Chapter 052 Do You See Me as a Joke?

Jiang Yao watched with her own eyes as the speeding car struck Teacher Chen, hurling him several meters away.

She watched as he lay in a pool of blood, his snow-white shirt stained crimson. Desperate, she rushed to him, but could no longer hear his voice.

Chen Zui’s vibrant young life ebbed away little by little. He opened his mouth, gazing at Jiang Yao’s tear-streaked face, and withstanding excruciating pain, gave her a smile just as he always had.

“I know, Teacher Chen.” Jiang Yao clung to Chen Zui.

“I will live well. I will live bravely. I won’t give up.” Jiang Yao wiped her tears with bloodied hands. “I’ll find happiness. I…”

Gradually, her words dissolved into sobs.

Chen Zui smiled with relief, then slowly took a black leather wallet from his pocket.

Jiang Yao took it and opened it. Inside, aside from a few simple bills, the wedding ring lay prominently within.

“I know. I will find her,” Jiang Yao pressed the wallet tightly to her heart. “I’ll tell her that my Teacher Chen was the best teacher. I will put this ring back on her finger…”

Chen Zui smiled knowingly, and slowly closed his eyes…

“I will… I…” Jiang Yao looked helplessly at the body before her, growing cold to the touch. “I can do anything, I’ll try so hard, Teacher Chen, can’t you just not die… don’t die…”

The icy rain made Jiang Yao shiver.

She pulled her thoughts back, looked at the photograph on the tombstone, and took off her coat, draping it over the stone as if afraid Chen Zui might get wet.

Later, she finally found the courage to send that person to prison.

At last, she could stand tall beneath the sun.

But no one spoke again of that passionate teacher whose face had once shone with a brilliant smile.

That radiant sky was now hers alone.

Jiang Yao fought to hold back her tears, but failed in the end. She reached out, gently tracing the characters of Chen Zui’s name on the gravestone.

“Teacher Chen, now, I am your age.”

She managed a tearful smile. “I’ve been brave, but I still haven’t found her.”

As she spoke, she lowered her head and drew the black wallet from her coat.

“I’m sorry. The ring isn’t with me right now, but don’t worry, one day I’ll find her. I’ll put the ring back on her finger…”

Jiang Yao wiped her tears, and in the biting wind and rain of that night, finally broke down and wept aloud.

“I’m sorry, truly sorry…”

She really didn’t know how everything had come to this.

She could not see herself clearly, nor reality, nor the tangled bond between people…

At some point, a tall figure appeared at her side.

He carried no umbrella, simply stood with her in the rain, quietly, as if waiting for her to notice.

After a long while, perhaps when Jiang Yao had wept herself out, she leaned lightly against the tombstone and glimpsed a pair of mud-splattered leather shoes nearby.

She didn’t feel afraid; instead, she sniffled softly.

“Cheng Yanchi,” she murmured his name.

“Mm,” Cheng Yanchi was already soaked through by the fine rain.

Jiang Yao wiped her dirty little face. “Do I look ridiculous to you?”

Cheng Yanchi sat beside her, gazing at the tombstones in the cemetery.

In the deep of night, the graveyard was not frightening, only unspeakably desolate.

“If you were a joke, why can’t I laugh?”

Jiang Yao plucked a weed by her side, holding it up to study the leaves. “Ye Yiyi told you, didn’t she?”

Cheng Yanchi didn’t answer, only watched her frail form shiver in the cold wind. He took off his jacket and draped it over her. “However long you want to sit here, I’ll keep you company.”

Jiang Yao turned to look at his rare, solemn face, and suddenly didn’t want to stay any longer.

She stood, brushed the dirt from her clothes. “Come on, I’m hungry. I want three big bowls of rice.”

Cheng Yanchi silently accompanied her out of the cemetery, all the way to his Lamborghini.

As they were about to get in, a bright beam of light shone toward them.

A Maybach rolled to a stop in front of them.

The door opened, revealing a large black umbrella.

Beneath it, He Yunqing stood quietly, his expression tense as he looked at Jiang Yao and Cheng Yanchi.

For a moment, none of them spoke.

Only the soft patter of rain remained.

“What are you doing here?” Cheng Yanchi’s voice was hoarse, tinged with anger.

He Yunqing took a long stride forward, stopping at Jiang Yao’s side.

“A Yao,” he said softly.

Though his face was still taut, an unusual light flickered in his clear eyes.

“Come under my umbrella.”

Jiang Yao stood motionless, looking at him, memories of these recent days flickering past her eyes like a film.

He Yunqing had cared for her, helped her, even saved her life.

He had smiled at her, spoken gently.

He had held her, carried her on his back, and even… kissed her.

Yet all of this, only because of a careless gesture from him ten years ago.

The wound she had buried so deeply and nursed alone had, in truth, always been exposed before him.

He had witnessed all her humiliation, and given her the pity she despised most.

It was all just guilt and pity.

Even if she were a blade of grass in the mud, she would not live so humbly…

Seeing her unmoved, He Yunqing considered for a moment and slowly extended the umbrella toward her.

Before it reached her, a strong arm blocked the way.

Cheng Yanchi’s brows knit tightly as he pushed He Yunqing’s hand aside and stepped protectively before Jiang Yao. “He, I warned you. If you make her suffer, I will never let you go.”

Without hesitation, he swung and landed a punch on He Yunqing’s jaw.

He Yunqing took the blow head-on, his hair trembling, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

Cheng Yanchi, still unsatisfied, raised his fist for another strike.

But his collar was caught by a small hand.

Jiang Yao tugged gently at his sleeve. “I’m tired. Let’s go home.”

Cheng Yanchi shot He Yunqing a fierce glare, clearly unwilling to let it end. “He, this isn’t over!”

He Yunqing wiped the blood from his lip with his thumb, then tossed aside the umbrella and, in a flash, punched Cheng Yanchi squarely on the jaw.

“What right do you have to say it’s not over?”

As Jiang Yao watched the two men in the rain, suddenly the sound of rain seemed deafening, the scene before her blurred, growing more and more indistinct…

At last, her body gave way and she collapsed to the ground.