Zhou Qishen took out a few pages of documents from the drawer and handed them to Zhao Xiyin without hiding anything.
Zhao Xiyin flipped through the photos of the three women, whose birth dates were roughly the same. When Zhou Qishen's mother passed away, she left behind only a black and white photo. In the photo, a child of about two years old was being held in her arms, his face close to his mother's, smiling at the camera.
Zhou's mother possessed a gentle and virtuous temperament, with particularly captivating eyes and brows. Zhou Qishen's handsome face was largely inherited from his mother. Comparing her with the three women he found, their facial features vaguely resembled those in this photograph.
Zhou's mother left in a desperate, irrevocable manner, severing all ties and leaving no trace of her memory or clues. Zhou Qi searched relentlessly, like looking for a needle in a haystack or the moon's reflection in water, never giving up the search since he was old enough to understand.
Zhao Xiyin put the documents back on the table, suppressed the mixed feelings in her heart, and said, "Take it slow, and take care of your health too."
Zhou Qishen looked at her and nodded. "Xiao west, thank you."
Zhao Xiyin smiled and said, "I can't accept that, and I haven't been of any help to you."
Their mirror was broken, their hairpins separated, only their past affection remained. Whether Zhao Xiyin was genuinely polite or merely feigning it, Zhou Qishen could tell that her current attitude was at most a stirring of pity. He had always known that Zhao Xiyin harbored good intentions and would never do something so heartless as to sever all ties forever.
He knew that his desire was growing wildly, and he had uncontrollably taken advantage of her kindness, repeatedly creating opportunities for them to cross paths. For example, when Gu Heping joked about him calling Zhao Xiyin, he never refused. For example, even when his headache wasn't severe enough to warrant medication, he remained brittle and unyielding.
As long as she's by my side, as long as I can see her, I feel at ease.
Zhou Qishen knew that he only had this pitiful and meager bargaining chip left.
Later, Zhao Wenchun called Zhao Xiyin, and she used that as an excuse to go home. Zhou Qishen didn't see her off, but simply arranged for a car to wait downstairs. A short while later, his secretary came over and reported: "Mr. Zhou, your father is staying at the China World Hotel. Dinner is currently being prepared as Beijing cuisine. I've contacted Dr. Xu; he'll be seeing you at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. The company has sent a driver to provide transportation throughout the process."
Zhou Qishen stood with his hands behind his back by the French windows, his expression deep and silent.
The secretary hesitated for half a second, then said, "Mr. Zhou, your father has made a request."
Zhou Qishen turned his head to the side. "What?"
"He asked if it was possible to skip the doctor's appointment, since his leg was actually fine. He said he would pretend he went to the doctor and ask me to give him all the money for the medical treatment, without telling you," the secretary said in detail. "I probed him to see how much he wanted, and he said 20,000."
Zhou Qi cursed and kicked over the solid wood stool next to him. "Damn it! Don't they all want a good life anymore!"
The solid wood furniture in the house was very sturdy, and Zhou Qishen's blow must have been quite forceful; his leg probably hurt. His secretary kindly reassured him, "The old man might have a different perspective, Mr. Zhou, money is a small matter."
"If I could buy a year of peace with money, I'd give him ten million!" Zhou Qishen cursed three times, then slammed the door and left.
He drove the car out, exiting the Third Ring Road, then the Fourth Ring Road, heading west. After a little over an hour's drive, the Land Rover pulled into the manor. Zhou Qishen got out and walked towards the bamboo pavilion. Dr. Lin was giving instructions to his assistant and was genuinely surprised to see him. "Oh? What brings you here?"
“I didn’t make an appointment, so I won’t take up your time.” Zhou Qishen loosened the collar of his polo shirt and slumped onto the sofa in the lounge. “I’ll pay for it, just let me sleep for two hours.”
The assistants looked at each other in bewilderment. Dr. Lin instructed, "Go and draw the curtains, and put on the second piano piece from the front of the shelf."
Zhou Qishen didn't sleep well. In his dream, there were swords and shadows, and it was like a living hell. He was trapped in a nightmare and struggled several times but couldn't wake up. Finally, he fell into a gentle embrace. He thought everything was alright, but the embrace suddenly loosened and he fell even faster.
Zhou Qishen opened his eyes and sat bolt upright, his back drenched in sweat. He pressed his head against the wall, his nails digging into his brow bone. After a moment of clarity, he realized that sleeping was worse than not sleeping at all. His phone was on silent, thanks to Dr. Lin; there were three messages from his secretary—
"Mr. Zhou, your father returned to Xi'an overnight."
"As instructed, I have given him 20,000."
"We checked, and it seems your father had some trouble back in his hometown."
Lin Yi stood at the door, gently knocked on the door panel, and asked Zhou Qishen with a smile, "Whether you slept well or not, come out and have some hot milk."
Zhou Qishen took it and swallowed it in one gulp.
Lin Yi handed him a tissue, "Take it easy to slow down your pace of life. The world doesn't need you to be in such a rush."
Zhou Qishen rubbed his temples. "You cultured people speak so eloquently that it's hard to grasp your meaning in a short time."
Lin Yi smiled and said, "Then drink two more glasses of milk."
Zhou Qishen isn't a dairy cow, so he wasn't particularly interested in these things. He was forced to drink them by Zhao Xiyin before, and he always said, "What kind of talk is it for a man like me to drink milk all the time?"
Zhao Xiyin looked at him calmly, her beautiful eyes curving upwards, and the smile on her lips was meaningful.
Zhou Qishen was completely captivated by him and suddenly realized what was happening.
He walked over, pushed the person against the edge of the table until there was nowhere left to retreat, then lowered his head and started spouting nonsense, "The milk doesn't taste good, if you're going to drink it, you have to drink this one."
Zhao Xiyin blushed and cursed him as a shameless madman, but without saying a word, she hugged his neck tightly.
That was their best time, sharing joyful moments with their lovers.
——
The first thing Dai Yunxin did after returning from the exchange meeting in the United States was to visit Zhao Xiyin.
Zhao Xiyin was unwell, and the troupe granted her five days off. Dai Yunxin didn't object; she still cared for her student and remembered her past injuries. Among the younger generation, Zhao Xiyin was probably the only one who received a personal visit from Teacher Dai.
Zhao Wenchun was extremely enthusiastic, perhaps because he himself was a teacher, and he held the title of "mentor" in even higher esteem. Dai Yunxin was polite and courteous, addressing Zhao Wenchun as "Brother Zhao." Zhao Wenchun was flattered and hurriedly went downstairs to buy fruit.
Zhao Xiyin laughed, but Dai Yunxin glared at her and said, "What's wrong with you? It's just a rehearsal. Are you scared by Su Ying, or have you never seen anything like this before? You managed to jump into the hospital!"
Zhao Xiyin looked innocent and said, "I was wrong, Master."
Dai Yunxin was even more unhappy. "It's not that I'm upset that you took a vacation, it's that you didn't know your limits. If you're not feeling well, you shouldn't push yourself."
Zhao Xiyin nodded obediently, "I'll remember."
"Is your leg alright?" Dai Yunxin's expression softened, but her gaze fell on her left leg with concern. "You injured yourself jumping that year and argued with me. I don't know how well you've recovered."
"It's okay, it's been a long time, I'm fine."
Have you had a follow-up appointment?
"Yes, I've had a lot of X-rays taken and I've also done rehabilitation training. It's really going well." Zhao Xiyin wasn't lying.