Chapter Ten: You Are Too Late

"You've been crying, Mo Qinghan!"

Mo Qinghan did not answer Zhao Qingwu’s question. Her mood was already bleak, and she had no desire to continue the conversation with Zhao Qingwu, so she said, "If you're asking about the foundation’s contact information, I'm sorry, I don’t have it. If it’s about Yurou, I think you’d be better off asking her directly than me."

But to her surprise, Zhao Qingwu said, "What do you think of me? Could I hold up the sky above your head?"

"I’m not in the mood to listen to your jokes, and—"

Zhao Qingwu cut her off, "I’m not joking, nor have I lost my mind. I want you to be my woman."

"And what about Yurou? What do you take her for, and where does that leave you? I don’t know what made you say such things, but I’ll pretend I never heard them." With that, she turned to go upstairs.

Zhao Qingwu hurried after her, grabbing her hand. "As long as you ask, I’ll help you with anything."

With her back to him, Mo Qinghan replied, "No need. The only thing you can do for me is to stay away." She shook off his hand and went upstairs, silently adding to herself, "You’re too late."

Mo Qinghan already carried too many burdens in her heart. The tears that welled up in her eyes finally broke free, falling one by one onto the back of her hand, each drop scalding her soul.

Zhao Qingwu watched her figure slowly disappear into the stairwell. He did not follow. Reflecting on their conversation, he felt sure Mo Qinghan was a woman with secrets. He understood this was a matter to be approached step by step, so he left the hospital.

Back at the Zhao residence, Zhao Qingwu found Zhao Yiya drinking alone, her mood heavy. He walked over, snatched the glass from her hand, and tossed it in the trash.

"It's about He Zheyu again, isn’t it?"

With a sob in her voice, Zhao Yiya said, "Ever since he visited my house, Zheyu hasn’t answered my calls. I’ve dialed countless times, but it’s always, 'The number you have dialed is powered off.'"

"Sis, get a grip! He Zheyu doesn’t love you, do you understand? He doesn’t love you."

A sharp crack broke the silence of the house. With their parents away, only the housekeeper emerged to see what had happened. One stern look from Zhao Qingwu sent her scurrying back.

Zhao Qingwu looked at the wine spilled across the floor and the shards of glass scattered everywhere, then at his sister, disheveled and desolate. "Is this all you can do? Ruin yourself at home? Don’t you know how to fight back?"

"But I have to know where he is first! Do you think I want to torment myself like this?"

Watching his sister broken by a man, Zhao Qingwu felt an unspeakable pain.

"I know where he is. Calm down, get yourself together, and don’t hurt yourself," he said gently.

Wiping away her tears, Zhao Yiya asked, "You’re not lying to me?"

"I’m not. He Yurou told me, and there's no reason for her to lie."

"That’s the niece He Zheyu always doted on?"

"That's right."

Zhao Yiya rushed over to him. "Where is he?"

"Go wash up and sober yourself. I’ll have someone book you a flight to him right away, all right?"

She hadn't actually drunk much, and now that she was about to see the one she longed for, her spirits lifted at once. Humming a little tune, she went upstairs.

Left standing alone, Zhao Qingwu couldn’t tell whether what he was doing was right. He knew that man didn’t love his sister, and yet he was sending her straight into the heart of the storm.