Chapter 84: Independence

Duan Hanyan stared at her cousin in disbelief, as if she couldn’t understand what she was saying. Her eyes showed wariness, while her mind slowly processed the words.

“Why…” She latched onto one particular sentence. “Why will my children never compare to Jiang Liyuan’s children? I am Chi Yanpeng’s wife. The strength of the Duan family is no less than that of the Jiang family. Why should it be this way?”

Jiang Yichu patiently explained, “There are many reasons. Objectively speaking, Ah Heng and Ah Yue are still too young. By the time they come of age, Chi Xiao might have already taken full control of the Chi family. At that point, he will have children of his own—how could he possibly allow his younger siblings to take a share of what’s his?”

She paused for a moment, her expression tinged with sympathy, as if she hadn’t intended to say more but now had no choice. “Subjectively speaking, in Chi Yanpeng’s eyes, your children simply don’t measure up to Chi Xiao. Not only because Chi Xiao is intelligent and capable, but more importantly, because he is Jiang Liyuan’s son. Chi Yanpeng is very fond of Jiang Liyuan. She is his ‘white moonlight’—you probably didn’t know that, did you?”

Duan Hanyan’s eyes widened in shock. “How could that be…? Everyone says their marriage was terrible, that they argued almost every day for ten years, and in the end, they parted on bad terms…”

“You’ve been married to Chi Yanpeng for so long—don’t you understand his personality by now? If you threw tantrums at him every day like Jiang Liyuan did, do you think he would tolerate you for even a month?” Jiang Yichu said. “The Jiang family isn’t some noble lineage, yet Jiang Liyuan’s temper was like a firecracker—she looked down on everyone. The moment Chi Yanpeng didn’t go along with her, she would throw fits at home, causing such a scene that even the neighbors in their community would come to watch the spectacle. And despite all that, your husband refused to break up with her. He stuck with her for ten years, and even after the divorce, he chased her all the way to America to win her back. A friend of mine saw with their own eyes how he was shut out at Jiang Liyuan’s doorstep. I never told you before because I didn’t want to ruin your marriage.”

Duan Hanyan felt like all the strength had been drained from her body. She slumped into a chair. “That’s impossible… He would never do something like that…”

“I’m not sure what kind of conflict of interest arose between them in the early years of their marriage, but the Chi family’s meteoric rise is plain to see. And Jiang Liyuan—she was true to herself. No matter how powerful her husband was, she still walked away without hesitation.”

To Jiang Yichu, Jiang Liyuan lacked a broader perspective. She seemed to believe that once a woman married, she had to follow her husband’s lead, that her husband’s glory should automatically become her own. She thought that standing beneath a grand canopy should be enough to make her forget the insignificant grievances in her heart.

Jiang Yichu fixed her gaze on Duan Hanyan and asked, “Now, do you still want to fight Chi Xiao?”

Duan Hanyan’s lips moved slightly, but she didn’t know what to say.

After a long silence, Duan Hanyan picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip of the cold tea. For no apparent reason, she suddenly started laughing.

“Hahaha…”

Jiang Yichu frowned. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh, nothing. I just think men are inherently pathetic.” Duan Hanyan smirked. “Chi Yanpeng suffered under his ex-wife, so now he wants to find Chi Xiao a gentle and obedient wife. But in the end, he ended up with another strong-willed one.”

“How strong-willed?” Jiang Yichu asked with interest. “Tell me about her.”

Duan Hanyan stared at her cousin for a moment without answering.

Jiang Yichu gently patted the back of her hand. “Like I said, her stepmother is me. That’s still better than it being someone else. At least I can help you keep her in check to some extent.”

The more Duan Hanyan thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. “That’s true.”

–

Another evening, Ming Can was alone taking care of Miaomiao as he got ready for bed. After putting on his pajamas, Miaomiao sat on the bed hugging his stuffed toy, watching his mother walk back and forth tidying up the room. Unable to hold back, he asked, “When is Daddy coming back?”

“Tomorrow, maybe the day after,” Ming Can said while folding clothes. “There’s something going on at his family’s place, so he went back to stay for a couple of days.”

The room fell into a brief silence. Miaomiao climbed off the bed, stepped into his slippers, and walked over to Ming Can. Looking up into her eyes, he asked, “Mommy, are you and Daddy fighting?”

Ever since his birthday ended, the atmosphere at home had felt a little strange. The time his parents spent together had noticeably decreased. Even when they were both home, they barely spoke to each other, which made him feel uneasy.

