Song Yu was still unable to utter a word. She could only stare blankly when the folder was handed before her.
“Take a look,” said Jian Yi. “These are the evidence. I’ve warned you not to trust Qi Chengzhi and marry him too soon. I knew that he’d hid something from you. I knew it was something serious but I didn’t have any evidence at that time. So, I could only warn you about it to prepare you for what’s coming,” he spoke calmly and this time with a little pride.
“I knew you wouldn’t believe it if I couldn’t provide any evidence. That’s the reason why I didn’t tell you about what he’d done. Even I find it hard to believe, let alone you. Now, I’ve finally found the evidence.”
Song Yu finally regained focus. Her mind was also starting to work again. However, her hands were still unusually cold.
“Don’t you want to take a look?” Jian Yi urged as Song Yu was still not taking any action.
“The bankruptcy of the Song family was all plotted by Qi Chengzhi. After bankruptcy, you had suffered a lot. Uncle and auntie had to undergo many hardships and stress. All of this happened because of Qi Chengzhi.
“If it’s not because of him, the Song family would have still been the same. You wouldn’t have to be mocked by Wu Lijun and the clique. Auntie wouldn’t have to be bullied by Liang Lihua and the others. She wouldn’t have to be placed at a disadvantage end while facing them. You wouldn’t have to lean over and backward to make a living, running around busily and putting up a mask on the drinking table, you…”
“That’s enough.” Song Yu interrupted coldly. “You don’t have to say anything more. All those talking are just so that I’m convinced to look at these, isn’t it?”
Song Yu opened the file but she was hesitant to take out the documents.
She thought of the soft gaze of Qi Chengzhi when he looked at her. Those expressions that he had never given to others.
She thought of the mellow voice of Qi Chengzhi and how it had comforted her when she was anxious.
She thought of his cozy hug and gentle palm. How they had brought her calmness while they lingered on her body.
At that moment, all she wanted was just to call Qi Chengzhi. She wanted to hear his voice, to ask him personally if he had done it.
He could not have done her wrong!
That man had loved her so much!
Song Yu reached into the file and retrieved the documents with trembling hands. As she read, she heard Jian Yi spoke.
“Qi Chengzhi is the person behind this company.”
“The company was founded in the United States. At that time, he used an English name and is not very well-known in our country. That’s the reason why the people didn’t know much about it. Besides, no one paid attention to the legal person of the company.
“The Song family went bankrupt eight years ago. You were seventeen years old whereas Qi Chengzhi was twenty-six. The company was founded in the United States when he was eighteen years old. It took him six years to break your company apart, bit by bit.
“Here is the information about the company and also the legal person.” Jian Yi went on. “You could do verifications if you want to be sure.”
Jian Yi smiled sarcastically. “I couldn’t help but acknowledge the talent of Qi Chengzhi. At the age of twenty, he had already graduated with a Ph.D. At the age of eighteen, he founded a company. In two years, his company was able to gain a reputation in the United States. Then, with patience, he took six years to ruin the Song family.
“Tell me… What animosity was he feeling toward the Song family? Why did he need to be so cruel? He is now showing such passionate love toward you. Who would have thought that he was the culprit of the Song family’s downfall? Or, is it possible that his attitude toward you now is just compensation for the things that he had done?”
When Jian Yi saw the page Song Yu was at, he sneered.
“Do you still remember the first time Grandmother Qi went to your house? She called Xia Wenna out for a talk, didn’t she? I’ve told you a long time ago that I heard their conversation. The two photos in Xia Wenna’s phone are the evidence. The photos that you are looking at are the copies of the photos in Xia Wenna’s phone. Though Grandmother Qi has deleted the photos in Xia Wenna’s phone, they still exist in the backup of the cloud. I contacted a hacker and had him hacked into Xia Wenna’s backup. That’s how I got these photos.
“These two photos were being taken by Xia Wenna on the sly. They were in the documents given to her by Qi Chengzhi. So, you may discover some things if you go into his study room.”
Song Yu trembled and shivered uncontrollably. She was feeling a chill in the air.
