Chapter 509: He Won’t Be a Shadow Over Your Entire Life

Chapter 509: He Won’t Be a Shadow Over Your Entire Life

He Shiqin stared at her phone screen, fear flickering across her frozen expression. Normally, whenever Ding Ruilong called, all she felt was hatred, and her voice stayed cold when she spoke to him.

In recent years, the calls between them could be counted on one hand. Their conversations were usually brief, mostly about child support for He Xinxin.

Deep down, He Shiqin was afraid of Ding Ruilong, but she hadn’t let that fear show on her face in years.

Now, though… it was because Wu Chen was right beside her.

She still felt an instinctive terror of Ding Ruilong. Back then, he had killed someone with his own hands while pursuing her. That act had cast a shadow over her entire life.

The fear was involuntary.

He Shiqin froze for two seconds before turning to look at Wu Chen. At once, she relaxed considerably. Wu Chen tilted his head and caught sight of the caller ID on her screen. The smile at the corner of his mouth took on a slightly more playful cast.

Anyone who knew Wu Chen even a little could find something reassuring in his smile.

Except his enemies, of course.

He Shiqin suddenly drew a deep breath.

The phone was still ringing.

“Mr. Wu…” She called to him and gave her phone a little shake, seeking his advice. She didn’t know whether she should answer, or what to say if she did.

Clearly, Ding Ruilong’s unexpected call had something to do with He Shiqin being away from Modu.

If she had merely left Modu, that wouldn’t have been a problem.

It certainly wouldn’t have been enough to make Ding Ruilong call.

He Shiqin had taken He Xinxin on trips before, visiting many cities, usually during winter or summer vacation. And it was summer vacation now.

There was nothing unusual about her being away from Modu.

But being in Donghai, of all places—that was another matter entirely.

Ding Ruilong had probably already confirmed that He Shiqin had been in Donghai recently. In an age of online real-name registration, verifying something like that wasn’t difficult. All Ding Ruilong had to do was give an order and wait a little while for a definite answer.

“Answer it,” Wu Chen said softly.

“Then…” He Shiqin wanted to ask something else—naturally, what she ought to say.

“Whatever you like,” Wu Chen interrupted.

He left the decision to her. She could say anything she wanted, even tell Ding Ruilong outright that she was with Wu Chen. That would disrupt Wu Chen’s plan, but it wouldn’t be a serious problem.

In fact, Wu Chen wanted to give He Shiqin an opportunity.

An opportunity to take her first step toward defying Ding Ruilong.

That was why she had to make the decision herself.

Once she took that step, there would be no chance of her losing her nerve and refusing to speak when Wu Chen later arranged for her to meet the Dong family. He Shiqin still had someone she cared about. She wasn’t alone in the world; she had a daughter.

Sometimes people had to push themselves.

Right now, Wu Chen needed He Shiqin to push herself.

The phone had already been ringing for more than ten seconds.

He Shiqin hoped Wu Chen would say something, but he didn’t. He merely looked at her with encouragement. If she didn’t answer soon, it would be too late.

She answered.

He Shiqin put the phone to her ear, then immediately moved it a little farther away.

“Where are you? Where have you taken her?!” Ding Ruilong’s furious questions burst from the speaker. His voice was high and slightly hoarse.

He launched straight into an interrogation.

Clearly, Ding Ruilong had already imagined the possibility most likely to send him into hysterics.

“Why are you shouting? What’s the matter?” He Shiqin managed to keep her composure. Her tone was cold.

“I’m asking where you are! Answer me!” Ding Ruilong shouted.

It was obvious his mental state wasn’t particularly stable. He had probably been living in pain lately and still hadn’t recovered. After all, he’d been left disabled and was still recuperating from his injuries.

“…I’m in Donghai,” He Shiqin replied after a pause, repeatedly glancing at Wu Chen.

She knew Wu Chen could hear the voice coming through her phone.

“What are you doing in Donghai?” Ding Ruilong demanded.

“I brought Xinxin on vacation. So what? Are you going to control where we go on vacation too?” There was an edge to He Shiqin’s voice now. She sounded as though she dared to confront Ding Ruilong, but in truth, she didn’t.

If she really dared, she would have told him the truth.

“Vacation? Why Donghai?” Ding Ruilong pressed.

“Why not Donghai?” He Shiqin shot back.

