“Uncle Hong.” Su Jianan called Hong Shan.

  Hearing her voice, Hong Shan looked back and smiled at Su Jianan. But his smile froze for a while when he saw Lu Boyan.

  The boy, helplessly hugging his father 15 years ago all covered in blood, had grown into a man who could handle everything by himself and owned his business empire that could impact the economy lifeline at any time.

  Su Jianan did not notice Hong Shan’s peculiar look and went straight toward him. “Uncle Hong, how did you find us?”


  “I went to your apartment according to the address you gave me and was sent here under your brother’s arrangement,” Hong Shan answered.

  Su Jianan smiled and said, “How’s your wife?”


  “She recovered well.” Hong Shan bowed to Su Jianan gratefully. “Miss Su, thank you so much for giving my wife and me a new lease on life.”


  “You overstate that.” Su Jianan noticed that what Hong Shan was drinking got cold, so she asked Aunt Liu to get a glass of hot water.

  She was not the sort of person who could devote herself to charity, but she could help people around with her best efforts. As for Uncle Hong’s trouble, she just gave a bank card to Xiao Yunyun and asked her to help him pay the bills. She thought she had done nothing.

  Instead, she was afraid that Hong Shan would requite her.

  “Miss Su, I have no way to repay you, for I’m desperately poor,” Hong Shan said guiltily.

  Su Jianan said, “I’d prefer you repay me by taking care of your wife after you go home, and living with her happily till the end of your lives.”


  “It’s not that.” Hong Shan glanced at Lu Boyan with a look of deep significance and said slowly, “I’ll tell you the truth.”


  Su Jianan was surprised by Hong Shan’s seriousness. She looked at Lu Boyan, then observed Hong Shan and recalled the day she had met Hong Shan in the hospital, which was not her first time seeing him.

  She seemed to have seen Hong Shan before that.

  “Miss Su, I’m Hong Qing, the one you’ve been looking for.”


  Hong Qing looked at Su Jianan with tremendous anxiety, his hands clenched tightly with great strength and knuckles swollen.

  His words opened the door of Su Jianan’s memories.

  Before seeing Hong Qing in the hospital, she had seen his photo many times, in which was a strong and young Hong Qing.

  She did not expect him to be aged and look older than his actual age after 15 years.

  So she did not recognize Hong Qing and wondered if she was in a dream.

  Hong Qing said, “15 years ago, Lawyer Lu found the evidence of the death penalty against Kang Chengtian. So Kang Ruicheng hated Lawyer Lu, and swore to kill Lawyer Lu himself. One day, Lawyer Lu was said to have bought some camping equipment and would go camping with his wife and son. Kang Ruicheng heard about it and decided to carry out his plan that day.

  “Kang Ruicheng planned to kill Lawyer Lu by fabricating a car accident and have me take the blame for him, with which I didn’t agree. He threatened me and said my wife would be taken good care of in my hometown if I agreed to serve a sentence for him, otherwise she would die.

  “I had no choice but to lie to the police, saying that I killed Lawyer Lu and it had nothing do with Kang Ruicheng. He cleaned up everything else without leaving any evidence for the police. So I was sentenced.”


  “And then?” Su Jianan asked, “Why didn’t you apply to reopen the case but still served a sentence for him, since he went abroad not long after you were jailed?”


  “I didn’t dare to.” Hong Qing burst into tears. “Though he was abroad, his family was still in City A and powerful. You know, Kang Ruicheng was a cruel person who would kill my wife if he knew I wanted to reopen it.”


  Su Jianan got Hong Qing’s point at once. “Was that why you changed your name after being let out of prison, moved to another place with your wife, and never talked about that case nor let anyone know that you’re Hong Qing?”


  Hong Qing nodded. “I had gotten acquainted with an officer in the household registration office, so I could relocate my household registration and change my name without anybody knowing about it. That way, I could avoid being found and killed by Kang Ruicheng if he returned from abroad.”


  Su Jianan finally figured it out. “No wonder you were unwilling to follow my advice and ask the media for help, you were afraid to be found by Kang Ruicheng.”


  “You’re right. If I could, I just want to peacefully spend the rest of my life in my hometown with my wife. I didn’t expect that she would feel worse, so I had to take her back to City A.” Hong Qing sighed. “Maybe that’s a cycle of life. I didn’t expect that I would meet you in City A, let alone that you’re looking for me. You’d hardly expect that the person you helped out of pity is exactly the one you’re looking for.”


  Su Jianan asked in doubt, “Now that all your problems are solved, why don’t you do what you planned instead of visiting me?”


  “My wife said that we shouldn’t lose our conscience, so we decided to come here and confess.” Hong Qing stayed silent for a while and said, “First, I want to apologize to Mr. Lu; second, I want you to know that I’ll cooperate on the reopening of the case of Lawyer Lu.”


  Su Jianan looked at Lu Boyan not far away from them. His face was cold and serious. But he was very calm, not a bit surprised by the coincidence nor that the man before him was Hong Qing.

  Subconsciously, she called out, “Boyan?”


