Great Power Reclamation

Chapter 2995 Can Past Grudges Really Be Held Back?

Spring in northern Xinjiang still carries a chill, especially in the Gobi Desert near the border, which has just been designated as a "moderate restoration zone" by the "anti-aging" project.

Ye Qianqian led a work group from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps to inspect the ecological restoration situation, accompanied by several cadres in charge of agricultural and pastoral reforms.

The sky was initially just overcast, but the weather in the Gobi Desert can change in an instant. On the distant horizon, a yellowish-brown sand wall rose up without warning and advanced at an astonishing speed.

A sudden gust of wind swept in, whipping up sand and gravel that pelted the convoy.

"Sandstorm! Quick! Find shelter!" the experienced driver shouted.

In the chaos, Ye Qianqian's convoy was forced to scatter. Her off-road vehicle struggled through the sandstorm with almost zero visibility, finally stopping behind a leeward dirt slope, but the engine stalled due to ingesting too much sand.

The wind howled furiously, as if it would devour the entire world.

Inside the car, Ye Qianqian, her secretary, and the driver huddled together, feeling the car shaking violently.

Radio signals were intermittent, and all that was known was that the other vehicles had also found temporary shelters, but their exact locations were unknown.

"Mr. Ye, this sandstorm isn't going to stop anytime soon, and we only have a limited supply on the truck..." The secretary's voice was tense.

Just as everyone's hearts were heavy, two extremely penetrating beams of light pierced through the dim yellow sand outside the car window, accompanied by the deep roar of the off-road engine.

A clearly modified, dusty but still rugged off-road vehicle, like a steel behemoth, struggled to approach against the sandstorm and finally came to a steady stop next to their car.

The car door opened, and a tall figure wearing the "Reverse Aging" project uniform, goggles, and a sand mask jumped out of the car. He staggered against the wind to Ye Qianqian's car window and knocked hard.

Ye Qianqian's heart skipped a beat; the figure was all too familiar. She rolled down the car window, and a gust of wind carrying sand rushed in.

"Get out of the car! Follow me! There's an abandoned temporary sheepfold ahead; it's safer than inside the car!"

The newcomer pulled down his sand-proof mask, revealing Yang Wei's face, weathered by wind and sand yet exceptionally resolute. His voice was somewhat distorted by the howling wind, but carried an undeniable power.

There was no time to hesitate. Ye Qianqian, along with her secretary and driver, followed Yang Wei, almost crawling against the wind for about a hundred meters, before entering a low, abandoned sheep pen built of adobe bricks and stones.

The space inside was small and filled with the smell of dust and hay, but at least it kept out the hellish sandstorms outside.

Yang Wei's driver unloaded some drinking water, compressed biscuits, an emergency power supply, and a small heater from the car.

He put his things down, gave Yang Wei a wink, and then naturally pulled Ye Qianqian's secretary and driver into a small cubicle further inside the sheepfold, ostensibly to "discuss the follow-up contact plan," leaving the main space to Yang Wei and Ye Qianqian.

The heater emitted a faint warmth, dispelling the chill. Outside the sheepfold, the howling of the wind and sand continued, like a stampede of ten thousand horses. Inside, however, an eerie silence prevailed.

The two sat down against the earthen wall, covered in dust and looking somewhat disheveled. Since deciding not to remarry, they had rarely had such moments of complete solitude, with nowhere to escape.

"How did you end up here?" Ye Qianqian patted the sand off her head and broke the silence, her voice a little hoarse.

“There’s a comparative test site for ‘Shayuan No. 1’ here. The data is a bit abnormal, so I came to take a look.”

Yang Wei unscrewed a bottle of water and handed it to Ye Qianqian, saying, "But you, why would you run to the border in such a sandstorm?"

"Work waits for no one." Ye Qianqian took the water and took a small sip.

After a brief exchange, silence returned. Only the howling of the wind and sand outside and the faint hum of the heater could be heard.

An awkward atmosphere filled the air. Ye Qianqian unconsciously twirled her empty ring finger, a little habit she had when she was thinking.

Yang Wei's gaze fell on her fingers, and his eyes dimmed slightly.

He hesitated for a moment, as if he had made up his mind, and then took out a small, flat object wrapped in oilcloth from the pocket of his shirt.

"Here you go." He handed it over, his voice a little hoarse.

Ye Qianqian took it with a puzzled look and opened the oilcloth. Inside lay the wedding ring she had taken off years ago, which she thought was long gone.

The ring was polished to a fine shine, shimmering faintly in the dim light of the heater.

She suddenly looked up at Yang Wei, her eyes filled with shock and confusion.

Yang Wei didn't look at her; his gaze was fixed on the flickering flame of the heater, and his voice was low:
"That day... you left it on the dressing table. When I was tidying up, I... I put it away. I didn't mean anything by it, I just felt... it would be a waste to throw it away."

Ye Qianqian's fingers gripped the slightly cool ring tightly, her knuckles turning white.

