Yu Zeqi's head was filled with Shang Shujue's chant-like "acknowledge him." He nearly failed to hold back his laughter...
He did not know whether this counted as some sort of test from Shang Shujue, nor did he dare show any particular expression. He merely lowered his eyes, opened the file, and read its contents.
Only after seeing that paper DNA test report did Yu Zeqi finally come back to his senses and clearly realize that the father who had never been part of his upbringing was sitting opposite him, alive and well, wanting to acknowledge him and bring him home.
"Your name is Yu Zeqi?"
Yu Yang finally came back to his senses too. Suppressing his shock and curiosity about Shang Shujue, he focused entirely on the son before him, his voice trembling slightly as he spoke.
"Did your mother give you that name? It's a lovely name. Your mother... has she been well all these years?"
Hearing Yu Yang's words, Shang Shujue emerged from his thoughts. He noticed that no one was paying attention to him. Perhaps he had imagined it earlier; no one could hear his thoughts.
Yu Zeqi's fingers paled slightly around the sheet of paper, and his eyes abruptly reddened, as though with hurt, or with restraint.
Only after a long while did he raise his head to look at Yu Yang. His lips curved into a smile as tears slid from the corners of his eyes, so full of irony.
"My mother died a long time ago..."
Yu Yang's pupils trembled. He rose from the sofa in disbelief, knocking over the teacup before him.
The teacup fell to the floor and shattered completely, its contents soaking his trouser cuffs and expensive leather shoes. He paid none of it any attention. His throat tightened, and his voice rasped like the teeth of a rusty saw.
"What... did you say?"
"Yu Yang!"
Yun Qishan stood up in a daze and steadied Yu Yang, who was swaying on his feet. Feeling the tight grip on his arm, he could not describe what he felt.
He had thought that coming here today, he would see a happy, harmonious family of three. But now...
The office was so quiet that a pin dropping could have been heard. Yu Zeqi withdrew his gaze from Yu Yang, placed the file on the table, and slowly took out his phone. He found that video but said nothing.
Shang Shujue sat on the sofa, listening to Yu Zeqi without saying anything or thinking anything either. Nuomi transmitted a short sequence of images about Yu Zeqi's mother into his mind, and he watched very attentively.
"What exactly happened? For a time, I thought she was dead. It took me a long time to accept that. Only yesterday did I learn..."
Yu Yang's voice was choked with sobs. As he spoke, his eyes were red and wet, but he did not let his tears fall. The guilt and self-reproach in his heart turned into helpless pain, burning through his body, searing him until he wished he were dead.
"She hadn't died, and she'd given birth to you. I thought I could finally be with her properly, and we could raise you together... how did it turn out like this again?"
Yu Zeqi's grip on his phone paused. As though he had heard the greatest joke of the century, he raised his head and stared at Yu Yang in disbelief. The hope in his heart was replaced by boundless hurt and resentment.
"You thought she was dead? So you never even looked for her? Do you know how hard it was for Mom to raise me alone all these years?"
"To keep us from becoming bargaining chips people could use against you, she-a scientist with such advanced qualifications, someone so capable-could only work in some little place, holding down three jobs a day..."
"She left early and came home late every day. The only time I saw her each day was when I got up for water in the middle of the night and found her sitting in the living room, eating bread with the lights off..."
Thinking of everything his mother had suffered, Yu Zeqi wiped his tears away hard. His lips trembled slightly, and his heart was filled with self-reproach and sorrow. His voice was thick with sobs.
"I always thought that if she hadn't had me, Mom wouldn't have had to work so hard..."
"If I'd had a dad, those people wouldn't have bad-mouthed Mom or called me a bastard with a mother to birth me but no father to teach me..."
Every question and statement from Yu Zeqi was like a sharp, yielding blade plunging straight into Yu Yang's heart, leaving his lips trembling and robbing him of words.
"Nineteen whole years. You had so many chances to find us. Why didn't you look?"
"If you'd found Mom and me a little sooner, Mom wouldn't have died... Mom gave everything she had just to raise me."
"You never gave us anything, and now you want to acknowledge me and take me home? Do you think that's possible?! What gives you the right!"
Yu Zeqi finally could not hold back anymore. Tears streamed down his face, and his voice grew increasingly choked, but his resentment toward Yu Yang did not lessen in the slightest. After speaking, he lowered his head and wiped his tears, crying with deep hurt. In the end, he was still only a nineteen-year-old child.
Yu Yang drew a deep breath, trying to steady himself, but the breath he exhaled broke into several pieces in his chest, carrying an uncontrollable tremor. Even his fingers curled from the pain.
"...I'm sorry. I've wronged both you and your mother..."
For the first time, this man at the very top of the pyramid, with the bearing of a king, revealed such vulnerability. He looked at the son before him who resented him...
...Images of the hardships Zhang Yunyi and their son had endured surfaced in his mind, and the pain left him swaying on his feet.
Had Yun Qishan not been supporting him all along, he probably would have lost his strength and fallen heavily to the floor already.
Yu Zeqi stiffened, as though Yu Yang's choked apology had struck him hard with a hammer, knocking him senseless. It also left his resentment landing on cotton, until nothing remained in his heart but endless distress.
Even Yu Yang, a director who had weathered many storms, was at a loss faced with this father-and-son situation. Yun Qishan helped Yu Yang sit down, no longer knowing what to say either.
Shang Shujue looked at Yu Yang, whose eyes were red and wet as he held back tears, his expression sorrowful, then at Yu Zeqi, who was young and had not yet fully emerged from the pain of losing his mother.
"ε=(´ο｀*))) Sigh..."
Shang Shujue reflexively sighed. In the somewhat strange atmosphere of the office, it was so conspicuous and out of place that all four of them turned to look at him.
"Xiao Jue, don't fool around. It's rude to sigh at a time like this."
Yun Qishan walked over to Shang Shujue and raised his hand to pat his head. His tone held a little of an elder's helplessness toward a mischievous junior, but no blame.
"Oh, sorry, Uncle Yu Yang, Yu Zeqi. Please continue. Don't mind me. I did it without thinking."
Shang Shujue did not mind Yun Qishan patting his head either and readily apologized to the father and son. He looked perfectly well-behaved on the surface, but his mind was bustling.
*[ε=(´ο｀*))) Sigh, judging by this, there's still plenty of trouble ahead. This kid won't acknowledge his dad now. Who knows, it might trigger some kind of plot passive later...*
*Something like kidnapping, threats, an impossible choice between two people, or, failing that, his biological mother coming back from the dead...]*
Shang Shujue poured himself a glass of water. The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Everyone who heard his thoughts stared at him, dumbfounded. Before they could recover, the other thoughts in his head nearly knocked them dead.
*[That's how they write these novels. These are just the usual tropes... after all, I haven't reclaimed all the luck from that chosen daughter of heaven, Ren Xiaoxue, yet.*
*She's definitely a ticking time bomb... she might really manage to establish a connection with Su Youchuan.]*
Yun Qishan unconsciously exchanged a glance with Yu Yang. That boy from the Su Family was involved too?
Yu Zeqi even forgot to cry, staring blankly at Shang Shujue. Seeing him like this, Yu Yang hurriedly handed him a packet of tissues to wipe his tears, and he obediently accepted it.
Good grief, please don't give us away. What a nightmare. Shang Shujue, you're another handful. How am I supposed to explain this to Mr. Yu and Mr. Yun later?