Chapter 57

  Yuan Zhi came back and saw her wound, threw the briefcase aside, pulled her over and examined her carefully up and down, "How did this happen?"

  It's broken.

  "How did you manage to fall like this? How did you fall?"

  "When I was walking, I slipped and fell." He Sheng withdrew his hand and smiled, "It's okay, I've applied medicine to it."

  Yuan Zhi furrowed his brow, "Be more careful from now on."

  "I know."

  But this matter can't be hidden for long. The next day, before dawn, Qian Zhao Di came again. She was a person who kept her promises, and after careful consideration, she found that there was only one thing she could take from him.

  The yelling content was repetitive, Yuan Zhi was woken up and scolded with a sour face in the house for a few times. After hearing her yelling clearly, his face sank again, and the soft facial lines were cold and hard.

  Sat on the bed and listened carefully for a while, then got up and ran directly to He Sheng's room, twisted the doorknob, and found it was locked.

  He didn't knock in unison, using force to knock again, "He Song, open the door for me."

  After waiting for a while without any response, he kicked it with one foot and roared: "Do you believe I can smash the door?"

  The door opened quickly, and He Song's face had turned white, with only his eyes still shining black, as if they were about to suck people in.

  Yuan Zhi took a deep breath and said in a low voice: "Why didn't you tell me?"

  He Sheng lowered his eyelids and said, "You've been so busy lately, you didn't mention it."

  He pointed at He Song's scabbed elbow, "Was it also her doing? Is this person your mother?"

  He Sheng nodded after a pause, "Mm."

  "Is she going to take you away?"

  "Uh-huh."

  Yuan Zhi suddenly lost control and roared: "You're hiding it from me, aren't you? Was she scolded a few more times before quietly leaving?"

  He Sheng suddenly lifted his head, and what entered his eyes was Yuan Zhi's distressed yet beautiful eyes with a hint of moisture. She said softly but firmly: "I'm not leaving."

  It was still early, but He Sheng was already dressed and seemed to have been up for a long time. This almost ready-to-leave appearance made Yuan Zhi feel flustered.

  He stared at He Song for a while, then suddenly stepped forward and hugged him tightly. "I won't let you go either."

  He Xiang was held by him and couldn't breathe a little, but he didn't struggle at all. He lightly wrapped his arms around his waist and said, "Mm, we agreed."

  They won't leave each other.

  Yuan Zhi directly splashed a basin of cold water on Qian Zhao's face, looking at her with disdain and arrogance. "Want to take away He Shuang? You're also worthy? Have you raised her? Taken care of her? You just treated her as a servant!"

  The child he treasured like a precious gem has been enslaved by these people for so many years, and now they still have the nerve to come and pick him up, what kind of thing is this!

  Qian Zhao Di came alone this time, she wiped her face, and still wanted to say a few more words, but looking at Yuan Zhi's face that was both beautiful and evil due to anger, she didn't dare say another word, and finally left in dejection.

  Yuan Zhi also stopped going to work obediently, he started calculating the existing funds and thinking about the direction of his future life. He was preparing to leave with He Sheng, they were not children who didn't understand anything, as long as they had four limbs, they could survive anywhere.

  From birth until now, having gone through so much, I'm not someone who can't bear hardship. There's no reason to continue staying in a place where I'm coerced by others and can't even get a good night's sleep.

  At night, after He Sheng finished bathing and came out, he called her into the room to help her wipe her wet hair, saying: "He Sheng, do you trust me?"

  He Shuang nodded his head slightly with his movements, "Believe it!"

  "The day after tomorrow we will leave."

  He Sheng turned his head and looked at him in confusion, the soft yellow glow of the bedside lamp made Yuan Zhi's face look even more gentle and handsome. "Where to?"

  "Let's go to another city, just the two of us." He turned He Shuang's head back and continued wiping, "We'll never come back again. It might be a bit tough at first, but we can make it through somehow."

