Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Changxin hugged him. “Dad, I think I’ll leave it to you. If anything happens, I will provide for you. It’s no big deal.”
“It won’t be that bad.” Yan Lei laughed bitterly in the midst of feeling consoled. “Go upstairs and console your sister.”
“Mm.” Changxin nodded and walked towards Changqing’s room.
In her bedroom, Changqing was lying still on the bed like a wooden puppet.
The scent of a certain man seemed to still linger in this bed.
She lay there for a very long time until the sound of the door knocking came from outside before she suddenly realized she had been there for such a long time while not thinking about anything at all. Up until now, her mind was still blank.
“Changqing, do you want to eat something?” Changxin asked from outside.
Changqing didn’t move. She didn’t want to open the door and didn’t want to speak.
“Changqing, as long as we’re together as a family, everything will pass.” Changxin consoled her softly. “Don’t blame Song Chuyi too much either. There are some things he was right about. No matter what his father and brother are like, it’s true that he couldn’t have intervened. He had his difficulties too…”
Changqing covered her ears with a pillow and tears finally fell.
She didn’t want to listen. She didn’t want to hear anything.
She only knew that the person beside her, the person closest to her, had been lying to her.
She really couldn’t understand how heartless a person must’ve been to be able to lie beside her, pretending to not know anything while his family harmed the family members most important to her.
She was too useless. She actually liked such a person.
Now that she thought about it, everyone in the Song Family was very scary. They could simply make her shudder.
No matter how much Song Chuyi liked her, he had still caused her pain. She was already so frightened that she wouldn’t dare to get close to him anymore because getting close to him meant she would have to get close to his family members.
She curled up into a ball.
She didn’t know how long she was curled up for. Late into the night, she felt as though she was like a wandering soul, floating around in the bedroom.
He had left too many traces there. His clothes were still in the bathroom from his shower. His toothbrush, his towel, and the hairdryer he used were still there. Just last night, he even helped her do her skincare routine. Then he patted her face with his big palms gently and softly.
The books he read. He loved reading books. Whenever he wasn’t busy, he would spend the majority of his time either resting on the couch or sitting in bed, reading.
There was also the computer he used and the password he personally set.
She switched the computer on. Changqing typed in the password with slightly trembling fingers: scyxihuanqingbao
Looking at the string of letters, Changqing finally burst into tears.
Why must her marriage be filled with so many schemes and plots?
Didn’t he say that the life he wanted included going to the supermarket with her sometimes to shop for groceries, buying the spareribs she liked, buying the kiwis she liked and going on strolls together with Robben and Lolita?
She realized that the happiness she thought was right in front of them was actually very far away.
In the depths of the night, when Zhan Mingwei arrived at Li Shaobin’s villa, Song Chuyi was playing a video game. He was staring at the monitor without even blinking.
Li Shaobin looked at him as though he had seen his savior. “Old Zhan, come quickly—I’m about to be tortured to death by Chuchu. The moment he arrived, he began torturing me a million times like a lunatic.”
“He’s in a bad mood; just bear with him for a while.” Zhan Mingwei patted Li Shaobin’s shoulder. He reached his hand out to take the console from Song Chuyi’s hands. “Old Song, we can drink with you if you’re not feeling good. In any case, Li Shaobin has some fine wine here. Let’s open up that bottle worth a hundred thousand.”
“Hey, hey, hey, even if you’re in a bad mood, you can’t waste my alcohol like that,” Li Shaobin shouted as he felt the pain. “I couldn’t even bear to drink it after saving it for so long.”
Zhan Mingwei rolled his eyes at him. “Is Old Song more important or is your wine more important?”
Li Shaobin slapped his thigh. “God damn it. I’ll help you teach that old man in your house and Song Chulang a lesson, or I can teach Fu Yu a lesson. What a b*stard—why must he add fuel to the fire?”
“Stop it.” Song Chuyi had slight helplessness in his eyes. His voice was exceptionally low. “Won’t you just get a lashing from your family if you make trouble with them?”
“So be it. It would all be worth it for the sake of our Chuchu.” Li Shaobin looked at him with a grin.
“Why do I feel like puking?” Zhan Mingwei patted his chest.
Song Chuyi also felt like he had a little indigestion. “Stop trying to imitate Changqing. Don’t you find your behavior disgusting?”
“All’s well if you can still diss me. If you can diss me, it means Song Chuyi is back.” Li Shaobin laughed heartily.
Song Chuyi sighed. Suddenly, he felt that it was pretty alright to live like Li Shaobin, without a wife or a girlfriend.
“Old Song, are you really intending to leave the Song Family and Bo Han Hospital?” Zhan Mingwei asked to clarify.
“Mm.” Song Chuyi lowered his gaze.
“Well, it’s fine to not go back to a family like that.” Li Shaobin took a big bite of a pear. “Your family members are too crazy; they just love to use underhand means. I hate people like that he most, just like Xin Ziao. Despicable.”
Zhan Mingwei sighed. “Can you not always drag Xin Ziao into everything? It’s not easy for Xin Ziao either. He got so much hate from you all these years just because the woman you liked likes him and has to be scolded by you no matter the topic.”
