Chapter 41. Several days passed like this...

A few days passed like this, and Ji Qingyu gradually adapted to the pace of life here. Life in Jiangcheng wasn't stressful, and the pace was slow. He spent the last two days watching the old man play chess.

He sometimes thought of Lin Ying. If she were still here, Jiangcheng would be so warm; she would definitely like it.

Heaven is unfair; it doesn't give good people many more opportunities. In the end, who can decide whether a person is good or bad? Lin Ying worked hard and was strong her whole life, protecting Ji Qingyu, but she was so cruel to herself, never thinking of loving herself more. In the end, she ended up with such an insignificant ending.

Ji Qingyu hoped that if there were an afterlife, Lin Ying could be reborn as an alpha, spared from this near-cruel gender curse. Although he also knew that this was merely another form of escapism and weakness…

Putting aside these inexplicable emotions, Ji Qingyu went to attend the rehearsal of Yu Yue's new stage play, where he sat next to the director and watched the entire performance.

The stage was spacious, and everyone under the spotlight was immersed in the drama. Yu Yue was a very energetic girl, and Ji Qingyu felt her mood improve as she looked at her.

He listened to each character speak and took notes. With goji berries soaking in warm water beside him, he didn't realize it was getting dark.

Yu Yue and the others took Ji Qingyu to eat at a home-style restaurant. The stir-fried eel was the best dish there.

The heavy burden that had been weighing on Ji Qingyu's heart had dissipated considerably. The warm little room was beautifully decorated, with a fireplace burning slowly.

Yu Yue quietly came over, holding a glass of beer in her hand. She looked like she had drunk a bit too much. Her voice was low: "Teacher Xiaoyu, what's going on between you and your husband? Take a look at Weibo."

Given Yu Yue's personality, she probably had been holding back all day and finally managed to get the question out of him under the influence of alcohol.

“I broke up with him,” Ji Qingyu stated the facts.

"No, Teacher Xiaoyu, why? Last time backstage, his eyes never left you. You don't know, he even came to ask me how you were feeling when you were writing the song, whether your throat was sore, and whether you were in a bad mood when you were with us. I was so shocked my jaw almost dropped. I thought he was a very aloof person, but he kept rambling on and on with me for so long." Yu Yue rattled off a long string of questions.

"That's how it is when it comes to relationships." Ji Qingyu hadn't expected Fu Han to do something like this, and he said somewhat stiffly, "Let's not talk about this anymore, let's change the subject."

"Oh..." Yu Yue silently sat back down and lowered her head to eat, looking like she was about to burst.

Ji Qingyu felt like laughing, but sighed inwardly and said slowly, "Okay, then ask all your questions at once."

Yu Yue quickly leaned closer: "Actually, I'm just curious. The internet is in an uproar about your brother and husband. Haven't you seen it?"

“I uninstalled Weibo,” Ji Qingyu said quietly. “Besides, it wasn’t for my sake. In this kind of thing, the more weaknesses you find in the other party, the more beneficial it is for him and the group.”

"Is that so?" Yu Yue frowned and said quietly, "But I feel..."

"Alright." The stove crackled and popped, and the rest of the crew chatted and laughed, saying something to each other. Ji Qingyu was caught up in the atmosphere and started laughing too, gradually relaxing.

He was wrapped in a blanket, as he had been feeling a bit cold lately. He reached out and picked up a crab for Yu Yue, trying to interrupt her, "Why are you acting as his advocate?"

"So... you two are no longer together?" Yu Yue asked quietly, sounding a little regretful. "He's so handsome, there must be a lot of people who like him, and he cares about you so much..."

"Well...actually, we didn't have much of a relationship to begin with, and he wouldn't be affected if I left him." Ji Qingyu said this, but then he felt that the stir-fried eel in front of him wasn't very tasty anymore, as it was a bit greasy, so he put down his chopsticks.

"Okay." Yu Yue was an outsider after all, and she didn't know exactly what had happened. "Anyway, I'm on your side no matter what."

Ji Qingyu was touched to hear such words from a young woman he had only worked with once. Such unexpected kindness was rare in his past life, and he felt a warmth in his heart.

Halfway through the meal, Ji Qingyu drank two more glasses of water, barely managing to suppress her nausea, thinking that she should see a doctor tomorrow.

Just then, my phone rang.

He looked down and saw it was Luo Sheng. Ji Qingyu answered the phone, and the tone on the other end was somewhat serious: "Qingyu, don't you know anything about this?"

Why were they all asking him if he knew anything? Ji Qingyu found it a bit strange and asked anyway, "What happened?"

“Fu Han came to me and asked if I knew anything about you. He has been targeting the Ji family recently, and Ji Deyong was pushed to the limit, forcing Ji Ran to apologize to him.”

Ji Qingyu was stunned for a long time, somewhat surprised. No wonder Yu Yue felt sorry for him. Fu Han did seem to have lingering feelings for him. However, he didn't believe it. Fu Han was just feeling regretful for a moment, thinking that it was hard to find someone as obedient, sensible, and easy to manipulate as him.

“Then…” Luo Sheng paused, “Fu Han came to find me and asked if I knew where you had gone.”