  The temperature in the room was very low, cool enough to make people's skin crawl, He Song imagined such a scene and didn't speak for a long time.

  The only sound inside the house was the air conditioner blowing air.

  The prolonged silence caused Yuan Zhi's movements to slow down, and his heart sank along with it. He struggled to speak up: "You...don't want to?"

  He Sheng was only eighteen years old, and he didn't usually run around randomly. He rarely even went to the city. If you were to pick him up and throw him into the city center, he might get lost. It's actually... normal to be afraid.

  Thinking of comforting himself, He Song hastily shook his head with his back to him, "I'm just too excited." Then he turned around and rarely took the initiative to pounce into Yuan Zhi's arms, excitedly saying: "Where are we going? I've never been outside before."

  Yes, several planned trips were delayed due to various factors.

  Yuan Zhi let out a sigh of relief and lifted her up, letting her sit on his lap. He smiled and asked, "Where do you want to go?"

  He Sheng's eyes sparkled, "Where there is a sea, you can pick up seashells."

  "Alright, then let's go stay by the sea for a few years."

  "Picked up crabs can still be sold."

  "That won't sell for much money!"

  That night they yearned for a carefree and beautiful life that was not far away, almost drowning in it, but sometimes the cruelty of reality is beyond human prediction.

  Yuan Chongyang brought an old man with him when they were about to take action. The old man was frail and walked with difficulty.

  The living room was filled with many people. Yuan Chongyang's eyes scanned over the luggage piled on the floor, and he smiled calmly without any surprise.

  Yuan Zhi stood guard and stared at them, with He Sheng tightly protected behind him. "What's going on?"

  "No." Yuan Chongyang said slowly and calmly, "It's just that someone thought He Shuang was thinking of him too much, so they brought him to see him."

  He stepped aside and let the hunchbacked old man hobble forward a few difficult steps with his cane.

  He was wearing a faded and worn-out sweater, looking very stiff, not daring to move his eyes freely. After a while, his dull eyes moved, finally fixing on He Song, with an expression of momentary shock, followed by obvious excitement, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, "He Song, aren't you going to see your grandfather?"

  The old man's voice was hoarse and low, as if squeezed out from his throat.

  Everyone's eyes were focused on the old man who seemed like he would fall over with just a gentle breeze, and in the next second, He Song walked out slowly under Yuan Zhi's astonished gaze, walking to He Yong's side, with tears in his eyes and his mouth trembling, "Grandpa!"

  "Ah, all right!" He Yong nodded straight away, his dark face deepened in color due to the turmoil of emotions, and his crutch hand trembled non-stop.

  He couldn't help but keep looking up at the child in front of him, whom he had personally taken care of for over a decade, but quickly looked down again. Although his expression was one of relief and satisfaction, it was mixed with a contradictory sense of evasion. He stood there quietly, allowing the other person to continue sizing him up.

  After a while, when the other person's emotions had calmed down a bit, she said softly: "Grandpa... are you here to tell me to leave too?"

  He Yong was stunned for a moment, and then his original relieved expression shattered at a visible speed, his back arched a few more degrees, and he suddenly slumped down.

  He didn't dare to look into He Shuang's clear eyes, and trembled with a low voice: "Wan Yue has encountered an accident, Ah Jun was also taken away by the police station for no reason, and the grain grown at home was ruined in the middle of the night. Grandpa knows it's not your fault and has nothing to do with you. If it were just me who suffered, I wouldn't come to force you."

  The old man wiped his face, "He Sheng, you help Grandpa again, Grandpa knows that this life is not worthy of you, and in the next life, I will repay you by being a cow or a horse. Will you? Just help Grandpa again, Grandpa begs of you!"

  His hand was tightly clasped in his, the rough palm lightly rubbing against the back of her hand, bringing a slight tightening sensation. She lowered her head to look at the gap between their hands and said softly and slowly, "But I'm one you picked up."

