Tang Baozhu invited the two to dinner. Huang Yun and Chu Yi both thought she had only invited them, but they didn't expect to see each other in the private room. Therefore, they were both stunned when they saw each other.
Tang Baozhu sat leisurely in the head seat. Although she was stunned for a moment after the two looked at each other, she quickly regained her composure.
"Baozhu, so you also invited Chu Yi. I thought it was just the two of us today." Huang Yun smiled and sat down next to Tang Baozhu, his attitude friendly.
Chu Yi, sitting on Tang Baozhu's other side, smiled and said, "I'm sorry, I've disturbed your time together... Should I leave now?"
Huang Yun pleaded, "No, you're Baozhu's best friend. I wouldn't dare kick you out, no matter who I ask. If I did, I'm afraid Baozhu would eat me alive!"
He added sourly, "Sometimes I'm even a little jealous of you. Baozhu treats you better sometimes than her fiancé."
Chu Yi took Tang Baozhu's arm and said with a grin, "What can I do? I'm Baozhu's best friend."
Their conversation sounded intimate but not affectionate. They never forgot Tang Baozhu, their fiancée/best friend. Listening, Tang Baozhu suddenly felt a pang of regret: she hadn't been fooled by them until now.
They acted so normally, so naturally, that she had never doubted their relationship.
She remained silent, and the two who had been chatting couldn't help but look at her, asking, "Baozhu..." "Why are you so quiet today?"
Tang Baozhu replied, "I had Miss Xu do my fortune telling today... Oh, you should know Miss Xu, right? She's a guest on the Hunan TV show '360 Trades,' a master fortune teller."
Huang Yun said, "Of course I know her. She's the one who exposed your sister... Lin Xu's affair."
Tang Baozhu nodded, "That's right, it's this master. She's very accurate at fortune telling, so I specifically asked her to tell me about my love life today..."
Huang Yun's heart tightened, and he couldn't help but ask, "What did she say?"
Tang Baozhu looked at him with amusement and said, "She said that I'm like my mother, with good fortune, but my love life is very bumpy, and the people I meet are all bad..."
Huang Yun's face tightened, and his scalp tingled. He looked at Tang Baozhu, unsure if she knew something, and could only say, "She's really talking nonsense. We've been together for so many years, don't you know me well?"
Tang Baozhu sighed, "It's precisely because I know you so well, and I know Chu Yi so well, that I've never doubted you two.
"
Her words struck the remaining two people present like a thunderbolt. Their eyes met briefly, then quickly looked away.
"...Baozhu, what are you saying? I... I don't understand what you're saying," Chu Yi stammered, trying to remain calm.
Tang Baozhu looked at them calmly and said, "More than saying this, I want to know why you betrayed me... One of you is my fiancé, and the other is my friend of many years, so even when I saw you being close, I never thought much of it."
"I've thought about it carefully, but no matter how I think about it, I don't feel like I've done anything wrong to you. So, can you clear up this doubt for me?"
She asked coldly, "Tell me, what is the reason you betrayed me?"
Huang Yun said with shame and indignation, "Baozhu, I've known you for twenty-five years. You'd rather believe a liar than believe me?"
Chu Yi opened her mouth, her face flustered, unsure of what to say.
Tang Baozhu lifted her eyelids, unmoved, and said, "I trusted you too much, that's why I never doubted you... Huang Yun, don't put on this act in front of me. As the saying goes, there are no secrets that don't leak. If you and Chu Yi really did something to betray me, do you think I wouldn't find out if I investigated carefully?"
Her words silenced them both.
Chu Yi was the first to break down, her voice trembling with tears, "Baozhu, I... I really didn't mean to... I've been wanting to tell you, but... but I don't know how to tell you. I'm even more afraid that if I tell you, you'll break off our friendship. You're my best friend, and I don't want to lose you."
Chu Yi's tears streamed down her face, making her look incredibly pitiful.
"Best friend?" Tang Baozhu scoffed, retorting sarcastically, "A best friend who slept in the same bed as her best friend's fiancé?"
Huang Yun couldn't hold back any longer, saying, "Do you have to put it so harshly?"
Tang Baozhu: "Since you have the nerve to do something like this, why are you afraid of what others say?" She scoffed.
"Baozhu, I'm sorry," Chu Yi
said, tears streaming down her face. Tang Baozhu asked coldly, "When did you two start?"
Chu Yi choked back sobs, "Well, it was two years ago, on your birthday. Huang Yun and I were both drunk that day. When we woke up, we found ourselves lying in the same bed..."
