Chapter 6

“Hmph.” Old Master Yue’s face grew colder. He glanced at his assistant, who immediately presented all the evidence.

“The woman behind the attempted killing is the one sharing your bed! That Lin Xianya!”

“Yue Feihong, you have disappointed me beyond measure. You couldn’t even uncover something like this. A woman has you wrapped around her little finger. You… fool!”

“The Yue family has no shortage of heirs. You can live off your trust fund.”

As though exhausted, he took his assistant’s arm and went upstairs.

Yue Feihong remained kneeling, stunned.

Madam Yue moved to help him up, but the darkness of his expression stopped her from coming closer.

He turned to her.

“Mother, I have to find Qi Ran.”

“Only by bringing her back will I have a chance to put things right.”

### 9

After I left Yue Feihong, my life entered a new phase.

I had enough money to live comfortably in any country. After a month of travel and rest, I decided to return to the dream I had held in college: becoming a folklore field researcher.

I began visiting old villages and working to breathe new life into them.

In my second month at Xishan, the village head told me someone had come to see me.

When I arrived, Yue Feihong was sitting in a chair, waiting.

Only three months had passed, but he looked as though he had aged three years.

Defeat hung over him.

The moment he saw me, his eyes lit up.

“Qi Ran!”

I took a step back.

“What do you want?”

He rushed toward me, his words tumbling over one another.

“Will you marry me again?”

“Grandfather is furious. He’s removed me from the list of heirs. I… I don’t know what to do…”

“All I have left is my trust fund. I’ve run out of options. Please, I’m begging you. Help me.”

“Don’t you love me more than anyone?”

When I said nothing, he beckoned toward the door. Yue Nianci came in, gripping the hem of his shirt.

He had lost a great deal of weight. His old liveliness was gone; he looked withdrawn.

Yue Feihong pushed him in front of me.

“Look, our son knows he was wrong now too. Come back, and the three of us can be a proper family again. Please?”

“I’ve sent Lin Xianya away. She’ll never appear in front of us again for the rest of her life!”

“Please. Come home with me.”

I cut him off coldly.

“I’m not going back with you.”

I stepped back, and the villagers immediately moved between us.

“Yue Feihong, I was the one who sent your grandfather the divorce certificate.”

“You know the situation better than I do. Whether I go back or not, it’s beyond saving.”

“I don’t know why the divorce cost you your place as an heir. But I can tell you that I’m very pleased with the outcome.”

“Please don’t come looking for me again.”

He stared at me in disbelief.

“Why… Why?”

Yue Nianci suddenly broke free of his hand and lunged toward me.

“Mom! Don’t leave me! Take me with you!”

“Dad isn’t good to me! He left me in the Maldives for a month. That horrible woman wouldn’t look after me either. I had nothing to eat. Neither of them cared…”

“He only came to get me yesterday… Mom, take me with you…”

I stepped back out of his reach.

Disbelief filled Yue Nianci’s eyes. His wailing stopped abruptly, and he stared at me in a daze.

“Mom…?”

I looked at him.

“I’m not your mother anymore.”

“You read the divorce agreement. Your father has custody.”

“I bought you an insurance policy. Don’t come looking for me again.”

Yue Nianci’s face slowly flushed red. He was about to cry again when Yue Feihong spoke.

“Qi Ran, are you going to make me drag you away?”

I looked at him and gave a cold laugh.

“Would you dare?”

“I sent Old Master Yue the divorce certificate. I’ve already taken the matter directly to him.”

“Whatever means you use to take me back, can you make sure I never get to say a word to him for the rest of my life?”

Yue Feihong suddenly slapped Yue Nianci across the face.

“So you don’t care about him either? He won’t have a good life without you!”

“I don’t care anymore.”

I turned and walked away, leaving only one sentence behind me.

“He’s your son. Not mine.”

My love for Yue Nianci had long since been worn away, one “Mrs. Qi” at a time.

Later that day, the village head told me Yue Feihong had sat in the village office for an entire day. In the end, though, he had left with Yue Nianci.

I gave it no further thought.

Two years later, at a banquet, I happened to meet Yue Feihong’s older cousin, Yue Hua.

He told me that after returning to Harbor City, Yue Nianci had been unable to accept the difference between his old life and his new one. He had started taking illegal drugs.

Eventually, he had smoked too much at once, damaging his brain. He never woke again.

And when Old Master Yue sent someone over, they found Yue Nianci hiding in a basement, covered in injuries.

He was little more than skin and bone, crying for his mother.