Roses in Flames

In the courtyard, Ye Yuntang threw herself into the arms of a masked man.

Her slender shoulders trembled uncontrollably; she must be crying.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Yi and Xiao Huan quietly led Xiao Lin away.

After walking for a while, Xiao Lin stopped, his brows furrowed slightly. "What did you see?"

Xiao Huan glanced at Xiao Lin, her tone tinged with resentment and heartache, "Second brother, you brought this on yourself! After you came back, the way you treated your sister-in-law made me feel so sorry for her. Although you had your reasons and your actions were understandable, from your sister-in-law's perspective, you really went too far with her during that time."

Xiao Lin's heart tightened, and his tone became low and urgent, "What exactly happened?"

Xiao Huan bit her lip, stammering as she managed to say, "Second sister-in-law... may have fallen for another man."

Upon hearing Xiao Huan's words, Xiao Lin's heart sank.

His facial features were taut. After a moment of silence, he retorted, "Impossible."

She couldn't possibly fall for someone else so quickly.

"It's true," Xiao Huan said urgently. "My brother and I both saw it clearly. My second sister-in-law rushed into the arms of a masked man, tears streaming down her face, and she wouldn't let go of him."

After her second brother went undercover, Xiao Huan had a lot of contact with Ye Yuntang. Based on her understanding of Ye Yuntang, she would never take the initiative to hug someone unless they were important to her.

Moreover, the other party is of the opposite sex.

Xiao Lin's thin lips were pressed into a straight line, and his aura was heavy and intimidating.

If she really falls in love with someone else, he will wish her well.

After all, his days are numbered. If there is someone who can replace him and protect her, he will wish her well.

But he didn't believe she would fall for someone else so quickly.

The person who could make her lose her mind and rush into his arms, tears streaming down her face, must be one of the most important people in her life.

Xiao Lin's mind raced, and based on his years of criminal investigation experience, he quickly came to a conclusion.

Maybe, maybe it's him!

Xiao Lin immediately stood up straight and touched his clothes. "Huanhuan, am I dressed properly? How's my hair? Is it messy?"

Xiao Huan was completely bewildered by Xiao Lin's sudden action. "Second Brother, what's wrong? Did you get provoked and want to go in and confront your rival?"

Xiao Lin frowned even more deeply, and as if thinking of something, a sigh escaped his throat, filled with an overwhelming sense of self-mockery and loneliness.

"I am now poisoned and my days are numbered. I am no longer the same as before."

Even if you're dressed neatly and have your hair combed, what good does it do?

He is now emaciated, pale and thin, neither human nor ghost, and can no longer return to his former handsome and dashing appearance.

Xiao Lin closed his eyes to hide the bitterness in his heart, and said in a deep, hoarse voice, "Help me back to the hotel."

Xiao Huan took Xiao Lin's hand and was about to lead him away when Ye Yuntang's voice suddenly came from behind, "Ah Lin."

Ye Yuntang ran over quickly.

She took his long, thin hand and said, "I'm taking you to see someone very important. Come with me."

Xiao Lin's fingertips trembled. He subconsciously withdrew his hand, turned his face away, and said in a low voice, "I'm a little tired. I want to go back and rest."

Ye Yuntang gripped his fingers tightly, refusing to let go. "No, you have to go see him."

Xiao Lin was pulled forward by Ye Yuntang. Xiao Huan wanted to follow, but Xiao Yi came over and stopped her in time, saying, "Don't go. Give them some space."

Xiao Huan was a little confused. "Big brother, is second sister-in-law taking second brother to meet his love rival?"

Xiao Yi curled his fingers and gently tapped Xiao Huan's head. "Silly girl, do you really have to see the man your second sister-in-law is holding as your second brother's rival? Can't he be the closest person to you?"

Xiao Huan's mouth dropped open, and she couldn't react for a long time.

No wonder my second brother had to tidy his clothes and hair earlier; it turns out she's the dumbest one in the family, right?

……

Ye Yuntang pulled Xiao Lin into the courtyard.

"Rin, do you know what? I actually found my dad!"

Before Xiao Lin could say anything, the masked man frowned upon hearing the word "father," and said, "You little brat, I told you I'm not your father, I don't know you."

After helping Xiao Lin to a chair, Ye Yuntang looked at the masked man, took out her phone from her bag, and said, "Look, this is a photo my mother sent me. You have a crescent-shaped birthmark on your lower back. My mother sent me a picture of the birthmark!"

She not only showed the man a photo of his birthmark, but also a family photo of five. Pointing to the man standing in the center, she said, "The face under your mask should look exactly like this man in the photo, right?"

The masked man stared at the face in the photo, a storm raging within him.

The resemblance is exactly the same as his, except that he has aged a bit.

