Chapter 83

Yu Wan’s footsteps suddenly halted, as if she had been paused in place. She stood there stunned for a moment before slowly turning around. She could no longer restrain her expression or her rationality. Ignoring Yi Chen beside her and the cameras that had been set up, it felt as though thousands of needles were stabbing viciously into her heart. She strode straight toward Yu Xi and raised her hand.

—She wanted to slap Yu Xi just like she used to.

Yu Xi didn’t dodge. There was no need to.

Yu Wan could no longer inflict any harm on him. He could easily evade her hand.

Yu Xi simply watched quietly as Yu Wan’s expected facade crumbled.

Before Yu Xi could dodge, Yi Chen stepped in first and blocked Yu Wan, grabbing her wrist.

He knew Yu Xi could dodge.

But the current Yu Xi didn’t need to.

There was indeed a difference in strength between an adult man and a woman. Yu Wan struggled a few times but couldn’t break free. She glared at Yu Xi with a look of disgust and hatred, snarling viciously, “What right do you have to demand an apology from me!”

Stripped of her mask and gentle exterior, Yu Wan roared at Yu Xi in the same sharp tone as before: “Why should I apologize?! It’s all because of you! You’re the reason my life was ruined! Because of you, I lost my job! Because of you, I had to go abroad to develop my career! I poured all my time and money into you! I pinned my dreams on you, but you couldn’t achieve anything, you couldn’t do anything right. And now, you even want to destroy me!!”

Her mind was flooded with rage, and she exerted all her strength, so after shouting those words, she felt her head go dizzy and her breathing become labored.

But the Yu Xi in front of her showed no reaction to her anger whatsoever. He simply waited for her, waited for her to calm down, then looked at her with an emotionless gaze and said, “I don’t need to pay for your decisions.”

“You never gave me a chance to choose.”

It was an unpleasant meeting.

It seemed that ever since Yu Wan returned, every encounter between her and Yu Xi ended unpleasantly.

After that day, Yu Wan and Yu Xi never met again, but Yu Xi never lost track of Yu Wan.

—Yu Wan began appearing frequently in the public eye.

She didn’t have work for the time being, but that was fine.

She went public with her illness.

Due to issues with her lumbar vertebrae, her right leg often experienced numbness and pain. To avoid greater consequences later, she needed to be hospitalized for treatment and timely surgery.

The next day, she checked into a private hospital and opened a dedicated column on her account to record her daily recovery routine.

She needed consultations with doctors and went through various postures to adjust her skeletal alignment. In her recovery adjustment videos, her body was often bent into unbelievable angles.

It didn’t hurt too much for her, but she acted as if it was excruciating, gritting her teeth and persevering. When reporters came for interviews, she gladly accepted them, crafting an image of gentleness and resilience.

She also made public statements at various occasions, expressing her hope to reconcile with Yu Xi.

“There are some misunderstandings between us,” Yu Wan always said to the cameras with utmost gentleness and warmth. “I really hope my child can understand me and come see me.”

This move was quite effective.

No matter whether Yu Xi “forgave” her in the end or not, she stood to gain.

If Yu Xi reconciled, she could script a heart-to-heart mother-son reunion, forgetting the unpleasantness of his upbringing. In the public eye, they would become a tightly bound pair, and she could ride on Yu Xi’s popularity.

If Yu Xi refused to reconcile, then she would be the strong, gentle single mother, while her child was an ungrateful white-eyed wolf who didn’t know gratitude or filial piety. She could attract even more attention.

That was her plan.

But the comments online seemed completely opposite to what she had anticipated.

[Why is she still saying these things? Didn’t she only get into this hospital because of Yu Xi?]

[Without Yu Xi, she couldn’t have gotten in at all, right?]

[Exactly, this hospital’s recovery department is so famous. How many actors have been waiting half a year or more for a spot? She’s only been back less than a month. If Yu Xi hadn’t pulled strings and used his connections, how could she get in so quickly?]

Yu Wan: “?”

When she saw these comments, a nurse happened to bring her corrective equipment. Yu Wan asked, “I got in because Yu Xi arranged it? Wasn’t it you who approached me? Don’t you need a case for promotion?”

It wasn’t hard to understand.

She had publicized her condition, so naturally, private hospitals or institutions would come knocking. They needed a famous case for publicity, and as a dancer, she would be the perfect promotional material for a successful recovery.

Nurse: “?”

“It’s because of Teacher Yu Xi,” the nurse said with her signature smile. “Teacher Yu Xi arranged for you to be admitted.”

After answering, the nurse left the room. Yu Wan happened to need to step out of the ward too. Before she could open the door, she overheard two nurses chatting nearby while packing equipment.

“What’s her deal? Without arrangements, no one can get into our hospital—waitlists are half a year long already. And she says we approached her for promotion? Do we even need promotion?”

“Ignore her. I’ve thought she was weird for a while. Teacher Yu Xi did so much for her, and yet she uses reporter interviews to nitpick him, saying he won’t reconcile or whatever. I think she has ulterior motives.”

“Right? Teacher Yu Xi is the good one. He’s never used this to hype himself up. He even said his mom might be in a bad mood and never spoke out. He’s been protecting Yu Wan’s image all along.”