She grabbed Tang Baozhu's hand, urgently explaining, "Baozhu, believe me, I really didn't mean it! We were really drunk then, which is why we were so confused and that's why that accident happened."
Tang Baozhu scoffed, pulling her hand away from Chu Yi's, and said, "Leaving aside how two drunk people could be so confused, if that one time was an accident, what about after that?"
She stared at Chu Yi and whispered, "Don't tell me that every time after that was an accident?"
Chu Yi was speechless.
Huang Yun said awkwardly, "Baozhu, let me explain. What happened between me and Chu Yi was really just an accident. It was just a fling. The person I love most is still you!"
Hearing this, Chu Yi's expression fell. Tang Baozhu asked with amusement, "You mean, although your body betrayed me, your heart still belongs to me?"
Huang Yun probably realized that his words were a bit ridiculous, and his expression was a little awkward, but he still nodded shamelessly.
"Forget it." Tang Baozhu rolled her eyes and said, "I called you here to find out why you betrayed me. I thought it might be because you two were in love and couldn't help yourselves... But now it seems I overestimated you."
"Did you think that by telling me your affair was an accident, I would forgive you and not pursue the matter further?"
"No."
She shook her head, her face showing disappointment. "You saying it was an accident only makes me think you are even more despicable and wretched than I imagined. What makes humans human is their reason and ability to control themselves. But you were driven by desire, leading to this accident. What difference is there between you and animals?"
Her words were undeniably harsh, and Huang Yun's face flushed red.
"Tang Baozhu, you've gone too far!" he said angrily.
Tang Baozhu had already stood up. She looked down at Huang Yun, who was still sitting in the chair, and said, "Huang Yun, since you've done such a beastly thing, don't be afraid of what others say..."
"Oh, right, my grandfather has already informed your parents that our engagement is canceled."
She chuckled, "Huang Yun, instead of getting angry with me, why don't you think about how to deal with your illegitimate children's brothers and sisters? There are many people eyeing your position as the successor of the Huang family."
It's important to understand that the Huang family and the Tang family are quite different. In the Tang family, Tang Baozhu, as the only daughter, is a foregone conclusion as the successor. But the Huang family is different.
Huang's father was a womanizer in his youth. After marriage, although he was relatively well-behaved for a while, he soon reverted to his old ways, having affairs with many women and fathering several illegitimate children for Huang Yun. As these illegitimate children grew up, they inevitably developed other ambitions and began to vie for power with Huang Yun.
Fortunately, Huang Yun himself was capable, and with the strong backing of the Tang family marriage, those illegitimate children didn't pose a significant threat.
But if his marriage to Tang Baozhu fell through… Huang Yun's expression changed.
Tang Baozhu, seeing his expression, scoffed, suddenly feeling somewhat disillusioned. She wondered what she had seen in Huang Yun before?
So, it was indeed youthful naiveté, being captivated by his handsome appearance? —Like his father, Huang Yun possessed striking good looks with captivating eyes. Even in his ruthlessness, he was
undeniably charming, elegant, and humorously endearing. Tang Baozhu reluctantly admitted that in her youth, she had likely been infatuated with his appearance.
Fortunately, it wasn't too late for her to realize this.
…
Tang Baozhu left, leaving behind a somber-faced Huang Yun and a sorrowful, hesitant Chu Yi.
After Tang Baozhu left, Chu Yi looked at Huang Yun in a panic and said, "Huang Yun, what should we do? Baozhu knows about us now, what should we do?"
Huang Yun's face was gloomy, but he didn't pay attention to what she said at all. Chu Yi cried, "I told you long ago that we can't continue like this, but you said Baozhu wouldn't know about this... It's all my fault, I shouldn't have liked you, and that night, I shouldn't have been unable to control myself."
She blamed herself, "I'm sorry to Baozhu, I shouldn't have betrayed her. She's right, we're not even as good as animals..."
As she was crying bitterly, Huang Yun's phone suddenly rang in his pocket. Huang Yun came back to his senses, took out his phone, and when he saw the caller ID, his expression changed, as if he had some kind of premonition. He frowned and answered the phone.
Then, after the person on the other end of the line said something, he suddenly stood up from the stool, his expression gloomy and terrifying.
"Dad, let me explain. Baozhu and I just had a small argument. She's angry right now. I'll explain to her later..." He spoke softly into the phone, but the person on the other end didn't seem to believe him.
"Huang Yun, if the Tang family really wants to annul the engagement, then you don't need to come back. I'll pretend I don't have a son like you!"
"Hello, Dad? Dad!!"
Hearing the busy tone on the phone, Huang Yun was so angry he almost smashed it. He grabbed the phone and quickly dialed his father back, but all he heard was a busy signal.
