A fine example of "our fate has run its course."
In Mist City, the bustling crowd in the downtown area filled the air with noise, but on the thirteenth floor of a café, it was quiet.
Qin Yaya sat elegantly, dressed in a black-and-white Givenchy business suit. Her long legs, wrapped in black stockings, crossed gracefully under the table. Her makeup was light, yet it couldn’t hide her delicate features. Combined with her naturally poised and cool demeanor, she stood out even in the sparsely populated café.
“Sign it. It’ll be better for both of us,” she said, sliding a document labeled “Divorce Agreement” across the table. Her fingers tapped rhythmically on the tabletop, and occasionally, she lifted her arm to glance at her Longines watch, her brows slightly furrowing.
Sitting across from her, Yang Xiao had a refined look. Even with sunglasses covering half his face, his handsome features were unmistakable. Unfortunately, he was blind.
Upon hearing her words, Yang Xiao reached out, feeling around on the table. He missed the document but managed to knock over a cup of coffee instead.
“Ah,” he sighed.
Hearing the sound, Yang Xiao paused. After a sigh, Qin Yaya said nothing more. Instead, she glanced at her assistant, who had been standing by her side. The assistant gestured and said, “Waiter, please clean this up.”
Then, she pulled another agreement from her bag and handed it directly into Yang Xiao’s hands. He ran his fingers over the surface of the folder and asked, “What is this?”
“Divorce agreement,” Qin Yaya replied, leaning back in her chair. Her voice was as calm and unwavering as her expression.
Yang Xiao’s fingers trembled slightly as he gripped the document tightly, raising his head to ask, “Why?”
“You did nothing wrong. In these three years of marriage, you took care of the home well. And no, I didn’t cheat,” Qin Yaya took a soft breath, “Don’t you understand yet? Our fate has run its course. Here’s five million—it’s your compensation.”
She nodded to her assistant, who immediately pulled a card from a briefcase and placed it on the table.
Yang Xiao didn’t reach for it. Instead, he continued to feel the paper in his hands, a faint, bitter smile appearing on his lips. “Our fate has run its course... Two years of dating, three years of marriage, and now a five-million card to call it settled?”
Qin Yaya had expected him to cling desperately or perhaps to plead sorrowfully, but she hadn’t anticipated his current attitude. Her frown deepened, and her tone grew colder. “When you married me, you invested two million in my business. Now I’m giving you five million in return. Isn’t that enough?”
She shook her head. “If you hadn’t asked, I would have given you a share of the family assets as well, since you’ve managed the household all these years. But… well, it’s pointless to talk about it now.”
“The company was built from scratch by me, without your help. The startup capital was just part of the bride price you gave me. I’m returning it, with interest.”
“So, the company isn’t considered marital property. You don’t have any objections, right?”
Her assistant, shrewd and experienced, glanced at Yang Xiao with a hint of disdain upon hearing this.
Throughout the conversation, Yang Xiao had barely spoken a word, while Qin Yaya seemed to have ten responses ready for his single question. It was just like how she had treated him over the three years of their marriage.
Over those years, Qin Yaya had become more successful, her startup thriving, her beauty becoming more radiant, her demeanor increasingly aloof. It was as if she had transformed into a completely different person from the one who once held his hand and promised to marry him, even if he were blind.
Time truly changes everything.
Seeing his silence, Qin Yaya’s frown eased slightly—he was clearly reluctant to let go.
“Yang Xiao, I know you’re hurt, but you must understand that there’s no common ground left between us anymore. You’re no longer who you once were, and I’m no longer who I once was.”
“Even if your eyes still can’t see, this five million should be enough for you to live a comfortable life for the rest of your days. You could even marry another woman who could take good care of you.”
Qin Yaya spoke these words casually, but to Yang Xiao, they pierced his heart like a thousand arrows.
“Find another woman to marry, huh?”
Qin Yaya, do you even know why I lost my sight in the first place?!
“Sign it. Let’s both keep some dignity.”
Seeing that Yang Xiao remained unmoved, the assistant beside him, holding back her impatience, offered some kind words of persuasion: “Yang Xiao, President Qin has made herself very clear. No one is to blame for the end of your marriage. Since fate has run its course, why not make a clean break? It’ll be kinder for both of you.”
“You must understand that President Qin’s career is on the rise, and the company is at a crucial stage. As a man, you’ve been blind for three years, and yet President Qin stayed by your side without abandoning you. I’d think you wouldn’t want to hold her back, would you?”
“Xu Pei, enough! Why are you saying all this?” Qin Yaya interrupted with displeasure. Xu Pei obediently took a half-step back—she had said her piece, and it was the truth.
The bitterness in Yang Xiao’s smile deepened. Qin Yaya seemed to be negotiating a business deal with him, using money to buy her freedom.