The nurses didn’t have much time to chat. They exchanged a few hurried words and went back to their tasks.

Yu Wan stood frozen behind the door.

Had her painstakingly crafted image of the suffering mother been so easily turned against her by Yu Xi?

This incident seemed to be the beginning. Gradually, more and more such voices appeared online, even evolving into other narratives.

[I feel like she’s prepared a bunch of scripts for herself.]

[Her persona feels so fake. Is she going to stir up drama?]

[So annoying. Once or twice might garner sympathy, but repeating the same lines over and over—I’m sick of it.]

[She keeps saying she wants reconciliation, but I think she’s the one who doesn’t want it most. Shouting about reconciliation lets her leech off traffic, and badmouthing Yu Xi brings even more. No matter if they reconcile or not, she profits.]

[Exactly. Yu Xi booked the hospital for her, got her the best doctors and therapists, and she still nitpicks.]

[She’s been bragging about how great her dancing is, but she hasn’t danced in ages.]

However, these comments didn’t circulate for long. Gradually, no one paid attention to her anymore.

There were too many interesting things on the internet. Her persona, her theme, her bid for sympathy—it all lacked appeal.

Yu Wan feared being scolded and her image collapsing, but she feared being ignored even more.

Her account’s views stopped growing, and no new comments came in. That sudden silence and darkness enveloped her, as if it would swallow her whole.

She was afraid, at a loss, and could only vent her pent-up fury at Yu Xi.

“It’s you! You got me shadowbanned! You won’t let the public see me! It’s you! What the hell do you want! Do you have to do this!!”

“You’re doing it on purpose! You knew I wasn’t familiar with the domestic scene, so you deliberately made me think the hospital approached me first, made me say those things, got netizens to misunderstand me—it’s all deliberate!!”

She roared into the phone. She wanted answers, wanted Yu Xi to admit it, so she could stand on the moral high ground and accuse him freely. She could find more reasons to profit off him. Even if Yu Xi got angry and yelled at her, she could rationalize all her actions and words.

But Yu Xi didn’t.

Yu Xi maintained his flat, almost emotionless tone: “I got you the best hospital, the best medical staff, the best recovery program.”

“I don’t want my mother to be put on trial online because of our ‘little misunderstanding.’ I don’t want you discussed by netizens. I want you to have a quiet environment to rest.”

“I’ve done a lot for you, Mom.”

“After all I’ve done, do you still want to blame me?”

Yu Wan fell silent. She was furious but had no idea what to say.

“I’ve sacrificed so much.”

“I’ve done so much.”

Those were the words she had once loved saying to Yu Xi.

But now, Yu Xi threw them back at her verbatim.

She couldn’t refute them. She had no way to. An intense, profound sense of powerlessness gripped her.

The line went quiet for a long time, filled only with her increasingly rapid breathing from anger.

Yu Xi’s voice came from the other end: “If there’s nothing else, I need to hang up. Rest well, Mom.”

Yu Xi had sealed her off completely without showing a single flaw. Yu Wan had no choice but to turn to Liang Shuo.

When Liang Shuo came to visit her, Yu Wan grabbed his hand. “You have a good relationship with Yu Xi. Can you persuade him for me? Tell him not to target his teacher like this. I’ve become so miserable because of him… You’ll understand your teacher’s side, right?”

“But he hasn’t done anything,” Liang Shuo said. “The hospital was arranged by Teacher Yu Xi. Even when you publicly criticized him on platforms, he didn’t refute you. Instead, he defended your image to netizens and fans. You’ve been the one making unreasonable demands…”

What Liang Shuo said wasn’t just his personal view—it was now everyone’s impression of Yu Wan.

A mother who claimed to seek her son’s forgiveness but refused to reconcile herself, repeatedly bringing it up to leech off traffic.

After speaking, Liang Shuo paused, then said, “Teacher, I think you should apologize to Yu Xi.”

Yu Wan was going mad.

Why?

Why was everyone like this?

Why were they all turning against her?

She was so tired, too tired to keep pretending. She shoved Liang Shuo away and unleashed her breakdown fully in front of him: “What are you saying! How could I be wrong!! If I hadn’t given birth to him, I’d still be me—nothing would have happened!!”

“You’re the same, you ungrateful bastard! I saved you! I pulled you onto the right path! I taught you, I guided you—shouldn’t you be grateful?! And now you want me to apologize?!”

Liang Shuo froze, staring blankly at Yu Wan’s current state.

He was surprised, yet not entirely.

He had seen Yu Wan’s diary, seen how she day after day ranted at Yu Xi with the same mad, suffocating tone and accusations.

On his way there, Liang Shuo had imagined how to face the real Yu Wan.

Truthfully, he didn’t know. He hadn’t figured it out.

Now that Yu Wan had dropped her facade and hurled those words at him, Liang Shuo still didn’t know how to respond.

His first instinct was to leave.

He did. Without a word, he turned and walked out of the ward.

The ward door opened and closed. On the hospital bed, Yu Wan’s face was pale from the aftermath of her rage.

The room was empty once more.