Chapter 49 What did she come back for? Is there anyone else like her...?

Fang Qing quickly perked up and stared intently at the three people walking towards her. When she saw the smile on Gu Chen'an's face, she found it incredibly irritating. This little brat always had a gloomy face when he was with her, as if everyone owed him money. Now, he was all smiles with an outsider. Fang Qing felt that he had betrayed her, and she couldn't accept it.

The resentment in her eyes was so intense that Ji Wei couldn't ignore it. However, she only glanced at it before looking away. She turned her head to look at Gu Chen'an next to her. Obviously, he had also seen it and was now biting his lip, looking helpless.

"Brother, what's wrong?" Lulu asked, puzzled. They were talking just fine, why did he suddenly stop?

"Mom, she's still there. What does she want to do?" Gu Chen'an unconsciously tightened his grip on Ji Wei's hand as he spoke. He was still afraid of Fang Qing, even though he had just convinced himself.

“No matter what she wants to do, no one can force you to do anything, Chen An, do you understand what I mean?” Ji Wei said gently.

Gu Chen'an didn't speak, but looked up at her with confusion and determination in his eyes. Ji Wei rubbed his head and said gently, "Chen'an, you have the right to say no to anyone."

As they drew closer, Fang Qing's confusion grew. She felt that Ji Wei looked familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen her before. When they reached the school gate, she composed herself and smiled at Gu Chen'an: "Chen'an, you're finally out of school. Mom has been waiting for you here for a long time."

Upon hearing this, Gu Chen'an retorted without hesitation, "I said you're not my mother."

"Who taught you to say that? I carried you for ten months and gave birth to you. If I'm not your mother, then who is?" Fang Qing's gaze fell on Ji Wei. Clearly, she attributed all of this to Ji Wei's instigation.

Ji Wei patted Gu Chen'an's shoulder, signaling him not to speak. She looked up at Fang Qing and asked gently, "Did you come here specifically to visit Chen'an?"

"Who are you?" Fang Qing still couldn't believe that Gu Zhiyuan had remarried.

"I am Gu Zhiyuan's current wife, Ji Wei," Ji Wei introduced herself.

Ji Wei—this name quickly reminded Fang Qing of why she felt she looked familiar. She was Gu Chen'an's teacher. Gu Zhiyuan had actually remarried her? How could this have happened? This hadn't happened in her past life. Fang Qing stared intently at Ji Wei, as if trying to find the answer from her.

"Mom, she looks so fierce." Lulu approached Ji Wei somewhat fearfully.

“Ms. Fang, we should go home now. I think you should discuss your visit to Chen An with Gu Zhiyuan first,” Ji Wei reminded her to make way.

"Wait, I need to talk to Chen'an." Fang Qing had considered making a scene, but remembering Gu Zhiyuan's cold gaze during the divorce, she quickly calmed down. No child would genuinely like their stepmother, so her priority now was to repair her relationship with Gu Chen'an.

"Chen'an, are you willing?" Ji Wei asked Gu Chen'an, looking down at him.

"No." Gu Chen'an shook his head; he didn't want to talk to Fang Qing.

"As you can see, the child is unwilling. Perhaps we could go back and talk to Chen'an about it?" Before figuring out Fang Qing's true intentions, Ji Wei still needed to put on a show.

"Teacher Ji, are you preventing me from seeing my son?" Fang Qing deliberately emphasized the last few words.

“It’s not that I’m unwilling, it’s that Chen’an is unwilling. The child is grown up, and we should respect the child’s wishes,” Ji Wei explained to her.

"Mom, let's go back first." Gu Chen'an still remembered Fang Qing's unreasonable behavior. This was a school, and he didn't want to embarrass his mother.

“Okay, let’s go back now.” Ji Wei nodded, then looked at Fang Qing and said in a gentle tone, “I’ll take the child back first, maybe he’ll agree tomorrow?” As Ji Wei spoke, she glanced around Fang Qing. They hadn’t seen each other for months, and she said she came to see the child specifically, but she hadn’t bought anything. She really wasn’t willing to put on any pretense.

"Chen'an, wait a minute, it's your mother." Fang Qing stepped forward and grabbed Gu Chen'an's arm, but Gu Chen'an quickly broke free.

"Ms. Fang, if you keep doing this, I'm going to call for help." Ji Wei looked at her unhappily.

"What's wrong with me coming to see my son? It's you, Teacher Ji, who have stopped me time and time again. What are you up to?" Fang Qing's tone was full of accusation. What right did she have to interfere in their mother-son relationship?

“Of course I’m worried about Chen’an’s safety. After all, he had to see a psychologist for a whole semester because of your beatings and locking him in a dark room. I don’t want that to happen again.” This time, Ji Wei’s tone was unusually sharp.

"Stop talking nonsense." Fang Qing's first reaction was to deny it.

