Chapter Six: Retribution

I raised my hand to my forehead, steadying my voice to keep it from trembling. "It's nothing, I just wanted to call you." I tried my best not to cry, because the doctor had warned me that tears were the very thing I must avoid right now.

To shed tears over a scoundrel—what a waste.

The day they removed the bandages, my grandfather and Zhou Fan came. My parents didn’t. All of them were silent, and I knew why.

Yi Huayang and Du Fanchuan were flying to Los Angeles today; my parents were probably at the airport, wiping their tears.

As the bandages were unwound layer by layer, everything before me was a blur. Several hands waved in front of me, and Qilin’s voice stood out, gentle and soothing, like a father comforting a child: “Don’t worry, don’t be afraid. Your brother’s here, everything’s alright.”

The curtains in the hospital room were all drawn, yet the light still seemed harsh and my tears streamed down uncontrollably.

The doctor examined me as he cautioned me to try not to cry, to keep my spirits up for the sake of my recovery.

But I knew my body was already riddled with wounds. I, whose stomach had been cut by a third, whose body was covered with scars, who had almost lost her sight—what right had I to speak of recovery?

Xia Qi was squatting by the coffee table, arranging flowers. Dissatisfied with her work, she fussed with it over and over, then finally lost her patience and hurled a beautiful bouquet of lilies to the floor.

Li Wanqiu exclaimed, “Oh dear, Miss Xia, who’s provoked you now?”

Xia Qi strode over, pushed Li Wanqiu aside, grabbed my hand and asked softly, “Lanshan, are you really just going to let that pair of shameless lovers go?”

I replied coolly, “What else should I do?”

She clenched her fists, her voice trembling with anger. “If it were me, I’d make them pay. Those shameless people—who takes her own sister’s man and leaves without a care in the world?”

I was exhausted. These days had drained every ounce of strength I’d gathered in twenty years. I truly didn’t want to fight with Yi Huayang anymore.

Li Wanqiu asked, “So quickly you’ve stopped loving Du Fanchuan?”

I smiled. “How could feelings vanish just like that? We grew up together—being in each other’s lives is second nature to us.”

Even with a stomach cut open, nearly blind, wishing I could kill him, I still loved him.

I’d tried my hardest to forget him, but it seemed to do little good.

Xia Qi and Li Wanqiu tried to persuade me to go to the airport, but I refused. For two months, they hadn’t said much, but with our deep friendship, I knew that if we went to the airport, Du Fanchuan and Yi Huayang might never leave.

They exchanged meaningful glances, but I pretended not to notice, lying back in bed with my eyes closed, resting.

My grandmother was a devout Buddhist, kept an altar year-round, ate vegetarian every day, and from being around her I’d learned a thing or two about karma and retribution. But I’d never believed in it. The world is inherently unfair; karma is just a salve for the weak.

But soon I learned that karma truly exists, though my father, furious over the phone, accused me of orchestrating everything and threatened to kill me.

In my memory, the few times my father had ever lost his temper were always because of me.

And now, he even threatened to kill me.

When we arrived at the airport, the flight to Los Angeles had already taken off half an hour before. Yi Huayang was squatting on the floor, clutching her face, while my mother held her, crying. My father stood off to the side, smoking.

But Du Fanchuan was nowhere to be seen.

I took in the scene; though it had been tidied up, it was clear there had been a fierce fight before we arrived.

When Yi Huayang finally raised her face, my suspicions were confirmed: her face was covered in blood, clearly scratched by fingernails.

Seeing me, she pushed away my mother and stood up, marching toward me with her hand raised, shouting, “Yi Lanshan, why can’t you just let me go? Why are you so devious? Du Fanchuan never loved you, you clung to him shamelessly, you’re the one without any dignity!”

Her hand was about to strike my face when Xia Qi yanked me behind her. Li Wanqiu shielded me as well; both of them glared at Yi Huayang, their faces cold.

Xia Qi enunciated each word: “Just try laying a finger on her.”