“Who are you with? Who else is there besides your daughter?” Ding Ruilong finally reached the heart of the matter.

“What’s that got to do with you? We broke up more than ten years ago. Who I’m with is none of your business!” He Shiqin retorted.

Ding Ruilong went silent. Only his heavy breathing could be heard.

He Shiqin was clearly on the verge of infuriating him.

But she’d also left him with nothing to say. Strictly speaking, Ding Ruilong didn’t care who He Shiqin was with. If she’d been on her own, he probably would have forgotten her long ago after more than a decade.

The trouble was that He Shiqin wasn’t on her own.

Ding Ruilong would never accept his daughter calling another man Dad, even though he refused to acknowledge her.

So He Shiqin couldn’t be with another man—especially not Wu Chen.

“You fucking…” After several seconds of silence, Ding Ruilong exploded. The curse had barely left his mouth before he stopped, then roared again, “You fucking get back to Modu right now! Immediately! This instant!”

Fear flickered across He Shiqin’s face again.

That tone, that state of mind—Ding Ruilong sounded ready to kill someone.

“I… Xinxin and I haven’t finished our vacation. I’m not going back. What gives you the right to order me around?” He Shiqin stammered slightly but held her ground.

“I’m warning you, He Shiqin! You! Right now! This instant! Get your ass back to Modu!” Ding Ruilong seemed to be losing his mind with rage. By the end, his shouting had become almost shrill.

His condition wasn’t simply the result of He Shiqin provoking him. Everything that had happened recently had built up, making him quicker to anger and leaving his mental state extremely unstable.

He Shiqin’s hand was trembling.

She looked at Wu Chen again.

Wu Chen met her eyes with a smile.

“Get back here right now!” Ding Ruilong was still shouting.

“I won’t!” He Shiqin drew another deep breath and shouted into the phone herself.

“You—”

Beep.

He Shiqin didn’t listen to anything more. She had actually hung up on him. It was the first time in more than ten years she’d found the courage to end a call with Ding Ruilong herself.

The hand holding her phone dropped limply.

She leaned against Wu Chen’s chest as though all the strength had drained out of her. Her breathing was rapid, her heart racing, and her whole body felt weak.

“Life is long,” Wu Chen said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and patting them gently twice. He smiled, sounding a little reflective. “He won’t be a shadow over your entire life. Don’t you agree?”

Wu Chen lowered his head with a smile.

He Shiqin looked up.

Their eyes met.

“Yes!” He Shiqin answered. The very act of saying it seemed to make her expression firmer.

She abandoned the wishful thinking she’d been clinging to without realizing it.

Before something actually happened, people often hoped they might somehow escape the consequences. He Shiqin was no different. Ding Ruilong didn’t yet know about her involvement with Wu Chen, much less that she intended to cooperate with him. That left room for wishful thinking.

Deep down, she’d believed that even if Wu Chen failed, she and her daughter might still be safe. After all, they hadn’t reached that crucial point yet.

Now that illusion was gone.

Whatever happened next, Ding Ruilong would make her suffer for what she’d just done.

And so she made up her mind. Her desire to see Ding Ruilong dead grew more urgent, and she became more determined to do something about it.

Ring, ring…

The phone rang again.

It was He Shiqin’s phone.

Ding Ruilong was calling again.

If He Shiqin refused to answer, the obsessive Ding Ruilong would keep calling, even switching phone numbers. That was why Li Ruobing rarely rejected his calls.

But after hesitating for two seconds, He Shiqin tapped the decline button.

Call rejected.

Then she opened her phone’s settings and enabled a whitelist, keeping only He Xinxin’s and Wu Chen’s numbers on it.

Having taken that first step, He Shiqin had become decisive.

She wasn’t as busy with business as Li Ruobing, either. A whitelist would interfere with Li Ruobing’s work, but He Shiqin didn’t have to worry about that.

“I’d guess he’s about to start smashing things,” Wu Chen said quietly with a smile, watching her.

“With a temper like that, why doesn’t he just jump off a building?” He Shiqin muttered, pursing her lips.

She casually set her phone on the coffee table. Still sitting on Wu Chen’s lap, she turned and wrapped her arms around his neck again, then planted a kiss on his face for no particular reason.

A noise suddenly came from upstairs.

Wu Chen lightly patted He Shiqin’s back to alert her.

She realized what was happening and hurriedly stood up. Just then, He Xinxin’s voice called down from upstairs. “Mom, what were you shouting about just now? What happened?”

