It was almost nine o’clock, which was considered late. Suizi’s heart jolted when Chen Lijun suddenly came for a late-night visit.
"Mom, what exactly happened? Please explain clearly."
"Fan Huang had a car accident, and he’s in the hospital now. Come with me."
Chen Lijun’s words made Suizi’s vision go black. Yu Jingting quickly supported her.
For Suizi, this was destined to be an extraordinary night.
Just a moment ago, she learned about her ancestry from Yu Jingting and found out that Fan Huang might be her biological father.
The next moment, Chen Lijun told her that Fan Huang had been in a car accident and his life was hanging in the balance.
Suizi’s emotions were in a roller coaster ride.
She barely had time to digest the shock of the previous news when her heart was plunged into a deep abyss. There was no time to say much. She hurriedly headed to the hospital with Chen Lijun.
On the way, Chen Lijun briefly explained the situation.
Fan Huang and his brother, Fan Hui, were in the car together heading back to see their father.
They were hit by a truck that suddenly emerged and both were rushed to the hospital, their lives hanging in the balance.
After receiving the news, Chen Lijun immediately came to find Suizi. Suizi had never seen Chen Lijun so anxious before.
In her eyes, her mother was always intimidatingly calm.
The Chen Lijun in Suizi’s eyes didn’t seem to belong to this world. She was more of an observer, always distancing herself from the world, hiding all of her emotions, calmly observing everything around her.
In Suizi’s opinion, Chen Lijun possessed the qualities of a female politician.
Decisive, tough, always maintaining a domineering demeanor. Forced by reality, she only thought about climbing higher without considering the costs, her only bit of tenderness reserved for her daughter, Suizi.
Even so, Suizi often felt uncomfortable with this suffocating maternal love.
But at this moment, Chen Lijun’s eyes were red. She held Suizi’s hand tightly the entire journey, and Suizi felt her mother’s sweaty palm, realizing that her mother too, could feel fear.
The current Chen Lijun appeared more human, shedding the armor required by her reality, revealing her softer side.
Seeing her mother in this state, Suizi’s concerns were instantly relieved.
Who her biological father was, no longer mattered.
"Mom," Suizi made up her mind.
With Chen Lijun still in a daze, thinking about getting to the hospital as quickly as possible and having Suizi there, should the worst happen, she would at least have the chance to call him ’dad’ once.
Suizi called her twice before Chen Lijun recovered, her eyes devoid of focus turning towards Suizi.
"If he makes it, the two of you should get married. I don’t mind having a father."
"I’m not in the mood to think about these things right now." Chen Lijun was taken aback and then felt a sting in her nose.
Suizi held her hand, soft yet strong, wanting to convey her resolve to her mother.
Chen Lijun ruminated over Suizi’s hand, reflecting back on a little hand from Suizi’s childhood.
The chubby little hand was always stubborn, insisting on being held. Her stubborn persistence caused much stress to Chen Lijun who, being cold by nature, didn’t like feeling suffocated, even by her own daughter. She wanted Suizi to be independent, able to survive the harsh, cruel world on her own, just like herself.
To achieve that, Chen Lijun put Suizi through rigorous training.
However, this life she created didn’t grow the way she hoped.
With her soft exterior and propensity to burst into tears at the slightest provocation, Chen Lijun had hoped that if she returned to the city, her daughter would soon develop a character like hers.
Then came along Yu Jingting, utterly spoiling Suizi. Whenever Suizi asked for a star, he would never pluck the moon for her. He would always be the first to throw himself into danger, never allowing Suizi to intervene.
Under this man’s unconditional pampering, Suizi’s character deviated further from what Chen Lijun had envisioned.
Chen Lijun gave Shen Liangyin to Suizi, hoping she would realize the cruelty of reality and force Suizi to cut off relations with Shen Liangyin altogether.
But instead, Suizi not only didn’t cut off relations with Shen Liangyin, but they became best friends.
Suizi had only been in the capital for a month, but Shen Liangyin had already sent her two letters and a box full of local products.
For convenience, the package was sent to Chen Lijun’s office. When she received the package and saw the sender’s name, Shen Liangyin, she fell into deep thought... She felt her daughter was probably spoiled by Yu Jingting, turning into a meek little lamb.
Yet this meek little lamb suddenly stood up now, expressing her attitude towards Chen Lijun in an unprecedentedly firm tone.
"If he pulls through, you two should get married. We don’t have another twenty years to waste. If you’re worried about me, there’s no need."
Suizi squeezed her mother’s hand, each word strong and clear.
"Whether I’m alone against the Fan family or fighting the whole clan, I can handle it."
"You couldn’t handle a single Shen Liangyin, and you still want to fight a whole family?" Chen Lijun had never seen her daughter so bold.
"Mom, Suizi can do it." Yu Jingting, who had been quietly driving, suddenly spoke up.
"How long do you plan on helping her?" Chen Lijun asked.
"She doesn’t need my help. She can handle it alone. You underestimate your daughter. It’s not that she can’t sever ties with Shen Liangyin, she just doesn’t want to."
Yu Jingting, normally all laughs, was unusually serious when pronouncing these words.
"I protect her because she’s my woman and I enjoy doing these things for her. But even without me, she could deal with any problems on her own. I’m just the cherry on top, not her savior in tough times."
He acknowledged Suizi’s attractiveness and competence and didn’t hide his admiration for her.
"Mom, not everyone has to be like you to be considered outstanding. You’re outstanding in your way, and my wife is outstanding in hers. They’re not in conflict—of course, if we had to rank, I think my wife is even more powerful. She slowly and softly cuts people down, leaving them neither dead nor alive, which is even worse."
"..." Chen Lijun was left speechless from their onslaught of sweet talk.
"Instead of wasting your time arguing with me, save your energy. If he pulls through, that’s great. But if he doesn’t—" Chen Lijun’s voice choked up, unable to continue.
She had never considered a day when the man who would come running whenever she called might not be around.
"If he doesn’t make it, I’ll find out who’s behind this. I’ll chase them to the ends of the earth and make them pay with their blood. I promise."
On the usually mild Suizi’s face, there was now a look of severity.