0072 072 A prairie fire ignites, only today do I realize who I am.

Although Qi Shuyao is currently unaware of what is happening in the outside world, she has learned to sit with her grandfather every day to watch the news, listen to the embellished events, and hear her grandfather tell stories from the past.

He always said that the house was too small now, and then he would pick up her paintbrush and lightly sketch a few strokes, depicting the appearance of the large manor that had been the culmination of all his hard work.

Qi Shuyao took the pen, added a few more strokes, and then handed it to her grandfather.

"It's not bad there now, except this tree was uprooted and is lying across the gate. The inside is still pretty intact, although it's all covered in dust, but no one goes in to damage it because they say there's a lot of resentment there and they don't dare to go near it."

Grandpa's gaze changed; for the first time, it showed a pleading look.

"The old Shu family house, now the dilapidated temple in front has been turned into a film and television city. I even went to visit the set and took a stroll around. Who knew back then that it was my grandparents' old home?"

Grandpa and Grandma both fell silent, but she remained as usual, switching the TV to the news channel.

In March of another year, there was another reshuffle of the lower-level leaders. In the past, Qi Shuyao was not interested in these changes, but this year she listened with her eyes closed, and she almost jumped up from the sofa.

"...Yang Jianlin stepped down as mayor of Henghai New District, and Hao Pingchun succeeded him. Hao Pingchun's resume..."

"The Yang family has stepped down?"

"It's about to begin."

She took out her phone from her pocket and scrolled through the numerous messages in her high school class group chat. When she reached the top page, the system displayed "Member Yang Xun has left the group chat".

Below were countless records filled with laughter and joking, all from boys and girls who had been bullied by Yang Xun, watching the spectacle. Although they were just words, she could see the tearful accusations between the lines.

Yang Xun's father was also taken down by the mayor of Yangcheng City and was even arrested. It seems this young master won't be able to get away with it.

"Grandpa, I'm sleepy. I'm going back to sleep."

Qi Shuyao left the living room, returned to her bedroom, curled up on the bed, and tried not to think about anything.

On the distant continent of Anzhou, Song Yusheng, her hands and feet ice-cold, frantically stuffed things into her suitcase. She kept stopping to wipe her face, her tears covering it completely.

The mother behind her lay weakly on the bed, her eyes devoid of light. She called out to her daughter in a faint voice, but her voice was drowned out by the rustling of the bag.

"Sheng Sheng, Sheng Sheng... Where did Yang Xun go? I haven't seen him for so many days."

“Mom, something happened to his family too. His father was arrested, the Yang family fell, and he ran away to save his life. But it’s okay, I can support you on my own. This place is not our home after all. I’ll take you back today.”

"Sheng Sheng, have you forgotten what your father said? We can't go back. Going back is just waiting to die."

“There’s no system of collective punishment now. Even if my dad breaks the law, we can’t be punished. Even if you break the law, we can’t refuse to treat your illness.”

"Then go back. Even if you do, what can you do?"

Mrs. Song, who had lived a glamorous life, seemed to only realize when she fell ill and was bedridden that the things she had taught her daughter could not help her find a job.

"It's okay, I'm perfectly capable, how can I not make money?"

Song Yusheng closed the last suitcase, turned down the photo of her and Yang Xun on the cabinet, picked up the suitcase, and walked out unsteadily. The setting sun in this foreign land shone on her thin shoulders for the last time.

But the clock will keep turning, no matter what, waiting for no one.

As the weather got warmer, Qi Shuyao found it increasingly difficult to sleep. She moved her drawing board to the bedside, but the lines she left behind were nothing short of scribbling. She got up in the middle of the night to look at the stars, but they drifted away in the opposite direction. She smiled bitterly and looked down, when a truck drove into the yard.

Grandpa went out wearing a coat. The car was parked in the middle of the garden. A tall man jumped out of the passenger seat and scrambled to his knees at Grandpa's feet.

Grandpa seemed very angry. He kicked the man in the shoulder, and the man fell flat on his back to the ground, his face suddenly exposed.

Sometimes Qi Shuyao felt that she was one in a million lucky people. Like now, she guessed that Lao He would never see Guan Xiang kneeling on the ground crying his heart out.

All that talk about Vice President Qian and the Su family is a lie. His real backer is actually here.

She opened the window, leaving a small crack, and secretly listened to the sounds coming from the yard.

First, Guan Xiang was crying.

"The director of the approval bureau in Linxian District is the direct supervisor in charge of the construction site, but I really don't know that he would dare to hide the bodies himself after such a big incident. The two bodies that made the news were the only complete bodies at the scene. The others were missing an arm or a leg, and they were all frozen."

Then came Grandpa's calm voice.

"What is your relationship with him?"

"He... he was one of my subordinates who was sent out. I told him before to stay out of the limelight and not show his face, but he's obsessed with officialdom. After becoming an official, he went back to gambling, and now it's all been exposed..."

Qi Shuyao closed the window, went back to bed, stared at the ceiling, and suddenly laughed.

