“What if my daughter gets targeted by that woman again in that house?”


  “Do you think my granddaughter is a pushover?” Old Qu picked up a blue ceramic cup with her name, Li Meiyue, engraved in it.

  “This……” Her daughter lowered her head, feeling slightly indecisive. “Mom, you know it; Jingwan is my most precious daughter.”


  “I know.” She eyed her daughter apathetically. “I know. Just relax.”


  “Mhm.” Madam Qu nodded and, seemingly having recalled something, turned around. “Why do you say that Pei Ge is not easy to deal with?”


  “I……” The old lady’s action halted at this. After a short pause, she answered, “Anyone that my granddaughter can’t handle is not a pushover.”


  “Makes sense.” The other nodded in agreement.

  The elderly lady looked at the Chinese parasol tree outside as her memories slowly traveled to the secret she could not speak of which was also the only stain in her life.

  ‘Xiaoyue, do you still have enough money? Let me know if you don’t.

  ‘I heard that your teacher added a new practical class this semester. I’ll send you more money; buy and eat what you want.

  ‘You needn’t worry. Your big brother agrees with me funding your studies. Plus, being smart and talented, once you graduate, there’ll definitely be many companies wanting to hire you. You lass should just concentrate on your studies. Stop thinking about money and whatnot.

  ‘I’ll attend your graduation ceremony, so rest assured.’
……

  The face of the woman from her memories was so blur, yet her voice remained in her head. She was unable to forget it. The voice kept reminding her of the lowly woman she once was, stinging her heart at every second.

  On her graduation day, Zhang Yueru did not come alone. Qu Hanlin, the man who changed her life, was there as well.

  That man had stood under the shade of the tree, smiling at her with his lips closed, easily stealing her heart and soul.

  In Old Qu’s memory, the man had a pair of black, tantalizing eyes beneath his nicely shaped eyebrows. He had a straight and sharp nose, and when he smiled with his lips closed, he exuded an inexplicable sense of beauty, which attracted all of her sight.

  The first time she met him, she had even forgotten to smile for the camera but merely looked at him in shock.

  She had always assumed that the man who was supporting her studies was an old man; unbeknown to her, he was that young and handsome.

  It was only then that she knew that there existed someone else in this world who could make her turn into a different person in an instant. Ever since then, she started waiting for him, anticipating the time when he would come find her and appear in her sight.

  She did not know when she started changing; from initially feeling grateful, she became jealous and then…… obsessed.

  Her young self at that time knew her strengths. Hence, she used all methods she could think of to become his woman……

  It was only when that woman found out about their betrayal……

  She had already forgotten which day it was that that woman learned of their affair. After all, it had been a long time. So many years had passed that the daughter she had given birth to already had a daughter at a marriageable age.

  She only recalled that that day seemed to have been a very hot day. It was so hot that it was stifling.

  ‘Big brother, I’m afraid of Sister Yueru finding out about us. What will we do if that happens?’


  ‘Don’t be afraid; I am here.’


  ‘But this is your and her house.’


  ‘So what? You are here to report to me for work. Plus, you and Yueru are so close; will she even suspect you?’


  ‘That’s true…… Aiya! Big brother, it hurts. Take it off a little lighter.’


  ‘I’ll be a little lighter. Your skin is so soft. Just touching it is a blessing and a form of enjoyment. Tsk, tsk, tsk……’


  ‘Aiya! Brother-in-law, don’t bite there. Someone will see it.’


  ‘So what if someone sees it? You are already my person.’


  ‘You guys, what are you doing?!’


  ‘Sister Yueru……’


  ‘Yueru……’


  ‘Li Meiyue, I’ve never once imagined that that person would be you. Have I not treated you well? Why must you do this to me?!’
……

  “Mom, what’s wrong?” Madam Qu waved her hand in front of her mother. When the old lady looked up at her, she asked in relief, “What were you thinking of just now? You were so absentminded.”


  The old lady’s recollection stopped there and her gaze slowly turned cold.

  “People start to think nonsense when they get old. I thought about your dad’s other daughter again.”


  “Tsk. Why are you even thinking about her again? More than a decade has passed, and dad is still looking for her. Clearly, I am the most filial daughter, yet he still wants to give his inheritance to a person whom no one knows whether they’re dead or alive……”


  Hearing her daughter’s grumbling, Li Meiyue narrowed her eyes coldly.

  In the Ji family’s villa.

  Qu Jingwan spent the whole afternoon piecing together a knight’s castle for Ji Chi before pushing it to him. “Baby, do you like it?”


  The Knight’s Castle was largely gray and black. A knight wearing a mask stood on its parapet and a princess wearing a pink gown stood beside him, looking noble and beautiful.

  “I like it.” The boy stared at the castle, unwilling to put it down.

  Her lips curled up as her eyes were dyed with a look of certainty.

  “Then, do you want to know how I did it? Do you want to learn from me?”


  “Okay.” He looked up at her and smiled.

  “Shall I play with you from now on?”


  “Mhm.” The boy nodded. “I like playing with you.”


  This reply of his clearly gave her a larger surprise.

  “Baby, do you want to go to the amusement park?”


  “Mhm, mhm. Will you bring me there?” Ji Chi’s eyes lit up upon hearing that. “I heard that it’s fun there as it has roller-coasters, Ferris wheels, and carousels.”


  “Yes, it’s really fun at the theme park. I’ll bring you to one now if you wanna go.”


  “Really?” He jumped off the sofa and clapped his hands together, happily saying, “I wanna go! I wanna go now!”


  “Then, let’s go. We’ll go there now.” Her eyes curled as shrewdness shone in them.

  “But grandma won’t let me.”


  The boy got a little despondent as he eyed the castle made of blocks at his side.

  “That isn’t a problem; I’ll handle your grandma.” She patted her chest and promised. There was no reason for this boy’s grandmother not to agree as long as she said that staying in the Ji house was boring and that she wanted to bring him out for a walk.

  “Awesome!” He hugged her by the neck and gave her a huge kiss on the cheek. The lad was so happy that his eyes formed crescents.

  After informing the older woman, Qu Jingwan brought the boy to an amusement park.

  While inside a taxi, she received a call from Qu Qingyu.

  “Have you gotten the money yet?”