Huang Yun cursed and walked out with a grim face.
"Huang Yun, Huang Yun..." Chu Yi followed him for a few steps, then grabbed his hand and looked up at him, asking, "Huang Yun, where are you going?"
Huang Yun was forced to stop by her, turning to look at her with an impatient expression.
"Chu Yi, I'm busy right now and don't have time to talk to you… Actually, I think it's best if we don't contact each other for now. Don't worry, I won't let you suffer for what happened before. You've been with me for two years, so how about five million?" he asked.
Upon hearing this, Chu Yi's eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at him and questioned, "Huang Yun, what do you take me for? Do you think I'm with you for your money?"
She cried, her expression wounded, "…If I didn't like you, why would I betray Baozhu and be entangled with you for so long? Baozhu is my best friend! I've even abandoned our friendship for you. Saying these things is an insult to me, an insult to my feelings for you!"
Huang Yun had no patience to listen to her. Thinking of what his father had just said on the phone, he felt a burning urgency and didn't want to stay there for another second.
"...If you think five million isn't enough, you can contact my secretary to discuss it further, but I have to leave now!" With that, he ruthlessly pulled away from Chu Yi's hand, turned, and left without a backward glance.
Chu Yi stared blankly at her empty hand. She looked up, a smile more painful than tears on her face, a sudden sense of bewilderment washing over her.
A question involuntarily surfaced in her mind: Was it worth betraying her best friend for such a man?
But this question only lasted a moment. The next second, she told herself with certainty: It was worth it! This was someone she had liked for years; everything she had given for him was worth it.
—For Chu Yi, it all had to be worth it. She had already lost her friend for this inappropriate relationship; if she started to doubt it, she would only appear ridiculous.
Therefore, the answer to this question for her was only one: It was worth it.
It absolutely was worth it, and it had to be worth it.
Chu Yi wiped away her tears, looked down at her lower abdomen, a glint of something dark flashing in her eyes.
"…Baby, only you can help me."
*
Xu Gui's morning live stream ended with viewers in the chat room marveling at the "grudges and feuds of the rich."
After the live stream, she fed a few jellyfish and went downstairs to the restaurant for lunch. However, halfway through her lunch, she learned from the cameraman the good news: "Teacher Xu, you're ranked sixth!"
Upon hearing this, Xu Gui couldn't help but beam with pride and said, "I told you, I was sure I could pass the elimination rounds and advance smoothly, right?"
The cameraman couldn't help but give her a thumbs up, while Yuan Lu was overjoyed, saying, "Teacher Xu, you're really amazing."
Xu Gui said, "It's all thanks to Miss Tang… that three million was just too much."
As they were talking, her phone on the table beeped, indicating a message had arrived. Xu Gui glanced at it and immediately said, "I have to go back to the orphanage at noon." The person
following her instinctively asked, "Teacher Xu, is there something wrong at the orphanage?"
Xu Gui replied, "Nothing much, it's just that Wang Xingxing's grandmother is here."
...
Wang Xingxing's grandmother came accompanied by her nephew. The old lady was seventy-eight years old this year, quite old, with all her hair white, but neatly combed and carefully secured with hair clips.
She wore a loose-fitting jacket and trousers, and cloth shoes, her whole appearance clean and simple.
When Xu Gui arrived, she was talking to Wang Xingxing, her wrinkled hands holding Wang Xingxing's hand, her expression sad and distressed.
Xu Gui asked the director when the old lady had arrived, and the director said she had been there for a while.
"They took the midnight train and arrived in City A in the morning. They came straight to our orphanage as soon as they got off the train."
"Oh."
Xu Gui waited for a while before walking over and greeting the old woman, saying, "Grandma Xingxing, my name is Xu Gui. We talked on the phone before."
Grandma Xingxing suddenly realized, "…Ah, you are that Miss Xu."
She grasped Xu Gui's hand, her expression a mixture of gratitude and sorrow, saying, "Miss Xu, I've heard everything from Xingxing. Thank you so much, thank you for saving my Xingxing."
Xu Gui glanced at Wang Xingxing and said, "It's nothing, it was just a coincidence. It's just that Wang Xingxing deserved to live."
Xingxing's grandmother was grateful.
The two sat down to chat, and the old woman sighed, "...Our family isn't well-off. My wife finally married into A City, but people there look down on us. She was afraid her in-laws would mind, so she rarely came back after the wedding."
It's ironic, really. There's an old saying that a married daughter is like water spilled from a cup; her daughter, after getting married, truly lived up to that saying and rarely came back.
