Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The duo went upstairs and stood in front of the unit. Song Yu knocked on the door as she did not bring her house keys.
The door opened a moment later. Yu Qianying thought Song Yu came alone, but she was stunned to see Qi Chengzhi had tagged alongâher face darkened immediately and anger was boiling up inside her.
Song Yu was shocked and immediately knew that things would not be simple. âMomâ
âCome in first.â Yu Qianying peeked at Qi Chengzhi. She was trying her best to contain her rage but her expression showed a tinge of anger.
Qi Chengzhi took Yu Qianyingâs reaction calmly. Song Yu stared at Qi Chengzhi nervously as soon after Yu Qianying turned around. Song Yu could only think of one possibility that could make Yu Qianying exasperated enough to give Qi Chengzhi an angry stare.
Song Yuâs face turned ashen-grey. Qi Chengzhi grabbed her hand and comforted her. The two of them followed Yu Qianying to the living room and saw Song Donglin sitting on the couch with a cigarette between his fingers.
Song Donglin was smoking when the two of them walked into the living room. He lifted his head upon hearing footsteps. His eyes were red and bloodshot.
He stared at Qi Chengzhi with mixed feelings.
Song Yu suddenly became alert from the sight of Song Donglin smoking again even though he had stopped for a long time.
Yu Qianying stood still with clenched fists, her whole body tightened and was trembling.
She inhaled deeply and said to Qi Chengzhi, âI heard that youâre the one who prompted the Song familyâs bankruptcy.â
Song Yu suddenly felt dizzy. Her breathing became irregular and her eyes reddened. She started sobbing and grabbed Qi Chengzhiâs hand even tighter.
âMom...â Song Yu exclaimed.
Yu Qianying thought Song Yu was taken by surprise and could not believe this ridiculous statement, so she said coldly, âBe quiet. Qi Chengzhi, Iâm asking you if it is true or not.â
Qi Chengzhi squeezed Song Yuâs hand and his expression remained calm, but Song Yu could feel his hand trembling and his palm sweating.
âIf youâre a man then admit to your mistakes. We wonât blame you if you really didnât do it,â Yu Qianying groaned while grinding her teeth.
Qi Chengzhi remained silent for a while. He squeezed Song Yuâs hand before replying, âYes.â
âSlap!â
It was unexpected for Yu Qianying to suddenly slap Qi Chengzhi, which made Song Yuâs heart skip a beat. She noticed Qi Chengzhiâs head turned towards her with a bright red palm mark on his cheek.
Song Yu saw that Qi Chengzhiâs face remained expressionlessâas if he was ready for another beating. It made her heart wrench. âMom!â
Although Song Yu was shorter and thinner than Qi Chengzhi, she stood in front of him to protect him.
âWhat are you doing? Are you still trying to protect him? Song Yu, this is a fact! You saw him admit it. We didnât blame him so donât even try to say that there may be some misunderstanding. There is no misunderstanding here!â Yu Qianying said with reddened eyes.
Yu Qianying turned around abruptly and threw the documents on the table near Song Yu. âAll the evidence is here. He was the one who tore our company apart! He was the one who made our family suffer! He made you suffer and ridiculed for so many years! We couldâve lived happily if not because of him!â
Yu Qianying took a deep breath and sobbed. Tears started welling up in her eyes and she could not contain it anymoreâteardrops started streaming down her face.
âHe is an enemy of our family based on all his doings. I canât believe I married my own daughter to such monstrosity. I canât believe that I felt lucky when you found a man who gave you unconditional love and was willing to take care of you for the rest of his life. But who knew this would happen...â
Yu Qianying covered her face and sobbed. âWho knows if he will silently continue to harm us. Qi Chengzhi, how much hatred did you have for us to destroy our company and even marry my daughter. Do you feel guilty when you kept mentioning how much you love Song Yu while two of you were in a relationship? What were you thinking when you ruined our company and then courted Song Yu? If you loved her, you wouldnât have torn her family apart and made her life miserable.â
Qi Chengzhi remained silent and allowed Yu Qianying to pour her anger onto him.
