The cardboard box was twisted out of shape in his hands. On their first night together, Song Qing ran to the bathroom at a crucial moment, apparently to take her medication. Perhaps she had already decided that day, before marrying him, that she didn't want children.
- Yi Zhengwei: "Zhengwei, what have you thought about Shen Huidong's matter?"
Yi Zhengwei's expression was not good. He reversed the car and quickly drove out of the Song family's house, making several sharp braking sounds.
"Xiao Qing, don't force me."
Song Qing found it amusing. She always handled matters professionally, and she admired Yi Zhengwei in the same way at work, appreciating his cautious and steady work attitude. She believed that withdrawing investment from Shen Huidong's company was a good thing for everyone. After bringing it up with him last time, she gave him half a month to consider it, but she didn't expect that Yi Zhengwei would still respond like this today.
They behaved very well in front of Madam Song, but when it came to Shen Xing's family, he still had his own selfish motives.
She pursed her lips and looked out the window, remaining silent. Fuhua had just gone public, and the shareholders' meeting was in two days. If Shen Huidong had kept a low profile, she wouldn't have felt anything even if he had taken the funds from the bank. She understood that Yi Zhengwei felt guilty towards Shen Xing, but he insisted on using the bank's name to promote himself everywhere, reaping both fame and fortune. Shen Xing certainly didn't know about this.
"Fuhua's reputation is more important than anyone else's, huh?"
Song Qing gave a cold laugh, her tone calm, "I thought you were decisive and objective, and always considered others. We are all business people, and we always believe in mutual benefit. I am a fair person. You can disregard my feelings, but if you blur the lines between public and private matters and harm the interests of other shareholders for your own selfish desires, I will definitely not condone it."
Yi Zhengwei took a deep breath, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty. He slammed on the brakes and pulled the car over to the side of the road. After calming down, he said with a hint of sarcasm, "President Song, you're telling me now that you're blurring the lines between public and private matters? Doesn't that sound a bit like you're kicking someone after they've served their purpose? I thought we had already reached a consensus on this matter before we got married."
Song Qing had no way out at this point, so she could only say, "Well, Mr. Yi, since you've brought this up, I must clarify something. I haven't interfered with your relationship with Ms. Shen Xing before or after your marriage. I'm also very clear about why you married me. I've always kept my public and private matters separate, okay? Indeed, as a partner, Fuhua has always owed you something. I admit it's my fault for not doing my job properly. When things happened within the Song family, I always made you, Mr. Yi, share the burden. But Fuhua's future is limitless. In the new year, I will definitely not let you leave empty-handed. That's my promise to you. As for you, insisting on bringing our private consensus to the table, which affects the company's interests, I can't ignore that. Let's not talk about how I'll explain this to my shareholders or what they'll think of me as Mrs. Yi. Okay, that's my personal matter, and I can take responsibility for it. But Fuhua's Power No. 1 project will officially start after the new year. I can't allow any unfavorable factors to exist. Therefore, I request that you, Mr. Yi, resolve this issue before the shareholders' meeting the day after tomorrow."
As Yi Zhengwei listened, he nodded with a disdainful smile. After Song Qing finished speaking the last word, he clapped lightly and said indifferently, "Good, good eloquence."
"If you disagree, you can refute me."
"No, there's no right or wrong. I underestimated you. Actually, many things can be resolved with our current relationship. There's no need to bring them up in public. Doing this will only complicate things and make things more difficult."
Yi Zhengwei had a clear idea in his mind. It wasn't that he was unwilling to sever his financial ties with Shen Huidong. In the two years he had been with Shen Xing, he had contributed money and effort to the Shen family, and he had already made up for what he needed to. It was just that this wedding came too suddenly, too suddenly. After the wedding, there was Song Jingmo's funeral and the subsequent restructuring of Fuhua. He simply didn't have the energy or time to properly resolve the emotional debt he had with Shen Xing. Most importantly, and also very suddenly, he hadn't figured out how to handle the emotional relationship between the three of them. During his two weeks in England, he was constantly torn between letting go and not wanting to leave. After returning, his relationship with Song Qing also progressed and regressed in an ambiguous manner. Song Qing had indeed confused him. Things that he thought were simple before the wedding had now become completely complicated. He had tried several times to communicate and discuss things with Song Qing, but they hadn't been able to because they were both too busy. Occasionally, when Song Qing was in a good mood, he would act as if it were business, completely unconcerned about his relationship with Shen Xing, and even showing an attitude of trying to bring them together. This extinguished his enthusiasm for resolving this old debt.
Song Qing acted as if she no longer needed him, and she deliberately kept her distance from him regarding Fuhua. He was a smart man; he wasn't oblivious. That's why he casually handed over such a massive project as Power One—a project he'd been planning for a year—to Liao Fan in his project team. He didn't want Song Qing to think he was someone who was always trying to take advantage of her. But afterwards, he found it ridiculous. Hadn't he chosen to marry her precisely for the Power One project? Wasn't Yi Mantian's matchmaking of them solely for the purpose of acquiring Fuhua? Why was he now acting all high and mighty?
Yi Zhengwei, Yi Zhengwei, what's wrong with you right now? Who are you arguing with? Song Qing? No, she wouldn't act like this. Her mind is full of Fuhua, Fuhua's new project, a new project she's independently managing without letting you interfere. Where do you rank in her heart? You've always thought of yourself as calm and composed, but look at you, you've fallen to her. When you're troubled by her, she frowns, tosses and turns, and works overtime every night—is there even a single second she's thinking of you?
This anger was actually a bet he made with himself. As Yi Zhengwei drove, he finally managed to sort out the chaotic thoughts in his mind.
