ABOES 43: Absurd Reason

After making arrangements with the caretaker, Chi Yunxing got into the car headed to the police station.

When he arrived, Tan Yao was the first to come out. Chi Yunxing immediately noticed her reddened eyes. He hurried over, and before he could ask what was wrong, Tan Yao pulled him into a tight hug.

Chi Yunxing stiffened for a moment but quickly relaxed and gently patted her back. In a soft voice, he asked, “What’s wrong, Mom?”

Tan Yao hadn’t meant to cry again, but the moment she heard him call her “Mom,” she broke down once more.

“I’m fine…” she said, voice thick with emotion. “It’s just… I feel like I owe you too much…”

Chi Ling and Chi Xiwen followed behind and saw the scene.

Chi Yunxing looked up and realized their eyes were red too.

Chi Ling stepped forward and lightly patted his shoulder, letting out a sigh. “Looking back now, I went too easy on him.”

Chi Yunxing froze before recalling the day at the police station. He couldn’t help but say, “Dad…”

Chi Xiwen came over and ruffled Chi Yunxing’s hair. “It’s okay. Don’t think too much,” Then he looked at Tan Yao. “Mom, we’re outside. Yunxing’s identity doesn’t allow him to linger in public too long. Let’s go inside.”

Tan Yao nearly forgot, having been too distressed. She took a deep breath to calm down, nodded quickly, and led Chi Yunxing inside.

When Chi Yunxing first learned he wasn’t Father Ye and Mother Ye’s biological child, he had wondered why they had bought him from traffickers.

He had read plenty of news about child abductions over the years, and the reasons usually fell into a few categories.

Most offenders were childless and desperate, unable to adopt legally or unwilling to accept children from welfare homes due to possible health issues. Others bought girls to become future wives for disabled or mentally ill sons.

Chi Yunxing had assumed Father Ye and Mother Ye were like the first kind—buying a child to raise for their old age. He thought they hadn’t expected to later give birth to Ye Nan.

Yet something didn’t add up. If they truly wanted a child for support in old age, wouldn’t they have treated him better? Why treat him so harshly? There had to be another reason.

It wasn’t long before Officer Wang gave him an answer.

The reason was so absurd that Chi Yunxing had to confirm it again. “You’re saying… they believed the reason they couldn’t have kids was because their house lacked ‘child energy’? So they bought a child hoping that by having that ‘energy’ around, they’d be able to conceive?”

Officer Wang nodded.

Chi Yunxing shook his head in disbelief. “That’s ridiculous…”

Officer Wang sighed. “I thought so too, at first. I assumed they were lying but later I realized, they had no reason to.”

Chi Yunxing frowned. “Why not?”

Officer Wang placed a report in front of him. “Because Ye Nan isn’t actually Father Ye’s biological son. When he found out, he completely broke down and that’s when he finally confessed.”

Chi Yunxing stared in shock, struggling to process what he’d heard. “You mean… Ye Nan isn’t his son?”

Officer Wang nodded and began explaining everything.

After Father Ye and Mother Ye were taken in, they resisted for days. Either remaining silent or angrily demanding proof. When presented with evidence, they claimed it was fake. Left with no choice, the Haishi police contacted their counterparts in Beishi to investigate.

Father Ye and Mother Ye had met through relatives and married young, forming a family at eighteen. For the first three years of marriage, they were unable to conceive.

Their parents pressured them to have children.

Initially, Mother Ye cooperated fully, undergoing medical tests and even spending nearly half a year in the hospital one year but every doctor said she was physically healthy and advised her to relax.

At the time, Father Ye’s career was just starting, so they put the issue aside and focused on work.

Later, when Mother Ye turned 27, they decided it was time to try seriously. She was nearing high-risk maternal age, and their careers had stabilized.

They tried for a year—nothing.

Father Ye panicked and started pushing traditional remedies. Mother Ye, knowing her body was fine, suggested he get checked too.

