Jiang Yuchi’s hands acted faster than her brain. She reached out her right hand and pulled the tearful young master into her arms. Holding one child in each arm, she heard the young master ask in a muffled voice, "Will you go back again?"
"Perhaps." The roses had not yet been fully cultivated, and Jiang Yuchi did not want to lie to the child. When her gaze fell upon Yu Buqi’s reddened eyes, she quickly added, "But Mommy will take both you and Buying with me."
For a long time, Yu Buqi buried his delicate little face deep into Jiang Yuchi’s embrace, his voice muffled as if it were coming from his very chest: "Mommy..."
The image of the three of them huddled together was reflected in the rearview mirror. Yu Qinghuai’s gaze was heavy, as if he were trying to etch this scene into his mind forever.
She looked much more spirited now, no longer the fragile, crumbling figure she had been when she first left. Her bright, gentle appearance reminded him of the first time his older brother, Yujie, brought her home seven years ago.
For no reason, Yu Qinghuai felt a tickle in his throat.
The driver pulled the car up to the front entrance of the Yu Family residence. Yu Qinghuai stood up and stepped out of the car promptly, but a small commotion broke out in the back seat.
Both children clung to Jiang Yuchi, refusing to let go. As a "new mom," Jiang Yuchi knew that she couldn't show the slightest bit of favoritism, or the situation would descend into chaos, so she tried her best to lift both children at once.
Unfortunately, she had never studied weightlifting; picking up two six-year-olds with one arm each was nothing but a fantasy. Jiang Yuchi could only cast a look of appeal toward Yu Qinghuai, who was waiting for the three of them.
"Yu Buqi, come here." Yu Qinghuai signaled to Yu Buqi with practiced ease.
He must have held significant authority in the children’s eyes, as Yu Buqi only muttered a complaint about his uncle being partial to his younger sister before taking Yu Qinghuai’s hand.
At the accusation of favoritism, Yu Qinghuai lowered his eyes. He looked at the two faces—mother and daughter—that looked so much alike when pressed together, and he thought to himself: *How could I not be partial? How could anyone expect me not to be?*
Yu Buying was carefully cradled in Jiang Yuchi’s arms, kissing and nuzzling against her. The young master was instantly displeased. With a cold face, he said, "You're already six years old and you still want to be carried? Aren't you embarrassed, Yu Buying?"
"Mommy, you smell so good!" Ignoring the taunt from the "former comrade" who had just backstabbed her, Yu Buying twisted and turned in Jiang Yuchi’s arms like a kitten, occasionally pouting to plant kisses on her.
As she stepped into the house, Jiang Yuchi felt a momentary trance, as if the four of them were a family of four.
The thought made her heart feel uneasy, especially since the person in question was Yu Qinghuai, Yujie’s own brother. So, as she sat on the sofa with Yu Buqi and Yu Buying on either side of her, Jiang Yuchi shifted the topic to Yu Qinghuai.
"Qinghuai, thank you for taking care of Buqi and Buying for me over the last six years." As soon as she said it, Jiang Yuchi regretted it; the words sounded far too distant.
A servant brought tea for the four of them. Jiang Yuchi and the two children were served hot milk, while Yu Qinghuai was given a cup of hot tea.
Yu Qinghuai picked up his teacup. Even though the tea was always precisely temperature-checked before being served to ensure it could be drunk immediately without scalding, he still blew on the surface gently. After a long pause, he replied, "It was only for my brother’s sake."
His speech remained as stiff as ever, yet his tone and expression were much softer than before.
Jiang Yuchi recalled the first time Yujie brought her home seven years ago. Yu Qinghuai had been nothing like this; the young Yu Qinghuai was irritable and arrogant. He couldn't understand how his brother could be interested in a woman like her.
In private, he had threatened Jiang Yuchi more than once, using truly malicious language.
"What’s the use of pulling every string to hook my brother? It won't be long before he realizes you're just an embarrassing country bumpkin."
"Li Qingman is my brother’s alumnus. They’ve worked on research projects together and have endless things to talk about. And you, Jiang Yuchi? You and my brother don't have a single thing in common. He will realize sooner or later that beneath that pretty skin, you are completely empty."
...
Jiang Yuchi’s method of dealing with him was simple and crude: she told on him.
She would vividly reenact for Yujie exactly how his "good brother" had threatened her with words. The usual result the following day was that Yu Qinghuai would disappear from her sight for a while. People said that when Yujie used the family rules, he showed no mercy.
