“But one day, he was suddenly discharged. The toys I sent down were never picked up again. Still, I didn’t fall back into depression. I’d already started to heal. I believed that even if I wasn’t by his side anymore, he’d eventually come out of that emotional darkness on his own.”
The interview continued playing, but Shen Yanjun could only sit there, a bitter ache spreading through his chest.
This was his fourth time listening to it.
That afternoon, he had simply woken up early and grabbed his phone to scroll. But because he’d forgotten to remove Huo Qingli from his favorites, he received a notification about her new post the moment it went up.
The post read:
“Years ago, I met a little boy in the hospital. We spent the hardest days of our lives chatting through a piece of string from upstairs to downstairs. Looking back, it was kind of fun. I don’t even know how I came up with that idea. — [Link]”
That one line was enough to make him freeze. He clicked the link, and the video that began playing featured the very same voice he had just heard.
It shattered him.
The girl he had always wanted to protect and cherish… was already his wife. He just hadn’t known it. And because he’d mistaken someone else for her, he’d hurt her again and again.
How ridiculous.
Shen Yanjun didn’t want to believe it. But he kept replaying it, unable to ignore the truth any longer. Even as Xu Yin’s cries of pain echoed in the background, he paid them no mind. He already knew—most of it was an act.
But her cries grew louder and louder. If she kept going, the people outside might think something terrible had happened. So Shen Yanjun finally went back in.
The video kept playing as he stared at her with dark, brooding eyes, demanding answers without saying a word.
Xu Yin flinched slightly at his earlier shouting but then curled up, clutching her stomach, head down, quietly weeping, looking like a helpless victim.
She didn’t speak, but her silence was as good as an admission.
Shen Yanjun’s last sliver of hope vanished. He let out a cold laugh, then suddenly hurled his phone at the wall.
“BANG—”
It shattered into pieces.
Xu Yin curled up tighter, trembling with fear.
In the past, Shen Yanjun might’ve been overwhelmed with guilt because of their childhood connection. But now, all he felt was mockery toward himself, for being so blind, for believing her lies.
No—he remembered very clearly. That girl back then had said the name of her toy-trading friend was Xu Yin.
That was what stuck with him so strongly.
That’s why, when he heard the name “Xu Yin” in high school, he had sought her out right away—and started dating her.
But suddenly, a flash of realization hit him.
“Tell me,” he demanded, voice trembling, “you were in the same hospital room as Huo Qingli, weren’t you? Xu Yin—you’ve been lying to me from the very beginning!”
That’s right!
Didn’t she say before that she’d been hospitalized as a child too?
The timeline matched up perfectly, so he had never questioned it.
Xu Yin still didn’t speak.
The more rage she heard in his voice, the more afraid she became. All she could do was protect the baby in her belly—that was the only thing keeping their relationship alive.
She truly loved Shen Yanjun. But one wrong step had led to another. Who told him to be so dazzling back then? Who told him to be the boy Huo Qingli liked?
When he showed up in front of her and asked if her name was Xu Yin, she had barely nodded when he said:
“Then you’re my girlfriend from now on.”
She hadn’t known the truth at first. She’d been thrilled and rushed to show off in front of Huo Qingli.
Once she learned what had happened, she was embarrassed and angry—but also unwilling to give up such a handsome boyfriend. She had tried to hint around, and it seemed like Huo Qingli didn’t even remember much about what happened back then. She’d forgotten the whole pen-pal thing.
So Xu Yin figured, why not pretend?
After all, Huo Qingli came from a good family—she could have any man she wanted.
How could things have ended up like this?
Shen Yanjun couldn’t stand the sight of her pathetic act anymore. He sneered,
“Get up and talk to me!”
“Answer me! Was it all a setup from the start?”
“You’re something, Xu Yin. Cold and calculating.”
“Didn’t you say your family was struggling, and Huo Qingli refused to help you? You made that up, didn’t you?”
“Maybe your whole ‘hard life’ story was a lie!”
“Up until today, I thought it was my karma—that the person I loved had always been right in front of me, and I just couldn’t see it. But it was you who led me down the wrong path!”
He was overflowing with fury. Everything he hadn’t noticed before came crashing back to him now.
The thing that hurt the most?
That girl from his childhood—the one who traded notes and toys with him—was his wife. His instincts had never been wrong. He’d always loved Huo Qingli.
But Xu Yin’s lies had made him doubt himself.
He’d fallen for it, all the way to the end: cheating during marriage, divorce, getting Xu Yin pregnant, marrying her…
He had never once suspected her.
Shen Yanjun wiped a hand down his face, voice hoarse:
“You’re terrifying.”
That seemed to finally strike a nerve.
Xu Yin, who had been crying silently, suddenly looked up and screamed:
“You’re the one who showed up out of nowhere and said I was your girlfriend! I didn’t even know what was going on! I only said the wrong name because I was a dumb kid!”
Shen Yanjun’s expression darkened. Furious, he kicked the nightstand and roared:
“So now it’s my fault? If you hadn’t told me your name was Xu Yin back then, would I have come looking for you? Would I?!”
Xu Yin was speechless. She clutched her face and cried harder, begging:
“Shen Yanjun, don’t treat me like this—I’m carrying your child. He can feel everything…”
In his fury, Shen Yanjun froze. He stood still for a long moment before grabbing at his hair in frustration, gritting his teeth:
“You did it on purpose. You knew how much I loved children, so you used it against me, didn’t you? Xu Yin, you’re ruthless. You found the perfect way to trap me into the Shen family!”
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152