Chapter 157: Didn’t You Say You Were Quitting Smoking?

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Biancheng was impatient and quick-tempered, never showing a good face to anyone. Unlike Qi Mingwan, who was kind-hearted and always able to accept life's joys and sorrows with grace and openness. He often warned her not to be too kind, saying it would only bring harm, but she would just smile and say, “Do good deeds without asking about the future.” After Qi Mingwan’s accident, Biancheng’s whole world collapsed; he no longer believed in the idea that good people are rewarded.

Watching her grow weaker day by day, he even harbored thoughts of killing Zhang Dexing, regardless of the law. But Mingwan had lived her life with honesty, openness, and freedom. Biancheng could not allow her to have a murderer for a husband, nor could he let her son have a murderer for a father. He had endured this pain until now, living each day worse than death in keeping Qi Mingwan’s last wishes.

No matter how much he tried to tolerate it, Zhang Dexing’s past denials were like a thorn stuck deep in his heart.

“Go to the Bian family cemetery,” Biancheng said hoarsely.

His assistant hesitated, “But there’s an important meeting later.”

Biancheng repeated, “Go to the cemetery.”

The assistant immediately responded, “Yes.”

By the time the car arrived at the cemetery, it was already dusk. The sky was overcast, with no sunset in sight.

Biancheng held a bouquet of white bellflowers as he approached the cemetery, where someone was already sitting. Bianyang sat cross-legged before the tombstone, hands clenched tightly on his knees, head slightly bowed, his expression unreadable.

Only when someone placed the white bellflowers on the tombstone did Bianyang slowly look up at him, then quickly look away.

“Looks like you already know,” Biancheng said, his voice softening as he gazed at the photo of his wife smiling brightly on the tombstone.

The boy remained silent, his back curved, as if shrouded in darkness.

Biancheng gently brushed the dust off the tombstone with his suit sleeve. “When your mother saved that child, her condition was already very serious. If she had taken a day off earlier, she might have missed that surgery.”

He caressed his wife’s tombstone tenderly and then smiled bitterly.

“But that child’s surgery could only be performed by your mother at the hospital. I think even if she had been on leave, with her character, once she knew about it, she would have insisted on doing the surgery.”

“Why didn’t you tell me all this?”

The boy suddenly spoke, his throat hoarse and unable to form words.

Biancheng bent down and picked up fallen leaves one by one that had just drifted nearby. “After your mother was hospitalized, her condition worsened day by day. I couldn’t bear to let it end like this, so I secretly went to confront Zhang Dexing. I lost control and hurt him... A few days later, his wife jumped off a building and died. When your mother found out, she was filled with guilt, thinking it was because of me and her.”

Biancheng’s eyelids trembled. “So she asked me to keep it a secret, not to tell you. She feared you would act impulsively and cause irreversible consequences, just like me. Two people have already died because of that surgery. She didn’t want anyone else involved. She would rather you remain unaware, living a carefree life.”

Bianyang raised his head slightly, a layer of watery haze in his dark eyes, faintly twisting his lips. “You all make decisions for me.”

Biancheng paused, his voice distant. “Your mother couldn’t afford to gamble, your uncle couldn’t afford to gamble, and neither can I.”

If Zhang Dexing and he came into conflict and Zhang had thoughts of suicide or revenge against society... could he just stand by and watch his wife die, then see his son imprisoned?

Biancheng’s voice trembled. “Your mother was an honorable person. Neither you nor I can bring disgrace to her.”

Silence enveloped them.

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Bianyang stared at the radiant smile of the woman on the tombstone, his eyelashes trembling. “Was she in pain when she left?”

“No pain. She passed away quietly in her sleep.”

Biancheng’s rough fingertips brushed over his wife’s photo. From his pocket, he took out a small box and bent down to place it beside the boy’s hand.

“This is your mother’s gift for your nineteenth birthday. She planned to give it to you tomorrow, but I figure you probably wouldn’t want to see me then, so here it is now.”

Bianyang looked down at the box, slowly closing his eyes.

Biancheng patted his shoulder. “Your mother said she regretted not being able to hold your coming-of-age ceremony because of the emergency surgery. But I think she has no regrets now, because whether or not you had that ceremony, you’ve already become an adult.”

In the quiet evening, the boy buried his face in his knees and wept like a child.

Later that night, Bianyang unknowingly wandered to the hospital’s special inpatient ward.

In one special room, he saw the little girl his mother had saved with her life.

She was holding a book, reading attentively. The room was empty except for her. When she put the book down, Bianyang finally saw her clearly.

She was so thin she was little more than skin and bones. Her head was shaved to facilitate treatment, making her large sunken eyes even more striking.

