Chaрtеr 23: Неаven.
The nехt day, Нe Yang wеnt tо wоrk саrrуing a bаg аnd саlmly eхplained, “I’m going tо mу aunt’s рlасе аt noоn tо сheck if hеr bаck is fеeling better.”
Jiаng Siyе glanced аt her. “Whаt’s in the bаg?”
“А seahоrse,” He Yаng liеd withоut blinking. “I’m gоing to takе а nар there.”
Jiаng Siyе ruffled her hаir. “I’ll pick уou up аfter work.”
Hе Yаng nоdded.
Lin Тing wаs almost frightenеd. “Did Brоthеr-in-law reаlly not nоticе?”
Не Yang shоok her hеad.
“It’s all mу fаult fоr being careless,” Lin Ting said regrеtfullу. “I should have onlу tаken the seаhоrse.”
He Yang held He Zhengzheng. “It’s the same either way. His shrewdness isn’t about one thing or two.”
Lin Ting hesitated briefly before cautiously saying, “Sis, you have to let yourself…” move on.
A machine is just a machine.
It’s not him, not Zhengzheng.
Before she could finish, He Yang looked out the window. “I don’t want to move on.”
“…”
“Jiang Siye gave up on him so easily,” He Yang said numbly. “If I happily welcome a second child now, I’d feel like I’m betraying him.”
Lin Ting worried about her state. “Sis…”
He Yang said, “Life is meaningless, without hope or purpose. I’m trapped in it, and only pain makes me feel alive. I won’t move on.”
Lin Ting’s heart sank.
She felt He Yang was sick.
Very, very sick.
Unable to escape the Jiang family’s cage, she allowed herself to sink deeper.
“Sis,” Lin Ting asked, “did you mention divorce to Brother-in-law, and he refused?”
He Yang didn’t speak.
The autumn scenery outside the window was beautiful, but it couldn’t reach her eyes.
Lin Ting asked again, “What about filing a lawsuit?”
As soon as she said it, Lin Ting suddenly understood. “Did he threaten you?”
But what could He Yang be threatened with?
Lin Ting abruptly stood up, certain. “He used me and Mom to threaten you!”
The sunlight outside the window made He Yang’s face appear translucent, her eyes shimmering with a gentle light.
“Tingting,” she whispered, “look, the white hibiscus has bloomed. Could you pick one for me?”
Across from the residential area stood a tall hibiscus tree, blooming in two colors: white and rose-red.
He Yang liked white, while Lin Ting preferred rose-red.
Suppressing her worry and anger, Lin Ting went out to pick the flower for her.
When she returned, He Yang was asleep, holding the robot.
She slept peacefully.
The gentle breeze drifted in, making the fine, translucent hairs on her face tremble slightly.
Lin Ting was overwhelmed with sorrow.
It wasn’t about threats or no threats.
He Yang was disappointed.
A powerless disappointment.
The love she had held sacred had torn apart the truth of her marriage, revealing it as nothing more than a cruel exchange.
She thought the person sharing her bed was a gentleman, but she had accidentally glimpsed the scoundrel he truly was.
Her lover, utterly and cruelly unrecognizable.
Jiang Siye noticed the seahorse was gone, and so were the small clothes.
According to He Yang, the clothes were made for Zhengzheng.
She could claim she took the seahorse to her aunt’s for a nap.
But the clothes?
Jiang Siye reclined in his executive chair, his phone spinning back and forth in his hand.
After a moment of silence, his gaze turned icy. He made a call. “What about the gift you gave my wife?”
“That robot.”
“I’ve reconsidered and decided to take it.”
“Xi Shang?”
The call ended.
Jiang Siye hadn’t called Xi Shang but Xi Le instead.
Xi Le answered cheerfully, “What’s up, Fourth Brother?”
“Yesterday’s comic convention?” Jiang Siye’s voice was casual. “What did your brother buy you?”
Xi Le chattered excitedly about everything.Finally, he said, “I also ran into Fourth Sister-in-law. Fourth Brother, can I go play with Fourth Sister-in-law in the future?”
“Does your Fourth Sister-in-law like you?” Jiang Siye asked casually. “Only if you get along well. Otherwise, don’t come bother us.”
