and daughter-in-law, babysit for her son and daughter-in-law, tutor her grandson, she could! do! it!
"The Base Commander is so powerful, he surely isn’t afraid of this cursed fate of mine!"
Zhang Chen softly muttered, her voice light and ethereal.
In a flash, memories of her childhood dimly resurfaced.
Zhang Chen was born in a small, isolated village. Her birth hadn’t brought immense joy to her son-preferring family.
To them, a daughter was just a daughter!
In the future, they’d have more children and definitely get a son!
Her parents, though favoring sons, still had some feelings for their first child, providing her with reasonable food and clothing.
But the good times didn’t last long; the year after she was born, her father passed away.
The immense blow almost crashed the family, thankfully, her mother was already expecting.
If they had a son in the future, they wouldn’t be considered a "doomed household".
In the village, only households with a son were not considered doomed.
A year later, she finally had a younger brother. Her aging grandparents wept with joy; she alone cried for real.
Because her mother died during childbirth.
Nobody cared if she was hungry, and unable to speak, she could only express her deepest feelings through tears.
Within a year, with both parents passing away, this tragedy was only just beginning.
Almost every year, someone died.
Initially, it was her parents, then her grandparents and brother, then her uncle and cousins.
Many relatives were associated with Zhang Chen’s family, but this was so eerily strange, any blood-related individuals met their demise one after another.
By the time Zhang Chen was five or six, almost no close blood relatives of hers remained in the village.
Those distantly related were merely acquaintances, not sharing the same ancestors.
To call them relatives was merely a courteous nodding acquaintance.
From Zhang Chen’s birth until she was five or six, there were annual funerals in the village, some once a month, others five times a month, and eventually even several times a day.
Almost half the village was gone!
Such eerie events, the villagers couldn’t help but resort to superstition, deciding to consult a feng shui master.
Forget masters, even ordinary villagers could see that the Zhang family was left with only Zhang Chen!
Predictably, the feng shui master declared Zhang Chen to be a lone star of death, destined to be alone, anyone close to her would die.
The villagers were enraged; many had known someone who died.
More terrifying yet, they didn’t know when their turn would come.
Thus, the villagers tacitly prepared the firewood, intending to burn her.
Zhang Chen was born in the 21st century, yet still had the misfortune of encountering feudal superstitions.
Whether it was superstition or not, Zhang Chen knew she couldn’t die.
But she had no relatives, no friends, no one to help her.
She rovered within the village from a young age, growing up with great difficulty, and on the night she was to be burned, she was secretly released by a kind elder in the village.
She wandered to her maternal grandparents’ home.
At that time, she was too young, thinking her parents had gone elsewhere, leaving her behind, she didn’t understand what being a lone star of death meant.
If she knew, even starving, she wouldn’t have gone to her grandmother’s home.
The day after she arrived at her grandparents’ home, her grandmother died.
In less than a week, all her immediate family at her maternal grandparents’ side were dead.
The villagers where her grandparents lived heard about the lone star of death, and her relatives’ demise only confirmed Zhang Chen’s cursed fate.
The villagers feared she would bring doom to them as well, thus they drove her out.
It’s worth noting that on the very day Zhang Chen was chased away, the person who closely pushed her, a recurring illness took his life.
In the ensuing period, anyone she intended to get close to, or who was related to her...
Teachers, classmates, even strangers who helped her, could die as soon as they befriended her.
Zhang Chen had to accept her cursed fate, cautiously avoiding everyone, trying not to engage with others, and not staying in one place too long.
Yet, she still witnessed people dying.
She also considered ending her life, but even after drinking Hundred Herbs Cry, with no hope of surviving, she remained lively.
Whenever she tried to commit suicide, it seemed more people around her died.
Thus, she could only live quietly, attempting not to draw attention, let alone thinking of romance.
Today was the only time she craved worldly warmth, seeing that man, a unique feeling arose within her.
She even felt that being with him would be the most wonderful thing in the world, and he surely could live long with her.
She didn’t know where this feeling came from, but it was incredibly strong.
Zhang Chen sighed barely perceptibly, curling up on the sofa, her eyes downcast.
The imagination and feelings were inexplicable, all of her wishful thinking.
How could she seduce, no, get to know the Base Commander?
Zhang Chen fell into deep thought.
