Five years ago, Lin Ting had already explained.
He didn’t believe her.
Five years later, driven to desperation, she hurriedly explained again:
“Jiang Yu, five years ago, I didn’t sleep with Zhou Ziheng, nor did I conspire with him to leak Lin Jiang Pharmaceutical’s research secrets to Zhou Pharmaceutical.”
“Sending me to prison was a complete injustice.”
“Youzi really is your daughter.”
“Don’t call me Jiang Yu. You don’t deserve to.” Jiang Yu, his eyes filled with hatred, only believed in evidence. “The evidence is conclusive. No one wronged you.”
It took Lin Ting a while to muster the strength to straighten her thin, frail frame.
Enduring the physical and emotional pain, she regained her previous detachment, politeness, and plea.
“Mr. Jiang, at that time, Xiao Youzi was still in my womb. I had no proof.”
“But now, you can take a paternity test.”
“I don’t ask you to love or cherish her, only to give her food to eat, send her to school, let her survive until adulthood, and then support herself.”
“Mr. Jiang, you don’t have to believe me. You can think of me as a woman full of lies and schemes. None of that matters… but please, I beg you, take a paternity test!”
Her voice was humble to the point of being in the dust.
After speaking, she quickly took a box from her bag and handed it to Jiang Yu.
“This is a lock of Xiao Youzi’s hair.”
Jiang Yu didn’t immediately take the box.
Lin Ting held it up humbly, afraid of missing anything, and continued:
“Our daughter is four years and ten months old. Her birthdate was half a month later than the due date.”
“Her nickname is Xiao Youzi because, like you, she loves eating pomelos and never gets tired of them.”
“Youzi’s full name is Lin Jinyi.”
The name Jinyi was chosen by Jiang Yu.
Back then, Jiang Yu said that if they ever had a daughter, she would be named Jinyi.
Holding virtue like jade, single-minded and sincere.
This beautifully meaningful name stirred the hatred and pain within Jiang Yu, making them surge and clamor.
He still didn’t take the box from Lin Ting’s hand.
A mocking smile appeared on his refined yet cold face.
“Lin Ting, does your daughter deserve to use this name?”
Lin Ting had no choice. “She’s your daughter too, conceived during our last time together.”
“Lin Ting, we argued about this five years ago. Is there any need to argue again now? That time, I used a condom. You couldn’t have gotten pregnant.”
“But it was that time when I conceived.”
“Enough!”
An impatient roar cut Lin Ting off.
Lin Ting instantly felt physically and emotionally drained.
“Mr. Jiang, what will it take for you to agree to take a paternity test?”
“Do I need to kneel and beg you?”
“If that’s what you need, I can…”
As she spoke, still holding the box, she was about to kneel.
Her humble, pleading voice didn’t bring Jiang Yu any satisfaction.
He took the box, angrily interrupting her:
“Enough! Don’t dirty my carpet. Your dignity is worthless. I’ll take the hair. You can leave now…”
Even though Xiao Youzi’s hair was now in his possession,
Lin Ting still felt deeply uncertain.
With utmost sincerity and a heart full of pleading, she added two more sentences:
“If Mr. Jiang agrees to take a paternity test with Xiao Youzi, Lin Ting will be eternally grateful!”
“Also, before the test results come out, I beg you, Mr. Jiang, not to let a third person know what we discussed today.”
“Please!”
After saying this, Lin Ting bowed deeply and tactfully turned to leave.
Jiang Yu’s gaze shifted from the box in his hand to her retreating figure.
Her thin, frail silhouette grew farther and farther away, like a dream that could never be grasped.
At the doorway, Lin Weiwei stood there holding tea and snacks.
Lin Ting, opening the door, nearly bumped into her.
“Sister, are you done talking so soon? I was just about to bring you some tea and snacks.”
“I won’t disturb you. I’ll be leaving now.”
Lin Ting slightly turned aside and walked away.
After she left, Jiang Yu took the tray from Lin Weiwei’s hands, and the two of them entered the study together.
As they sat down, Lin Weiwei expressed her worry and concern:
“Jiang Yu, what did my sister want from you? Is she in some kind of trouble? Did something happen to her and her daughter?”
Jiang Yu did not answer directly. “Don’t overthink it. No matter who comes, it won’t affect our marriage.”
“I’m just worried about my sister and her daughter.”
As Lin Weiwei said this, Jiang Yu glanced out the study window again.
Just in time, he saw the figures of Lin Ting and her daughter, one large and one small, leaving under the incomplete moonlight, looking even more desolate.
When he turned back to say something to Lin Weiwei and looked again, the figures of Lin Ting and her daughter were nowhere to be seen.
There, aside from the cold moonlight and the swaying shadows of the trees in the courtyard, it was empty, with nothing at all—just like his own empty heart over the years.
This fleeting look of loss was still caught by Lin Weiwei, and her expression immediately darkened, sinking into sudden unease.
Jiang Yu lowered his head and looked at the small box in his hand.
Inside was a lock of Xiao Youzi’s hair.
In his mind, the image of Xiao Youzi, obedient and adorable, surfaced.
He had only seen the child once, yet he remembered Youzi’s appearance so vividly.
With curiosity, Lin Weiwei smiled and asked, “Jiang Yu, did my sister leave that box for you? What’s inside?”
Jiang Yu looked up.
Lin Weiwei smiled gently again. “It’s fine, I won’t ask. I know that, no matter what, your heart will always be with me.”
As she spoke, Lin Weiwei pulled out a red string from Jiang Yu’s collar, with a cinnabar bottle hanging from it.
“This is a protective charm I begged for you at Qingquan Ancient Temple after your car accident, kneeling for nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine steps. I’ve been feeling uneasy lately. You must never take it off, or I’ll feel even more unsettled.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep it on.” Jiang Yu, preoccupied, forced a smile.
Then, he brushed her off with a remark. “Go sleep in the guest room. I’ll take you back tomorrow. There’s still a lot to do with the development of the specific anticancer drug. I need to work a bit longer.”
“Alright.” Before leaving, Lin Weiwei reminded him again not to take off the protective charm.
After she left, Jiang Yu held Xiao Youzi’s hair for a long time, lost in deep thought.
Was Xiao Youzi really his daughter?
Had he wronged Lin Ting?
Should he take Xiao Youzi’s hair and get a paternity test done?
Holding Xiao Youzi’s hair, Jiang Yu quickly made up his mind.
…
In the night breeze, Lin Ting held her daughter’s small hand, walking all the way out of this antique-style luxury residential area.
Xiao Youzi, who was usually chirpy and talkative, had remained silent all along.
Only when Xiao Youzi stopped and lifted her head to look at her weary mother did she ask, “Mom, was that very fierce uncle just now my dad?”