“In fact, the only thing that really irks me is Miss Liang. Time and again, she has insulted and harassed Song Yu both verbally and physically. Nothing seems to give her peace, and nothing can stop her either. She’d turn into a complete lunatic once she goes insane.” Qi Chengzhi ambled over mindlessly to Yu Zidong. “Speaking of which, if your wife was a reasonable person to begin with, it wouldn’t have to come to this, Director Yu. She not only goes around accusing people; she has even offended her own little sister. She’s now willing to throw away her self-respect by begging for forgiveness, but what need is there for all this? If you knew that all these things would happen, wouldn’t you have prevented it before it did?”

“If Liang Lihua wasn’t your wife, then…” Qi Chengzhi left his sentence hanging and merely looked intently at Yu Zidong.

There was a sudden change in Yu Zidong’s expression, and when he finally understood Qi Chengzhi’s insinuation, his face grew red.

“You…” Yu Zidong was so furious that he seemed unable to draw in a proper breath.

Qi Chengzhi was hinting for Yu Zidong and Liang Lihua to get a divorce!

It was a choice between the two—Liang Lihua, or the company.

He had never expected Qi Chengzhi to be so ruthless as to prevent him from having a way out!

He had to toil for years and years to build up the company to its current state, and he would never be willing to give up on it.

Liang Lihua, however, was his wife, and no matter how questionable her character was, the both of them could get along with each other’s temper. Furthermore, their daughter was already an adult, so there was no way he could divorce Liang Lihua for the sake of the company.

He did not have the heart to cast aside his wife of nearly thirty-years.

Furthermore, it would be undoubtedly unpleasant for people to know that he discarded his wife for the sake of protecting his company.

Qi Chengzhi was not one to wait for his answer. He calmly said, “Think long and hard, Director Yu. Dongge, send our guest away.”

Once he finished talking, he left the parlor.

Yu Zidong gnashed his teeth and looked at Cheng Dongge as if the latter was Qi Chengzhi.

As Qi Chengzhi’s assistant, Cheng Dongge was also the subject of Yu Zidong’s intense hatred.

“No need to send me off,” Yu Zidong told him coldly and walked out of Qilin with a burning-red face.

He got into the back seat of a black Mercedes-Benz that was parked at the side of the road. Then, he asked his assistant, who was driving the car, “How’s the situation at the company?”

“The protestors are increasing. Most of them are small clients, but because they come in large numbers, it’s creating a big effect. Some of the bigger clients have even set an ultimatum and gave us a deadline,” the assistant explained.

Yu Zidong closed his eyes. A quiver briefly came over his entire body, and he took a deep breath.

…

…

When Saturday came, Qi Chengzhi had to work overtime at the office, so Song Yu went to her parents’ place alone.

She had the key, but after opening the door and entering, she saw a nicely-dressed Yu Qianying clutching a bag and urging Song Donglin. “Come on, be quick! You’re wasting time!”

“Dad, Mom, where are you going?” Song Yu was startled.

“Mm? Why did you come home so suddenly?” Yu Qianying tossed her bag onto the dining table and took off her jacket.

“Mom, don’t take off your jacket just yet. Where are you planning on going?” Song Yu stopped them and asked.

“Isn’t the department store having some sort of event? It’s Members Day, and most of the things have really huge discounts. It just so happens that I want to get some thinner fabric shirts that I can wear in times like this. I was going to go have a look,” Yu Qianying explained. “But since you’re back, I won’t be going. Oh yes, why are you here alone? Where’s Chengzhi?”

“He needs to be at the company, and since I have nothing to do at home, I decided to come here by myself,” Song Yu said, and then took Yu Qianying’s bag from the table. “Since we don’t have anything to do, I’ll follow you there. Now that I think about it, I haven’t been to the department store in a long time.”

With his jacket still on, Song Donglin came out and responded extremely happily, “Then why not follow your mother. I really don’t enjoy walking around in there, especially when they have those events. There’ll definitely be plenty of people and I’m already getting a headache just thinking about it.”

“I knew it! You were being tardy on purpose because you didn’t want to go with me,” Yu Qianying remarked unhappily. “You stay at home alone then. You’ll probably be really comfortable without me nagging at you.”

She held Song Yu’s wrist and said, “Let’s go.”

Song Yu smiled, said goodbye to Song Donglin, then made her way to the department store with Yu Qianying.

…

…

Such events were held on the regular at that particular department store, with massive discounts being the norm. People went there by the bucketload, and because it was a weekend, it was even more packed with people.

On one floor, there were shelves of cosmetics, jewelry, and leather goods. In addition, there was a large empty space just for the special price sale. Every brand in the space displayed their cut-price goods there.

Yu Qianying just wanted to check out if there were any cheap clothes that she could snag, but Song Yu dragged her away.

“Mom, since we’re here, why not buy a few good clothes. Don’t forget, I’m a rich woman after you gave me that big dowry,” Song Yu said as she dragged her mother up the escalator. They went to the third floor, which was solely devoted to high-quality women’s clothes.

“Mom, do you like this one?” Song Yu took out a knit cardigan, then a thin windbreaker. “This one too. If you like it, we’ll get it.”

Yu Qianying was busy scrutinizing the clothes when she heard a familiar voice. “Xiaolin, what do you think?

“Auntie, it looks too perfect on you! It’s beautiful. You look younger and the color’s nice too. It also gives you character when you wear it.”

“That’s right!” The store attendant chimed in as well. “In our line of clothing, only two pieces of each size are available. If you wear it out in public, you won’t need to worry about your outfit clashing with someone else, since we only sell a limited number. This suits you really well too, so even if you did bump into someone else who wore the same thing, they would not be able to wear it to the same effect as you.

“Madam, I’m sure your family is involved in some big business, right? I think you look exactly like a wealthy man’s wife, and I don’t mean just any kind of rich, I’m talking about the kind of rich that lands you in the Forbes list. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have such a naturally luxurious character. My guess is, your family is one of the rich and powerful, and you yourself came from a scholarly family, am I right?” The store attendant was flattering the lady rather enthusiastically.

Yu Qianying was able to make out that the voice belonged to Jian Yi’s mother, Zhou Mingyan.

She shook her head, smiled, then whispered to Song Yu, “This store attendant’s having a hard time trying to earn that commission. Zhou Mingyan’s only graduated from junior high, yet she’s already being called a scholarly person. Tough job.”

Song Yu looked over as well. She heard Zhou Mingyan call out Xiaolin, and before that, the woman who was talking to Zhou Mingyan did indeed sound like Guan Xiaolin.

Yu Qianying saw them too and expressed shock. “Eh? Isn’t that Guan Xiaolin? Why is she with Zhou Mingyan and acting like she’s trying to get into Zhou Mingyan’s good books?”

Song Yu kept quiet and observed them from behind the clothes rack. They were standing just outside the fitting room, looking at the mirror.

The store attendant then said, “This must be your daughter! She’s already all grown-up, but you don’t look like someone whose daughter is already so grown-up.”

Zhou Mingyan smiled even more jubilantly than before, but she tried hard to keep it in. She pursed her lips tight to prevent herself from chuckling.

“You do have a way with words, but she’s not my daughter,” Zhou Mingyan said.

“She’s not? Then she must be your daughter-in-law? Wow, how lucky of you to have such a beautiful daughter-in-law. She’s a good one too, since she’s here to accompany you while you shop! Most mothers-in-law have pretty tensed-up relationships with their daughters-in-law, unlike yours. Your mother-daughter relationship is a rare one,” the store attendant said again, with the exaggerations getting more and more out of hand.

Zhou Mingyan smiled and neither admitted nor denied it. Her attitude leaned toward ambiguity.

Yu Qianying frowned and mumbled softly, “Jian Yi and Guan Xiaolin are not involved, are they? Jian Yi’s character is a bit shady. Even when he had a girlfriend back then, he still never made it clear to you. Don’t tell me that his hanky-panky old habits die hard even though he’s already married to Qi Chengyue? Well, if that isn’t the case, then why is Guan Xiaolin trying so hard to win over Zhou Mingyan?”

Song Yu’s expression tensed up. Yu Qianying knew nothing, but was able to figure it out with a single guess—Jian Yi and Guan Xiaolin had a past together ever since their high school days, but they both kept it hidden from Song Yu.

If it were not for Song Yu chancing upon Jian Yi and Guan Xiaolin’s exchange that fateful night, Song Yu might have still been kept in the dark about it.

However, Song Yu had never once mentioned a word of it to Yu Qianying.

In a similar manner, Song Yu began to suspect that there was still something going on between Guan Xiaolin and Jian Yi. If not, then perhaps Guan Xiaolin found it hard to forget her old flame. There would be no reason otherwise for Guan Xiaolin to exert so much effort in trying to curry favor with Zhou Mingyan—the way she acted was as though Zhou Mingyan was going to become her future mother-in-law.

Although Song Yu disliked Qi Chengyue, she felt pity for the latter because Qi Chengyue loved Jian Yi blindly. It was a difficult situation, and one that Qi Chengyue was completely unable to extricate herself from.

Qi Chengyue really downgraded herself when she married Jian Yi. She was able to disregard sectarian bias, ignore the disparity between their family backgrounds, and be patient with having Zhou Mingyan as her mother-in-law. In that regard, Song Yu held Qi Chengyue in high respect, despite the fact that she was headstrong and riddled with flaws.

If a woman could make such a big sacrifice out of sheer love, then that woman was not inherently a bad person.

There was also the fact that Qi Chengyue’s animosity had watered down significantly in recent times. Although they still did not speak much when they bumped into each other at the Qi family home, Qi Chengyue would not target her as much as before.

Letting bygones be bygones, Qi Chengyue was still Qi Chengzhi’s younger cousin and the younger sister of Qi Chenglin, whom Song Yu was on rather good terms with.

Having married into the Qi family, Song Yu was willing to treat Qi Chengyue as her own family. She did not wish that Qi Chengyue would be lied to.

As she was thinking of all that, a store attendant came over and remarked politely. “If these two items are to your liking, you may try them on.”

Song Yu smiled and temporarily placed the clothes back on the rack, saying, “Mom, would you like to go over and take a look?”

She then tilted her head over to Zhou Mingyan’s direction.

“Yes, let’s,” Yu Qianying replied happily.

Her temper was especially thin when it came to things that were clearly loathsome. Homewreckers were among the things that she hated with a passion.

Song Donglin was still young when they got married. He was rather dashing then as well, for Song Yu inherited her good looks from him.

Add that to his riches and elegance, he became the fancy of many women—those who liked him genuinely were equally as plentiful as those who loved his money more.

Song Donglin however, had never done something that would disappoint Yu Qianying, He did not even give those other women a chance. He remained untouched. Although he did not seduce other women, other women came voluntarily to him. He simply could not hide from them, and many a time it made Yu Qianying absolutely furious. It was from there that she abhorred women who purposefully tried to wreck a happy family.

The two of them walked over, but neither Zhou Mingyan nor Guan Xiaolin saw them. Yu Qianying put on a smile and called out with much friendliness, “Sister Zhou, what a coincidence! You’re here to buy clothes too?”

Yu Qianying and Song Yu came from behind Zhou Mingyan, and their reflection appeared in the mirror. Nevertheless, Zhou Mingyan was caught unprepared by Yu Qianying’s greeting. She did not even notice the reflection in the mirror, as her first reaction was to turn around abruptly.

When Zhou Mingyan saw that Song Yu was right beside Yu Qianying, a sudden glimmer of shock flashed through her eyes—she was bewildered, but she hurriedly made an attempt to conceal it.

She exerted some effort in order to smile. “Hehe, Qianying, Song Yu, such a coincidence. Are you here to buy some clothes?”

“Auntie,” Song Yu greeted.

“Why yes, we came to buy clothes. We were looking at some over there when we heard your voices. Then we realized you were here too.” Yu Qianying turned her head. “Xiaolin, how coincidental!”

Guan Xiaolin got up from the sofa. “Auntie, Song Yu.”

“Sister Zhou, why did you come here with Xiaolin? It’s a Saturday. Shouldn’t you be going shopping with your daughter-in-law?” Yu Qianying sported a look of shock and curiosity.

Upon hearing Yu Qianying’s words, the store attendant—the one who was previously flattering Zhou Mingyan and Guan Xiaolin—had her eyes opened wide in disbelief. Though she remained silent at one side, she exchanged incredulous looks with her colleague.

