Volume One, Chapter 70: If You Can't Protect Her, Don't Entangle Her!

“Xiaowan, I’m sorry!” Ke Yifan’s expression was deeply apologetic. “I didn’t know my mother had come to the capital, and I never expected she would come looking for you. You…”

His mind was a jumble, and Ke Yifan didn’t know what he could say, or should say.

He had liked Sang Wan since he started middle school.

But at first, what he liked was simply the warm feeling of companionship and affection between her and Sun Yueqing.

His father was a scholar.

His mother was a doctor.

He rarely had the chance to sit down and share a meal with them. He dreaded the sudden ring of the phone at home—that always meant they had an urgent matter to attend to, and would be leaving again.

That grand, luxurious house felt like a cold cage, utterly devoid of warmth.

Later, when it was almost time for the high school entrance exams, he realized that with his grades, it would be difficult to get into any high school.

He could either pay to go to a private school, or simply go abroad.

Private schools required boarding.

Going abroad meant being even farther away.

To the younger Ke Yifan, whether it was private school or going abroad, both felt like another kind of cage.

The only difference was which cage was closer to the one he called home.

He refused both options, and that’s how his mother came to hear of Sun Yueqing.

Sun Yueqing could tutor in every subject.

And that cramped, shabby rental apartment was the warmest place Ke Yifan had known in over a decade.

In class, Sun Yueqing was strict—if he still couldn’t solve a problem after three explanations, she’d make him do extra work as punishment.

But outside class, she was the gentlest, kindest mother in the world.

She would peel apples for him, whip up the tastiest tomato and egg noodles in minutes, and talk to him softly, soothing away the frustrations and restlessness of his adolescence with just a few words.

And then there was Sang Wan, the graceful line of her face as she quietly did her homework, the way she would slip a thermos by Sun Yueqing’s hand while the other students worked in silence, or pass him a hint to a problem’s solution.

All of this made that little apartment feel so warm, so full of happiness.

To the Ke family, he was there for tutoring.

But to Ke Yifan at that time, he was there to heal, to mend his soul.

Even now, Ke Yifan remembered vividly the first year he went to Shanghai. On a gloomy, rainy day, feeling irritable, he called Sun Yueqing.

She answered, overjoyed, “Yifan, good boy, are you doing well?”

When he called his parents, it was always the assistant who picked up, and they’d call him back when they had time.

But Sun Yueqing, even after years apart, still remembered him and gently reminded him to eat well and dress warmly.

He had first fallen for the quiet, beautiful Sang Wan.

And then he grew to love the gentle, patient Sun Yueqing, and that little rental home.

On countless dull nights, he would dream of working hard, proposing early, marrying Sang Wan, letting Sun Yueqing officially become his mother, and making himself part of the life he had always longed for.

This was Ke Yifan’s dream.

But he was not the only one who recognized what was precious—Lu Jinnian did too.

And Lu Jinnian acted much faster than he did.

Finally, after Sang Wan’s divorce, Ke Yifan saw a glimmer of hope.

But first there was Sang Wan’s indirect rejection.

Then his mother’s forceful interference.

Ke Yifan realized that the distance between him and Sang Wan, a gap he had just managed to cross, had suddenly widened again, sending him ten paces backward in the face of a raging storm.

All he could do was hope that some passing deity might hear his prayers and give him another chance, not let him be disqualified so soon.

“Xiaowan, I’m sorry!”

Other than apologizing, he didn’t know what else he could say. Ke Yifan’s expression was desolate. “I’ll talk to my parents. Give me a little time, alright? All I ask is, don’t disappear from my life. Please?”

If Sang Wan listened to his mother and stayed away from him forever, then he really would have no chance at all.

“Brother Fan, I—”

“Give you time? Who do you think you are?”

Sang Wan had just opened her mouth to speak, when Lou Ye’s assertive voice cut her off. “She calls you Brother Fan out of respect for your past acquaintance. She’s showing you face—did your mother show her any?”