"If these don't count as evidence," Ye Yuntang took out another document from her bag, "I've been secretly following you these past two days. I took your water glass when you weren't looking and secretly went to get a paternity test done, and I even expedited it. The results came back an hour ago—you are my father!"

As a forensic pathologist, her professional instincts prevent her from easily trusting her intuition.

She insists on evidence in everything.

From her initial guess about the birthmark on the man's lower back to her current absolute certainty, she didn't take any risks.

After obtaining photos of the birthmark and a paternity test report, I presented all the evidence step by step in an orderly manner.

Her father doesn't remember her. Maybe he lost his memory during the riots, or maybe something else happened.

But she was certain that he was her father.

The man looked down at the paternity test report that Ye Yuntang had handed him, his eyes fixed on the final conclusion.

After a long while, he finally raised his head, looking at Ye Yuntang with shock and disbelief. "You...are you really my daughter?"

Ye Yuntang nodded emphatically, her eyes welling up with tears, but her gaze remained unwavering.

The man's heart felt as if it had been struck hard by something, both sore and swollen.

His temples throbbed, and a sharp wave of dizziness washed over him, making him tremble unsteadily.

He tried hard to recall something, but couldn't remember anything.

My head was throbbing with pain.

Just then, a broken cry came from the doorway, "Bai Nian, Bai Nian..."

Song Xuan arrived, travel-worn and staggering.

Her husband disappeared during a riot abroad years ago, and his body was never found.

She was heartbroken, feeling as if her world had collapsed.

But for the sake of her three children, she had no choice but to persevere.

She would think of him whenever the night was quiet.

After her children grew up, many relatives and friends advised her to remarry.

But she never considered remarrying.

In her heart, there is only Ye Bainian, the father of her three children.

She thought she would never see him again in her life.

I never imagined that I would see him again in my lifetime.

When Tian learned from Tangtang that Ye Bainian might still be alive, she was incredibly excited, thrilled, and trembling.

Song Xuan quickly walked up to the masked man and took the paternity test report from his hand.

After reading the conclusion, Song Xuan handed the report to Ye Yuntang.

Ye Yuntang nodded to Song Xuan, "It's Dad."

Song Xuan looked at the masked man again, and the man was also looking at her.

With trembling hands, Song Xuan reached for the mask on the man's face, her voice choked with emotion, "Let me see..."

The man instinctively raised his hand to block, his fingertips hovering in mid-air, but he eventually lowered it.

He did not stop her anymore.

The moment the woman staggered in and called out Ye Bainian's name, his heart collapsed without warning.

A sense of bewilderment, excitement, bittersweetness, and an indescribable longing surged and spread through his chest.

He clearly couldn't remember the past, and had no memory of her in his mind, but when he saw her tearful face and her eyes filled with mixed emotions of sorrow and joy, his heart involuntarily softened and he felt sad.

I don't want to see her cry, I don't want to see her suffer.

It seemed to be an instinct etched into one's bones, a bond that could not be erased even if forgotten.

He was absolutely certain that this woman was the most important and indispensable person in his life.

Song Xuan's fingertips touched the cold mask on the man's face.

The mask was removed, and light fell on the man's face, revealing a slightly grotesque scar around his left eye.

Apart from that scar, his eyebrows, eyes, nose, and lips were exactly the same as Song Xuan remembered.

It's him.

It was her husband, Ye Bainian.

When Song Xuan saw that face again, tears streamed down her face.

She raised her fingertips and gently traced the scar between the man's eyebrows, her voice choked with sobs, "Bai Nian...you're really back..."

The moment Song Xuan touched the scar on his face, Ye Bainian smelled a faint yet familiar scent, like a taste sealed deep in his memory, both strange and unforgettable.

In an instant, his head throbbed with pain, as if someone was hitting him with a heavy hammer, one blow after another.

A sharp pain swept through his entire body, and countless fragmented images raced wildly through his mind. He tried desperately to grasp them, but he couldn't.

He clutched his head, letting out a low, painful growl, "My head hurts so much..."

"Bai Nian!"

Song Xuan turned pale with fright. She tried to help him up, but it was too late.

The man's vision went black, and he collapsed to the ground.

……

Xiao Lin has been sleeping for longer and longer periods lately.

The moment Ye Bainian fainted, he too collapsed from exhaustion.

When I woke up again, my large hand was being held tightly by a slender, soft hand.

Although he couldn't see her, he could clearly smell the woman's scent.

"Yuntang, how is your father?"

Ye Yuntang buried her face in Xiao Lin's palm and rubbed against it like a kitten. "Your older brother's medical team is treating Dad. Dad has a blood clot in his brain. After the blood clot is cleared, he may regain his memory."

Xiao Lin nodded. "You don't need to stay with me. Go and keep your mother company. She must be very worried right now."

