Rong Qian had never expected that, after so many years, Yan Qingyao had already married someone else — and yet Xu Zhiwei was still in love with her.

According to Xu Zhiwei, in this lifetime, he and Shen Chi were irreconcilable enemies.

All these years, Shen Chi had been working against him, making his life miserable. Though Xu Zhiwei considered himself a man who got along with others, he was no pushover to be trampled on.

He loved Yan Qingyao, and he knew that Yan Qingyao still deeply loved him.

Xu Zhiwei knew that Yan Qingyao’s life was far from easy — Shen Chi had been tormenting her constantly. He wanted to take her away from this sea of suffering, to bring her to another country, far from Shen Chi’s clutches.

So he needed Shen Yi’s help.

“I’ve already worked out a plan — foolproof, guaranteed.” Xu Zhiwei crouched on one knee before Shen Yi, gripping his shoulders with both hands. His gaze was sincere, even tinged with a hint of pleading. “Child, I believe you can’t bear to watch your mother suffer and wish for death. If you truly want what’s best for her, let her go.”

Rong Qian, standing nearby, frowned as she listened. She could understand his wish to take Yan Qingyao and flee far away. But what she couldn’t accept was that he was asking a child — a child — to make the decision to let his own mother run away with another man.

What kind of situation was this? It was absolutely outrageous.

Yet Rong Qian also knew that the entanglement between them couldn’t be defined by ordinary logic — nor could it be.

Rong Qian asked herself honestly: if she were Shen Yi, and her mother was being beaten by her father, and there was another option — one that could let her mother live well and find happiness — she would certainly agree.

And in the same way, once that choice was made, one had to be prepared to bear all the consequences. Including accepting that one would become a child without a mother.

Rong Qian couldn’t bear it. Asking him to make such a decision was too cruel.

Yet Shen Yi didn’t even pause to think before agreeing. “I’ll help you.”

“Really? Wonderful! You’re a good child. Your mother will surely be very grateful to you.” Xu Zhiwei was overjoyed, pulling him into a tight embrace.

Shen Yi’s expression remained blank. “Will she be happy, going with you?”

“She will — absolutely she will!” Xu Zhiwei promised.

Shen Yi hesitated for a moment before adding quietly: “Then… will she smile at me?”

“Hmm?” Xu Zhiwei paused, a little confused.

Rong Qian’s heart ached at those words. That woman, Yan Qingyao — she had given him not even a shred of love.

The banquet ended, and Shen Yi left with Shen Chi in the car.

As for Rong Qian — she came the same way she’d arrived, crawling back into the trunk and riding home that way.

On the way back, Shen Chi asked him: “Where did you go?”

“I went to play in the garden.” Shen Yi did not lie. They had, in fact, gone to the garden to talk.

Shen Chi stared into his eyes. “With who?”

Shen Yi’s gaze flickered for just a moment — and Shen Chi suddenly lunged forward, seizing him by the collar, his face twisted with fury, eyes boring into his. “Xu Zhiwei came looking for you, didn’t he?”

Shen Yi remained silent.

“Idiot!”

Shen Chi’s eyes blazed with rage. He slapped Shen Yi across the face and warned him: “If I ever find out you’ve had contact with him again, I’ll break your legs!”

With that, he released him and shoved him away. Throughout the whole ordeal, Shen Yi remained like a puppet — absorbing the blows and the abuse without any reaction whatsoever.

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He simply wiped it away with the back of his hand. As if he had long since grown used to it.

Rong Qian was hiding in one of the bodyguards’ vehicles. At this moment, she was idly cracking her knuckles out of boredom, calculating how much longer it would be before they reached home. The trunk was far too narrow; crammed in there like that, she was exhausted.

Going anywhere at all was simply too much of an ordeal for Rong Qian.

She waited in the car for a very long time — well into the dead of night — before she could finally emerge, clutching her sore lower back. With legs that had gone completely numb, her face contorted in misery, Rong Qian made her way back to Shen Yi’s room.

The room was dark, with no lights on. Rong Qian switched on the bedside lamp and saw that Shen Yi, unusually, was lying on his side with his back to her, already asleep.

Seeing that he was sleeping, Rong Qian didn’t wake him. She stretched, stifled a yawn, and retreated to the wardrobe.

To be safe, for as long as Shen Chi was around, she slept in the wardrobe every night. If she were ever discovered, she’d be finished.

