Forty-five years ago, Li Rong was in his second year of university. He met Su Lian by chance in the student union while she was applying for work-study. He was instantly smitten and, as expected, began to pursue her.
Initially, Su Lian paid him no mind. She just wanted to get through university on her own, and as someone working part-time, she had no time for romance.
However, the saying "even a strong-willed woman can't resist a persistent man" held true.
More importantly, Li Rong was neither ugly nor poor.
He also knew how to sweet-talk.
It was only a matter of time before Su Lian fell for him.
A month later, they were together. To spend more time with her, Li Rong even bought a work-study slot from another student working with Su Lian so he could labor alongside her.
Yes, he paid to work.
It had to be said, he was truly dedicated.
One couldn't help but wonder if Su Lian was touched.
Ding Yun didn't delve into the specifics of their subsequent relationship. There were joys and sorrows, misunderstandings and breakups, but all in all, they spent four relatively happy years together. As soon as Su Lian graduated, Li Rong informed his father, asking about their wedding timeline.
They were already of legal age to marry.
It was at this point that his father intervened, trying to break them up. He revealed that he had once arranged a child marriage with the head of the Kong family. His family was currently in need of support from other prominent families, so this engagement absolutely could not be abandoned. Moreover, Li Rong was his only son, and thus had a responsibility to uphold it.
What followed was the usual resistance.
However, Li Rong, a recent graduate, had no power to defy his father. If he had been someone who could endure hardship or was willing to, he might have eloped with Su Lian. But the reality was, he was not that kind of person.
After some turmoil, he eventually compromised.
He compromised behind Su Lian's back.
His condition was that his father would not use any means to target Su Lian, otherwise, he would sever ties.
Following this, he secretly got engaged to the Kong family.
A propitious date was chosen for the wedding.
The Kong family had many daughters in that generation, and the Li family's development was indeed promising, with certain industries complementing their own. Thus, the Kong family did not go back on their word. Not only did they agree, but the chosen bride was the second daughter, who was quite cherished within their family.
That daughter was Kong Yanzhi.
To signify their regard, Li Rong's father specially allocated twenty percent of his company's shares as a betrothal gift to the Kong family. The Kong family, however, did not covet these shares. They not only returned them to their daughter as part of her dowry but also added significant real estate and cash to it, which she then brought into the Li family.
This was a default rule among families of their kind.
Daughters' families would typically only contribute fixed assets and cash. Company shares were rarely offered, unless there was only one daughter and no son to inherit the family business.
In such a scenario, there might be a slight possibility.
As for why the groom's family would offer shares as a betrothal gift, it was an unspoken rule. It signified a willingness to let the bride take charge of the household from the moment she entered, and also demonstrated sincerity, allowing both sides to save face.
Most importantly, it was understood that the bride's family would not abscond with the shares. These shares were meant to be incorporated into the dowry and brought back to the groom's family. If a family failed to do so, they would likely be mocked for being desperately poor.
Of course, this was a modern adaptation. A hundred years ago, the exchange of shares would have been replaced by the handover of keys.
Specifically, the keys to the family steward and the storerooms.
However, the implication was largely the same: it showed how highly the bride was valued, allowing her to marry with peace of mind.
After all, no amount of sweet talk could provide the same reassurance as tangible wealth.
Even so.
It could not change Li Rong's feelings.
After marriage, he continued to juggle both women, concealing it from his wife and the still-unaware Su Lian. Most outrageously, his father knew and even helped him cover it up.
Under his careful maneuvering.
His wife soon became pregnant.
Su Lian also became pregnant.
There were no issues with his wife's pregnancy, as they were already husband and wife. Pregnancy was to be expected.
However, Su Lian's pregnancy presented a problem. They were not married yet; this was unequivocally an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Even decades later, it would be a subject of gossip, let alone forty years ago.
Therefore, Su Lian, who was completely unaware that Li Rong was already married, naturally expressed her desire to marry and meet his parents. She even worried that her status as an orphan might be an issue.
But how could Li Rong dare?
So, he could only offer perfunctory excuses and deferrals. Over time, even the usually scatterbrained Su Lian began to sense something was amiss. She started secretly checking his phone and even tailing him, trying to figure out what was going on.
Had Li Rong fallen for someone else? Or was his family's opposition too strong, leaving him with no other option?
When a woman becomes meticulous, coupled with her keen intuition and sixth sense, her investigative skills are on par with those of some detectives. Before long, she naturally discovered that her boyfriend was apparently already married, and that his wife was even pregnant. All of this was being kept from her.
This discovery, for Su Lian.
Was undoubtedly devastating.
