Arriving at the community building, Van Shang threw down a hundred yuan bill and rushed outside. As he entered the elevator, it conveniently opened on the first floor. Van Shang was trembling with anxiety; Van Yan was his only family, his younger sister whom he had cared for since childhood. If anything happened to Van Yan, he would never forgive himself!
He had never felt the elevator move so slowly. As the doors opened, Van Shang’s figure flickered, and he was already at the doorstep of his home. His hands were shaking so badly as he entered the password that he accidentally pressed the wrong number. He had no choice but to grip his left wrist tightly with his right hand, pressing each digit one by one. With a “beep,” the door swung open.
Van Shang rushed straight to the bathroom, where he found Van Yan submerged in water. Her wet hair clung to her face, her lips pale and bloodless. In her right hand, she held a blade, repeatedly dragging it across her left wrist, the red blood streaming down and turning the water in the bathtub pink.
“Van Yan!” Van Shang dashed over and snatched the blade away, throwing it far from her. “What are you doing?!”
“Brother— my heart hurts so much. You shouldn’t save me,” Van Yan said blankly, sitting in the bathtub with dim eyes, as if a dense darkness had descended upon her, blocking out any glimmer of hope.
Van Shang had already called for an ambulance. He could hear the sirens as they approached. He tightly grasped Van Yan’s left wrist. “Van Yan, I’m taking you to the hospital. You’ll be okay.”
Even upon arriving at the hospital, Van Shang still couldn’t accept the reality that his only younger sister was attempting to take her own life right before him. He wanted to check the time on his phone but realized he had misplaced it in the chaos. Van Shang borrowed someone else’s phone to call his company and take a leave of absence. The doctor came out and said, “Mr. Van, your sister’s emotional state is very unstable; she may try to harm herself again at any time. Family must stay by her side to prevent further incidents. It’s advisable to see a psychologist.”
Van Yan’s wrist wound had not cut through any arteries and was not serious. They simply needed to dress it and keep it dry, changing the bandage regularly.
Van Shang brought Van Yan home and personally watched over her. However, being a man, there were moments he felt uncomfortable. His company’s top actress, Qu Qing’er, had heard about the situation and voluntarily came to help. Qu Qing’er was someone Van Shang had nurtured and introduced to her current husband, and they had a great relationship after five years of marriage.
Qu Qing’er had watched Van Yan grow up, and they shared a close bond, almost like that of sisters or mother and daughter. With Qu Qing’er’s support, after two visits to a psychologist, Van Yan’s emotional state finally improved, and she no longer spoke of suicide.
Van Shang couldn’t find his lost phone and had to get a new SIM card. However, when he opened the contacts, it was empty. His WeChat contacts were also blank, and the twenty thousand yuan in his wallet was gone.
Van Shang was at a loss for words regarding the person who found or stole his phone.
In December, he attended a domestic award ceremony, accompanying the actress Qu Qing’er, whose husband was an outsider. Van Shang helped to look after Van Yan while he was away, but the media erroneously interpreted his grateful glance toward Qu Qing’er as romantic affection.
He had no time to respond to the rumors. The company arranged for Qu Qing’er to star in a foreign blockbuster, and Van Yan insisted on going along. Concerned for her safety, Van Shang ultimately agreed, along with Qu Qing’er’s husband and the others, to go abroad.
The movie, being a big production, took a full eight months to film.
During that time, Van Yan became much brighter while abroad, her depression from a broken heart fully recovered. Van Shang was worried she might fall behind in her studies, so immediately after filming ended, he brought her back to the country. Coincidentally, it was summer vacation, and he hired a tutor to catch Van Yan up with the expectations of junior high school.
After sleeping with Zhou Zhenfei, Van Shang finally had some time to breathe.
His WeChat contacts were only those from the company and Van Yan; he had no time to engage with others.
As Van Shang took a break, he felt more troubled. He realized he hadn’t contacted Zhou Zhenfei in over ten months, and he must seem like a heartless scumbag in Zhou Zhenfei’s eyes.
Van Shang didn’t know how he could explain things to Zhou Zhenfei. He did not have Zhou Zhenfei’s contact information or his family address, so he could only check Zhou Zhenfei’s recent activity on Weibo.
What he found shocked him: Zhou Zhenfei had a son!
The boy was named Zhou Cheng’ai, a lovely child who resembled neither Zhou Zhenfei nor the mother, indicating that the child’s mother was likely beautiful.
Van Shang felt a pang of jealousy.
He quietly calculated: if the child was just over a month old, that meant he was conceived more than ten months ago, around the time he was with Zhou Zhenfei… Could it be that Zhou Zhenfei was smoking while sleeping with another woman?
Van Shang felt sad.
Yet, he continued to scroll through Weibo, painfully watching Zhou Zhenfei flaunt his son.
Gradually, Van Shang noticed something: Zhou Cheng’ai had no mother!
While Zhou Zhenfei’s older brother, Zhou Zhenting, posted many pictures of his son, he frequently shared photos of his wife Wei Yanze. However, Zhou Zhenfei hadn’t posted a single picture of the child’s mother.
What did this imply? Did the child lack a mother, or did Zhou Zhenfei simply not like her?
Unsure about directly contacting Zhou Zhenfei, Van Shang decided to message Zhou Zhenting on Weibo.
Van Shang: Hello, I’m Van Shang. Due to an unexpected family issue last year, I lost contact with Zhenfei. Now that things have settled, could you help me arrange a meeting with him? I need to explain some misunderstandings in person.
Zhou Zhenting rarely checked his direct messages, but that day he happened to click on it, and the first message he saw was from Van Shang.
After reading it, Zhou Zhenting did not reply. Instead, he took his phone to the top floor to find Zhou Zhenfei.
Zhou Zhenfei was video chatting with his son, looking at Zhou Cheng’ai’s smiling face on the screen, unable to stop smiling.
“Brother, what brings you here?” Zhou Zhenfei said, addressing Zhou Cheng’ai on the screen, “Cheng’ai, do you see who has come to visit Daddy? It’s Uncle, right?”
Zhou Cheng’ai responded with a couple of excited squeals, and Zhou Zhenfei replied, “Brother, Cheng’ai just called for you,” then added with a hint of disappointment, “but he doesn’t even know how to call me ‘Dad’ yet.”