She thought that Zhou Mingyan and Guan Xiaolin were mother- and daughter-in-law, or at the very least, future in-laws. When she asked them, Guan Xiaolin was not the only one who did not deny it: Zhou Mingyan’s expression seemed to suggest a cryptic and silent approval notwithstanding the fact that she did not explicitly dispel that notion.

Who knew that the daughter-in-law was another person altogether!

Was the young lady in front of them a so-called mistress?!

The store attendant despised Guan Xiaolin immediately, but for the sake of the business, she did not show it outright.

Zhou Mingyan was a weirdo as well, since she seemed to approve of the mistress.

It was such a pity for the absent daughter-in-law.

“Er…” Zhou Mingyan’s lips twitched awkwardly and she let out a hollow laugh. “Chengyue’s always busy, and she doesn’t have too many weekends, so it’s best to let her rest. Let Jian Yi enjoy the weekend with her. It would be pointless for them to accompany an old lady like me for a walk in the mall.

“I actually came here alone today, and it was also a coincidence that I met with Xiaolin. She saw that I was alone so she accompanied me. It’s nice that she can also give me some fashion advice.” As Zhou Mingyan spoke, her expression turned natural gradually.

“Oh, I see.” Yu Qianying nodded understandably. “We heard your voices when we were choosing clothes over there. We turned to look, thinking that you went shopping with Chengyue. The both of you really do look like mother- and daughter-in-law.”

“Hehehehe, you’re so good at kidding,” Zhou Mingyan smiled insincerely. She then turned to Song Yu, wanting to change the topic as fast as possible. “Song Yu, I heard you and Qi Chengzhi have registered your marriage. Congratulations!”

“Thanks. Chengyue and I will be family very soon.” Song Yu smiled calmly and gave a slight nod. “In that way, the relationship between both our families will become stronger.”

Zhou Mingyan’s expression went blank for a moment. After another dry chuckle, she said, “We’ll talk more when I visit your house next time. We’ll get going now, Lao Jian is waiting for me to go home and cook for him! He doesn’t even know how to cook a simple bowl of noodles, and he needs me to make his meals. Take your time here, we’ll talk some other time.”

“Sure, sure.” Yu Qianying waved at them. “You should get busy.”

Zhou Mingyan hurriedly dragged Guan Xiaolin out, but the stupefied store attendant ran after them. “Miss! Miss! Do you still want this piece of clothing? You haven’t paid for it yet!”

After being called and seeing the awkward look from the store attendant, Zhou Mingyan finally noticed that she had yet to take off the piece of clothing that she tried on earlier.

Yu Qianying was ashamed to take it off and say no, not after she gave the impression of being a wealthy woman when the store attendant praised her exaggeratedly earlier. Moreover, Yu Qianying and Song Yu were both standing right there.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot. Yes, I want this. No need to pack it up, I’ll wear it out.” Zhou Mingyan took out the credit card that Qi Chengyue had given her and footed the bill. Then, she said another goodbye to Yu Qianying and Song Yu, before bolting out the door with Guan Xiaolin.

After they were a considerable distance away, Zhou Mingyan tugged awkwardly on Guan Xiaolin’s hand. “Xiaolin, I’m sorry about just now. It’s not that I purposely wanted to say that I am not connected to you in any way. You know the relationship between Song Yu and the Qi family. If she knew something and told them about it, they’ll definitely treat my Jian Yi badly.”

Guan Xiaolin pursed her lips tightly. There seemed to be some displeasure in her eyes and her expression was rather stiff, “I understand. I only want the best for Jian Yi and wouldn’t want to cause him any trouble.”

“Sigh!” Zhou Mingyan patted the back of Guan Xiaolin’s hand lightly. “A girl like you who likes him is truly hard to find. You’re much better than Qi Chengyue. She’s too spoiled and has too bad of a temper, unlike you. You’re gentle and you always put Jian Yi first. Jian Yi has been married to her for so long already, but she’s never helped him with anything, not even to get a better position or to come out and start his own business. Jian Yi’s never even in her thoughts.”

“To tell you the truth, if Jian Yi and I were together, our family’s company will belong to him sooner or later.” Guan Xiaolin lowered her head in desolation. “I’m the only child, and my dad’s company was supposed to be inherited by his son-in-law. Even though my dad is still able to put his energy into the company, if Jian Yi came in, it won’t be a problem for him to become the general manager right away. My family’s company isn’t as big as Qilin and our status is far behind that of the Qi family, but as the saying goes, it’s better to be the cock’s head than to be the phoenix’s tail, isn’t it?

“The Qi family has plenty of children. His chance of getting those truly important positions will never come, let alone the privilege to make his own decisions. But if it was our company, he will have the final say in everything, and whatever the Guan family owns will be his in the future.” Guan Xiaolin smiled warmly and glanced emotively at Zhou Mingyan.

Having heard all those words, Zhou Mingyan became even friendlier. “Oh, Xiaolin. Don’t worry, Jian Yi won’t treat you unfairly. You won’t be wronged if you’re with him. I too, will not let him drag this on too long. I have long disliked Qi Chengyue being my daughter-in-law.”

“Auntie, I feel reassured when you say that,” Guan Xiaolin said. She fished out her purse from her bag and took our two thousand in cash. “Auntie, this is for the clothes.”

“Oh no, this won’t do.” Zhou Mingyan rejected it and pushed away Guan Xiaolin’s money-filled hand. “It’s just a piece of clothing, it’s not like I can’t pay for it.”

“I know that you have sufficient money to pay for it, but this is coming from my heart. Didn’t I say so earlier? Let me pay for all of today’s expenses. I followed you today because I wanted to show my filial respect toward you. Please give me a chance to do just that.” Guan Xiaolin then stuffed the money into Zhou Mingyan’s hands.

“Sigh!” Zhou Mingyan narrowed her eyes. Her originally round face became even rounder, like the wrinkles on a Goubuli 1steamed bun. “If you put it like that, I’ll accept it.”

Zhou Mingyan smiled happily and stuffed the money into her bag.

Guan Xiaolin wrapped her arm around Zhou Mingyan’s like happy in-laws. They continued going about their day, but they did not dare to do so in the department store for fear of bumping into Song Yu again.

…

…

Yu Qianying went and retried the two clothes that Song Yu chose for her earlier. They looked quite nice and were quite comfortable, so she bought them.

They left and continued walking about in the department store. Yu Qianying remarked, “What do you think is going on between Zhou Mingyan and Guan Xiaolin? The two of them are so close, I can hardly believe that it was a chance encounter!”

Song Yu frowned and thought for a moment before saying, “I found it weird as well, but actually, Jian Yi was in a relationship with Guan Xiaolin during high school.”

“WHAT?” Yu Qianying eyes were wide open in shock. She looked abruptly in Song Yu’s direction and the volume of her voice became louder as well.

Once she noticed that everyone was looking at her, Yu Qianying kept her voice low. “How did that happen? Wasn’t Guan Xiaolin on good terms with you then? You were in the same high school, weren’t you? And Jian Yi was also in the same high school even though he was older than you both by one year. The three of you were always together. Did Jian Yi get together with Guan Xiaolin at that time?”

“I found out much, much later, and in fact, the three of us weren’t always together,” Song Yu said. “Back in high school, I was also working at Yangzi’s store, wasn’t I? I was always gone after school ended, and to be honest I didn’t have the chance to interact with them too much. So, if at that time, they became lovers in secret, they were perfectly capable of hiding it from me.

“Back then, Jian Yi’s living expenses and school fees were all paid for by Guan Xiaolin, but he broke up with her after getting to know Qi Chengyue.”

Yu Qianying scoffed in disdain. “I’ve never thought that Jian Yi was that kind of person! He has such terrible morals, and to think I was blinded into setting the both of you up!”

A sudden thought then occurred to Yu Qianying. “Before the Song family went bankrupt, I saw the three of you together and I’ve always believed that Jian Yi liked you. It was so obvious from the way he looked at you. Even your dad could see it.”

“You all knew? That he always liked me?” Song Yu looked at Yu Qianying in bewilderment. She did not expect her parents to know of it since early on.

Yu Qianying then nodded awkwardly, and her voice became slightly feebler than before. “Actually, we both knew that you liked Jian Yi, but we still decided for you be engaged with Qi Chengji. It came as a result of our considerations as parents. We wanted you to live a happy life. After all, if the woman is in a stronger position than the man, it’s rare for the marriage to be a happy one, especially if it’s someone with as much pride as Jian Yi. At that time at least, we thought that Jian Yi was a very proud person. We were afraid that he was proud enough that he did not want to use a single cent of our money, choosing instead to use his own wages in order to spend his days with you. It will be hard on you, and because of the differences in your ways of living, it’ll end up in lots of arguments.

“During that period, we made a lot of considerations. Love is not simply about you loving me and me loving you. That isn’t enough. Everyday life lends a certain reality to the love. It doesn’t matter how deep the love is at the start. When it comes to living together, both sides must complement each other. Youngsters nowadays divorce after being married for less than a year. Surely you can’t say that they don’t love each other before the marriage. They got married because they loved each other in the first place! The differences in living practices will always lead to moments of disharmony.

“As parents, we want our daughter to live the best life possible after marriage. I admit, I was in fact, biased against Jian Yi, but the bankruptcy has brought about many changes in my mentality. It’s like I’m reset. Back then I was not very mature, and perhaps I didn’t have the right to blame Xia Wenna for any of it.”

Yu Qianying held Song Yu’s hand. Yu Qianying once had silky-soft hands because she did not do any housework, but after doing all the chores herself at home, they had become coarse—Song Yu could feel that change in her mother’s hand.

A soft knead of the hand and Yu Qianying said, “But I’m glad that I did not allow you to be with Jian Yi last time. You could have been much better off with Qi Chengji. But, I’m also glad that I wasn’t able to successfully set you up with Chengji, because it gave you a chance to be with Qi Chengzhi.”

“I’m glad too,” Song Yu replied and smiled. “I don’t blame you and dad.”

Yu Qianying smiled and brought Song Yu into a different shop. They did not necessarily have to buy something there. Going to the department store was a rare occasion, and rarer still was the chance to do it with Song Yu. They were in no hurry to rush back, so they decided to stroll around just for the heck of it.

“We strayed too far from our original conversation.” Yu Qianying took a shirt from the rack and tried measuring it to Song Yu’s body. Then, she placed it back. “What do you think of Guan Xiaolin and Zhou Mingyan being together today?”

“I don’t really believe Zhou Mingyan’s words,” Song Yu frowned as she rummaged through the selection of clothes on the hanger. “But it’s not good to say stuff without properly ascertaining the facts. It’ll be a sin for us to accuse someone wrongly and ruin a marriage.”

“You’re right, too. Since you said that Jian Yi and Guan Xiaolin had been in a relationship previously, it may be that Guan Xiaolin still can’t get over him, so she’s trying to pursue him by sucking up to Zhou Mingyan,” Yu Qianying opined.

Song Yu nodded. “I’ll bring this up with Chengzhi.”

Speak of the devil—Song Yu received a call from him as soon as she mentioned his name.

The first thing she heard when she picked up was Qi Chengzhi asking her, “Where are you? You weren’t at home when I came back.”

“I went shopping with my mom.” Song Yu found it a little awkward to talk through the phone in front of her mother, so she walked a few steps away. “You’re done?”

“Mm,” came the reply, and in an irrefutable tone he said, “I’ll come pick you both up.”

Song Yu could not help but smile. The man was often busy and his character was usually very dignified, yet he seemed to particularly enjoy being her driver. Regardless of where she went, he insisted on sending her and picking her up personally.

Touched that he would run over to her even though he had just finished work, she said to him, “Since you just reached home, why don’t you rest for a bit. We’ll finish our stroll soon, then we’ll take a cab home.”

“…” Qi Chengzhi was momentarily silent on the other end of the phone.

His silence made Song Yu’s head feel slightly numb. She was going to say goodbye to him when his rich, mellow voice said to her, “Tell me the address.”

Song Yu, “…”

He filtered off everything she said earlier, since he had already made up his mind on coming over.

Still, that stubbornness made Song Yu’s heart feel really warm, and in the end, she told him her location.

After she hung up, she went back to Yu Qianying, saying that Qi Chengzhi would come pick them up.

