Chapter 720: Chapter 720: Hoarse with Exhaustion
Chi Jianshan heard the noise and hurriedly ran upstairs, only to see the two in a standoff, the atmosphere between them incredibly tense.
“What… what happened here? Ah Yin, you… you…”
Fu Rongyin shook his head, “I just came to check on them, and I’ll leave once I’m done.”
Seeing that Fu Rongyin was about to leave, Chi Jianshan called out to keep him, “It’s so late now, leave tomorrow. Mianmian hasn’t even seen you yet.”
Before Fu Rongyin could speak, Chi Yue’s voice came from the room again, “Let him go! Fu Rongyin, think carefully—once you walk out of this door, you’ll have nothing to do with me again.”
Fu Rongyin paused in his step, but he left behind only an “I’m sorry” before striding away.
From the room erupted Chi Yue’s cries, shattering through the concentrated restraints of many days, her voice hoarse from the screaming.
The two men outside the door involuntary stopped, neither daring to look into the room.
After a long moment, Fu Rongyin lifted his foot to leave again, but Chi Jianshan grabbed Fu Rongyin’s arm, “Are you really going to abandon her?”
Fu Rongyin kept his head down, his expression hidden from view.
“She has your care, I am very assured.”
Chi Jianshan gripped his arm tightly in anger, “Fu Rongyin, she is all I have left, can’t you be nicer to her? When she disappeared, you were nowhere to be seen. When she had a miscarriage, you didn’t stay to comfort her but made her angry instead. Does she mean less to you than your biological father who is only related by blood?”
Fu Rongyin was silent for a long while before he hoarsely said, “I’m sorry, there are some matters I must sort out. No one wants to give them a stable life more than I do.”
After saying that, Fu Rongyin pulled away and walked off without looking back.
From that day on, Chi Yue locked herself in her room, refusing to see anyone. The food delivered to her room was barely touched, she only drank a little soup, leaving the rest of the rice and dishes untouched.
Chi Jianshan was at his wits’ end and could only go to Nan Bingyu for help.
After Nan Bingyu arrived, she barged into Chi Yue’s room. Seeing the horrifying state of Chi Yue, she cried tears while cursing Fu Rongyin left and right.
But no matter how much Nan Bingyu cursed, Chi Yue showed no response.
Nan Bingyu lay beside Chi Yue in desperation, “You don’t want to live anymore, is that it? If so, I won’t live either.”
Chi Yue finally spoke her first words in days, “Stop it.”
Nan Bingyu couldn’t stop the tears.
She laid there flat, letting the tears roll down unchecked.
“Yueyue, do you know? The first time Xi Yihang locked me in that room, I actually thought about jumping out the window. I’ve always loved being lively, but he brutally clipped my wings… and yet, I survived. Not only did I survive, but I also made it through the second time he locked me up, and then I realized, maybe these things aren’t such a big deal.”
Despite her words downplaying the significance, her tears fell even harder.
“Everyone says I’m stupid for staying with Xi Yihang, but who knows how many times at night I’ve held a knife against his neck, contemplating. One slash, and I’d be relieved, but what about the two children? They are so young; how pitiful it would be for them to lose their parents…”
Chi Jianshan stood by the door, faintly hearing Nan Bingyu talking non-stop, but not making out the words, his anxiety mounting.
Nan Bingyu didn’t leave the room until evening, carrying the dinner that was sent in the evening.
Chi Jianshan, surprised and delighted to see the empty dinner plate, said, “Thank you, Xiao Yu, thank you…”
As Nan Bingyu stepped out the Chi family gate, Xi Yihang’s car was already waiting there.
Seeing Nan Bingyu’s eyes red and swollen, he furrowed his brows, “Was it that difficult? Why the tears?”
Nan Bingyu looked at his handsome face, raised her hand to smooth his brow, “You’re frowning like an old man, it’s ugly.”
Xi Yihang’s furrows eased somewhat, and as he was about to ask something, Nan Bingyu slapped his hand away, “I’m starving, let’s go eat something first.”
“Alright.”
——
Chi Yue’s condition hadn’t improved much, but at least she was eating half of every meal sent in, which sent her father, Chi Jianshan, spinning with worry.
Finally, one day, an unexpected visitor arrived at the house.