Facing her elder brother, who had suddenly turned into a beast, Du Ruoxin was both afraid and terrified.
She had originally intended to explain to him that Rong Jingyang was willing to change to win her back, and that she wanted to start anew with Rong Jingyang.
But Cristino's desperate desire to possess her was beyond Du Ruoxin's expectations.
Besides fear, her mind was filled with more anger.
With her hands restrained and unable to move, Du Ruoxin used her feet, kicking the man hard in the groin.
"Ugh—"
Cristino let out a muffled groan, and the force restraining her involuntarily loosened.
Seizing the opportunity, Du Ruoxin pushed him away, sending Cristino tumbling to the ground.
Then, she quickly grabbed the door handle, her eyes welling up with tears, and roared, "If you push me any further, I'll jump out of the car!"
Cristino: "..."
The woman's tears flowed as if from a fountain, cascading down her face.
Upon seeing her large, rolling tears, Cristino finally regained some semblance of reason.
What was he—
What was he doing just now?
He had almost succeeded in having her.
"Cristino, do you want to see me jump off a car, a building, the sea, or cut my wrists?"
Du Ruoxin cried and yelled.
Just now, she had almost thought she would fall into hell.
"If you won't let me live like a human, then I'll die!"
"I shouldn't have appeared at the Rothschild family's doorstep thirteen years ago! Let alone called you 'brother'!"
"My mother died, and she was afraid I wouldn't be able to take care of myself, so she asked me to find my father."
"I never intended to take any of your family's assets."
"I just want to live."
"Cristino, if you don't want me to live, just shoot me. There's no need to torment me like this, to make me wish I were dead!"
Du Ruoxin cried and cursed with all her heart.
Cristino: "..."
After a long while, he stood up.
Du Ruoxin flinched in fear, thinking he was going to do something to her again.
"Don't—" Cristino had no choice but to move far away from her, leaning against the other car door. "I won't touch you."
If he had known she had such a fiery temper, why couldn't he have controlled himself?
He didn't want to hold a cold corpse; what he wanted was a lively, flesh-and-blood woman.
It was just seeing Du Ruoxin so intimate and harmonious with Rong Jingyang that made him jealous.
The desire to possess her had madly overridden his reason.
Cristino, his voice hoarse and his expression cold, said, "Come back to Europe with me." He paused. "Grace will stay here and go to the Chinese Academy of Sciences for an exchange."
He couldn't bear to see her exchanging glances with Rong Jingyang for another moment; it drove him mad.
And next time, he wasn't sure if he would be swayed by her tears.
"No!" Du Ruoxin wiped away her tears and looked at him stubbornly. "I want to stay in Country A. I'm not leaving!"
Cristino's blue eyes narrowed, and he said dictatorially, "You have no say in this."
Clearly, she had said she hated Rong Jingyang, that she wished she could slap him across the face.
Clearly, she had said she wanted to regain her lost pride from Rong Jingyang.
He had looked forward to it, fantasized about how Du Ruoxin would ruthlessly confront Rong Jingyang upon returning to City E.
But all her actions today showed nothing of hating a faithless man.
The love in Du Ruoxin's eyes for Rong Jingyang was impossible to hide.
Cristino panicked. The woman he had cherished since childhood, the woman he had waited for for fourteen years, the woman he had defied his family, his parents, to obtain.
She had fallen in love with someone else?
How could this be!
He would never allow such a thing to happen!
Trevor, hearing Cristino's words, drove towards the airport.
Du Ruoxin: "..."
She couldn't even control her own personal freedom?
"Are you trying to imprison me?"
Du Ruoxin looked at Cristino and confronted him.
He remained silent.
However, when his gaze fell upon his white shirt stained with blood, he turned to look at her. "Where are you bleeding?"
Hearing his question, the pain in her arm finally registered in Du Ruoxin's nerves.
"Hiss—"
The scraped skin from yesterday had already scabbed over, but in her violent struggle just now, she had accidentally injured it again.
Revealing a patch of raw, red flesh.
It hurt so much.
The tears that had already dried up welled up in her eyes again.
Du Ruoxin pouted and blew on the wound.
"First-aid kit." Seeing the woman's pained expression made Cristino's heart ache.
Trevor: "Yes, sir."
Turning on the hazard lights and stopping by the roadside, Trevor took a first-aid kit from the trunk and continued driving.
Cristino took out a cotton swab and iodine, saying, "Come here."
Du Ruoxin instinctively leaned back, her rejection evident on her face. "No need, I won't die."
"You have to get used to it."
"Anyway, if you lock me up, I'll eventually go crazy. It's normal to bump into things everywhere."
Cristino: "..."
—
Feng Linwan, knowing that her son and daughter-in-law were busy relocating graves on Fengming Mountain, went to pick up Rong Doudou herself.
Rong Doudou turned her little head, looking left and right. Not seeing her mother coming to pick her up, her mood immediately soured. "Where's Mommy? She promised to pick me up."
Feng Linwan picked up her precious granddaughter and kissed her. "Mommy is busy and will be here soon. Doudou, would you like to play with Grandma for now?"
Rong Doudou seemed to sense something, her face filled with sadness. "Is Mommy going to research secret weapons again?"
She's gone for so long, so long.
"Doudou doesn't like Mommy researching things."
Feng Linwan carried her granddaughter into the car and rubbed her head. "No, no, Grandma promises you'll see Mommy soon."
Rong Doudou was still unhappy.
Feng Linwan added, "If she doesn't come, Grandma will take you to find her, okay?"
"Okay!"
The little girl finally cheered up.
The nanny van drove from the city onto the expressway, traveling for over an hour to the outskirts.
Feng Linwan had bought a piece of land here and built a farm.
Chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, and organic vegetables and fruits were harvested and picked from the farm daily, then transported to Crescent Bay and Yunhu International.
April's weather was like the unpredictable mood of a young lover, with occasional drizzles.
Despite it being a sunny day, a thunderstorm broke out.
Fortunately, by the time they reached the farm, the sun was out again.
Seeing that it was still early and the person she had arranged to meet hadn't arrived, Feng Linwan took Rong Doudou, carrying a basket, to pick loquats.
"Grandma, I'll pick all the big and sweet ones for Mommy and you to eat."
Feng Linwan was overjoyed. "Doudou is so good."
As the sun had begun to set, the sunlight was not dazzling. Feng Linwan and Rong Doudou wore only smocks and no sun hats.
As soon as they entered the orchard, Rong Doudou climbed onto her grandfather's neck, acting like a mountain king.
She was in charge of directing, and Feng Linwan was in charge of picking.
"Grandma, over there, the big one!"
"Grandma, that one's sweet!"
Wherever the little girl pointed, Feng Linwan picked.
"Grandma, no, you got it wrong!"
"Yes, the one on the left."
Who would have thought that this couple, being bossed around by a three-year-old girl, were once super magnates who dominated the economic markets of Country A and even the world?
Feng Linwan was exhausted, but the basket was full of fruits.
Looking at the full basket of loquats and her happy granddaughter, Feng Linwan had no regrets in this life.