Yu Qianying smiled contentedly. “Chengzhi’s a real gem. He’s always so busy, but he still insists on putting you first.”

“That is why marrying him is my life’s luckiest moment.” Song Yu wrapped her arm around Yu Qianying. “No matter what others say about him, I know he’ll treat me well, and in his heart, I’m more important than anything else.”

“And that’s all that matters,” Yu Qianying said delightedly.

There was nothing else for the two of them to see on that floor, so Song Yu suggested they go to the top floor to see kids’ toys.

“You’re buying for Youxuan?” The thought immediately popped up in Yu Qianying’s mind.

“Mm.” Song Yu took a large box out from the shelf. It looked quite luxuriant, and inside was a four-by-four vehicle that came with different chassis and tires, allowing one to change as one pleased. “It’s his birthday tomorrow. I’ll buy a gift for him.”

Previously at the Qi manor, Qi Youxuan was playing with a four-by-four vehicle. In recent times, there had been a rerun of an old animated film, and surprisingly, it created a sensation among the boys in Qi Youxuan’s kindergarten. All of them started to like four-by-four vehicles.

“Even though he’s born in the Qi family, the care and love given to him by others can never make up for the absence of a mother,” Song Yu said. “Youxuan is adorable and smart, and because of that I care for him more. Most of the time, he tells others what gifts to buy for him, but no one takes the initiative to buy something for him, like Qi Chengzhi’s uncle’s family. If he wants something, then they’ll get it for him. Chenglin’s always busy with work too, so he doesn’t have too much time to keep up with Youxuan’s interests. Although the old couple do love him dearly, they don’t like to spoil him, so they seldom buy anything for him. I think he would be really happy if I give him a gift without him asking for it.”

Yu Qianying looked at the price and raised an eyebrow. “Kids’ things are just so expensive nowadays. This one costs a thousand and five hundred.”

A sales staff came over with a smile, saying, “Miss, this brand is imported in its original packaging and this particular set is their tenth anniversary commemorative piece. There’s one series over there that’s specially designed based on the animated films, all of which are what the kids want nowadays.”

Song Yu had not the slightest idea regarding all of these things, so she asked, “Which ones do the kids these days really like?”

“The one they want most is this one, but they usually buy those that are of the same series as the animated films. Kids like it because it looks exactly the same as the films, and the price is slightly cheaper compared to this one. I won’t lie to you, the reason I’m recommending this isn’t because it’s expensive, but because this is the first thing all the kids see when they come here to shop with their parents. It’s just that the price is too steep for an ordinary toy, so they’d rather choose the other series. After all, these are boys’ toys. It won’t be put on display just like that. If you let it go on the racetrack, it’ll suffer all kinds of bumps and scratches. Money worth a thousand over will disappear just like that if it spoils,” the sales staff explained.

In the end, Song Yu chose that commemorative piece. Other than what the sales staff said, she felt that Qi Youxuan—with his proud character—would not think highly of playing with a model that everyone else has. He would want to stand out from his friends—to feel pleased with himself for being a cut above the rest.

When she took the bill to the cashier, she received another call from Qi Chengzhi. He had arrived and parked his car at the carpark. After ascertaining her exact location, he hung up.

Song Yu made payment, then took the bill and went back to the sales staff. Once it was verified, the staff handed the plastic bag that contained the wrapped box to Song Yu.

The first thing she saw when she turned around was Qi Chengzhi taking large strides toward her direction.

He appeared not to have taken any rest when he went home, for he was still wearing the suit that he had worn to the company earlier that morning.

That luxurious-looking and tailor-fitted suit accentuated the finer points of his body.

The suit emphasized his slender figure, broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs. It looked much better on him than to a model, and no model could compare to his handsomeness and charisma.

Looking at his slender, well-dressed figure, Song Yu knew that there was an undoubtedly muscular body underneath that suit.

He attracted much attention simply by walking, but he seemed not to notice any of it. His expression was stern, allowing no stranger to come near him.

His biting-cold eyes were looking around insipidly. The hearts of many nearby women were probably beating like wild, hoping that he would look in their direction and notice them, perhaps even gazing into their eyes.

Qi Chengzhi, however, did not look at anyone else. When his eyes located Song Yu, he was fixed on her, and the tenseness of his facial features became tender immediately, like ice melting to become water.

It was a magical scene.

His lips curled up unnoticeably and there was a hint of glimmer in his eyes. He took great strides over and stood in front of Song Yu. Without saying a word, he lowered his head and gave her a quick peck.

Song Yu’s face turned red. The sales staff was just behind her and there were plenty of customers in the surrounding.

There were a large number of customers on that floor because it sold kids’ clothes, necessities and electrical appliances, in addition to kids’ toys.

Moreover, Yu Qianying was just beside them!

“My mom’s right here!” Song Yu scolded softly. She did not expect that he would kiss her the instant he arrived. It may just be a peck, but it was still a little awkward.

Qi Chengzhi treated it as though there was no one else beside him. He put his index finger to her lips and caressed gently.

If they were not out in public, he would have hugged her in his arms and kissed her ruthlessly.

He especially enjoyed seeing her lowering her head with her cheeks turning so tenderly red. She was clearly very embarrassed, yet all she could do was berate him softly and stand in front of him so earnestly. Her submissiveness was what stirred his heart.

Yu Qianying only moved closer when she surmised that Qi Chengzhi would not kiss Song Yu again. Of all the things that was good about him, the only negative was that he was too shameless in venues where it was inappropriate to do so.

Footnotes:

Ch 176 Footnote 1

狗不理包子 – known as Goubuli or sometimes transcribed as Go Believe, due to the onomatopoeic similarities. These are a branded stuffed steamed bun that originated from Tianjin, China that was founded in 1858. There are varying tales on how it got its name (all centering around a man with the surname Gou), which is translated literally as ‘dogs ignore’. It is said that each bun has fifteen wrinkles.

***

Yu Qianying figured that Qi Chengzhi would not kiss her again, and moved over in embarrassment. The one flaw this son-in-law of hers had was being thick-faced wherever he was.

“Haha, Chengzhi, you’re here!” Yu Qianying said while smirking.

Qi Chengzhi’s face quickly changed to calmness and said, “Mom”.

“…” Song Yu watched the exchange.

Chengzhi did not even try to hide his prompt change of attitude. He showed no shame in front of Yu Qiangying, as if he was not the one who just kissed her in front of everyone. This calmness of his could send shivers down one’s spine.

Yu Qiangying nodded and walked ahead of the couple.

Qi Chengzhi grabbed the bag in Song Yu’s hand and asked indifferently, “What did you buy?”.

“A four-wheel toy truck for Youxuan,” Song Yu said while passing her things to him. It was a natural habit.

Whenever she went out with him, she did not need to carry anything other than her own purse.

“Didn’t I just get him a racetrack? Why did you buy this?” Chengzhi asked out of curiosity.

“Isn’t it his birthday tomorrow? It’s a present for him. Moreover, that racetrack of yours was given to him based on a trade. That does not count as a present,” Song Yu said. “You fail as an uncle for letting your nephew ask you to trade items,”.

Qi Chengzhi had a glimpse inside the bag, looked at her and jokingly said, “This is the first time and you’re getting him such fancy presents. Watch out, he’ll extort you in the future,”.

“It’s alright, he has a rich uncle! You’re my strong backup anyway,” Song Yu smiled while wrapping her hand around his arm.

Qi Chengzhi gave a hollow laugh. Song Yu’s face changed as she said, “Come to think of it, has anyone in the family taken an initiative and gotten him anything? Even though his toy collection seems massive, but he only got them whenever you guys asked him for help. If he didn’t do that, none of you would think of getting him anything,”.

“Youxuan is still young and he’s at the age where he likes playing with anything. Your mom and dad are usually strict with him and do not like wasting money on these things. You and Chenglin are also busy with work, not to mention how alpha male he is. How would he pay attention to minute details like these? He probably thinks his job is done if he gives his son anything he asks for. But getting a present you asked for and receiving one are two different feelings. His uncle and aunt spoil him, but the grandparents still don’t know what the kid likes. To be frank, the fact that Youxuan is still cheerful and active, unlike children who throw tantrums or look gloomy whenever they don’t get something they want, it’s really Chenglin’s luck that his son doesn’t have any issues with mental health.”

Qi Chengzhi kept quiet. No one actually thought about these things.

“I’ll talk to Chenglin about this and make sure he gives it a thought. But Youxuan really needs a mother figure in his life,” Qi Chengzhi said.

…

…

Yu Qianying did not expect them to be back today, and there was not enough food at home. Usually, she had simple meals with Song Dong at home as it was just both of them.

Before leaving the mall, she went to the supermarket in the lower ground and bought some instant food and cold dishes. She just needed to stir fry some vegetables at home and dinner would be ready.

Song Yu looked over at Qi Chengzhi in the driver’s seat as they left the Song residence in the afternoon. She was thinking about how to bring up the topic when Qi Chengzhi looked over and caught her by surprise.

“What do you want to tell me?” he looked back to the road, his voice mellow and light.

Song Yu gave it a thought and said, “Today, at the mall with mom, I saw Xiaolin shopping for clothes with Jianyi’s mother,”.

She told Qi Chengzhi every detail about the encounter.

“By the looks of it, anyone would have assumed that they were either mother and daughter or in-laws. On top of that, Jianyi did date Xiaolin in the past. If you told me Jianyi had an affair, I would believe it – Guan Xiaolin is the only daughter in her family, and Jianyi looks like he is going nowhere in the Qi family. If he went to approach Xiaolin for the sake of his future, I wouldn’t be surprised. But it is possible that Guan Xiaolin never moved on from Jianyi,” Song Yu said.

“Do you remember the time you dropped me at Jianyi’s?”

Qi Chengzhi replied, “mmhmm,”.

“That day, I heard what Guan Xiaolin said to Jianyi, she basically said even if they were just lovers, she did not mind as long as Jianyi comes to see her.”

“So it is possible that Guan Xiaolin is pursuing Jianyi. She did not mind that he is married, that’s why she is being nice to Jianyi’s mom. As for Jianyi’s mom, she loves taking advantage of people – since Guan Xiaolin is the one approaching her, she is most definitely happy and would not care what Qi Chengyue thought.”

“What do you think about this?” Song Yu asked.

“I’ll get Dong Ge to investigate it,” Qi Chengzhi briefly said.

“When we get to the house tomorrow and see Qi Chengyue, should I remind him about this?” Song Yu sighed and added, “If Jianyi is really having an affair, we should warn her about it. If it’s just a one-way pursuit by Guan Xiaolin, she could solve the problem as soon as possible so Guan Xiaolin wouldn’t stand a chance,”.

Qi Chengzhi glanced over, “Aren’t you afraid that she might take it the wrong way? What if she thinks you’re just jealous that she’s with Jianyi, and purposely degrade him in front of her? Even if it was true, coming from you, she might be too embarrassed and deny your words. It might have a completely different effect than what you intended,”.

“That’s what I was worried about. What if we just let Chenglin do it?” Song Yu looked down, and her soft fingertips fiddled with her purse.

“Go back and give Chenglin a call,” Qi Chengzhi said.

…

…

The next day, Song Yu got up early and wrapped Qi Youxuan’s presents with a pretty wrapping paper, including the racetrack Qi Chengzhi bought for Qi Youxuan. She put it in a bag and left it by the door so she would not forget it.

Aunty Yong is almost done making breakfast. Song Yu went back to the bedroom and saw Qi Chengzhi sleeping soundly.

He lied on his stomach in bed, and the quilt only covered his buttocks. The beautiful curve of his back brought out the shape of his buttocks.

He slept on one side of the bed, and Song Yu squatted by the bed and watched him sleep. His lashes were thick, long, and curved – he seemed honest and quiet in his sleep. His lashes did not move at all, and his pointy nose inhaled and exhaled deeply.

Song Yu lifted her index finger, and put it on his lashes while moving them up and down. She made Qi Chengzhi feel itchiness in his eyes.

His eyelids moved a little before they opened lazily. Song Yu giggled and kissed the corner of his lips, saying “Wake up, let’s go to the house earlier today,”.

“Mmhmm, I’m really up,” Qi Chengzhi mumbled, turned over all of a sudden, grabbed her hand and shoved it under the sheets.