"You know best whether she's talking nonsense or not. Come to think of it, it's been almost a year since we divorced, and you haven't paid a single penny in child support. Did you come here this time to pay child support for Chen'an?" Gu Zhiyuan suddenly walked over.

"Dad, when did you get back?" Gu Chen'an asked with a look of surprise, while Lulu rushed straight towards him.

"I just got back. I was waiting for you at home, but you didn't come back, so I came to check on you." Gu Zhiyuan said, picking Lulu up in his arms.

"Then I'll leave this place to you?" Ji Wei didn't want to get involved in their affairs.

“No need. If she wants to see Chen’an, she should pay the monthly child support first.” Gu Zhiyuan said, taking Gu Chen’an’s hand with his other hand and giving him strength in secret.

"Gu Zhiyuan, you've remarried so quickly? You've been thinking about this for a while now, haven't you?" Fang Qing couldn't accept the fact that he had remarried, especially since she had gone to so much trouble to get here, only to be told that he had already remarried. How could they do this?!

“Even if it’s fast, it’s still legal and reasonable, but it can’t compare to your impatience.” Gu Zhiyuan rarely said such harsh words, but he naturally didn’t need to show any mercy to Fang Qing.

Fang Qing's face immediately turned bright red. She never expected that the person who had always been gentle and polite to her would say such a thing.

"It's time to go home." Gu Zhiyuan looked at Ji Wei, his eyes full of tenderness.

"Okay." Ji Wei smiled and followed them home.

Fang Qing felt rooted to the spot. She stared at the backs of the family of four ahead of her. Gu Zhiyuan was speaking gently to the girl in his arms, while the woman beside him and Chen An both had smiles on their faces. The scene looked so beautiful that she wanted to destroy it immediately, but reason told her that she couldn't. She had come back to win them back, and she needed to think carefully about what to do next.

After walking for a while, Gu Chen'an spoke softly, "Dad, why did she come back again?" He still remembered the look on her face when she couldn't wait to leave the day they got their divorce certificate.

"I'm not quite sure either." Gu Zhiyuan shook his head.

"Perhaps they really just came to see Chen An." Ji Wei denied it immediately after saying that. Even if they really did come to see Chen An, they must have some other purpose.

"Impossible." The father and son said in unison, a rare occurrence.

Ji Wei chuckled: "Then let's ignore her and just live our own little lives."

Gu Chen'an didn't say anything when he heard this. He couldn't explain why, but he just felt uncomfortable. He didn't want to see Fang Qing at all. Whenever he saw her, he would unconsciously think of the time when he was beaten and starved. That memory was one he didn't want to recall.

Ji Wei belatedly realized a possibility: Fang Qing must have regretted coming back, which is why she was so surprised to hear about Gu Zhiyuan's remarriage.

During their casual conversation, she shared her thoughts, and Gu Zhiyuan shook his head, calmly analyzing, "She probably won't regret it, after all, that's the person she's always wanted to marry. For that person, she was even willing to abandon her own son."

“You don’t understand. What you can’t have is always the best. Once you get it, it loses its allure. I think that’s her situation,” Ji Wei analyzed with him.

"That's her own business, it has nothing to do with us. Now that I think about it, I should thank her, thank her for giving Chen'an and me the opportunity to meet you." Gu Zhiyuan's tone was somewhat relaxed, and he was truly grateful to Fang Qing for this.

“I’m not worried about anything else, but I’m afraid Chen’an’s old illness will relapse,” Ji Wei reminded him.

"I will have a good talk with her." Gu Zhiyuan's expression also became serious. Gu Chen'an had finally become cheerful and confident, and he would not allow anyone to hurt him again, even if that person was his biological mother.

"Just keep it in mind." Ji Wei stopped there, knowing that it wouldn't be appropriate for her to say too much given the current situation.

*

Fang Qing used the only five yuan she had to eat a bowl of noodles, and then pawned a gold earring she had hidden at the hotel to get a place to stay. This was completely different from what she had expected, so her thoughts were in turmoil. In her original plan, she should have returned to the place where the father and son were currently staying that night. Gu Zhiyuan had compromised on various conditions for her for the sake of the child before, so he could do it again now. Therefore, the most important thing was Gu Chen'an's attitude, but that little brat seemed to like Ji Wei. What should she do? Fang Qing had never thought about pleasing Gu Chen'an. In her heart, she was the mother, and a mother could be above her child. No matter what she did, he had to accept it. This had always been Fang Qing's thinking, but now it seemed that pleasing Gu Chen'an was the only way. Although she subconsciously resisted it, when she touched her empty wallet, she had no choice but to compromise.

Recalling the bits and pieces of information she had heard in her previous life, Fang Qing became even more determined to win them back. She told herself that she couldn't rush things. So what if Gu Zhiyuan remarried? They still had a son together. Before she could convince herself, she suddenly thought of another possibility: what if one of them was in the same situation as her?