Chapter 273 - 268: Meeting
Yu Huannian watched Yu Zhen Guo weeping as he clutched the photograph and handed him a tissue.
"You’re getting old, don’t cry." Yu Huannian looked at Yu Zhen Guo, offering an awkward attempt at comfort. ’If he cries himself to death, I won’t know how to explain it to Mom.’
Yu Zhen Guo looked at Yu Shuzhen in the photo. How could he not be heartbroken? Before, he had only heard about Shuzhen’s ordeal from others.
But now, seeing her stooped spine and a face so drastically different from his memory, the pain was worse than death.
To think his only daughter had been tortured into this state.
"Stop crying. It’s bad for your health." Seeing Yu Zhen Guo sobbing uncontrollably, Yu Huannian directly snatched the photo from his hand and forcefully escorted him back to his room.
Yu Zhen Guo looked at Yu Huannian, tears welling up in his eyes.
Yu Huannian frowned at the sight. ’Maybe it would be safer to just take him to the hospital.’
"Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?!" Yu Zhen Guo was startled when Yu Huannian suddenly lifted him onto his back.
"To the hospital."
"Hey, you kid! I’m fine..."
Carrying him on his back, Yu Huannian had Yu Zhen Guo’s men drive them straight to the hospital.
In the middle of the night, before he’d even had a chance to touch his bed, Yu Zhen Guo was sent to the hospital by Yu Huannian.
Yu Huannian had a doctor check him over. Seeing there were no major issues, he sat down on a nearby stool.
"If you want to cry, just cry."
Only then did Yu Zhen Guo understand what Yu Huannian meant. He was afraid the old man would suddenly die at home.
A helpless expression crossed his face, but he also felt a warmth in his heart. He had been through thick and thin, after all; he could handle this.
Yu Zhen Guo leaned back against the headboard. No matter how much guilt and self-blame he felt, it couldn’t change a thing. All he could do now was take good care of Shuzhen’s two children.
When Jiang Li woke up in the morning and learned that Yu Huannian had taken Yu Zhen Guo to the hospital, she was shocked.
’He just got here and something already happened?’
Jiang Li rushed to the hospital. Pushing open the door, she saw Yu Zhen Guo sitting on the hospital bed, perfectly fine.
Yu Zhen Guo heard the noise and looked over at her. "It’s just that boy Xiao Nian making a mountain out of a molehill. I’m fine."
Jiang Li finally breathed a sigh of relief and took everyone home at noon.
"Old Commander, you have a phone call..."
One of Yu Zhen Guo’s men handed him a cell phone.
"I’m not taking it. Go tell Hong Qian not to bother me. As for the others, hmph, let them bear the consequences themselves."
Yu Zhen Guo snorted coldly and sat on the nearby sofa. Watching Yu Huannian busy in the kitchen, his heart swelled with gratification.
’This child is truly wonderful in every way. He can cook, he’s filial, and he’s accomplished.’
In the afternoon, Jiang Li looked at Shao Zhenhua’s ashes and thought of that woman.
Everything was over. It was time to go see her.
When Jiang Li came out holding the urn, she saw Lu Xingye had been waiting at the door for a long time.
"Let’s go. I’ll take you," Lu Xingye said, pulling open the car door. It was a new car he had just gotten.
Jiang Li got into the car, holding the urn.
"The other senior’s ashes have already been sent to the Martyrs’ Cemetery," Lu Xingye said with a glance.
Jiang Li nodded and saw Li Xiaoru in the corner, clutching a doll.
Li Xiaoru’s eyes sparkled as she looked at her, but she obediently said nothing.
Arriving at the psychiatric hospital, Jiang Li got out of the car. Her heart heavy, she walked inside. Her mind was a complete blank the whole way; she didn’t know what she would say.
And she didn’t know how to face her.
’I don’t blame her. The true culprit was Kun Sha; it had nothing to do with Song Shujing. As for being trafficked, how could a woman who couldn’t even protect herself have protected me?’
Jiang Li’s gaze fell on the urn. ’How tragic. This family is so tragic.’
"We’re here." Lu Xingye’s voice interrupted her thoughts.
Jiang Li looked up at the door in front of them.
Lu Xingye stood beside her, silently waiting for her to make a decision.
Jiang Li took a deep breath, gripped the doorknob, and pushed the door open. In the corner, a woman was cradling a doll, her gaze full of love as she sang a lullaby.
"The stars in the sky don’t speak, the baby on the ground misses its mama..."