âSay something! Give me a reason why you forced our family into this situation! Did our family offend you in any way? I couldnât believe that I had meals with the Qi family and was so blinded that I even thought that you were a good man,â Yu Qianying pointed at Qi Chengzhi with a trembling hand and exclaimed.
âMom...â Song Yu pleaded.
Yu Qianying was so exasperated that she did not notice Qi Chengzhi and Song Yu still holding hands despite the situation. She interrupted Song Yu and said, âDivorce!â
âMom!â Song Yu exclaimed.
âWhat are you waiting for if you donât want a divorce? Donât you see this terrible situation heâd put us in? Who knows why he wanted to marry you. Our family doesnât have anything else for him to harm us for. What else does he want? I canât accept... I canât accept the culprit who brought about our bankruptcy to be my son-in-law. I will recall every single hardship you and your father endured these past few years whenever I see Chengzhi. Song Yu, get a divorce now. Qi Chengzhi, why... why did you tear our family apart? Why did you hurt Song Yu? Did you feel complacent marrying Song Yu, who loved you with all her heart?â Yu Qianying bawled out, her veins popping out from her anger.
âMom, I know about what happened,â Song Yu said softly with moist eyes.
âWhat?â Yu Qianying narrowed her eyes. She guessed what Song Yu could possibly mean by that, but she was not sure and could not quite believe it.
âI already knew the truth of our familyâs bankruptcy but I chose to hide it from you because I feared that you may have acted this way. I already knew this before our marriage and thatâs why I took the initiative and got the marriage certificate. The fact is, he proposed for marriage and I took the marriage certificate. If you want to blame someone then blame me. I donât blame him and certainly donât hate him.â Song Yu sobbed. She felt Qi Chengzhi tightening his grip and responded by gripping harder.
Qi Chengzhiâs grip strength was strong and would normally cause some pain to Song Yu, but now the two of them did not feel the pain and instead, gripped each otherâs hand tighter as if to give each other energy for support.
Suddenly Song Yu was pulled to the back of Qi Chengzhi and a loud slap could be heard. Yu Qianying wanted to slap Song Yu but her slap landed on Qi Chengzhiâs chest when he protected Song Yu.
âYou knew he was the one who destroyed our family but you chose to marry him. Why? Song Yu, are you doing this because of his financial status? Do you think you can live happily with him forever? Why do you want to hide this from us? Do you still remember all the suffering we went through in those seven years? Have you forgotten that you had to work part-time during your studies and ended up so fatigued every day? You woke up at five oâclock in the morning and came back only at two oâclock in the middle of the night. You only slept for a total of three hours every day. Your dad too because he needed to drive the taxi, and I had to work as an hourly cleaner. Have you forgotten all of that?â Yu Qianying cried out because she felt betrayed by Song Yuâs response.
The daughter Yu Qianying trusted the most behaved this way.
âSo what Yu Keyao mentioned was true. You were tired of living a miserable life so you chose to ignore the fact that Qi Chengzhi made us suffer. You couldnât let go of the happy life in front of you and your current status, right?â Yu Qianying was so angry that she lost her cool and spoke without thinking.
âMom! Am I that kind of person in your mind?â Blood drained from Song Yuâs face and she stared at Yu Qianying in disbelief.
âQianying! Do you have any idea what you just said?â Song Donglin who remained silent for a while suddenly stood up. The cigarette which was almost burned out was still between his fingers.
Yu Qianying finally regained her senses and her lips quivered. Her gaze was empty and there was no eye contact between her and the two of them.
âMom, I love him. My love for him is so strong that I donât care what he did. I wouldnât blame or even hate him for what his actions. I know that he has loved me from way back and that was why I didnât blame him for everything that he did,â Song Yu cried, her eyes misty from the tears pooling up in her eyes which made her vision blurry.
