Chapter 196: If All Else Fails, She’ll Just Support Him

Words : 1314 Updated : Oct 1st, 2025

Cheng Guomin didn’t think much and said to Cheng Lie, "Then Xiao Lie, go find Shi Fei." The better their relationship is, the more beneficial it is to him. Right now, Yun Shifei is the only daughter of the Yun Family. If nothing unexpected happens, all of Yun Tiancheng’s wealth will likely be passed down to Yun Shifei. On the other side, Yun Shifei, who was reading a book, heard the doorbell ring. When she opened the door, she saw Cheng Lie standing there. Yun Shifei blinked at the cold-faced young man before her, while Cheng Lie also quietly looked at her. After a while, he naturally walked into her home and sat down on the sofa. Yun Shifei blinked for two seconds before reacting. She hadn’t gone to find Cheng Lie, yet Cheng Lie came to find her? Just as Yun Shifei was thinking about what to do, she heard the boy’s faint voice say, "Have... have you abandoned me?" The words were so calm, as though devoid of emotion, yet Yun Shifei could sense a hint of grievance in them. He seemed like a child who had been left behind, pitiable and sad. She felt an unexpected pang of heartache. "No, I’ve just been busy with school lately, so I haven’t had the time to look for you." Cheng Lie’s gaze remained fixed on her, as if he couldn’t believe her words. She was lying—surely she didn’t care about him anymore. Under his intense gaze, Yun Shifei felt a sense of guilt rising in her heart. Why did she feel as though she was a heartless scoundrel who had abandoned her partner and child? Still, Cheng Lie’s appearance seemed to remind her that her aloofness toward him had been rather crude and over-the-top. After all, Cheng Lie had clearly been kind to her, yet she kept her distance simply out of fear. But he didn’t know what she was afraid of. He also didn’t know that he would be a future leader. Right now, he was being bullied by the Cheng Family, devoid of power and status. Finally, when he had a friend, that friend distanced herself from him—Cheng Lie must have felt upset. Yun Shifei was naturally sentimental and felt increasingly like the worst kind of person. She hurriedly grabbed some snacks and sodas and handed them to Cheng Lie, saying, "Eat these." Cheng Lie: "..." She thought of him as a child, angry and easily pacified with treats. He placed the snacks on the table without touching them and continued to stare at Yun Shifei. His gaze made Yun Shifei feel increasingly guilty, to the point where she couldn’t even look him in the eye. After a long silence, Cheng Lie finally spoke: "From now on, do not distance yourself from me." It wasn’t a request, nor a plea—it was a command. Though his tone was commanding, when he said it, it didn’t come across as overly domineering. He was just a child with autism, who had finally found a friend. He simply didn’t want to lose her—this was Yun Shifei’s interpretation. She hurriedly nodded, "Okay, okay." But in her heart, she couldn’t help but feel a little helpless. If she truly changed the course of his future as a powerful figure, wouldn’t she become the sinner of the century? Yet the things she feared wouldn’t be understood by Cheng Lie right now. She began to reflect on her actions. They did, indeed, seem heartless. Perhaps it would be better to take things one step at a time. If his future truly deviated, if he lost everything, she’d just look after him herself. Yun Shifei thought of her situation as a person who had been reborn. Even though she didn’t possess any supernatural abilities, she felt that—with her current effort and foresight into the future—she could still manage to make a modest living. If Cheng Lie truly couldn’t rise to power and ended up severing ties with the Cheng Family, he wouldn’t have anything to worry about. Cheng Lie had no knowledge of Yun Shifei’s worries. He could only sense that Yun Shifei seemed caught up in some strange emotions. Anxiety, fear, concern. What was she afraid of? What was she worried about? Cheng Lie thought for a while but couldn’t figure it out. Could it be that she had learned about his identity and deliberately kept her distance? No, she wasn’t that kind of person. Her attitude toward him wasn’t one of rejection—it was as though she was worried about something specific and kept her distance to protect him. Was that it...? What exactly was she protecting him from? For the first time, Cheng Lie felt a headache. He was utterly clueless. But he was a person who preferred to ignore things that were uncertain and ambiguous. He held out his pinky finger, looking at Yun Shifei seriously, and said, "Pinky promise." Yun Shifei looked at this future young leader’s earnest expression and couldn’t help but laugh. She extended her hand and hooked her pinky with his. ... At nine o’clock in the evening, Xu Ya dragged her exhausted body home from work. She had recently taken on a job as a typist at a publishing house. Despite having decent academic qualifications, she hadn’t worked for many years, making it difficult to find a respectable job. Companies preferred hiring fresh graduates rather than someone of her age. After searching for a long time, Xu Ya finally found a position as a typist at a publishing house. But the job was tough—she spent the entire day in front of a computer, inputting manuscripts, ensuring there were no typos. If a typo was caught during proofreading, her pay would get docked. Xu Ya, who used to be accustomed to being a housewife, never expected making money to be this difficult. But she had no choice but to start over. Without a steady income, her reserves would eventually dry up. Besides, being without a home, a husband, or a daughter, staying alone in the house was too boring, so she might as well get a job. But it was exhausting. Xu Ya collapsed onto the sofa as soon as she got home. Thinking about her colleagues at work—all of them much younger than her and far more efficient—Xu Ya couldn’t help but feel frustrated. She had once been a prodigy, but now her abilities at the company seemed so ordinary. It made her feel deeply defeated. She resolved to perform better in the future. Suddenly, Xu Ya thought of Yun Sisi and wondered how she was doing now that she had returned to her biological parents’ home. But whether things were going well for her or not didn’t concern Xu Ya anymore. The moment she had sent Yun Sisi away, their decade-long mother-daughter bond had ended. Although she felt reluctant about Yun Sisi, she knew that an attachment, once severed, had to be let go. Otherwise, the prolonged pain would become unbearable. Every day now, Xu Ya was consumed with regret. If she had treated Yun Sisi and Yun Shifei better at the start, would things have turned out differently? It was all her own doing, so even though she had sent Yun Sisi away, she had no face to confront Yun Tiancheng. She felt that she had failed as a wife and a mother. Shi Fei already hated her deeply—there was no going back. Thinking about all this, Xu Ya drifted off to sleep in exhaustion. She didn’t know how much time had passed when the ringing of her phone woke her up. Xu Ya groggily got up to answer the call. "Xiao Xu, what time is it? Why haven’t you come to work yet?" said her boss on the other end. Xu Ya glanced at the clock and saw that it was already half past nine. Panic erased all her sleepiness.

Chapter 196: If All Else Fails, She’ll Just Support Him

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