“Come to mention it, Xin Ziao is about to get engaged,” Li Shaobin gossiped. “Their family even sent me and my mom an invitation. How shameless. My mom said that she would send a big gift over. I’ve decided to swap that gift out secretly with a durian. I’ll stink them up.”
“Stop talking about Xin Ziao. Let’s talk about Chuyi’s matters.” Zhan Mingwei really felt like stuffing that babbling mouth of Li Shaobin’s with some paper. He kept going off-topic.
Li Shaobin glanced at Song Chuyi, who had an icy cold expression, and suddenly felt quite apologetic. “Chuchu, you must’ve not eaten anything, right? Do you want me to get the nanny to make you some instant noodles?”
“Stop calling me Chuchu,” Song Chuyi said as his temples pulsed.
Zhan Mingwei criticized him. “Shaobin, stop calling him any way you like. That’s a nickname only his wife uses. Are you trying to agitate him?”
Li Shaobin blinked. “I thought if I called you Chuchu, you would think of someone then you would feel a little warmth inside.”
“Do you think I can feel any warmth right now?” Song Chuyi swept him an expressionless glance.
“Er… I’ll go make you some instant noodles.” Li Shaobin ran off quickly.
Zhan Mingwei shook his head as he laughed before saying seriously, “Now that things have gotten to this point, I feel it would be highly unlikely for the Yan Family to forgive you. What are your plans?”
“All I can do now is to make the Yan Family understand I’m not like my brother.” Song Chuyi turned his head and said, “Now that things have come to this, I’m not sure if the Yan Family would still go forward with the acquisition. If the acquisition fails, the two families would fall out and I’m afraid my brother might do even worse things.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry. Shaobin just has to say the word and the underground society in Northern City wouldn’t dare to do anything,” Zhan Mingwei said. “I’d also talk to Boss Feng at the broadcasting station so Song Chulang wouldn’t even be able to pick on Changqing at work.”
“That’s good.” Song Chuyi nodded.
In no time at all, Li Shaobin came running over with three bowls of instant noodles.
“Why did you make three bowls?” Zhan Mingwei asked with annoyance.
“I was making some for Chu… Old Song and the smell made me want to have some too but it wouldn’t be very nice if only the two of us ate and I didn’t make one for you, so I made another bowl. It’s okay if you don’t want it; I’ll have it.” Li Shaobin seemed to have thought of something and said to Song Chuyi quickly, “Don’t tell me about how unhealthy instant noodles are and how the oil packets are made of recycled oil.”
“You said it yourself.” Song Chuyi was speechless. However, he was really a little hungry now that he smelled it, so he didn’t reject it and started to pick up his chopsticks to eat slowly. “Right, I told you to help me search for suitable buyers to buy the Yan Corporation’s overstocked goods. How did it go?”
“I’ve started looking. I’ve already spread the news around and there were some people interested but the prices they offered were too low,” Li Shaobin spoke with his mouth full of instant noodles. “We didn’t really touch on the medical field, so we’re not very familiar with it. Give me some more time—I’ll definitely be able to find one for you.”
Song Chuyi patted his chest. “Thanks, bro.”
Li Shaobin almost teared up. “F*ck, Old Song, how many years has it been since you last said that to me?”
Zhan Mingwei choked on his instant noodles. “That’s some bromance there.”
“Scram.” Song Chuyi swept him a glance.
The atmosphere that night seemed to not be so heavy because of Song Chuyi’s friends.
The next day, when he was working at the hospital, Song Chuyi placed his resignation letter right on the hospital director’s table.
Director Yu got a fright. “Chuyi, it’s so early in the morning. Please don’t play such a prank on me.”
“I’ve already made my decision. Please try to rearrange my work to get someone to take my position. I’ll leave in three days.” Song Chuyi turned to leave after saying that.
The crown prince of the hospital wanted to resign. This gave Director Yu such a big scare that he called Song Huaisheng quickly.
Song Huaisheng was fuming. He called Song Chuyi but the latter didn’t pick up. In the end, he could only call Song Chulang. “Chuyi already submitted his resignation letter to the hospital and is bent on leaving. I don’t care what you do; you’ve got to make him stay. Outrageous.”
In Yan Corporation’s waiting room, Song Chulang was sitting in front of Yan Lei. “Alright, I’ll persuade him later.”
He placed his phone down gently. Yan Lei was exuding anger. “Let’s leave things like that—the acquisition won’t take place. I still have things to do, so you may take your leave, Mr. Song.”
Song Chulang watched his back with a dark gaze. He said with a lukewarm tone, “Uncle Yan, I suggest you sign this. The Song Family has invested hundreds of millions into this. If we requested to withdraw our investment, the Yan Corporation would face an even more difficult situation than you’re in right now.”
Yan Lei scoffed. “It was written clearly in black and white that the Song Family could only withdraw their investment when the contract is up, regardless of your wishes. You can’t just take it out as you like. If word got out, who would dare to work with the Song Family again?”
“With the current situation you’re in now, you might not even be able to come out with the money even when the contract is up.” Song Chulang’s thin lips curled into a mocking smile. “You’re already going to get married, so what’s the point of struggling here? What’s so bad about taking the money and using it for your retirement?”
Yan Lei’s heart thumped from anger. He must’ve been blind before to work with such a person.