However, she also knew that if she made a scene, most people would likely blame her, deeming her an interloper. Even though she was there first, with the existence of a marriage certificate, she was in the wrong.
But her not making a scene.
Did not mean she wouldn't confront Li Rong.
Thus, before long, an unprecedented argument erupted between her and Li Rong. Feeling in the wrong, Li Rong constantly conceded and tried every means to express his helplessness, hoping for her forgiveness.
He even swore that he would only accept her child.
And never Kong Yanzhi's child.
At this point, although Su Lian was very angry and sad, she didn't want to have an abortion. So, she ultimately swallowed her pride and temporarily ceased arguing with Li Rong.
Instead, she chose to endure, enduring until the child was born. Without even resting for a day after childbirth, she left the city, no longer wanting to remain there in disgrace.
By the time Li Rong discovered this.
It was too late. Su Lian had already left.
This undoubtedly made him feel even more guilty, believing it was all his fault, that because he couldn't give Su Lian the marriage she wanted, she chose to leave without a word. In the end, to ensure that Su Lian wouldn't feel he had broken his promise if she ever returned, and that he would only accept Su Lian's child, he became almost deranged. He abandoned his child with Kong Yanzhi in a public toilet and took in the child Su Lian had left behind.
He passed the child off as his and Kong Yanzhi's biological son.
When his father discovered this and wanted to find his other grandson, that grandson was already gone. The dead cannot be brought back to life. Li Rong's father could only reluctantly accept the situation.
He even helped his son clean up the mess.
At the same time, he comforted himself by thinking that since it was his grandson regardless, and the Li family blood flowed through him.
Kong Yanzhi, however, remained unaware of all of this.
She had never been particularly invested in children to begin with. After giving birth, she was more concerned with regaining her figure. She never breastfed, and the child was cared for by a nanny. Moreover, newborns generally don't differ much, so it was normal for her not to notice.
Because of this incident, Li Rong's father immediately tightened his control over him. While he didn't confine him to the house, he strictly monitored his movements and his finances, with people constantly watching him.
This made Li Rong miserable for a long time.
Miserable because he couldn't go to Su Lian.
He felt that he and Su Lian were like Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, Romeo and Juliet, or Fan Xiliang and Meng Jiangnü. No matter how many obstacles the world presented, even if heaven and earth wanted to separate them, his love for Su Lian would forever be indelible.
Of course, this was all his own fantasy.
It was all his own self-indulgence.
In reality, after some time, he reluctantly accepted the situation and obediently fell in line.
It wasn't until a year later that his father informed him that Su Lian had remarried, to an orphan of equal standing, and advised him to give up all hope from then on.
And stop disturbing her.
Only then were his restrictions and constraints lifted.
Upon receiving this news, Li Rong found it difficult to accept at first. He even felt a vague sense of betrayal. However, after careful consideration, he ultimately accepted it. Firstly, there was nothing he could do even if he didn't accept it; the matter was settled. Secondly, of course, he was married himself, so what right did he have to stop her?
So, in the end, he only observed Su Lian and her husband from afar, and then grudgingly, and with a semblance of resignation, returned to his family.
But a year later, the situation changed again.
A year later, Kong Yanzhi gave him a daughter.
Su Lian, on the other hand, sent her own newborn daughter, along with her new husband, to him.
She requested that, out of their past affection, he help raise her.
The reason, of course, was that Su Lian could no longer personally raise her daughter. While she was hospitalized to give birth, her husband died in an accident at work. Upon receiving the news, she suffered a severe hemorrhage. Although she managed to give birth to the child, she herself was critically ill. She could only give a few instructions before passing away.
Upon hearing this news, all the past events immediately resurfaced in Li Rong's mind. His already cherished white moonlight further transformed into a cinnabar mark in his heart, an indelible and unchanging cinnabar mark.
Out of guilt, longing, and various other sentiments.
Coupled with the fact that it wasn't the first time he had resorted to such exchanges; last time, he had even gotten rid of his own biological son. Therefore, he didn't mind doing it again. However, this time, a thought arose deep within him: perhaps he should accumulate some merit. Ultimately, with a sliver of conscience not entirely extinguished, he did not kill his biological daughter.
Instead, after the exchange, he gave his biological daughter to someone else to raise. Moreover, this time, he was so skilled that he did it more discreetly. Coupled with the fact that his wife had given birth to a daughter, and his father didn't particularly care or pay attention.
Thus, even his father didn't notice.
That his granddaughter had been swapped by his son.
Thereafter, he doted on the two children who carried the bloodline of his first love, even earning a reputation as a good father. Truly ironic, wasn't it?