At this particular moment, she was clueless about who she could trust. She did not even have confidence in Qi Chengzhi anymore, the one who she had always had faith in.
Had he been lying to her?
He ruined the Song family and the life of her parents.
She had always been grateful that the Song family went bankrupt. She had never regretted but she knew that she should not have brought her parents along into this mess.
When she was in senior high school year, she had to focus on her studies. Therefore, she could not go to work. That was the hardest year of Song Donglin and Yu Qianying.
Song Donglin, the former chief executive officer of a company, had to earn a living as a taxi driver and had a restless life. He had to overcome his status transition and pride.
He used to be the one whom people please and gratify but at that time, he became the one who begged on bended knee.
Whenever Song Donglin had to work night shift, Song Yu and Yu Qianying would be insomniacs due to worrisome. They would be concerned about Song Donglin’s safety.
On the other hand, Yu Qianying, the former noblewoman who had never needed to prepare coffee by herself, had to do all the house chores.
That very year, she had to be a part-time house-keeper. She had to work in one place in the morning and another in the night. Due to the constant bending over during her job, she would be too exhausted to straighten her back when she came home.
Since then, Yu Qianying had developed lumbar strain. She would have back pain whenever she overworked. It would be so excruciating that it brought her difficulty to stand.
Recently, Liang Lihua came to their house to humiliate them because she knew that her parents fell into disgrace. Back in those days, she would not have the nerve to do so.
Looking at the evidence in her hand, Song Yu just wanted to ask Qi Chengzhi why did he have to do that?
“The things that Qi Chengzhi has done to your family may not make you two into irreconcilable enemies, but they are absolutely unforgivable! He says that he loves you, he has even gotten you by his side. But the truth is, he has been deceiving you all this while. Money and women, he’s got both! You have been sleeping with your enemy all this while… You have been saying ‘I love you’ in the arms of your enemy!” spoke Jian Yi coldly, with a little sarcasm in his tone.
“I’ve warned you to not believe in him. Now that you recall what you’ve done, are they not ironic?”
Jian Yi curled his lips. “After knowing what he has done, can you still marry him in peace? Song Yu, if you marry him, there’s no difference in marrying an enemy.”
Song Yu returned the documents into the file. Her hand was on the car door handle but she was not able to open it.
“I want to get out.” The look on Song Yu was expressionless and cold. She sounded in despair.
“Song Yu, don’t you have anything to say about this? Do you still plan to stay with him?” Jian Yi observed her pale face. She disappointed him by not showing any resentment.
“Unlock it, I want to get out,” Song Yu spoke again. She sounded soft but cold.
“Where do you want to go? Let me fetch you,” said Jian Yi.
“I don’t think I should leave you alone, I’m concerned about your emotion at this moment.”
“Unlock the door.” Song Yu had nothing else to say, but to repeat, “I want to get out.”
Her tone was as cold as her expression, like ashes of the dead.
Jian Yi kept quiet for a while then sighed. He tolerated and said, “I know that this is a heavy cross to bear. The man whom you loved is the culprit of your family’s bankruptcy. It’s okay, go home and steady your nerves. Then, think about your next course of action,” he spoke sincerely and unlocked the door.
Silently, Song Yu got out of the car with the file held tight in her hands. She did not even glance at Jian Yi when she closed the door.
When she left the parking lot, the file in her hand had already been squashed out of shape. The thick kraft papers were then soft and crumpled, sound of crumpling papers in her hands could be heard.
At the same time, cold sweat from her palms soften the material of file.
Song Yu trembled. It was as if everything became unfamiliar and foreign to her.
She did not know how to differentiate the truth and lie anymore.
The reliable smile on Qi Chengzhi’s handsome face appeared in her mind. The first thought was to rush into his arms. She hoped that he would tell her that these were all made-up.
She hoped that he would tell her that all of the evidence were made-up, that Jian Yi was accusing him, that he loved her with all his heart, that he had not done anything wrong to her, that he was still the Qi Chengzhi that she could trust, that he was reliable and persistent, that she was always in his heart…
He had never laid his eyes on the other ladies when they were dating, not even a glance.
