A beautiful summer night

Xia Wanzhi's emotions remained unsettled.

Xia Wanzhi stepped forward and removed the cup that Xie Qiyan was tightly holding from his hand, tentatively touching his fingertips.

Xie Qiyan snapped out of his daze and gripped her hand tightly.

The reaction was different from what I had imagined.

He also felt he should be excited.

But the moment Xie Qiyan saw this painting, his heart, which had been wandering for many years, suddenly calmed down.

"She's still alive." Xie Qiyan's voice was slightly hoarse. "She's still alive..."

Xia Wanzhi's eyes were filled with tears. She stood on tiptoe and reached out to touch his reddened tears: "Yes, he's still alive."

Xie Qiyan's eyelashes trembled slightly. He lowered his eyes, closed them, and a tear wet Xia Wanzhi's fingertip.

She gently wiped it away, slowly moved closer to his chest, wrapped her arms around his waist, and hugged him tightly: "Ayan, it's okay. If she doesn't come looking for us, we'll go find her. I'll go with you to find her."

That evening, Xie Qiyan asked Yu Fei to book a flight to Feiyun City for the next day.

In the winter of the northern city, it is rare to see stars and the moon at night, but Xie Qiyan kept looking up at the night sky that night.

My thoughts drifted away with the wind, only to be brought back by Xia Wanzhi.

"It's windy, let's go inside." Xia Wanzhi draped the blanket she was carrying over Xie Qiyan.

Xie Qiyan withdrew his gaze, turned to the side and pulled Xia Wanzhi to his front, embracing her. The blanket was large enough to cover both of them.

After an hour of wind, Xie Qiyan's hands were cold. Afraid that Xia Wanzhi would get cold, he didn't touch her hands.

“When I was little, whenever Venus and the moon were together, she would take me to climb onto the roof to see this beautiful sight. After I came to the north of the city, I could still see it occasionally when I looked up, but there was no one around to tell me stories about the stars and the moon anymore.”

Xia Wanzhi looked up at the vast night sky, raised her hand to cover the cold hands that were wrapped around her waist, and said softly, "It's rare in winter, so take me to see it in the summer."

Xie Qiyan chuckled and agreed.

The next day, as they boarded the plane to Yuncheng, Xie Qiyan held Xia Wanzhi's hand tightly and fell asleep.

Xia Wanzhi rang the bell and asked for a blanket, which she covered Xie Qiyan with and stared at him from the side.

She knew that Xie Qiyan hadn't slept a wink last night after talking about the guesthouse owner from back then.

The Youqin Flower Sea was created by the guesthouse owner for his sweetheart.

The boss's sweetheart is Xie Qiyan's mother.

The qin in Youqin Town is the Yaoqin.

After talking to Xie Qiyan, Xia Wanzhi thought about it carefully and also felt that Yao Qin had a new life, which was why she hadn't come to see Xie Qiyan for so many years.

But she didn't want it to be like that.

If that's the case, what should Xie Qiyan do?

Xia Wanzhi silently exhaled, banishing these random thoughts from her mind.

Xia Wanzhi didn't remember the events of that year very clearly, since they had only met twice. Now that she thought about it, she vaguely felt that Yao Qin was a bit strange back then.

Too much time had passed, and Xia Wanzhi was unsure, so she didn't tell Xie Qiyan, thinking that she might be able to find out after arriving in Yuncheng.

Ten minutes before the plane landed, Xie Qiyan opened his eyes. Xia Wanzhi stroked his furrowed brows and smiled, "We're almost there."

Feeling Xie Qiyan's tension as her fingers were gripped tightly, Xia Wanzhi patted his hand in return, saying, "I'm here, don't be afraid."

It takes an hour and a half to drive from the airport to Youqin Town. Xia Wanzhi stayed up all night watching over Xie Qiyan on the plane. Now her eyelids were drooping. She tried to stay awake, but Xie Qiyan gently pressed her head onto his shoulder.

"Sleep for a while, be good." Xie Qiyan's eyes were full of heartache. Noticing Xia Wanzhi's hesitant expression, he smiled and ruffled her hair. "With you by my side, I'm not afraid of anything."

Xia Wanzhi then closed her eyes in relief.

More than an hour later, after traveling along a mountain road, the car bumped along. Xia Wanzhi opened her sleepy eyes and was attracted by the scenery outside the car window, which immediately dispelled her drowsiness.

Upon arriving at her destination, Xia Wanzhi felt uneasy and subconsciously looked up at Xie Qiyan, but she couldn't discern any emotion in him.

"Hello, is your boss here?" Xia Wanzhi went directly to the front desk to find someone.

The receptionist glanced at Xia Wanzhi and Xie Qiyan, then called out to the tea room next door, "Boss lady, someone's looking for you."

"Coming, coming, who is it?" A woman in her thirties dressed in local ethnic clothing came out. She was taken aback when she saw Xia Wanzhi smiling at her, and then smiled and said, "You know me?"

Xia Wanzhi shook her head and showed her a photo on her phone: "I want to ask you about someone, take a look."

The proprietress, holding a handful of sunflower seeds, munched on them as she leaned over to look, but shook her head after just one glance: "I don't recognize it."

Xia Wanzhi was slightly taken aback: "Don't you know her? Think again, she's the former owner of this guesthouse... his sweetheart."

As she said the last three words, Xia Wanzhi subconsciously looked at Xie Qiyan.

Xie Qiyan met her gaze, shook his head slightly, and indicated that he didn't care.

His mother was already outstanding; she was probably the object of many people's affections even in her teenage years.

