Chapter Ten: Treasured Like a Precious Gem

I couldn't bear to look any longer. In my life, he had always been perfect—flawless, godlike. Now, he had fallen from his pedestal, and not for my sake.

On the way back, Xia Qi chattered incessantly, complaining about how Du Fanchuan was two-faced, how shameless Yi Huayang was, and how I was utterly disappointing. I listened in silence, feeling a tingling on my cheeks.

When I reached up to touch my face, I found it wet with tears.

That night, my grandfather sat down to have a heart-to-heart with me. It was the first time he ever mentioned the matter between Yi Huayang and Rong Luozheng.

“Child, you have no idea. Rong Luozheng’s rise to wealth and power—all of it depended on his father-in-law. You can’t imagine who his father-in-law is—a man even the city party secretary has to show deference to. Rong Luozheng came to me privately, claiming he was already negotiating a divorce and would soon be free to marry your sister. At the time, I had no choice—your father was about to be promoted, and we couldn’t afford any mistakes. Rong Luozheng’s wife came to see me herself. I understood her—a woman who cultivated her husband from nothing, now facing divorce over a twenty-year-old girl. Who could endure that? Weighing the pros and cons, I had to find a way…”

He shook his head again and again. “It’s all my fault. Completely my fault. I ruined your sister’s life. If only I hadn’t…”

I sat curled up on the sofa, hugging my knees, trying to comfort him. “Everyone has their own fate, Grandpa. Please don’t blame yourself.”

“These past years, your sister’s suffered so much. I’ve seen her cry in secret more than once. You must try to understand her. Life hasn’t been easy for her.”

Suddenly, all the words I’d been holding in my heart dried up. Why should I be the one to sympathize with someone who stole my boyfriend?

Her life hasn’t been easy, but was mine a walk in the park? Did I force her to become someone’s mistress for money? Did I force her to take my boyfriend?

But I couldn’t blame Grandpa. He had his own burdens to bear.

The next day, I sneaked off to another hospital and saw Du Fanchuan feeding Yi Huayang something from a bowl. Yi Huayang lay there like a corpse, unmoving.

Du Fanchuan said something to her, and suddenly she sat up and slapped the bowl out of his hands. She screamed, “What are you doing here? Get out! I don’t want to see you, get out!”

She battered him with her fists, her voice hoarse with rage. He sat there, unmoving, and she grew even more frantic, clawing at his face. Still, he didn’t react. In a frenzy, she swept everything off the bedside table and hurled the bedding and pillows onto the floor.

I half wondered if she’d pick up Du Fanchuan himself and throw him down next.

“Leave! Go find your Lan Shan! I don’t want you here… Just go! Do you hear me? I want you to leave!”

Du Fanchuan suddenly wrapped her in his arms, gently patting her back to soothe her.

Yi Huayang pounded his shoulder again and again, then broke down, wailing.

“Yangyang, listen to me. It’s all over now. From this moment on, we’ll be fine… We’ll get married. Let’s get married tomorrow. We’ll never be apart, all right?”

I turned away, lifting my chin high, but still couldn’t stop the tears.

Xia Qi once said that the only time a man truly treasures a woman is not when he’s at the height of his glory, nor when she’s at her most beautiful and charming, but when both their pride has been trampled underfoot—that’s when you see the truth.

I never understood that before. I thought Xia Qi was just talking nonsense. How could I not be Du Fanchuan’s treasure? We loved each other so much.

If we didn’t grow old together, surely heaven would strike us down with thunder.

That evening, a young man appeared in the hospital room, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and carrying a briefcase—he looked like a real estate agent.

As soon as he saw me, he said, “Miss Yi, please come with me.”

At the time, I was sprawled across the coffee table, watching the goldfish that Qilin had sent over by his housekeeper early in the morning. He’d told me I could imitate Mei Lanfang, gazing down at the goldfish swimming, so that after surgery, my eyes wouldn’t turn into dead fish eyes.

I glanced at the agent. “Who are you, and why should I go with you?”

He produced a business card, placing it before me—Assistant to the President of Lan Feng Group, Zhu Bang.

I glanced at the card, then returned to watching the fish. “Sorry, I don’t know you.”

He patiently prompted me, “Miss Yi, you certainly have a lot on your mind. Yesterday at the airport, you ruined my young master’s cake…”

I suddenly pointed at him. “You mean that crazy pervert?”