Chapter 104: In Exchange, Cheng Wan Wants Qin Nainai's Ashes

Chu Li did not act on his own authority, but instead gave the decision-making power to Cheng Wan.

Cheng Wan said nothing, only setting a condition: if Qin Shen was to stay, then she must be allowed to take away Qin Nainai's ashes.

Qin Jianguo agreed.

Trading a son's return for some useless ashes was, no matter how one looked at it, worth it.

After the funeral ended, Chu Li sent Cheng Wan back to Beicheng Villa, planning to send Qin Nainai back to Bali Town once he finished the work piled up on his desk.

But Cheng Wan could not wait even a moment; she contacted Wen Lvzhong, arranged a car that very day, and rushed back to Bali Town.

Wen Lvzhong brought Ping'an along.

By the time Chu Li found out, Cheng Wan had already been gone for half an hour.

Chu Li stood before the floor-to-ceiling window for a long time.

He knew that in Cheng Wan's heart, there was no longer any room for him.

Yet he could not let go.

"Have someone follow her, and don't let her discover them," Chu Li instructed.

Assistant Wu quickly said, "It has already been arranged."

"Forget it, arrange a car; I will go there myself."

He had to go and bring her back.

The house in Bali Town was still there, and according to Qin Nainai's will, it was left to Cheng Wan.

Looking at the familiar appearance of the home, Cheng Wan's heart ached severely; she had never imagined that in just a few short months, everything would be so changed that it was unrecognizable.

She sobbed uncontrollably, letting out her grief in a fierce bout of crying.

Afterward, she took Qin Nainai's ashes to the cemetery outside the town to be laid to rest.

Qin Nainai's burial plot had long been arranged by herself, right next to Qin Xingwan.

Wen Lvzhong looked at the face of the young girl on the tombstone, his mind still a complete blank.

Only a stifling sensation filled his chest.

The memories were gone, but the feelings could not be wrong.

He was very clear that in his lost memories, there had been such a deeply loved person.

He had Wen Ping'an kowtow.

Beside Qin Xingwan's tombstone was that of the flower shop owner, Wen Suxue.

Her tombstone had no photograph.

It only bore the words "Master Wen Suxue."

Looking at it, it felt somewhat desolate.

Cheng Wan offered a bouquet of small daisies.

Finally, Cheng Wan took out a photograph; it was one she had kept all along, her most precious possession.

There were four people in the photo.

Cheng Wan and Qin Xingwan, Qin Nainai and Wen Suxue.

Qin Nainai and Wen Suxue sat in front, while Cheng Wan and Qin Xingwan stood behind.

It was as warm as a family.

Cheng Wan handed the photo to Wen Lvzhong.

Wen Lvzhong only took one look, and his whole body became agitated, the hand holding the photo trembling.

"Aunt."

Cheng Wan had actually had some suspicions, which was why she had taken the photo out.

When her master was seriously ill years ago, she had mentioned her family during her confused moments.

She missed her family.

It was just a pity that later she was always muddled, and it was impossible to ask clearly where her home was.

It had already been three years, and Cheng Wan hoped Wen Lvzhong could take this photo home.

"Master didn't like taking pictures, so this is the only one," Cheng Wan said sadly.

That was why there was no photo on the tombstone either.

"She is my aunt, Wen Suxue; back then, for the sake of perfume-making, she severed ties with the family."

As Wen Lvzhong mentioned the past, his eyes grew moist.

He and his aunt were the two most rebellious people in the Wen Family.

He was better off; although he became a lawyer, he still had some contact with the family.

But Wen Suxue had simply disappeared.

There had been no word for over twenty years.

"Cheng Wan, thank you," Wen Lvzhong said, feeling both sorrowful and grateful.

This photo was exceptionally precious.

Taking it back would also be a memento.

Cheng Wan's eyes were blurred with tears, and she murmured in a low voice.