She remembered the despair she felt when she took it off, and she also remembered the silence of the man in front of her as he signed the divorce papers.

"And you?" Ye Qianqian suddenly asked, her voice trembling slightly, a tremor she herself didn't even realize. "Wang Xiaomeng...she..."

Yang Wei took a deep breath, finally turned his head, and looked at Ye Qianqian with a complicated expression:

“Last month, she voluntarily applied to be transferred to the Southeast Asia project department. Before she left, she asked someone to give me a box.”

He took out a small wooden box from his tool bag and opened it.

Inside were not the private items one might expect, but a small box of common railway ballast (small stones used for laying railway tracks), along with a note.

By the light, Ye Qianqian saw that the note contained only one line of neat handwriting: "I heard you're looking for basic samples of new carbon-fixing materials. Try this. Take care."

Wang Xiaomeng completely withdrew from their lives in such an extremely dignified and resolute way, even leaving behind a "gift".

She protected her love, and she also protected her own dignity and future.

Ye Qianqian looked at the box of ballast, then at the wedding ring she had found again, and her eyes instantly welled up with tears.

She finally understood that Yang Wei keeping the ring and Wang Xiaomeng choosing to leave were both putting an end to the past in their own ways, and also clumsily and tentatively leaving a gap for some new possibility.

"I'm sorry for all these years." Yang Wei's voice choked up. "I've made mistakes too. There are many things I haven't done well."

Ye Qianqian's tears finally fell. She shook her head, wanting to say something, but she couldn't speak.

All the grievances, estrangement, and misunderstandings seemed to begin to slowly melt away in this small, isolated space, witnessed by the endless sandstorm.

The sandstorm gradually subsided before dawn. When the rescue convoy finally found the abandoned sheepfold, they saw Yang Wei and Ye Qianqian sitting side by side by the earthen wall, covered with the same thermal blanket.

Although there were still no intimate words exchanged, the cold distance between them that had persisted for years seemed to have thinned considerably.

Shortly after returning to the military reclamation city, Ayijiang went to Ye Qianqian's office. She put down an old file folder.

"Qianqian, there's something that's been weighing on my mind for many years."

Ayijiang's expression was serious. "Regarding the Wang Yifan incident back then, I later used some connections and found out some things."

She opened the file folder, which contained several yellowed photocopies of interrogation records and a few blurry surveillance screenshots.

"That night, your chance encounter with Wang Yifan and your drunkenness were actually deliberately arranged. A remittance from overseas was even received for this purpose." "And the remitter had close ties with a company that was bidding against its subsidiary for an important plot of land at the time."

Ye Qianqian looked up abruptly, her eyes filled with disbelief.

"Of course, it's true that Wang Yifan has feelings for you, otherwise he wouldn't have been taken advantage of. But that seemingly 'accidental' night was a carefully designed scheme to sow discord between you and Yang Wei, to damage the company owned by his children, and even to affect Dad and Uncle Ye Yuze."

Ayijiang sighed, "We've all misunderstood Wang Yifan. At least, it wasn't entirely his fault. Perhaps the thorn in Yang Wei's heart... was stuck in the wrong place."

Ye Qianqian stared blankly at the evidence, her mind in turmoil. So, the deepest rift between them actually began with a meticulously planned conspiracy?

This news is like the last key, perhaps it can unlock that long-rusted lock on my heart.

After breaking the ice, can they rebuild? The answer lies in their own hands. But at least, a crack has appeared in the ice, and sunlight is finally shining through.

The news brought by Ayijiang was like a boulder thrown into a deep pool, stirring up a tidal wave in Ye Qianqian's heart.

She sat alone in her office for a long time, her fingertips icy cold, repeatedly stroking the yellowed photocopy of the transcript.

It turns out that the poisonous thorn that almost completely tore apart her relationship with Yang Wei was actually the root of such a despicable scheme.

Anger, resentment, lingering fear, and a complex mix of emotions towards Wang Yifan left her feeling utterly confused.

She didn't go to find Yang Wei immediately. This matter was too complicated; she needed to calm down.

She locked the files in the safe and forced herself to immerse herself in her busy work, but the truth of "that night," like background noise, kept swirling deep in her mind.

On the other side, after the sandstorm night, Yang Wei clearly felt that something like solid ice on Ye Qianqian's body was melting.

Although she remained busy and maintained the composure of a leader, the way she looked at him had less of the deliberate aloofness and more of a subtle... probing, or even a hint of hesitation.

He began to try making some subtle changes, such as occasionally sending her messages to remind her to eat on time, or communicating with her more naturally in front of the children.

That evening, Yang Wei, unusually, had no social engagements and returned home on time.

Ye Qianqian also turned down a less important meeting. At the dinner table, the atmosphere was no longer the usual "performance" purely for the children, but rather a more genuine, slightly awkward warmth.

Yang Chenglong excitedly recounted the project he had prepared for the school's science and technology festival, which was a simple experiment on using plants to remediate soil contaminated with heavy metals—clearly influenced by the "anti-aging" plan.

