Reborn to Outshine My Ex and His White Moonlight-Chapter 391: The Thing Lin Zhiyi Left for Him

Gong Chen was well aware of the old man’s insistence on having descendants.

Beyond tying him down, it was also about binding the Gong Family and the Sang Family together tightly.

He would not let the old man have his way, so he had long been prepared.

At this moment, the entire restaurant fell silent.

Even when Sang Ran’s spoon slipped from her hand and hit the floor, no one reacted.

Everyone knew that Liu He couldn’t have children, and Gong Shiyan would rather endure being targeted than divorce her.

That left Gong Chen as the only one capable of continuing the lineage.

He had undergone a vasectomy.

This was as good as severing Old Mr. Gong’s hopes for the next generation.

Old Mr. Gong’s chest heaved violently. He took a deep breath before speaking, "Don’t joke around. I’m merely a father who wishes to see his grandson born someday."

"You have a grandson, Gong Yan. Have you forgotten so soon?" Gong Chen replied indifferently.

"Let’s not bring up the past." The old man’s face darkened.

"Is that so? Sometimes, not having children recklessly is its own form of mercy." Gong Chen wiped his hands with a napkin, then rose slowly and said, "I have matters to attend to at the company. I’ll be leaving now."

It was clear whom his words were aimed at.

The old man was so furious he couldn’t speak for a long time.

Gong Chen didn’t spare him a glance, turning and walking away.

As he stepped out of the restaurant’s main door, hurried footsteps in high heels echoed behind him.

Annoyed, he quickened his pace.

"Lao San." Liu He called out.

Gong Chen stopped and turned to look at her. His gaze suddenly brightened, and he almost blurted out, "She’s looking for me?"

Liu He was startled, nervously clutching her handbag. "No, no, she’s not."

"Hmm." Gong Chen’s expression dimmed. "What’s the matter?"

Liu He retrieved a box from her bag and handed it to him. "Zhiyi asked me to give this to you."

Gong Chen recognized the box—it was the jewelry case that held the ruby earrings.

He took it but didn’t open it immediately. "How is she?" he asked coolly.

Liu He remembered something and quickly pulled out her phone, opening a photo of Lin Zhiyi.

"She’s doing very well. She said she’s very happy."

"Good." Gong Chen responded lightly.

The photo showed Lin Zhiyi smiling radiantly.

So, leaving him behind, she could live so well.

Liu He bit her lip and mustered the courage to ask, "Lao San... Did you really have a vasectomy?"

Gong Chen’s gaze lingered briefly on the photo before he nodded.

If he could, he’d dream of Xingxing forever. Just having her as his daughter would’ve been enough.

But it seemed even Xingxing resented him. She said she’d leave, and she did. She hadn’t visited his dreams ever since.

Liu He, hearing this, became even more flustered. If Gong Chen found out Lin Zhiyi was pregnant, what kind of chaos would that bring?

She forced a smile, deliberately adding, "You never used to call me Second Sister-in-Law. Hearing it today feels nice; it finally sounds like we’re one family."

Gong Chen raised his eyes to look at her.

Liu He nervously lowered her head.

Her petty tricks were utterly futile against Gong Chen.

Her words were nothing more than a reminder that they were now family, imploring Gong Chen to stop longing for Lin Zhiyi.

Perhaps this was also what Lin Zhiyi wanted.

Chen Jin said Lin Zhiyi never moved into the apartment she was supposed to.

Rumor had it that as soon as she got off the plane, Sang Li was seen taking a woman into the Sang Family’s villa.

As for the school Lin Zhiyi had been accepted into, she hadn’t gone there either.

No one knew where she went instead.

All the clues pointed to one thing—Lin Zhiyi was cutting all ties with Gong Chen.

Expressionless, Gong Chen clenched the box and turned to leave.

Once inside the car, he opened the box. Inside were two keys.

One of them he recognized—it was the key to Lin Zhiyi’s apartment.

Chen Jin turned and asked, "Third Young Master, where to?"

"Lin Zhiyi’s apartment."

"Understood."

...