"When I first ran away from the orphanage, I wandered the streets for nearly half a month. It was Xingwan who picked me up; she brought me home, Qin Nainai cooked so many delicious things for me, and Master washed my hair and bathed me."

"Later, Master saw that I had some talent in perfume-making, so she let me become her apprentice, and I learned perfume-making together with Xingwan."

"Xingwan was very smart and learned things quickly; she could even draw inferences about other cases from one instance. I was different; for everything, I always had to learn it three or four times before I understood. Master often encouraged me, tirelessly teaching me over and over again."

Those past events all carried warmth.

It was so warm it made one want to shed tears.

"Xingwan is very smart; she often said that our people should have our own perfume faith, so later she created the Twenty-Four Solar Terms."

"We made a pact to carry forward the Twenty-Four Solar Terms and push Oriental Perfume to the whole world; it was precisely because of this that she recovered from the sorrow of being abandoned by the Qin Family and poured all her heart into perfume."

As she spoke, she began to smile.

Yet it was even more sorrowful.

"Later she met you, she liked you, was captivated by you, and even looked forward to the arrival of that child while pregnant." Cheng Wan looked at Wen Lvzhong, her eyes shimmering with tears.

But later, Wen Lvzhong went missing, and the flower shop caught fire.

It was as if it were fated.

Wen Lvzhong's face was pale, and his head throbbed with pain.

Wen Ping'an tugged at Wen Lvzhong's hand, "Daddy."

The child was very sensitive and vaguely knew that there was some unpleasantness between his father and mother.

He did not want his father and mother to separate again.

But Cheng Wan was determined to speak clearly in front of Qin Xingwan's grave.

She stroked Wen Ping'an's head and told him to go play by himself first.

She said solemnly: "Wen Lvzhong, give Ping'an to me; I want him to change his surname to Qin."

Before this, she had already mentioned to Wen Lvzhong that he should give the child to her.

This time, it was in front of Qin Xingwan that she brought up this matter again.

"You are a lawyer, and your family background is good; it would be extremely easy for you to remarry."

"Ping'an is different; he is frail and sickly and needs an adult to spend time and effort taking care of him. If you were to remarry, you would no longer have that kind of energy."

"Furthermore, this is the child that Xingwan gave her all to give birth to; it is her only lingering wish."

Every word and every sentence was reasonable.

Xingwan was gone, and Grandma was gone.

But the Qin Family still needed someone.

Wen Lvzhong's throat felt terribly dry.

Although he had lost his memory, he had raised Ping'an for three years, and he loved him to the bone.

To truly give him up, he could not do it.

But what Cheng Wan said was also reasonable.

The child was born of Qin Xingwan... he had even gone missing while Qin Xingwan was pregnant.

He had no qualification to refuse.

"Cheng Wan, I need time." Wen Lvzhong spoke only after a long while.

He looked at his son, who was squatting on the ground playing with pebbles, and felt deep regret.

If he had stayed by her side back then, then today, they would be a family of three reunited.

Instead of being separated by life and death.

Cheng Wan did not ask again; she would not give up on the two matters of having Ping'an raised by her side and changing his name.

After finishing Grandma's funeral arrangements, it was already nine o'clock in the evening.

Cheng Wan brought Wen Lvzhong and Wen Ping'an back to the old family house.

Although it was desolate, the house was kept spotlessly clean.

Wen Lvzhong bought some instant noodles and eggs from a nearby convenience store, cooked himself, and made egg noodles.

His culinary skills were quite good.

Cheng Wan, who originally had a poor appetite, ate a small bowl.

Wen Ping'an, giving him face, ate two bowls.

Outside the window.

In the shadows of the trees.

Chu Li had been standing there, his expression indistinguishable in the black shadows.

Only a few steps away.

Yet he never took that step.

Because the people inside that window looked so much like a family of three.

The man cooking, the woman accompanying the child.

The child said something, causing the woman to smile with doting affection.

Finally, the man called them to eat.

It was so warm and cozy that it made him jealous.