“…” Song Yu blushed as her hand was put against his boner – she had to hold it eventually.

“Get it out for me,” he urged as he moved her hand.

A red-faced Song Yu looked at his dark eyes. She could not say no.

Qi Chengzhi laughed excessively and pressed her body against his. His hand slipped to the back of her head, and pressed his lips against hers.

Song Yu’s hair was messed up in the end, and her clothes became crumpled.

A refreshed Qi Chengzhi got out of bed, and he was good to go for the day. Song Yu’s cheeks were slightly blushed, and she looked a little out of it. She seemed like she had some rough loving.

Qi Chengzhi was satisfied as he got dressed and tidied himself up in front of the mirror, and said, “Aunty Yong took the day off, she’s leaving after breakfast,”.

“So?” Song Yu did not understand and lifted her eyebrows at him.

Qi Chengzhi tidied himself up, and his long arm reached to pull her in before saying in a raspy voice, “Didn’t we say the last time that we could try at home when Aunty Yong goes on leave? Any corner, right?”.

“…” Song Yu was speechless towards his indecency. It had not been brought up for some time, thinking he forgot about it – at least she did. She did not expect him to remember it all.

Song Yu blushed, glared at him, and said, “Let’s go eat,”.

She pushed his hand off her waist and walked away. But Qi Chengzhi followed and whispered into her ear, “When we come back in the afternoon, we can just walk around the house naked! No one will be here, we can just be naked no matter what we do,”.

“Qi Chengzhi!” Song Yu’s cheeks were flushed after hearing what he said. She did not know what he was capable of doing!

“So that is how it’s going to be. Come, let’s go eat,” Qi Chengzhi said nonchalantly, and walked out of the bedroom with his arm around her.

“…” Song Yu got annoyed. No one made a promise with him.

She was already brought to the living room by then, she could not continue debating the issue with him.

…

…

The duo finished breakfast and walked towards the door. Qi Chengzhi grabbed the bags that contained Qi Youxuan’s presents, and he realised that they were in pretty wrapping papers. Qi Chengzhi glanced at her.

Song Yu became a little embarrassed. She was worried that he would say she did more than what she should have.

But Qi Chengzhi said nothing, and walked out of the door with both the bags.

After arriving at the house, Qi Chenglin was already there with Qi Youxuan. Qi Youxuan was watching an old action film on TV – it was showing a four-wheel-drive race.

Grandma was still at the movie set, and Grandpa was out playing chess. Neither of them were home.

Seeing Qi Chengzhi and Song Yu, Qi Chenglin nodded with a dark expression. There were also light shadows under his eyes. It was obvious that he did not have a good night’s sleep due to the call from Qi Chengzhi yesterday.

“Uncle, aunty!” Qi Youxuan temporarily shifted his attention from the action film, and his butt did not leave the couch as he called. He then went back to watching TV.

Song Yu did not interrupt. Five minutes later, the end credits of the film played – that was when Qi Youxuan reluctantly turned the TV off.

After moving his attention, his big, dark eyes glowed as they landed on the two bags Song Yu left on the coffee table.

“Aunty, what are in those bags?” Qi Youxuan asked in curiosity.

“Take it out and find out yourself,” Song Yu laughed.

Without delay, Qi Youxuan’s chubby arm reached for the bags and embraced them.

The bags did not seem huge in Qi Youxuan’s arms, but they were nearly half the size of him. Watching him struggle to hug the bags, on top of his chubby body, it was an adorable sight.

Qi Youxuan moved the bags to the couch, and he supported himself with his hands as he lifted his chubby legs onto the couch. He knelt on it as he took the things out of the bags.

Once his sight landed on a particularly pretty package, Qi Youxuan’s round cheeks became flushed and turned around to look at Song Yu before asking shyly, “Aunty, is this… a present for me?”.

“Yes!” Song Yu loved Qi Youxuan’s round but good-looking face. His chubby face looked exactly like mochis, and she could not help but punched his soft dimples. That delicate touch felt all too good.

Qi Youxuan blushed even more, and his grape-like eyes were particularly sparkly. Song Yu did not wait for him to ask before saying, “Go, open them,”.

Qi Youxuan’s excited arms jumped on the gifts, but he stopped himself. It was the first time he had received such a beautifully wrapped present, and it would be a waste to tear the wrapping paper. His chubby hands carefully peeled the wrapping paper to keep it intact.

After opening it, he realised it was the racetrack he had asked for from Qi Chengzhi. Qi Youxuan looked at him in shock and asked, “You really bought it, uncle?”

Qi Chengzhi was planning to just reply coldly – he had always been that way with Qi Youxuan. But Song Yu looked over all of a sudden and glared at him as a warning in order to make him remember what she said yesterday.

Qi Chengzhi nodded and forced himself to say a few extra sentences, “I saw a toy store on the way here, so I went in to ask about it. This is the last one,”.

“Thank you uncle!” Qi Youxuan shouted in excitement.

Song Yu took the box and put it on the coffee table before saying, “There’s one more, I bought it,”.

Qi Youxuan carefully peeled off the other wrapping paper. The moment he saw the drawing on the box, he shouted “It’s the 30th anniversary edition!” before even opening it.

“You knew that?” Song Yu was surprised. Seeing the look on Qi Youxuan’s face, she knew she bought the right thing.

Qi Youxuan nodded with strength. His short and chubby hands opened the box – he still had to put the four-wheel toy together himself. The little guy cautiously touched the wheels, the base, the outer case, and the other parts.

“Most of the boys in our class have the one in the action film just now. But because Grandpa already bought me one last year, I did not dare to ask him for the new one when the movie came out this year. Otherwise, I would be lectured,”.

Song Yu could imagine. To be real, children are more competitive than adults. Adults would not show much of their competitiveness even if they felt it, but children would unapologetically show it in their actions.

For a competitive kid, if he was the only one who had the old model while the others had the new four-wheel toy, he would be uneasy and sad about it. On top of that, he would have to tolerate the other kids who showed theirs off, as well as the teasing and bullying.

“Aunty, no one in the kindergarten has this yet!” Qi Youxuan seemed pure and honest when he was excited. His usual cunning antics were nowhere to be seen.

“As long as you like it,” Song Yu was glad that she picked the right gift, as her fingers ran through his hair.

Qi Youxuan looked at his presents, then looked at Song Yu as tears filled his eyes. Everyone in the family treated him well, but no one knew what he liked as much as Song Yu did.

“Aunty!” Qi Youxuan ran into Song Yu’s arms. “Why can’t you be my stepmother!”

Aunty loved and cared for him. With her as his stepmother, it would feel exactly like having a biological mom. He would not need to worry being abused by a strange stepmom in the future.

“…” Qi Chengzhi watched.

Qi Youxuan hugged Song Yu tightly. Qi Chengzhi had enough of it, got up and walked over, and dragged him by the back of his collar. “That’s enough, go play with your toys.”

Qi Youxuan mumbled something, moved his little butt down the couch, and ran while hugging his presents.

Qi Chenglin still seemed a little down. Looking at Song Yu, he was about to speak up – but the doorbell rang.

Aunty Liu opened the door and was heard saying, “Miss. Sir,”.

A while later, Qi Chengyue and Jianyi walked inside together.

After what she learnt yesterday, Song Yu unconsciously began to observe the interaction between Qi Chengyue and Jianyi. Since the moment they walked in, they never looked at each other – not even once.

It was expected of Jianyi – she knew he had been using Qi Chengyue and he never gave her his heart. There would not be any display of affection from him.

But Qi Chengyue always liked Jianyi. This time, she acted as if he was invisible.

If two people were in love with each other, they would definitely look at each other at some point in time, or exchange glances, or make a few moves.

But none of these were seen on Jianyi and Qi Chengyue.

“Big brother. Brother,” Jianyi briefly called, and his sight landed on Song Yu – as if he wanted to find out something.

Song Yu could not help but lift her eyebrow – could it be that Jianyi was observing her reaction after what happened yesterday?

Qi Chenglin only responded with a cold nod. Jianyi did not mind – Qi Chenglin was always this way with him anyway.

None of them spoke after that.

Qi Chenglin said nothing until Jianyi’s phone rang. He walked out to take the call, and Qi Chenglin said, “Chengyue, come with me. I need to tell you something,”.

“What’s up, why so serious?” Qi Chengyue said nonchalantly and followed Qi Chenglin.

The duo entered the study, and Qi Chengyue closed the door behind them upon Qi Chenglin’s request.

Qi Chenglin sat on the couch and pointed to the seat next to him, “Sit,”.

“Brother, what is so serious?” Qi Chengyue asked as she walked over to sit.

Qi Chenglin had a dark expression on his face and did not speak for some time. He touched his pocket, and remembered he left his cigarettes in the car as no smoking was allowed in the house.

Qi Chenglin sighed, and retold the story of Guan Xiaolin shopping with Zhou Mingyan at the mall yesterday – but he did not mention that Song Yu was the one who witnessed it.

“Brother, you were working overtime in your office, how could you have seen my mother-in-law at the mall?” Qi Chengyue asked. She believed him – but she wanted evidence.

The credit card held by Zhou Mingyan was created using Qi Chengyue’s identity card. The moment Zhou Mingyan swiped the card yesterday, Qi Chengyue received a message notification for it. Even though the message did not reveal the location of the transaction, but it could have something to do with what Qi Chenglin was saying.

Qi Chenglin glanced over, weighed his options, and decided to tell the truth. “Song Yu was the one who told me. Yesterday she went to the mall with her mother and saw them. Zhou Mingyan looked a little frightened when she bumped into them. Zhou Mingyan is not a bright woman – her first reaction can’t trick anyone.”

Qi Chenglin glanced over, weighed his options, and decided to tell the truth. “Song Yu was the one who told me. Yesterday she went to the mall with her mother and saw them. Zhou Mingyan looked a little frightened when she bumped into them. Zhou Mingyan is not a bright woman—her initial reaction can’t trick anyone.”

“I know you have a thing against Song Yu, but Chengyue, you’re not dumb. You’re the exact opposite. You know very well that Song Yu and Big Brother are truly in love with each other, and she only has Big Brother in her heart—there is no space for Jian Yi in there. She’s also not the type to do something harmful to herself and others. Big Brother and I have reservations about Jian Yi as a person, but because you liked him, as your brother I can’t stop you—I could only be your clear conscience.

“Song Yu does not need to use this to ruin your marriage. She chose to let me tell you this because she was afraid you would think she’s intentionally berating Jian Yi to ruin your marriage. To be frank, she wasn’t sure about what’s going on between Jian Yi and Guan Xiaolin. Jian Yi could even be innocent, and Guan Xiaolin is the one who’s trying things. But she wishes that you would pay a little more attention to this since another woman is waiting to pounce on him.

“If Jian Yi and Guan Xiaolin really betrayed you, you shouldn’t be played by them like this. If Jian Yi is innocent, and Guan Xiaolin is the one trying things, then you should be careful of her. This is why Song Yu wanted me to talk to you about this.”

Qi Chenglin sighed. He rested his elbows on his kneecaps, leaned his body forward, and proceeded to intertwine his fingers between his knees.

“If you don’t believe me, I will check the shift schedule at the store Zhou Mingyan shopped in yesterday—we can go meet the salesperson at the time during her shift.”

Qi Chengyue looked down and did not utter a word.

“Chengyue, what are you thinking?” Qi Chenglin looked at her.

Qi Chengyue stayed silent for a while before replying, “I got it.”

She stood up and said in a cold voice, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll leave.”

“Chengyue! I don’t care if you believe me or not, the least you can do is remember what I said. I will investigate Jian Yi and Guan Xiaolin, and I will not let you be played by them,” Qi Chenglin stood up and said.

Qi Chenglin walked a few steps toward her, but not too close—he was afraid Qi Chengyue would be uncomfortable.

“Chengyue, you’re my sister. Believe me, I will not let you be bullied by others.”

Qi Chengyue finally turned around slowly. Qi Chenglin felt relieved after seeing that she did not cry. She looked like she believed what he said.

But she looked vulnerable—it was heartbreaking.

Qi Chengyue silently nodded. “I understand.”

Jian Yi finished his call and entered the house. He found Song Yu and Qi Chengzhi alone in the living room and smirked before sitting across them without a word.

