Chapter 22: Quarrel — Touch Her Again and See

Chapter 22 The Quarrel — Don't You Dare Touch Her Again

Chapter 22

-

In an instant, the room fell into silence—you could hear a pin drop.

The warm yellow glow froze in the air, enveloping mother and daughter in a tranquil space.

After a pause, Jin Qingci lifted her head, forcing calm into her voice: "At the hospital today, you and Dad didn't speak to each other. When you looked at him, your gaze kept drifting away. When he saw you, he seemed to want to say something but held back. Mom, are you and Dad... going to separate?"

Li Ran stared at her daughter, stunned, for a few seconds. Jin Qingci's face was strikingly clear under the light—she could even see her trembling lashes and those eyes filled with unease. Her heart felt as if gripped by invisible hands, wrenched hard, the pain so sharp it nearly stopped her breath.

She lowered her gaze, took a deep breath, trying to push down that piercing ache.

Then, Li Ran shifted, sat cross-legged on the bed, and reached for Jin Qingci's hand, speaking softly: "Xiao Ci, let me ask you something. Why do you think two people stay together?"

Jin Qingci paused for a few seconds, a flicker of confusion flitting across her eyes, then shook her head.

Li Ran gently stroked the back of Jin Qingci's hand. "You haven't been in a relationship yet, but think of it like your friendships. Why do you like spending time with your friends?"

Jin Qingci said hesitantly, "Because... it makes me happy?"

As if something occurred to her, she asked again, "Mom, did Dad make you unhappy?"

Li Ran shook her head, speaking softly: "Dad has his own way of navigating the world and people. It's just that Mom feels if she kept living that way, she'd become more and more unhappy, lose herself, and slowly turn into an empty shell of a person."

Jin Qingci pressed her lips tightly together, lowered her head again, and fell silent—as if she was thinking something over, or trying to come to terms with something.

"Mom wants to separate from Dad... it's not that Dad did something wrong, and it's not because something unforgivable happened between us, but because we slowly realized that the lives we want and the ways we find happiness have grown apart. It's like two trains that once ran side by side—after traveling together for a stretch, they discover their destinations aren't the same. Separating is just so they can each head to where they're meant to go. Does that make sense?"

Jin Qingci lifted her head, fighting back tears, but they fell anyway.

Her lips curved downward, her voice breaking: "Mom, I want you to be happy. I don't want you to become an empty shell. Even though I had a feeling you two would separate, hearing you say it out loud still makes me so, so sad."

Seeing her daughter's tears streaming down and her shoulders hunching over from sobbing, Li Ran's last emotional defense gave way. A lump formed in her throat, and her vision blurred instantly.

She couldn't stay sitting up straight anymore. She leaned forward, opened her arms, and wrapped them tightly around her daughter, stroking her head.

Jin Qingci's warm tears quickly soaked the front of her shirt, the dampness carrying a searing heat that burned through her heart.

Li Ran's voice was thick with tears: "Mom understands your sadness. Mom is sad too. But Xiao Ci, you need to know—whether Mom and Dad live together or not, our love for you won't change one bit. Mom will always be Mom, and Dad will always be Dad. That will never change."

Jin Qingci sobbed in her arms, her whole body trembling.

It was a long time before her sobs turned into sniffles.

Jin Qingci sniffled, her voice muffled: "Mom, have you and Dad already decided?"

Li Ran paused, wiped the tears from her eyes, and gently patted her daughter's back: "Mom has already talked to Dad about separating. It's just that Dad... hasn't agreed to it yet. You know Dad, right? He needs some time, but I think he'll agree."

She gently pulled her daughter back from the hug, wiped the tears from her cheeks, and said seriously: "Xiao Ci, Mom doesn't want this to affect you. You won't lose Mom or Dad because of this. Your life should be full of energy and color. Let the adults sort out their own problems. I'm sorry for dragging you into this. I'm sorry, sweetheart."

Jin Qingci shook her head, then after a long pause asked, "Then who will I live with?"

An even more painful question followed, and Li Ran's heart ached again.

"Legally and emotionally, I hope you'll live with Mom, but Mom wants to hear what you think."

Jin Qingci's lips quivered as she shook her head: "I don't know, I really don't know. I want to live with Mom, but then Dad would be alone. But if I live with Dad, I'd miss you too much."

As she spoke, big teardrops rolled down Jin Qingci's cheeks—she looked so utterly pitiful.

Li Ran's heart ached. She pulled her daughter into her arms again, wiped away her tears, and murmured in a thick, tearful voice: "Don't cry, Xiao Ci. Don't cry."

As she looked down at Xiao Ci, she wiped the tears from her own face too.

Outside the window, the night was thick, and all was silent—as if the entire world was holding its breath in this corner.

-

The sky was overcast. Inside the hospital room, Jin Yan was in bed with an IV drip, a laptop on the small table in front of him. Standing beside him, Jiang Lai was giving him a rundown of the past two days' work.

Jin Qingci sat on a chair by the window, quietly watching her father.

She was unusually quiet today, deliberately looking out the window, but her gaze would always drift back to her father without her realizing it.

After a long while, Jiang Lai finished his report. Jin Yan told him to go upstairs and see if anyone needed help, and the assistant turned and left.

The door closed softly.

The room was left with just the two of them.

Jin Yan turned his gaze to his daughter, who was sitting there silently. "You've been watching me for a while. Something you want to say?"

