Cheng Yun stood in front of the two, holding a box with gold-plated edges.

He concealed his probing gaze and glanced at Shekh twice. "You have a girlfriend?"

Contrary to Sher's expectations, Cheng Yun's attitude was mild, lacking the aggressive demeanor and arrogance that Cheng You'an had displayed.

He pushed the box in his hand towards Shi Jinzhe: "I came to see you because I wanted you to go home and visit your mother. She's not doing well. This is a cake she made during the day when she was lucid. Your birthday is coming up soon."

Unexpectedly, Cheng Yun's purpose in coming was not to settle scores with Cheng You'an.

Shi Jinzhe didn't take the exquisite box. Instead, he casually lifted the cake he had bought upside down to show Cheng Yun.

"Cheng Youan's birthday has nothing to do with me. It's more right for you and your son to take care of Ms. Qiao's health. I'm just a stranger."

Sheikh, who was listening nearby, gleaned the key information: "So they've always been celebrating someone else's birthday for you."

Meeting Cheng Yun's gaze, Shi Jinzhe replied, "Yes."

Qiao Huiyun would bake a cake for Cheng Youan every year on his birthday, but Shi Jinzhe knew Cheng Youan's birth date and that he was a little older than him, not born in the dead of winter, December.

Shekh: "That's really not sincere."

A casual remark slapped Cheng Yun in the face.

Cheng Yun softened her tone, her expression unchanged, and spoke as if it were a casual conversation: "Was she the one who answered my call last time? Her voice doesn't sound quite right."

“It’s always been her,” Shi Jinzhe retorted, piercing back the hidden needle in Cheng Yunmian’s eyes. “She’s the one who got angry and wanted to hit you when your precious son blocked her way and harassed her.”

Shech glanced at the people in the residential building next door through the ribbon, recalling the gossipy guy she had met on the whale watching boat.

She began to follow up on what Shi Jinzhe had said, intentionally raising her voice slightly:

“After being frightened by your son, I have nightmares every day. I can’t see things clearly, I don’t know what he looks like, but any monster that makes his voice in my dream will terrify me. I’m afraid to sleep.”

Shi Jinzhe looked over without showing any emotion; she really was talented.

Like a blind man feeling an elephant, Sheh clutched the clothes on Shi Jinzhe's arm tightly. "He took me out to relax for a long time, but I still woke up in fright every night. Shi Jinzhe could only stay with me and not sleep. He hadn't had a proper rest in a long time."

To say the most hurtful things in the calmest words is what Shech learned from Manager Zhang in the previous game.

Tears are only for those who love you; for strangers, simply recounting your experiences is enough.

That's a pretty bad story. Even your calmness will be seen as a show of bravado to avoid admitting weakness.

Especially when dealing with a heartless person like Cheng Yun, who abandoned a child he had raised for twenty years just like that, how could he possibly pity someone just because of a few words?

These words were said by Schechter to others rather than to him.

She said to Cheng Yun, "Can you take a look and see if he looks a little haggard? I can't see it."

Coupled with her seemingly blind eyes and her skin reddened from being outdoors for a long time, this statement was more impactful than any tears.

At least the driver who heard this from a short distance thought Cheng Youan was a real scoundrel.

Seeing how tired Shi Jinzhe looked, I knew she couldn't be lying.

The person who filmed the luxury cars on the first and second floors and overheard some of the amusement felt it was a sin, so he turned around and posted the video online.

Cheng Yun was speechless for a moment, caught off guard.

The video of Cheng Youan that wasn't fully filmed can't be taken down. It keeps popping up like mushrooms after rain. Even if you pay to remove it, it gets pushed back up in a couple of days to generate more buzz.

He brought Cheng Youan back. The family doctor said that his unsteady gait was due to a concussion, and the deep red marks on his neck were from ruptured capillaries caused by someone pinching him.

He asked around but couldn't get a reason, so he went to ask for the original surveillance footage. They laughed and said that the intern had lost the surveillance video.

Thinking of Cheng You'an, who was locked up at home and going crazy, Cheng Yun swallowed hard. Not wanting to waste time here, he said to Shi Jinzhe, "Come back with me now."

Shi Jinzhe ignored Cheng Yun and led Shehe past him.

Cheng Yun turned around and said, "We've raised you for twenty years, and now I just want you to go back and see your mother."

"Twenty years, the life I gave to Cheng Youan, I have already returned to you."

Watching Shi Jinzhe's retreating figure without turning back, Cheng Yun had no choice but to say, "Go back here for a moment. I want to show you something that's related to your mother."

Cheng Yun emphasized, "She is your biological mother."

Shi Jinzhe stopped in his tracks, and Shekh tugged at his sleeve. "There are still willow branches."

The willow branch that Shi Jinzhe was given when he was sent to the orphanage is still at the Cheng family's house.

The woman in his dream had also given him willow branches; Shekh remembered that touch of green in his memory. There must be some connection between the two.

Now that Cheng Yun has taken the initiative to invite him, Shi Jinzhe can return to the Cheng family and take his things away.

Even if she couldn't take it away, she would destroy it; she couldn't let what she left for Shi Jinzhe become someone else's.

Especially that bitch Cheng Youan.

Shi Jinzhe stopped and turned around. "Just this once."

Cheng Yun didn't say whether he agreed or not, but just told them to get in the car first.

In the spacious back seat, the three sat facing each other. Driving from the southernmost to the northernmost point of a city takes quite a while, so Sher simply ate cake in the car.

She turned to the side and let Shi Jin feed her, oblivious to everyone else.

Cheng Yun didn't look at her, but kept staring at Shi Jinzhe, seemingly lost in thought.

Just as Cheng Yun was about to feed Shekh the second piece, he suddenly spoke up, "Do you know that many people have liked him? When he went to school normally, many girls gave him love letters, and he accepted them all."

"If I just threw those love letters away, it wouldn't be good for them if someone with malicious intent picked them up and saw their contents, so I burned them all," Shi Jinzhe calmly explained to Shehe.

"I deliberately went to the woods to burn it. The principal thought someone had set it on fire. After he found out the reason, he cracked down on early relationships, and no one has ever sent me a love letter since then."

That's how Cheng Yun found out about this, so his high school life soon turned into a period where he spent all his time studying at home except for exams.

Shekh nodded slightly, indicating that he understood.

She would wait until no one was around before asking what a love letter was.

Shi Jinzhe tilted his head slightly and asked Cheng Yun, "What else do you want to say? Did you realize you couldn't do anything to me, so you had to resort to such a clichéd method to sow discord between me and Cheng You'an? Cheng You'an is just like you."

Cheng Yun: "You never used to talk back to me like this."

“I used to see you as my father, but that’s all in the past.”

...

The car slowed down, passed through familiar scenes, and finally drove into a brightly lit manor, where it came to a slow stop.

Sheh was led out of the car by Shi Jinzhe. On the steps, he saw a woman being helped by someone. She was pale and looked so fragile that she seemed like she could be blown away by a gust of wind.

Cheng Yun stepped forward to take over the caregiving duties, and helped Qiao Huiyun to forcefully lead her inside.

As soon as she entered the room, she broke free from Cheng Yun and ran towards Shi Jinzhe. Before she could even speak, tears were already streaming down her face.

Shi Jinzhe dodged Qiao Huiyun's outstretched hand and took a step back. "I've seen the person. Where are my biological mother's things?"