"Dad, could I have a look at the root exudate data from your 'Shayuan No. 1'?" the son asked, his eyes sparkling.

Yang Wei paused for a moment, looking at his son's features that resembled Ye Qianqian's, a warm feeling welled up in his heart, and he nodded:
"Okay, I'll have the data team send it to you."

Ye Qianqian listened quietly, a faint smile on her lips.

As she watched Yang Wei patiently answer her son's questions, and noticed the few gray hairs that had appeared at his temples, the shock she felt from Ayijiang resurfaced.

After dinner, Yang Chenglong went to his room to do his homework. Only the two of them remained in the living room. The news was playing on television, its sound serving to fill the silence.

Ye Qianqian picked up her teacup, her fingers tightening slightly, as if she had made up her mind. Looking at the television screen, she spoke softly, seemingly unintentionally, her voice low but clearly reaching Yang Wei's ears:

"Sister Ayijiang... came to see me a few days ago."

Yang Wei paused in his pouring of water, nearly spilling it. He hummed in response, not looking up, waiting for her to continue. He knew that Ayijiang's appearance was definitely not just for casual conversation.

Ye Qianqian paused for a few seconds, as if organizing her thoughts, but ultimately chose the most direct approach:
"She said... she found some old information about... Wang Yifan's incident back then." She didn't look at Yang Wei, but she could feel his body stiffen instantly.

"The data shows that that night, it might... it might not have been entirely a coincidence," she said with difficulty.

Yang Wei suddenly raised his head, his eyes blazing as he stared intently at Ye Qianqian: "What do you mean?"

Ye Qianqian took a deep breath and finally turned to meet his gaze, her eyes filled with complex emotions:

"Someone may have taken advantage of Wang Yifan, and also... my situation at the time. Their purpose is not entirely clear, but it is highly likely that it is aimed at you, your affiliated companies, or even more broadly."

Yang Wei slammed the water glass down on the coffee table with a loud thud. His face instantly darkened, and his chest heaved violently.

For years, the scene from that night has been a nightmare, the most untouchable taboo in his heart, and the source of all his anger, humiliation, and alienation.

Now, suddenly someone is telling him that all of this might be the result of a conspiracy?
"Where's the evidence?" His voice was hoarse, filled with suppressed anger.

“Some indirect evidence points to a competitor who was bidding against us at the time.”

Ye Qianqian selectively told him some of the information that Ayijiang had revealed, without mentioning more sensitive details such as overseas remittances.

Yang Wei fell silent, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. He wasn't stupid; after years of navigating the business world, he'd seen it all.

If what Ye Qianqian said is true... then what about all the torment he and Ye Qianqian have endured over the years? What about the deep-seated distrust and resentment he has developed towards Ye Qianqian because of this?
A tremendous sense of absurdity and powerlessness gripped him.

In the following days, Yang Wei became unusually silent. He still left early and returned late, busy with his "anti-aging" work, but there was something heavy in the depths of his eyes.

He began to involuntarily recall the details of that year, Wang Yifan's later fate, and Ye Yuze's decisiveness in taking action... Many previously vague clues seemed to connect at this moment.

He did not immediately "forgive" Ye Qianqian. Years of estrangement and hurt cannot be easily erased with a single message.

Moreover, even if she was being used, Ye Qianqian's drunkenness that night and her bringing Wang Yifan home are still facts.

However, the nature of the thorn that was deepest in his heart had fundamentally changed.

He went from being labeled a "betrayer" to a "victim of a scheme." This forced him to conduct a thorough and painful re-examination of Ye Qianqian, himself, and the entire incident.

One late night, Yang Wei passed by Ye Qianqian's bedroom door again and noticed light coming through the crack. He hesitated for a moment, and for the first time, instead of going straight back to his own room, he raised his hand and gently knocked on the door.

There was a moment of silence inside the door, then Ye Qianqian's voice came: "Please come in."

Yang Wei pushed open the door and saw Ye Qianqian leaning against the headboard reading a book, the soft glow of the lamp casting a gentle light on her face. She was somewhat surprised to see him.

Yang Wei stood at the door without going in. After a moment of silence, he said in a low voice, "I know about that matter." He didn't say "I believe you" or "I forgive you," he just said "I know."

Ye Qianqian looked at him, understood the complex emotions in his eyes, nodded, and didn't say anything more.

"It's getting late, go to sleep." Yang Wei said, then gently closed the door.

A simple "I understand," a brief knock on the door late at night—it seemed as if nothing had changed, yet something had begun to subtly loosen.

Wang Xiaomeng's presence still lingers between them, a distance caused by years of separation, and the busyness and pressure brought by their respective careers.

But at least for the first time, they achieved some degree of information synchronization regarding that most deadly "poisonous sting," and began to try to face the common enemy hidden in the past together.

The faint light shining through the crack, though weak, was enough to illuminate the first step taken to start anew.