âI know that we had a hard time acclimating to the new miserable life after our bankruptcy, but the life we had all those years were the same as what the commoners experienced. Didnât the commoners work hard to earn for their living too? How many could afford to register for a big company and earn fortunes? We suffered because of this huge social difference, but think logically, what kind of suffering did we have? We were not vagabonds. We had a house and we worked hard to earn for our living, and I even furthered my studies at university. Mom, the life we lived was exactly how the commoners lived. We were just unable to accept it because we never had that kind of life before. Before the bankruptcy, we could go on vacations and purchase branded goods but in the actual world where trillions of people lived, how many of them lived such a happy life? In my opinion, the life we had before the bankruptcy wasnât considered a normal life, that was how the wealthy lived.â
Song Yu continued. âTo be honest, I never felt remorse that our family faced bankruptcy, perhaps thatâs why my hatred wasnât this strong. You wanted me to engage with Qi Chengji at that time and I didnât even have the right to choose. You never asked for my opinions on whether I wanted to marry Chengji or not and you merely just agreed to the engagement. I said I didnât want it but you just brushed it aside, saying that I was too young to understand. True, I didnât need to work hard or worry about life, but I am a puppet too as I didnât have the right to choose. You wanted me to move a step forward and I couldnât even try to walk two steps. I didnât think my life was happy before, I just told myself that there are more unfortunate souls in the world who wasnât even able to afford a proper meal themselves, so I endured until now.â
âI admit, I was physically exhausted at the time of bankruptcy but I was happy deep down. At least I lived for myself, no matter good or bad, I could make choices for myself and be responsible for my doings. Chengzhi prompted our familyâs bankruptcy because if our family remained as before, then the engagement between Chengji and I would continue and I would be married to him. Chengzhi loved me too much and he couldnât bear the thought of me marrying another man.â Song Yu said.
Yu Qianying stared at Song Yu in disbelief and backed off a little. âDonât you feel terrifying that Chengzhi prompted our familyâs bankruptcy just because he had a crush on you?â
Song Yu said with a trembling voice, âYes, but what can I do since I loved him so much? I loved him so I wonât feel terrifying and it made my heart wrenched to see him waiting for me for so many years. In fact, my only regret was not loving him sooner and I thanked him for prompting our familyâs bankruptcy because it finally set me free.ân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
âPerhaps what I said would make you feel extremely disappointed. I had been thinking a lot after being in a relationship with Chengzhi, if you didnât insist on the engagement between me and Chengji, maybe none of these would have happened. The Song family wouldnât face bankruptcy and you wouldnât suffer. When I was in a relationship with Chengzhi, no one would abuse my previous engagement with Chengji and gave us any comment. Yu Keyao and Mu Sisi wouldnât consistently cause trouble for me because of our status differences. We would be living happily without so much annoyance,â Song Yu continued.
âSo youâre blaming us now, is it?â Yu Qianying looked at Song Yu as she never heard Song Yu mention any of these.
Song Yu answered, âNo, Iâm not blaming you, Iâm just saying that everything has its cause and effect. Our family faced bankruptcy because you insisted on my engagement with Qi Chengji, and after the bankruptcy, I was finally set free and didnât need to wait for a marriage that I donât desire and marry the man that I donât love. I even reunited with Chengzhi and saw the good in him.â
âTo be honest, if our family didnât face bankruptcy and I wasnât engaged to Qi Chengji, perhaps I wouldnât be able to see the good in Chengzhi. I would probably be in a relationship with Jian Yi and wouldnât even realize Jian Yiâs true identity and ended up cheated by him. In the end, the Song family would be destroyed in Jian Yiâs hands. Thatâs why it is difficult to decide whether the events that had happened are good or bad,â Song Yu gave a slight smile despite her cry, then she continued. âDad, Mom, I was being selfish for thinking only of my freedom and didnât think whether these were fair to you or not, but I didnât feel hatred. I donât ask that you can forgive him but I asked that you donât insist on a divorce.â
âYou-â Yu Qianying stared at Song Yu as if she did not live up to Yu Qianyingâs expectations and she wanted to slap Song Yu, but she could not do so as Song Yu was her own daughter. It was fortunate that Qi Chengzhi took the slap just now as Yu Qianying did it unconsciously because she was exasperated.
Yu Qianying immediately regretted right after she landed her slap.
âShe is pregnant now. We went to the hospital for a checkup and the baby was a boy. Then we went to the babyâs supply store and purchased his clothes and equipment, and you called her when we just left the store,â Qi Chengzhi said after letting Yu Qianying lashed out at him.