Not even Guan Xiaolin, Yu Keyao, and Shu Li, or many others that she did not know about.
To the general public, Qi Chengzhi concealed his emotions and treated outsiders with a stern face that gave them shudders. On the inside, however, he was a calm and reserved. That being said, he would turn into an easily jealous, petty man when he was around her.
He tolerated and pampered her for whatever mistake that she made. He would get mad but would also forgive her in the end.
Qi Changzhi’s eyes would only be filled with tenderness when he looked at Song Yu and he could change his expression in shocking speed. He could change his expressions in a split second when he looked from Song Yu to another person. Song Yu had lost count of the times he was able to pull that off flawlessly.
Song Yu could not believe that his behaviour toward her were just an act of compensation. She could not believe that his affections toward her was merely to compensate for what he had done eight years ago.
The words that had been spoken by Qi Chengzhi might not be promises but they had been engraved on her mind. She could not believe that those words were spoken out of guilt.
Song Yu strolled aimlessly as her mind was in a complete mess.
She turned over to look for a taxi but all she saw was Jian Yi’s black Cayenne. She did not notice that she was being stalked.
Her lips formed a thin line and she had butterflies in her stomach. All she wanted to do was to smash his car.
Why did he have to investigate? Why did he have to tell her these?
Why would he not leave her alone, to let her live that peaceful life she had always wanted?
It bothered her so much that she wished that she could be kept in the dark for the rest of her life. She refused to learn about the truth.
She stopped walking. There was no point to wander anymore. Jian Yi’s Cayenne had stopped by the roadside not far away from her.
Song Yu refused to look at Jian Yi. She waved to stop the taxi that was passing by. She did not head to Qilin but Viewpark Residence instead.
On the journey to her destination, she received a call from Ruan Danchen.
“Song Yu, why haven’t you come back to the office? Is everything alright?” Ruan Danchen finished her lunch and could not find Song Yu in the cafe. She went back to the office but neither was Song Yu there.
She thought Song Yu had gone for lunch after sending off Yu Zixiu. In fact, Song Yu had not come back, even when the afternoon shift had already passed thirty minutes.
“Something has arisen. Please help me to ask Director Zhao for a leave of absence,” said Song Yu with her lips pursed. She frowned at what she saw in the rearview mirror. Jian Yi was still pursuing her.
“Song Yu, are you alright?” Ruan Danchen sounded worried on the phone.
“It’s nothing, I just wanted to take a rest at home,” in the rearview mirror, the Cayenne was still pursuing behind.
Ruan Danchen promised her without any hesitation. Song Yu’s leave of absence was not difficult to ask for. Director Zhao had not dared to raise any objection.
It was just that Ruan Danchen felt like there was something wrong through Song Yu’s tone, but she could not get any confirmation from Song Yu.
She could only remind her, “If there’s something going on, you are welcome to call me.”
Song Yu promised and ended the call. She glanced at the rearview mirror once again, lips tightly pursed, before she slid upon a number and called.
“Jian Yi, if you don’t want to get a slap in the face, don’t follow me anymore! Don’t you ever think that I would treat you better after you’ve given me this evidence! This is between Qi Chengzhi and me. There’s no place for you! No matter what kind of relationship we would end up, it is none of your business! About what you have done, I would only be more despise and sick of you. Since I’ve seen the evidence and you’ve reached your goal, from now on, get the hell out of my life!”
Initially, Jian Yi was still a little excited to received a call from her. However, when he heard about what Song Yu had said, he glowered, almost throwing his phone out of the car.
Since the incident between him and Qi Chengyue was revealed, Song Yu had been showing animosity towards him. She was always scoffing at him, but had never used rude words towards him.
This time, she had even used the word ‘hell’.
Jian Yi gripped on his phone until his knuckles were white, “So, are you going to ignore this evidence and stay beside Qi Chengzhi? Even when he had done something wrong to you? Are you going to ignore the feelings of your parents and stay with him? Song Yu, have your love to him made you lose the ability to distinguish right from wrong? Or-”
Song Yu cut him off by ending of the call.
