Upstairs, Lin Xiao's legs were so weak that she couldn't stand up. She crawled to her phone and dialed Li Qing's number with trembling hands.
The phone rang again and again, but no one answered.
On the 23rd call, Li Qing's impatient voice came through from the other end of the line.
"When will you ever stop?"
"Qing, Fu Bing just came to see me and told me to turn myself in at the police station tomorrow."
"This is between you and Fu Bing. What does that have to do with me?"
"I still have parents to take care of; I can't go to jail. If I end up in jail, how will I ever get married after I'm released? My reputation will be ruined."
"That's your problem. Deal with it however you want."
Stung by Li Qing's indifference, Lin Xiao angrily said, "Li Qing, how can you just turn your back on me? I clearly remember how obsequiously you begged me to help you get a role from Fu Bing."
"So what? You were the one who faked the accounts, and you were also the one who presented them as evidence in court."
"Even if I did it, I've been with you for three years. Even if I don't have accomplishments to my name, I've certainly put in the hard work."
Li Qing said impatiently, "Why are you panicking? Fu Bing has been in prison for three years. She has just been released; who does she have besides the blindly loyal Fu Xiaomei? Even if you do as she asks and turn yourself in, she doesn't have the evidence to put you in jail. At most, it will just stir up the media a bit—all bark and no bite."
Li Qing knew exactly where the real account book was. It was in Qin Jinhai's hands. Qin Jinhai would never give the account book to Fu Bing. Those two were now like sworn enemies, utterly at odds with each other. If Qin Jinhai had been willing to hand over the real account book to Fu Bing, Fu Bing wouldn't have had to go to jail.
Lin Xiao's face was still itchy and sore as she sought confirmation, her heart full of trepidation.
"Really?"
Li Qing's response was to hang up the phone directly.
Qin Sheng entered through the main door.
Seeing Li Qing by the window on the phone, his face darkened.
"Forgot the rules?"
Li Qing hurriedly turned off her phone and handed it to Qin Sheng's secretary.
Li Qing forced an ingratiating smile. "Uncle, there's something I don't know how to handle."
"What is it?"
"Fu Bing went to visit her former agent and asked her to turn herself in tomorrow. I'm worried she will drag me into this."
"Fu Bing." Qin Sheng chewed on the name slowly.
His expression grew even more sinister.
"The moment she was released from prison, she started filming with Director Su and attended the Golden Cauldron Award, even causing the Best Actress crown to be unclaimed. I'm worried that sooner or later, she will take what is mine."
"You're worried about her taking Jinhai from you."
Li Qing didn't dare answer.
Qin Sheng exuded a cold aura. "Qin Jinhai has never been yours to begin with, so how could she take him away?"
"Didn't you say that if I took care of Fu Bing, I could marry into the Qin Family?" Li Qing asked with a flicker of hope.
"Marry into the Qin Family? You, Jinmo, and Jinhai are first cousins; the law doesn't allow it. Unless..." Qin Sheng didn't continue.
Even if Li Qing were a fool, she would have caught his implication. Unless she married Qin Sheng! Otherwise, she could never truly marry into the Qin Family. If she married Qin Sheng, her aunt would have to leave the Qin Family.
Qin Sheng glanced at Li Qing, his disdain clear in his eyes.
"If you weren't her niece, you wouldn't even be qualified to upset her."
If not for the interest someone influential had taken in Li Qing, she wouldn't even have had the chance to step through the Qin Family's door.
Having said that, Qin Sheng left with large strides.
It was not until Qin Sheng got on the elevator that Li Qing dared to breathe heavily.
Everyone treated her like a pawn. But sooner or later, she would be the one controlling the game! She had to find a way to bear a child for that influential man. With a child, she would have everything. Then, both the Qin Family and the Su Family would have to look up to her. Even Qin Jinhai would have to yield to her. Three years ago, she had managed to bring Fu Bing down because she was pregnant with his child. Three years later, she could still prevent Fu Bing from ever rising again! No matter how capable Qin Jinhai was, he couldn't possibly protect Fu Bing in secret for another three years!
「*」
Fu Bing watched the receding street scene.
Streetlights and neon signs sparkled, reflecting off each other.
It was bustling and lively, but none of the light reached her.
She spoke her first words since getting in the car, "To Hanlin Mansion."
Wu Shi's hands, gripping the steering wheel, stiffened imperceptibly for a moment before quickly returning to normal.
