Chapter One — What Is Missed Can Never Be Reclaimed

The black baseball cap was pulled low, paired with a blue hoodie and black work pants. A “Lu Han style” mask covered his face. Underneath him, Cheng Yishu’s motorcycle roared to life just as the wedding march from the church faded away, its thunderous engine breaking the silence. In a flash, he sped off, leaving only a wisp of smoke behind.

Five years had passed. The goal he had strived for, the beacon that had driven him forward, was now walking down the aisle with someone else.

“Yishu, you’re still young. Your career is just beginning. You can’t throw away all your hard work over me…”
“Yishu, I’m sorry…”

As he sped along, the memory of her calm expression while she broke things off with him haunted him—she had shown no concern for his imminent despair.

“Tan Jing, Tan Jing… Was I really so insignificant to you? All those years together, all the encouragement after each setback—was it just a duty? Or was I nothing more than your… cash cow?”

“Tan Jing, Tan Jing…”

The engine’s growl grew louder, as if declaring his unwillingness and rage. Cars and pedestrians on both sides drew back, but he had no intention of slowing down.

“How could she have never loved me? Is there some reason she can’t reveal?”
“Maybe… Maybe there’s still a way to stop this wedding?”
“Maybe, for me, she would—”

Beneath the brim of his cap, his bloodshot eyes flickered, and a flash of youthful mischief appeared.

He hadn’t even finished the thought of “accelerate” when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a small figure in pink darting onto the road.

His eyes flew open. Both the hand and foot brakes slammed down, and a piercing screech of tires tore through the air. Cheng Yishu toppled to the ground with his motorcycle, pain flaring in his arms and ankles as they scraped the pavement.

“Ah—!”

A girl’s scream, louder and sharper than the screeching brakes, rang out.

Lying on the ground, eyes squeezed shut, Cheng Yishu panted. Thanks to his training, though he hadn’t worn a helmet, he was lucky—his head was unharmed, though his cap had flown far away.

“Are you alright…?”

The girl’s trembling voice reached him, but Cheng Yishu kept his eyes closed, struggling to sit up.

“Baby… You scared Mommy to death… Why weren’t you watching the road?”

“Baby?”

Cheng Yishu frowned. These so-called “mom fans” were getting bolder by the day, weren’t they?

He exhaled, then looked toward the source of the voice as he sat up.

Wait—she wasn’t calling him “baby.”

A little girl, no more than five or six, stood nearby, her hair in two braids, wearing a pink princess dress and a Pleasant Goat backpack. Her tiny mouth, shocked into an O-shape, and her round eyes stared unblinkingly at the newly risen Cheng Yishu.

Luckily, this was a road leading to the outskirts, with little traffic. A passing van stopped to watch, but seeing that no one was hurt, the driver simply started up again and left.

“Are you in shock? Ranran? Don’t scare Mommy, say something, okay?”

The woman, voice trembling, knelt in front of the little girl, patting her plump cheeks. But the girl shoved her hands away and ran straight toward Cheng Yishu.

Cheng Yishu was startled. The little girl stopped in front of him and reached out her small hand, a flush returning to her previously pale face.

“Ranran…”

The woman hurried over in surprise, and only then did Cheng Yishu finally look up at her.

Her hair was tied in a simple bun, delicate brows crowning large, round eyes so like the child’s, a petite nose, and a pointed chin. Her lips, thin and pale from fright, betrayed her shock.

The chubby little hand was still stretched toward Cheng Yishu. The woman was about to ask her daughter if she was hurt when the child, in a sweet, childish voice, called out:

“Big brother…”

From beneath the mask, Cheng Yishu’s expression was hidden, but his eyes widened in surprise.

“Ranran, what are you doing?”

The woman bent down again, gently wrapping her daughter’s small hand in her own.

“What do you want?” Cheng Yishu’s voice was icy. “Trying to scam me?”

The woman stared at him, dazed for half a minute, then frowned and retorted, “Scam you?”

“Isn’t that it?” Cheng Yishu rose briskly, dusting off his clothes. “Broad daylight, dragging a child out here to ‘do business’—must be tough for you. But unfortunately, you’ve met someone who doesn’t fall for this. If you want, let’s call the police. But I’m not giving you a cent.”

With that, he turned to pick up his fallen motorcycle, but the moment his back was exposed, the woman, without a word, kicked him in the lower back.

He didn’t even have time to shout before he was sprawled on the ground again.

“Are you insane?” Cheng Yishu glared in disbelief as he scrambled up, shouting furiously. If she weren’t a woman, today—

The woman pulled the child behind her, eyes blazing as she met his furious gaze. “First, I apologize—but not to you. I shouldn’t have kicked you. It was wrong to hit someone in front of a child, and I’m sorry for setting a bad example. Second—”

“Second?” Cheng Yishu stared at the petite woman looking up at him.

“Second, I want you to apologize to me and my daughter. It was you who frightened us, yet you didn’t say sorry—instead, you slandered us with accusations of fraud. Did you ever consider how much harm your words could do to a child?”

“Harm?” Cheng Yishu laughed bitterly, hands on his hips. “You’re not afraid to do it, but you’re afraid of being hurt? I’m slandering you? Then tell me, why did your child just reach out to me? Isn’t that just asking for money? Clearly your kid’s gotten used to begging from strangers because you adults have been scamming with her for so long. And look at you—what, twenty-three or twenty-four at most? You expect me to believe you’re her mother? Do you take me for an idiot? If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable. You really think everyone’s dumb enough to fall for your tricks?”

“What—what business is it of yours how old I am, or when I got married and had a child? You’re unbelievable, acting like you’re the victim…”

The woman was shaking with anger, on the verge of exploding, when a small hand tugged at her skirt, and a quiet voice said, “Mommy, I… I didn’t want money.”

She froze; her heart clenched with emotion.

Cheng Yishu lowered his gaze to the small face peeking out from behind her.

“I… just wanted to help big brother up…”