Volume 1, Chapter 26: Reuniting with the Boy from Her Past

The lamps were lit as the night deepened.

Inside the room, the lights remained off, leaving everything in dim, heavy silence. The words Jiang Yunmiao had spoken echoed repeatedly in Duan Yixiao’s ears, hammering against his eardrums and piercing deep into his soul.

Duan Yixiao’s face was pale, his expression frozen. After a long while, he finally found his voice. "I have never been a father before. I don’t know how to be a good one. Tell me how to change, will you?"

Jiang Yunmiao slanted a glance at him, her thin lips curling into a mocking sneer. "Do you think I’ve ever been a mother before? It’s just a matter of whether one puts in the effort or not."

Her emotions remained level, and she even wore a faint smile, yet Duan Yixiao felt an inexplicable panic. He had never seen her smile look so desolate—like sunlight in the dead of winter, cold and devoid of any warmth. Even those eyes of hers, which always brimmed with devotion whenever they met his, seemed to have lost their luster.

Before he could probe the reason, his phone rang again.

"How much longer until you arrive? The old lady and Zhenhong have already asked about you both. Everyone is just waiting for you," Zhou Manhua urged anxiously.

"What do I have to do for you to come with me to the Duan family banquet?" Duan Yixiao lowered his pride, his tone heavy with helplessness.

Jiang Yunmiao silently bit her lip. After all the groundwork she had laid, they had finally reached the point.

"Duan Yixiao, can I still trust you?" She gazed at him, her eyes revealing a profound crisis of faith.

Realizing how many times he had stood her up, Duan Yixiao took her hand and swore solemnly, "You can. I will change. I will strive to be a good father."

"Fine! Then I’ll give you one more chance." Jiang Yunmiao stood up, switched on the light, and pulled a document from the drawer to hand to him. "Sign it."

"What is this?" Duan Yixiao stood up and glanced at it. "A 'Marital Property Agreement'?" His face darkened instantly, his expression tightening, his eyes turning cold as ice. "What is the meaning of this? When did you prepare this?"

Jiang Yunmiao told him candidly, "When you stood me up to have lunch with Chen Nianke."

Duan Yixiao: "…That’s just you overthinking things. I simply had a meal with her."

He looked at the clauses with a sharp, cold gaze. "Is this why you’re making me sign this? Do you want a divorce?" He clutched the agreement, trembling with anger.

*That’s exactly what I want,* Jiang Yunmiao thought to herself.

On the surface, she still feigned lingering anger. "I’m only doing this because I *don’t* want a divorce. Otherwise, what would be in front of you right now would be a divorce settlement."

"You!" He glared at her, his expression gloomy. At that moment, he suddenly recalled his mother talking to him in the study about divorce and remarriage. Had Jiang Yunmiao really not heard it? Or had she pretended not to, while secretly beginning to lay her plans?

"Let’s go to the Duan family dinner first. Can we discuss this when we get back?" He was unsure if the terms were favorable to him and dared not sign blindly.

"Don’t worry. This agreement won’t leave you at a disadvantage. I am only protecting our marital assets so that if you give expensive gifts to outsiders again, I won't be kept in the dark. If you’re uneasy, you can have a lawyer look at it." Jiang Yunmiao knew exactly what he was worried about the moment she saw his expression.

"Is this really necessary?" Duan Yixiao put on the face of someone who felt that talking about money ruined the relationship.

After hesitating for less than a minute, he contacted his lawyer and sent the agreement over. In the end, the lawyer confirmed: it was a relatively fair agreement and could be signed.

When they arrived at the Duan family home, they were, unsurprisingly, late.

"I’m sorry, Grandmother, Father, we are late," Duan Yixiao apologized. Jiang Yunmiao followed suit.

"I don't know what on earth you two are so busy with! Making so many people wait for you—it’s simply outrageous!" The old lady didn’t even look at them. After scolding them, she turned and cheerfully greeted her precious grandson and granddaughter, "Come, take your seats! If you don't eat now, the food will get cold. Mingrui, hurry and let Congzhi sit! Mingxian, you sit down and eat, too."

Jiang Yunmiao heard a name that was both unfamiliar and strangely familiar. Feeling puzzled, she lifted her gaze, and a clear, piercing stare happened to look over, colliding with hers.

The man simply nodded politely before shifting his gaze away. He was tall, lithe, and well-proportioned. He wore only a black shirt paired with black trousers, looking dashing and exuding a unique masculine charm. His deep, calm eyes were like stars in the night sky.

Years had passed, and the boy from back then had grown into someone quite extraordinary.

She still remembered how he used to be—full of rebellion and untamable spirit. Whenever she went to tutor him, he would lounge in his chair, holding a comic book, watching her with a mocking smile, his brows filled with unbridled arrogance.

She hadn't expected to meet him here after all these years. But it wasn't hard to guess; she had heard he was studying medicine, and since Duan Mingrui was also in medicine, it was perfectly natural for them to know each other.

After the old lady took the head seat, everyone took their places. Duan Zhenhong and Duan Mingxian sat to her left and right, respectively. To the left of Duan Zhenhong sat Zhou Manhua, Duan Yixiao, and Jiang Yunmiao. To the right of Duan Mingxian sat Duan Mingrui and Lu Congzhi.

Thus, quite inadvertently, Jiang Yunmiao and Lu Congzhi found themselves seated next to each other.

Seeing Lu Congzhi’s extraordinary bearing, Duan Yixiao was curious about his identity.

"My apologies, I didn't know we had a guest today, and we kept everyone waiting. Who is this?"

"This is Lu Congzhi, a close friend of my mentor and my personal idol. We had a particularly complex surgery at the hospital today, and thanks to Lu Congzhi’s help as an outside consultant, we successfully saved the patient..." Duan Mingrui introduced Lu Congzhi with a non-stop, glowing pride, as if he were basking in the man's reflected glory.

Jiang Yunmiao almost choked. If she remembered correctly, Duan Mingrui was several years older than Lu Congzhi—how could he treat him as an idol?

"This is Duan Yixiao," Duan Mingrui said, after his flowery introduction of Lu Congzhi, using only five words to introduce Duan Yixiao to Lu Congzhi, while adding in passing, "And this is his wife, Jiang Yunmiao."

"Dr. Lu, nice to meet you," Duan Yixiao said, feeling slightly snubbed, his greeting dry and hollow.

"Nice to meet you," Lu Congzhi replied, nodding with extreme brevity.

Although it was called a family dinner, the atmosphere was quite awkward. To Jiang Yunmiao, it felt like two groups of people who despised each other had been forcibly shoved together into one family.

Duan Mingxian had always viewed Zhou Manhua, Duan Yixiao, and Jiang Yunmiao as outside invaders, always maintaining a defensive stance. Meanwhile, Zhou Manhua and Duan Yixiao were constantly mindful of their words and actions, each sentence laden with hidden agendas.

Fortunately, with Duan Mingrui there to set the mood, the meal didn't feel entirely unbearable.