That set him off. They fought bitterly and it was their worst argument ever. Mother Ye furiously returned to her hometown. Relatives intervened, and eventually Father Ye went to bring her back.

While in the countryside, he heard an old superstition: homes needed “child energy” to help conception.

Back home, Father Ye became fixated on the idea. He told Mother Ye, who initially dismissed it, but he kept nagging her.

At first, they considered legal adoption but once they looked into it, they realized it wasn’t easy. They were too young and didn’t actually want to raise a child long-term. Raising someone else’s kid meant years of commitment. They weren’t willing to give time and energy so they gave up on adoption.

Instead, they looked into buying a child.

They asked around to see if any relatives or friends had kids they didn’t want but due to the one-child policy, no one did. Half a year later, Father Ye got a call from a trafficker. Without much hesitation, and after confirming the child was healthy, he paid up.

That child became Ye Xinian.

Their plan was to abandon him once they had their own child but the city had begun installing surveillance everywhere, making abandonment harder. Plus, Chi Yunxing had good grades. So they thought, they might as well keep him for now.

Still, they never gave up hope of having a child of their own. So they neglected him completely. 

Then, when Mother Ye was 36, she gave birth to Ye Nan.

The Beishi police found this odd—why the sudden pregnancy after so many barren years?

Further digging revealed that Mother Ye had met her lover six months prior to conceiving.

The timeline lined up: she got pregnant six months after meeting the other man, and gave birth to Ye Nan a year later. Even after Ye Nan was born, Mother Ye stayed in touch with her lover, often taking Ye Nan along.

This made it easy for police to locate the man.

He was eager to reclaim his son and readily admitted paternity, even producing a DNA test from years ago.

When the police showed Father Ye the proof, he completely lost it.

“This is impossible! It’s not true! Nan Nan can’t be someone else’s kid!”

“You’re lying! You’re just trying to trick me into confessing!”

“He looks just like me…”

Then he remembered—Everyone had said neither of his “sons” looked like him.

He’d brushed it off before. Of course Yunxing didn’t look like him, he wasn’t related. As for Nan Nan? He just assumed the kid took after his mother, as boys often do.

But now… it all made sense.

Nan Nan didn’t resemble him because he wasn’t his.

—

When Chi Yunxing left the office, he happened to see police escorting Father Ye to the detention center.

After a few days, Father Ye looked utterly defeated. His eyes were dull, muttering to himself as he stared at the floor. He didn’t notice Chi Yunxing nearby. Then Mother Ye was brought out.

The moment Father Ye saw her, he erupted, lunging toward her in a frenzy.

“You bitch! How dare you lie to me! You whore!”

Mother Ye flinched and hid behind the police. Officers quickly restrained Father Ye, but he fought back wildly.

“You had another man’s kid and told me it was mine?!”

“Zhang Fangcui, I’ll never forgive you! Never! You tricked me!”

“When I get out, I’ll kill you!”

Terrified, Zhang Fangcui begged the officers, “Please don’t let me go with him. I don’t want to be in the same car. I’m begging you…”

The police knew better than to let them ride together, so they were placed in separate cars. As the police cars drove away, neither of them noticed Chi Yunxing standing quietly nearby.

Someone gently tugged his sleeve.

He turned to see Tan Yao’s concerned face.

“Don’t look anymore, Yunxing,” she said with a smile. “Come home tonight, okay? I’ll make your favorite, braised pork ribs.”

“Come on, let’s go home,” Chi Ling added.

Chi Xiwen didn’t speak, but he smiled at him the whole time.

Something soft in Chi Yunxing’s heart was touched. A smile slowly spread across his lips as he nodded.

“Okay.”

The past had been painful but Chi Yunxing was no longer Ye Xinian.

He had a home now.

A child with a home has someone to care for when it’s cold, someone to stand up for them when they’re wronged, and someone to tilt the umbrella toward them when it rains.

Even if the world keeps storming, he’ll always have someone to help shield him from the worst of it.

That was more than enough.