Cheng Yuwen stood by the side as tears streamed down his face.
In between his cries, he said, “She had a tough life.”
Zong Jinghao stood by the door and did not go inside. He lowered his head, letting his hair fall to cover his face.
“I remember on her twentieth birthday, our parents passed away and I was arrested. She went around alone, trying to get me out…” Cheng Yuwen choked.
He continued, “I didn’t know at the time, but I found out later that she made a deal with a woman to prevent me from going to jail. That woman was Wen Xian. She gave my sister a large sum of money to cover the debts, so I didn’t have to go to jail. Then, my sister left Baicheng with Wen Xian. Wen Xian had no love for her husband. Her heart belonged to someone else, but she felt sorry for her husband, so she sent Yuxiu to her husband, hoping they would fall in love with each other instead.
Afterward, Yuxiu got pregnant, and Wen Xian wanted to give the baby a rightful identity, so she falsely announced that she herself was pregnant. As soon as the baby was born, it was brought to Wen Xian, and the baby became hers. Unfortunately, Wen Qing discovered the relationship between Zong Qifeng and Yuxiu. He thought that Yuxiu seduced Zong Qifeng while Wen Xian was pregnant.
At that time, Wen Jin was still in power, and he was very influential, so Wen Qing was fearless. He captured Yuxiu and forced her to call Zong Qifeng to break up with him. Yuxiu refused. He heard about Yuxiu’s first love somehow and brought Bai Hongfei in front of her, using him to threaten her. Left with no choice, she could only call Zong Qifeng and tell him that she still loves Bai Hongfei and decided to leave him.
But in actuality, she did not leave and was locked up by Wen Qing for six years… Later, Wenxian discovered that she did not run away with Bai Hongfei but was locked up by Wen Qing, and she forced Wen Qing to let her go. As six years had passed, Wen Qing thought that Yuxiu’s and Zong Qifeng’s feelings for each other should be gone.
And since Wen Xian and Zong Qifeng’s child had grown up, Wen Qing promised to let her go. Yuxiu was locked up for six years, which was more than two thousand days and nights. She had just given birth when Wen Qing caught her, and that ordeal damaged her body. As a result, she could no longer bear children, and she suffered mentally. She only got better after a year.
Later, Yuxiu married Zong Qifeng to stay with her son, but Wen Qing objected to the marriage unless she agrees to his condition, and that was for her to offer the handicrafts handed down by our family ancestors. As for how Wen Xian died, I have no clue.”
With reddened eyes, Cheng Yuwen raised his head to look at Zong Jinghao, who was standing by the door. He cried as he added, “The woman lying there, covered with a white cloth, is your biological mother.”
He emphasized, “She carried you in her body for ten months, endured severe labor pains during childbirth, and gave birth to you.”
Zong Jinghao kept his head lowered, but his body was slightly trembling.
Just then, Zong Qifeng stood up. his eyes were clouded as he carefully put down Cheng Yuxiu’s hand. Although he was reluctant, and his heart ached, he finally let her hand go. He looked at Cheng Yuwen and said, “Let’s go out and let him have some time with her and acknowledge her as his… She had waited for a lifetime…”
Cheng Yuwen wiped his face with his hands and walked out of the ward. Shen Peichuan was standing in the corridor outside and he heard Cheng Yuwen’s words just now. He was shocked to learn that Cheng Yuxiu was Zong Jinghao’s biological mother.
At that moment, he was worried about Zong Jinghao and how he would face that truth.
When Zong Qifeng passed by Zong Jinghao’s side, he stopped and rested his hand on his shoulder, saying, “Don’t let her go with regrets.”
Giving his son’s shoulders a hard squeeze, he added, “She waited for a lifetime, and she couldn’t get her wish fulfilled when she was alive. Don’t let her go with regrets now.”
After speaking, Zong Qifeng walked out of the ward and closed the door behind him. The moment the door was closed, it felt like the ward had been cut off from the world, with the door acting as a barrier.
The whole ward was quiet without a single sound.
Zong Jinghao’s body was shaking more severely, and he slid down along the wall to sit on the ground.
With his arms across his knees and his head buried between them, no one could see the expression he was hiding nor the tears he was shedding.
However, his tears slid across his cheeks and dripped to the ground.
At that moment, Zong Jinghao didn’t have the courage to take a look at her.
When Lin Xinyan woke up, the smell of disinfectant filled her nose, and she saw that she was wearing a medical gown. She remembered that Cheng Yuxiu blocked the falling billboard with her body and saved her. Cheng Yuxiu was injured very badly at the time, and Lin Xinyan wondered how she was now.
She lifted the quilt away and got out of bed when she noticed that her calf was hurting. She pulled up her trousers to check and saw the injury on her leg. She remembered that her leg was stuck, and she could not move in the van.
My leg must have been injured at that time, but the injury seemed to have been dealt with.
She slowly walked out of the ward and saw that there were no ongoing operations. Grabbing hold of a nurse, she asked, “Excuse me, may I know how is the patient who was sent in from a car accident today?”
The nurse glanced at her and pointed to another corridor, saying, “She’s in that ward.”
“Thank you,” Lin Xinyan said and breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that there should be no major issues if Cheng Yuxiu was sent to a ward. Feeling relieved, she walked towards the ward. When she saw Shen Peichuan standing in the corridor. she hastened her pace.
“Peichuan,” Lin Xinyan called out.
Shen Peichuan came over to support her and asked, “Are you all right?”
She nodded in response and asked, “Is he here?”
Shen Peichuan replied with a low hum.
Lin Xinyan felt something was amiss in his tone and she looked up at Shen Peichuan.
“You knew, right?” Shen Peichuan asked.
“What?” she asked, puzzled.
“That Cheng Yuxiu is Jinghao’s biological mother,” he muttered.
She immediately had a bad premonition and instinctively grabbed Shen Peichuan’s arm, asking, “Does he know?”
Shen Peichuan nodded.
Lin Xinyan breathed a sigh of relief as she thought it might be good that Zong Jinghao found out the truth. Although it might be difficult for him to face the truth initially, at the very least, it’s a step forward in Zong Jinghao and Cheng Yuxiu’s relationship.
Besides, Cheng Yuxiu’s injured now, and she would need someone to take care of her.
“I’ll go in and take a look,” Lin Xinyan said as she walked towards the ward.
Before she could go in, however, Shen Peichuan grabbed her and said in a low voice, “Jinghao is inside. Cheng Yuxiu did not survive. We should give him some space.”
Lin Xinyan’s eyes widened, and she questioned, “W-what did you say?”
Cheng Yuxiu did not survive?
An intense pain hit her in a wave, causing her body to twitch and her stomach to tighten. Lin Xinyan suddenly felt nauseous.
Clutching her chest, she squatted on the ground.
Shen Peichuan was startled and he clasped her shoulders as he asked, “Are you okay? Do you want me to call for a doctor?”
Lin Xinyan shook her head and answered, “It’s just that my heart hurts too much… If my heart hurts so much, what about him?”
She looked up at the closed door, and tears started streaming down her cheeks. Choking, she repeated, “Peichuan, what about him?”