Qi Chengyue and Qi Chenglin came out together. Song Yu looked at Qi Chenglin, and Qi Chenglin nodded slightly.

Qi Chengyue sat down quietly and glanced over at Song Yu.

“Deng! Deng! Deng!” Qi Youxuan changed into his little tuxedo and came down the stairs.

This tuxedo of his was bought during New Year’s. Grandma realized that Qi Youxuan had gained weight and made him go on a diet—which was why he could fit into his New Year’s clothes.

“Why are you dressed like this?” Qi Chenglin looked at his son—his eyes twitched.

Qi Youxuan looked down shyly and said, “I’ve invited my in-laws, they should be here any minute.”

“…” Qi Chenglin asked, “What in-laws of yours?”

“Ugh Dad, you’re speaking as if I am a player. I only have one father-in-law and one mother-in-law, and they’re Muran’s parents!” Qi Youxuan became indignant—he thought his reputation was ruined by his father.

“…” A speechless Qi Chenglin looked at him for some time before saying, “Don’t learn those thick-skinned things from your uncle.”

“…” Qi Chengzhi was speechless.

Qi Youxuan ignored him and went to the toilet to grab Grandma’s hair gel. He put it in Qi Chenglin’s hands and said, “Dad, help me style my hair like the one you did for Sports Day at the kindergarten.”

After getting urged by Qi Youxuan, Qi Chenglin quietly dug some hair gel from his hand and styled Qi Youxuan’s hair.

The doorbell rang just after the styling was done. Qi Youxuan rushed to the door after hearing Aunty Liu say it was Wei Ziqi and family.

After Wei Ziqi and Wei Ran walked in, Qi Youxuan cleverly called, “Hello uncle, hello aunty.”

Wei Ziqi was unexpectedly nice towards Qi Youxuan and said, “Happy birthday.”

Wei Ran also passed a present to Qi Youxuan and wished him a happy birthday.

“Thank you uncle and aunty, I will definitely treasure it and pass it down to your grandchild,” Qi Youxuan said before even opening his gift.

“…” Wei Ziqi and Wei Ran were speechless.

Later on, Qi Youxuan dragged Little Muran to check out his racetrack.

Grandpa and Grandma came home after some time.

Grandma’s part in the film was done for the day, and she did not have any more scenes after that. This was specifically requested by Han Zhuoli—Grandma’s scenes were to be shot without tiring her, and she was not to spend too much time with the film crew. As long as it scratched her itch it was good enough.

Grandma was a little sick of spending time with the film crew. She would not be taking up parts for some time.

After changing in her room, Grandma cracked open sunflower seeds as she asked, “Song, girl, are you free next Saturday?”

“What’s the matter, Grandma?” Song Yu asked.

“Haha, I wanted to bring you to the old Han house—a few friends want to come as well. They want to meet Chengzhi’s new wife.” Grandma looked annoyed at these people, but her cunning eyes were glowing.

“Don’t worry, I won’t make you spend too much time with us old women. I’ve told Chengzhi to come pick you up when you get bored.”

“Okay.” Song Yu agreed right away.

For Qi Youxuan’s birthday, Qi Chengzhi made Yanbei City send their top chef to the house to prepare dinner.

The birthday cake was made in the morning by a top pastry chef and brought to the house.

It was dinner time, so Song Yu went upstairs to get the two children.

After reaching Qi Youxuan’s bedroom, the door was open and she saw the children playing with four-wheel toys. In actual fact, Muran was the one playing and Qi Youxuan was just watching her.

Every time Little Muran came across a problem, Qi Youxuan was there to help her solve it.

Muran successfully made her four-wheel toy run around the racetrack, and it did not fall off at sharp corners. She immediately clapped in excitement, and her doll-like face was flushed as she shouted, “I did it! I did it!”

Qi Youxuan was buzzed and grabbed Muran by her wrist. He leaned over all of a sudden and kissed Muran on her pink cheeks.

“Ahem!” Song Yu cleared her throat. If she remained quiet, Muran would be further taken advantage of by Qi Youxuan.

If Wei Ziqi found out about this, Qi Youxuan would not be forgiven.

Song Yu glared at Qi Youxuan. After getting caught for kissing Muran, Qi Youxuan—who was usually thick-skinned—became flushed.

How unlucky he was, getting caught when it was his first time doing so.

Song Yu walked over and lightly flicked Qi Youxuan in his head, saying, “Don’t take advantage now, pursue her proudly when you’re older.”

Qi Youxuan stood up with his little belly as he twisted his waist in embarrassment.

Song Yu laughed and said, “Come, let’s go eat. You’re the birthday boy today.”

Qi Youxuan extended his pale and chubby arm towards Little Muran and walked downstairs together hand in hand.

Wei Ziqi’s face changed as he saw them. He moved his lips in annoyance and extended his arms towards Muran and said, “Muran, come to Dad.”

Muran’s face lit up when she saw her father. She ditched Qi Youxuan and ran straight into Wei Ziqi’s embrace.

Wei Ziqi knelt and looked at his daughter in his arms, glanced over at a disappointed Qi Youxuan who had just been ditched, and said, “Never simply hold hands with boys again. If someone touches you, tell daddy—even if it’s just hooking a finger.”

Little Muran nodded in seriousness and thought about how she was kissed on her cheek by Qi Youxuan just now. She was contemplating about telling her father about it, but after some thought, she figured he was speaking about the future, and not what had happened before. Muran thought the past did not count, and so she decided not to speak about it.

“What happened?” Wei Ziqi asked.

Little Muran shook her head decisively.

Today was Qi Youxuan’s sixth birthday. There were six candles on the cake—it was supposed to be one candle in the form of a number, but Qi Youxuan said he liked making the effort to blow many candles at once. Hence, normal, skinny candles were bought.

After lighting the candles, everyone became silent—Qi Youxuan’s chubby hands intertwined under his chin as he looked down and closed his eyes. He seemed very focused on making his wish before blowing the candles.

“Youxuan, what did you wish for?” Guan Liya tilted her head and asked. She thought if he wished for something, she could go buy it and make her grandson’s wish come true.

However, Qi Youxuan looked down in embarrassment and tugged his pants with his chubby little hand. He looked at Little Muran and said, “It’s a secret. I’ll reveal it when it comes true.”

After dinner and celebrating Qi Youxuan’s birthday, everyone sat and chatted for a while before leaving.

As she walked towards the door, Song Yu gave Qi Chengyue a worried look.

Qi Chengyue suddenly looked back at Song Yu—as if she realized her stare. She then looked back down and got in the car without interacting with Jian Yi at all.

Song Yu felt sorry for Qi Chengyue. Everything Jian Yi owned today was thanks to Qi Chengyue.

His car, his new house, his parents’ allowance, and his position in the company.

After giving him so much, he could not even reciprocate with love.

After getting into the car, Song Yu turned and looked at Qi Chengzhi in the driver’s seat, and leaned over suddenly. Her head rested on his shoulder, and her hands were wrapped around his arm.

As there was quite some space in between the seats, the position was not very comfortable—but she was still leaning on his shoulder and stayed there.

As they stopped at a traffic light, Qi Chengzhi turned and looked at Song Yu’s smooth forehead and her thick lashes that were facing down. He lowered his head a little and kissed her forehead asking, “What’s up?”

Song Yu shook her head and replied, “I just feel bad about Qi Chengyue. Even if Jian Yi did not cheat on her, he doesn’t love her. Jian Yi loves himself, and he does everything for himself. He never reciprocated Qi Chengyue’s love.”

Qi Chengzhi squeezed her hand, held it up and kissed it, saying, “The Qi family will never let one of its own be at a disadvantage.”

…

…

The next day, Song Yu came out at noon and found Qi Chengyue standing at the door. Song Yu saw Qi Chengyue and became stunned.

Ruan Danchen sighed next to Song Yu and tapped her shoulder saying, “Why is it so hard to have a meal with you!”.

Song Yu forced a smile. She was not ignoring Qi Chengyue, but ever since she had doubts about Jian Yi and Guan Xiaolin she felt more compassionate towards Qi Chengyue.

She took the initiative and walked towards Qi Chengyue. Qi Chengyue still looked a little awkward—but she was not pushing her away.

Before Qi Chengyue opened her mouth, Song Yu said, “Let’s find a place to talk. There’s a Japanese restaurant nearby that’s pretty decent, and it even has a two-person lounge. It’s quite nice for chatting.”

Qi Chengyue nodded silently. She glanced over at Song Yu and lowered her head again.

Song Yu greeted Ruan Danchen and walked ahead.

She brought Qi Chengyue to the Japanese restaurant near her office. Luckily, there was one lounge that had not been reserved.

The duo sat in the lounge and ordered two set meals.

After the waiter served food to both of them, Song Yu told him that he should not enter the lounge without their request.

The waiter left, and Qi Chengyue rested her left hand on the table while holding and turning the exquisite teacup unconsciously. Her fingertips turned white as she tightened her grip on the teacup.

“What do you know about Jian Yi and Guan Xiaolin?” Qi Chengyue’s voice sounded stiff and unnatural.

She used to hate Song Yu. Even if she was disappointed towards Jian Yi, found out the truth about his character, and unconsciously let go of her grudges against Song Yu, the history between the duo made Qi Chengyue spending time with Song Yu unnatural..

She even felt embarrassed by what she had said and done in the past after coming to terms about many things following her disappointment towards Jian Yi.

“I know they were together in university. Jian Yi’s expenses in university were all paid by Guan Xiaolin. Remember that time you came to see me at Shengyue?” Song Yu asked.

Qi Chengyue became embarrassed and set her sight on the teacup while nodding stiffly. “Yeah.”

“I went to Jian Yi’s to ask for details. Who knew the moment I walked out of the lift, I overheard his conversation with Guan Xiaolin. That was when I knew he had hidden things from me for years. He obviously broke up with Guan Xiaolin after meeting you.”

Song Yu told Qi Chengyue every detail of the conversation between Jian Yi and Guan Xiaolin.

Qi Chengyue could not help but become distracted. She knew a little later that Song Yu merely ran into Qi Chengzhi.

She had thought more than once—how could there be so many coincidences?

She knew Song Yu existed because an anonymous source gave her those photos.

She went to Shengyue that night because of a call from Qi Chengzhi.

After she left, Song Yu met Qi Chengzhi, went to see Jian Yi, and overheard the conversation between him and Guan Xiaolin—and that was when Song Yu learned of Jian Yi’s true colors.

Qi Chengzhi had, directly and indirectly, participated in all of this. Qi Chengyue remembered the warning he gave her before this—she had finally realized that all of this was coordinated by Qi Chengzhi to steal Song Yu from Jian Yi!

Even if Jian Yi was a decent person, he would not have been Qi Chengzhi’s match.

She was envious of Song Yu for having a man like Qi Chengzhi—for her, he made move after move to marry her.

Qi Chengzhi may be full of ideas with others, but he was loyal to Song Yu.

If there was a man who treated her this way, even if he was not as brilliant as Qi Chengzhi, as long as he was loyal to her, she would be content.

“When Chengshi and Guanyu were fighting for the design contract for Qilin Hotel, Guan Xiaolin had planned to seduce Chengzhi. I don’t know how he solved it, but Guan Xiaolin never went near him again.” Qi Chengyue heard Song Yu say.

“To me, if Jian Yi wanted to, he would not let Guan Xiaolin win the heart of Zhou Mingyan. Even if he was not with Guan Xiaolin, he was closing an eye to what was happening. He wanted to lead Guan Xiaolin on to gain advantages from her. As for Guan Xiaolin, if she knew her efforts would amount to nothing, she would not try to impress Zhou Mingyan. This is why I am suspecting the both of them,” Song Yu said as her thumb traced the sakura pattern on the teacup.

Song Yu lifted her head and looked at Qi Chengyue intensely, saying, “If I were you, I would pretend to not know anything. I know Chenglin is investigating now. Before anything comes up, don’t let Jian Yi know anything. If he is innocent, there will be one less argument between you two. If he really cheated on you, he would hide the evidence from you once he knows you’re suspecting him. This would cause trouble to Chenglin’s investigation.”

“I know, not long after getting married I knew he did not love me. I gradually saw his true colors,” Qi Chengyue said softy. Her elbow was rested on the table, and her palm was supporting her forehead and pushing her hair to the back of her head.