  Many things, no matter how well hidden, always have a weak point. He Shuang was picked up by the He family, and she had heard people mention this when she was very young, but at first didn't believe it, until Qian Zhaodi mentioned it.

  In the dimly lit old house, Qian Zhaodi complained to He Sanzhuang, "We can't even raise our own family members, but we have to raise someone who isn't our own flesh and blood. In a few years, let's think of a way to get rid of He Sheng, either by selling her off as a wife to some widower, I reckon we can at least get back the capital."

  It was a late afternoon, and He Sheng later squatted in the pigpen with a pale face until midnight before returning to the house.

  They have no blood relation, she was not only abandoned by her parents but also a child discarded by the world, sometimes mistakenly thinking that even survival is a luxury.

  He Yong's eyes were filled with shock, time seemed to be frozen in this moment, even his breathing and heartbeat were cold. After a while, he shook off her hands, took a step back, and his body began to tremble.

  "I'm sorry!" He squeezed out the words, then slowly knelt down under the gaze of onlookers around him, his upper body tightly pressed against the ground. His voice was muffled as if covered with a thin veil, "Child, help me!"

  Yan Bai Mei was about to go and help when Yuan Chong Yang lightly raised his hand and stopped her.

  He Shuang remembered that when she was a child, He Yong secretly gave her roasted sweet potatoes several times when she was hungry. In order to let her eat some meat, he went fishing in the cold winter and got a high fever. One night, he hugged her and said, "We're fine, He Shuang! We'll be okay tomorrow!"

  Many things that couldn't be remembered suddenly became clear at this moment, he was the only one who treated her well in that old and backward mountain village, although he abandoned her in the end, but it couldn't erase the warmth he had given.

  He Shuang looked at the old man's gray figure and finally shed tears. She quickly knelt down in front of He Yong, her white hands tightly grasping his, trying to help him up. However, no matter how hard she tried, the old man, who seemed as fragile as a candle in the wind, didn't budge. He Shuang gasped for breath, her mouth moving, but she couldn't say a word. The camera seemed to pull back, and everything started to blur, leaving only the figure of a boy not far behind her. She knew, Yuan Zhi was there, Yuan Zhi had always been watching her.

  He Qiong choked back a sob, finally letting go of the old man's hand, and instead propped up his own thigh, burying his head low, his breathing becoming rapid due to crying, his voice uneven and nasal as he called out: "Grandpa!" But the words that followed were unknown how to say.

  The only sound left in the room was He Sheng's suppressed sobbing, the girl's trembling back seemed to be hiding a great pain, and Yuan Zhi, who was stabbed, could hardly open his eyes.

  He turned his head, took a deep breath and walked over with stiff legs, squatting behind He Song, reaching out from behind to hold her tightly, and tremblingly said: "Okay, let's go, it's okay, don't be sad."

  After finishing speaking, he lowered his head and rubbed his face against her shoulder, and when he lifted his head again, his eyes were already red.

  He knew who He Yongwei was and what his existence meant to He Shuang. He had heard He Shuang talk about how good her grandfather in the mountains was to her, and this child didn't have much else, but she especially remembered others' kindness and couldn't bear to owe them anything. He couldn't let He Shuang become an ungrateful person who went against her principles because of his own selfish desires.

  He Sheng's whole body shook, as if the clogged object in the faucet was cleared away, and he burst into tears with a "Woo" sound. He raised his hand to wipe away his tears with the back of his hand, not daring to turn his head to look at Yuan Zhi.

  "Mumbled and cried: 'Sorry!'"

  Yuan Zhi's heart ached, "It's okay, it's okay. We can just make more phone calls in the future, no need to be sad!"

  Yuan Chongyang nodded slightly towards Yan Bai, who had a difficult expression on his face. Yan Bai understood and quickly went forward to help He Yongwei, who seemed to have lost half of his life, out the door.

  Yuan Chongyang walked up to the two children and gazed at He Sheng who was crying uncontrollably before shifting his eyes to Yuan Zhi.

