Chapter 25: Chapter 28 (part 1)

Qiao Wenxing walked aimlessly through the cold wind, his mind a mess. Without really planning to, he walked to the convenience store in the street and bought a pack of cigarettes. Standing at the door of the store and lighting up his cigarette, he looked up and saw himself in the glass.

His hair was messed up by the night wind. He had been too busy to shave, and his clothes were a little sloppy. And to make things worse, he was fat.

This year he had worked hard in M City, smoking, drinking, socializing, working overtime and staying up late. The fitness habits he had kept up for many years had been disrupted, and he had let them fall by the wayside. Without him even knowing, he had gained weight, his figure out of shape, his face bloated, his whole being crestfallen and downcast, even greasy. He looked like one of those middle-aged white-collar workers squeezing into an elevator in an office building, who were burdened by mortgages and their children's tuition fees, and exhausted every day.

Qiao Wenxing was stunned by the sight of himself in the glass.

How had this happened?

A year and a half ago, he had been a fit, handsome gentleman from the Qiao Family, sought after by the media together with Han Yanyan as a golden couple, a business elite. How had he... become like this?

For a moment, he didn't even know who he was. Why was he even here? Why was he, dignified elegant Young Master Qiao, chasing after other people every day, pleasing and flattering them for a few hundred thousand or a few million's yuan worth of business? In the past, that hadn't even been enough for him to go on a trip, or buy a sports car.

As he simply stood there foolishly, the cigarette he was smoking fell from his mouth to the ground. The clerk noticed that something was wrong. She came over and picked up the cigarette before gently calling out, "Sir? Sir? Are you all right, sir?"

Jolted back to reality by the clerk, Qiao Wenxing gazed at her blankly. A little afraid of this unnatural-looking man, the clerk stepped back quietly and asked in a low voice, "Are you all right?"

"I..." answered Qiao Wenxing unconsciously, then paused.

"I want to go home." He felt like he was suddenly waking up from a long dream. It had been going on long enough. It was time for him to wake up! He stared at the shop assistant and said again abruptly, "I want to go home!"

Flinging open the door of the convenience store, he ran out. Feeling the cold wind outside rush in, the clerk shivered and mumbled, "That guy's crazy."

 

Qiao Wenxing went home.

He didn't bring anything with him. Not his clothes, his car, his company, not even his wife and child. He didn't bring anything, didn't call anyone. He went straight to the airport alone, bought the next flight out, and flew home.

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It was midnight by the time he got there. Mother Qiao had fainted from high blood pressure during the day and was in the hospital, and her father was not at home. In that big, empty mansion, there was only the housekeeper to take his hand and weep with joy, "You're back."

The housekeeper had once been his nanny. She had half-raised him, and loved him very much.

When Qiao Wenxing saw her, he really felt like he had come home. Tears welled up in his eyes. When he asked her about his father and mother, he realized that his mother was still in the hospital and that his father was accompanying her there, so he rushed to the hospital at once. But by the time he got there, his father and mother had already gone to bed. He sat in a chair in the hallway until dawn.

When Father Qiao saw him, his once-favourite son had sunken eyes and a scraggly beard like a ghost. He had turned himself into this in just one year. Father Qiao was deeply disappointed in him. It was fortunate that he had had another grown son.

Qiao Wenxing was deeply ashamed of himself. When he made to see his mother. His father stopped him, scolding, "Do you even know what you look like? Are you trying to make your mother even more worried? Go take a shower and change!"

The hospital was an advanced private one, with complete facilities. Qiao Wenxing took a bath and shaved there, and someone sent him clothes from home. Then he hurried in to see his mother, who was both happy and disappointed to see him.

"What are you doing back now?" she fumed.

Her son has lost his status as heir, and now he would have to live and work on the illegitimate child's whim. When she thought about it, Mother Qiao's blood pressure once again rose sharply, throwing the ward into pandemonium.

Having finally stabilized with difficulty, Mother Qiao said that she didn't want to see her son for the time being. Outside the ward, Father Qiao told him, "You first go home. Don't make your mother angry."

Qiao Wenxing turned in a daze, stopping again when his father called. "I'll ask Chengyu to come home tonight. The two of you brothers should meet."

In a daze, Qiao Wenxing went back. It was because of his stupor that he didn't think that something was off. He hadn't come home all night, yet Bai Yue hadn't even called.

Everything at the family mansion had remained the same as before he left. His brother, younger by only a few months, had not moved in, and the house seemed just like it always had been. When he opened the door to his room, even the decor was untouched. But Qiao Wenxing could feel that everything had changed.

He lay in bed, thinking about the last year and the long dream. His heart ached. Closing his eyes, he crumpled the shirt at his chest in his fist.

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