Ming Can looked down at him, the corners of her lips curving into a smile. “Of course not.”

Miaomiao blinked. Seeing that his mother was telling the truth, he realized that everything was fine between his parents, and he didn’t need to worry. His mood immediately lifted, like clouds parting for the sun. Hugging Ming Can around the waist, he bounced excitedly. “Mommy, I want to sleep with Xiao Xiao tonight!”

Ming Can hesitated for a moment, then remembered that Xiao Xiao had just taken a bath a couple of days ago and was still fairly clean. Reluctantly, she nodded. “Alright, but you both have to be lying in bed obediently by nine o’clock.”

“Yes, madam!”

Ming Can rubbed Miaomiao’s head, then brought Xiao Xiao’s dog bed from the living room and placed it beside Miaomiao’s bed. She also laid down two pee pads on the floor, just in case Xiao Xiao needed to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

Leaving the bedroom to the child and the dog, Ming Can closed the door and walked back to her own room. She picked up her phone and checked WeChat—no new messages.

Just one wall away, as soon as his mother left, Miaomiao let Xiao Xiao climb onto the bed and curl up next to his pillow.

“Your hairstyle is so cool.” Miaomiao ruffled the fur on top of Xiao Xiao’s head. “It looks like a grenade!”

Xiao Xiao seemed to sense that this wasn’t a compliment and nudged Miaomiao’s hand with a whimper.

Xiao Xiao: [Where’s the person who used to do my hair? This new one is terrible!]

“He went home to see Grandpa.” Lying on his stomach, Miaomiao explained seriously to Xiao Xiao, “The one who used to do your hair was Daddy. The one doing it now is Mommy. Say it—Daddy, Mommy, let’s hear you try.”

“Woof woof! Woof woof!”

Xiao Xiao: [Daddy! Mommy!]

“You’re so smart!” Miaomiao flipped over and lay on his back, lifting Xiao Xiao up in the air. “You’re my little sister, so you have to call me ‘Big Brother.’ Now, say it—Big Brother!”

Xiao Xiao: “Woof woof!”

Xiao Xiao: [Big Brother!]

Miaomiao planted a big kiss on Xiao Xiao’s fluffy face.

He had realized a long time ago that while animals didn’t have superpowers, as long as they spent enough time with humans, they could understand what people were saying to them.

Back when Miaomiao used to tell Xiao Er about things that made him sad, Xiao Er would nuzzle his arm and neck with his warm, damp nose. If Xiao Er could speak, he would probably say, “Don’t be sad. I’ll always be with you.”

Miaomiao tucked Xiao Xiao under his arm, and the boy and the dog lay together on the bed.

He started telling Xiao Xiao about his dog brother, Xiao Er, from the other world. As he spoke, his voice gradually faded, and he drifted off into sleep.

In his dream, he found himself in a silent, enclosed room.

A warm, damp dog nose pressed against his hand, while his other hand was gently held in a familiar, soft grasp—just like his mother’s palm.

…

The next afternoon, at Morning Star Elementary School, first grade dismissal time.

At the front of the line, Teacher Lin led the students of Class 1-1 out of the school building toward the main gate.

From a distance, Miaomiao spotted a tall and upright figure in the crowd. He suppressed the urge to shout “Daddy!” at the top of his lungs, politely said goodbye to his teacher and classmates, then tightened his grip on his backpack straps and ran toward Chi Xiao.

Under the bright, golden sunlight, the little boy in his blue school uniform shot forward like a rocket and wrapped his arms tightly around Chi Xiao’s leg.

Chi Xiao was momentarily stunned. He bent down and picked Miaomiao up from the ground, noticing how the sunlight made his little face glow red and bright. Unable to resist, he asked, “Why are you so excited?”

“It feels like I haven’t seen you in forever,” Miaomiao said. “Daddy, I missed you so much!”

Chi Xiao: “I was only gone for two days.”

Miaomiao pouted. “Even one day without seeing you feels too long.”

After all this time together, Miaomiao had completely forgotten that he used to be perfectly fine with either his mom or dad being away for long periods.

After father and son returned home, it wasn’t long before Chi Xiao told Miaomiao to play by himself for a while—he was heading out to pick up Ming Can from B University.

When Ming Can finished class, the sky was still bright. The moment she stepped out of the teaching building, she spotted a familiar black SUV parked by the roadside.

