“What a coincidence indeed!” His voice was low. He had lost weight, which was Ru Feng’s first impression. She shifted her gaze, “Is there something you want?” Ning Yuan remained silent, but Ru Feng could feel his gaze lingering on her.
“You and Ru Feng,” he finally spoke, sounding hesitant, “do you have any connection?”
“No!” Ru Feng answered quickly, which made her seem guilty; she inwardly cursed herself.
Another moment of silence passed, then Ning Yuan suddenly laughed lightly, “You look just like her.” Ru Feng’s heart trembled, and she almost instinctively lowered her head. Ning Yuan continued, “She wouldn’t lie; whenever she does, she looks guilty and can’t meet anyone’s gaze.” He sighed softly, “I don’t want to say anything else, but Situ Qi Feng’s eyes could never see any woman other than her. If you’re not her, you absolutely couldn’t stand by his side!”
By this point, he was practically certain. Ru Feng suddenly looked up, her heart a mix of grief and anger. Ning Yuan, by what right are you questioning me now? But the face before her struck the softest part of her heart. This was Ning Yuan, the brother she had loved for many years! She forced a smile, “I know Qi Feng loves his sister, but he also has romantic love. It’s not strange that I stand by his side.”
Ning Yuan stared at her, his eyes flowing with deep, subtle light. He gently shook his head, “If it were someone else, I’d believe it. But Situ Qi Feng… his entire emotional life has been centered on her.”
These words made Ru Feng’s heart skip a beat. Ning Yuan stepped closer, his hot breath falling on her head, “Changing identities, that’s how you’ll make me keep you, right?”
At this, Ru Feng jumped back in panic. Ning Yuan stood unmoving, “This posture and walking style, it’s her.”
Ru Feng looked at him almost desperately, “Even if it is, so what?” Her eyes misted over. Ning Yuan was overjoyed, his tone unable to hide his emotions, “Wind, is it really you?”
Even though he had already guessed part of it, hearing her say it directly filled him with joy. Ru Feng gave a bitter smile, “Didn’t you already confirm it?”
She knew she couldn’t hide from him; he knew her too well. “Wind!” He called out, arms extending to embrace her, but Ru Feng spun away.
What right did he have to hug her now? “Wind?” Ning Yuan was stunned. Ru Feng stood far away, “Brother-in-law!” she called. Ning Yuan’s face stiffened, and after a long moment, he lowered his arms, “Wind, can we talk?”
“No.”
Ru Feng turned away, no longer looking at him. “No matter what, your current identity is my brother-in-law. I can never go back to how things were.”
“Wind!” Ning Yuan called after her, pleading. But Ru Feng continued walking, not wanting to listen or see him. At this moment, whatever he said felt futile.
Ning Yuan took a few steps forward, but Ru Feng seemed to dodge him effortlessly. Her eyes were slightly red as she looked at him in disbelief. “If I don’t want to, you can’t get close to me.” She had never needed to escape his embrace until now.
“Feng’er, I love you!” His words stopped her movement. “From beginning to end, I have always loved you.”
Ru Feng widened her eyes and then laughed through her tears. “When I loved you the most, you said you didn’t love me. Now, after becoming my brother-in-law, you claim to have always loved me. Do you think you haven’t tormented me enough?”
“Feng’er, it’s not like that. I did what I did back then only to help my mother take revenge.” He told her the story of the previous generation—his mother’s unfulfilled love and her hatred for Si Tu Jin, who had treated her best friend poorly, marrying her and ultimately allowing her to die in despair.
So she wanted him to find a way to get close to the Si Tu Group. In the end, to take revenge on Si Tu Jin, his mother forced him to give her up, and he, to save his own life and have a chance to see her again, married Sui Feng.
This long story caused Ru Feng immense pain.
“Feng’er, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had a heart condition. Otherwise, I would never have done that. Did Si Tu Qi Feng have you undergo plastic surgery to stay by his side forever?” He looked at her expectantly. “With a different identity, Feng’er, we can start over without hatred. You won’t be Sui Feng’s sister, and you won’t have to bear societal pressure, right?”
Ru Feng shook her head, wiping away her tears. “You gave up on me because of your mother’s one-sided hatred. This makes me feel sadder than you not loving me. What am I in your heart? What is your so-called love?”
She felt drained and incredibly tired.
“But Feng’er, you still love me, don’t you?”
“Yes, I love you,” Ru Feng admitted. “But I don’t want this kind of love anymore.”
Some people change their identity but keep their love unchanged; others give up love because of their identity.
She smiled. “You guessed my identity because of my second brother’s attitude towards me. That’s because you know him too well.”
You know my second brother’s feelings are pure and persistent. Like him, I can’t tolerate impurities in feelings. We can be unyielding, but collapse easily from a light touch from those we care about.
“I’m sorry, Brother Ning Yuan. I hid my heart condition. I was never capable of love,” she sighed. “I can’t accept your feelings again.”
“Goodbye, brother-in-law.”
“Feng’er!” Ning Yuan reached out.
Ru Feng stepped back. “I still love you, but Brother Ning Yuan, don’t come too close. The process of driving you out of my heart will be too painful.” She forced a smile. “You’ve married Sister Sui Feng and have a promise to her. Don’t forget that.”
Ning Yuan was rooted to the spot, unable to approach, only able to watch her leave.
Ru Feng’s tears flowed silently, unable to look back. Love had become a tragedy.
Reaching her home that afternoon was a struggle.
“Miss Qiu!” Someone emerged from a car at her door – Li Qin, handing her a box. “This is from President Qiu.”
The box was beautifully packaged, but Ru Feng had no mood to appreciate it.
“Miss Qiu, won’t you open it?” Li Qin asked.
Ru Feng shook her head, “I’ll look later. Please tell him thank you.”
Li Qin appeared ready to respond, but Ru Feng had already taken the box inside.
“Miss Qiu, President Qiu was going to come himself, but due to some company issues, he didn’t sleep all night and asked me to come,” Li Qin said with a slight bow before driving away.
Ru Feng paused, gazing at the box for a long time before finally opening it.
Inside was a beautiful pearl white phone, delicate and cute.
She took it out and noticed two unread messages on the screen from Qiu Chi: “The gift I intended to send wasn’t this, but something was delayed. I suddenly thought a phone would be good too. At least, I can tell you not to wait for me. I know waiting will make you sad.”
The next message read: “Sorry, Xiao Feng, for making you wait so long.”
Her eyes grew warm, and Ru Feng squatted down and cried.
“Xiao Feng, what’s wrong?” Qiu’s mother came out, both worried and heartbroken.
Ru Feng shook her head, unable to speak.
Seeing the box from Qiu Chi, Qiu’s mother sighed and gently patted her back, “If you still like Qiu Chi, just go. Mom won’t stop you anymore.”
Ru Feng cried even harder. After she finished, Qiu’s mother took her home.
“Where were you last night?”
Someone said you were kept back by your boss for overtime at the company. Do cake shops need overtime?” Qiu’s mother asked.
Ru Feng sniffled, “Mm, it was busy.”
After a while, she said, “Mom, I quit the cake shop.”
“It’s good to resign. A girl asking you to work overtime isn’t worth it,” Qiu’s mother sympathized, surprisingly without asking the reason. “I told Aunt Li next door that I can earn some money cleaning together with her.”
“No!” Ru Feng pressed her hand. “I’ll go find a job tomorrow; you don’t need to work so hard.”