“But I love him, I really loved him. If I didn’t, I would not have married him—I ignored his status, and how he had nothing, and married him anyway. I gave him whatever he wanted. But I don’t want to be an idiot and still give him everything when I know he doesn’t love me. Eventually, he could kick me out after owning everything.”

” I even thought if he could eventually love me, I would wait for him. I would forget the past. But I know this isn’t possible. He will never love anyone.” Qi Chengyue shut her eyes to hide her tears. Her hands covered her eyes.

“To be honest, Song Yu, I envy you a lot. My big brother loves you so much and puts you before anything else. The things I want are simple—really simple. I’m not demanding my partner to have a high social standing or strong financial abilities. I don’t even mind it if he’s from the working class, as long as he treats me well with all his heart and doesn’t betray the love that I give to him.” Qi Chengyue nearly choked while she spoke. Her shoulders were trembling continuously.

“To be honest, Song Yu, I envy you a lot. My big brother loves you so much and puts you before anything else. The things I want are simple—really simple. I’m not demanding my partner to have a high social standing or strong financial abilities. I don’t even mind it if he’s from the working class, as long as he treats me well with all his heart and doesn’t betray the love that I give to him.” Qi Chengyue nearly choked while she spoke. Her shoulders were trembling continuously.

“Jian Yi had nothing when I first got into a relationship with him. If I really cared about all those things, why would I agree to marry him? I only love one person, and now that he and I are married, I want to be loved in the same way too. I also want to be loved, to be cared for, and to be well protected.

“I want him to feel a twinge in his heart even if it’s just for a small cut on my finger. When I’m sick, he’ll be beside me; when I cry, he’ll wipe my tears away lovingly. I want him to miss me when I’m not beside him, and when he goes away on business, I want him to take the initiative to call me and talk to me about his day. I want him to hold my hand on the street, and to reserve the front passenger seat for only me.”

Song Yu sat there in silence. She felt some discomfort in her throat because of Qi Chengyue’s words.

She watched as crystal-clear tears oozed out from between Qi Chengyue’s fingers, flowing down the back of her hand like a stream.

“I don’t understand it at all. I loved him with all my heart. Why must he… Why must he insist on taking advantage of me? I am okay with it, but what I want is for him to love me too. Even if he’s taking advantage of me, he should at least love me a bit more. What else am I lacking…” Qi Chengyue wept and sobbed profusely. “Tell me, Song Yu, what must I do to earn a man’s love? What did I do wrong? I’m willing to change. I just want someone to love me sincerely. Why… Why must he treat me like this…

“Did you know? His mother… The credit card that his mother normally uses is under my name. I’m the one who’s paying the credit card debt every single month. When you met her and Guan Xiaolin that day, she used my money to buy clothes for herself. She’s using my money, but she’s strolling around with Jian Yi’s mistress, laughing and smiling. Both mother and son… Both mother and son treat me like I’m nothing…

“I love Jian Yi, but I still have self-respect. I don’t want them to take advantage of me and bully me. Jian Yi and I have been brutally honest with each other since early on. He’s never touched me after we got married. After the marriage, there was once I ran back to my home because of Zhou Mingyan. That’s not the only time she bullied me, but I didn’t dare to go back home again. I’m scared that my parents and my brother will get worried, and I was also afraid that they’d do something bad to Jian Yi.

“Even though I’ve always been unable to come to terms with things and I’m always arguing with him, deep down, I will always give thought to him. For his sake, I even hid things from my family, but they don’t even appreciate the things I do for them. Zhou Mingyan takes everything that I do for granted, while Jian Yi thinks that just because I love him, I should give him everything unconditionally without expecting anything in return. It’s like I shouldn’t even be expecting him to love me. To him, the fact that he married me is sufficient reciprocation.

“I’m stupid, Song Yu. I really think I’m stupid. To think that I lowered myself to such a level just for them. I’m just something that they can trample on whenever they like. But I loved him, Song Yu, why… Why can’t I have a happy ending? I’m jealous of you, really jealous… I’m scared and I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. I don’t think I can continue being with him, but I can’t accept it… I can’t accept that I’m not worth a single damn thing to him even though I loved him and poured out my everything for him all these years.”

Song Yu’s eyes began reddening too. At that moment, both of Qi Chengyue’s elbows were placed onto the table while she used her palms to cover her face. She was crying as helplessly as a baby.

Song Yu once thought that Qi Chengyue was a stubborn woman who had been spoiled rotten by family.

Marriage, however, changed Qi Chengyue a lot. It was then that Song Yu realized how much effort Qi Chengyue put into the marriage and how much wrong she had suffered.

As the Qi family’s darling daughter, it was appalling that Qi Chengyue was willing to lower her standards and allow both Jian Yi as well as Zhou Mingyan to oppress her.

She even hid the things that happened just so her family would not be worried about her. She did that for Jian Yi’s sake too, because she was afraid of letting her family find out Jian Yi’s true nature.

Trapped in the middle, she was the one who suffered the most.

Song Yu got up from the chair. She walked over and knelt down beside Qi Chengyue.

She hugged Qi Chengyue tenderly and began stroking the latter’s hair softly. “Silly girl, why didn’t you say anything? Why did you choose to hold everything in by yourself and suffer so much? You kept everything from your family. They’re going to find out that when you needed their help and protection the most, they were completely in the dark and were unable to help you at all. How would your family feel if they knew the truth? That they couldn’t help you when you were being persecuted like that?

“Family exists for a reason and it is to help each other in times of need. When you’re weak, they will help you; when you need someone to rely on, they’ll support you; when you have nowhere to go, they’ll open their doors for you; when you’re helpless, they’re a reliable place of refuge.

“You’re the Qi family’s honorable daughter, and the younger sister of Chengzhi and Chenglin—their one and only younger sister. You have three strong elder brothers. How could you let just them watch as their younger sister is getting bullied? How could you let your brothers just stand there like idiots? How could you let Jian Yi think that he could bully you right under their noses? You’re going to just let Jian Yi make fun of them and think that he could play the Qi family for fools?”

Qi Chengyue wailed uncontrollably, then turned and placed her forehead to Song Yu’s shoulder. Qi Chengyue’s own shoulders were trembling incessantly.

She cried for a very long time before being able to calm herself down.

Song Yu neither urged nor comforted her; merely letting her cry it all out on Song Yu’s shoulder.

Qi Chengyue’s breath stuttered a few times as she sat back upright. She looked at Song Yu, then looked down again, before choking and saying, “I’m sorry.”

It was not known whether the apology was for wetting Song Yu’s clothes or because of her attitude toward Song Yu in the past.

All Song Yu could do was smile and shake her head. She passed the box of tissues to Qi Chengyue so the latter could wipe away the tears and mucus.

“Can you please not tell the family everything I told you today?” Qi Chengyue continued, “Since it’s already in the past, I don’t want them to worry.”

“Of course.” Song Yu nodded before getting up and resuming her original seat.

Qi Chengyue’s nostrils were blocked because of the mucus she produced while crying. Completely unable to breathe, she had to exert a lot of strength and blow her nose a couple of times.

“When my brother told me about Jian Yi and Guan Xiaolin yesterday, I actually wasn’t surprised that he would have an affair. It’s not solely Guan Xiaolin’s fault. I wasn’t willing to help him set up his own business, and I didn’t want to say good things about him to my brother because that will make the company attach more importance to him. He knew that he couldn’t get anything from me, so he’s expanding his network. In fact, I expected as much, but it wasn’t until just now that I realized I already foresaw all this happening.” Qi Chengyue smiled self-deprecatingly and inhaled in short fits.

She made a great effort to endure everything yesterday, and by virtue of that she did not break down.

She knew that her disposition yesterday was rather frosty, eliciting the curiosity of Qi Chenglin.

The reality was that she did not dare to talk about it too much. She was afraid that if she said a bit more, the floodgates would open and she would burst into sobs.

“I loved him, but I’ve also been hurt by him. But even if I still love him and I’m still unwilling to part with him, I won’t think about keeping him to myself again.” Qi Chengyue paused for a moment, but her hands—which she placed on the table—were trembling like mad.

Song Yu knew that Qi Chengyue’s inner emotions were not as calm as the spoken word.

“I’ll divorce him, but I’ll listen to you and pretend that nothing happened. Once my brother gets the evidence, I’ll divorce him. I won’t give him the chance to take anything from the Qi family!” Qi Chengyue exclaimed furiously, but despite the firmness in her tone, tears started falling out from her eye sockets as soon as she finished talking.

After all, it was a marriage she very much looked forward to.

The ceremony back then was so grand, with pretty much the entire city giving her well wishes, but barely a few months had passed since then…

Song Yu sighed in her heart and muttered, “Eat something. You’re not in a good mood, and if you go hungry, it’ll be bad for your body.”

Qi Chengyue dried her tears, nodded, and ate some rice. However, she felt as though something was stuck in her throat, and no matter how much she tried swallowing, she was unable to do so.

Song Yu let out a breath and also had some rice. She took a piece of grilled fish but found the taste unappealing—almost making her vomit. She drank a few gulps of water to wash away the fishy taste. Then, she ate another a few mouthfuls of rice. Taking a bite out of a deep-fried pork rib, she found it unpalatably greasy.

In the end, she forced herself to eat some vegetable salad and some fruits. After two sips of miso soup, she could not stomach anything else again.

Qi Chengyue’s mood was terrible and her appetite was even worse. The two of them only ate a tiny bit, and the entire meal looked as though it had never been touched.

Qi Chengyue frowned and asked, “I don’t have any appetite, but why didn’t you eat much too?”

Song Yu shook her head. “I don’t know if they changed the chef or something like that. I just feel like today’s food is terrible. I can’t stomach it.

Qi Chengyue nodded, to which Song Yu asked, “Do you want to continue sitting here for a while?”

“It’s okay.” Qi Chengyue got up, then remarked embarrassedly, “I’ve wasted enough of your time. Let’s go.”

Song Yu smiled, for she never expected that a day would come when Qi Chengyue would be so genuinely courteous to her.

It was a Japanese-themed restaurant, so they had to get up from the cushion that they had been sitting on for quite some time.

A sudden dizziness came over Song Yu as soon as she stood up. Her vision faded to pitch-black and she saw stars, exactly like how those old televisions sets would fade away.

Song Yu did not stand too steadily, and if it were not for Qi Chengyue, she would have fallen to the ground.

“Are you okay?!” Qi Chengyue asked anxiously.

Song Yu frowned, and the stars slowly began to disappear after a while. Soon, her vision returned and she could see everything clearly again.

She shook her head and said, “I’m okay. I think I stood up a bit too suddenly just now.”

“Are you really okay?” Qi Chengyue still did not feel too reassured. Although she and Song Yu were not necessarily on good terms, she had earlier poured out emotionally all her frustrations to Song Yu, and by virtue of that, their relationship had taken an imperceptible turn for the better.

Most importantly, if Qi Chengzhi found out that something happened to Song Yu when the latter was with her, she had to bear the weight of it.

It was especially so when there used to be bad blood between the two women. In the past, she treated Song Yu badly, and even if she pleaded her innocence, Qi Chengzhi might not believe her so easily.

After the food was paid, Qi Chengyue felt relieved only after sending Song Yu back to the company.

Qi Chengyue sent Song Yu up, then advised her to visit the doctor if there was anything wrong or at least tell Qi Chengzhi if something happens. Ruan Danchen was not privy to their past animosity, so when she saw the entire scene, she thought that their relationship had always been that cordial.

Ruan Danchen remarked with full of admiration, “Song Yu you’re really… I never thought that you were on such good terms with your sister-in-law.”

“…” At that moment, Song Yu felt that Ruan Danchen was always one to focus on things that other people did not normally focus on.

…

…

Qi Chengyue left Chengshi’s building and got into her car, but at that point, she did not know where to go.

She drove to Qilin, got down, and looked at Qilin’s grand entrance without being able to bring herself to take a single step.

She could not help but think about how, if she was not born into the Qi family, she would not have had any value worth taking advantage of. In that way, she would never have met Jian Yi, and she would not have to go through such a terrible marriage.

After a brief moment of hesitation, she turned to leave.

Walking aimlessly, she stopped abruptly to look up and sigh at the sky. Depressed, she realized that other than being lucky to be born in the Qi family, virtually every other aspect of her life was a failure.

