The Vanishing Lover

That was Qin Guan's most agonizing noon.

"If you are truly repentant, then leave with nothing! Go back and sign the divorce papers with Ruyi! Custody of the child goes to her! Don't worry about what Ruyi thinks or if she'll agree to divorce; I will handle that with her!"

His father-in-law delivered this ultimatum decisively. Finished speaking, he turned himself and expertly pushed the wheelchair forward.

He was leaving.

Once he returned and told Xu Ruyi, it would be a done deal, impossible to change—his father-in-law would naturally have to tell Xu Ruyi the truth, otherwise how could she agree to divorce?

His father-in-law's recent hesitation, observation, and wavering, his delay in telling Xu Ruyi, had all been to achieve this result—to confirm Qin Guan's affair with Qi Min, and then kick him out of this family!

Qin Guan panicked. He truly panicked. He knelt on the ground, gripping the left side of the wheelchair, pleading in a hushed voice: "Dad, Dad, I was truly wrong... can you... can you give me one more chance... just once... please? Dad—"

"What? Weren't you just saying you would bravely bear the consequences? Weren't you just saying you would leave? That you would leave with nothing? What? Now you won't?"

His father-in-law's gaze was piercing. "What exactly is it you can't bear to part with? My daughter? Or something else?"

He had seen through him.

Qin Guan's heart collapsed.

His father-in-law had seen through him. He had vastly underestimated the old man's intelligence.

Qin Guan knelt stiffly on the ground, stunned for a moment.

In his daze, it felt like returning to his childhood, to that last time, in that pitch-black, chaotic, cold night.

He stood at the crossroads, watching helplessly as his crazy mother, leaning on her stick, hobbled to the fork in the road—past that small hill slope, the school wasn't far beyond.

He could even see the dim yellow light from the school window—his homeroom teacher lived on campus, day and night.

If his crazy mother went there, she would definitely find the teacher.

"Mom—Mom—"

Qin Guan called out futilely a few times. It was useless. The thin sound of "Mom" was distorted by the night wind and quickly blown away.

"No, no, no..."

He gasped for breath, chased after her a few steps, then stopped, looking around blankly. He grabbed a handful of loose dirt from the ground.

He didn't overthink this action; it came purely from a deep instinct—to find anything nearby he could use to stop her, to fulfill some vague desire.

"No!" he hissed, jogging closer until he was only a few steps away. He raised his hand and hurled the handful of dirt at her.

His crazy mother felt the dirt hit her and turned around.

She said nothing, just cast a cold, disappointed look at Qin Guan. Her steps carried her body forward again.

Qin Guan grabbed another handful. This time, he threw wide. A gust of wind blew the dirt onto a patch of weeds nearby.

Qin Guan recognized that patch of weeds.

In front of the weeds was a pit, dug just a few days ago. The weeds were those pulled from the pit's edge and left to dry—the mountain climate was arid; it rarely rained in autumn and winter. Farmers needed to carry water daily to irrigate their vegetable plots. Families with more concentrated land sometimes dug deep pits beside the plots to create small reservoirs for storing water.

Qin Guan had personally watched villagers dig that deep pit a few days ago on his way to school. He had even leaned over to look; the pit was quite deep, likely deeper than his crazy mother was tall.

"Hey! Wait!" Qin Guan called out to his crazy mother.

His heart pounded violently in the quiet night, deafeningly loud.

His crazy mother stopped and turned back.

In that instant, Qin Guan dashed forward, thrust out both hands, and shoved his crazy mother's body hard.

His crazy mother staggered backward. Her heel landed on the weeds—loose, collapsed weeds.

The next second, her body fell straight into the pit!

A heavy thud—only then did Qin Guan clearly see the vague desire in his heart—this was the scene he had hoped for, and it had finally come true!

His crazy mother fell down. After a few brief groans, she made no more sound.

Qin Guan gasped for breath. Summoning his courage, he took one step, then another, toward the pit.

The flashlight's small beam trembled nervously as it jumped into the pit. Qin Guan saw his crazy mother curled up, half-lying at the bottom—the unfinished deep pit had a large rock at its base. The lazy ditch digger hadn't bothered to dig it all out or move it before leaving.

His crazy mother's head rested on that partially exposed rock.

In the flickering light, a dark liquid slowly flowed from the rock.

Blood.

The flashlight beam swept hurriedly. Qin Guan understood what had happened—the moment she fell, his crazy mother's head had struck the rock.

She was injured.

Her hand clutched her chest—her broken ribs hadn't fully healed yet. This fall must have made things much worse.

She needed urgent help.

Her rapidly blinking eyes also revealed a plea for help.

But she looked at Qin Guan standing outside the pit. Her lips moved as if she wanted to say something. In the end, she said nothing.

And Qin Guan's wildly pounding heart became strangely calm in that instant, just like last time, when he had calmly watched the old dog bleed to death.

He stood peacefully by the pit's edge. The howling night wind stretched his small figure into a monstrous, peculiar black silhouette.

His father-in-law had already turned away.

His wheelchair was slowly moving forward.

He was moving irrevocably further away—

"Dad!" Qin Guan rushed over, crouched down, knelt again, and grabbed the wheelchair with one hand. "Dad—"

"Let go! I'm going home!" his father-in-law roared in a low voice, resolutely turning his face away.

But Qin Guan's hand gripped the wheelchair tightly, refusing to release it—how could he let go? If his father-in-law returned to Jiayuan Community and told Xu Ruyi, all the beauty in his life would be gone!

The familiar feeling surged through him like a terrifying tsunami.

There weren't many people nearby. It was noon; most people had left. Only a few pedestrians were in the distance.

"Dad—"

Qin Guan swallowed hard. His gaze fell on this electric wheelchair—it was bought by Xu Ruyi, online, imported, expensive.

She had always been generous with her father.

But after it arrived, it was Qin Guan who assembled it piece by piece following the manual. Xu Ruyi was never good at this kind of assembly work; she called it "engineering guy stuff." She hated reading complicated manuals. So, even how to use the wheelchair had been taught to Xu Ruyi by Qin Guan himself.

In other words, no one understood all the functions of this wheelchair better than Qin Guan.

Yes, he knew. For example, without needing to look closely, he knew the wheelchair's handbrake was right near his hand, on the left side near the thumb.