Chapter 13

“Mom.”  

Fang Junrong looked at her son, Li Shize, who rarely appeared before her, and had already guessed his purpose. Perhaps because she had been reborn for some time now, she could suppress the hatred in her heart quite well and even speak to him gently as if nothing had happened.  

“What’s the matter? Have you been tired from your internship at the company lately? If you’re tired, you should rest properly. Your health is the most important thing.” She played the role of a loving mother perfectly, no different from before.  

Her demeanor made Li Shize relax a little. He wasn’t completely lacking in emotional intelligence, so he didn’t immediately bring up the bracelet. Instead, he used Li Xinyun’s upcoming birthday banquet in a few weeks as a conversation starter, appearing like a good older brother who, though outwardly cold, genuinely cared for his sister.  

But Fang Junrong was no longer fooled. Before Jiang Yage appeared, Li Shize had indeed treated her and her daughter well. However, after falling in love with Jiang Yage, his heart held only love—so-called family bonds became nothing but fleeting clouds. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have sent his own mother to a mental institution, nor would he have stood by indifferently as his biological sister was reduced to a plaything, ultimately driven to suicide.  

After chatting for about a quarter of an hour, Li Shize finally steered the conversation toward his true purpose.  

“Mom, didn’t you have a very beautiful jade bracelet before? Why haven’t I seen you wearing it lately?”  

Having long prepared herself for this, Fang Junrong wasn’t the least bit surprised. She replied casually, “I have several jade bracelets. Which one are you referring to?” Jewelry was the last thing she lacked.  

Li Shize said, “The one with water-colored patterns that resemble mountain ridges.” Since his mother didn’t usually wear it, it probably wasn’t anything particularly important. Asking for it outright shouldn’t be a problem.  

Fang Junrong wore a thoughtful expression before suddenly seeming to recall. “Ah, that bracelet…” She paused, deliberately building suspense before leisurely continuing, “I went on a trip with some friends a while ago and must have misplaced it somewhere. I couldn’t find it afterward.”  

“I still have several others, some even better than that one. Why don’t you pick a different one?”  

As the future heir of the Li family, Li Shize wasn’t short on money and usually didn’t pay much attention to jewelry. If not for Jiang Yage, he wouldn’t have bothered asking his mother for it. Hearing this, his brows furrowed involuntarily, and his voice rose slightly. “Lost? How could it be lost?”  

Fang Junrong sighed. “I really don’t remember. I only realized it was missing when I unpacked after returning. Why do you suddenly want that bracelet?”  

Li Shize forced a smile and brushed it off. “I just liked that one and wanted to match it with an outfit.”  

Now that he knew the bracelet was gone, Jiang Yage’s tearful face involuntarily surfaced in his mind, making him restless. When she found out, she would probably cry under the covers again.  

As the dignified heir of the Li family, he couldn’t even protect a girl’s smile.  

A faint trace of resentment also arose in his heart. Why did his mother have to take that bracelet with her on her trip? He would have to look elsewhere for a similar one.

Because he was in a bad mood, he didn’t continue the conversation and soon found an excuse to leave. He was still thinking about where to buy a suitable bracelet.

Fang Junrong silently scoffed: Good thing she had no feelings left for her Barbecue Pork Son, otherwise seeing him act like this would have been infuriating.

She also began to ponder—perhaps she could have someone forge a similar bracelet to trick Jiang Yage and Li Shize later.

Could deceiving barbecue pork really be called deception?

…

When Jiang Yage learned the bracelet was lost, her disappointment was visibly evident.

She had repeatedly dreamed the same dream. In it, Fang Junrong’s slender, fair wrist wore an emerald-green bracelet. Normally, dreams should only be in black and white, yet that bracelet shone with an iridescent brilliance impossible to ignore.

When she touched the bracelet in the dream, she entered a Blessed Grotto. Though she only vaguely saw a massive stone tablet and mist-shrouded immortal mountains, Jiang Yage sensed its extraordinary nature. Upon waking, she remained haunted by loss, with an overwhelming intuition telling her she must obtain that bracelet.

At first, she thought it was just a daydream. But after having the same dream for a week straight, she secretly inquired with the Li family’s servants. Jiang Yage had always treated them well, turning a blind eye even when they occasionally skimmed small items, out of sympathy for their plight. Consequently, she enjoyed the best rapport among the staff. Thanks to them, she confirmed Fang Junrong did indeed own such a bracelet—one she used to wear often but had stored away in recent years.

To Jiang Yage, the dreams were undoubtedly heaven’s way of reminding her not to miss this opportunity. An itch clawed at her heart, driving her to scheme relentlessly for the bracelet.

