Chapter 6: The Past

In the car, Su Qingyu occasionally glanced at Ye Shikai sitting in the passenger seat. Watching him gaze out of the window, he seemed to be deep in thought, or perhaps sighing, his eyes filled with the vicissitudes of life—far from his usual playful and smiling demeanor. In Su Qingyu's impression, Ye Shikai had always been a rather ordinary person, at most a joker or a bit of a rogue, never serious. She had never seen him so pensive, with furrowed brows and a solemn expression. Even as a "queen of the business world" like herself, she didn't dare to interrupt him. Recalling Ye Shikai's grateful words to her before they left, Su Qingyu could tell they were heartfelt. Her years of experience in the business field sharpening her perception, she was sure of it. The man before her seemed complex, much more so than she had imagined.

The cemetery was far from the residential area, and neither spoke throughout the journey, leaving the car engulfed in silence. After an hour, the car slowly entered the cemetery. Ye Shikai carried a bouquet of white chrysanthemums, placing them respectfully in front of a tombstone. "Mom, I've come to see you." Seeing the kind smile of his mother on the tombstone, Ye Shikai's emotions were stirred. His father had passed away when he was only three, and Ye Shikai was raised by his mother alone, with hardships only she knew. His mother was a gentle and honest person, never one to fight with others. Yet, Ye Shikai vividly remembered that because of this honesty, she was often bullied. Being a widow, malicious neighbors would talk behind her back, accusing her of bringing misfortune to her husband and spreading rumors of her being kept by other men. But his mother never cared. Back when she had her looks, local thugs would harass her. A young Ye Shikai, quite sensible and having taught himself some martial arts with decent ability, found out about his mother's harassment. In a fit of rage, he confronted those thugs and left them laying on the ground. Later, the local gang Boss got wind of this and insisted on forcibly marrying Ye Shikai's mother, even threatening to burn down their house if they refused. Enraged, Ye Shikai stormed the gang's hideout and single-handedly took down more than twenty men, though he ended up with a bloodied nose and a bruised face.

It wasn't until a crackdown on organized crime by the authorities that his mother was spared from further harm. This incident ignited in Ye Shikai a strong protective instinct for his family and made him realize the importance of personal strength. In his years abroad, he came to understand the truth even more: the jungle law of survival of the fittest applies everywhere. Ye Shikai clenched his fist until it bled, cursing his past impotence for not being able to protect his mother.

Later, when his mother was diagnosed with cancer, it was still in its early stages and could have been treated. But the medical expenses were astronomical for a family with nothing to their name like Ye Shikai's. He stopped going to school, consumed with the thought of earning money, washing dishes, doing laundry—anything that could bring in income. Eventually, these means of making money were too slow compared to the pace of mounting medical bills. He went to the underground boxing ring to fight for his life, earning money through victory. Winning a fight could net him a few thousand, and there was also a kind of match called "FATAL STRIKE," where fighters sign a life-and-death agreement, and only one can walk away alive from the ring. The winner receives a hefty prize, a brutal rule akin to medieval Roman gladiatorial combat. Ye Shikai vividly remembered signing the life-and-death agreement. He hesitated—winning meant his mother could be treated; losing meant his own death, and his mother would also die from her illness. After only a few seconds of hesitation, he signed his name and stepped into the ring...

It wasn't just a fight, but a battle for survival. Ye Shikai experienced the brink of life and death for the first time. Ultimately, he put all his strength into a FATAL STRIKE to his opponent's chest, narrowly escaping the clutches of the Death God. However, when he arrived at his mother's side with the prize money, he was told that her condition had worsened, and she was beyond treatment. At that moment, Ye Shikai felt unhinged, weeping loudly beside her bed. When his mother passed away, the look in her eyes was still so peaceful.

Looking at his mother on the tombstone, Ye Shikai's eyes reddened as tears pattered down by his feet. Su Qingyu quietly watched him, feeling his immense pain. She wanted to comfort Ye Shikai but wasn't sure how to do so. She took out two tissues from her handbag and handed them to Ye Shikai.

Taking the tissue, Ye Shikai wiped the tears off his face. It took a while for his mood to gradually calm down. He turned to Su Qingyu and said, "Let's go." Su Qingyu started the car and slowly drove out of the graveyard. At the same time, a black Maserati entered the cemetery, its path just grazing theirs.

The Maserati slowly came to a stop, and a woman dressed in white stepped out. Her long hair flowed like silk, and her elegant, fair face showed a hint of sorrow, as beautiful and as breathtaking as the moon goddess Chang'e herself. The white high heels on her delicate feet further accentuated her pure and graceful bearing. She walked up to a tombstone—it was the grave of Ye Shikai's mother.

"Auntie, Xin is here to see you." The woman laid a bouquet of white chrysanthemums in front of the tombstone. An expression of profound sadness appeared on her face as if the deceased were her own kin. "Auntie, I'm sorry to have let you and Shikai down." A look of self-reproach was added to her countenance. Her sudden disappearance back then had deeply hurt the man whom she had longed for throughout eight years in her heart. She was full of regret. Eight years ago, under familial pressure, she had abandoned him and gone abroad alone to study, leaving him waiting foolishly here by himself. For eight years, she had thought of him constantly, enduring loneliness. Now, after eight years, she had become the Family Head, only twenty-five and the head of one of Yanjing's four major families—the Chen family. She had gained honor, wealth, power, and status, yet she could not have the man she loved.

The woman sank into sadness, and memories of the past flashed through her mind. Back then, she was just a frail little girl, naive and always bullied by other students at school, until that time when a male student came to extort money with a group of lackeys. She refused, provoking the boy who raised his fist to hit her. As she closed her eyes in fear, suddenly a large hand stopped the fist coming toward her. "I'd like to see who dares to touch her," came a cold voice that made all the boys shiver. When the girl opened her eyes, she saw a somewhat skinny boy standing in front of her. The lackeys rushed forward but were effortlessly chased away by the boy, like a prince on a white horse.

Eventually, the boy and the girl became very good friends. Every day, the boy would take the girl home after school, watching her until she disappeared from sight before he left… In fact, his home was in another direction; he just wanted to protect her. Later on, the girl found out the boy was poor and she helped him constantly, bringing him lunch that she made herself, until eight years ago when her parents forced her to go abroad and severed her connection with the boy. On the day of departure, the sky was grey. She sat in the car, watching the boy waiting at the school gate, crying till her voice broke...

Suddenly, the woman saw another bunch of white chrysanthemums in front of the tombstone, and her face showed a thrilled look. "It's him, he's come back." But the excitement quickly disappeared, leaving an endless sorrow, as she looked up into the distance.

"Shikai, will you hate me?"