Zhiyuan pursed his lips. "But for his resentment to run so deep that he would try to kill me is... I still cannot believe it. Did Aunt Guang really brainwash him that badly? I just cannot imagine him going so far."


    Xinyi sighed. "It is not impossible for him to change so much. Maybe sending him abroad was thest straw that broke his back."


    "That''s why I always said to Grandpa not to send him away. I wanted to sort things out with him."


    She patted his hand. "You and Grandpa were both right in your own way. It was just the situation that wasplicated."


    She smiled and kissed his cheek. "But whatever it is now, we will do our best."


    Zhiyuan kissed her back. "If you are with me, then it will always be the best."


    "So cheeky."


    "Thank you, wifey."


    Her mouth twitched.


    ---


    As Xinyi and Zhiyuan got busy with their newpany preparations on one hand, Yunru was trying his best to locate An Yueqin. But until now, he hadn''t gotten any clue about her location.


    An Guoting anxiously asked, "Did you find anything?"


    He shook his head. "But I am not giving up."


    Zizi frowned. "Why is it so hard? Where is this super secret ce where Keung has hidden her? Can we not post her pictures in newspapers and stuff? If somebody sees her, then…"


    "Keung will definitelye to know. And once he does, it will be even more difficult to find her. He might hide her somewhere else, or he can even send her abroad. She is the witness to his crimes. He won''t let us find her at any cost."


    Yunru noticed An Guoting making a strange and worried expression. "Uncle, if you know anything, then you should tell me."


    "What?"


    "Well, I already know that she had a history in the Underworld."


    He widened his eyes.


    "H-How do you…?"


    Zizi alternated her gaze between them. "What? Really?"


    "Yes. It was something I found out after much digging. I guess Uncle had tried hard to hide it. That''s why I am asking if you might know something about it."


    He hesitated. "That was Yueqin''s past. Yes, she was a part of that world before, but she had left it behind her. And honestly, I...I also don''t know much about that phase of her life. It was just like she knew that I had a history with Zongying, but she didn''t know who the woman was. Simrly, I knew she was in the Underworld, but not under whom or where. We never pried in each other''s past either."


    A faint flicker passed through his eyes. "It was like we both wanted to leave that behind and move forward."


    Zizi pursed her lips. She twiddled with her fingers for a while. An Guoting had really suffered. First, Han Zongying was selfish in love, An Yueqin left him early, and An Meiying only cared for money.


    Her heart ached thinking of how lonely he would have felt living such a life. No lovedpanion on his side. She couldn''t imagine living without talking to Yunru for even a day, and here he had spent years.


    There must be some way to reach her…


    Zizi scratched her chin. "Is there any particr ce you two liked to go? I mean, if she remembers you, she might be visiting this ce you know like...to think about you…"


    Yunru thought about it. "Yeah, it''s actually a good idea. Keung wouldn''tpletely restrict her movements. It''s possible she might visit some ce precious to both of you. That might be the only way to meet her now. After identally meeting sis outside the hospital, she has simply disappeared without any traces."


    An Guoting thought about it. "There might be a ce...There is a little mountainous region on the outskirts of Beijing where I took her once after our marriage. It is a beautiful ce, and we had some good times together," he coughed. "It was the first time I took her out somewhere as a couple...Even now in all these years, I used to sometimes visit the ce to think about Yueqin."


    Zizi brightened. "Then it could very well be the ce that she might being to at times. There is no harm in trying."


    Yunru nodded. "But it will need patience. We don''t know when she might visit next if she really ising. It might be days."


    An Guoting said, "I am ready to wait. I don''t care how long that is. As long as...as long as I get to meet Yueqin and talk to her," a tear formed in the corner of his eye, "I will do anything."


    ---


    An Yueqin sat down on a chair in a dark room of a small apartment. She heard the hustle and bustle of other houses and peopleing and going to do their jobs.


    She pressed her brows and leaned her head back. She stared at the ceiling for a long time. She took out her small phone and unlocked it. She was only allowed to call two numbers from her phone. Rest all numbers were restricted.


    She dialed the first number. There was a long purring sound and then a click.


    "It''s the twenty-first tomorrow. I need to go."


    "Same ce?"


    "Yes."


    "Only for two hours as usual."


    An Yueqin said, "It''s the only day I get."


    "Two hours only."


    She gritted her teeth.


    "I will take away those precious two hours too if you fight anymore."


    She took a deep breath. "I won''t."


    "Good. You know what will happen if you did anything untoward that I won''t like."


    "I know."


    The call got hung up.


    An Yueqin clenched the phone in her hand. She banged it hard on the table in a fury.


    Only two hours of freedom every month…She had to beg and inform about those two hours before the twenty-first of every month.


    She drylyughed.


    What has my life been reduced to?


    She shut her eyes and forced herself to sleep.