The woman he once loved had now become a shackle on her own life.
They had come to despise each other at this point.
“I understand.”
Just as he had anticipated.
In life, everyone faces certain trials. The last was the car accident; this was another.
It was all over.
Casually, Yang Xiao pushed the card back in front of Qin Yaya. “Keep the money. I don’t take back things I’ve given away.”
“However, the house in Lanting was left by my parents. I’ll be taking it back.”
Xu Pei rolled her eyes. “The house in Lanting is worth tens of millions now. Shouldn’t it be considered marital property? You sure know how to calculate…”
Yang Xiao raised his head to “look” in her direction. “I told you, I don’t take back what I’ve given. But there’s no issue with taking back what’s rightfully mine, is there?”
“But—”
“Enough, Xiao Pei, don’t waste time.” Qin Yaya glanced at her watch again. “I agree. Currently, my mother and brother are living in the Lanting house. I’ll have them move out today.”
“Now, can you sign?”
Yang Xiao nodded. Just as he reached out to pick up the pen, a hand placed it in his grasp. “Sign here.”
Yang Xiao gave a bitter smile but said nothing as he signed his name.
“From now on, we’re strangers. I wish President Qin great success in her career.”
With the agreement finalized, Qin Yaya didn’t seem interested in lingering any longer. She acted as if she hadn’t heard Yang Xiao’s words, standing up without a word.
As soon as she stepped out of the café, she put on her sunglasses. A BMW 7 Series was already parked downstairs, waiting to take her away.
Turning her head briefly to glance at Yang Xiao, who was also wearing sunglasses, a flicker of emotion crossed Qin Yaya’s face. She seemed on the verge of saying something, but ultimately stayed silent.
Xu Pei, sensing her mood, whispered a reminder in her ear, “Yaya, don’t forget we have an appointment with President Sun this afternoon.”
At the mention of work, Qin Yaya seemed to transform, her gaze turning cold as she opened the car door and got in. “Let’s go.”
The BMW roared off, leaving Yang Xiao standing alone.
Ahead, the traffic light was red, and pedestrians had come to a stop.
Standing at the edge of the road, Yang Xiao’s closed eyes betrayed no emotion, but his hand holding the cane trembled slightly.
They had known each other since they were young. Back then, Yang Xiao’s family was well-off, but because of his frail health, his parents sent him to live in a Taoist monastery, where he stayed until he was eighteen.
He and Qin Yaya fell in love during university, sharing their youthful days together.
But a car accident changed everything—Yang Xiao lost his parents, and his eyes would never open again.
Initially, in his despair, he planned to leave everything behind, taking what remained of his family’s wealth to live out his days in a secluded sanatorium, not wanting to burden Qin Yaya.
Unexpectedly, Qin Yaya came to him in tears, begging him not to leave, with her parents expressing their willingness to accept him into their family.
As a gesture of gratitude, Yang Xiao gave Qin Yaya two million as a bride price.
On paper, it was only two million, but over the past three years, Qin Yaya’s business faced numerous challenges, and he had quietly given her financial support many times. Just last month, her mother had called, saying she was short on funds while traveling, and withdrew the last seven hundred thousand from his savings account.
That was his parents’ compensation from the car accident.
But now…
“Don’t run off!!”
Suddenly, the small figure of a child darted past him, with the frantic voice of a mother shouting from behind.
A black car sped down the road, completely unaware that someone had run into its path.
“Oh my God, stop that child!” gasped a bystander.
In an instant, Yang Xiao, who had been standing still, dashed toward the sound of the child’s cries.
Before anyone could react, a figure bolted into the street, grabbing the child and rolling to the ground in one swift motion.
The car screeched to a halt, tires screaming, as the crowd gasped in shock.
Blood seeped into the protective talisman that Yang Xiao always kept close to his chest.
At that moment, a surge of heat erupted from his dantian, like a wild horse breaking free, beyond his control.
This intense energy flowed through his limbs and into his eyes, until a powerful, resonant voice echoed in his mind.
“Young man!”
“Three years of trials, yet you have remained true to yourself!” “You are now worthy of inheriting my legacy!”
Master?! Wasn’t he supposed to be dead?
Yang Xiao’s chest filled with shock, and at the same time, a faint golden light spread from the center of his forehead. The heat filled his eyes, forcing open those that had been shut for three long years.
His sunglasses fell to the ground.
Now, he stared blankly at the young boy in front of him, who was still shaken and frightened. In that instant, a wave of information appeared in Yang Xiao’s mind:
Jiang Xiaopeng, male, born in the Year of the Dog, on the twenty-seventh day of the third month, in the early morning hours. Destined to die in a car accident at age five.