“Fourth Brother, you’re so mean,” Xi Le said unhappily. “Fourth Sister-in-law definitely likes me. It was only for my sake that she accepted my brother’s gift and agreed to become their shareholder.”
Jiang Siye suddenly let out a laugh.
An angry laugh.
Not long after the call ended, Xi Shang came to his office.
He wanted to curse out two idiots.
One was Cao Yingjun.
The other was Xi Lele!
Two big fools!
“It wasn’t me who offered it first,” Xi Shang started by shifting the blame. “Your wife asked for it.”
Jiang Siye lowered his eyelids. “Right. You get to be the good guy, and I’m stuck being the bad one.”
Xi Shang said, “Why do you and your wife care about being good people?”
Jiang Siye replied, “She doesn’t like bad people.”
“Then you’re done for,” Xi Shang said bluntly. “We’re all three-dimensional beings with human complexity, but you’re just flat-out bad, purely bad.”
Jiang Siye warned him, “She’s sick. What you did will only make her condition worse.”
Xi Shang asked, “Are you so sure the cause is the child?”
Jiang Siye’s tone turned cold. “What do you mean?”
“I know everything,” Xi Shang said. “The child was critically ill, and resuscitation failed. You had your reasons for signing off. After the pain of losing the child passed, your wife should have understood your decision. But why didn’t she? Instead, it only got worse.”
Jiang Siye’s gaze turned icy. “Get out.”
“I’m not leaving,” Xi Shang insisted. “It’s because the issues between you have been snowballing, growing bigger and bigger until the child’s incident happened. The snowball became so bloated it couldn’t roll anymore.”
Jiang Siye asked, “Are you leaving or not?”
Xi Shang said, “If I compare you to the child, the child was just a pimple, but you’re the tumor…”
Before he could finish, a metal keyboard flew toward him.
Xi Shang had been prepared, but he still felt he had been too reckless. He should have brought Cao Yingjun along.
At least if things really went south, he could have made Cao Yingjun die in front of Jiang Siye.
Jiang Siye’s eyes were pitch black. “I won’t divorce.”
Xi Shang, still shaken, said, “It’s not me divorcing you.”
He picked up the keyboard. “If you lay a hand on me again, I’ll tell your wife that you threatened me.”
Jiang Siye: “…”
Xi Shang was surprised.
Damn, he said it offhand, and it actually worked.
Feeling as if he had grasped some leverage, Xi Shang calmly helped him put the keyboard back.
“There’s a terminal illness called small cell lung cancer,” he coughed lightly. “Once it’s discovered, it’s already in the late stages.”
Jiang Siye said flatly, “Goodbye. On the day your company goes public, I’ll burn some paper money to let you know.”
“…” Xi Shang held back. “I’m talking about you.”
Jiang Siye was done for.
But he hadn’t realized it yet.
The cancer cells had already spread throughout his body, and he was in pain everywhere, yet he still hadn’t noticed.
And the little wings of his life-saving medicine were still developing.
When they finally flew away one day, Xi Shang didn’t even dare to imagine the tragic scene.
Xi Shang deliberately asked, “Should I go get the robot back from your wife?”
Jiang Siye glared at him coldly. “Give me back the land.”
“…” Xi Shang immediately felt guilty. “I have things to do. I’m leaving, I’m leaving.”
At the door, Xi Shang turned back, curious. “Are you really not going to let her keep it?”
Jiang Siye’s patience ran out. “Are you leaving or not?”
Xi Shang clicked his tongue.
The office returned to quiet.
After a long, heavy silence, Jiang Siye stood up and went to pick up He Yang.They were all hiding things from him.
What was there to talk about letting or not letting?
Arriving at his aunt’s house.
The bedroom door was indeed tightly shut again, and He Yang even nervously blocked him when his gaze slid over it.
Even though it was behind the door, he couldn’t see anything at all.
“What about the hippocampus,” Jiang Siye lowered his eyes, “not taking it back?”
He Yang seemed to stiffen for a moment: “Leave it here, to comfort Lin Ting.”
Lin Ting: “…”
Jiang Siye calmly looked over, his words carrying a double meaning: “If you comfort her any more, she’ll be flying to the sky.”