She took out her phone and searched for Yan Shuang’s number. After drafting a message, she sent her a message.

  [Miss Yan, may I know whether you know anything about Fu Tingyu and the Little Munchkin?]

  Yan Shuang had no idea of Qin Shu’s real identity. To her, Qin Shu was a man who was not Fu Tingyu’s brother.

  Qin Shu uneasily sat in front of the desk after she sent out the message. Staring at the laptop monitor, none of the content on the monitor went into her mind.

  Far out at North Star, Yan Shuang had just completed some urgent tasks. She had to go out with Fu Tingyu later in the afternoon. Considering the project they were working on together was a big one, and their cooperation, she would want to do everything herself.

  Her assistant had just made her a steaming hot cup of coffee. Her phone was somewhere nearby.

  She glimpsed the screen of her phone that suddenly lit up when she was picked up the cup of coffee and ready to sip at it. Her motion of sipping the cup of coffee paused.

  When she went through the content of the message, a hint of surprise flashed through her eyes.

  She did not expect the message to come from him, the handsome young man closely related to Fu Tingyu.

  Did he know of Ling Yan and Ling Bao too?

  Yan Shuang thought about it for a moment before she replied to the message.

  [Of course. I spent three years with them. Why did you ask?]

  [I’m just curious. I heard that the relationship isn’t a good one.]

  Yan Shuang replied.

  [Is it? They seemed pretty close to me. I saw they spent time together a lot. He even stood at the rooftop waiting for Ling Bao for an entire day and night when she went down the mountain. Ling Yan was supposed to descend from the peak of Qi Mountain with Ling Han but decided to stay instead. I thought it was because of Ling Bao.]

  Qin Shu’s mind went blank after reading the message from Yan Shuang.

  Did he wait for her the entire day and night?

  Did he stay back on the mountain for her?

  So, his relationship with the Little Munchkin was not just an ordinary friend. They were closer than that.

  Her already confused heart erupted with waves of emotions as if someone dropped a huge rock into a pool of water ripples, causing massive disruption in the lake of water ripples.

  Her heart throbbed in pain.

  She had no idea how she spent the entire day.

  Lying on the chaise on the balcony, she stared numbly at the ginkgo tree below.

  The lighting on the ginkgo tree lit up as the sky darkened. The scenery was spectacular.

  She now understood that the Fu Tingyu planted the tree about six to seven years ago when he left Qi Mountain. That was why the tree had grown so big over the years.

  The ginkgo tree was a gift to the Little Munchkin.

  So were the ceramic dolls. They were for the Little Munchkin too and molded to look like her from age one to seventeen.

  The same went for the two wooden plates that he kept together in the box, close to each other.

  She was just the Little Munchkin’s lookalike. He just took her for the Little Munchkin when he met her for the first time and never told her.

  Was he deceiving himself that she and the Little Munchkin was the same person?

  Everything he did for her was because of the Little Munchkin.

  Everything doubts and questions seemed to unravel. They seemed to make sense now.

  Qin Shu felt an overwhelming chill envelop her body as if she stepped into an ice cellar.

  The saying was true, “the truth is like a double-edged sword.” Now that she knew the truth, it was like a sharp knife slicing at her heart.

  “I’m not hungry. I need to rest.” Qin Shu replied when Ning Meng called her for dinner.

  She then locked herself in the room.

  Ning Meng stood frozen outside the door after having the door closed at her face. She stared dumbly at the closed door.

  ” What’s wrong with Madam?”


  She raised her hand, wanting to knock at the door after coming back to her sense. But she changed her mind, thinking that Qin Shu might want to rest and her knocking on the door might disrupt her rest.

  “Let’s eat a little before you rest.” Ning Meng said anxiously outside the door, not knowing what else she could do.

  The room was pitch black.

  Qin Shu sat on the balcony with her hand gripping the phone tightly. The sudden vibration from the phone shook her a little.

  It was a message from Jun Li. “I just came back to school today and noticed that you were absent from school. What’s up?”


  The recent matters had kept her occupied that she had forgotten to maintain contact with Jun Li.

  She replied to Jun Li’s message. ” I’m no longer attending the Imperial College. I’m just doing self-study at home now and will attend the examination at Imperial College when the time comes. Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”


  She initially wanted to tell him about her pregnancy. But now, she had no idea how to. He would only worry about her if she told him.

  Li Jun replied, “Alright, if you prefer that. Do come to me if you face any difficulties during your self-study. I’m free nowadays.”


  Qin Shu thanked him with her last message.

  It was already past eleven when she glimpsed the clock after replying to Li Jun.

  Her mind was still a mess after hours of trying to organize her thoughts. Her heart never stopped aching.

  Ning Meng knocked on the bedroom door with a tray of breakfast the next day.

  There was no reply from inside the room, even after knocking for a while.

  “Are you still asleep, Madam? You should be hungry by now since you skipped dinner last night.”


  “Madam, are you awake?”


  Still, there was no reply from the other side of the door.

  Ning Meng had been very patient since she started taking care of Qin Shu. That was also the reason Shi Yan chose her to take care of Qin Shu.

  “Madam, do eat something before you continue to sleep. You had nothing since last night. You must be hungry now.”


  “Madam, you’re with a baby now. The baby should be hungry too. You should take something.”


  “Madam, let me get the housekeeper to summon Young Master Gu to check on you if you have a poor appetite. Okay?”


  “What’s wrong, Ning Meng?” Housekeeper Shi asked. He was walking by when he saw Ning Meng knocking on the door continuously, calling through the door for Qin Shu.

  Ning Meng glanced at Housekeeper Shi with a worried face. ” Madam ate nothing since last night. I was worried that she might starve by now. So, I’m asking her to eat a little before she continues sleeping.”


  “Why did she eat nothing? Was she sick?”


  Housekeeper Shi was uncertain of what went wrong with the Madam since Ning Meng was the one who took care of Qin Shu.

  “I have no idea. Madam said she needed rest and did not want to eat. So, she did not leave her room last night and kept the light off. I was worried that I might disturb her rest if I were to knock. She did not answer even after I knocked multiple times earlier. Housekeeper Shi, what should we do?”


  “We have to force the door open if there’s no answer. Let me find Ye Luo to break the door open.”


  Housekeeper Shi then rushed downstairs to find Ye Luo.

  Ye Luo rushed upstairs with huge strides not long after, with Housekeeper Shi behind him.

  “Allow me.” Ye Luo took a big step and stood in front of the door. He raised his foot, and with one powerful kick, he sent the door flying. A loud bang rang across the room when the door hit against the wall.

  The kick would have broken it into two if the door was not of solid wood.

  Ning Meng rushed into the rush once the door was kicked open.

  She hurriedly placed the food tray on the table and rushed into the room towards the bed to find the bed empty.