History isn't necessarily the history of ordinary people; it's just the history of a few top figures. They've been fighting in circles for so many years, and it turns out that this old man is still in charge behind the scenes. I wonder if she'll ever meet someone surnamed Gu here someday; that would be truly exciting.

Four days after the truck drove into the yard, Qin Zhuohan sent her a long voice message in an excited tone, describing in detail the gold, silver and antique treasures that were found when the Guan family was raided. There were hundreds of Buddha statues alone, more than the number of Buddhas on the mountain of Fuchao Temple.

Qi Shuyao couldn't help but think of the empty chamber behind the Buddha statue that had been emptied. She wondered how many other tombs they had hollowed out using this method.

But now, the Guan family has fallen, the Yang family has fallen, and Ji Delu, who was putting on a show, has been exposed. So what? It seems like nothing has changed. Even though they confiscated everything from the Guan family, didn't they already send away their most valuable possessions beforehand? They're in the basement right below her now.

At the end of her speech, Qin Zhuohan mentioned that her parents had been arguing a lot lately and seemed to want to give up on their marriage. She didn't know how to comfort them, so she just listened to him silently, one hand resting on her protruding belly. Since she came here, she had been just waiting for each day to pass by. She didn't seem to have thought about the future or what would happen afterward.

She didn't know how a mother should treat her child, nor did she know how parents should get along. Her only experience to draw upon came from her daily interactions with Qi Yu, but she grew up and fell in love with him. This must have been a failed experience.

She suddenly laughed, and when she came to her senses, Qin Zhuohan hadn't replied to her message for a long time. She hid herself under the covers, and in her drowsy state, she suddenly remembered something Bei Huaiyi had once told her.

"...The Shu family only has one son, and he's a good-for-nothing who can't be helped. All he does is gamble and live a life of debauchery. His father has given up on him..."

Since Grandpa and Guanxiang are so close, could it be that Guanxiang led his son astray? But Grandpa seems to really hate gambling, so why is he protecting Guanxiang?

Her head was about to explode. She remembered that her grandmother had lied to her, saying that her son was still abroad. She never doubted that the man who suddenly appeared that day was not her biological father. She could find similar features to herself on his face and on her grandmother's face. It was just that the relationship between this family was much more complicated than she had imagined.

She doesn't even understand herself.

The Guan family crumbled in the darkness, and Jingyang enjoyed a period of peace. Only Qi Yu was left to follow up on the case. He led the investigation team to take stock of the items they had searched from the Guan family. From sunrise to sunset, all his time was occupied, leaving him no energy to think about anything else.

He sat surrounded by documents, breathing in the smell of ink, and by the window, watching the sun rise and set, day after day, month after month, year after year.

Recently, Qi Shuyao felt that she was about to give birth. Her belly was dropping, and her breathing was very heavy. She was paralyzed in bed and couldn't get up. She didn't want to move at all. Her only pastime was to fiddle with her phone. But in the later stages, her eyesight became poor and things became blurry.

Qingqing always kept her from getting too close to the phone screen, so she would often send her out to get this or that.

Qingqing went downstairs to get water, and Qi Shuyao quickly grabbed her phone and scrolled to the news article she hadn't finished reading earlier.

She held the phone screen up to her eyes, then dropped it in fright.

Why did she see Song Yusheng in the entertainment news? Did she return to China? Did she go into acting?

Qi Shuyao uneasily climbed off the bed, but stepped on the amniotic fluid flowing between her legs and fell to the floor.

In early August, after the hottest days in Jingyang had passed, Qi Shuyao turned over in bed and covered the little bundle of flesh beside her with her hand.

Even though the air was still hot, she could still feel the intense heat in her palms. This little body, soft, white, and perfectly round, radiated even more heat than her, making her reluctant to remove her hand that was gently covering the body. The little body had big, round eyes that darted around, and it didn't cry or fuss; it would smile whenever it saw her.

She leaned closer, brought her lips to the baby's ear, and gently took the baby's soft earlobe into her mouth, whispering something to her.

"Baby, be healthy, smile, and live a happy life... That's what someone told Mommy when I was only a little older than you..."

She gently lulled the little girl to sleep, kissing her cheeks repeatedly, and then placed her own clothes under her.

It was late at night, and the whole courtyard was quiet. A window on the second floor opened, and a figure climbed out and disappeared quietly into the courtyard wall, following the route the truck had taken in.

Qi Shuyao finally stood on the busy road. She leaned against a big tree and dialed the phone number that had been on her mind for a year.

The call connected, and a familiar voice greeted me.

She burst into tears, and only her sobbing could be heard.

"Yaoyao, is Yaoyao really you?"

Are you still in Jingyang?

"Yes, I'm in Jingyang. Where are you? Tell me and I'll come pick you up."

She squatted on the ground and waited and waited. When the cars on the road gradually decreased, an ordinary car stopped in front of her. Tu Mi ran out of the passenger seat and rushed over to hug her. Looking over Tu Mi's shoulder, she saw that the man sitting in the driver's seat was Pei Youwen.