C14 Dreaming

When Beijin returned to the family estate, it was nearly eleven o'clock. Normally, everyone would be asleep by this time, but as he walked into the brightly lit living room, he saw his mother sitting on the crimson leather sofa. Recognizing his familiar figure, she immediately stood up, her expression serious.

"Have you been seeing that woman again?" she asked, her voice tense.

"What if I have? What if I haven't?" Beijin replied evasively.

"Beijin, do you realize you already have a fiancée?" His mother's face was clouded with emotion, her tone intense.

"That's your choice, not mine," Beijin retorted. The thing he despised most was an arranged marriage. A loveless union held no meaning for him; it was just an empty shell that time would erode, leaving only unpleasant memories.

"This is a family arrangement, and you don't have the option to refuse," his mother insisted, her words firm and unyielding.

Beijin smirked, a faint smile playing on his lips but not reaching his eyes. "With our family's background and influence, do we really need to rely on marriage to secure our position? Another family arrangement, just like yours with Father?"

"Smack!" His mocking tone and words struck a nerve, and his mother's eyes filled with a stormy intensity. Her pupils contracted sharply, and though she opened her mouth to speak, no words came out.

The silence between the mother and son began to grow, neither making a move, as if something had quietly shifted between them.

“No matter what, you absolutely cannot have any more contact with that woman,” Mother Yeh said, sounding disappointed in Beijin.

“Who I choose to see is my own business,” Beijin retorted, clearly unhappy.

“Are you sure you want to keep seeing her? Have you forgotten who made sure you grew up without a father's love?” Mother Yeh's expression turned intense, her well-maintained face twisting as she recalled painful memories, her eyes flashing with resentment.

“I hope you think this through,” she added, her voice weary and drained.

After she left, Beijin felt like a wild beast inside him was about to break free, his anger boiling over.

“Ah…”

The emotions he had kept bottled up erupted like a storm, and he kicked the sofa in frustration, the dull thud echoing in the room.

The night was dark and heavy, like a creature waiting to swallow him whole.

That night, Beijin slept fitfully, his face pale, brow furrowed, as his mother's words echoed in his mind, stirring memories of his childhood.

No one is truly immune to everything; there's always a past you'd rather forget. Childhood might be the best time of life for some, but not for Beijin.

From as far back as he can remember, his parents' relationship was rocky, often erupting into arguments over trivial matters.

"Beijin, go to your room," they'd say, trying to shield him from their fights. But even in his room, he could hear their voices through the walls.

Perhaps because of the constant tension at home, Beijin matured faster than other kids his age. He learned to let their words go in one ear and out the other, knowing that causing a fuss would only make things worse.

Eventually, his father seemed to reach a breaking point. The arguments grew more intense, and they no longer cared if Beijin overheard.

"Sulin, stop making a scene," his father would say, his patience wearing thin.

"Me? Making a scene? If you weren't spending every day with that woman, would I be upset?"

*Smack!*

"You hit me for that shameless woman?"

"Stop talking nonsense every day. Look at yourself, acting like a shrew."

This kind of exchange became a regular occurrence, and Beijin got used to it. Until one day, the inevitable happened.

"Sue Lynn, let's get a divorce."

"What did you say? Divorce? What about little Jim? What about the Yeh family?"

"You know, if it weren't for the family's pressure back then, I wouldn't have married you, and Jim wouldn't be here. But you keep harassing Wanshu, acting like a jealous woman."

"Ken Yeh, you have no conscience. I've done so much for the Yeh family, and in the end, you'd rather abandon me to be with that woman."

Back then, Jim Yeh realized he was just a byproduct of a family-arranged marriage, which is why he despised such unions so much.

His father was determined to divorce his mother, but she complained to the family patriarch, so the divorce was called off. However, his father left home without a second thought and didn't return for decades. To this day, there hasn't been a trace of him.

A father like that is better off gone, Jim thought.

As time passed, the man's face faded from memory, and Jim never considered looking for the man who abandoned his family.

Jim still vividly remembers being nine years old in class. The teacher assigned an essay, "Today's topic is: My Parents..."

What the teacher said afterward, Jim couldn't recall.

While the other kids had already started writing, Yeh Beijin sat still, his eyes vacant and unfocused.

"Why haven't you started?" the teacher asked.

Yeh Beijin clearly remembered his response: "Because I don't have a father."

Ignoring their shocked expressions, Yeh Beijin walked out of the classroom as if nothing had happened. From that moment on, the word "father" was just a foreign term to him.

The next day, under a clear blue sky, Yang Wanwan set off for work, following her mother's reminders. She arrived at the Beirong Group, Yeh Beijin's company, located in the heart of the city, in the most expensive area.

Looking up at the towering building, Yang Wanwan couldn't help but feel a mix of nervousness and excitement.