He's making things difficult for himself.
He said to Song Qing, "The weather is nice today, how about we go on a trip?" Song Qing turned around and pointed to another building, saying, "Zhengwei, when our products can be exhibited and sold there, our grand plans will be realized."
How can they be arguing if they're not even standing together?
The couple, being generally calm individuals, gradually changed their tone and the conversation shifted to other topics, but Yi Zhengwei's mind remained far from clear. Song Qing kept talking, while he merely listened, occasionally responding with a few monosyllabic syllables: "Yes, yeah, okay."
When they arrived at the Yi residence, both of them put on smiling faces. Yi Mantian hadn't slept yet and was sitting upright on the sofa in the living room, smoking. Aunt Zhou was serving him with a worried expression. As soon as the two entered the house, they happily called out, "Dad!"
Seeing no reaction, they looked at each other, indicating they didn't know what had happened.
Aunt Zhou winked at Song Qing and gestured with her lips. Song Qing looked at the coffee table and immediately turned pale, tightly gripping Yi Zhengwei's hand.
"Sister Zhou, make Xiaoqing a cup of hot tea. Dad, what happened?" Yi Zhengwei patted Song Qing's hand, helped her sit down, and sat down next to Yi Mantian with a gentle expression.
“Dad, it’s rare for Zhengwei to come back so early. Why don’t you talk to him? I… I’m going upstairs to rest,” Song Qing said, getting up.
"Sit down! Cough, cough!" Yi Mantian picked up his cane and tapped it on the glass coffee table.
"Dad, I'm sorry." Song Qing lowered her head, gently bit her lower lip, and sighed inwardly.
Yi Zhengwei was completely bewildered. Aunt Zhou shook her head, brought over some hot tea, sat down next to Song Qing, and sighed deeply, "Oh, young mistress, please don't blame me for meddling. I found this medicine while cleaning today. After thinking it over, I think it's best to let the master handle it. You two aren't young anymore, and the master's health has been declining lately. You both know how much he wants a grandchild. Doing this is so hurtful! If you don't want to have a child, talk to the master properly and set a deadline. That way, he wouldn't be so angry today. He's not an unreasonable person."
Upon hearing this, Yi Zhengwei began to understand. He reached for the long-acting contraceptive pills on the table, looked down at them, and made no sound, though the cardboard box was already twisted out of shape in his hand. On their first night together, Song Qing ran to the bathroom at a crucial moment; it turned out she had gone to take the pills. Perhaps, on that day, before marrying him, she had already decided not to have children.
"Zhengwei, it seems you didn't know about this!"
After a long while, Yi Zhengwei raised his head, his expression as usual. He took the medicine box in his hand and played with it, saying lightly, "No, Dad, this matter was discussed between Xiaoqing and me. You know, Fuhua was in a difficult situation at that time, and she had to handle everything. She didn't have time."
Song Qing was startled and looked at Yi Zhengwei gratefully, but the latter did not respond. He was unusually calm and did not even give her a glance.
"Zhengwei, how could you be so foolish! You've really disappointed me!"
"Dad, it has nothing to do with Zhengwei..."
Yi Mantian threw down his cane and stood up angrily, his hand trembling as he pointed at the two of them. He remained silent for a long time, his face turning deathly pale with rage. Song Qing felt extremely guilty, twisting her hands together and lowering her head, saying nothing more.
Aunt Zhou hurriedly said, "You should all go upstairs quickly! Don't make the master angry again!"
They had just stood up when Yi Mantian clutched his chest and collapsed, startling everyone in the room into screaming.
"Zhengwei, call the doctor quickly!" Song Qing shouted, having already helped Zhou Sao to the sofa.
Aunt Zhou busied herself fetching medicine and water. Song Qing squatted beside Yi Mantian, inwardly berating herself countless times. Yes, even if she didn't want a child for now, she could have discussed it with her father-in-law. She knew perfectly well that he had been subtly hinting at wanting a grandchild lately. Yi Mantian lay silently beside her, so frightening she froze. The thought of Song Jingmo's death due to her negligence filled her with unbearable pain; she couldn't forgive herself.
Song Qing was filled with self-reproach, tears streaming down her face without her realizing it. Yi Zhengwei was clearly very adept at handling this situation. Seeing Song Qing's remorseful and distressed appearance, he wanted to say a few words of comfort, but ultimately couldn't utter a word. He simply told her to rest at home, while he took Yi Mantian to the hospital.
After the car drove away, the entire Yi residence fell into a deathly silence. With a bang, the large iron gate slammed shut, and she sat on the ground, covering her face, and burst into tears.
In her heart, fear outweighed sadness, and she hated her own powerlessness even more.
After crying, she felt much better and dragged her tired body upstairs. Not long after, Yi Zhengwei called to say that she was fine, but the doctor said she needed to stay in the hospital for observation for a few days.
"I won't be back tonight. You should go to sleep early. I'll explain when Dad wakes up. Goodnight."
"Zhengwei, thank you." She hurriedly said before Yi Zhengwei hung up.
"Need not."
How could she possibly sleep that night? She stood quietly by the window, watching the night outside. In the middle of the night, a heavy snow began to fall, blanketing the entire courtyard and garden of the Yi family, changing its color overnight. She rubbed her hands, feeling a little stiff from standing, so at six in the morning, she drove early to a nearby porridge stall, waiting for the first batch of hot porridge to come out of the pot.
She remembered that Yi Mantian loved this place's porridge the most. Although the storefront was small, the taste was excellent. Usually, there would be people queuing up early, but because it had snowed the night before, the sky was exceptionally cold and bright, and when she arrived, there was no one in front of the stall.