Jin Qingci hesitated, stood up, walked over to the bed, picked up the cup, and handed it to him: "Dad, I want to go to business school from now on."

Jin Yan took the cup but didn't drink. He set it down on the tray table and raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want to study business school?"

Jin Qingci slumped, pulled a chair over, sat down, and kept her head low as she spoke in a hushed voice: "I want to help share your burden. I don't want you to work so hard."

Jin Yan let out a soft laugh, the corners of his mouth barely lifting. "Mm, it'll be at least another ten years before you can actually take some of the load off me."

In his plans for her education, Jin Qingci was supposed to go to Harvard Business School.

Jin Qingci mumbled, "By then you'll be 50."

She paused, then said quietly, "Never mind, never mind. Let time just slow down a little."

Jin Yan looked at her. "If it slows down, how are you going to help me out?"

Jin Qingci looked up, her eyes a little red. "But I don't want you to get old either."

The moment she said that, Jin Yan finally caught on that something was off. His brows knit together, and his voice turned low: "What did your mother tell you last night?"

Jin Qingci's eyes widened instantly.

That brief flash of panic didn't escape Jin Yan's eye.

Jin Yan suddenly put two and two together. He spoke before Jin Qingci could, getting in first: "Your mother told you... she wants to divorce me?"

At that exact moment, Jin Yan's phone started ringing, sharp and urgent.

Jin Yan didn't wait for Jin Qingci to answer. He turned, glanced at the screen, and answered: "What's the matter?"

"Mr. Jin, the old lady and your wife are fighting."

On the other end, he could hear not just Jiang Lai's voice, but Zhong Jinrong's harsh voice in the background—and they were arguing about the divorce.

Jin Yan's pupils constricted sharply. Without another word, he yanked the IV needle out of his hand and ran straight out of the room.

Blood immediately beaded up from the needle hole, leaving a stark streak of red across his pale hand.

Jin Qingci was frightened by her father's actions and ran after him, "Dad, you can't do strenuous exercise!"

Unfortunately, Jin Yan turned a deaf ear.

At this moment, in the single ward of the neurology department, a full-blown drama was playing out.

Zhong Jinrong stood in front of the ward, her chest heaving violently, her finger nearly jabbing Li Ran's nose.

"Li Ran, has Jin Yan treated you badly? No cheating, no domestic violence, he earns money for you to spend, handles everything for you, has you living like a queen, waited on hand and foot. A man like this is one in a million—what more could you possibly want?!" Zhong Jinrong let out a few pained "aiyo" cries and smacked her thigh, "My foolish girl, at your age, why are you making such a fuss?"

"This is between me and Jin Yan."

"What's this 'between you two' business? You're 40 years old, how can you still be this clueless, huh? Even if you don't think about yourself, think about us, think about Xiao Ci. If you really divorce, the kid would be better off with Jin Yan, but can you really stand to let Xiao Ci grow up without a mom? And if she goes with you, are you okay with her struggling alongside you?"

Zhong Jinrong reacted fiercely. The father, lying in bed, couldn't speak clearly, but grunted "en en ah ah" and waved his hands around, making it clear he disapproved of her divorce plans.

That morning, after getting to the hospital, Li Ran dropped Jin Qingci off at Jin Yan's ward door. She didn't go in, just turned and headed upstairs.

But when she got out of the elevator, she bumped into Jin Yan's parents.

Her intuition told her something was wrong, and sure enough, as soon as she reached her father's ward, her mother tore into her.

Li Ran's brows furrowed into a deep frown, looking at her mother with confusion and shock, her arms folded in front of her, trembling slightly: "Mom—how would Xiao Ci have a hard time with me? How could I ever let her struggle?"

"Aiyo," Zhong Jinrong looked at her like she was a lost cause, thumping Li Ran's shoulder, "Ran Ran, you're 40 years old, how can you still be so naive? Have you forgotten what it was like when we were broke? If you divorce Jin Yan, where will your money come from? Are you going to let Xiao Ci live on nothing with you? Without a man in the house, a woman raising a child on her own—how are you supposed to manage?"

In that moment, a wave of helplessness washed over Li Ran.

She didn't know how to explain to her mother that she could split the assets in a divorce, and if Xiao Ci went with her, Jin Yan would still have to pay child support—it wouldn't be anything like what her mother described.

Even setting that aside, even if she got no money, she had two hands and two feet and could earn her own living. How could she possibly let Jin Qingci struggle with her? Her life wouldn't go downhill just because of a divorce, and the family wouldn't fall apart without a man around.

Li Ran was powerless to argue. She closed her eyes, standing stiffly in place, taking the hits from her mother.

Each hit was heavy, and each one landed squarely on her heart—even more painful.

Suddenly, a loud sound of the door opening came from behind her.

Before Li Ran could open her eyes and turn to look, a tall figure was already standing beside her, grabbing the fist about to land on her and flinging it away, causing Zhong Jinrong to stumble back two steps.

"What are you doing?!"

His voice wasn't loud, but it was as cold as ice.

Li Ran finally opened her eyes.

Jin Yan shielded her behind him, wearing slippers, his hospital gown loosely draped over him, with dried bloodstains still on the back of his hand.

Because of the running, his breathing was somewhat unsteady, and cold sweat had broken out on his forehead.

But his eyes remained dark and sharp.

He stared at Zhong Jinrong, speaking word by word.

"Try touching her again!"