Chapter 51 A Decade Beyond Recognition

Chapter 51: A Decade of Utter Transformation

The girl Ling Mufeng had loved was named Tong Xiaoya—poor, beautiful, resilient, and kind.

She came from a world completely alien to theirs.

But the young, naive love couldn't withstand the power and interests of the influential family dynasty. Once the Ling family caught wind of it, they promptly sent the girl away.

From then on, Ling Mufeng became indulgent and dissolute, playing the field.

Yet every new girlfriend always bore a resemblance to that girl.

Until the Ling family decided to forge an alliance through marriage with the Qi family.

Back then, Qi Manjun was also a proud and brilliant young lady who couldn't stand for any nonsense. She fiercely grabbed Ling Mufeng's collar and told him that she, Qi Manjun, didn't need him either. If they were to marry, he had to be a proper husband.

At a banquet table surrounded by beautiful women, Ling Mufeng raised his eyebrows, a glint of amusement in his eyes.

He took his fiancée's hand and made his first promise.

"Then I look forward to it, Miss Qi."

Then, the notorious playboy of their circle seemed to genuinely settle down, obediently getting engaged, married, and becoming a man everyone praised.

It wasn't until Qi Manjun became pregnant that she realized there had been no real turnaround.

At first, Ling Mufeng was just bored with his escapades and wanted to engage in a proper fiancé-fiancée charade with the proud young lady.

Later, the Ling family, sensing his lack of commitment to the marriage and even a desire to sabotage it, used Tong Xiaoya to threaten him.

They said that as long as he could produce an heir for the Ling family, they would allow Tong Xiaoya to return.

The gentle, considerate, and affectionate husband was merely a facade Ling Mufeng put on in his fight for the chance to see his first love again.

Qi Manjun couldn't bear this humiliation.

She didn't want this child; she felt it was a product of lies.

But Ling Mufeng knelt at the Qi family's doorstep, begging her. He said he just wanted to confirm that Tong Xiaoya was still alive and well, that he didn't want to ruin an innocent girl's life because of his own actions. He said he only sought peace of mind, and he also said he had truly fallen in love with her.

Even to this day, Qi Manjun doesn't know how much he meant what he said during that downpour.

But the twenty-two-year-old Qi Manjun was merely a mortal with a soft heart for love.

She compromised.

Tong Xiaoya was allowed to return home early, and Ling Mufeng promised never to see her again.

The pregnant Qi Manjun had a terrible temper, was unreasonable, and often cried over trivial matters. Ling Mufeng teased her for being a crier, but he patiently coaxed and doted on her, showing even more blatant devotion than before.

Qi Manjun thought that once they crossed this hurdle, their marriage would proceed smoothly thereafter.

But mountains lie beyond mountains, and after one hardship comes another. It turned out that was only the beginning.

On the day Ling Jue was born, the two former lovers met at the hospital.

On one side was the wife, surrounded by both sets of parents, a full medical team, and treated like the moon among stars. On the other was the impoverished, heavily pregnant, lonely and helpless widowed first love.

He let go of Qi Manjun's hand on the hospital bed.

What followed was chaos—arguments, massive hemorrhaging, the newborn's cries. No matter how many times she recalls it, it still wrenches her heart.

When she woke up, she saw Ling Mufeng by her bedside, unshaven and with bloodshot eyes.

Trembling, he carefully reached for her hand. "I didn't think that far. I thought nothing would happen. I thought she was dying."

For the first time, he shed tears in front of her. "I thought I could make it back in time."

Qi Manjun slapped him hard across the face.

...

After the child was born, people from all sides urged reconciliation.

But Qi Manjun discovered that Ling Mufeng was secretly giving money to Tong Xiaoya, who was in the same hospital.

It turned out that back then, the Ling family had given a large sum to send Tong Xiaoya and her family abroad.

Suddenly wealthy and in a foreign country, Tong's father, who had originally run a humble but honest breakfast stall, soon succumbed to temptation and began gambling excessively.

In just two years, he lost all the money that could have allowed their family to live comfortably for a lifetime and even ran up debts.

Tong Xiaoya was forced to drop out of school. Her parents argued incessantly every day, and later, her mother was killed in an accident at work.

Tong's father used the compensation money to continue gambling, even going so far as to offer Tong Xiaoya as collateral to settle his debts in a moment of madness.

Her recently deceased husband was actually one of Tong's father's former creditors.

The once diligent and ambitious girl was now worn down by life's hardships.

Ling Mufeng felt that his capricious youthful romance had ruined a girl with a bright future and could only try to make amends by constantly giving her money.

Just a few days after Qi Manjun gave birth, Tong Xiaoya also gave birth to her husband's posthumous child, with Ling Mufeng by her side.

Ling Mufeng ran between the two hospital rooms every day.

Unsurprisingly, Qi Manjun and Ling Mufeng had another argument.

But in the heat of the moment, Ling Mufeng blurted out, "Xiaoya wouldn't break up someone's family, and I would never let her be a hidden mistress."

He probably meant to express that they wouldn't rekindle their old romance, but to Qi Manjun, it sounded like he felt sorry for Tong Xiaoya and would only let her be the legitimate Mrs. Ling.

"I was too young then. All the setbacks I'd faced in life were because of Ling Mufeng. I didn't know what it meant to let others go, and to let myself go." Qi Manjun looked at Qin Shuyi, who was listening attentively, and gave a faint smile.

Faced with Tong Xiaoya kneeling before her holding a child, apologizing yet with a challenging look in her eyes, Qi Manjun couldn't swallow her anger.

If Ling Mufeng couldn't bear to make Tong Xiaoya his mistress, then she was determined to cling to the position of Ling Mufeng's wife, ensuring they could never be together legitimately for the rest of their lives.

What followed was a decade of mutual harm too painful to look back on.

Ling Mufeng was very good to Qi Manjun, heeding her every word at home and never staying out overnight.

When Qi Manjun lost her temper and hit him, he would only gently rub her palm.

But he also couldn't let go of his guilt towards Tong Xiaoya, frequently being summoned away from home and showing great concern for Tong Xiaoya's son.

Whatever Ling Jue had, he would make sure to get one for that child too.

Qi Manjun, in turn, would occasionally cause trouble for them, loudly proclaiming their relationship as sugar daddy and mistress at any occasion where the two appeared together.

Ling Mufeng lived in constant distress, while Tong Xiaoya, though adorned in gold and jade, was treated like a pariah in the capital. She was barred from any high-end venues, and no one of status was willing to associate with her.

The breaking point came on Qi Manjun’s birthday one year. Ling Mufeng had promised to return home early to celebrate, but he was once again caught by the media carrying Tong Xiaoya’s son in and out of the hospital.

In the quiet of the late-night old mansion, Qi Manjun stared at a single white hair she hadn’t noticed before in the mirror and suddenly felt how pointless it all was.

She had spent ten years trapped in resentment toward Ling Mufeng, but she hadn't just trapped them—she'd trapped herself too.

She was already thirty-two years old, and the best years of her life had been wasted entangled with a rotten man.

She was the pampered and beloved eldest daughter of the Qi family. She didn't need the status of being Ling Mufeng's wife to shine brilliantly.

Sometimes, all it takes for someone to see things clearly is one tiny moment.

Before Ling Mufeng could even open his mouth to apologize after returning late that night, Qi Manjun spoke first and announced her decision.

“Ling Mufeng, I want a divorce.”

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