Volume One, Chapter 27: A World for Two, a Journey for Three

“Are you out of excuses, so now you’re trying to blame a dead person?”

Tang Baobao was in a tangled state of mind. Logic told her she should trust Qin Yu, but three years of affection whispered that she ought to believe in her husband.

“Do you know she’s always been by your side?”

“Who? The ex-girlfriend?”

“Oh my god? I thought it was just the two of them, turns out it’s actually three?”

“I just got chills down my back, and my newly bought ice cream dropped to the ground. Host, you owe me an ice cream, boohoo.”

“She said she’s been with her boyfriend for three years. So, the ex-girlfriend has been watching a live broadcast for three years?”

“No wonder he doesn’t touch her anymore. His true love is always nearby, how could he be distracted by her?”

“That’s nonsense!” Tang Baobao shook her head desperately, unable to listen to a single word. “I believe in the love between my husband and me! You’re all just jealous that I have such a good husband!”

“Oh please, what are we jealous of? That you’re about to die? Can you stop being so blinded by love?”

“Yeah, yeah, we’re so jealous of you. Hurry up and tie yourself to your husband for life then!”

“I think you shouldn’t be called Tang Baobao, but Little Brain Wrapped in Sugar!”

“I don’t get it, but I respect it. Good luck to you.”

Qin Yu gazed at the girl before her, whose faith was nearly shattered, and her voice was clear and calm. “Tonight at midnight, place a mirror over your heart. Then, you’ll see her.”

Qin Yu managed to say this before Tang Baobao, furious, could leave the broadcast.

“From now on, let the heart be sealed in concrete; men are but passersby.”

“Isn’t that a bit extreme? There are good men out there, right? Like me.”

“Look at this guy, trying to stand out, hahaha.”

“Master Dianqiu, I really want to know what happens next. Deep down I hope Tang Baobao will be all right—after all, you only have one life.”

“I feel the same, but I believe my wife has her reasons for what she does. I’ll trust her unconditionally.”

“Let go of the urge to help, respect others’ choices.”

“I’ve already shown her the way. Whether she lives or not is her choice, not mine.”

Qin Yu gazed at the screen, her expression distant. She knew Tang Baobao had simply left the microphone, not the stream—her words were still meant for her.

“Now, for the last lucky bag of the night—who will get it, I wonder~”

Qin Yu deliberately drew out her words, keeping everyone in suspense.

“Ah! Still didn’t get it? Who managed to grab it this time?”

“I’ve tried switching data and WiFi, but nothing works! What else can I do?”

“Host, can you give out more each day? I’ll pay double for a lucky bag, please?”

Looking at the barrage of complaints in the chat, Qin Yu smiled kindly. “If you didn’t win, it just means fate hasn’t arrived yet.”

This time, the lucky bag went to a user named “Little Bunny Obedient.”

Qin Yu invited them on air. It took a while before their video came up. With such a cute username, she expected a child or a sweet girl, but instead, the screen filled with a rugged man.

“Master Dianqiu, can you help me find my son?”

The man had worked on construction sites for years. Every bit of exposed skin was dark and weathered. With the dim lighting on his end, only the whites of his eyes and the flash of his teeth as he spoke could be clearly seen.

“There’s no need to search. The children’s palace is sunken and the bone shows—an omen of losing a child.”

The man said nothing. His face stayed calm as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes, quietly lit one, and smoked as if no one was watching. In the shifting glow of the cigarette, tears slipped silently down his face, a bitterness and pain that words could not describe.

“He didn’t say a word, but my heart twisted with his pain. What should I do, it’s so sad.”

“I’m a six-foot-tall college guy, yet I can’t help but empathize with this father. It’s just heartbreaking.”

“This is suffocating.”

“But shouldn’t someone tell him not to smoke? There might be kids watching the stream!”

“Come on, his son just died. Let the man have a smoke. This stream is for adults anyway. Kids should go elsewhere!”

Qin Yu watched as subtle changes passed across the man’s features. Her fine brows furrowed as she spoke, “Do you want to see your son?”

“Was it murder?”

Almost simultaneously, the two spoke.

Qin Yu fixed her gaze on the man’s eyes, not answering his question. “Your son is right beside you now. Would you like to see him?”

In the dim light, the man’s hunched frame stiffened. “He’s here?”

“Right by your left hand.”

At her words, he glanced anxiously to his left, but saw nothing—only the curling smoke from his cigarette.

Realizing something, the man immediately stubbed out his cigarette.

“Yongzi, are you there?”

“He stopped smoking the moment he heard his son was near! My god, a father’s love is like a mountain!”

“Who is the ‘she’ he mentioned?”

“Some kids can be naughty, but that’s no reason for death, is it? Killing a child is way too much.”

Qin Yu formed a seal with both hands, murmured an incantation for revealing spirits, and helped Yongzi restore his barely recognizable form.

“Yongzi!”

Gradually, Yongzi’s ghostly figure became visible. The man rushed forward to embrace him, but his arms passed through empty air.

Only then did he realize his son was truly gone.

Tears burst uncontrollably from his eyes.

It was the first time Yongzi saw his father cry. He froze, then after a long moment, stretched out his arms, hesitant, as if for a hug. “Dad, don’t cry.”

Now so close, the man saw the many wounds covering Yongzi’s body. He tried to reach out and examine them, but unable to touch his son, could only stare in anguish. “What happened to you?”

Qin Yu averted her eyes, taking a sip of fruit tea.

Yongzi hadn’t been dead long, so his spirit still bore the appearance of his last moments. Even with her forced spells, some knife scars remained.

“It’s nothing,” Yongzi hid his hands behind his back, eyes darting away. “Dad, I’m dead now. Don’t grieve for me anymore. I was always a troublemaker when I was alive, always making you and Aunt Lin angry. Now that I’m gone, you and she can finally live in peace.”

The man could no longer speak through his sobs.

He had always hoped to see the day his son grew up and became sensible, never imagining he would see it only after an unbridgeable separation.

“Yongzi, your father loves you very much…”

A man who had never shown his feelings in his life spoke the word “love” for the first time.

Yongzi was, after all, only a ten-year-old child. Hearing his usually stern father say he loved him, he couldn’t hold up his brave front any longer and burst into loud, wrenching sobs. “Dad, it hurts! It hurts so much!”