“He seemed really unwell and said a lot of nonsensical things. He was convinced that the child you were carrying was his,” Luo Sheng said. “I couldn’t hold back and slapped him…”

Ji Qingyu's heart sank, and the chopsticks he was holding paused on his phone. He stood up, opened the door, and walked out of the room so he could hear more clearly. "So, is he alright? Actually, I didn't mean for him to do anything."

Ji Qingyu thought that someone like Fu Han would only have emotional fluctuations for two days at most before indifferently returning to his life. Fu Han didn't care about anything in particular, and he didn't need anyone else to worry about him.

This time, Luo Sheng remained silent.

“Qingyu, I am his mother. I owe him a lot. I didn’t raise him well. But, I still want to ask, is there really no chance between you two?” After Luo Sheng finished speaking, she continued, “He and I are very distant. After we reunited, he hardly contacted me. He would just send someone to watch me go to the hospital. He used to be very attached to me when we were little. This time, I saw him have the biggest emotional fluctuation. He asked me if he had seen you with someone else, and he also asked me if he was becoming more and more like Fu Yunbai.”

The scent of grass in the air grew stronger, and Ji Qingyu felt as if his heart had been squeezed, a tingling pain shooting through his bones.

"Xiaoyu, I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself and told him anyway."

"What did you tell him?" Ji Qingyu's reaction was still somewhat slow, and his speech was hesitant. There was some mud by the wall, and the mud smudged onto Ji Qingyu's trouser legs. He thought to himself, "I'm wearing a cotton-linen shirt today, it probably won't be easy to wash clean."

“I told him that the reason you broke up with him wasn’t because of any third party, but because of your mother…” Luo Sheng paused halfway through his sentence, “I’m sorry, Qingyu, but I feel that he can’t be completely ignorant. He should also learn a lesson.”

Ji Qingyu paused, almost able to imagine Luo Sheng scolding Fu Han. It was not what he wanted to see such an arrogant person being reprimanded.

He just hoped that he could have no more contact with Fu Han afterward.

“He asked me why I didn’t tell him anything, and I said it was probably because I could never build trust with him.” Luo Sheng paused. “He asked a lot more questions, like if you would leave if your mother recovered, and if you would never stay by his side no matter what. I thought so, and that’s what I answered him.”

The restaurant was brightly lit, and the warm light fell on his profile. Ji Qingyu blinked.

“He left right after I finished speaking. I don’t know what he’s doing now. Maybe he’s investigating what happened back then, or maybe… I don’t know. But Xiaoyu, I’ve never seen him like this before,” Luo Sheng said. “I still have some selfish reasons. I think I should apologize to you, but I don’t want him to stay in the dark. Maybe he will be very sad after I tell him, but it’s better to have a short pain than a long one.”

A long river flows quietly outside the restaurant, its waters flowing silently through the entire water town. The autumn of Jiangcheng melts into a tranquil atmosphere. Perhaps Ji Qingyu had been gone for too long, because Yu Yue caught up with her with a blanket and draped it over her shoulders.

"What's wrong? Teacher Xiaoyu? Ji Qingyu?" Yu Yue waved her hand in front of Ji Qingyu's eyes. She was pretty, with especially bright eyes. "Was what I said a bit too much? I think you're such a good person, and you must have your own reasons for making those decisions. I was just gossiping a little. You're not upset, are you?"

"No." Ji Qingyu said a few more words to Luo Sheng, indicating that it was okay. Anyway, he was in such a faraway place that even if Fu Han had great power, it wouldn't be so easy for him to find him. He hung up the phone and returned to the private room with Yu Yue.

After eating crab and eel, he felt a bit like drinking some wine. Perhaps a cup of warm wine wouldn't be a problem, but after just one sip, he felt somewhat uncomfortable.

The child hadn't shown any unusual reaction these past few days, so why did he suddenly start acting up again? He frowned, his stomach churning, and he felt nauseous. This time, he really couldn't hold on any longer.

He excused himself, stood up, and said goodbye first. Yu Yue wanted to see him off, but he waved her off.

As I stepped outside, the night was already deep. A few potted plants sat in the corner of the restaurant, and almost no shops were open. The nightlife here wasn't very lively, and there were few pedestrians.

Ji Qingyu lowered his head, opened his phone, and realized that he had been gossiped about all day. As the protagonist of the incident, he knew nothing about it. He wondered if he should download Weibo back, but he was afraid that his long-lost peace would be broken, so he gave up in the end.

He missed Lin Ying a little. He suddenly remembered that the chat history on his old WeChat account had not been cleared. He hurriedly switched back and luckily there was a 15-day period for account cancellation. He saved all the chat history and leaned against the roadside to look at it again and again.

Interrupted by a pop-up voice message, Ji Qingyu looked at the familiar name, almost puzzled.

Why does Fu Han keep looking for him?

Ji Qingyu felt somewhat helpless. The voice call rang once, then a second time, endlessly, which annoyed him. Was Fu Han really that persistent?

He looked at the 99+ messages he'd already received, but still didn't have the courage to open them. So he simply deleted them, erasing the entire chat window along with Fu Han's words. He was a soft-hearted person, but no matter what others said, he wasn't willing to compromise on this matter any further.