"Bingwen, how is your experiment going? Is it close to success?" A year has passed, long after the point in her dream when success was supposed to occur, yet Song Qing hasn’t heard any good news, and she’s getting restless.

"No." Fang Bingwen replied in a low voice.

"How can that be? Didn’t you say you were very hopeful? Logically, at this point it should..."

"There’s no should or shouldn’t." He stood up, walking coldly towards the balcony.

Song Qing furrowed her brows, feeling that Fang Bingwen was completely different from the person in her dreams. She continued having those dreams, in which Fang Bingwen achieved fame and success and married her again, as if the whole world was blessing them, while Ye Qiu could only look on at her happiness from the corner, lonely.

But in reality? She hasn’t seen the successful Fang Bingwen she anticipated, but rather watched Ye Qiu become increasingly popular online, even receiving praise from the official TV station for helping students in impoverished areas.

How could this happen? Shouldn’t the Ye Family be gradually declining?

Ye Qiu has a lot to say about why she hasn’t fallen. In her past life, the Ye Family’s decline was partly due to her being a spendthrift who always opposed her Second Brother Ye, leading to him falling into traps laid by schemers. The other reason was the Dong Family and Ye Family acted more discreetly after Dong Bo was kidnapped.

This time around, although Ye Qiu still quarreled with her Second Brother, it was all talk, and when it mattered, they faced external challenges together. She insisted on doing things like creating ecological farms and snack streets, leading her Second Brother to earn a fortune, making it impossible for the family to decline this time.

Moreover, Dong Bo’s crisis has been resolved, and as the future Sect Leader of the Dong Family, he only grows more excellent, making discretion impossible.

A gentle piano melody drifted from the television. Fang Xu gazed at it intently, motionless.

Fang Bingwen, intrigued by his focus, realized the pianist was Dong Bo and identified the venue as the Ye Family’s annual event by the background decor. He wondered how the Dong and Ye Families could let Dong Bo commit fully to music.

Nonetheless, he had to admit Dong Bo was indeed outstanding, even surpassing his son’s former efforts when striving towards success.

"Do you regret it?" he softly asked Fang Xu, "You’ve never once touched that piano."

Fang Xu remained silent, but Fang Bingwen could see the longing and envy in his tightly pressed lips and gaze.

"I know you don’t like your Aunt Ye nor use the things she gave you, but Dad has no money now to buy you anything else. If you want to keep up with your Brother Bo, that piano is your only choice," Fang Bingwen goaded.

For the past year, he’d been preoccupied with his experiment, only recently receiving praise from the academy, finally giving him the mind to educate his son. He didn’t want to watch his son slump further under Song Qing’s educational methods.

Not that Song Qing’s indulgent approach was entirely wrong; they both worked hard to get into college in their youth. But times have changed, and the environment too.

In their days, entertainment wasn’t accessible, nor abundant, but now society is full of temptations, which even adults struggle to resist, let alone children naturally drawn to playfulness.

When other kids attend extracurricular classes for tutoring, leaving your child to pursue their impulses with endless gaming without restrictions — Fang Bingwen believes it harms Xiao Xu.

Yet he didn’t want to philosophize against Song Qing’s theories, especially since they’d been arguing a lot lately. He chose to start with Xiao Xu instead.

In the past, before he had to urge him, Xiao Xu would voluntarily study hard watching Dong Bo and Ye Can Can. But since Song Qing returned, Xiao Xu changed. Fang Bingwen wasn’t sure how to address it — blaming Song Qing wasn’t something he could bring himself to do. However, he had to admit Xiao Xu was better off when Ye Qiu was present.

Since divorcing from Ye Qiu, Xiao Xu’s bad habits emerged: picky eating, lazy studying, bickering, and even learning to lie.

Sometimes he asked Song Qing to discipline him, but she’d either say children shouldn’t be too constrained or ask why he didn’t handle it himself.

Fang Bingwen was only human; despite his love, he was growing weary. In his moments of helplessness, Ye Qiu’s face would appear in his mind — when had any household matters troubled him previously?

Even if Xiao Xu didn’t like her, she’d arranged for numerous renowned teachers, making his academic concerns nonexistent, while keeping the home clean and organized — even preparing the next day’s outfit seamlessly.

Song Qing was dedicated to him once too; back then, they had little money but were deeply happy. He felt she’d changed since coming back.

She became fond of dressing up and spending, more and more indulgent. He didn’t oppose her spending his money, but after experiencing Ye Qiu’s meticulous care, adapting to the reverse with Song Qing was something he couldn’t get used to.

It’s during these times he realized how challenging Ye Qiu’s life must’ve been — at least Song Qing mostly greeted him with smiles, yet he was never kind towards Ye Qiu back then.

Never mind that he’d been accustomed to doing these little things since childhood, but Ye Qiu, as the Eldest Lady, suddenly took it upon herself without complaint.

"Xiao Xu, do you really want to fall further behind your Brother Bo and Sister Cancan? Your piano practice, your calligraphy writing — how long has it been since you did them? At the last parent-teacher meeting, your homeroom teacher said your studies have regressed again," Fang Bingwen kept pushing his son, feeling a pang of sadness watching his son’s pursed lips and overwhelmed expression as he envied the TV scene. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"If Xiao Xu doesn’t want to learn, let him be. Why force him? People’s paths differ, Xiao Xu is so smart; can’t you give him a happy childhood?" Song Qing repeated her usual reasoning, leaving Fang Bingwen exhaling deeply in exasperation.

"I want to learn." Suddenly, Fang Xu spoke, his eyes fixed stubbornly on Song Qing.

Song Qing opened her mouth, finally speaking after a while, "Why? Don’t you dislike Ye Qiu and have no interest in the piano she left?"

Fang Xu bowed his head without explanation, simply insisting, "Mom, I want to learn."

Song Qing’s expression turned awkward, giving a stiff smile, "Why are you both staring at me like that? I’m not stopping you from learning; go ahead if you want to."