After an unknown amount of time, Song Wan heard footsteps fading away at the door. She calmed herself for a moment, then opened the door and saw the two large bags on the floor, along with a thermal lunchbox.
What's going on?
Suddenly, Lin Zhaojiang's voice came.
Song Wan looked up, a somewhat lost expression on her face, hesitated for a moment, and then carried the things inside.
“For a while, I always thought it was you bringing me food.” She opened the refrigerator, which was crammed full. “Today I found out that the things that were often piled up at the door… were brought by my mother.”
Looking at her somewhat sorrowful profile, Lin Zhaojiang felt a pang of anxiety.
He hugged her and let her lean against his chest.
He understood how much she longed for her mother's love, but when that love actually came, she couldn't accept it for a while.
Yes, is a mother's love that comes too late still so precious?
Whether it's family, love, or friendship, if they don't appear when you need them most, it's like a parachute that won't open high in the sky; once missed, there's no need for them to appear again.
But……
Lin Zhaojiang coughed lightly twice. What if that "parachute" was wrong from the start?
"Wanwan," he kissed her hair and whispered in her ear, "I know she's your mother, and you don't want to think the worst about her... but I still want to remind you, there's no such thing as an unsolicited favor; you have to be careful with everyone and everything, understand?"
"Yes, I understand." The little girl was still in low spirits.
"Don't worry about her so much." Lin Zhaojiang cupped her face in his hands. "She raised you, but that's all she did. She never gave you anything of value. Instead, she kept taking from you like a vampire. She doesn't deserve to be a mother."
"Um……"
"Starting tomorrow, I'll assign more people to protect you, or I'll talk to the security supervisor of this community and make sure she's not allowed to enter the community again!"
"Hey, don't be like that." Song Wan tugged at him, her eyes looking troubled. After a long while, she said in a low voice, "She... is, after all, my mother."
Lin Zhaojiang's heart sank.
He desperately wanted to tell her the truth, but until everything was cleared up, he felt that the less she knew, the better.
“Wanwan,” he implied, “some people…don’t deserve to be parents, nor do they deserve your respect and love.”
“You don’t need to worry about me.” Song Wan looked at him and smiled gently. “I will no longer do anything for that family. Even my mother can’t control my future. I will sever ties with them. Although I don’t understand why my mother is suddenly being so nice to me, I still want to have a serious talk with her. I have been more than kind to her and to my brother. I have fulfilled my obligations and hope that she will not disturb my life anymore.”
Lin Zhaojiang was stunned for a moment, a thousand words welling up in his throat, but in the end he only uttered one word softly, "Okay".
"Are you hungry?" Song Wan smiled and looked at the insulated food container on the table. "Although we need to draw a clear line, let's not waste food, right?"
She walked over, opened the lunchbox, and inside was steaming hot braised pork ribs, cooked to perfection, and the aroma alone was enough to whet her appetite.
Fat Tiger was also attracted by the smell. He wagged his tail and hopped over, standing on his hind legs and waving his little paws incessantly.
"Woof! Woof!"
"Are you hungry?" Song Wan was amused by it. "Okay, I'll give you some extra food right away!"
Lin Zhaojiang chuckled and patted its head. "I see you've gotten quite fat. What, you want to steal the ribs?"
But that's fine, since he's not interested in the food Chen Li makes anyway, feeding it to the dog isn't a waste!
Song Wan placed a few pieces of pork ribs into Pang Hu's food bowl, and the little dog ate them with great relish.
"Has your mother been cooking for you these past few days?"
"No," Song Wan replied softly. "Last time she wanted me to come home for dinner, but I refused. And these past few days she's been bringing me things over non-stop. Today is the first time she's brought this insulated lunchbox. She even said... if I don't want to go home in the future, she'll cook and bring it to me."
"Does she even know what you like to eat?" Lin Zhaojiang scoffed.
Song Wan also pursed her lips helplessly and smiled.
Chen Li really didn't know what she liked to eat. She had a light palate and didn't like braised dishes at all. Moreover, she was allergic to seafood and couldn't eat fish at all.
Pork ribs are Song Huai's favorite, and fish is Song Xi's favorite food.
She was the only one who had been forgotten by Chen Li since childhood.
"I'll take you out to eat." Lin Zhaojiang took her hand, nuzzled her forehead with his nose, and smiled gently. "I know your taste. The hotel has hired a few new chefs, and they are the best at making your favorite dishes."
Song Wan smiled too, her eyes filled with happiness.
When they finished eating and Lin Zhaojiang brought her back, Song Wan opened the door and found Pang Hu listlessly lying on the ground, not wagging its tail and running out to greet her as usual.
There were leftover bones in the food plate, and next to it, there was something sticky...
"Fat Tiger?" Song Wan was startled and quickly went over to pick it up.
Fat Tiger whimpered twice, his small, dark eyes looking at her pitifully.
"This looks like it vomited it up," Lin Zhaojiang frowned. "Did it eat too many ribs?"
"No way!" Song Wan said anxiously, "It usually eats a lot, and this has never happened before!"
Without hesitation, Lin Zhaojiang quickly took her and Pang Hu to the pet hospital.
The test results came back quickly, and the doctor told them that there was nothing seriously wrong; they had just eaten something bad.
"This is the test report." The doctor circled several values. "We found lead in the dog's vomit, which should be the cause of the vomiting."
"Lead?" The two were both taken aback.
"Yes," the doctor explained, "some substandard dog food on the market contains excessive levels of lead. Our hospital has recently treated several dogs that developed health problems from eating cheap dog food. So I suggest you buy dog food from reputable sources and don't feed it these kinds of products without proper labeling."
"But we..."
Just as Song Wan was about to explain, Lin Zhaojiang grabbed her hand.
She looked at him, and he could see the shock and lingering fear in her eyes.
Fortunately, Gian's condition wasn't serious, and thankfully, Gian doesn't eat much...
It was late at night when they left the pet hospital. Fat Tiger, after receiving an IV drip and being fussy all day, was exhausted and fell asleep in Song Wan's arms. Song Wan held him, her mind heavy with worry, a dark cloud hanging over her brow that wouldn't dissipate for a long time.
"Wanwan." Before starting the car, Lin Zhaojiang touched her hair.
"It was her..." Song Wan's voice trembled, "Why would she do this? Does she...do she hate me that much?!"
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