“Sister Jiawen, are you okay?”
Ye Zhiqiu didn’t hide anything from Ye Jiawen. “You hit Wen Liang, didn’t you?”
At the mention of that name, Ye Jiawen couldn’t help but show her disgust, her voice laced with hatred. “He deserved it!”
“And that girl—who was she?”
“Guo Jia. You’ve probably met her too.”
Ye Zhiqiu quickly put a face to the name. “I remember her. She liked Wen Liang.”
Ye Jiawen nodded. She’d always known Guo Jia had feelings for Wen Liang, so she’d kept her distance from him. But no matter how much she tried to avoid him, he just wouldn’t leave her alone.
She never understood what Guo Jia saw in a man like that. It was like she was bewitched—every other sentence out of her mouth was about Wen Liang.
Back when Guo Jia had lied and said she and Wen Liang were together, and then later when they actually did get together, Ye Jiawen had genuinely wished her well. She truly hoped Guo Jia would find happiness.
Once, when they all ran into each other—with other dormmates around—Wen Liang insisted Ye Jiawen say something. So she told him straight: since you’re with Guo Jia now, treat her right. She’s a good girl. Don’t go wavering.
She’d racked her brain trying to figure out what she’d done wrong. She’d always made things crystal clear with Wen Liang. Never mind that she was already with Ling Hang—even if she were single, he wasn’t her type, and she would never have been with him.
As for Guo Jia, she was even more clueless. She’d never tried to compete with her over Wen Liang. She’d always kept her distance. So why would Guo Jia treat her that way? It was only then that she realized Guo Jia actually hated her.
What had she ever done to make her hate her so much—hate her enough to want to destroy her?
“Zhiqiu.”
From the moment it all happened, she’d kept her composure and stayed rational—even in front of Ling Hang and Xiao Wu. But now, seeing Zhiqiu, all the hurt she’d been bottling up came rushing out.
Ye Jiawen hugged Ye Zhiqiu and sobbed into her shoulder.
Ye Zhiqiu understood exactly how she felt. Their experiences were similar yet different—the details varied, but the essence was the same.
She held Ye Jiawen, gently rubbing her back, saying nothing, letting her pour out all her grievances freely.
Ye Jiawen cried for a long time. When she finally pulled away, embarrassed, her eyes were already a little swollen.
Ye Zhiqiu wet her handkerchief and placed it over Ye Jiawen’s eyes.
“Sister Jiawen, have Wen Liang’s family been coming after you?”
Ye Zhiqiu had heard from Yue Mingyuan about Wen Liang’s family—a whole houseful of sisters, with him as the only boy, spoiled rotten by everyone.
When he got into trouble, none of them thought he’d done anything wrong. Instead, they felt Ye Jiawen should be grateful that Wen Liang had even taken an interest in her.
Before Wen Liang was sentenced, his family showed up at the school every single day to harass her.
Now that he’d been convicted, Ye Zhiqiu suspected his family wouldn’t let it go so easily.
Ye Jiawen knew there was no point hiding it. “They still show up every now and then.”
“What do they come to you for?”
Ye Jiawen sat up straight and took the handkerchief off her eyes. “Nothing but blaming me for ruining Wen Liang’s life—for kicking his precious parts to bits.”
Ye Zhiqiu blinked, then realized what she meant. Her eyes went wide, and she gave Ye Jiawen a thumbs-up. “Sister Jiawen—badass!”
Ye Jiawen actually laughed. It was the first genuine laugh she’d let out since the whole ordeal began.
“Sister Jiawen, you did nothing wrong. No matter what anyone says—you did nothing wrong.”
Ye Zhiqiu took her hand. “I used to think it was my fault too. But no matter how I turned it over in my head, I couldn’t figure out where I’d gone wrong. I was the victim—so why was I the one being blamed?”
“If the world has become this twisted, then it’s the world that’s wrong!”
Ye Zhiqiu’s words gave Ye Jiawen a huge boost of courage and confidence. Lately, she’d heard so many people telling her she was at fault that even her once-steadfast heart had started to waver. But Zhiqiu snapped her right back to clarity.
Yes—she was not wrong!
And on top of that, she’d found a direction she wanted to pursue: women’s rights and sexual assault advocacy.
She wanted to help other women who’d gone through what she had—to make sure victims got the justice they deserved, and that the monsters who harmed them faced proper punishment.
After she got home, Ye Zhiqiu called Ye Yunlin. It turned out that he and Wang Shuying were also thinking of coming to the capital for the New Year.
In the past few years, Wang Shuying’s parents had passed away, and her older brother’s family lived close by, so they saw each other regularly.
Ye Yunlin had rarely come to the capital before. But after learning how Ye Yunshuang had died, he’d been consumed with guilt and wanted nothing more than to be better to Ye Zhiqiu.
She had no other family here. He knew the Yue family were good people, but he still worried she might be mistreated.
A woman’s family really is her backbone. When her own people stand strong, her in-laws think twice about crossing her.
Ye Yunlin and Wang Shuying still didn’t know about Ye Jiawen’s situation. She didn’t want to worry them, so she’d told Ye Jiawu not to say anything.
Ye Jiawu himself only found out much later, after Wen Liang had already been sentenced. Otherwise, he would’ve beaten Wen Liang to a pulp.
Between the heartache for his sister and the anger that she’d kept something this big from him, Ye Jiawu was beside himself.
After leaving the law school, Ye Zhiqiu and Yue Mingyuan headed back to the compound.
From way off, she could see Yaya waiting at the gate, with Huo Jiusi beside her. He was worried she’d get cold, so he kept crouching down to warm her hands and wrapping his arms around her.
When Yaya spotted Yue Mingyuan’s car, she jumped up in excitement, tugging Huo Jiusi’s hand. “Jiusi! Mommy’s back! Mommy’s back!”
Huo Jiusi scooped Yaya up, and she waved frantically at Yue Mingyuan and Ye Zhiqiu. “Daddy! Mommy!”
Ye Zhiqiu didn’t even wait for the car to stop completely before she jumped out, swept Yaya into her arms, and planted kiss after kiss on her little cheeks. “Yaya, Yaya—my precious baby.”
“Mommy.”
Yaya cupped Ye Zhiqiu’s face, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and nestled against her, rolling around a little. “Mommy, Yaya missed you so much.”
“Mommy missed you too, sweetheart.” Ye Zhiqiu’s voice caught with emotion.
It’s true—you never really know what it means to miss your child until you become a mother. She finally understood what it felt like to have your heart tied to someone else.
“Daddy.”
Yaya rested her head on Ye Zhiqiu’s shoulder, beaming at Yue Mingyuan with her eyes all crinkled, and reached out her little hand to him.
Yue Mingyuan took her tiny hand, pressed a kiss to it, and with one arm holding their things and the other wrapping around both Ye Zhiqiu and Yaya, pulled them all into a warm embrace.
“Jiusi, long time no see.”
Ye Zhiqiu didn’t forget about Huo Jiusi. She ruffled his hair. “You’ve grown so much taller.”
To her, he was like one of her own children.
She knew his mother had passed away, and her heart ached for him.
“Auntie Ye, welcome home.”
