Volume One, Chapter 15: Let Them Go
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Feng Xi’s injuries were not serious, but they looked frightening. Gu Qingchen confined her to the hospital room, repeatedly warning her not to leave, and assigned Wu Feng to serve as her bodyguard.
With New Year’s Day approaching, classes had already ended, and most of the teachers’ lessons had become self-study sessions. Feng Xi simply stayed in her room and quietly reviewed her studies.
Gu Qingchen had been very busy these past few days, though Feng Xi had no idea what occupied him. He had even suspended his rehabilitation training. Apart from having dinner with Feng Xi every day, he was otherwise seldom seen.
That noon, Gu Qingchen unexpectedly came to the hospital room. Ding Wen was carrying two enormous bags filled to the brim with ingredients.
It was also the first time Wu Feng had sat down to eat with them.
The four of them gathered around the table. Only when Ding Wen brought out a large pot did Feng Xi realize belatedly that they were having hot pot that day.
It was a divided pot with two broths. Ding Wen turned it so that the clear broth faced Gu Qingchen and Feng Xi, since neither of them could eat spicy food.
Ding Wen happily tore open a packet of fiercely spicy beef tallow base. “Oh, I’ve been craving this to death. Big Brother Wu, I’m not waiting for you—I’m putting the whole packet in.”
The spicy broth turned nearly black with red. Wu Feng said nothing. He took seven or eight boxes of meat from the bags, then brought out all kinds of mushrooms and greens, along with plenty of meatballs, wide noodles, bean products, and other ingredients, filling the entire table.
Gu Qingchen opened a small container of sauce and asked Feng Xi, “Do you want cilantro?”
Feng Xi nodded, her appetite stirring. “A lot.”
Gu Qingchen emptied the entire little container of cilantro into the sauce and handed it to her. Feng Xi accepted it happily.
Before long, the room was filled with fragrance. The broth began to boil, and when Ding Wen lifted the lid, a cloud of steam surged upward and shot toward the ceiling. Feng Xi let out a delighted exclamation.
Gu Qingchen’s gentle gaze settled on her. She lifted her eyes, their depths sparkling with indescribable joy. Like a flower just beginning to bloom in spring, a look of delight naturally spread across her cheeks—warm and radiant.
Ding Wen stood up and dumped an entire box of beef into the spicy broth. Feng Xi stamped her foot anxiously. “Put some over here too! I want some!”
Ding Wen ignored her and poured in the second box as well. Feng Xi could not reach the meat, and her face filled with both grievance and impatience. Gu Qingchen reached out, took a box of beef, and emptied it all into the clear broth. He also added some greens that Feng Xi could not reach.
The gloom on Feng Xi’s face instantly lifted. “Thank you, Mr. Gu. You’re so kind.”
A faint smile rose involuntarily at the corners of Gu Qingchen’s lips.
Ding Wen stirred the spicy broth with his chopsticks. “Feng Xi, I’m the one you should thank most today. I was the one who suggested hot pot, and I personally went to the supermarket to buy all these ingredients.”
Feng Xi gave him a sweet smile. She thought that being with Gu Qingchen and Ding Wen was still the happiest—without a single worry. “Thank you, Assistant Ding.”
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While they waited for the pot to boil, Gu Qingchen took a thermos from one of the bags and handed it to Feng Xi. “Your aunt specially made this chicken soup. Drink it and nourish yourself.”
Feng Xi accepted it, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
She was staying in the best hospital room, with three meals delivered every day. Gu Qingchen had also given her a new phone and bought her many clothes that looked expensive. One should not accept rewards without earning them, and Feng Xi could not bring herself to accept all these things without unease. She always felt awkward.
“Thank you, Mr. Gu, but you really didn’t have to go to so much trouble. I’ve actually recovered already.”
Because she was receiving such meticulous care, Feng Xi’s injuries had healed quickly despite the winter weather. The bruises had faded, the wounds had closed, and only a faint red mark remained at the corner of her mouth.
Gu Qingchen raised his eyes slightly. “You must drink it all.”
His presence was far too commanding. Feng Xi pursed her lips, unscrewed the lid, and a rich aroma drifted out.
Just then, the hot pot began to boil as well. Ding Wen lifted the lid and picked up a large bundle of beef with his chopsticks, sending it straight into his mouth. Feng Xi watched so eagerly that she nearly began to drool. She was just about to pick up her own chopsticks when a slender hand appeared before her.
