Chapter 100

Chapter 100

Qiao Shao felt it was quite magical. “Do you think I still subconsciously remember you?”

Because he met He Shen, bits and pieces of what happened at the Xie Family house began to come back to him. Even if he didn’t recognize him, the deepest part of his consciousness knew that he was that poor child who just wanted to give his mother a lily.

The feeling in He Shen’s heart was difficult to describe. He said, “Maybe.” Who would have thought that Qiao Shao had been helping him that far back.

Qiao Shao couldn’t get it out of his mind. He asked, “What’s happened with your mother?”

Having already gotten this far, there was no longer anything to hide. He Shen once thought he would never ever be able to tell anyone these things. But now, he can tell them to Qiao Shao. In this world, it was probably only Qiao Shao who sincerely wanted to know and so He Shen wanted to tell him everything.

He Shen said, “Come here.”

They sat on the wicker chairs. He Shen looked at the empty vase and slowly said, “My mother was an orphan. She was living in a dream and when she woke up she was trapped in this courtyard forever.”

He Shen’s mother, He Rui, was an abandoned as a baby. She grew up in an orphanage and her education was sponsored by the Xie family. She was extremely gifted. Ever since she started schooling, she always got first place. Later, she was able to enter the top school in the country.

Then she met Xie Chengyu.

Xie Chengyu was born elegant and unrestrained. He was also her “benefactor”. It was only all too simple to fall in love.

He Rui was hell-bent on loving Xie Chengyu, but Xie Chengyu only wanted her for her incomparable beauty and charm. By the time he had grown tired of her, He Rui was already pregnant.

Xie Yongyi had flown into a rage when he found out. He let out a flood of invective against Xie Chengyu. But this matter couldn’t be resolved so easily.

He Rui was a poor student funded by the Xie family. Xie Yongyi had been using her outstanding achievements to create a very positive image for the Xie clan. If it got out that Xie Chengyu had toyed with He Rui, his carefully crafted good image would collapse. What’s more, there might be some people with ulterior motives who would embellish this story and use it to steer public opinion against the Xie family and suppress their progress.

In order to preserve face, Xie Yongyi forced Xie Chengyu to marry He Rui. In this way, no one would be able to create gossip about the matter, they would only be able to marvel at this fairy-tale love story and envy He Rui.

But in fact, He Rui’s tragedy had just begun.

Soon after marriage, He Rui’s eyes were opened to Xie Chengyu’s licentious nature. Her love shattered and her life was ruined.

Her husband didn’t like her, Xie Yongyi didn’t acknowledge her, Xie Qing disdained to associate with her … Seeing their masters’ treatment of her, the servants decided on the dishes according to the guest and mocked and ridiculed her.

He Rui was a smart girl, but in this case, her nimble thoughts only caused her greater pain.

After she gave birth to Xie Shen, she suffered from severe postpartum depression and once wanted to commit suicide.

After the attempted suicide, the Xie family supervised her extremely closely and prevented her from ever being alone.

This was a double torment for He Rui. She stayed alone in this side courtyard waiting for absolutely no one. Day by day, year by year, she was like the flower plucked from the rhizome and she gradually wilted.

Her only solace was her child.

Xie Shen’s precociousness gave her comfort but also made her anxious.

She bitterly hated the Xie Family, but she couldn’t leave. She wanted her son to be able to break free from this hell, unlike her&#k2026;

He Shen paused because across from him, Qiao Shao’s eyes were rimmed in red, tears were pooling in his bright eyes.

He Shen forced himself to smile. “Don’t cry.”

Qiao Shao grasped his hand and said, “She loved you!”

He Shen raised his hand and brushed away the tears from his face. “En, she loved me.”

But it was this love that hounded her to death.

Xie Chengyu once said that Xie Shen was the one who killed his mother. In a sense, it was true.

Because Xie Shen was valued so highly by Xie Yongyi he became a tool that he cultivated, flaunted and capitalized on. He Rui’s mental state became worse and worse.

Xie Shen worked hard to incur his grandfather’s favor, all in an effort to better his mother’s living conditions.

He Rui was afraid of the Xie Family blood in his veins and felt that her son was moving further and further away.

She kept telling Xie Shen, “Mom will take you away.”

Xie Shen replied to her, “It’s alright, mom. Things will get better in the future.” This failed to appease He Rui and instead made her more afraid and more frightened.

When Xie Shen was twelve years old, He Rui couldn’t bear it any longer. She tried to escape from the Xie Family’s mansion, taking Xie Shen with her. This completely unplanned escape was stopped by the security guards and afterwards she was lectured by the maid serving her. “Madam, please stop this. The young master, is already working so hard for you, can you stop dragging him down! That little child studies so many boring things day and night. We all feel so sorry for him. He is doing all that for you. You’re already not helping him so can you please stop dragging him down!”

This remark became the last straw that broke He Rui.

