Chapter 3

Between Cheng Wang and me, from the start it was just my unrequited love.

He was a genius boxer undefeated in the ring, his punches forceful and fierce.

I was the sickly, delicate child known by everyone in Beijing.

In my dad's words, Cheng Wang and I were two extremes that should repel each other.

Yet I hopelessly fell in love with him.

I chased after him for four years, and as my dad predicted, he never showed me a kind face.

But on the day I finally gave up on him, he came to me, kneeling to ask for my help in dealing with his underground boxing issue.

I naturally agreed, and the price was this marriage.

I thought that hearts are made of flesh, and one day he would love me.

But these seven years of marriage proved it was just my wishful thinking.

I packed the porridge to bring to my mother into the thermos, and as soon as I opened the door, I heard a woman's laughter from the living room.

I was stunned, looked up, and realized it was the sound from the television.

It was a current hit parent-child reality show called "Home's Travel Diaries."

And the mother and son on the show were Ruan Qing and Yanyan.

Ruan Qing was teaching Yanyan how to box, and Yanyan kept calling her "Qing Qing mother."

They laughed happily, looking like a real mother and son pair.

In the interview, Yanyan unabashedly expressed his affection for Ruan Qing.

"I like Qing Qing mother, she teaches me to box, takes me out for kebabs, and buys me lots and lots of snacks. Unlike that woman, who's always sick, just telling me to be good, not letting me run or jump."

"She's too selfish, Yanyan hates that woman! Only likes Qing Qing mother!"

I held the thermos, my fingertips icy cold.

My health was poor; during Yanyan's birth, I had a difficult labor, and after giving birth, I went straight to the ICU, losing almost half my life.

He had a congenital heart condition and was allergic to many foods, so I dared not let him exercise intensely or eat recklessly outside.

Worrying over everything, I expended all my efforts just for him to grow up safely.

In the end, all I got was a single word—"selfish."

I looked at the family portrait next to the television and found it utterly laughable.

Actually, there were moments of warmth in this family.

In the first two years after Yanyan was born, Cheng Wang pitied me, brewing herbal medicine for me, taking me to see doctors, doing everything personally.

He said, "I am your husband, as long as you get better, I am willing to do anything."

But gradually, he lost his patience. He began to resent the medicinal smell around me, and that I couldn't engage in intense activities. I couldn't go skiing with him or be his sparring partner.

And all these, Ruan Qing could do.

The interview on TV switched to Ruan Qing.

She unabashedly talked about me: "Although Ah Wang and I have always called each other brothers, everyone around us knows we have feelings for each other. If it weren't for someone interfering, the person Ah Wang should have married was me."

"But what's meant to be mine is mine; she can't take it."

After saying this, she suddenly looked at the camera, a defiant look as if she knew I would see it.

"Sister, put away your tea act, Ah Wang isn't into your type."

The interview ended there, followed by a sweet montage of Cheng Wang and Ruan Qing.

I had never seen such an unrestrained and flamboyant side of Cheng Wang.

He never looked at me with eyes that passionate, never brought me an umbrella in the rain, never cooked porridge for me when I was sick... and never fought with all his strength in the ring just to win me a meaningful ring.

Instinctively, I touched the wedding ring on my right ring finger.

This ring was chosen by me, Cheng Wang said he, as a man, didn't understand these small things.

Turns out he wasn't clueless; he just thought I was unworthy!