◎Was it truly the right decision to choose marriage and children in the first place?◎

At 8 p.m., Bai Duo continued their afternoon conversation over the phone.

“One of my classmates just returned from studying in LA and landed a job at a big company.”

Fu Jiaxi handed warmed milk to Jia Yi. “With such good conditions, why bother with blind dates?” The little one was engrossed in building Lego, his small bottom sticking out as he said, “Mommy, I’ll drink it later.”

“He’s into age-gap relationships.” Bai Duo tried hard to save face.

“But I’m sure he doesn’t like divorced older sisters,” Fu Jiaxi joked about herself.

“Fu Jiaxi, can you be serious for once?” Bai Duo didn’t leave room for negotiation. “The restaurant is booked. Think of it as a free fancy dinner. You have to go.”

“I really can’t go,” Fu Jiaxi replied. “I just started this job; there’s so much work.”

“Same old excuse,” Bai Duo cut her off and hung up without giving her a chance to explain.

“Tunk tunk tunk—”

Yue Jia Yi held his cow-print cup and gulped down the milk. After finishing, he rubbed his belly and let out a loud burp.

Holding her overheated phone, Fu Jiaxi sighed. Bai Duo’s relentless enthusiasm for matchmaking was truly worrying.

She genuinely had no plans to start a new relationship, but being busy with work wasn’t entirely an excuse either.

Having been away from the workforce for years, industry norms and working methods had already evolved. It was like starting over from scratch.

Sometimes, Fu Jiaxi found herself reflecting on how, regardless of gender, stepping away from life’s routines for too long left one feeling not only powerless but also hollow, lost, confused, and anxious. These emotions formed a vicious cycle, replaying her past decisions, questioning whether choosing marriage and motherhood was truly the right path.

The next day, as the workday neared its end, she finally had a moment to check her phone.

An hour earlier, Bai Duo had sent a message:

[My classmate had an emergency and couldn’t make it. Dinner’s canceled.]

[I’ll give him a piece of my mind for you, sorry, sis.]

[Baby, next time I’ll find someone better for you.]

Only then did Fu Jiaxi remember the blind date.

No need to reply—she hadn’t planned to go anyway. Perfect.

Forty minutes remained until quitting time, and the data model in her hands likely wouldn’t be finished. Fu Jiaxi planned her schedule: she’d probably need to work an extra hour that evening.

—

The weather turned strange as dusk approached. To the east, lightning flashed under dark clouds while the west basked in the tranquil orange glow of twilight.

A Bentley drove past the guardhouse, and the gatekeeper saluted respectfully.

Welcoming pines lined both sides of the road, and golden-leaved sycamores spread their branches like giant parasols standing at the entrance of Yue Mansion’s garden.

Yue Jin Cheng stepped out of the car, quickly enveloped by the stifling heat.

Before entering, he paused, raising his eyes to gaze at the stormy half of the sky for a long while.

Xiu Yi greeted him at the door, her voice pulling back the curtain on dinner. “Jin Cheng’s back.”

“Big Brother.”

“Brother.”

Everyone stood to greet him.

Yue Yun Zong, who had just gotten married last week, still wore his silk-lined blue suit, exuding confidence. Beside him stood his second wife, Wan Yu, sweetly coaxing, “Big Brother’s been so busy with work. Drink some chicken soup to recharge.”

Next to them was their cousin Yue Ming Xin, innocently asking, “Are you saying my big brother looks tired?”

“No, I…”

“She means well, don’t bully your sister-in-law,” Yue Yun Zong interjected smoothly.

“Let’s eat,” Yue Jin Cheng said.

The old master had gone to recuperate at Tan Mountain and wouldn’t return for a few days.

After Yue Jin Cheng took his seat, he lifted a bowl of chicken soup, acknowledging his new sister-in-law’s goodwill.

Wan Yu straightened her back, beaming with pride.

Marrying into the Yue family wasn’t easy. One had to be sharp-eyed. Though the old master was still alive, she knew which way the wind blew and who held real power.

After taking a couple of sips, Yue Jin Cheng set the spoon down, his gaze falling on the empty seat to his right.

