Chapter 22: Lili reappears

This absolutely cannot be a coincidence!

Zheng Yang’s eyes darted around nervously, her mind racing to figure out what possible reason Lili could have for appearing here at this time.

Perhaps she had already guessed the gist of it, but her heart was pounding wildly with a fear that robbed her of the courage to face it.

Lili had finished taking their order for the main course, smiled, and retreated without even a glance at Zheng Yang, as if they had never met.

“Yangyang, where’s your head at?”

Zheng Shiqiang’s voice held concern, tinged with a hint of reproach.

“Your Uncle Wu just asked you what you wanted for the main course. Why didn’t you answer? Didn’t you hear him?”

In that instant, Zheng Yang decided.

Lili’s appearance was something she had to confront.

Running away wasn’t an option.

She stood up and nodded an apology to Wu Shengli.

“I’m sorry, Uncle. I… I need to use the restroom.”

As she walked out, she heard Zheng Shiqiang mutter behind her, “What’s up with this kid?”

But she had no time to spare for that.

She found the counter manager and asked, “Sir, where did that waitress who was just here go?”

“To the restroom, why…?”

Before the manager could finish, Zheng Yang had already slipped into the women’s restroom.

There was Lili, washing her hands at the sink.

Everything looked perfectly normal, utterly ordinary.

Zheng Yang’s eyes blinked rapidly from tension, her chest heaving with fear.

“Were you waiting for me in here?”

“Long time no see, Brother Yang!”

Lili finished washing her hands, shook off the water, pulled a paper towel from the dispenser to dry them, then snapped her fingers.

“How’s life treating the daughter of the richest man?”

That “Brother Yang” seemed to summon the rationality of her 38-year-old self.

She scrutinized Lili.

“Lying to you is pointless—I’m doing well. But, with your appearance today, I think the good life I’ve just gotten used to is about to end, isn’t it?”

“How can you say that, brother?”

Lili smiled, leaning one hand on the sink.

“I’m here to help you.”

Help me?

I have everything now—family, friendship, material comforts most ordinary people can’t enjoy.

What else could I possibly need help with? She didn’t believe it.

Lili read her expression and laughed.

“I’m really glad, Brother Yang, that you’ve managed to integrate into your current life. I’m happy for you. But… don’t you have any regrets?”

“Regrets?”

Zheng Yang frowned, lowering her gaze to think.

What regrets could she possibly have now?

Was it that she could no longer see her wife and child?

Could no longer care for Siyuan personally in the role of a father?

To be honest, yes, there were some.

But a perfect replica had perfectly replaced her.

At least objectively, she didn’t need to worry.

And subjectively, if she got too entangled in her former identity, it would only hinder her integration into the Zheng family and her new life.

That would make everyone uncomfortable.

Even if not for her own sake, she didn’t want that.

But no matter how many reasons she had, since Lili had asked…

“So, you want to change me back?” Zheng Yang’s breathing began to quicken.

Pfft!

Lili seemed to have heard a joke, but her laughter felt like mockery in Zheng Yang’s eyes.

She desperately wanted to grab Lili by the collar, but that wouldn’t do her any good.

So she just raised her voice in a sharp demand.

“What are you laughing at! Do you think it’s fun to twist a person’s soul back and forth like bending wire?”

Lili laughed heartily.

“No, no, Brother Yang, you’ve misunderstood!”

Yet Lili’s continued laughter completely shattered Zheng Yang’s fragile heart.

“Even if you have superpowers! Even if you’re a god! Does that give you the right to randomly mess up someone’s life, then swan off as if nothing happened, only to swagger back in after they’ve suffered through so much pain and hardship to readjust, just to mess everything up again and render all their efforts worthless?!”

Lili let out another “Pfft!” “Brother, you’re quite the orator. You can say such a long sentence without even pausing for breath.”

Zheng Yang slammed her hand hard on the sink, tears streaming as she shouted, “Take this seriously!”

