Chapter 124: To Have It All

Before long, Bai Yunchuan found Yu Xin at the place where they had first met. No one knew how he managed it, but he had persuaded the runaway Yu Xin to resolutely decide to remarry—an outcome that took Xiaoxiao completely by surprise.

Eager to meet Yu Xin, Xiaoxiao was stopped by Lin Shuo, whose opinion aligned with Nina’s: mind your own business. Without fanning the flames, how could wildfires spread? Without lighting the fire, how could it ever burn you?

This disagreement left the two of them sulking for half a day.

It wasn’t until the tragic news arrived that Xiaoxiao finally understood Lin Shuo’s well-intentioned caution.

After Bai Yunchuan and Yu Xin’s resistance, Bai’s mother was rushed to the hospital in a fit of anger. Careful examination by the doctors confirmed that Bai’s mother was in the late stages of liver cancer, throwing both families into utter chaos.

The first to lose control was naturally Bai’s father. His wife’s days were numbered, yet their son was determined to defy her wishes, as if forcing her to die sooner. Overcome with rage and sorrow, Bai’s father struck Bai Yunchuan hard across the face in front of the doctors and nurses, startling Yu Xin beside him. Bai’s father cursed, “Are you satisfied now? Fine, we won’t care about you anymore. Marry whoever you want, remarry whoever you want, just get out of this house. You can do whatever you please—just stop complaining that your mother is living too long!”

Bai Yunchuan had long awakened from his battle for love. Perhaps he never imagined that his victory would come at the cost of his mother’s life. If she passed away, the family would surely fall apart. Why then speak with such finality?

This became the greatest obstacle on the road to remarriage. The Yu family made their position clear: even if the Bai family were willing to accept Yu Xin again, they would not agree, citing no one wanted to live in a household burdened by chronic illness.

Unseen, this turned their relationship into a precarious one. There was nothing wrong with love bound by family ties, yet if it wasn’t wrong, how could there be any need to correct it? To force a change would be the real mistake.

Whenever Xiaoxiao thought of the predicament facing Bai and Yu, she felt a tinge of melancholy. Former in-laws had become bitter enemies. She still remembered that afternoon when sunlight streamed into the coffee cup, and Bai Yunchuan leisurely sat by the window telling her that persistence was a luxury. Now, it seemed, it truly was.

“What would you do if you were in their place?” Xiaoxiao tested Lin Shuo with this question. Though unprepared, his sincerity shone through as he smiled faintly. “I certainly wouldn’t be like Romeo and Juliet. When your life’s at stake, what’s the point of noble, grand love?”

She pressed on, “What if you had to choose one or the other?”

“We’re all greedy, aren’t we?” His eyes burned with intensity. “I want both—and I will have both.”

She chuckled softly, noncommittal. “There’s no such thing as having it all.”

“There is.” He seemed certain, gazing deeply into her bright eyes under the soft yellow light. “Timing, geography, fate—they’re all just excuses. People fail because they prepare an escape route for themselves from the very beginning. Foolish people spend too much time finding reasons when they can’t do something well.”

“Not even afraid to be shattered to pieces?” She found it hard to believe—were there truly those who risked everything without regard?

Lowering his head to continue flipping through documents, he suggested, “Why don’t you ask Bai Yunchuan? He might not regret it.”

If Bai Yunchuan regretted it, that would be heartless. If he didn’t, it would be unfilial. In any case, he was destined to rack his brains endlessly.