"Xiao Mo came over; he's with Mom. Mom and Xiao Mo were very worried about you and came to see you several times. They even blamed me for not telling them about your situation sooner."

Xiao Lin raised his other hand and gently touched Ye Yuntang's hair. "Yuntang, I've told my older brother that my shares in the Xiao family and all the assets I have will be left to you."

Ye Yuntang's long eyelashes fluttered violently, and she instinctively shook her head. "I don't want to! I'm not short of money, I just want you to live well, Ah Lin, I want you to live well!"

Xiao Lin's pale lips trembled slightly, "I'm sorry, I can't make you a promise."

He didn't want to give up, but his health was deteriorating day by day.

Sooner or later, he will have to let go of her hand.

She refused to be hypnotized and refused to forget the pain, so he could only compensate her materially.

He gave her everything he had to make up for it.

I only wish that she can live a good life for the rest of her days.

……

When Xiao Lin fell into a deep sleep again, the medical team that Xiao Yi brought all shook their heads.

"Please spend as much time as possible with him these next few days."

Everyone fell silent.

Ye Yuntang forced herself not to shed tears, but her heart was bleeding.

It's so painful, so incredibly painful.

She couldn't imagine the day when they would be separated forever.

She hasn't been to her father's place lately; her thoughts are all on Xiao Lin.

She was afraid that if she left him even for a moment, she would never see him again.

"Second sister-in-law, we are all very sad, but if you don't eat or drink, your second brother will be sad too when he wakes up." Xiao Huan brought in some food, trying to persuade Ye Yuntang to eat something.

Looking at the man who was so thin he was almost unrecognizable, Ye Yuntang had no appetite whatsoever.

"Huanhuan, I can't eat anything..."

Before Ye Yuntang could finish speaking, Song Xuan suddenly walked in. She grasped Ye Yuntang's hand, her expression excited, and said, "Tangtang, after your father's surgery, he remembered!"

Ye Yuntang's eyes lit up for a moment. "Really? That's great!"

But the light went out the next instant.

"Mom, Lin's not getting better. The doctor said it'll be over in the next few days..."

Song Xuan held Ye Yuntang's hand tightly. "Tangtang, let your mother finish speaking first. After your father remembers, he has the formula for the antidote."

Ye Yuntang was suddenly startled. "What?"

Xiao Huan, standing to the side, was also stunned. "Auntie, really? My second brother can be saved?"

Song Xuan nodded. "Your dad is outside. I'll call him in now."

After Ye Bainian came in, he told the group what had happened before he lost his memory.

The riots that occurred abroad back then were orchestrated by criminal organizations.

They wanted to arrest a researcher named Xie Cun.

At the time, Ye Bainian, Xie Cun, and another Chinese man were in the square. When the riot broke out, all three were injured. The criminals couldn't tell which one was Xie Cun, so they arrested all three of them together.

Xie Cun suffers from a rare blood disease and needs blood transfusions all year round. Coincidentally, both Ye Bainian and Xie Cun have rare blood types, known as "panda blood".

In order to ensure Xie's survival, the criminal organization made Ye Bainian serve as Xie's blood bank.

Another Chinese man was not so lucky. He had no use to the criminal group, so they killed him directly.

After recovering from his injuries, Xie Cun, under threat from the criminal group, developed the poison and formula needed by the big boss.

Xie Cun knew better than anyone that once he lost his usefulness, the criminals would ruthlessly silence him.

He had no way to get out of there, and he absolutely couldn't drag Ye Bainian down with him.

In recent years, Ye Bainian has become his mobile blood bank, repeatedly having his blood drawn and suffering greatly, which makes him feel extremely guilty.

So, Xie Cun secretly concocted a drug to fake death.

Ye Bainian asked Xie Cun why he didn't develop a fake death drug so that he could also escape.

"I know their methods all too well. I'm a researcher, and even if I die, they won't let me leave intact. They'll dispose of my body, leaving not even a bone behind. But you're different. You're just an innocent blood donor caught up in this mess. If you 'die,' they won't go to the trouble of disposing of your body."

When Xie Cun gave Ye Bainian the fake death drug, he also told him the formula for the poison.

After swallowing the drug that made him appear to be dead, Ye Bainian lost consciousness.

After checking him over and confirming that he had no heartbeat or breathing, the criminal gang threw him into the sea.

When Ye Bainian woke up again, he was lying on the beach of the island.

He had injuries around his eyes and his head had hit the rocks hard; when he woke up, he remembered nothing.

It wasn't until Xiao Yi's medical team performed surgery on him and removed the blood clot in his brain that he recovered.

Ye Bainian wrote down the antidote formula and handed it to Ye Yuntang.

"Tangtang, with the formula, he won't die!"

Looking at the recipe in her hand, Ye Yuntang covered her mouth and burst into tears of joy.

Great! Xiao Lin is saved.