Chapter 343 New Year's Eve
Li Zhishen made a mistake, but didn't go to his mother immediately after realizing the problem.
From her perspective, her biological father was quite cowardly, so cowardly that he never contacted her mother even once in more than twenty years, let alone apologized.
"Ruan Ruan," Li Zhishen called out to her.
Jiang Ruan looked up.
Li Zhishen realized something: "Was your mother unhappy before?"
“No one is happy after being betrayed and hurt.” Jiang Ruan did not answer directly, but it was a hint to him. “Physical wounds take time to heal, let alone wounds in the heart.”
Li Zhishen remained silent.
Jiang Ruan said goodbye, "Take care on your way back, I'm going in first."
“I didn’t know how to face her if I didn’t contact her.” Li Zhishen said this before she left. “Everyone told me that she was doing well and that I shouldn’t disturb her peaceful life.”
Jiang Ruan pursed her lips slightly.
She asked a very direct question: "Does that include your mother?"
Li Zhishen paused.
No.
An An only told him that night that she hated him and would never forgive him in this lifetime.
“Even if your mother said that, you should apologize to her for what you did wrong.” Jiang Ruan only knows right from wrong, “instead of waiting in the name of deep affection.”
In short.
It was like a sharp blade piercing Li Zhishen's chest.
No one had ever said this to him from this perspective.
“Your life of never marrying or having children doesn’t mean you have any deep affection for your mother.” Jiang Ruan’s words were incisive. “It only proves that you are cowardly, so cowardly that you dare not express your feelings, dare not move forward, and only dare to remain in the same place with deep affection.”
If he apologized to his mother and spoke his mind before doing this, she wouldn't say anything.
Everyone has their own choices.
But doing nothing and just waiting is laughable.
Such behavior can neither undo the harm done to the mother through waiting, nor can it reverse time and change the original process. Over time, this meaningless waiting is imbued with deep affection.
"And what about you and Huo Zhizhou?" Li Zhishen asked.
“We are different from you.” Jiang Ruan was very clear-headed, clearly rejecting Huo Zhizhou while unable to forget him. “We have no regrets about the choices we made.”
Li Zhishen: "Doesn't he regret divorcing you?"
Jiang Ruan: "No regrets."
If he had to go through it all again, given his personality and the situation he faced back then, he would still get a divorce.
He was so obsessed with promises that he put them above his own life.
"And you?" Li Zhishen was momentarily unsure whether Ruan Ruan was being too lucid or if they had truly made a mistake back then. "If you could start over with your memories intact, would you still marry him?"
Jiang Ruan answered firmly: "Yes."
Just this once.
She won't stay home as a full-time housewife.
She is not afraid of danger and has been learning company management and business from her mother since she was a child.
"Dad understands." Li Zhishen benefited greatly. "Thank you."
Jiang Ruan didn't say much.
After saying goodbye to him, I turned and left.
Because of this conversation, Jiang Ruan's mind was in turmoil after she finished washing up and lay in bed. On one hand, she knew that Huo Zhizhou wouldn't make the same mistake again, and on the other hand, she was bothered by everything that had happened back then.
If it weren't for Su Anran.
Will he realize how important she is to him? Will he feel that she is irreplaceable?
During that month-long cooling-off period, everything he did was based on the conviction that she couldn't live without him, not the other way around.
Unable to figure it out, she pulled the blanket over her head, extinguishing all these chaotic thoughts. Love and romance, replacement or not, all she needed to do was run the company well.
Focus on your career, raise your children, and love yourself.
We'll talk about the rest later.
Time flies.
New Year's Eve arrived quickly.
Jiang Ruan and Jiang An gave everyone in the villa a holiday. Except for Tang Bai and Mo Mo, everyone else went home for the New Year. Jiang Ruan originally planned to book the New Year's Eve dinner at a hotel or hire a chef.
Unexpectedly, Jiang An stopped her.
I was about to show her what I was capable of.
In the end, Jiang Ruan only hired two aunties to help prepare the dishes.
Mo Mo and Tang Bai took the couplets, lanterns, and other items they had bought to decorate the villa and garden. After a busy morning, the garden already had the atmosphere of the New Year.
“Miss, I think hanging some big lanterns here would make it more ceremonial,” Tang Bai said, pointing to the front of the villa.
Mo Mo: "Vulgar."
Tang Bai: "What do you know? Lanterns symbolize reunion and happiness."
Mo Mo pulled out a box: "I think we should hang this."
Tang Bai: "It's not like we're opening a shop, why are you using so many colored LED strips?"
Mo Mo: "It will be beautiful tonight."
Tang Bai: "..."
Jiang Ruan: "..."
“I also bought some kumquat trees, which are covered with little lanterns and decorations.” Mo Mo, who is usually like a robot, is now very enthusiastic about these things. “We can put them on both sides of the fork in the road fifty meters inside the iron gate.”
Tang Bai: "We should also hang small lanterns on the trees nearby."
Mo Mo: "So I bought several truckloads of small lanterns."
Tang Bai subconsciously looked at Jiang Ruan.
This is completely contrary to what she initially told them to keep the decorations simple. If all of Mo Mo's purchases were hung up, the entire villa and garden would probably be filled with the festive atmosphere of the New Year.
"You guys decide." Jiang Ruan had previously suggested keeping it simple because she thought it would be tiring to set up since there wasn't much time. "If you don't mind the trouble, just hang it up. Anyway, there's no overtime pay."
Tang Bai tentatively asked, "Are you really going to take care of it?"
Mo Mo's eyes also held a hint of anticipation.
Jiang Ruan glanced around, her aesthetic sense was temporarily on point, so she only said one thing: "Just don't make it too ugly."
"Not ugly," Mo Mo said seriously.
"Then let's go." Tang Bai's face was also more relaxed.
"Go ahead." Jiang Ruan felt a warm glow in her heart. "Rest when you're tired, and don't complain that I'm mistreating you."
Tang Bai and Mo Mo immediately slipped away. They hung lanterns on the small tree and red decorations on the big tree. They were very happy throughout the process, and they bickered and played around from time to time.
Jiang Ruan didn't know where they got so much energy, but as long as they were happy, that was all that mattered.
Around three or four o'clock in the afternoon.
Huo Zhizhou has arrived.
Before Jiang Ruan could say anything, another person got off in the back seat—Mr. Qin.
Jiang Ruan: "???"
When did Huo Zhizhou and Mr. Qin get together?
"This is a New Year's gift for you." Old Master Qin glanced at what the driver was holding and said to her, "Would you mind if we had a couple more pairs of chopsticks for dinner tonight?"
Jiang Ruan's feelings were complicated.
I didn't expect him to come.
My mother described Mr. Qin as a stubborn man who valued his reputation highly, yet he still came even after my mother had clearly refused...
"Let them in," Jiang An's voice came through, ultimately not turning them away.
Jiang Ruan politely said, "Please, go ahead."
Old Master Qin's tense heart relaxed slightly, and he walked forward unsteadily with his cane.
Jiang Ruan noticed and instinctively offered her support: "What happened to your leg?"
"I accidentally fell a few days ago." Grandpa Qin said it casually, and he was quite happy that Jiang Ruan was concerned about him. "It's nothing serious, the doctor said I'll be fine in a few days."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com