Chapter Ninety-Two: Married to a Ghost Beggar

"Ren Qiyun!" Zheng Lanxuan spat out her name through gritted teeth.

Ren Qiyun’s face was panic-stricken. "Y-you… Why are you here?"

In that instant, she seemed to realize something and turned to the middle-aged woman.

The woman, her hands on her hips, had dropped her earlier gentle demeanor and now confronted her sharply. "You think you can hide after causing all this trouble? You rented me this cursed place just to get away from your mess—do you really take me for a fool?"

"Ren Qiyun! What did you do to Xiaoxiao?" Zheng Lanxuan demanded furiously.

Ren Qiyun was visibly flustered. "I-I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m leaving!"

She hurried toward the elevator. Zheng Lanxuan stepped forward and grabbed her wrist, restraining her.

Terrified, Ren Qiyun shouted, "What are you doing? Let me go! Or I’ll call the police!"

"Go ahead! I dare you! When you brought Xiaoxiao to me all those years ago, I gave you the money! What more do you want? What did you do to her?" Zheng Lanxuan’s voice was raw with anger.

Now I understood. As expected, the reason Ren Qiyun chose to give birth to the child and raise her was simply to extort money from Zheng Lanxuan. What a sordid affair. In the end, it was Zheng Xiao who suffered.

"I-I don’t know what you’re talking about! Let me go! Let me go!" Ren Qiyun struggled desperately.

I looked her straight in the eyes and pressed, "Why did you and your husband suddenly go back to your hometown? It must have something to do with Zheng Xiao, right?"

Ren Qiyun trembled but still tried to deny it. "I don’t know what you’re talking about!"

"Don’t know? Then I’ll make you understand!" Zheng Lanxuan twisted her arm, dragging her toward the elevator. Zhuo Tianjiang helped restrain her.

I thanked the middle-aged woman and followed them.

Inside the elevator, Ren Qiyun screamed and thrashed, "Let me go! Let me go! Help! Someone help me!"

I clamped my hand over her mouth, leaned close to her ear, and spat out, "You think you deserve to call for help? Listen to me—Xiaoxiao is dead. She died last night. Before she died, she kept crying that she was cold, calling for her mother. Even at the end, she was thinking of you. And you? What did you ever do for her? You don’t deserve to be her mother!"

At my words, Ren Qiyun froze, her struggles ceased, and tears began to stream down her face.

Zheng Lanxuan and Zhuo Tianjiang looked at me in confusion. I gave them a subtle signal.

Instead of taking Ren Qiyun home, we went to a private room at a karaoke bar owned by one of Zheng Lanxuan's friends nearby.

Zheng Lanxuan glared at Ren Qiyun, his face cold. "What did you do to Xiaoxiao? She was fine before. Ever since she came back from your place, she fell seriously ill!"

Ren Qiyun said nothing, refusing to look at him, her head turned away as she wept silently.

Zheng Lanxuan grew more agitated, nearly grabbing her by the collar. "You owe me an explanation! What did you do to her? Now you know how to cry, but where was your conscience when you hurt her?"

I pulled him back, signaling for him to calm down and step aside so I could speak to Ren Qiyun.

I sat next to her. "Xiaoxiao only left you in middle school to live with Zheng Lanxuan, right?"

Ren Qiyun’s tears continued to fall silently.

"So she was with you at least eleven or twelve years. If you only cared about money, why raise her so long? You could have gone to Zheng Lanxuan right after her birth. That means you loved her—as a mother loves her child. It was instinctive, a mother’s love."

She seemed moved; her expression flickered with emotion.

I pressed on, "I believe you sent Xiaoxiao away because you had to get married. You had your reasons, and Xiaoxiao was a good girl. She missed you deeply. Even at school, the emergency contact number she left was yours. She hoped you’d care about her, wanted your attention, but you took advantage of that, used her attachment to you, called her teacher, and helped her skip class."

Ren Qiyun was shaken, crying harder.

I continued, "I don’t know if she ever told you, but after she left you, her life was miserable. You and she aren’t much different in age; with you, others might mistake you for sisters. With Zheng Lanxuan, it was different. People suspected her of being kept, called her a prostitute, gossiped about her. Some even came to her school, called her a homewrecker, a temptress. For a middle school girl, that kind of pressure is unbearable."

"The contempt of others, an unkind father, and a mother who formed a new family and no longer cared—layer upon layer of pain made her despair. So even knowing the consequences, she still chose to go to you. It was both a last hope for your affection and a wish to escape her suffering."

Ren Qiyun was sobbing uncontrollably now; even Zheng Lanxuan was moved, sighing heavily.

I took out the letter Zheng Xiao had left for me and placed it in front of Ren Qiyun. "This is the letter Xiaoxiao left me before she died. Can you imagine how much pain she endured, even though she always seemed so cheerful? Read it."

Ren Qiyun picked up the letter, her tears blurring the words as she read, her sobs deepening until she broke down completely.

Clutching the letter, she wailed, "Xiaoxiao… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…"

It was the same old scene—never cherishing what you have until it’s gone, and then it’s too late for apologies.

I let her cry. Zheng Lanxuan looked desolate, silent. Zhuo Tianjiang too was moved by the sight.

"Xiaoxiao… I’m not worthy to be your mother… I’m sorry…" Ren Qiyun choked out between sobs.

After a while, when her tears began to subside, I said, "If you had a chance to save Xiaoxiao, would you take it?"

Ren Qiyun looked up at me sharply.

I told her, "To tell you the truth, Xiaoxiao isn’t dead yet, but she’s close. If you want to save her, we need to know what happened to her. If you want to make up for your mistakes, tell me everything."

Ren Qiyun’s expression was conflicted—torn between hesitation and pain.

Zheng Lanxuan said, "You’re her mother. If she really dies, will you ever find peace? She’s your own flesh and blood!"

Tears streamed down Ren Qiyun’s face as if she’d finally made a decision. After a long silence, she whispered, "…Married to a ghost beggar…"

"What?" I asked.

Tears spilling, she said, "I… I married Xiaoxiao to an old ghost…"

Married to an old ghost—that was just a different name for a ghost marriage!

"Why would you do that!" Zheng Lanxuan demanded in fury.

Ren Qiyun’s face was streaked with tears. "I had no choice. I had a C-section and suffered massive bleeding, which left me unable to have children. I was young and didn’t think much of it. After I got married, my husband and I desperately wanted a child. We went to so many hospitals, tried all kinds of treatments—folk remedies, prayers, offerings—nothing worked. I’m not young anymore. If I don’t get pregnant in the next few years, it’ll be impossible. Then my husband heard about a method back in our hometown…"