CHAPTER 161: SO MUCH LOVE... YET THE FLOWER REMAINED WILTED.

It was as if the thing that had been blocking his throat suddenly disappeared. Song Chengfeng told his mother everything.

From the very beginning—how he met Qi Jianyi—to the painful truth behind why he had left Qi Jianyi.

The entire time Song Chengfeng was confessing, Mrs. Song remained silent.

First, she was utterly stunned by the secret her son had kept hidden for seven long years.

Second, she couldn’t fathom the depth of pain it must have caused both her son and Qi Jianyi. She wanted to scold them both for giving in to their feelings. But deep down, Mrs. Song also knew this wasn’t something she could simply condemn outright.

"Mom..." Song Chengfeng whispered, his voice hoarse. "Even if I want to go back to her, I can’t."

His voice carried a raw vulnerability. His hands trembled, his eyes reddened. As if a sudden gust of wind were blowing his spirit away, Song Chengfeng stumbled back a step.

He drew a deep breath, and his shaky hands slowly brushed through his hair, as if trying to gather himself.

Mrs. Song stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her son. Her hand gently caressed his back, offering him the only comfort she could, even though she knew it was already too late.

"Chengfeng..." she whispered softly. There was nothing Mrs. Song could say that would heal the wounds buried so deep.

Her heart ached as she witnessed this vulnerable side of her son—something he had never shown to anyone before.

Not even when he had been accused of murdering his own comrades, with his entire future hanging by a thread.

Back then, Song Chengfeng had remained cold and expressionless, probably unmoved by the weight of the world. But now, that long-held mask—that cold, intimidating aura—had finally crumbled.

"Mom...please stop forcing me anymore." He whispered with a layer of begging.

Because Song Chengfeng had reached his point where he wouldn’t bother to act anymore.

Mrs. Song nodded. She understood his struggle and acknowledged it. Hence, she decided to stop pushing Song Chengfeng to get married.

"Chengfeng, does that mean...the Qi Jianyi who is with us now is the real daughter of the Qi family?" Mrs. Song asked, her voice soft yet edged with disbelief.

"She is," Song Chengfeng replied curtly, his tone flat, as if uttering the truth caused a fresh wound to tear open inside him.

Mrs. Song hesitated for a moment, eyes searching her son’s face for answers he himself didn’t have.

"Then... is there any chance that... that girl might come back?" Her voice wavered on the last few words, fragile with hope.

Song Chengfeng slowly shook his head, his gaze falling to the floor.

"No," he answered in a low voice.

"This... this isn’t her world."

A quiet stillness settled between them. Mrs. Song let out a soft, weary sigh and reached out to gently caress his cheek, the warmth of her touch contrasting the cold weight of his sorrow. She gave him a faint, comforting smile.

"Believe," she said, her tone quiet yet resolute.

"Believe in her. Believe in the love that exists between the two of you," she continued, her eyes glimmering with unwavering conviction.

"God would not let your paths cross and your hearts intertwined only for the ending to be this simple," she whispered, resting her forehead tenderly against her son’s. Her breath trembled as she exhaled.

"I just want you to be happy..." Her eyes fluttered shut, and a single tear slipped down her cheek, glistening under the soft light of the room.

"Even if it means that happiness will take you away from me." Mrs. Song’s voice cracked slightly, but her resolve did not.

Song Chengfeng blinked, disoriented by the sudden shift in his mother’s words. His thoughts were already tangled, like threads knotted too tightly to unravel.

"What...?" he murmured, his brows drawing together in confusion.

Mrs. Song opened her eyes, locking her gaze with his. There was a quiet strength in her expression now, the kind only a mother possessed in the face of inevitable loss.

"If there’s ever a way for you to go to her world... then don’t hesitate," she said with a small, brave smile.

Mrs. Song’s words struck Song Chengfeng like thunder. He stared at her, stunned, but before he could voice the storm of questions rising within him, she pulled him into her arms and held him tightly.

"If she was able to come into this world, then that means... maybe, just maybe, you have a chance to go to hers." Her voice quivered, but she refused to cry.

"I don’t know how to help you find that path... but if the opportunity ever presents itself, take it. Chase it." Her embrace trembled, her arms wrapping tighter around the only child she had ever held in her arms since birth.

It broke her heart to even imagine letting him go. Mrs. Song knew, deep in her bones, that since the woman Song Chengfeng loved was not from this world. Then, her son’s heart and mind was also no longer in this world.

It was as if the earth itself had tilted, knocking her world off balance, breaking it apart piece by piece. Her heart fractured, caught in the grief of knowing her son’s happiness lay somewhere unreachable.

But Mrs. Song also understood. She saw it in his eyes—the way Song Chengfeng searched every corner of the world, always hoping to find a glimpse of Qi Jianyi again, even if reason told him it was impossible.

And so, as a mother, she chose to hope. To love without condition. To wish for his happiness, no matter what the cost.

Even if it meant losing him to another world.

On the other hand, as he stood in his mother’s arms, Song Chengfeng felt the haze in his mind slowly begin to clear. He let out a dry, helpless laugh and gently pulled back, looking into her eyes.

"Mom, even Qi Jianyi didn’t know how she ended up exchanging lives with Miss Qi. If she didn’t know... how could I possibly figure it out?" he said with a wry smile, brushing a hand through his disheveled hair.

"I just miss her," he added softly, as though the confession itself might shatter him if said too loud.

What he didn’t admit—what he couldn’t bring himself to say—was that the love he held for Qi Jianyi had become a slow, consuming ache. A flame that had no place to burn, slowly eating away at everything inside him.

Song Chengfeng had so much love—so much warmth—trapped within him, like flowing water. Unfortunately, he couldn’t give it to the flower he had fallen for and so it suffocated him.

So much love... yet the flower remained wilted.

"I’m okay. There are just days when I miss her too much," he said with a half-smile, trying to soothe his mother, to keep her from falling into another spiral of painful possibilities.

Though Song Chengfeng had never imagined himself telling his mother the truth about Qi Jianyi. About the world she came from. But at this moment, he felt lighter.

A burden, once locked deep inside his heart, had loosened.

For the first time in a long while, his heart breathed. At least now, someone knew.

Someone understood just how deeply, how endlessly, he loved Qi Jianyi.

And this love...would never stop flowing, always searching for its flower.

Closing his eyes, Song Chengfeng murmured in his heart. Jianyi, how are you?

The question sounded so simple yet he couldn’t get an answer. Knowing that, Song Chengfeng let out a heavy sigh and composed himself.

He didn’t want to falter in front of his mother. So he could only suffer in silence.