The weather was starting to get colder, and dry, yellow leaves often fell by the roadside. Even the occasional gust of wind brought a chill, no longer offering the comfort it once did.

After carefully lifting Yun Pei out of the car and placing him steadily in the wheelchair, Qin Mingyuan adjusted his collar. “Are you cold?”

Today’s weather wasn’t great; the sky was overcast, and the wind had picked up. The season was also quite dry, making one long for a refreshing rain instead.

Yun Pei squeezed Qin Mingyuan’s hand and shook his head, then looked toward the inpatient building in the distance. “Let’s go.”

Understanding the urgency in Yun Pei’s heart, Qin Mingyuan said no more. He gripped the wheelchair handles and pushed him toward the inpatient building.

The environment of the private hospital was very pleasant, with complete facilities. The air inside was clean and undisturbed, with only a faint scent of disinfectant lingering in the halls.

Yun Pei, who frequently visited the hospital for leg checkups, wasn’t bothered by the smell. In the elevator, his gaze remained fixed on the floor number display.

Qin Mingyuan placed a hand on his shoulder. “Promise me, no matter what you hear later, don’t get too worked up, okay?”

Strong emotions could affect his health, and that was the last thing Qin Mingyuan wanted to happen.

Yun Pei looked up at him, following his touch, and smiled slightly. “Don’t worry. With you by my side, I won’t.”

Feeling a little more at ease, Qin Mingyuan withdrew his hand and resumed pushing the wheelchair. Just then, the elevator doors opened onto their floor. His eyes darkened for a moment as he stepped out, pushing Yun Pei forward.

The floor was quiet, with no noise at all. The doors of the patient rooms were tightly shut, and the sound of Qin Mingyuan’s leather shoes on the tiles became particularly prominent.

Hearing the rhythmic sound of Qin Mingyuan’s footsteps, Yun Pei felt a growing calm in his heart—a sense of safety that came from having someone by his side.

They made their way to a room near the end of the hallway, its door slightly ajar.

Through the gap in the door, they could see a middle-aged man sitting by the bedside with his back to the door. His posture was slouched, his silhouette revealing a certain helplessness.

Qin Mingyuan glanced at the silent Yun Pei, then raised his hand and knocked gently on the door.

The man inside shifted slightly, his raspy voice calling out, “Come in.”

He probably thought it was a nurse making rounds and didn’t seem to pay much attention. He continued facing the bed, reaching out to tuck in the blanket of the person lying there.

The two of them pushed the door open and entered the room. Only then did they see that the person lying in the bed was a small child, their face obscured by a breathing mask.

Noticing that the people who entered remained silent for a long time, the man turned around, puzzled. When he saw them, his expression turned blank with confusion. “You are…?”

Yun Pei’s gaze landed on his face. He remembered that when this man had left their family, he had been in his thirties. Twelve years had passed, but the man now looked like he had been through twenty more years of hardship, appearing as though he was in his fifties. His hair was graying at the temples, and he didn’t even look as lively as Uncle Wu.

“It’s been a long time, Uncle Wang.”

When Wang Zhigang heard Yun Pei’s words, his gaze lingered on Yun Pei’s face, and his expression shook. His eyes then dropped to Yun Pei’s legs, and he abruptly stood up. The chair scraped back with a loud noise, but Wang Zhigang didn’t care, his lips trembling. “Young… Young Master…”

Seeing the fear in Wang Zhigang’s eyes, Yun Pei’s face remained expressionless as he glanced at the hospital bed. “Your son?”

His question made Wang Zhigang instinctively step in front of the bed, as if afraid that Yun Pei would do something. He forced a stiff smile. “Why would Young Master come here?”

Yun Pei shifted his gaze back to Wang Zhigang. “I happened to hear that you came back, and that your family was in the hospital. So I came to take a look. After all, you worked as our driver for so many years.”

“Th-thank you for still thinking of me, Young Master.” Wang Zhigang was clearly nervous. They shouldn’t have known he was here, so their sudden arrival made him anxious, wondering if they had learned something.

His hands twisted awkwardly in front of him, and he dared not look directly at the young man in the wheelchair.

Wang Zhigang thought Yun Pei had come to probe him, but Yun Pei didn’t intend to beat around the bush. “We’ve seen your son. Now, let’s talk about what happened back then.”

Wang Zhigang’s heart raced. He struggled to maintain his expression and feigned confusion. “What happened back then? What do you mean, Young Master?”

Seeing that Wang Zhigang still wanted to play dumb, Yun Pei got straight to the point. “About my mother’s car accident.”

Beads of cold sweat instantly appeared on Wang Zhigang’s forehead. He took a step back and bumped into the bed, nervously turning to make sure his son wasn’t disturbed before facing Yun Pei again. His guilty eyes avoided Yun Pei’s gaze, and his dry throat forced him to swallow. “I feel terrible about what happened to Madam back then. No one wanted to see such an accident happen, but so many years have passed. Young Master, shouldn’t you let it go?”

“Stop circling around,” Qin Mingyuan, who had been silently observing, interrupted. “We know you tampered with Yun Pei’s mother’s car back then.”

Wang Zhigang could no longer maintain his forced calm. His face turned pale, and he was at a complete loss, his trembling hands clenched together. “What are you talking about? It was just an accident!”

His voice grew louder with nervousness, and he even tried to drive them out of the room. “You should leave. Don’t disturb my son’s rest.”

When he reached out to push Yun Pei’s wheelchair, Qin Mingyuan stepped in front of him, brushing his hand aside with a cold expression. “If you don’t want to talk, then we can let the police handle this. How about that?”