She had been enduring for more than ten years, all for Xie Shen. She stubbornly believed that she could make him happy by taking him away.

But now someone told her that she was the cause of her son’s suffering.

This made her completely lose the will to live.

When He Shen recalled that scene, it was like the smell of blood still lingered on the tip of his nose. He slowly said, “I spent three days memorizing all the important things the Xie’s had planned that year. Only then did Xie Yongyi allow me to see her, but when I pushed open the door, she had already committed suicide by cutting her wrist. ”

Qiao Shao’s heart throbbed in terror and he suddenly stood up.

He Shen said faintly, “The last words she said to me were …”

Qiao Shao walked in front of him and gently hugged him.

He Shen’s voice trembled, “… I’m sorry.”

Qiao Shao felt like his insides had been stabbed over and over. He felt extremely distressed. He pushed down on the sobs that threatened to escape and said, “She wanted to protect you.”

He Shen couldn’t say a word. He always remembered and he would never be able to forget the scene from that day.

He witnessed the death of his mother. He searched like mad for the reason and in the end, he found that there had been no other way.

As Qiao Shao said, she wanted to protect him, but he also wanted to protect her.

Why didn’t she wait longer? Why didn’t she hang on? He would grow up soon, he would have his own strength and he would have immediately rescued her from her shackles.

But she was gone.

The only person who loved him left him forever in order to give him freedom.

“You have me now,” Qiao Shao’s voice was like a beam of dazzling light shooting up from the abyss. He said, “I’ll protect you. No one can bully you with me around!”

He Shen was dazed.

Qiao Shao’s voice was choked with sobs. “You’ll no longer be part of the Xie Family. In the future, my family will be your family. My granddad, my grandpa and my dad are all great and they will love you as much as they love me.”

He spoke intermittently, overcome with emotion and filled with sincerity. Each and every word was like a spring of warm water, little by little, washing away the scarlet in front of He Shen’s eyes giving way to an unprecedented clarity.

He Shen hugged his waist tightly and whispered. “En.”

Qiao Shao also hugged him tightly, warming him up.

They both lost their mothers, but Qiao Shao still has his family who love him while He Shen has nothing.

Fortunately, he met him and he will share everything he has with the other.

After slowly sorting out his emotions, He Shen asked Qiao Shao, “Do you want to go look around some other places?”

The snow-white little pavilion appeared in Qiao Shao’s mind. He said, “There’s a place I want to go to.”

He Shen stood up. “Do you remember the approximate location? I’ll take you there.”

Qiao Shao nodded. “It was a pavilion in the garden, a white one.”

He Shen knew where it was and said, “Let’s go, it’s not far from here.”

Qiao Shao took his hand and they walked away from the courtyard together.

He Shen didn’t look back. This was the first time he had walked away from here without hearing his mother’s sad “I’m sorry”.

They walked for at most three or four minutes, and Qiao Shao saw the little pavilion. Although it was night, the small pavilion was dazzlingly bright, illuminated by countless lights.

He Shen asked him, “Did you give your mom the flower here?”

Qiao Shao nodded. “Yes …”

As soon as he said these words, his memory flew out like a frightened butterfly flying off from the flowers. With shaking wings, a dreamlike illusion suddenly appeared.

He saw his mother sitting in the pavilion, saw her gentle smile, and heard her soft voice, “”A flower also has roots that would worry about it, like how I care and would worry about you and Da Qiao.”

Little Qiao Shao heard her but didn’t completely understand. He said, “He said he wanted to give it to his mother.”

Yang Yun was a little startled and asked, “He?”

Little Qiao Shao explained what he had heard.

Yang Yun took the pink lily and frowned slightly. “Which family’s child was he?”

Little Qiao Shao said, “He was called away by his grandpa.”

At that time, Qiao Shao didn’t understand that all grandpas in the world weren’t good like his grandpa.

Yang Yun accepted the lily and her lips curved. “So you brought me this flower?”

Little Qiao Shao was a little ashamed. “To make it up to him, I can lend mom to him for a day.”

Yang Yun smiled. “Really?”

Little Qiao Shao backed out of his promise. “Well, maybe just an hour”

Yang Yun ruffled his hair and said, “Stingy little thing.”

Little Qiao Shao tried to defend himself. “I meant what I said and I definitely didn’t take his flower for nothing!”

Yang Yun said, “You don’t even know what his name is.”

Little Qiao Shao said, “I can always see him again later. I’ll write about this in our heirloom diary when I go home. I definitely won’t forget it!”

The memory came to an abrupt end. Qiao Shao went pale and his body was shaking uncontrollably.

He Shen nervously called out to him. “Qiao Shao?”

Qiao Shao turned to look at him, his lips moved, and he spit out two words. “Heirloom Diary …”

He finally knew why he didn’t dare to go to the third floor, and he finally also knew why despite being terrified, he still persisted on trying to go up to the third floor.

Because in that place, lay a “key” that could open his memory.