Jiang Li stood frozen, staring blankly at the scene.
Rocking back and forth, Song Shujing looked toward the door. CLANG. The doll in her hands fell to the floor.
She opened her mouth but couldn’t get a single word out. Then, in a panic, she scrambled to hide under the bed.
Jiang Li froze for a moment, then walked forward. She could faintly hear a voice coming from under the bed.
"Bad mother. I’m a bad mother."
Jiang Li clenched her fists. She set the urn aside, knelt down, and met her gaze.
Song Shujing stared at her blankly as large tears rolled down her face. She shrank back, pressing herself against the wall.
She didn’t dare to see her.
Jiang Li swallowed hard. "Kun Sha is dead. I brought Shao Zhenhua’s ashes back. I thought I should come and tell you."
"No, don’t come closer... Don’t..."
Hearing Kun Sha’s name, Song Shujing instantly became agitated and crawled out from under the bed.
"Go, hurry and go! He’s coming! He’s a bad man!"
Trembling with fear, Song Shujing still moved forward to push Jiang Li, trying to shove her out of the room.
Jiang Li looked at Song Shujing from up close and reached out to hug her. "It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t be afraid."
Kun Sha looked at the familiar person before him. "So Zhu Yan didn’t die..."
Jiang Li’s gaze turned cold as she looked over. In the next second, Kun Sha’s soul trembled, having been taught another lesson.
Under Jiang Li’s comforting presence, Song Shujing gradually calmed down. Then, she pushed Jiang Li away and turned her back to her.
Jiang Li looked at her trembling back and wondered. ’Is she thinking that if she hadn’t married Shao Zhenhua and hadn’t given birth to me, maybe Kun Sha would never have targeted her?’
Song Shujing saw the small box on the table and whispered, "Brother Hua."
Lu Xingye leaned against the wall, his eyes red. His parents had also died at the hands of those people.
Jiang Li looked at Song Shujing. ’She doesn’t want to see me. Should I leave?’
Jiang Li pressed her lips together and shifted her feet.
Hearing footsteps behind her preparing to leave, Song Shujing whipped her head around. She looked at Jiang Li, reluctant to see her go, but couldn’t find the words to ask her to stay.
’Am I crazy? Maybe I am.’
But the scenes from that year tormented her, replaying endlessly in her mind. That day, she had received good news: Brother Hua said they had tracked down Kun Sha.
Once this mission was over, their family could be reunited. He would retire and come back to be with her and their child, to give them a real home.
They were both looking forward to it. She was so happy that day. She went into town to buy a small cake for Little Treasure, but on her way back, she was targeted by Kun Sha.
He had followed the villagers back and moved into the house next door, Uncle Li’s place.
She had been very cautious at the time, not letting Little Treasure go outside. She didn’t know how Kun Sha found out.
No one in the village knew about her relationship with Shao Zhenhua; they only knew she was a widow raising a child.
She was careful, so very careful, but the accident still happened. That night, she heard Brother Li and the others crying for help.
Uncle Li had been very good to her, so she wanted to go check. But when she did, she saw Kun Sha’s men killing Brother Li. Just as Uncle Li was about to suffer the same fate, she tried to go get help, but Kun Sha discovered her.
She was locked inside and tortured for three days.
When she woke up, the men were gone. She returned home, but her child was gone too.
In that moment, she felt as if she’d been struck by lightning. She didn’t know how to face Shao Zhenhua. She searched for her child like a madwoman, but no one had seen anything, no one knew anything.
Later, when she heard the news of Shao Zhenhua’s sacrifice, she felt like she lost her mind.
She couldn’t remember what Uncle Li told her; she just numbly followed his arrangements.
Afterward, she remarried. As her belly grew bigger each day, she felt a sense of déja vu, as if this had happened before.
On the day she gave birth, she remembered. She had another child. The child she had lost.
For that entire month, she stared blankly at the baby in the swaddling clothes. It was a boy—a child who shouldn’t have been born.
On the day of the full moon celebration, it was very lively outside. ’Why are they celebrating so loudly?’
Her gaze fell on the child. She remembered everything that had happened, and without hesitation, she strangled him.
The infant’s cries attracted everyone from outside. He had started breathing again.
Seeing his chest rise and fall, she thrashed like a madwoman, breaking free from the people holding her back. She lunged forward and squeezed his throat until he stopped breathing for good.
After that, she was sent here. She never saw the child she had lost again.