“I’m standing at the entrance to the café that I’m supposed to be meeting him at. He’s not here yet. When he comes, I’ll be as frank as possible with him and I won’t be making any small talk.” All of a sudden, Qi Chengyue heard a woman’s voice. When she looked over, she realized she stopped at the café right beside Qilin.

She then refocused her gaze and glanced upon the woman who was making a call. The woman seemed very familiar.

Qi Chengyue stared at the woman and thought long and hard before realizing that the woman was Cheng Dongge’s girlfriend. Previously she saw the woman at Qilin a couple of times, waiting at the lobby for Cheng Dongge to finish work. Qi Chengyue saw her before but never greeted her.

As to the woman’s name, Qi Chengyue had forgotten it completely.

Rumor has it that Cheng Dongge already proposed marriage. Qi Chengyue looked at the woman’s left hand—the one which held the phone—and saw that there was a diamond ring on her middle finger.

While Qi Chengyue was lost in thought, she heard the woman say, “Don’t worry. I won’t go soft on him. I’ve been thoroughly disappointed in him since long ago. He’s busy all the time, and when he’s busy, he’s being busy for someone else. What has he achieved after being busy for so many years? He’s still only an assistant. If the reason why he has no time for me is that he’s powerful enough to be busy for himself, I can probably be patient with him. But he’s working for someone else! All these years he’s never gotten a promotion even though he works overtime as if there’s no difference between day and night. Most of the time I don’t even see him. What’s the difference between having him as my boyfriend and being single?

“If things are already like this before we’re married, what’s gonna happen after the marriage? He won’t even have me in his thoughts at all. He’s never been there for me whenever I needed him, and he doesn’t even know what I want. No matter what the occasion is, it’s always dinner and flowers. There’s no sincerity from him. To be honest, my feelings for him have disappeared since long ago, but he’s the one who kneeled down and asked for my hand in marriage. I pitied him because he was in front of all those people, and it was only because I didn’t want him to be put on the spot that I reluctantly agreed.”

The woman then switched her phone to her right hand. She opened all five fingers of her left hand and looked at the ring on her middle finger, remarking disdainfully, “But he did put some thought into the ring he gave me. I think I’ll keep it.”

“….”

“Don’t think so much. He doesn’t have a place in my heart anymore. You obviously know that I like you now. I’m just keeping the ring to give him some dignity. Don’t you know he’s a really proud man? Even if I want to return it to him, he’ll insist proudly that he wants me to keep it, saying that he never takes back the things that he has given. Since he wants to pretend that he’s generous, I’m simply helping him accomplish his aim by keeping the ring.”

“…”

“He’s here. We’ll talk later.”

“…”

“I love you too.”

The woman hung up and morphed her contemptuous expression into one that was gentle. She lowered her head slightly, while her hands—which were holding her handbag—were placed in front of her body. Added to that was a pitiable, burdened state of mind.

Qi Chengyue clicked her tongue. She was fuming so hard at that audacious woman, to the point where she forgot the despair and depression brought about by her own marriage.

She looked in the exact direction the woman was looking at and saw Cheng Dongge walking over.

That well-dressed, earnest, and thoughtful man was the assistant that Qi Chengzhi placed the most trust in.

Qi Chengyue once heard Qi Chenglin mention that Qi Chengzhi would allow Cheng Dongge to assume the position of Qilin Properties’ general manager once Qi Zhongliang and Qi Zhongxun retired. That was the reason why Qi Chengzhi had Cheng Dongge participate in many of the company’s important business deals during the last few years.

How foolish of the woman to look down on a man like Cheng Dongge.

“Why didn’t you wait inside?” Cheng Dongge walked over and frowned.

While his heavy workload did mean that he had little time to spend with his fiancée, Qi Chengyue could see that there was so shortage of the care and love he gave to the woman.

Qi Chengyue was very envious. Before that day, she was willing to trade everything just so Jian Yi could do the same to her.

The woman was about to speak, but Cheng Dongge noticed Qi Chengyue, who stood rooted to the ground and had forgotten to conceal herself.

“Miss Qi,” Cheng Dongge greeted, somewhat shocked.

Qi Chengyue nodded plainly, but it was Cheng Dongge’s fiancée that was in a state of shock.

During the phone call earlier, she did notice Qi Chengyue standing to one side as if waiting for someone.

However, she did not know who Qi Chengyue was and hence did not care. She treated Qi Chengyue as a stranger, caring not if a stranger happened to hear what she said. It scarcely occurred to her that the woman was someone Cheng Dongge knew. At that instant, she immediately turned anxious.

“No introductions?” Qi Chengyue raised an eyebrow, provoking the woman with a glance.

Cheng Dongge did not know what Qi Chengyue was planning on doing, but he said, “This is my fiancée, Huang Ziyue. Ziyue, this is the daughter of the Qi family, the youngest of five siblings.”

Huan Ziyue’s expression changed dramatically. She forced out a stiff smile and called out, “Miss Qi.”

Qi Chengyue nodded and replied, “I shall not bother you.”

Having said that, she turned to leave, eliciting a sigh of relief from Huang Ziyue. The latter was indubitably afraid that Qi Chengyue would spill everything to Cheng Dongge.

Cheng Dongge and Huang Ziyue entered the café, but Qi Chengyue suddenly halted her steps and formed her hands into a fist.

“Qi Chengyue, this has nothing to do with you, don’t be a busybody,” she muttered softly to herself. Her legs did not get the message though, for she soon began walking back into the café.

As a result of Jian Yi’s lies and deceit, she was unable to stand the sight of those who treated love as a game, using money and position to quantify relationships. She saw Cheng Dongge pouring his heart out, but she could not bear to look at how he was being played by the person he loved, especially when he was taking the relationship and marriage seriously.

Cheng Dongge’s face was sullen and his expression, stiff. Although he did not beg pitiably or do anything of the sort, he was striving hard to endure it all.

Huang Ziyue, on the other hand, had a pitiable and guilty look. Qi Chengyue knew not of what Huang Ziyue was saying but surmised that she was probably pretending to be a saint.

With reddened and teary eyes, Huang Ziyue said, “Dongge, you’re a good person, but I… I’m not good enough. I’m not the kind of woman who can take care of herself. I need a man who will always be by my side. When I’m sick, you’re never with me. I want to talk to you when I’m frustrated at work and bullied by my colleagues, but you’re always too busy. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, and I realize I can’t accept a lonely marriage where my husband’s too busy to be beside me. I can’t be a good wife, and I don’t want to waste your time. I’m sorry…”

– – – – – – –

And now, a free mini-scene that won’t be counted in the word count. But before you read it, your fee will be a monthly vote. Please vote! Computer clients vote too~~

The Happiest Day of My Life:

When Qi Chengzhi was in the fourth year of primary school, the teacher gave homework in the form of an essay. Each student was required to write an essay titled ‘The Happiest Day of My Life’. The next day, every student would have to read it out loud in front of the whole class.

The next day came, and Qi Chengzhi was called up.

He held up his workbook and began reading aloud solemnly:

“The Happiest Day of My Life.

“In the past, people asked me, do you like this girl? I will always answer, the girl I like is not born yet. Yesterday, the girl I liked was finally born. My future wife is nine years younger than me. When she was born, my dream of having a young wife finally came true. My future wife is so considerate and thoughtful, even though she was only just born. I am happy that I did not like the wrong person. So, the happiest day of my life was yesterday. To celebrate, I took out my grandpa’s old Pu’er tea that he hid inside the cupboard. Then, I gave it to Aunt Liu so she can cook tea eggs. I will give them to everyone to celebrate the happiness with me.”

The teacher was speechless.

When he returned home that very day, his grandfather found out the truth about the tea eggs and gave him a good beating.

***

With reddened and teary eyes, Huang Ziyue said, “Dongge, you’re a good person, but I… I’m not good enough. I’m not the kind of woman who can take care of herself. I need a man who will always be by my side. When I’m sick, you’re never with me. I want to talk to you when I’m frustrated at work and bullied by my colleagues, but you’re always too busy. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, and I realize I can’t accept a lonely marriage where my husband’s too busy to be beside me. I can’t be a good wife, and I don’t want to waste your time. I’m sorry…”

Slowly but surely, she motioned to take off the ring, but Cheng Dongge had an inscrutable look as he said, “Since I’ve given it to you, just keep it. I’ll throw it anyway if you return it to me.”

Huang Ziyue’s tears dropped down, and she said, “I’m sorry.”

She turned around in a flash, wiping her tears and heading out the door.

By the time she pushed open the shop door, her tears were already dry. She lifted her left hand, still with the ring on, and used her fingertips to gently rub the blurry makeup between her eyelid and outer corner of her eye.

When she turned, however, she bumped into Qi Chengyue.

“Miss Qi,” Huang Ziyue called out in shock.

‘Didn’t she leave already? Why is she here again?’

“Seems like there are all sorts of crappy people nowadays.” Qi Chengyue mocked scornfully.

“Miss Qi, what’s the meaning of this?” Huang Ziyue asked unhappily, her expression sunk.

“Deep down, you know what I mean,” Qi Chengyue remarked coldly. She stretched out her left hand, palm up. “Take off your ring.”

“Miss Qi.” Huang Ziyue smiled coldly. “This is between Cheng Dongge and me. What right do you have in interfering with us?”

“I just can’t stand the sight of green tea b*tches like you!” Qi Chengyue was not in the mood to be polite.

She did not expect Huang Ziyue to snicker, who then asked, “I heard you’re married. Could it be that you’ve always had a crush on Cheng Dongge?”

“Whatever you say then. Take off the ring. Otherwise, I’ll tell you everything I heard just now to Cheng Dongge. And, since you know who I am, you should know that I have at my disposal the ability to find out who that b*stard is. And you, you definitely eyed him because of his money. With the Qi family’s power, we can take away everything from that man in the blink of an eye, and you’ll spend the rest of your life in despair.” Qi Chengyue treated Huang Ziyue as though the latter was nothing. Disposing such a person was far too easy.

“If you return the ring, I’ll treat it as though nothing ever happened. If I see you next time, I’ll pretend I don’t know you,” Qi Chengyue said coldly.

“You!” Huang Ziyue gnashed her teeth, unable to do anything except take the ring off and throw it unhappily to Qi Chengyue. “TAKE IT!”

…

…

Cheng Dongge knew not of what he did wrong. His girlfriend of three years had already accepted his marriage proposal, but all of a sudden, she came and said she wanted to break up.

He felt as though all his blood had been sucked dry from his body. Unable to move, he sat there rigidly on his seat.

All of a sudden, he heard a slap on the desk. Cheng Dongge saw a fair-skinned hand placed atop the table, and when the hand left the table, he saw the ring that he gave to Huang Ziyue.

He frowned, looked up in confusion, and noticed that it was actually Qi Chengyue.

He stared at her expressionlessly, and she then sat opposite him, saying, “Don’t let that gold-digger play you like a fool! She’s been two-timing all this while with a rich boyfriend. I heard her talk with that man on the phone, telling him she loves him, even complaining to him about your shortcomings. She said you have nothing, and she also mentioned that because you’re a proud man, you won’t take the ring back.

“And she was correct. She just pretended that she wanted to take off the ring. Cheng Dongge, don’t let yourself be played!” Qi Chengyue extrapolated softly, knowing that it was not something to shout about. She also did not want other café guests to hear what she said.

“So?” Cheng Dongge picked up the ring and dropped in into his cup of coffee. “I didn’t want to take this ring back because I’ll throw it away even if she returns it. No one asked you to take it back for me, right? Now I’m the one looking like a fool.

“Nobody asked you to be a busybody.” Cheng Dongge looked at her spitefully. “On what grounds are you interfering with my affairs when you can’t even take care of your own marriage? Rather than worrying about me being played by someone else, why don’t you go home and take good care of your husband?”

Qi Chengyue’s face turned pale and her lip trembled. She remained silent for a long time.

Cheng Dongge thoroughly regretted his words. The true subject of his anger was himself and Huang Ziyue, but he accidentally directed his anger at Qi Chengyue. Her know-it-all look, in particular, made him feel like his dirty laundry was aired for all to see, hence turning that ashamedness into anger.

Looking at Qi Chengyue’s hurt look, Cheng Dongge wanted to apologize, realizing that she was probably only trying to be kind.