Yue Yun Zong explained, “Shao Heng had an urgent matter and couldn’t leave the club.”

Wan Yu chimed in, “Our third brother has been working so hard lately. He even rushed through our wedding banquet.”

Their aunt smiled gently while chatting idly. “He’s not young anymore. By the time Jin Cheng was his age, he was already a father. Speaking of which, it’s been a while since we’ve seen little Jia Yi. I heard he was on a research trip last week, so there was nothing he could do.”

“A research trip?” interrupted their eldest uncle’s wife, revealing the truth unexpectedly. “The assistant principal told me they postponed the trip.”

“Oh,” the aunt murmured, puzzled. “Then why didn’t he come home?”

Every Friday was family day according to their agreement. Unless something special came up, Yue Jia Yi would always return to Yue Mansion for dinner, staying until 8 p.m. before heading back to Fu Jiaxi’s place.

The elders’ pointed remarks were clearly aimed at Fu Jiaxi, accusing her of preventing the child from coming.

Yue Jin Cheng picked up a piece of cold dish, its flavor perfectly balanced to his liking.

Wan Yu, eager to please, continued along the same topic. “Jiaxi works at a company owned by one of my classmates. Balancing career and family, I admire strong women.”

The eldest uncle’s wife snorted coldly. “Taking care of Jia Yi should be her priority. She doesn’t earn much from work anyway—it’s counterproductive.”

Wan Yu looked surprised. “But my classmate said she’s quite capable at work.”

The eldest uncle’s wife never liked Fu Jiaxi. Seeing Yue Jin Cheng remain silent throughout, she added harshly, “All she does is cause trouble.”

Yue Jin Cheng picked up another piece of cold dish, his brow furrowing slightly as he chewed.

The aunt chuckled while reminiscing about the past. “It’s normal for young people to have ambition. Before marrying, Jia Yi’s mother was full of energy, always chasing opportunities wherever money was involved. We used to joke she was a little money magnet.”

Yue Jin Cheng suddenly raised his hand and flung his chopsticks. They clattered against the plate and fell to the floor.

The atmosphere plummeted below freezing.

So absorbed in gossip, they hadn’t noticed Yue Jin Cheng’s face turning icy with suppressed anger.

“Please enjoy your meal.”

He didn’t lose his temper but left the table before all the dishes were served.

The awkwardness lingered. The eldest uncle’s wife desperately tried to save face, muttering, “They’re divorced. Why get worked up now?”

Yue Ming Xin scowled. “Or should I call Big Brother back so you can ask him directly?”

“You!”

“That’s enough,” Yue Yun Zong intervened, putting an end to the fiasco. Turning to his wife, Wan Yu, he said sternly, “Watch your words in the future. If you don’t have anything nice to say, keep quiet.”

His newlywed wife, unable to handle his sharp tone, felt wronged and upset.

Yue Yun Zong, the second of the three brothers, was known for his flirtatious nature and high self-regard, never tolerating anyone’s nonsense.

Wan Yu, adaptable and quick-witted, sensed the tension and immediately sought to appease him.

Before marrying into the Yue family, her understanding of Yue Jin Cheng was superficial—she only knew he was divorced, and his son lived with his mother. She wondered how, with the Yue family’s vast resources, they hadn’t fought for custody of the child.

And then there was Yue Jin Cheng himself, the eldest son of the Yue family, yet he’d never been favored by the old master. At one point, he wasn’t even allowed to participate in the family business. In the world of fame and fortune, opportunists abounded. Without familial support, anyone could trample him.

As for what happened afterward, she couldn’t dig deeper.

Later, upstairs, she lavished affection on her husband, hugging and clinging to him.

Yue Yun Zong enjoyed her submissive demeanor and thought it necessary to remind her, “In the future, mention Fu Jiaxi less around here.”

“But our families still interact. Mentioning her occasionally shouldn’t matter.”

“Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Yes, yes.” Wan Yu smoothed her hand along her husband’s side. “It seems Big Brother still protects her.”

Protect? During their good years, Yue Jin Cheng treated Fu Jiaxi like a cherished flame in his palm, a rose in his eyes.

