"What?" I was standing a bit far away, so I actually heard it, but I pretended not to.

Jiang Haiyang turned to look at me, his eyes sharp and angry. "Jiang Wan, that's enough!"

"Brother, let's go!" I called to the driver again.

"Agreed, we agree! Jiang Wan, your father and I will kneel down and apologize together, is that alright?" Tang Xiu'e shouted loudly, without a trace of arrogance.

I sighed and turned around: "If you had figured it out sooner, you would be almost back in the city by now."

I walked back, took out my phone, and said, "Since you agree, let's begin."

I walked to the tombstone and looked at the portraits of my mother and grandfather. My heart was heavy. "Mom, Grandpa... Jiang Haiyang and his wife have come to apologize to you. It's all my fault for being useless. It took so many years for them to apologize. You can rest in peace over there."

I turned on my phone's video recording function and pointed it at the two of them.

Tang Xiu'e hesitated for a while before slowly kneeling down in front of the tombstone, and then helped Jiang Haiyang kneel down as well.

Jiang Haiyang kept his head down, refusing to look at the tombstone.

"Kneel down, say you were wrong, apologize." My face was cold. At this moment, the hatred in my heart was surging, but it did not dissipate.

After a brief standoff, Tang Xiu'e and Jiang Haiyang bowed and kowtowed together.

"You need to kowtow three times," I reminded him.

They kowtowed three times, and Jiang Haiyang almost couldn't stand up straight. Tang Xiu'e helped him up.

I didn't soften my stance and reminded them again, "If you don't speak up, kowtowing won't do any good."

In the silence, Jiang Haiyang's hoarse and listless voice came through: "He Xiangyun, I'm sorry, I was wrong..."

I had been recording them with my phone the whole time, and when I heard that apology, my nose tingled and tears streamed down my face.

The image of my mother before her death flashed through my mind. She was crying, on her deathbed, and unable to speak. But I knew that she was extremely unwilling, extremely regretful, and extremely unable to let go of me.

Mother……

I murmured to myself, "Can you see this? Your daughter has grown up. She's capable now, able to protect herself, protect her grandmother, and even avenge you and your grandfather."

Before I knew it, tears blurred my vision.

When I came to my senses, I saw Tang Xiue helping Jiang Haiyang up, trying to get up.

"There's not enough time. Who told you to get up?"

Tang Xiue turned to look at me, indignant but forcibly suppressing her anger, and argued, "He's already knelt, kowtowed, and apologized—Jiang Wan, your father's body can't take it. If he had to kneel for more than ten minutes, he would have died!"

"A scourge can live for a thousand years; he won't die so easily." I remained unmoved, the image of my mother before her death still lingering in my mind's eye.

"Jiang Wan, you—"

"After how you've treated me for over a decade, I'm still willing to treat him—that's more than enough. If you don't even have the sincerity to apologize and repent, then you can just fend for yourselves!"

"..." Tang Xiu'e glared at me fiercely, and finally let go of my hand, and Jiang Haiyang knelt back down.

"Jiang Wan, you're outrageous! You just wait, until I recover—"

I said calmly, "If you threaten me like this, then I can't let you get cured."

"you--"

"Say less!" Tang Xiu'e stopped him, glancing at me through gritted teeth, "She's ruthless now, and she has powerful backers! The Gu family is practically dead because of her, how can we fight her... For your health, just bear with it..."

Jiang Haiyang: "..."

Indeed, Tang Xiu'e has some self-awareness.

So they knelt down together again.

When the time came, Jiang Haiyang was already swaying precariously, and Tang Xiu'e couldn't lift him up. She could only angrily call her son over: "Quickly carry your dad down the mountain to the hospital."

Jiang Hao reached out his hand and asked, "How much money?"

I couldn't help but burst out laughing.

This son is worse than an enemy.

"Jiang Hao, you bastard! Unfilial son! He's your own father, and he's sick, so you ask me to carry him and you want money? Why don't you just die...!" Tang Xiu'e was furious and berated her own son.

I couldn't be bothered to watch this farce anymore, so I turned around and went down the mountain, casually sending the video I had just recorded to my grandmother and aunt.

When I got back to the car, my aunt called.

"Xiao Wan, Jiang Haiyang is out so quickly?"

“Yes, he was quite ill and applied for medical parole. Tang Xiue asked me to give him money for treatment, so I asked him to come to the cemetery to kowtow and apologize to my mother and grandfather.”

Hearing this, the aunt cheered, "That beast finally got his comeuppance! If he hadn't been so cruel, your mother and grandfather wouldn't have passed away so early. Now he's just kowtowing a few times to admit his mistake, he's really letting him off easy!"

“It’s true that he got off easy, but every month from now on, if he still wants me to pay for his medical expenses, he’ll have to come to my grave and kowtow to apologize.”

The aunt was surprised, "You really plan to be responsible for his medical treatment indefinitely?"

I started the car and drove off, saying nonchalantly, "There's nothing I can do. The law stipulates that children must support their elders. As long as he doesn't die, I can't get rid of him. However, treatment depends on how you treat an illness. There are different treatments for those with more money and those with less. How long he lives depends on his fate."

My aunt understood what I meant and sighed, "I'm sorry to trouble you. If you need any help, just tell me."

"good."

After hanging up the phone, I let out a long sigh of relief. The resentment that had been building up in my heart for years finally loosened.

What goes around comes around. Jiang Haiyang and Tang Xiue never dreamed that they would have such a miserable day.

My poor mother couldn't witness this scene.

————

As the car approached the city center, I noticed it was already 2 PM and hesitated whether to call Su Shenglin, worried that he might be taking a nap.

As fate would have it, he called right at that moment.

"Hello……"

"Wanwan, aren't you done with your work yet? Or have you forgotten that I'm still waiting for your call?"

I was slightly taken aback. "You've been waiting for me to call?"

"Yeah, I'm afraid I'll miss out again."

"..." His short sentence immediately made me feel guilty and soft-hearted.

I can be ruthless and decisive towards the Gu family, the Jiang family, and Xu Qianning, but I always soften and compromise without any backbone when it comes to this man.

After a moment's hesitation, I said gently, "I just got back to the city. I was going to call you, but I was worried you were taking a nap."

"No, how can I sleep if I don't hear from you?" His tone softened, and he asked with concern, "Have you eaten?"

"No."

"Then I'll come have dinner with you."

"good."

Su Shenglin sent me a restaurant recommendation, so I opened the navigation and drove there.

When I arrived, he was already sitting down.

"Wanwan..." The restaurant manager led me into an elegant private room, and Su Shenglin immediately stood up.

I smiled at him, then walked over and sat down.

It had only been a day since we last saw each other, but for some reason, when we stared at each other, it felt like an eternity.