She was thirsty and drank water from a cup in gulps, then wiped her mouth and resumed reading.

Bianyang lowered his eyes, expressionless, and withdrew his gaze. As he turned to leave, his metal wristwatch accidentally brushed against the wall, making a clear sound.

From inside the room came a voice: “Who’s out there?”

Then the sound of slippers scraping the floor as the door opened.

The little girl poked her head out, looking at his retreating figure with confusion. “Who are you looking for?”

“My dad did something wrong and has to reflect at the police station for a long time. He probably won’t be back for a while. Are you looking for my dad?”

Bianyang’s Adam’s apple bobbed, but he said nothing and stepped forward.

The little girl suddenly asked, “Are you Mom Qi’s son?”

Bianyang’s back stiffened. She had already run up to him, looking up at the tall boy. “You really are the big brother! Mom Qi showed me your photo!”

He felt his clothes tugged at. He looked down, meeting the girl’s watery eyes. “Did your mom send you to find me? Has she come back from her trip? Then why doesn’t Mom Qi come to see Yingying herself?”

She was excited, her eyes full of longing.

Bianyang took a step back, pulling his sleeve free from her grip, speaking coldly, “She won’t be coming back.”

“Why not?”

Bianyang’s lips moved slightly. The little girl hung her head. “Is it because Yingying wasn’t obedient? Because Yingying didn’t finish second-grade math, that’s why they don’t come to see me?”

“My mom, Mom Qi, and now Dad — they all said it will be a long time before they come back.”

“Big brother, how long is ‘a long time’?”

The little girl lowered her head, clutching her hospital gown, her weak voice echoing clearly in the quiet corridor.

“Did Yingying do something wrong that made them leave? I want them all to be by my side.”

She looked up suddenly. The big brother’s expression was so cold as he stared at her that she felt scared.

He was so fierce, like a block of ice.

Not at all like Mom Qi said he was easy to get along with.

The little girl instinctively took a step backward, then hid in the doorway, peeking at him through the crack.

Bianyang’s expression remained indifferent as he withdrew his gaze and quickly left the special ward.

After he left, around the corner, the little girl was returning with a hot water bottle.

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“Why is Yingying hiding here?” Tang Yu noticed her peeking out from the door crack.

The little girl pointed to where the boy had disappeared and shrank back inside. “I saw the big brother, but he was so fierce, I’m a little scared.”

Big brother.

Tang Yu suddenly thought of someone. She placed the hot water bottle inside the girl’s room and turned to follow, but the little girl timidly tugged at her skirt.

“Sister, when will my dad come back?”

Tang Yu turned and bent down to stroke her hair. “When you finish fifth grade, your dad will come back. We need to work hard to get you healthy and discharged, so you can go to school and complete fifth grade quickly.”

Zhang Dexing’s situation was severe and the consequences grave. Tang Yu estimated it would be three to four years.

If he behaved well in prison, his sentence might be reduced.

But Tang Yu dared not give a precise time. By the time Yingying finished fifth grade, no matter what, Zhang Dexing should be out.

“Sister, what did my dad do wrong to be taken by the police?”

The little girl asked sadly.

Tang Yu thought for a moment before answering seriously, “He made a very serious mistake. Everyone must pay the price for their choices, but your dad is brave enough to change for the better. He’s your role model.”

“But then Yingying won’t have any family left.” She began to cry.

Tang Yu patted her head. “Don’t worry, Yingying. When you finish fifth grade, your dad will come back.”

“Then what about Mom and Mom Qi? Will they come back after I finish fifth grade too?”

Tang Yu was silent for a moment, then said slowly, “They will always be with you, just in a different way.”

After soothing Yingying back to her room, Tang Yu rushed out of the ward.

There was no sign of him in the garden or the inpatient building.

She ran all the way to the street outside the hospital, where dense locust trees blocked the streetlights.

He was crouched by the roadside, holding an unlit cigarette, hidden in the shadows, his gaze vacant and disconnected from everything.

He didn’t notice when Tang Yu approached.

Tang Yu folded her skirt in front of her and squatted before him, casually taking the cigarette from his hand.

Bianyang’s eyes gradually focused, looking up at her.

Tang Yu played with the cigarette between her slender fingers. “Didn’t you say you quit?”

His lips twitched. After a long moment, he said, “I didn’t smoke it.”

Finally, he was willing to respond.

Tang Yu breathed a sigh of relief and wanted to say more. “If you’re not smoking, why hold it?”

Bianyang said nothing, his eyes deep beneath his hair.

“Is it because this helps you relieve worries?”

She then tried to imitate how he used to smoke, awkwardly biting the cigarette between her lips.

But barely had she touched it before Bianyang snatched it away, crushing it forcefully.

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