"...When Xingxing was five or six years old, she would occasionally bring the child back for a visit, staying for a day or two. But later, I don't know if there were any objections on their side, she simply stopped coming back. I thought, if she won't come, then I can come to see her. But after I came a few times, her mother-in-law looked down on me, so I stopped coming so often."
The old lady also had her pride. Since the people on this side looked down on her, she stopped coming,
treating the relationship as if it didn't exist. She just didn't expect her daughter to be so heartless. She didn't come, and her daughter didn't take the child back either. The only contact between the two sides was by phone. Now, counting, it had been three years since they last met.
Sometimes the old lady even wondered if she really had a daughter. This daughter was only slightly better than a stranger.
Speaking of her grandson, Wang Lingxing, the old lady sighed even more.
"…I told you before that they put too much pressure on Xingxing. When he was only two or three years old, they were already forcing him to learn to read and write."
"I advised them that they didn't need to be so harsh on the child, but they wouldn't listen. They always said I didn't understand education… But what is education? It's the kind of education where if a child's grades drop below first place, they call him a good-for-nothing."
Xingxing's grandmother's tone was indignant, yet tinged with heartache for her child.
Tears welled in her eyes as she said, "Tell me, how can a child not get sick with this kind of education?" Even she, an observer, felt the Wang family's education was suffocating.
As a grandmother, she naturally loved her grandson, but the word "grandmother" meant she couldn't comment too much on the child's education—mainly because her daughter, the child's mother, didn't listen to her, so what could she do?
She had spoken up several times, but the Wang family wouldn't listen, and Grandma Wang even treated her sarcastically. Eventually, Xingxing's grandmother stopped speaking.
She just never expected her grandson to develop such an illness.
Schizophrenia.
In the two days since Xu Gui came to visit, the old lady had been researching the illness online on her phone. The more she researched, the colder and sadder she felt. So, even though Xu Gui told her to take her time, she rushed over anyway.
Grandma Xingxing was also filled with regret: "...I knew their family's parenting methods were wrong, so I should have come to see the child more often. Maybe, maybe Xingxing wouldn't be like this." Xu
Gui replied, "If you had intervened back then, you would only have faced more disdain, and it wouldn't have helped Wang Xingxing much."
If that had happened, two people might have been hurt. After all, gentle and soft-hearted people are easily hurt.
"However, it's not too late now," Xu Gui said, her tone helpless. "I just hope you won't be like the Wang family, disgusted by Wang Xingxing's illness."
Grandma Xingxing said emotionally, "How could I possibly disgust Xingxing with his illness? He's my own grandson!"
Her own grandson? Even her own son was disgusted by others' complaints about his illness.
Xu Gui thought to herself: People are truly worlds apart. Family members under one roof despise and resent Wang Lingxing, fearing he'll ruin their family's reputation; while relatives thousands of miles away, out of concern, have traveled a great distance to come, showing no disgust, only care.
"It's precisely because I know you truly love Xingxing that I called you here. Now, only you can help him," Xu Gui said.
Wang Xingxing's illness requires a relaxed and joyful environment, but that's something the Wang family can't provide. Currently, only his maternal grandmother can accept and tolerate him, and patiently accompany him during his treatment.
Sure enough, upon hearing Xu Gui's words, Xingxing's grandmother nodded without hesitation, saying, "Of course I'll take him back! I came here to take him back!"
She said bitterly, "The Wang family doesn't want this child, but our Liu family does! I wish Xingxing could live with me every day, keeping me company."
So what if the child is sick? If he's sick, then treat him! What's the big deal? As long as her child was happy, she wouldn't mind even if he lived like this his whole life.
Thinking this, Grandma Xingxing took Wang Lingxing's hand again and smiled, "Grandma grows lots of fruit trees. When Xingxing comes over, he can eat delicious fruit... Xingxing, you loved the fruit Grandma grew when you were little, do you remember?"
Wang Lingxing looked at the hands covering his own. These hands were old and rough, the thick calluses on his fingers stinging his skin, but along with the stinging was a deep, intense warmth.
Wang Lingxing's eyes suddenly curved into a smile.
"I remember..." he smiled, saying, "Grandma's fruit was especially crisp and sweet; it was my favorite fruit."
The old lady smiled and said, "Grandma also grew peaches and watermelons. We can eat them when we go back."
Just as the two were sharing a tender, warm moment, the headmaster suddenly arrived.
The headmaster glanced at Wang Lingxing, then looked at Xu Gui, and said, "Wang Lingxing, his mother is here..."
Whoa!
Wang Lingxing's grandmother suddenly stood up, her face ashen.
The short, extremely thin old woman walked briskly towards the door.