The Secret Realm of Time, His and Her Life Through the Changes

In the villa of "Zi Mo Yuan", Fang Xichen checked the ingredients for dinner in the kitchen. The proportion of meat dishes was a bit too high, so she asked Chu Fanyan to add two more vegetarian dishes. She also gave the chef a few instructions: "When the master comes back for dinner today, remember to use less oil and salt in all the dishes."

Then, she returned to the small tea room next to the restaurant, brewed herself a cup of ginseng tea, and picked up the script of "The Legend of Huizhou Merchants" to read.

In the afternoon, she spoke on the phone with Chairman Shao of Shaopaimeng Film and Television Group, the producer of "The Legend of Huizhou Merchants".

"Chairman Shao, according to the report, your group, as the producer, has a good project, a TV series called 'The Legend of Huizhou Merchants'."

"Ah, Mr. Fang, that was something my granddaughter and a few of her good friends did together, right? Why would Fangrun Group be interested in such a small project? Is Fangrun going to enter the film and television industry? What business is it of ours? Hahaha."

Chairman Shao is quite old, but his voice is still very strong and powerful.

"Not at all, Chairman Shao is joking. We are only fit to do hard labor. How can we compare with those who do art? You provide spiritual nourishment, you are the superstructure."

"Mr. Fang, you must have something to tell me by calling you amidst your busy schedule."

"To be honest, there's something I'd like to ask Chairman Shao to take a look at."

"Speak, what is it? Let's see if I can help."

"It's my son, Shang Yibo. He was supposed to join the cast of 'Legend of Huizhou Merchants,' but recently some unpleasant things happened at home, and some malicious people posted them online, which caused quite a stir. Because of this, the production team notified us that they would be replacing him."

"Shang Yibo is your son, right? He's the actor who's been really popular lately. My granddaughter mentioned his name last night."

Chairman Shao paused for a moment and said, "It's nothing serious. I'll ask her about it in a bit."

"I'm relieved to hear that. I know this project isn't short of money, but I do have some resources that I can help connect you with if the project needs them."

"Okay, I'll tell them. Please convey their thanks to Mr. Fang for his support."

Fang Xichen hung up the phone.

She asked her assistant, Li Xue, to get the script for "The Legend of Huizhou Merchants" from Yihua Entertainment, wanting to understand the project's progress so that she wouldn't be in such a passive position if something happened in the future.

Given the status and position of her Fang and Chu families, if Chu Fanqing knew that she had to personally make phone calls to try and secure a role in a TV series, she would definitely be criticized.

Fang Xichen took a sip of ginseng tea. He had only read a few pages of the script when he heard Chu Fanqing's voice from the entrance hall: "Has Madam not returned yet?"

"Madam has returned and is now reading in the tea room."

Fang Xichen glanced at the clock on the wall in front of her; it was just past six.

He thought to himself, "They're back so early today."

She walked out of the tea room and headed towards the entrance.

As soon as he entered the living room, he bumped into Chu Fanqing, who had just come in.

"You came back quite early today."

"Put everything aside and come back earlier so we can discuss things together."

The two talked and walked into the living room together in tacit understanding.

Aya brought over Fang Xichen's ginseng tea from the tea room and brewed another cup of the same ginseng tea for Chu Fanqing.

"The master is back early today, should we set the table early?" Aya put down her teacup and asked, standing next to Fang Xichen.

"No need, wait for Yibo to come back."

"Okay, ma'am."

Chu Fanqing took a sip of tea and waited for Aya to leave before speaking, "When Yibo comes back, I want to talk to him about his biological father."

"Should we tell him everything?" Fang Xichen asked with some concern. "Should we wait a bit longer? The child is currently facing some troubles that haven't been resolved yet."

"My plan is to only tell him about his biological father, Yin Bei, today, and tell him the rest later."

"Oh? I think that's a good idea." Fang Xichen's face showed affection. "I can tell that he's wanted to ask who his biological father is for a long time, but he's been holding back because he cares about your feelings. He's been suffering and struggling with himself. Sigh, Yibo is a kind and good kid."

"Hmph, does Yin Bei even deserve such a good son?" Chu Fanqing said indignantly.

"Keep your voice down, it's not good if someone hears you. So many years have passed, how can you still hold such a grudge?"

Chu Fanqing's face was gloomy, and when Yin Bei was mentioned, an unconcealable anger surfaced in his eyes.

"Look at you, you've already started making this face before anything's even happened. What will Yibo think when he sees this?"

Fang Xichen pictured the sad and pained expression on Yibo's face when he heard about his father.

She couldn't help but recall the time when she first stepped into this home...

A year after Chu Fanqing's wife, Shang Yuchen, passed away, Fang Xichen married Chu Fanqing. Shang Yibo was only three years old at the time. So young, he witnessed his mother's death but didn't understand what death meant. He saw Aunt Yan crying, his father crying, and all the adults in the family crying. Shang Yibo cried along with them, not understanding why people cried whenever they looked at his mother's photo. White flowers were placed beside his mother's picture, but he remembered that his mother preferred red flowers. They dressed little Yibo in a black suit, while his mother always liked to dress him in white, saying, "Our Yibo has fair skin; light-colored clothes look best on him." He couldn't help but wonder if it was because these weren't things his mother liked that she remained lying there. This was Shang Yibo's first understanding of death. Later, the adults told him that his mother was gone and would never come back. Little Yibo, who had only recently learned to speak, was so shocked that he refused to speak again.

Shang Xiaolian passed away six months before Shang Yuchen, and Chu Fanqing took over the Shang family business, facing unprecedented challenges. At that time, the Shang family was facing a severe cash flow shortage and was on the verge of bankruptcy. Chu Fanqing not only had to negotiate loan extensions with financial institutions, but also had to navigate among creditors to buy more time and space to deal with the debt issues. However, misfortune followed one after another. Shang Yuchen passed away tragically, and young Shang Yibo was left with aphasia, which made Chu Fanqing's family situation even worse. Amidst this internal and external crisis, Chu Fanqing unexpectedly encountered his college classmate Fang Xichen at a signing ceremony for a bridge loan to alleviate financial pressure.

Fang Xichen and Chu Fanqing were a couple deeply in love during their university years. Back then, Chu Fanqing suddenly proposed marrying Shang Yuchen, leading to their breakup. After this reunion, Fang Xichen learned that Chu Fanqing had unspeakable reasons for making that decision. Seeing the immense pressure he now endures, Fang Xichen deeply understands his hardships.

When the two meet again, the ashes of their past love seem to retain a faint, almost imperceptible warmth. It quietly awakens, igniting a new spark in each other's eyes...