Rebirth from the Ashes - Chapter 408

Chapter 408: Odds against Her Surviving

Li Yuan’s poker face saw a slight crack as pity alighted in his eyes. He was once in Fu Qingye’s shoes and understood how he felt. He looked towards Kun Lun and said, “Bring us a bottle of wine.”

Compared to Fu Qingye, Li Yuan was the lucky one.

He had found his fair lady while Fu Qingye had nothing leading him to his sister.

Shen Xi took the time to observe Fu Qingye. The latter was the perfect gentleman regardless of time and place, never revealing his true emotions in front of outsiders.

However, he appeared quite melancholic and lonesome after uttering those words. Although Shen Xi’s heart went out to him, she was stumped on ways to comfort him.

Fu Qingye took upon himself to finish the wine, drinking his trouble away.

Li Yuan did not touch a drop of alcohol.

Shen Xi was not in the position to join since she had business at hand. She knew better than to drink when she had to return to the lab tomorrow.

“Did you find the person you were looking for?” Fu Qingye downed another glass of the strongest Brandi. The burning sensation from his mouth, passed his throat to his heart, nearly choked him to tears.

Before answering the question, Li Yuan caught a glimpse of the girl slicing an apple with a cleaver from the corner of his eye. He ordered Kun Lun. “Go and check out the kitchen.”

Why did she need to use a cleaver to slice some fruit? It was quite a scare by just watching her. With her level of klutziness, what if she hurt herself?

“Is it her?” Fu Qingye had his doubts early on and figured this was the case when Qingxuan told him Li Yuan was Toffeecito’s dad.

Li Yuan was not just anybody. He was not one to offer even a hint of kindness to anyone in business or his life, yet he held her dearly to his heart.

There was only one explanation and the person Li Yuan was looking for was her, Shen Xi!

Li Yuan practiced silence, albeit his eyes were fixated on the knife in the girl’s hand. She might not be able to handle a fruit knife, but the cleaver seemed to come as natural to her. It brought about an ominous air when she chillingly split apart the apple in one chop.

“Congrats.” Fu Qingye swirled his wine glass at Li Yuan, but his eyes were filled with sorrow and pain. The thought of his own situation only allowed the suffering, hurt, and despair to kick in.

Behold!

They had been searching high and low for Fu Qingxi for many years while Li Yuan had found her.

Till today, Fu Qingye had no idea whether his sister was still alive.

Seeing that Shen Xi was plating the fruit and would be out soon, Li Yuan solemnly turned to Fu Qingye. “Don’t tell her.”

Fu Qingye thought it was odd. He raised his brow. “You had been on the hunt for so many years. Why won’t you tell her now that she’s found?”

“Please.” This one word was Li Yuan’s plea.

“I won’t tell her because you pleaded.” Fu Qingye understood how devastating and agonizing it was to aimlessly search for a person worldwide. He believed Li Yuan would do her no harm.

Recognizing where he was coming from, Fu Qingye could empathize.

While talking, Shen Xi brought the fruit platter out. As Fu Qingye was still drinking, she tried to talk him out of it. “Qingye, no more drinking.”

“Do you hate me?” Fu Qingye’s mind was clear despite having a lot to drink. Still, he blurted out the things bottled up inside.

The girl initially knew nothing about it, but with that brain of hers, she must have guessed what was going on after meeting his Mom today.

Shen Xi shook her head and replied with a smile, “It’s only a mutually-beneficial transaction between us, no?”

“That’s right.” Curling a taunting smile to himself, Fu Qingye gulped down the sinking feeling in his chest with another glass of wine.

Shen Xi never asked about his sister, unless Fu Qingye brought it up. Nevertheless, it only hurt him to talk about his sister so he never talked about her.

Fu Qingye went overboard with the drinks or perhaps he wanted to wallow in his misery. A rational and cool-headed guy like him would never let himself drink to oblivion.

Shen Xi was having some fruit while letting him pour out about his sister. She then stopped talking him out of drinking. Sometimes, it was best to let it out as holding it all in would do him no good.

Fu Qingye said that Fu Qingxi went missing in the hospital. She and Fu Qingxuan were twins and while in their mom’s belly, Fu Qingxuan hogged all the nutrients, so Fu Qingxi was born a lot tinier than Fu Qingxuan.

Fu Qingxuan was twice the size and weight of Fu Qingxi. She was malnourished, in poor health, and as tiny as an adult’s fist.

Due to her health condition, Fu Qingxi was put in the incubator immediately after birth.

“She was only this big.” Fu Qingye extended his fist. His eyes were glistening with the reflection of tears. Reminded by the image of his sister, his lips curled into a smile. “She was the size of Dad’s fist then. A small little thing.”

As a three-year-old at the time, Fu Qingye desperately dreamed of a sister. Hence, his little brother became an eyesore for stealing his sister’s nutrients and contributing to her poor health condition.

Shen Xi had no words, feeling a lump in her throat. She was sad for him to remember everything clearly at such a young age.

“I was rushing to see her at the hospital right after school when I found her missing,” Fu Qingye’s voice was raspy. “She was so small. No, she was ten days old by then and a lot bigger than when she was born. Fu Qingxi was probably as big as my fists put together and could already leave the incubator for two hours a day.”

Shen Xi listened quietly. For a baby to disappear ten days after birth with a weak and tiny body that could not leave the incubator, what were the odds of her surviving?

She was sure the Fu family shared her sentiments, and yet they never stopped looking for her. Shen Xi understood how they felt.

That was also the case with Old Shen and Madam Yun. Although they knew there was no hope, no news was mostly good news.

Even if they knew the odds were stacked against them, they were not willing to give up on the slightest hope and persisted in their search.

“She was so tiny and in poor health.” Fu Qingye coughed a bitter chuckle before burying his face in his palms to cry.

It might be the alcohol speaking or perhaps Fu Qingye wanted to cry all the pain buried within.

Shen Xi and Li Yuan stared at him in silence. No one spoke, nor would anyone laugh at him.

Men only wept at their most vulnerable.

Shen Xi gazed at him, feeling rather choked up. Her eyes welled up. Fu Qingye had always presented himself in a mature and prudent manner. His success came too early for people to remember his age.

In fact, Fu Qingye was only twenty years old.