After graduating from MIT and returning to China, Yue Jin Cheng faced his father’s neglect, a blow that dulled his once ambitious spirit. His father refused to let him join the executive level of the family group, instead giving him the trivial role of sales team leader dismissively.

Yue Jin Cheng didn’t argue or resist. When everyone expected him to accept his fate bitterly, he gave up the position and started his own venture.

To the old master, this was nothing short of rebellion, prompting outrage and threats to see whether Yue Jin Cheng would sink or swim.

Starting “Du Cheng” was tough.

Drinking and smiling through hardships, facing obstacles, struggling to build connections, having contracts revoked halfway—Yue Jin Cheng gambled everything on “Du Cheng.” Denied bank loans, he resorted to small private loans. That year alone, the interest nearly suffocated him.

At his lowest point, Yue Jin Cheng considered giving up.

It was Fu Jiaxi who opened the door to his apartment—he still remembered the sliver of light squeezing through the crack, then flooding in, forcing him to shield his eyes as his body went numb.

He expected emotional comfort, but Fu Jiaxi simply said, “Yue Jin Cheng, get up. I’ll take you somewhere delicious to eat!”

Her eyes carried a light, sincere earnestness, like a flame burning at just the right temperature, waking him up.

Fu Jiaxi dragged him to take a shower and change clothes. He had lost weight; his shirt no longer fit properly. But after shaving, he regained some vigor.

Yue Jin Cheng asked, “What about the remaining three-tenths?”

Fu Jiaxi popped her head out from behind him. Their reflections met in the mirror as she tiptoed to kiss his ear, smiling brightly. “Right here!”

Later, as fortunes improved, “Du Cheng” soared.

During the celebratory banquet for securing their first major overseas contract in Ecuador, an old friend teased Yue Jin Cheng about naming his company so casually, without consulting astrologers or fortune-tellers.

Yue Jin Cheng only smiled—a charming, carefree smile.

Fu Jiaxi tilted her head slightly and was pulled closer into his embrace.

“I know,” she said.

“What?” The music drowned out her words.

Fu Jiaxi nestled into his shoulder, not continuing.

When they arrived home in the early morning, Yue Jin Cheng came out of the shower to find her already fast asleep from exhaustion.

The floor lamp emitted its dimmest glow, soft and fuzzy like a brand-new moon.

On the desk lay a few sheets of grid paper, filled with Fu Jiaxi’s elegant penmanship in small seal script.

[Life endures countless autumns; worldly affairs are but a grand dream.]▲

Yue Jin Cheng froze, as if drenched from head to toe in warm spring water.

Fu Jiaxi had guessed why he named the company “Du Cheng”—it represented the familial warmth he never received as a child, the rejection and neglect he endured in his youth.

Crossing the sea of suffering alone.

It was a battlefield he kept striving in but couldn’t escape.

Yue Jin Cheng’s hands trembled as he picked up the paper. Beneath it, Fu Jiaxi had written another line.

[Don’t worry, I’ll stand in the rain with you.]

—

Secretary Jiao was astonished to see Yue Jin Cheng appear at the group headquarters.

Glancing at his watch, he realized it was too soon for a family dinner. Something must have happened to upset the boss.

Two people emerged from the project department—Supervisor Li and a newly hired man.

“President Yue.”

Yue Jin Cheng nodded, then paused, turning his head.

Supervisor Li quickly introduced, “This is Xiao Zhao, who joined two weeks ago.”

Young, tall, slim, an overseas returnee from a prestigious university—polite and refined, exactly the type suitable for blind dates and admired by many.

Yue Jin Cheng’s previously cold expression softened into a warm smile. “I had to assign you to follow up on the project last minute. Did it interfere with any personal plans?”

The man hurriedly responded, “Not at all, President Yue. Thank you for the opportunity—I’ll give it my all!”

Yue Jin Cheng nodded and walked into the office at a measured pace.

Supervisor Li chuckled and asked, “Did disrupting your blind date plans disappoint you?”

“No problem. I’m still young; my career comes first.”

“Prepare carefully for tomorrow’s bidding.”

“Yes.”

As their footsteps faded and voices grew quieter, inside the office, Yue Jin Cheng removed his coat and tossed it onto the sofa before finally looking at the documents.