Qin Mingyuan’s commanding presence and words were enough to make Wang Zhigang panic. He backed away quickly, almost on the verge of breaking down. “It’s been so many years! Why won’t you let me go?!”

“Why didn’t you let my mother go back then?” Yun Pei’s voice remained calm, unaffected by Wang Zhigang’s emotions. “She never treated you poorly. She gave you bonuses for holidays, and even personally attended your wedding, gifting you a big red envelope. But you…?”

Although his tone lacked any trace of anger, Yun Pei’s words struck Wang Zhigang’s heart like a sharp blade. His body swayed as if he might fall, and he grasped the bed’s railing for support. His eyes reddened, and he spoke in a hoarse voice. “I didn’t want to do it either… I just… lost my way for a moment…”

“But you still did it in the end.” Yun Pei didn’t care how much Wang Zhigang had struggled or what reasons he had. What mattered was that he had made the choice.

“Yes, I did…” Wang Zhigang’s expression turned blank for a moment, and he raised a hand to wipe his face. Defeated, he lowered his head. “What do you want to talk about?”

“The whole story and your dealings with Huo Lijuan.” Yun Pei’s gaze was direct, not wasting time.

“It seems you’ve done your homework…” Wang Zhigang let out a bitter laugh, his eyes drifting to his unconscious son on the hospital bed.

In fact, Wang Zhigang had once loved his job. Madam had been kind, never scolding the staff and always generous, as Yun Pei had said. She gave out bonuses during holidays and gifts, too.

She didn’t care about social status and had even attended his wedding, gifting him a red envelope with 50,000 yuan and a gold bracelet for his wife.

Though she was born into a wealthy family, she had sat among his poor relatives without any impatience, chatting with the elderly.

Wang Zhigang had once thought that with such an employer, he could work there for a lifetime. He never expected his greed to get the better of him.

“Huo Lijuan approached me back then. She offered me one million yuan to tamper with Madam’s car…” Wang Zhigang lowered his head, not daring to meet their gaze.

Back then, Huo Lijuan was just a mistress kept by Yun Haowei. For her to offer a million yuan for Yun Pei’s mother’s life, she must have been desperate, and it made Yun Pei feel cold inside.

“I refused at first because Madam was truly kind to me. I couldn’t betray her. But later…”

Later, Huo Lijuan came back to him multiple times, saying it was just a small tampering job, not murder. Even if something happened, it would be seen as an accident, and he would walk away with a million yuan, no strings attached.

She also promised that once she married into the Yun family, she would send him to another city and find him a job just as good as his current one. A million yuan back then was worth even more than it is now, and with the future security she promised, he had started to waver. Only his conscience held him back.

“And then my wife found out she was pregnant… I was going to be a father…” Wang Zhigang’s face twisted in a mixture of laughter and tears. “I wanted to give my child a better life.”

So he finally agreed to Huo Lijuan’s deal. At the time, it was tormenting him. Watching Madam and the young master drive off, he had almost spoken up to stop them.

But the thought of his wife and unborn child silenced him, and he watched as the car drove farther and farther away.

“Madam died on the spot, and the young master was left with crippled legs…” Wang Zhigang’s eyes were red with regret. “When I heard the news, I was filled with remorse. I wished I could kill the version of myself that had tampered with the car.”

During that time, facing a young master who had lost his will to live, Wang Zhigang was overwhelmed with guilt. He couldn’t bear to see him, always hiding far away, consumed by his own agony.

It wasn’t until Huo Lijuan married into the Yun family and he was sent away that those feelings began to fade, and he returned to a somewhat normal life.

But perhaps as punishment for his sins, a few years ago, his son was diagnosed with leukemia. The treatment had drained all their savings.

With no other choice, he returned to this city, which felt like a nightmare, to find Huo Lijuan, using the events of the past to blackmail her into helping save his son.

He had known all along that the truth would eventually come out, but he hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly.

Wang Zhigang looked at Yun Pei, who was sitting in the wheelchair, and suddenly fell to his knees with a loud thud. “Young Master, I know I wronged you and Madam, but look at me now—I’ve received my punishment. Please let me go. My son is only twelve years old, and he’s sick. He can’t live without his father. I’m begging you!”

He knew he didn’t deserve forgiveness, nor did he have the right to ask for it. But he had no choice. If something happened to him, Huo Lijuan certainly wouldn’t care for his son. His wife, who was at home taking care of his parents, wouldn’t be able to help either. His son would be left with no future.

Yun Pei remained silent, while Qin Mingyuan coldly looked down at him. “He was also twelve years old back then, and you took away his mother and his legs.”

Wang Zhigang’s pale, defeated appearance didn’t soften Qin Mingyuan’s heart at all. He glanced at the bed. “Your son still has a slim chance of survival, but Yun Pei will be in this wheelchair for the rest of his life, never able to walk again.”

“I… I wronged the young master. I wronged him…” Wang Zhigang knelt on the ground, muttering, unable to say anything more.

Qin Mingyuan ignored his emotions and asked, “Do you have any record of the money Huo Lijuan gave you back then?”

“Yes.” Wang Zhigang looked up at him. “Just in case, I made sure to print out a receipt at the time. I also recorded the phone calls she made to me.”

It was because of these things that he had been able to blackmail her this time. Without concrete evidence, she would have denied everything.

Wang Zhigang seemed to understand what Qin Mingyuan was getting at and hesitated. “What do you plan to do?”

Qin Mingyuan didn’t answer immediately. He first turned to look at Yun Pei. After seeing him nod, he said, “We’re going to give you a choice.”