Jian Yi was caught off guard. He flung the phone to the seat next to him. However, the phone was smashed on the car door and bounced to the bottom of the seat.
From the rearview mirror, Song Yu saw the Cayenne made a change of direction all of a sudden, and stopped by the roadside. It was not trailing her anymore.
…
…
Aunt Yang was surprised to see Song Yu. She asked for the reason why she had come back so early.
Song Yu simply made up a reason for her, while her hand was still holding onto the file. It was supposed to be light, but she was feeling heavy.
She subconsciously hid the file behind. She did not want anyone to find out about it.
Aunt Yang did not suspect anything and got back to her work.
Song Yu grasped onto the file and went into Qi Chengzhi’s study. She was not afraid of being seen by Aunt Yang.
Even if Aunt Yang had seen her, she would not be suspicious too. Qi Chengzhi had never forbidden Song Yu into the study. She was free to roam around every corner of the house.
Song Yu closed the door of the study but she did not let go of the crumpled file in her hands. There was a funny feeling that the file would be misplaced and risking revelation of the information contained within.
She grabbed the file in one hand and opened the door of the bookcase. There were specialized books and files. Song Yu looked out whether there was anything in between the pages of each book while opening each file to take a look.
In the end, the whole bookcase was searched all over, but she had not found anything related to what she was looking for.
Song Yu looked around, and her eyes landed on the desk.
Song Yu moved slowly towards it and sat on the swivel chair. Her eyes glanced through the objects on the desk and landed on the drawer.
She instinctively felt that she was going to find something here. However, when her hand came into contact with the drawer handle, she hesitated.
She was fearful of discovering some pieces of evidence that would be a disadvantage to Qi Chengzhi.
If she saw them, what should she do?
Song Yu was feeling a little withdrawn. Until the sweat in her palm had completely wet the folder, the other hand of hers was then put on the drawer handle. She pulled out the drawer steadily.
There was nothing but a thick book lying inside. It looked like a notebook.
Song Yu took the book out, and looked out whether if there was anything in between the pages, just like how she had checked the specialized books and files earlier.
Then, her heart skipped a beat, almost getting a muscle spasm due to her nervousness.
In fact, she did find something in the book.
With her shaky hands, Song Yu had no choice but to leave the folder on the desk. She glanced once again at the folder as if to make sure it was safe to do so.
Only by then, she flipped to the page where the item was being kept. However, it was not any secretive file that she had expected. It was only a plain white paper that had turned yellow.
The paper had deckle edges on one side. It was obviously being torn from another book. Its yellowish color showed that this paper had had a few years of history.
On top of it was poor handwriting of the two words “Jiang Yuan”. It was written with a bright blue colored sign pen.
Bright blue color. Her favorite color.
The poor handwriting looked immature. It was undeniable that it was written by a child who had just started to learn writing. Even the horizontal lines were as crooked as earthworms.
It dawned on Song Yu, that these two words were written by her.
When was it?
Song Yu frowned and tried to recall. She remembered that it was not long after she had started learning to write her own name.
At that time, she was still in kindergarten, but she could not remember how old she was. It was a vague memory.
Yu Qianying was going to teach her to write her name. That would be the first two words she learned to write since birth.
That day, Xia Wenna brought Qi Chengzhi and Qi Chengji to play. On the other hand, Yu Qianying was taking out a book and a bright blue colored sign pen which was Song Yu’s favorite. Right before Yu Qianying started to teach, Xia Wenna and her two sons arrived.
So, Yu Qianying had to put aside the teaching lesson and give Qi Chengzhi and Qi Chengji the nod to play with Song Yu.
That time, she had already felt that Qi Chengzhi was like an adult, who was years elder than her.
However, she was not afraid of him. She was rather relied on him, treating him as a dependable big brother.
Qi Chengzhi noticed the book and pen in her fair, soft hands, and asked her what she was planning to do.
Song Yu spoke gloomily, “Before you came, mom was planning to teach me how to write my name.”