Qi Chengyue however, smiled. “You’re right. I don’t have any right to advise you when my own marriage is falling apart. I’m the only one who’s been played because I married someone who never really loved me to begin with. In his eyes, I’m just a source of endless money. Yet I did all those stupid things for him, like blaming Song Yu and making myself look like a mentally unstable person. What right do I have interfering with your life when I can’t even deal with my own mess? Truth is, I’m the most humiliated one.”

A brief loss of self-control led to her tears streaming out. She struggled and used the back of her hand to wipe them away. She then stood up and said, “Sorry to have bothered you.”

Qi Chengyue ran out miserably from the café, leaving Cheng Dongge stunned for a moment. He too, ran out after her, throwing some cash to the reception as he passed by it. He hurried his footsteps and chased after Qi Chengyue.

Finally, he grasped Qi Chengyue’s arm and stopped her. His face was stiff as he said remorsefully, “I’m sorry. I was just too angry. I didn’t mean it that way, I didn’t intend to say those things about you…”

“It’s fine. They’re all the truth. It’s not like it’s something that can’t be said.” Qi Chengyue flung her hand to release his grip, then began walking forward.

“Where are you going? Let me send you!” Cheng Dongge caught up to her again and offered.

Qi Chengyue simply smiled frigidly. “Can’t you see I’m walking toward Qilin?”

Cheng Dongge froze, completely speechless.

Qi Chengyue maintained her poker face and ignored him. Cheng Dongge was left feeling guilt-ridden and embarrassed. Qi Chengyue was only doing it out of her own goodwill. Perhaps she thought of her own marriage and therefore found it utterly despicable to see people like Huang Ziyue.

Cheng Dongge, however, was so preoccupied with his own anger that he misdirected it to Qi Chengyue and hurting her in the end.

Upon reaching Qilin’s entrance, Cheng Dongge wanted to say sorry yet again, but Qi Chengyue took a turn and entered her own car. She drove off, leaving Cheng Dongge staring blankly.

…

…

After work, Song Yu sat in the front passenger seat of the car and thought of what Qi Chengyue told her that afternoon.

Qi Chengyue wanted someone to hold her hand on the street, and to reserve the front passenger seat of a car especially for her.

Song Yu then realized that Qi Chengzhi had done every single thing that Qi Chengyue mentioned. It had previously escaped her attention, and she took it for granted.

She used to blindly believe that every couple was like that, but it was then that she realized how lucky she actually was.

Song Yu turned and looked at him. It was a warm day, so his jacket had been taken off and thrown to the back seat. Back at the company, however, he had to wear it to keep up appearances. His upper body was clothed only in a steel-grey cotton shirt, with his tie loosened up considerably. The top two buttons of his shirt were undone, exposing his collarbone and sexy-looking Adam’s apple. His sleeves were also rolled up, revealing his firm arms that looked even more muscular when he placed them on the steering wheel.

When he turned the steering wheel, the movement of his upper arm caused it to flex within his shirt. The fabric wrapped tightly around his muscles, accentuating their beautiful contours.

Her gaze shifted upward to his handsome face as seen from the side. The more she looked at it, the more she liked it and the more enchanted she became. She felt extremely lucky whenever she looked at him, for it still surprised her that he was her man—a loyal and devoted man that no one can ever take away from her.

Song Yu was too enchanted that she stared at him until darkness was all she saw. Only then did she realize that they were inside the garage. As the automated door rolled down, the lights flickered on, jolting Song Yu back to her senses.

Qi Chengzhi’s fire was igniting deep within. Song Yu undid her seatbelt, but before she could even grab the inner door handle, she was suddenly hoisted up onto his lap, and in one swift motion, he pressed her onto the car door.

“What are you doing?” Song Yu asked helplessly as she was squeezed against the car door.

“You’re asking me what am I doing when you and your big eyes seduced me while I was driving?” Qi Chengzhi was suddenly erect. He spoke as though he was the helpless one, and he was even staring angrily at her. “It’s because you were seducing me that I couldn’t concentrate on the road. Do you know how much strength I had to use just to drive?’

“…” Song Yu blushed and was momentarily speechless. She was not seducing him at all. “I didn’t…”

Qi Chengzhi was having none of it. He immediately went and kissed her lips, causing her hindbrain to be pressed tightly against the car window. Both his hands grasped her waist tightly, and he then began taking off her pants.

“Qi Chengzhi!” Song Yu called out and gasped for breath during the brief moment between him breaking the kiss and attacking her neck.

His kisses were swift yet forceful, and he thirsted hard. They left Song Yu’s skin feeling wet and numb, while her breathing became heavier and heavier.

Qi Chengzhi’s hand moved downward, and she too followed suit, intending to stop him. The more she tried to deny him, the more chaotic things became. For a short moment, the two of them were in a state of disarray.

At some point though, the hands that denied him changed their course and began touching him instead.

Qi Chengzhi propped up her waist and placed her down onto himself. Song Yu moaned, grasping his waist with her delicate hands. She buried her face in his neck, with her hair brushing against his skin and neck.

Qi Chengzhi flung her hair to her back to expose her fair-skinned neck. He kissed there, keeping his lips on her as he made his way up to her ear. Then he whispered an order, “Give me your lips.”

Song Yu obliged and turned her face to him, letting him kiss them. He stopped only when she was gasping wildly.

“Qi Chengzhi….” she panted and called his name. Her entire body was limp as she huffed continuously, trembling at the same tempo as his movements.

Qi Chengzhi thrusted hard and said, “You naughty girl! I’m so much older than you, yet you’re always calling me by my full name!”

“Qi… Uncle Qi…” Song Yu’s face remained buried in his neck, and after she called him that, she climaxed.

Qi Chengzhi was completely at wit’s end with her. He slapped her bum and said, “When can you finally be a good girl? This isn’t incest you know, why are you calling me uncle for! Call me hubby!”

Calling him hubby was something she rarely did. She only did so when she felt particularly loving, playful, or when she truly felt touched by something he did.

She could not say it if she was just asked to do so. Her face was scalding hot due to the unbearable embarrassment that she felt.

“Are you going to call me hubby or not?” he urged her. He purposely began thrusting her unpredictably—sometimes slow, sometimes fast; sometimes gentle, sometimes rough.

Song Yu’s shoulders tensed up and she hugged him tightly. She remembered everything that Qi Chengyue said that afternoon. Every single condition had been met by Qi Chengzhi, even those that Qi Chengyue did not mention. He was practically the dream husband that every woman yearned to possess.

A surge of warmth appeared in Song Yu’s heart and with unrestrained emotions, she said softly, “Hubby…”

Qi Chengzhi chuckled softly. Those words made him even more vigorous—almost stud-like—and he heard Song Yu’s soft voice once more, “You’re the best hubby.”

His arms tightened their hold around her, binding her like thick pieces of rope.

“Chengzhi, I love you.”

Qi Chengzhi’s brain exploded. He pushed her onto the car door with all his might and kissed her forcibly. Then, with his lips still rubbing against hers, he whispered, “Sooner or later, you’ll be the death of me!”

Song Yu could not help but smile. It seemed as though she always gained the upper hand and won by accident.

…

…

In the end, although Song Yu did not need him to carry her out like the first time, she was still weak in the knees and had to lean against him. He helped her into the lift.

Once they entered the lift, Song Yu leaned against the wall. Qi Chengzhi squeezed in too, sandwiching her in between himself and the wall. He did not move at all, and because of that, she was able to stand firmly onto the ground.

Song Yu’s hands were placed flat on his chest. Her still-lustful eyes seemed annoyed at him, and it nearly melted Qi Chengzhi. His hands then clung to her, unable to move away from her skin.

“Qi Chengzhi, do you hate it?” After all those dirty deeds Qi Chengzhi did to her, she poked his chest a couple of times.

“I hate it.” Qi Chengzhi admitted immediately.

Song Yu, “…”

Song Yu had no comeback since he said it like that.

He leaned closer, brushed against her lips, and asked huskily, “Do you like it if I hate it?”

“…” Song Yu blushed, and after a long time, finally managed to spit out three words. “I hate it!”

Qi Chengzhi chuckled with amusement after seeing her distressed look. His voice was sexy and pleasing to the ears, just like the pizzicato of a violin’s thicker strings.

When he saw that the lift was nearly coming to a stop, he raised her up suddenly and kissed her when their faces were nearly level.

He placed her down only when the lift door opened. Song Yu eventually walked into the house with swollen lips and messy hair. Aunt Yang looked at her, then looked at the ceiling in embarrassment before walking away.

Song Yu, “…”

Qi Chengzhi remained as bold and confident as ever, without the slightest hint of guilt or shame.

…

…

The next day, Qi Chengyue went to Qi Chengzhi’s office.

Cheng Dongge was shocked. He and Qi Chengyue parted ways unhappily the day before. Thinking that Qi Chengyue was going to the company, Cheng Dongge wanted to apologize properly to her. However, Qi Chengyue went for her car instead, leaving Cheng Dongge in the dust.

He stood up as soon as he saw her. His mouth was agape and he was feeling quite embarrassed. After a while, he finally spoke, “Miss…”

To his surprise, Qi Chengyue shot him a fleeting glance before cutting him off coldly, “Is my Big Brother busy?”

Cheng Dongge swallowed back his earlier words and said, “Young Master Cheng isn’t busy.”

Qi Chengyue nodded, knocked on the door, and went in.

Qi Chengzhi stared at her indifferently.

He was always indifferent and cold, but at that moment, Qi Chengyue felt as though there was more weight on her shoulders.

Considering the preposterous things that she did in the past, she found it rather awkward to be facing Qi Chengzhi.

He kept quiet, giving Qi Chengyue no choice but to speak up voluntarily. She grabbed her skirt uneasily with her sweaty palms.

“Umm…Big Brother,” Qi Chengyue started speaking softly.

Still quiet, Qi Chengzhi waited for her to continue her words.

“I… Actually, I already know what kind of person Jian Yi is. I don’t want to waste my time on him anymore. That day at Grandpa’s place, my big brother told me everything. I believe him.” Qi Chengyue mustered all her courage and said, though her voice was still shaky.

“I went to look for Song Yu yesterday.” That sentence finally elicited a reaction from Qi Chengzhi—he frowned.

Qi Chengyue’s heart skipped a beat and she explained immediately, “Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t trying to cause trouble. I just…wanted her to tell me about what happened and what she knew about Jian Yi and Guan Xiaolin. After all, she and Guan Xiaolin used to be friends.

“You didn’t know that I went looking for her? She didn’t tell you?” Qi Chengyue had that sudden thought when she looked at Qi Chengzhi’s expression.

Qi Chengzhi, “…”

Qi Chengyue told Song Yu not to tell anyone, but she did not expect that Song Yu—perhaps in an attempt to prevent further complications—would also choose not to mention the fact that they met.

“My point is, she said the same thing as my big brother. She told me to act as if nothing’s happened and to let my big brother find evidence that can help me get a divorce. Even if Jian Yi disagrees, we can use legal avenues. But Jian Yi mustn’t find out anything, or else he’ll look for a way to cover up and mess up my big brother’s investigations.” Qi Chengyue then continued, “I’ve decided to follow their advice.”

She looked at him, but his expressionless self still remained quiet.

Qi Chengyue simply wanted to sigh. She was incredibly envious of how well Qi Chengzhi treated Song Yu, but at the same time, she looked up to Song Yu. Dealing with someone of Qi Chengzhi’s attitude was truly an uphill task.

The expression Qi Chengzhi had on as of right then piled up even more pressure on her.

Qi Chengyue’s tongue grazed across her lips and continued bravely, “I came here looking for you because I wanted to ask if the company has any business trips that I can go on? If I keep staying with Jian Yi, I might not be able to contain the hate that I feel toward him, and I’m scared I’ll expose the plan.”

Qi Chengzhi continued keeping quiet with no indication as to what his thoughts were. Qi Chengyue thought that there were no suitable assignments at the time, so she said, “I know it’s a bit sudden, and for me to suddenly ask for this kind of job…”

“I have a villa in T City but the keys are with Song Yu. I will get it from her tonight and pass it to you tomorrow. Stay in T City first. Take a break. I will inform Chenglin. We will proclaim that you are on a business trip. Everything will be fine as long as you return before Wei Minghao’s birthday and attend his birthday party. During this time, Chenglin should be able to do a thorough investigation into Jian Yi.”