A beautiful summer night

Spring has arrived in the northern city. Yao Qin wore a retro-style suit in frost-flower blue with a fluffy scarf wrapped around her neck. When she lowered her eyes and looked down, half of her face was hidden under the scarf. She spoke to the old man in a gentle and quiet manner.

Just like many years ago when he first saw her.

Xie Tianqi's eyes flickered slightly, his breathing was long and shallow, yet slightly unsteady.

Sitting next to her, Liu Shubai kept his eyes on Yao Qin.

It looks just like it did many years ago.

After exchanging a few words with the old man, Yao Qin slowly raised her head and glanced at Xie Tianqi, who also had half a head of white hair.

This is a meeting that has been over twenty years since the last one.

She came to see this man wearing the same color dress she had worn when they first met, just to make a formal farewell.

Say goodbye to obsession, say goodbye to your past self, say goodbye to the man you once deeply loved who betrayed you.

Yao Qin thought she would feel lost, sad, angry, and resentful.

But at this moment, there is none.

No unnecessary emotions, none at all.

There was only a faint calm.

"I want to talk to you." Her purpose today was simple: she just wanted to talk to him.

Let's talk about that incident from back then.

The old man left first, followed closely by Xia Wanzhi, who was holding Xie Qiyan's hand in one hand and Xie Tan's hand in the other. Only Liu Shubai stood next to Yao Qin with fire in his eyes, looking as if he wouldn't let anyone get close to Yao Qin.

"Aren't you leaving?" Xie Qiyan called out to him as he turned around.

Liu Shubai didn't say anything; he really didn't want to leave.

After a long standoff, Yao Qin finally nudged him and said, "You and Ayan wait outside. It'll be quick."

Hearing these words, which sounded somewhat comforting and reassuring, Liu Shubai moved forward, glancing back at every step.

"Xie Tan, go find Grandpa." Xia Wanzhi stopped and patted Xie Tan's shoulder to let her leave.

Children should not eavesdrop on adults' conversations.

But adults can.

Xie Tan's lips twitched, but when he met his older brother's fierce gaze, he had no choice but to leave sensibly.

The three of them were not far away and could hear the conversation inside the house clearly.

Yao Qin spoke up first: "Why?"

Just like more than 20 years ago, I only asked one question: why?

"I don't want to get the same answer I didn't get back then, not today either," Yao Qin questioned him, suppressing her emotions.

Xie Tianqi just stared at her blankly: "Your illness..."

"Thanks to you," Yao Qin interrupted him before he could finish speaking.

She was afraid it was a word of concern for her.

Xie Tianqi retracted his unfinished sentence and gave a sarcastic smile: "Thanks to me? The man you've lived with for so many years is that man, not me. How could it be thanks to me?"

“Yes, without Shubai, I would have died long ago.” Yao Qin didn’t argue with him, but looked up at him urgently and asked again, “Xie Tianqi, back then, why?”

Why did you leave her? Why didn't you love her? Why did you betray her?

"I already answered you." Xie Tianqi looked at her, but only glanced at her before looking away. "There's no reason, I just don't love you anymore."

“You don’t stop loving me, you hate me.” Yao Qin’s voice grew lower and slower. Since he didn’t say it, she said it for him. “You hate me, you hate me for making you lose your wealth and status, you hate me for making you live in a small courtyard with blue tiles.”

"But when I broke up with you, it was you who disagreed, it was you who insisted! It was you who voluntarily severed ties with your family, it was you who voluntarily went to Nancheng with me! Even if you regret it, even if you hate me... why do you hate Ayan too?" Yao Qin's voice was muffled, unable to swallow the bitterness in her throat, "He's your son..."

She thought he would at least treat their son well, and she thought that with the Xie family's wealth and status, Xie Qiyan would be better off.

After learning about Xie Qiyan's activities in the Xie family over the years, Yao Qin felt like she was on the edge of a knife. She regretted it, regretted that she had personally sent her son to hell.

She was resentful, hating Xie Tianqi for being unworthy of being a father and unworthy of being a human being.

Xie Tianqi used to treat Xie Qiyan so well.

She thought that at least he would treat their son well.

She also hated herself.

In her entire life, the only two men she felt sorry for were her son and Liu Shubai.

She knew that she was deeply sinful.

Perhaps it was fate that gave her a chance to atone for her sins, so she returned.

He came back to atone for his sins.

"Is he my son?" Xie Tianqi finally looked up at Yao Qin again. Whether in the past or now, he was still afraid of her crying. He laughed self-deprecatingly, but the laughter was mixed with nameless anger. "Is he my son?"

Like a boulder that had been pressing on his chest for many years finally shattering, what erupted was a series of humiliating and furious shouts: "Ask yourself if he is really my son!"

The shout was louder than the sound of him slamming his hand on the table. Not only was Yao Qin astonished, but even Xia Wanzhi and Xie Qiyan, who were eavesdropping at the door, were incredulous.

After a while, Xia Wanzhi mechanically turned to look at Liu Shubai.

After observing for a few seconds, her gaze slowly shifted to Xie Qiyan's face.

Try to find out what these two people have in common.

Unlike the shock of the others, Liu Shubai's face only showed a more intense rage than Xie Tianqi's.

His remaining rationality chained him to the door.

He knew he couldn't go in and beat that bastard up.

Their conversation was not over yet.

Yao Qin will get angry.

As their eyes met, a hint of indignation flashed across their faces, followed by a look that shifted from astonishment to disappointment.

"So...that's how it is." Yao Qin stopped looking at him, slowly stood up while holding onto the armrest of the chair, and looked down at Xie Tianqi.

Looking down at the man from his elevated position.

She laughed, a laugh tinged with irony.

It turns out that the answer I've been looking for all this time is so absurd.

The answer is absurd.

Xie Tianqi is even more so.

"What are you laughing at?" Xie Tianqi's breathing was heavy and his heart was aching from the emotional turmoil he had just experienced.

"You think he's not your son..." Yao Qin choked up, unable to accept this answer, the mixed feelings in her heart making it hard for her to breathe.

How ridiculous.

She forced a smile and said, "Just because of your own assumptions, you broke your promises, betrayed your feelings, and abandoned your wife and children."

"Xie Tianqi, it was me... I misjudged you, I was deceiving myself." Clenching her fists, her constricted pupils held back from falling a single tear as Yao Qin took a deep breath.

After a long pause, I asked him, "Then whose son do you think he could be?"