Yu Qianying fixated her gaze on Song Yuâs abdomen. She could not possibly force Song Yu to abort her pregnancy and divorce.
Song Yu rested her hand on her abdomen. âWhen you called me and I mentioned to you that I have good news to share, this was it.â
Now Yu Qianyingâs thoughts were conflicting and she was unable to describe her current feelings. Her gaze drifting from Song Yuâs abdomen to Song Yu and Qi Chengzhi.
After a while, Yu Qianying nodded slowly. âGood, you even conceived his child now. You were so in love with each other, it wasnât right to demand for a divorce.â
Song Yu stared at Yu Qianying with hope, then she heard Yu Qianying said, âIf you loved him so much then follow him back home and live a happy life, donât ever come back again. You didnât care and even forgave him when your home was destroyed and you were ridiculed, then go ahead and live a happy and prosperous life with him. I couldnât accept it. Whenever I saw him, all I could think of was that he tore apart the Song family, made your father suffered despite his advancing age, so I couldnât accept him. In fact, I couldnât even look at him in the eyes because all I could feel was hatred whenever I saw him. Just leave and never return, since your affection towards him is stronger than your parents. From now on, we are not your parents anymore! Since we forced you to do only as we wished and made your life gloomy, and as you mentioned just now, none of these would happen if we didnât demand for your engagement with Qi Chengji, right? So we brought all these on ourselves.â
âMom!â Song Yu burst into tears and wailed, her chest felt as if someone was squeezing it. âYou know I didnât mean that. Are you planning to disown your daughter?â
âI donât dare to do so since we, as parents are not as important as your man in your mind. Why do you even care about my thoughts?â Yu Qianying wiped the tears off her cheek.
âMom, please donât do this, I beg you. Chengzhi is a good man, why canât you acknowledge the fact that he is a really good man? He never did anything else that may harm us except for our familyâs bankruptcy. Isnât it more than enough when he really loves me, your own daughter, unconditionally and plan to take care for life? Didnât Dad also mention that he was satisfied with his current life and didnât feel remorse for the bankruptcy? Yes, Chengzhi is in the wrong that he prompted the Song familyâs bankruptcy, but all of us lived happily now, so why canât you forgive him? Mom, you want to disown your own daughter just because of this?â Song Yu reached out for Yu Qianyingâs hand but Yu Qianying shook her hand off.
âI only ask you this. Who do you choose between us and Qi Chengzhi?â Yu Qianying asked with a cold expression and red eyes.
âMom!â Song Yu was on the verge of collapse and cried out.
Song Yu never would have thought that Yu Qianying wanted her to make such a choice.
Then, Qi Chengzhi, who was shielding Song Yu just now, moved.
Song Yu stared at Qi Chengzhi who bent one of his legs down and slowly rested his knee on the ground, followed by the other knee. He kneeled down to Yu Qianying.
Song Yu covered her mouth in disbelief as Qi Chengzhi was a proud and stubborn man who bows down to absolutely no one in her mind.
Qi Chengzhi would always remain calm and steady to anyone. His expression never changed and he would never blink even to his grandparents in the Qi family, no matter how exasperated his grandparents were towards Qi Chengzhi.
However, Qi Chengzhi brought himself to his knees in front of Yu Qianying at this moment.
âI am sorry,â Qi Chengzhi said with a mellow voice, but his words were heart-wrenching to Song Yu.
Qi Chengzhi only mentioned these three words and remained silent.
Did he feel regret? He never felt regret and he would never do things which he may potentially regret, but he knew these were not meant to be spoken out to Yu Qianying.
Yu Qianying also did not expect that Qi Chengzhi would kneel to them because a proud and stubborn man like him would never act submissive to others. The elegant and smart young master of the Qi family would not simply apologize to others.
âSorry? What purpose does your apology serve? Your apology is easy for you to say but can it wipe off all the sufferings we endured? Can the Song family go back to its glorious moment? Can our company come back? Can the mockings and ridicules that we endured after bankruptcy disappear? Do you think your apology can wipe all these away as if they never appeared at all?â Yu Qianying said.
âI donât dare to accept your apology, you can leave now,â Yu Qianying said sarcastically while walking past Qi Chengzhi.