Gu Qingchen blocked her. “Finish the chicken soup.”
Feng Xi wanted to eat hot pot too badly to argue. Without a word, she drank it all in one go, then tilted the thermos toward Gu Qingchen and looked at him. The meaning was unmistakable: I finished it.
Gu Qingchen withdrew his hand. Feng Xi picked up her chopsticks, lifted a piece of beef, dipped it lightly into the sauce, and put it into her mouth.
The tender beef was rich with a milky fragrance. Feng Xi’s eyes curved as she ate with obvious delight.
Gu Qingchen kept placing food in her bowl, and Feng Xi kept eating until she felt the meal lodged in her throat. This time, she was truly full.
After everything was cleared away, Feng Xi sprawled across the sofa. She felt that all the happiness she had experienced in her first twenty years combined could not compare with even one ten-thousandth of what she felt now.
Gu Qingchen sat on the sofa beside her and said, “Feng Xi, there’s something I need to tell you.”
Feng Xi straightened slightly and listened attentively.
Gu Qingchen considered his words for a moment, his voice trailing off. “The police investigation requires your cooperation. The Lin father and son insist that you are a member of the Lin family and refuse to admit to kidnapping you. The police need you to cooperate with a paternity test.”
Feng Xi’s breath caught, and the light in her eyes dimmed. Noticing the change in her expression, Gu Qingchen continued, “I’ve been negotiating these past few days, and the lawyer has been working to secure the case. They can only be convicted with your testimony.”
The light in Feng Xi’s eyes disappeared completely. If there was one person she hated most in this life, it was Lin Shengwang. She did not want the slightest connection with him.
She said faintly, “I’m an adult. Can I refuse the paternity test?”
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Feng Xi looked at Gu Qingchen pleadingly, and he felt as though something had pierced his heart out of nowhere.
“Of course.”
Feng Xi spoke softly. “I don’t want to have anything to do with Lin Shengwang. Even less do I want him to become my legal father, or for the relationship between us to be recognized in my official records.”
On her household registration, Feng Xi’s guardian was listed as her maternal grandfather. In the column for their relationship, she was not recorded as his granddaughter, but as his adopted daughter.
When Feng Xi had filled out forms in elementary school, all the other children wrote down their fathers, mothers, grandfathers, and grandmothers. Feng Xi could only write “orphan.”
She was not an orphan. She had both a biological father and mother. Yet in all official documents, she stood utterly alone, just as she had walked alone through the first twenty years of her life.
Her grandfather was old and had little strength left to care for a child. The medical clinic earned barely enough to survive. From a young age, Feng Xi wore other people’s discarded clothes. Her aunt complained whenever she ate too much, so she only dared to eat until she was thirty percent full.
Sometimes, just to fill her stomach, she collected scrap, chopped firewood, or gathered medicinal herbs in exchange for a coin or two. At times, she could not even afford a decent pen, much less snacks to satisfy a craving.
Children who lost their mothers’ protection seemed destined to bear deeper marks from fate. Thanks to Lin Shengwang, Feng Xi’s world had never been touched by even the faintest ray of warm sunlight. Her days had been a difficult journey beneath an endless, oppressive sky.
Gu Qingchen lowered his head and looked at her, his voice deep. “The lawyer is preparing to charge the Lin father and son with kidnapping, trafficking women, and extortion. You only need to testify against them. Leave the rest to the lawyer.”
Feng Xi raised her eyes, her lashes trembling, tears glimmering within them. “Mr. Gu, can you let them go?”
Gu Qingchen’s eyes widened as he looked at her in disbelief.
Feng Xi’s small face drew into a troubled frown. She was clearly very unwilling.
“Why?”
“Because of Grandfather,” Feng Xi said softly.
The moment Feng Xi received her phone, she had received a call from her aunt. After first making sure that Feng Xi was safe, her aunt had immediately asked her not to pursue charges against the Lin father and son.
If the Lin father and son went to prison because of Feng Xi, her mother might do something reckless. In the village, public opinion was terrifying. People would say that her grandfather had raised an ungrateful wretch, and the entire family would be subjected to gossip and condemnation. For the sake of her uncle’s two children and their reputations, her aunt begged Feng Xi to spare the Lin father and son.
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