Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

He is the only family I have.

Chyou felt his warm forehead resting against her shoulder that slowly grew hotter with the contact. His shaking fingers held on to her hand as if he was deathly afraid of being left alone. His soft sobs cried out the deep fear prickling his heart.

With his quivering body, her breaths softly trembled too. She slowly raised her arms and brought them to tightly wrap around his back. She hugged him as firmly as she could to let him know that he wasn't alone.

Yating felt lulled by that gentle embrace and his exhausted heart found some comfort.

Chyou weighed her words for a few long moments. It was an important but difficult conversation to have. It was a grave matter at hand she didn't know how to console him. Some things were simply out of her hand.

"Dad doesn't know the whole story either…" she whispered. "He knows a little bit here and there but only Uncle Rong can tell you what happened. Perhaps Uncle Mo too. But you should listen to it from your father first."

"...What will it change, Chyou?" He drearily asked.

She glanced at an unconscious Gu Rong with a contemplative look. "There might be truth or there might not be in this case. But we should listen to Uncle Rong's side of the story. You said it yourself, right? That you cannot imagine him to be a killer. So if something like that happened nevertheless, then something really terrible must have happened for him to take that step, right?"

Yating pressed his lips inwardly. He wanted to believe that. He genuinely wanted to trust in Gu Rong's innocence.

"But everytime…I think about the time I met Mom, I remember her frightened face. Dad's mere mention made her look as if she saw a demon. Cheng Yin too…was so confident in his guilt l-like it's hopeless to defend him."

Chyou furrowed her brows. She didn't know much in depth about Duan Ren or her character. So she couldn't say if what she was doing was genuine or that she was instigating something.

I need to look into this, she thought.

She said, "How can you let Yin's words affect you? From head to toe, he is just a selfish person. He was always insecure about you and now he is doing everything to pull you down."

Her eyelashes softly trembled. "I made the same mistake of getting trapped into his words and look where it got me. You cannot let him win, Yating. He wants to see you like this."

She thought for a moment and held his face. She slowly lifted it up to make him face her. She pouted and wiped the tears off his cheeks. His reddened eyes pricked her.

"Don't think about anything else. First and foremost is to talk to Uncle. For all the love he has given you, he deserves a fair chance to be heard, right? You cannot let others influence your mind towards a person who has raised you with so much care. If he is a monster for others then know it from him as to his reasons."

She then had a thought. "You do know right that the Liu family lead the underworld?"

"Yes."

She sheepishly grinned. "So you can imagine that side of Uncle Jinhai's. Or…" she raised her brow, "for that matter Jun's too."

His brow twitched.

"I don't need to get into the details but his hands are not all sparkly and shiny, you know? They have killed people. But they have done it for the right reasons and to uphold their underworld law. Even so, you don't doubt Jun's love for Ai, right? Or think that he is a dangerous person for her?"

Yating paused.

"...I don't. He really loves her a lot."

"Yes. Now I understand that Uncle Rong doesn't have that background so it's hard to see him in that sense. But do you really think that he is some cold-blooded and sadist person who will kill someone for fun?"

His eyes widened and he vigorously shook his head in disagreement.

Chyou beamed. "That's what I wanted to see and that's the confidence that Uncle Rong needs from you. Just be the son to him you always were."

He looked back at Gu Rong and felt the dread in his heart easing up a little.

If it was really the truth then what could be the circumstances that led him to take such a dire step?

He looked back at her, his eyes filled with gratitude. "Thank you Chyou. Ever since Dad collapsed, I could hardly think straight."

She grinned and squished his cheeks hard. "Hehe that's what I am here for right? You always stood like a rock solid support during my tough times. How can I shy away now? You are free to cry on my chest as much as you like ahaha- cough cough!"

Her face flushed all of a sudden, realizing what she just blurted out in the heat of the moment.

Cry on her chest…

Suddenly, Yating's thoughts converged more towards the chest rather than the crying part and it was then he realized that he had been actually intruding in her embrace all this time.

He stiffened and with an extremely apologetic expression, quickly withdrew.

"S-sorry I d-didn't realize that…"

Chyou wanted to cry but she couldn't.

What did I just say!? Am I an idiot? Look how I made things all awkward now!

From outside the ward, Butler Mo glanced at Xiaosi and asked, "You look a little upset, Mr. Zhu?"

"Hm? Do I?"

"You are quite exuding a dark aura if I may say so."

Xiaosi narrowed his eyes. "It's the truth that I really like Yating. But it still hurts to see your daughter being taken away."

His brow twitched.

"I can see her feelings changing slowly and steadily and while I do appreciate it's for Yating this time..."

Xiaosi glanced at Butler Mo, "it would be hard to not resent Yating."

"..."