chapter 15

After handling everything, I returned to South City.

I had promised Yanyan that I would take him with me once he had a long break.

Unexpectedly, one weekend, Qi Muyuan suddenly showed up with Yanyan.

“Mommy, I came to play with you.”

I patted his head and gave Qi Muyuan a slight nod.

“Where is she?”

The “she” went without saying.

Lin Yuan was playing cards.

A man with a buzz cut had opened a small tavern in our village.

Lin Yuan, who loved alcohol as much as life itself, was being well-fed by him; she got to taste new arrivals every day.

Occasionally, they even met up to play mahjong.

The man was a man of few words.

But he was very good at feeding her cards.

Lin Yuan was winning hand over fist, her sleeves rolled up as she practically climbed onto the table.

It was truly an eyesore.

I wondered how Qi Muyuan would feel when he saw her.

I pointed him in the right direction and took Yanyan’s hand to go pick oranges.

There were several children in the orange orchard, and Yanyan quickly joined them.

He was covered in sweat, his little face flushed red, a grin on his lips, and his eyes shining with incredible brightness.

I recorded a video and sent it to the Old Master.

A minute later, I received a transfer of 200,000 yuan.

Raising an eyebrow, I accepted it.

[Thank you, Chairman.]

That night, Yanyan slept with me.

In the new environment, he was still a bit scared.

Tucked into the covers, he suddenly said, “Daddy keeps calling for the wrong person.”

“Hmm?”

“He seems to forget that Mommy isn’t home. When he can’t find his clothes, he calls for Mommy. When he can’t find my sketchbook, he calls for Mommy. But every time after he says Mommy’s name, his face turns sour and he gets really angry. Mommy, does Daddy miss you?”

I patted Yanyan gently.

“No, he’s just not used to it.”

He wasn’t used to me suddenly being gone from his life.

And he was angry at himself for actually being unable to adapt to a life without me.

Once, Qi Sinian didn’t understand why so many people could share hardships but not prosperity.

But as his career grew and he possessed more and more-and wanted even more-he suddenly realized: everything from the past was a burden.

The past he couldn’t bear to look back on, his scarred background-they were all points of vulnerability.

The son of a murderer; his mother had an affair, yet he ended up with the daughter of the man she cheated with.

The strange looks from others always made him feel like he had thorns in his back.

Especially gratitude.

A debt of gratitude too great becomes a grudge.

When the kindness became so large that he couldn’t repay it, he began to loathe the existence of the person he owed.

Suffering-is it something that should be remembered, or forgotten?

Qi Sinian didn’t know.

He only wanted to ask: couldn’t he just move forward?

Couldn’t he cast off all his stains and possess more with a clean slate?

Why did he have to be constantly reminded of how lowly he once was?