  Lu Boyan went toward them and sat across from Hong Qing. “Kang Ruicheng is also looking for you. I’ll arrange you and your wife in a safe place so that she can nurse her body, and I’ll send someone to pick you up when the police need your confession or appearance in court.”


  Hong Qing nodded and said, “OK, it’s up to you.” After a pause he added, “Mr. Lu, I feel extremely sorry about what happened 15 years ago.”


  “You’re not to blame for it,” Lu Boyan said. “We thank you for coming forward and producing evidence against Kang Ruicheng.”


  Hong Qing waved his hands and said, “I wouldn’t dare to admit I’m Hong Qing if it were not for Miss Su helping me generously without hesitation, even if I knew you were looking for me. So, you needn’t thank me, who is just doing what should’ve been done.”
……

  Su Jianan asked the cook to make some snacks while Lu Boyan was talking with Hong Qing, and gave them to Hong Qing as a gift from her to his wife.

  Uncle Qian drove Hong Qing personally. Seeing the car going far away gradually, Su Jianan wondered whether fate was a magical thing or the cycle of life was a wonderful thing.

  “It’s getting windy and cold.” Lu Boyan drew Su Jianan’s scarf and said, “Let’s go back to the house.”


  The wind in the early spring still had its coldness. Su Jianan trotted into the house in Lu Boyan’s arms and felt sick as soon as she sat down, with something surging in her stomach—it was a sign of vomiting.

  Lu Boyan noticed Su Jianan’s pale face and patted her back to comfort her. “Why did you help him when you didn’t know Hong Shan was Hong Qing at all?”


  “Do you remember the money you gave me when we ‘got divorced’?” Su Jianan said, “Neither could I return it to you, nor did I want to spend it. So I paid his surgery bills just to help him, and I didn’t realize that he was Hong Qing.”


  After those words, her feeling of vomiting went away miraculously. Su Jianan looked back at Lu Boyan. “Aren’t you an effective cure for my sickness?”


  “Just sit tight.” Lu Boyan held Su Jianan and said, “Tell me if you feel bad.”


  “But—” Su Jianan asked in doubt, “Aren’t you going to the company? It’s almost noon.”


  “I’m going to spend my time with our daughter,” Lu Boyan said as if it was the most important thing in the world. “A day off.”


  Su Jianan could not help smiling. “How do you know it’s a girl but not two boys?”


  “Two boys?” Lu Boyan frowned but smiled at once. “That will also do.”


  Su Jianan could not read Lu Boyan’s changing expressions and asked, “Why? Don’t you prefer a girl?”


  “I prefer whoever you give birth to!” Lu Boyan’s extraordinary sincerity made Su Jianan out of words for a while.

  Lu Boyan thought for a second and added, “A boy can take over my enterprises so that I could take you anywhere you want. I won’t be soft on them after your childbirth.”


  Su Jianan asked with awkwardness, “Why?”


  Lu Boyan touched Su Jianan’s thin face. “They’ve troubled you so much.”


  Su Jianan tried to push him away. “They will be scared.”


  Lu Boyan’s lips turned into a smile unconsciously. “How can a little potato hear what I say?”


  What he did not notice was caught by Su Jianan—his voice and smile became unprecedentedly gentle.

  Su Jianan could never believe that Lu Boyan was not looking forward to the birth of the baby.

  Su Jianan smiled and asked, “How about a girl?”


  Lu Boyan said without blinking his eyes, “A girl will be raised just as you were, deserve the best we can give, and be a lifelong princess.”


  Su Jianan then leaned close to Lu Boyan while in his arms. “I hope that our daughter looks like me!”


  Lu Boyan showed his displeasure and said, “Why not me?”


  Su Jianan did not hope their daughter would have the same cold face as Lu Boyan, but she said, “If she’s as tall as you, nobody will marry her.”


  “Why does my daughter have to get married?” Lu Boyan said with disdain, “I’ll support her all my life.”


  “Only if she’s born.” Su Jianan thought it was time, so she held Lu Boyan’s arms and besought with a soft voice, “Promise me that no matter what happens or what my brother or your mother say, you’ll always stand by me and never agree to an abortion!”


  Tang Yulan and Su Yicheng would have no choice if Lu Boyan and she both disagreed on an abortion.

  Lu Boyan narrowed his eyes and said, “Finally I know your true thoughts.”


  “Oh.” Su Jianan said pettishly, “Promise me. I explain it again!”


  Lu Boyan said, “And what if I don’t?”


  Su Jianan showed a sad face and was about to cry.

  Lu Boyan held her in his arms. “I’ll promise you only if you cooperate with the check-ups in the hospital and let the doctor take care of you.”


  Su Jianan asked unwillingly, “What check-ups?”


  “All the routine check-ups,” Lu Boyan said. “I can’t trust the pregnancy check-ups you accepted in the previous hospital. I’ll take you to another one this afternoon.”


  Su Jianan had no reason to refuse the routine check-ups that were for her baby’s health, so she nodded in agreement.

  Anything that would not hurt her baby could be discussed with her.