More than 20 years ago, Qiao Langâs mother was the daughter of an affluent family whose wealth was enough to protect her naivety for the rest of her life.
She met Qiao Langâs father, a mature and handsome man at a dinner party. His sharp appearance then had aroused great attention amongst the women there.
As usual, at every dinner banquet, there would always be several pairs of males and females who would get acquainted with each other. More importantly, she knew of his dirty background and profession. So, despite her good impression of him, she knew he was not the best choice to make and kept a good distance away from him.
Later on, her father went on to make several mistakes that caused the downfall of his business. This resulted in a lot of debt, and the whole family was driven out onto the streets. It was here, at this critical time, that Qiao Langâs father came forward to help her father pay his debts and help her family settle down. Feeling grateful, she eventually agreed to get together with him.
At that time, she didnât know that he already had a wife.
And that this wife also came from a mafia family who was equal to the Qiao family in terms of power. As someone who was jealous in nature, the wife then sent someone to negotiate with Qiao Langâs mother when she knew of her existence.
Only then did Qiao Langâs mother know that she had been deceived by him.
What was the most shocking thing was that her fatherâs bankruptcy was not due to the mistakes he made, but due to someoneâs interference. Nonetheless, despite the hatred in her heart, what could she have done in the end? She was just a weak woman with no power.
She ended up promising to leave him.
However, he was unwilling to let her leave and threatened her with her parents. Even so, she knew that if she dared to stay, his wife would not let her family go either.
In the end, her parents died and no bones could be retrieved. During the dispute between the two sides, several cars crashed into each other due to dysfunctional brakes, causing an explosion.
That year, this was the biggest news in the city, and it was widely discussed on the newspapers and TV for two months. There was no one who hadnât heard of such an accident.
The Qiao family finally managed to ruin her family and leave her with nothing.
She eventually left Qiao Langâs father and gave birth to the child secretly while in hiding. Despite her attempts in doing so, she was eventually found out by his wife who continuously sent people to kill her and her son. Meanwhile, Qiao Langâs father never knew that he had a son who was living elsewhere.
Qiao Langâs mother ended up using all her money to smuggle them to England.
And for the rest of her life, she was never able to return back to her hometown.
âWhen I was eight years old, I arrived in England with my mother. At that young age, I would often see her staring blankly at things and weeping unconsciously. What we were most afraid of was the Immigration Bureau coming to knock on our door so we lived in fear for so many years. I then swore that whatever the Qiao family owes me, Iâll take them all back at any cost.â Qiao Lang clenched his hands into fists as his body trembled slightly.
After listening to him, I was silent for a long time.
âSo you used me to leave England.â
Qiao Lang admitted, âä¸At first.â
So itâs like this, I had finally understood everything.
I was wealthy, gullible, and had social connections. Who else could he use if it was not me?
âHowever, my feelings towards you are sincere.â
I gave a forced smile. He was sincere but wasnât I as well?
I told him, âBut our relationship ended four years ago.â
âAt that time, I was just afraid that Qiao Yi would hurt you. Since I wanted the Qiao family to pay the price, I couldnât keep you around. â He then continued to say, âNow that itâs all over, we can start over again.â
âItâs too late, Qiao lang. Itâs already too late.â I looked at him lightly.
At that time, I was willing to give up the Pei family for him, but he was unwilling to forsake his revenge for me. It was such an unfair situation and only I, this fool, would be willing to do so in the past; willing to give up everything without getting anything in return.
However, the current me has exhausted all my naivety and does not have the strength left to play this game anymore. When faced with such a gamble, I just want to retreat.
Before he left, Qiao Lang said, âItâs ok, I can wait until you change your mind.â
Yes, he could wait, but Pei Jiyu would not return.
In my life, I could only gamble on each person once. And since he made me lose all my gambling chips, I couldnât go back to the gambling table anymore.
He could continue to wait, but the person he waits for will no longer be Pei JiYu.
As someone imprisoned in Qiaoâs house, I could do everything else except going out and making phone calls.
Now, I finally understood why Qiao Yi had said that my naivety was laughable. The Qiao house was really not a place where I could just enter or walk away from easily. When Qiao Lang had brought me back, he had never intended to let me go.
For someone like him, he always holds onto the things that he wants firmly.
I said to Qiao Lang, âWhat you are doing is illegal and could cause you to be sentenced to prison for two to three years.â
Despite the severity of such words, he just laughed, âBelieve me. No one in this city will lock me up just because of this.â
What he said was undeniable. In todayâs world, just by having money and power, anyone can do whatever they want.
However, why did I have nothing despite the affluence of the Pei family?
Itâs getting harder and harder for me to fall asleep at night. I would also often wake up in the middle of the night due to the pain.
The moonlight during winter was as white and cold as snow. I could only stop myself from recalling my past by counting sheep continuously.
Since I was already in such pain, a little bit more would not make it any more unbearable.
The painkillers I had on hand were also running out.
Eventually, the pain not only affected my sleep, but also my appetite.
As I sat at the dining table, my chopsticks pushed the food in my rice bowl around. I was unable to eat much.
Seeing this, Qiao Lang asked, âIs the food not to your taste?â
I shook my head and replied, âI just have no appetite â can you get me some aspirin, those that are enteric-coated?â
âAre you sick? Is it a fever? â He asked with concern and reached out a hand to touch my forehead, which I avoided.
I replied, âIâm not sick, Iâm just using it to grow flowers since I have nothing to do here.â
I didnât tell him the truth as there was no need for him to know.
The next day, a servant brought me aspirins, and all kinds of flowers. Some were planted in flower pots while some were branches directly cut off from the parent plants. They were all piled up in the living room.
The servant said, âThe young master had said that if there is anything else you want, you could tell him.â
I nodded.
âOh!â Qiao Yi exclaimed when he went down the stairs and saw the flowers all over the room.
Looking pale, he must have been out all night, and only returned in the early morning. He would always sleep during the day and leave the house at night.
Thus, I would hardly see him around.
âQiao Lang treats you so well that even I feel touched.â Qiao Yi picked up a flower, and glanced at it for a moment before throwing it aside.
He then dismissed the servant and sat down on the sofa. âI heard that Qiao Lang was personally cooking your meals. For you, he was willing to wash his hands and make soup. Pei JiYu, whatâs so good about you?â
Qiao Yi examined me closely as if he could not understand.
It turned out that the food was cooked by Qiao Lang himself and I didnât know about it.
He probably still remembered our past in England.
I really didnât know what to say.
Honestly, I was touched by such a gesture, but it came too late and I had no more spare energy to bear such gestures anymore.