She wasn’t afraid of making a scene because she knew Lili would pause time for everyone except the two of them.

“Alright, alright, I’ll be serious. So, Brother Yang, do you remember what I told you last time?”

“Which part? I remember it all.”

“Of course, the most crucial part.”

“‘Give up some dignity, and I’ll live a good life this time’?”

Lili nodded.

“So, Brother Yang, do you think what you’ve given up is enough?”

In an instant, all the humiliation she’d faced over the past nearly three months flashed through Zheng Yang’s mind.

She cried, “I’m a man pushing forty who can now very naturally act like a fifteen-year-old girl! Do you know how painful and conflicted that process was for me! Do you know how much I’ve had to give up so far? Is that still not enough!?”

“It’s not enough.”

Zheng Yang broke down crying again.

“Then what do you want from me? What do you want!!!”

Lili sighed.

“I originally wanted you to experience it and resolve it yourself. But I realized that even after you’ve completely become a young girl, you still haven’t resolved it. That’s why I’ve appeared.”

“Haven’t resolved it? Haven’t resolved what…”

A sense of foreboding rose in Zheng Yang’s heart, making her afraid to look up at Lili.

Lili had no intention of letting her off just because her spirit was broken.

She said softly, “Your secret must be known by the person closest to you.”

Of course!

Zheng Yang’s legs gave way, and she thumped to her knees, her eyes fixed vacantly on the floor at Lili’s feet, empty and lifeless.

The person closest to her… who was that?

Zheng Shiqiang?

Wu Chun?

They would know that I’m actually a 38-year-old middle-aged man with a wife and child?

No… please don’t! Anyone but that!

Lili smiled.

“If you’re even hiding it from the person closest to you, how can that be considered giving up your dignity?”

Zheng Yang practically crawled to Lili’s feet.

She clutched at Lili’s pant leg, looking up at her with tear-streaked face, sobbing.

“Please don’t… I’m begging you, Lili… Sister Lili… Just this, I can’t…”

Lili bent down to wipe the tears from Zheng Yang’s face, giving a light chuckle.

That chuckle sent a chill through her entire body, making her shiver as if she’d fallen into an ice cellar.

She knew that chuckle meant refusal.

“Relax, brother. I don’t lie. My previous words still hold true.”

Still hold true… meaning that after giving up a bit more dignity this time, she could still attain happiness?

“But… but I really, truly don’t want to suffer even a sliver of that humiliation ever again!”

Zheng Yang’s sobs were quiet but heart-wrenching.

“Sister! Do you know? Those humiliations, those countless humiliations, were like knives, slicing away my dignity, slicing away my heart! I just pieced the fragments back together and glued them, and now you want to slice them apart again! Even if you tell me they can be pieced together again after this… Sister! How can you bear to…”

Lili finally seemed somewhat moved.

She crouched down, using both hands to gently wipe away the trails of tears on Zheng Yang’s face over and over.

“Do you remember what your dad said to you?”

Dad? What he said… was that line I called ‘so profound,’ right?

“‘Stay true to yourself, face life with an open heart’?”

“Yes. So, Brother Yang, is a ‘self’ built on a foundation of ‘secrets’ truly being yourself? How can someone who forever lives with a secret truly ‘face life with an open heart’? So, you must go through this.”

Zheng Yang had no retort.

Only her lips, purple from crying and lack of oxygen, trembled incessantly.

After a long while, she managed to gather her emotions slightly and asked, “I understand. I have one last question.”

“Ask away, Brother Yang.”

“In the future… how many more times will you appear…”

“As long as you properly resolve this time, I promise I will never appear again in this lifetime.”

“…I believe you. Then, I’m going back.”

Lili watched Zheng Yang leave without looking back, the corner of her mouth curling up once more.

“Brother Yang, oh Brother Yang, even if I never appear again, do you really think your trials are over?”