Finally, it was Fang Siying who broke the silence.

  "Why keep a marriage like this?" she asked softly.

  "She wants a divorce," he replied. "But she wants me to give her the entire factory as a condition for the divorce. How could I agree to that?"

  "How could you marry her?"

  He remained silent, and she felt his breath grow heavy.

  "I'm blind!" he blurted out, his words yered with meaning.

  She felt a sharp pain in her heart. Standing up, she thought of going to the bathroom to wash her face. Bai Peiwen called out urgently, "Don't go!"

  She stopped and stared at him in a daze.

  "Tell me," his voice was urgent and desperate, filled with pain and longing. "How did you come into my family?"

  "You hired me," Fang Siying said, her voice strained and weak.

  "Yes, I hired you," he muttered, "but where did you come from? That afternoon in mid-May, where did you come from? Another world?"

  "That's right, another world," she said, a chill running down her spine as she shivered.

  "On the other side of the sea, on the other side of the Earth."

  Bai Peiwen was about to say something, but Bai Tingting came in, breathless, carrying the rge and small packages. Fang Siying walked over, took the packages from her, and pced them on the bed. Bai Peiwen said nothing more, but he didn't leave either.

  Sitting in the chair at the desk, he wore a thoughtful expression, carefully and attentively listening to everything around him.

  "Tingting, come here," Fang Siying called, asking her to stand by the bed. She then began opening the packages one by one. With each one she opened, Tingting gasped in surprise, her eyes growing wider. By the time she had opened them all, Tingting was almost out of breath. Her face was flushed, her lips trembling as she stammered, "M—Miss, w—why did you buy all these? W—what are you going to do with them?"

  "These are all for you, Tingting!" Fang Siying said, piling the things in front of Bai Tingting.

  "Teacher..." The child called out softly, hesitantly reaching out to touch the items. They were three different dolls, the most delicate kind, with eyes that could open and close.

  One had a full head of golden hair and was dressed in a luxurious, pleated ballet outfit. Another had a face full of freckles and was holding a baseball bat. The third was a little bck doll. In addition to the dolls, there were three beautiful outfits: one was a blue dress with gold buttons, another was a vibrant red velvet autumn set, and the third was pure white.

  Tingting touched one, then another, her face turning pale. She looked up at Fang Siying with tear-filled eyes and softly asked, "Why... why did you buy these?"

  "What's wrong? Don't you like them?" Fang Siying asked as she pulled the child closer and gazed at her deeply. "Look, that's Golden Curls, that's the clown, that's the little bck coal. Now, your dolls won't be lonely, right? As for these clothes, let me tell you, Tingting, I like girls to dress beautifully. Would you like to take them to your room and try them on to see if they fit? I think there shouldn't be any problem."

  "Ha!" The child cried out, finally feeling the reality of the situation. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she buried her head in Fang Siying's arms to hide the tears brought on by her overwhelming joy. Then, she looked up, dashed to the bed, grabbed one doll, then another, looked at this piece of clothing, then that one, and kept shouting excitedly, "Oh, Teacher! Oh, Teacher! Oh, Teacher! Oh, ..." Afterward, she took the golden-haired doll and rushed to her father, excitedly shouting, "Daddy, feel! Daddy, Miss Fang gave me so many things, so many, so many! Oh! Daddy! Feel!"

  Bai Peiwen gently touched the doll. He didn’t say anything, his expression thoughtful and inscrutable.

  “Oh, teacher, can I take these things to my room?” Tingting raised her glowing little face and looked at Fang Siying.

  “Of course,” Fang Siying said, knowing that the child was eager to shut the door and enjoy the unexpected joy by herself. “You should also take these new dolls to introduce them to your old doll. It's been cooped up for so long. And don’t forget to try on the clothes!”

  The child, holding the things, rushed into her room.

  Fang Siying stood by the bed, slowly tidying up the wrapping paper, boxes, and strings on the bed. Being alone with Bai Peiwen in a room made her feel a sense of nervousness and pressure. Especially since Bai Peiwen always wore that thoughtful, inscrutable expression, making it hard for her to figure out what he was thinking.

  "Are you bming an irresponsible father in this way?" he finally spoke.

  "I'm not bming anyone..." she replied.

  "Then, are you 'punishing' me?" He pressed, his eyes fixed sharply on her.

  Fang Siying stood still, meeting Bai Peiwen's stubborn gaze.

  "Your tone seems full of bme and dissatisfaction with me!" she said, slightly angry.

  "Punish? What right do I have to punish anyone? I'm just a private tutor bought for two thousand a month!"

  "That's too cruel!" he said.

  "Those are your wife's words!" She emphasized the words "your wife" and swept the papers from the bed into the wastebasket. "Cruel? This is a cruel world! The cruelest thing is that you are destroying a child's soul. You′re tormenting her, abusing her. If it weren't for this child, I wouldn't stay in your house for another hour!"