If it weren't for meeting Xie Tianqi...

Upon hearing the mention of the former boss, the proprietress immediately realized and laughed, "You mean Boss Liu, right?"

"I don't know his surname. I came here ten years ago and only interacted with him once or twice. I always called him 'boss' directly. He was... tall and thin, very gentle, and a knowledgeable middle-aged man," Xia Wanzhi described the boss's features.

The proprietress said with a smile, "It's him, it's him! As soon as you mentioned the former boss, I knew it was him. He's so cultured, isn't he? He was my teacher, back in..."

After counting on her fingers, the proprietress smiled and said, "He took his wife and settled abroad eight years ago. The sweetheart you just mentioned should be his wife, but I'm not sure. The teacher's wife is sick here, and I haven't seen her many times. I can't remember what she looks like."

Seeing her point to her head and say she was sick, Xia Wanzhi's heart suddenly tightened.

"You went abroad?" Xie Qiyan frowned slightly. "Which country did you go to?"

Xie Qiyan's sudden outburst startled the proprietress. Xia Wanzhi stepped forward and gently shielded him with her left shoulder, saying to the proprietress, "I apologize for being so rude. Do you have their contact information? It's a long story, but we are very anxious to find them."

“Oh… of course I have their contact information. Although they went to Ireland, Boss Liu talks about his flower field every day. Seven or eight years ago, he couldn’t make much money running a guesthouse here. If he hadn’t offered me a sky-high salary to manage this flower field, I wouldn’t have wanted to do it.”

Xie Qiyan didn't hear anything else, only that the other party had contact information. He said urgently, "Could you please help me contact them? I want to know their specific address so I can visit them in person."

The proprietress, suspicious, took a few steps back, her expression unfriendly: "Who are you to my teacher? How am I supposed to know if you're good or bad people? You come up here asking for my phone number and address..."

"I am the son of your teacher's wife." Xie Qiyan's deep voice stopped the landlady's startled reaction.

The proprietress was taken aback: "N-no... I've never heard of it."

“Yao Qin is my mother.” Xie Qiyan met her scrutinizing gaze.

The proprietress touched her nose: "Where did such a big son come from..."

But she knew that her teacher's wife was indeed named Yao Qin.

"Wait a minute, I'll make a call." The landlady dialed the number, and just before it automatically hung up, the call was finally answered. She exchanged a few pleasantries, "Hello, teacher, how have you been lately..."

The voice cursing on the other end was loud and clear, and Xie Qiyan could hear it fairly clearly.

Half a minute later, when the proprietress mentioned Xie Qiyan, the call was abruptly ended.

The proprietress was stunned for a moment, then innocently spread her hands towards Xia Wanzhi and Xie Qiyan: "This has nothing to do with me."

Xie Qiyan's gaze narrowed slightly, and he was enveloped in a sinister aura.

Why did you hang up the phone?

Over the years, he had thought of many reasons why Yao Qin would not come back to see him, but he never thought that someone was preventing her from coming back.

So, is it this person?

Is this the person who trapped her?

"Can you play it again?" Xia Wanzhi had a vague feeling that there must be some other reason behind this.

The proprietress gave a dry laugh: "I'll give you the number, you can call it yourselves."

Before she could finish speaking, her phone rang, and the proprietress scoffed, "They called back again."

The call connected, and the other party immediately said, "Give him the phone."

The proprietress, a rather carefree person, jokingly asked, "There are two people here, who should I give it to?"

The other person was silent for a few seconds: "Your teacher's wife's son."

The proprietress's pupils contracted slightly, and she handed the phone to Xie Qiyan while glancing at him a few more times.

She really does have a son.

Taking the phone, Xie Qiyan opened his lips slightly, but his throat seemed hoarse and he couldn't utter a sound.

After a long while, a deep voice came from the other end: "Is this Ayan?"

Xie Qiyan remained silent for a long while before finally speaking: "Where is my mother?"

“My surname is Liu, and my name is Liu Shubai. I was your mother’s high school classmate. We’ve met before…”

"I'm asking you where my mother is?" Xie Qiyan repeated.

Liu Shubai paused, gave an address, and then slowly said, "Don't get excited, listen to me first. Your mother might not recognize you, so be prepared when you come."

“Little Ayan, she’s sick, very sick.” Liu Shubai’s voice was full of sorrow.

The journey from Yuncheng to Ireland and then to Yao Qin's current address required a transfer and took a long time, keeping Xie Qiyan on edge the entire way.

He had no expression, but he always held Xia Wanzhi's hand wherever they went.

Only when he felt Xia Wanzhi's warmth did he feel like he was alive.

He didn't know how he felt right now.

Should I be happy?

He was glad that Yao Qin hadn't rejected him or abandoned him.

She was just sick and forgot about him.

But he was in great pain and very sad.

Because Yao Qin was sick, because she had forgotten him.

During the time he suffered greatly in the Xie family, Yao Qin also fell into the abyss of illness, accompanying him through hardship in another way.

But Xie Qiyan would rather she abandoned him.

At least she is healthy and happy; at least she can live a good life.

Upon arriving in Ireland, Xia Wanzhi contacted Liu Shubai and got into the car he sent. As the car drove into the luxurious estate, Xia Wanzhi's previously confused mind suddenly became clear.

Liu Shubai's financial resources are considerable.

If he was always the one by Yao Qin's side, then perhaps he was the one who received advance notice and saved Yao Qin in Yangliu Lane.

Or perhaps, he was the one who rescued Yao Qin after she fell into the lake.