In her view, though the bracelet belonged to Fang Junrong, such a divine artifact couldn’t be equated with ordinary jewelry—it had the right to choose its master. She, the one being “reminded,” was surely its true destined owner. Thus, she felt no guilt in plotting for it. After all, in Fang Junrong’s hands, it was just a mundane accessory, a terrible waste. If she could later use it to gain benefits, she could always repay Fang Junrong with filial devotion then.

So she spun a lie to Li Shize about a fictitious fiancé, manipulating him into willingly helping her steal it. What should have been a sure thing unexpectedly slipped through her fingers—the bracelet had vanished.

The shock drained color from her face, her tear-filled eyes welling like twin springs. “It’s really gone?” she whispered incredulously.

Seeing her distress, Li Shize softened. “Don’t worry, I’ll find a way to locate a similar one,” he promised, though his frown deepened. If necessary, he’d threaten whoever came forward with the bracelet. Surely Yage’s so-called fiancé came from no influential family that would dare oppose the Lis.

Jiang Yage couldn’t muster a smile. No other bracelet, no matter how identical, could replace Fang Junrong’s.

She bowed her head. “It’s my fault for not safeguarding it properly,” she murmured.

Like a flower battered by rain, she appeared fragile, pitiable, and utterly helpless.

Li Shize felt even more heartache for her and added another mark against Zhong Yi in his mind. He even suspected that Zhong Yi might have deliberately lost the bracelet. His gaze toward Jiang Yage grew increasingly tender. Jiang Yage looked up, meeting his eyes, then quickly averted her gaze as if she had touched something scalding.  

In their daily interactions, though neither had pierced through that thin veil of ambiguity, they could faintly sense the subtle emotions swirling between them.  

……  

With the bracelet’s trail lost, even with Li Shize occasionally comforting her and even taking her out to buy things, Jiang Yage’s mood remained gloomy, her entire being shrouded in melancholy.  

Li Wangjin wished Jiang Yage were his own daughter, and seeing her like this pained him deeply. He assumed her sorrow stemmed from her parents’ death anniversary approaching, so he decided to take her to meet Wen Sixian.  

Jiang Yage had rarely met this aunt before, but Wen Sixian bore a striking resemblance to her mother, Wen Sier. Seeing her felt like seeing her late mother again, and Jiang Yage couldn’t help but burst into tears.  

After crying and talking for a while, the distance between them quickly closed. Jiang Yage glanced at her aunt Wen Sixian, then at the gentle-faced Li Wangjin, lost in thought.  

Wen Sixian felt slightly embarrassed under her niece’s gaze and tugged at her sleeve, speaking kindly, “Back then, your mother strongly opposed my marriage to your former uncle. We sisters had quite the falling out, so we lost contact.”  

“If Wangjin hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t even have known about your mother’s passing. I didn’t even get to see her one last time.” A faint sorrow and regret colored her expression.  

Li Wangjin already knew the reason Wen Sixian had insisted on marrying that scoundrel back then and felt a little awkward. He made an excuse to leave, letting the two of them talk and bond.  

Jiang Yage’s eyes dimmed. “Mom always thought of you before she passed.” The two reminisced about the unfortunate loss of Wen Sier. After a while, Jiang Yage whispered, “Auntie, do you like Godfather?”  

Wen Sixian blushed. “Don’t talk nonsense. He already has a wife.”  

Jiang Yage lowered her voice. “Godfather and Godmother don’t get along well. They often argue at home, especially since I arrived. Godmother doesn’t seem to like me much.”  

Jiang Yage wasn’t a fool—she could tell Fang Junrong favored Zhong Yi more. Thinking of her mother, and piecing together Li Wangjin’s attitude toward her and his occasional remarks, she could guess a thing or two. If only her mother had chosen Li Wangjin when she was younger—then she would have been his rightful daughter, not a guest tiptoeing around others. Someone as good as Li Wangjin marrying Fang Junrong was truly a shame.  

She looked up at her aunt—Wen Sixian’s features were identical to her mother’s, especially when she smiled.  

Wen Sixian said, “Even if his relationship with Fang Junrong isn’t great, their marriage is still legally protected. I shouldn’t meet him too often—what if someone sees and misunderstands?”  

After Li Wangjin’s friend spotted them last time, he had rarely taken her out. It was only today, to see Jiang Yage, that they met again.

Jiang Yage blurted out, “Then Auntie can come out to meet me often. With me around, others won’t misunderstand.”

Even if Mom found out, she couldn’t say anything. After all, wasn’t it perfectly normal for her to visit her own aunt?

Wen Sixian paused for a moment before affectionately tucking a strand of her niece’s hair behind her ear. “I never had a daughter, but now that I have you, it’s almost like having my own.”