Her friends, having seen this car pick her up many times before, all recognized it. They nudged her playfully, teasing, “Your boyfriend’s here to pick you up again—so diligent!”

Ming Can thought to herself, Diligent? He didn’t even come yesterday.

Pressing her lips together, she felt her face heat up slightly. Chi Xiao got out of the car, walked around to the passenger side, and opened the door for her. He also casually took her backpack from her hand, which immediately set off another round of excited whispers and giggles among her friends.

As soon as the car door closed, shutting out the noise from outside, the atmosphere inside cooled down instantly.

Chi Xiao passed along what he had found out at home about Duan Hanyan’s cousin.

“Her husband was British and owned a fairly large logistics company. He passed away last year due to illness, and they have an eight-year-old son,” Chi Xiao said. “Before today, she hadn’t returned to the country in years.”

Ming Can nodded. Given the situation, this woman didn’t seem to have any connection to Ming Zheng—at least, not yet.

The drive was short, just a couple of kilometers, taking only a few minutes. They didn’t talk much after that.

From time to time, Ming Can stole glances at Chi Xiao out of the corner of her eye. She wasn’t sure why, but he seemed a little down.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, casting a glow over his sharp yet distant profile. One hand rested on the steering wheel, the veins on the back of his hand subtly protruding, carrying a faint sense of tension.

After dinner, at seven o’clock, the whole family settled in to study. Miaomiao went to his small study to attend his online Spanish class with his tutor, while Ming Can and Chi Xiao sat at the breakfast bar in the living room, working on their assignments.

Ever since they started dating, they had developed a habit of doing homework together—keeping each other company and keeping each other accountable. Over time, they had stopped using the study room altogether.

Looking back on the days since Miaomiao’s birthday, Ming Can realized that she had been too tense, her nerves stretched too tight. She had often worn a cold, stiff expression—no wonder Chi Xiao didn’t dare talk to her much.

“Hey, Senior Chi Xiao,” she suddenly called out, pushing her laptop toward him and pointing at the complex equation on the screen. “Do you know how to solve this? Teach me.”

Chi Xiao nodded, grabbed a piece of scratch paper and a pen, and carefully worked through the solution step by step.

“Oh, so that’s how it is.”

“Is this the equation you need for your presentation?”

“Yeah,” Ming Can said. “Our group presentation is the day after tomorrow. If you have time now, can you double-check all the numbers in my PowerPoint?”

“Sure.” Chi Xiao easily pulled her laptop over and started calculating quickly on scratch paper. In less than ten minutes, he nodded approvingly. “They’re all correct.”

“Of course, they are—it’s me we’re talking about.”

Ming Can smugly praised herself. Just as she was about to take her laptop back, she suddenly felt a gentle grip on her arm.

She paused, raised an eyebrow, then let go of the laptop and naturally settled onto Chi Xiao’s lap. Hooking her arms around his neck, she kissed him lightly and asked softly, “What’s wrong with you today? Why do you keep looking so troubled?”

At that moment, looking into his amber-colored eyes, Ming Can became acutely aware of something—although the situation with Chi Xiao’s stepmother’s cousin had touched a nerve and was hard to accept, it didn’t seem to affect how she felt about him.

She still really liked him.

She didn’t want to be apart from him.

Chi Xiao looked up at the girl who was slightly taller than him in this position. After a brief pause, he said in a low voice, “I think my dad knows we’re dating.”

Ming Can was surprised. “How did he find out?”

Chi Xiao: “I don’t know.”

A fleeting trace of evasiveness crossed his eyes.

During the past two days at home, perhaps because he had been more communicative than usual, Chi Yanpeng had taken the opportunity to talk to him about a few things.

He had told Chi Xiao—

That he hoped Chi Xiao would find a wife who could be beneficial to his career, someone who would devote herself to supporting her husband.

He had also hinted that he didn’t have much faith in the Ming family and hoped Chi Xiao wouldn’t concern himself with their mess.

Chi Xiao had answered—

What he liked was a person, not a tool for his career.

Everyone has their own independent will. Whatever she wants to do, she should have the support of those close to her.

And with that, father and son once again parted on bad terms.

Chi Xiao lazily wrapped one arm around Ming Can’s waist. Suddenly, he tugged at the corner of his lips and said, “Can I ask a really cliché question?”

Ming Can nodded. “Go ahead.”

Chi Xiao looked into her dark eyes. “If one day, I had nothing left, would you still like me?”