The car stopped in front of Building 14 at Hanlin Mansion.
Fu Bing looked up at the window that would never light up for her again and said in a hoarse voice, "You can leave the car keys and finish your shift."
"Don't you need me to accompany you?"
"I have secrets that I don't want outsiders to know."
Wu Shi handed her the car keys and stood in the darkness, watching Fu Bing's slender figure disappear into the stairwell.
He, meanwhile, bypassed the surveillance and climbed the stairs floor by floor.
Fu Bing stood before the familiar door to her home, trembling as she placed her index finger on the fingerprint sensor.
CLICK. The door opened.
There was no long-sealed musty odor or the pungent smell of dust inside.
Upon entering the foyer, she could feel a breeze blowing from within the house.
It was just like every time she had come home before.
Fu Bing turned on the light.
Warm yellow light spilled across the entire living room.
Most of the furniture was covered with dust sheets.
Fu Bing changed into slippers and offered incense before her mother's memorial portrait.
Then, picking up a dust rag, she began to clean the house just as she used to, chatting with her mother all the while.
Before she was incarcerated, her mother had already been confined to a wheelchair.
Many household chores were impossible for her to do, and she didn't like having strangers in the house.
So Fu Bing had come back twice a week to clean.
Back then, she hadn't understood her mother's intentions.
Actually, her mother hadn't minded having outsiders in the house; she had just wanted an excuse to see her often and talk to her.
Only with the passage of time did she finally understand the hidden meaning in every word her mother had said.
"Mom, I'm feeling pretty bad right now, and I want to share my troubles with you, but I don't know what to say. I'm afraid that even in death, you're still worried about me. I met Aunt Ning in prison, and she's been very kind to me. She's slowly helping me recover the health I lost inside.
"While I was in there, I wanted to see you so badly. I always felt like I had endless things to tell you. But now that I'm in front of you, I find I can't say anything."
Tears rolled down Fu Bing's cheeks.
They fell heavily onto her clothes, spreading into dark, circular stains.
Fu Bing's throat tightened.
Every inhale and exhale pulled at her trembling nerves.
"I let you down, making you worry about me until your last moments. I didn't even fulfill the most basic promises I made to you."
"I just fell in love with someone, loved him with all my heart and soul."
"Not only did I destroy myself, but I also dragged you into my mess."
"I'm sorry, truly sorry."
In her twenty-five years of life, she believed she had done right by everyone except her mother. They had no blood ties. Her mother, with her kind heart, had adopted her. Yet Fu Bing had failed even to see her off on her final journey, leaving her to die full of regrets.
Fu Bing covered her face and sobbed uncontrollably in the empty living room.
Outside the door, the man leaning against the doorframe had frozen like a statue. The sounds of crying from within were his punishment.
Each of her sobs was a testament to his helplessness.
From his breast pocket, he pulled out an opened letter.
The dim light in the hallway barely illuminated the words on the paper.
It was a letter written by Fu Bing's adoptive mother to Fu Bing as she lay dying.
The handwriting was crooked, yet it conveyed a heart full of maternal love.
"My Xiaobing:
Mom won't be able to wait for you.
When you get out, if you really can't find your family, take this letter and my identification back to the Fu Family in Jiangnan and tell them you are my daughter. For my sake, now that I'm dead, they will protect you from harm by outsiders.
Fu Ya's final words."
Fu Ya was still making plans for Fu Bing, even in her last moments. However... how could the Fu Family in Jiangnan, who didn't even care about the life or death of their own daughter, genuinely cherish Fu Bing, who had no blood relation to them...?
After Fu Bing had finished crying, she washed her face with cold water.
She pushed all her vulnerability back down, deep inside her heart.
She took out her cellphone and sent a message to Qin Jinhai.
"Give me the real ledger. Name your conditions."
MEOW.
At the same moment the message was sent, a notification sound came from outside the door.
It was the ringtone Qin Jinhai had set especially for her messages.
Fu Bing felt her scalp tingle, her whole body turning ice-cold.
Qin. Jin. Hai!
He was outside!
Fu Bing glared at the thin door panel.
The inhumane days of the past three years flashed before her eyes. Her despair, her mother dying with grievances unaddressed. Her unborn child... Two lives... And yet, that man was outside, casually watching her humiliation, watching her despair. All her pent-up hatred seemed to find an outlet in that moment.
Fu Bing moved step by step toward the front door.
She yanked it open—