Before Ke Yifan could answer, Lou Ye wrapped an arm around Sang Wan’s shoulders, commanding, “Get in the car!”

He opened the passenger door and ushered Sang Wan inside.

As Lou Ye rounded the hood of the car, he saw Ke Yifan still standing in place.

He stopped, walked back to Ke Yifan, and his gaze was icy. “Do you know what your behavior is called right now?… Repaying kindness with betrayal!”

Ke Yifan’s face changed slightly.

Lou Ye’s voice was cold. “If you don’t have the ability to protect her, then don’t mess with her!”

He turned to leave.

But just as Lou Ye stepped away, Ke Yifan called after him, “And what about you?”

“Young Master Lou, isn’t it?” Ke Yifan glared at Lou Ye’s back, his eyes full of resentment. “You might be able to protect her, but since you can’t marry her, you’re just playing around. Are you really any better than me? Don’t think that just because you have power and influence you can—”

“Who told you I can’t marry her?”

Lou Ye turned around.

His eyes met Ke Yifan’s stunned expression. “But Sang Wan is divorced.”

The words had barely left his mouth when he saw the smile spreading in Lou Ye’s eyes.

Ke Yifan immediately realized he’d misspoken.

He watched as Lou Ye approached.

“Ke Yifan…” It was as if Lou Ye already knew everything about him. His expression softened. “Give up. You’re not worthy of Sang Wan!”

“I’ll say it again—so what if she’s been married once? Even if she’d been married twenty times, she’d still be a treasure to me!”

“As for me and her, you can keep that in mind—remember it well… When we get married, I’ll send you an invitation!”

Lou Ye patted Ke Yifan on the shoulder and turned to go.

Then, as if remembering something, he turned back to instruct Ke Yifan, “Listen to your mother—disappear from her life! Otherwise, I won’t mind lending a hand!”

With the gentlest expression, he spoke the harshest words.

After Lou Ye finished, he left.

The car doors locked, and the Maybach slid into the night.

Sang Wan, still bewildered, asked Lou Ye, “What did you say to him?”

“Just some words of encouragement…”

Lou Ye said, and when he saw Sang Wan’s skeptical look, he nodded earnestly. “Really! I told him, ‘If you are well, all is well.’ And told him to listen to his mother and be a good boy.”

Sang Wan clearly didn’t believe him.

Lou Ye was completely at ease.

The car stopped at a crosswalk, and Lou Ye reached out his hand. “Your phone!”

She wasn’t sure what he wanted, but Sang Wan handed it over.

Lou Ye took her phone, then held her hand to unlock it.

He went straight into her contacts and messaging app, and blocked Ke Yifan. “You don’t want that frog-in-the-well mother of his showing up at your company again, do you?”

Sang Wan was momentarily stunned.

Lou Ye handed the phone back to her. “From now on, don’t get involved with these good boys who can’t even control their own lives, alright?”

Sang Wan was speechless.

She wanted to say, When did I ever get involved with him?

But Lou Ye seemed to misunderstand her silence.

As the light changed, Lou Ye started the car and glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “You can just come bother your younger brother.”

Sang Wan’s heart skipped a beat.

Lou Ye smiled. “My dad doesn’t care about me, and I don’t have a mother… Sister, if you come bother me, you’ll never have to go through trouble like today. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

All of her attention was caught by his words about having no mother and an absent father.

At last, Sang Wan understood.

Why he lived alone in a sprawling villa on the hillside.

Why he liked to eat cake whenever he was feeling down.

For other children, cake was a symbol of birthdays.

But for him, he insisted on making cake an everyday thing.

That way, without birthdays, he never had to care whether his parents were there or not.

On one side was Lu Xiaomu making wishes over a birthday cake, surrounded by Lu Jinnian and Lin Chaochao—lively, full of warmth.

On the other was Lou Ye, sitting all alone at the kitchen island, quietly eating cake in solitude.

A wave of tenderness flooded Sang Wan’s heart, and she blurted out, “On your next birthday, I’ll spend it with you!”

Screech!

The Maybach pulled to the side of the road.