  He raised an eyebrow and said, "Your performance today was somewhat unexpected."

  "Or what?" Yuan Zhi raised his eyes, his expression cold and calm as he stared back at him. "Smash the stool and kick over the table? I'm tired, I don't have the energy to play this game anymore. But I will remember all the pain you've inflicted on me. You barely qualify as a successful businessman, but you'll never be a successful man, nor a qualified father."

  Yuan Chongyang's slightly raised corners of his mouth drooped, and he looked at this son he had never carefully paid attention to with an expressionless face, saying lightly: "I'm doing it for your own good, from now on..."

  Yuan Zhi cut him off without hesitation, "Did I ask you for anything? Do you know what I really want? You don't understand a thing!"

  After finishing speaking, he hugged He Sheng and helped her up, wiped away her tears, and led her upstairs.

  Yuan Chongyang stood still for a few seconds, adjusted his collar and turned to walk out. He Yongsong had already sent someone to see him off. Yan Bo was standing by the car, looking serious.

  Seeing him, he asked: "Director Yuan, why must you use this method?"

  Step by step, the cold water boiled the frog, forcing people to have no way out. Yan Bai also saw He Yongwei for the first time today. Although he has achieved his goal now, it's indeed a bit cruel.

  "Do you think it's bad?"

  "They're just kids."

  "Children? Many things should be cultivated from a young age. Yuen Chik has missed the best time, now we need to add some force. This is the method, to get what I want and at the same time make Yuen Chik understand his own weakness, so that he will strive to improve. Even if he doesn't want to, isn't today's result a voluntary surrender? That's exactly the effect I wanted."

  He turned his head to look at Yan Bai, smiled and said, "This play is really beautiful!"

  Yan Bai hesitated and said: "But... He Song is innocent."

  "Still the same old phrase, I've given her such a luxurious life for so many years, can't I get some returns?" He slightly frowned, disapproving of Yan Bai's words. "I've taught you for so long, why are you still so soft-hearted? You should understand that from the moment we left the mountains, our promise was already fulfilled. The fact that I took in this child and raised her for so long is purely because I didn't bother to calculate the cost, a businessman prioritizes profit!"

  Yan Bai didn't say anything, he just lowered his head and helped him open the car door.

  As summer was about to end, He Song packed his bags and prepared to move to another unfamiliar city. Fortunately, he didn't let the He family take him away, so He Song's life was still secure, and he could continue to attend university smoothly.

  He Sheng finally used his mobile phone willingly, which was the only tool he could use to contact Yuan Zhi in the future.

  Wu Shu was also speechless with worry, and afterwards she was afraid that He Song would be tired and hungry, so she prepared many things for her, but in the end they were all left behind because it was not convenient to carry them.

  This was the last clear morning, Yuan Zhi personally sent his daughter onto the train, and sorrow spread throughout the summer.

  Author has something to say: Is this torture point okay? I think it's better than the last kidney swap... Has anyone cried? Raise your hand.

  Your tears indirectly represent my success, indicating that I've hit the mark, which is exactly what I'm aiming for. But saying this to you might be too cruel, isn't it?

  The content of the next chapter starts three years later, and they have completely lost contact for three whole years. As for why they couldn't get in touch, please wait until tomorrow, after reading one or two more chapters, you will definitely understand.

  This part no longer focuses on their growth but instead emphasizes emotions.

  There will be several chapters before the reunion, and after the reunion, it's not far from the end. I've been very busy lately, and I'll answer everyone's questions in the author's note at once.

  About abuse... personally I think it's directly abusing until the end, using the phrase "is the cat cute or not": after abusing for a while, you'll get used to it.

  It's like when it's been cloudy for a long time and finally the sun comes out, that feeling of relief is actually quite refreshing. PS: My goal this year is to continuously update new chapters, wish me success! Enjoy reading everyone! l3l4