Gong Chen pushed open the apartment door. White dust covers were draped over everything, and even the cabinets had been completely cleared out.

It was as if to say the owner would never return.

Ignoring the dust, he sat directly on the sofa. Pulling out a cigarette from his pocket, he remembered Lin Zhiyi’s words and put it back.

Instead, his fingers brushed against one of the keys.

The other key—what did it unlock?

Scanning the room, he saw no locked cabinet.

He stood up and walked toward the master bedroom, the room he was most reluctant to enter. Even after all this time, it was still steeped in Lin Zhiyi’s presence.

Then his gaze landed on a corner, where the only cabinet left uncovered by the dust cloth seemed to be beckoning him.

Holding the key, Gong Chen stepped forward and unlocked it effortlessly.

What greeted him was everything connected to him and Lin Zhiyi.

She hadn’t taken anything with her.

Even the capybara wristbands they had once won together at a night market remained there.

The two wristbands were pressed against two letters inside the cabinet.

One letter, in a faded pink envelope, clearly was written years ago.

The other was in a plain kraft envelope.

Both letters were inscribed with the same name: Gong Chen.

Gong Chen stared at the two letters for a long time before reaching for the pink envelope.

Pulled from within was a slightly wrinkled sheet of paper, exuding a faint romantic fragrance, as though it emanated from deep within the letter.

Yet contrary to the scent’s romance, the folded paper bore a large "X," written forcefully alongside two words:

"Liar."

Opening the letter, a young girl’s heartfelt words gradually came to life.

"Hello there, allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Lin Zhiyi. I’m nineteen years old, 167 centimeters tall, and 50 kilograms. My mom says I’m still growing and not fat at all. You used to say I was too young, but I don’t think I’m too young anymore."

"I can date now..."

"I chose today to write this letter because you called me a few days ago and promised you’d come back to spend New Year’s with me. This is the first promise you’ve ever made to me. Does that mean you might like me a little? Honestly, I’ve been counting the days every single day, hoping that today would come sooner. There’s so much I want to say to you."

"You understand what I mean, right? That kind of meaning."

"Never mind, let me just say it straight out, so you don’t think I’m joking like a little kid again."

"Let’s be together."

That night, Jing City experienced an immense snowfall.

Lin Zhiyi had waited under the porch for a long, long time, excitement coursing through her.

She rehearsed the first sentence she’d say to Gong Chen over and over in her head.

She thought men liked reserved girls, so she put her words in the letter, sure that once Gong Chen read it, he’d understand.

But... Gong Chen didn’t come back, and that confession letter never reached him.

The next day, she came down with a fever. In her daze, she overheard Gong Shiyan mentioning that Gong Chen had stayed abroad to celebrate the holidays.

Lin Zhiyi cried quietly under the covers, finally understanding that promises only mattered because she believed in them.

What she didn’t know was that Gong Chen had gotten into a serious car accident.

When he was still conscious, he had the news suppressed, only to fall into a coma for three days afterward.

By the time Gong Chen returned to the country, he was a changed man.

Lin Zhiyi, too, began avoiding him. Many times, she’d wanted to ask why he lied to her, but he would always pass by her coldly.

Then Song Wanqiu appeared, and Lin Zhiyi buried those feelings deep inside her heart completely.

Now, as he read the content of the letter, Gong Chen finally understood what it meant to be at the mercy of fate.

He sat despondently on the floor, rereading the letter dozens of times.

His hand lingered over the last sentence, as if Lin Zhiyi’s voice was gently whispering in his ear.

"Let’s be together."

He instinctively nodded, but when he returned to his senses, there was no one before him—only a blank void.

Lin Zhiyi was gone.

She left in such haste that not even a single goodbye was left for him.

From the corner of his eye, Gong Chen noticed the kraft paper envelope.

The once-mighty Third Young Master, so dreaded by others, now couldn’t summon the courage to pick up that envelope.

In his heart, he seemed to already know what it contained. He simply couldn’t bring himself to accept the ending it foretold.

Unfolding the plain white paper within, there was only a single sentence.