Wu Chen leaned forward, pulled two tissues from the box on the coffee table, and wiped the lipstick mark from his face. Seeing what he was doing made He Shiqin terribly nervous.

She wanted to fetch him a mirror, but when she saw that he’d wiped away the lipstick perfectly without one, she finally relaxed.

Thump, thump, thump.

He Xinxin appeared at the second-floor landing, came down a few steps, then stopped and leaned forward to look.

“Nothing, nothing happened. Why are you coming down? Have you finished packing?” He Shiqin asked, looking up at her with a slightly unnatural expression.

He Xinxin didn’t answer. Looking a little suspicious, she came farther down the stairs and asked, “Mom, Teacher Wu, were you two arguing?”

After all, He Shiqin had shouted awfully loudly before—and what she’d shouted was “I won’t!”

“Don’t fight,” He Xinxin said, immediately supplying her own explanation as she descended. “It’s only moving house. Living somewhere else isn’t such a big deal…”

When she finished, she even gave Wu Chen a knowing look. The girl was far too clever for her own good.

“Xinxin, what are you talking about? We weren’t arguing,” He Shiqin said. Once she realized Xinxin had misunderstood, she felt relieved instead.

“I heard you shouting, and you still say you weren’t…” He Xinxin sounded as though she’d caught them red-handed.

“Your mom was getting calls from scammers just now. They kept calling, even using different numbers…” Wu Chen suddenly explained with a smile.

“Scam calls?” He Xinxin entered the living room, still a little doubtful.

“Yes, yes, scammers! I don’t know who posted my phone number online. Maybe they saw that our family has money…” He Shiqin hurriedly chimed in. “I’ve already switched on my whitelist. They’re driving me crazy.”

“Oh, I see…” He Xinxin was beginning to believe them.

“You should be careful too, Xinxin,” Wu Chen reminded her with a smile. “I suspect your number may have been leaked as well. Someone might call and try to scam you…”

“Who would do something so nasty, posting our numbers everywhere?” He Xinxin pouted a little.

“Someone jealous of rich people, I guess. Probably somebody our family knew before.” He Shiqin’s improvised explanation wasn’t particularly convincing, but it was enough to fool Xinxin.

“Xinxin, why don’t you set up a whitelist too? Just for now. Things should settle down in a few days,” He Shiqin suggested.

“Sure…” He Xinxin agreed without much concern. Although she often kept in touch with her friends and classmates, she usually sent messages or voice clips on Weixun rather than calling them.

Having agreed, she took her phone from her pajama pocket and began adjusting the settings.

Wu Chen smiled and glanced at He Shiqin.

He had to admit that He Shiqin was quite intelligent. She’d somehow known exactly what he was thinking. She’d said things he hadn’t even needed to say himself.

Then again, perhaps their thoughts had simply happened to coincide. Neither wanted He Xinxin to receive a call from Ding Ruilong.

Ding Ruilong had never called his daughter before, but given the situation, there was no telling what he might do this time.

He Xinxin wandered over to the long sofa while looking at her phone and sat down. He Shiqin moved closer, intending to watch as her daughter set up the whitelist.

Suddenly—

Ring, ring—

He Xinxin’s phone rang.

He Shiqin was startled and hurriedly leaned over to look. She didn’t recognize the number. It wasn’t Ding Ruilong’s number, but the caller’s registered location showed “Nanguang”!

A coincidence?

Or…

“Is it 137…?” Wu Chen turned toward He Xinxin and casually recited Ding Ruilong’s number.

“Huh?” She looked at him, checked the screen again, and said, “No, it starts with 139…”

“139…” Wu Chen casually rattled off another number.

“Yes, yes! That’s the one.” He Xinxin nodded at once, then looked up. “Teacher Wu, how did you know?”

“It’s a scammer’s number. They called your mom earlier,” Wu Chen said with a smile. Of course, he was lying to He Xinxin. In reality, it was the number of another phone Ding Ruilong owned—a private number reserved for special purposes.

Presumably, Ding Ruilong had smashed the phone he’d used to call He Shiqin earlier.

“Xinxin, it’s a scammer! Don’t answer. Block the number!” He Shiqin immediately told her after hearing Wu Chen’s explanation.

But He Xinxin didn’t listen to her mother. She tapped to answer and held the phone to her ear.