Rong Qian slept until eight in the morning, woken by the sound of Shen Yi practicing piano. She rubbed her shoulder, bleary-eyed, and shuffled over to wish him a good morning.

“Morning.” Shen Yi kept his head down, focused on the keys.

Rong Qian tapped his shoulder. “Who plays piano hunched over like that? It looks terrible. Sit up straight!”

The moment she tapped him, he immediately sat upright. From the corner of her eye, Rong Qian happened to glance at his face — and her expression changed at once. She wanted a closer look, but Shen Yi turned away. Rong Qian, never one to be denied, grabbed his chin firmly and forced his face toward hers.

The sight of his swollen cheek made her grind her teeth in fury. “He hit you again!”

“It’s nothing.” Shen Yi lowered his head, his voice muffled and flat.

“Nothing? You’ve been beaten to this state and it’s nothing? Just wait — I’m going to make him pay for this!” Rong Qian was seething.

But Shen Yi panicked at her words. “What are you going to do?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m going to teach him a lesson for you —”

“No!”

Shen Yi cut her off sharply, his reaction almost violent — he practically shouted it. Rong Qian was startled. This was the first time she had ever heard him raise his voice like that.

Shen Yi gripped the hem of her clothes tightly. He tilted his face up to look at her, his eyes filled with deep fear and desperate pleading. “Don’t go. Please don’t go. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Okay, okay, I won’t go. Calm down first.” Rong Qian was shaken and quickly moved to soothe him.

Shen Yi was breathing hard. He seemed to realize he’d overreacted, and he pushed her away and stepped out to the doorway to get some air by himself.

Rong Qian couldn’t help but wonder — the reason his reaction was so extreme, was it because something similar had happened before? Had something gone badly wrong, leaving him with such a deep psychological wound?

The letter that Xu Zhiwei had entrusted to Shen Yi — Shen Yi brought it to Yan Qingyao while Shen Chi was away.

When Yan Qingyao saw the letter, she was overjoyed, as though she had seized hold of her last lifeline. The hands clutching the letter trembled. And it was the first time Yan Qingyao had ever embraced Shen Yi.

Shen Yi went completely rigid, not daring to move a muscle. Yan Qingyao held him and wept for joy, and she said a single word of thanks to him.

A stiff, formal word of gratitude. The tiny flicker of warmth that had just begun to rise in Shen Yi’s heart disappeared as quickly as it had come. The corners of his mouth slowly pressed into a flat line.

As Shen Yi was leaving her room, Yan Qingyao suddenly called after him. “Wait a moment!”

Shen Yi stopped walking. He thought to himself — she probably doesn’t even know his name.

“Is there a woman hidden in your room?” Yan Qingyao asked him.

Shen Yi answered with just two words: “There isn’t.”

And then, without looking back, he walked away.

When Shen Yi returned after delivering the letter, Rong Qian studied his expression and could see he was unhappy. She wisely said nothing.

In truth, Rong Qian had read the contents of that letter.

The evening after speaking with Xu Zhiwei, Rong Qian had appeared to leave together with Shen Yi — but not long after, she had slipped back to find Xu Zhiwei alone.

Xu Zhiwei was still sitting in the garden. Rong Qian went to him and they spoke privately for a while. As she was leaving, Xu Zhiwei asked her: “May I know your name?”

“Rong Qian.” She didn’t hide it.

He nodded and said: “Miss Rong, I won’t forget you.”

“Including everything you said to me tonight — I will remember it always. Until I am old. I won’t forget.”

Xu Zhiwei’s plan to help Yan Qingyao escape was to be carried out two days later. He had scouted ahead: on that day, Shen Chi would be leaving on a long trip and would not be back for some time.

On the morning of the plan, Rong Qian and Shen Yi were having breakfast when the door was suddenly pushed open without warning.

Rong Qian was so startled that a piece of bread lodged itself in her throat — she could neither swallow it down nor cough it up, and she pounded her own chest in misery.

Shen Yi looked up, and a rare expression of childlike delight spread across his face. “Steward Fu!”

Steward Fu? Rong Qian blinked, then it registered — and the look of delight that broke across her face was even more vivid than Shen Yi’s. She spun around and called out enthusiastically: “Steward Fu!”

The moment Fu Bozhong pushed open the door, he had already been thrown off by the sight of Shen Yi sitting at breakfast with a complete stranger. Then, before he could process that, both of them turned and looked at him as though he were a beloved family member — their faces shining with joy and excitement. Fu Bozhong felt even more bewildered.

Who on earth was this young woman? Did he know her?