But as soon as Yu Qinghuai recovered, he would be back, lively and ready to cause trouble for Jiang Yuchi again. Caught between his younger brother and his lover, the usually omnipotent Young Master Yu felt a rare sense of dilemma.
What was the dilemma? Yujie had once remarked cryptically, "Qinghuai is slow-witted. If I don't make him bark, I’m afraid he’ll realize what’s happening. I’ve already begun arranging for him to go abroad."
Before Yujie could finish the arrangements to send Yu Qinghuai abroad, Yujie’s flight met with an accident. Along with him, the elderly head of the Yu Family also passed away after suffering a sudden heart attack upon hearing the news of Yujie’s death.
With the only two remaining relatives gone, Yu Qinghuai grew up overnight. He threw himself into boundless work to stabilize the Yu Group. During that time, he developed a heavy smoking habit.
But he quit quickly because his sister-in-law, Jiang Yuchi, was found to be pregnant.
Jiang Yuchi, along with the two tiny embryos in her womb, became the last three things he had to look forward to in this world.
He moved his office to Jiang Yuchi’s hospital room. In that room, which rivaled a presidential suite, Yu Qinghuai, separated only by a wall, kept a constant watch on news from next door, appearing the moment there was the slightest movement.
Later, Yu Qinghuai sat firmly as the new helmsman of the Yu Group. He seemed reborn, not a shadow remaining of the arrogant, profligate second young master he had once been.
His wings were fully grown, yet postpartum Jiang Yuchi withered day by day. She even developed severe self-destructive tendencies, staring blankly out the window every day.
In the end, Yu Qinghuai compromised. He hugged the now-frail Jiang Yuchi and asked her, "Don't you want to know why my brother flew to Country H? Jiang Yuchi, go. I will take care of the children for you."
He had found out why his brother was flying to Country H the day after the plane crash, but he had his own selfish motives and had kept it hidden.
Until he saw Jiang Yuchi withering like a rose deprived of water, he could no longer hide it and sent her away himself.
Watching through a screen as she slowly regained her vitality, nurtured by the love his brother had left behind, he felt both comforted and bitter.
When he learned that Jiang Yuchi was returning to the country, he hadn't slept for the entire night. Now that she was sitting in front of him again, Yu Qinghuai could not control his thoughts.
Family.
Why couldn't they become even closer family?
It was as unnaturally calm as the night before a storm. Jiang Yuchi sensed a hint of danger, but she had no instinct to run.
"I had someone tidy up a new room on the second floor. The bed is very large; you can sleep with the children." Yu Qinghuai stared at Jiang Yuchi. She drank her hot milk in one go, a bit of it inevitably staining her lips.
The bed was indeed very large. Not to mention the two children, even if he were included, there would be more than enough space.
Jiang Yuchi felt a bit down. In the past, she and Yujie had lived on the third floor. She knew that Yu Qinghuai must have kept that room exactly as it was.
But she didn't have the courage to step inside. Perhaps this arrangement was for the best.
After leading the two children to the second floor, Jiang Yuchi discovered that her new room was right next to Yu Qinghuai’s.
She faintly felt that this arrangement was wrong, but she immediately comforted herself by thinking that for the last six years, Yu Qinghuai had been raising Yu Buqi and Yu Buying. Perhaps he just couldn't bear to be too far from them.
Jiang Yuchi showered in her room while the two children showered in theirs. That was when she learned that the layout of the four rooms on the second floor, from left to right, was Yu Buqi, Yu Qinghuai, Jiang Yuchi, and Yu Buying. Again, she numbed her thoughts: the four of them were family; living close together was only logical.
When Jiang Yuchi finished her shower, the two children had also finished in their rooms. They stood in a row at her door, clutching their small pillows and wearing cute pajamas.
Yu Qinghuai crouched down and patiently explained to the two children, "Remember what we agreed upon yesterday? You will sleep with Mommy this week, and after that, you have to go back to sleeping in your own rooms."
"Uncle, you’re so annoying!" Yu Buying didn't want to hear it, and she slipped directly into Jiang Yuchi’s room with a skip.
Seeing that he had been beaten to it, Yu Buqi also slipped inside immediately.
Jiang Yuchi wanted to close the door, but Yu Qinghuai was still standing outside. Should she say something? She couldn't very well invite him in for a visit, could she?
After a long silence, Yu Qinghuai gazed deeply at Jiang Yuchi and said in a low voice, "Good night."