Chapter 187 Seeing her chatting and laughing with another man
Yecheng has a mild climate and is separated from Lincheng by Wanhu Lake.
Shang Wu used some of her personal savings to rent a studio with a small courtyard in a quiet but artistic neighborhood.
Aying followed her without hesitation and became the only permanent employee in the studio besides her.
During the day, they are busy and on the go.
Shang Wu has returned to design and devoted all her energy to creation.
She hosts small design exhibitions on her channel to distract herself from her busy schedule.
However, influenced by this period, Shang Wu's style began to lean towards a fragmented aesthetic.
Although she became more and more popular with everyone, Shang Wu felt that she had lost her original aspirations.
Her designer stage name, "Freya," was originally chosen because she wanted to design jewelry for people who truly love each other.
Now, however, comes the pain of heartbreak. She feels broken, vulnerable, and hopeless.
Even with such a warm response, Shang Wu was not very satisfied with herself.
However, she never revealed her true thoughts.
She greets her studio visitors and fans with calm and gentleness, and occasionally chats and laughs with them.
But only Aying knew that every night, the light on the second floor of the studio would stay on very late.
Sometimes she would hear suppressed, rapid breathing from upstairs, like someone waking up from a nightmare, followed by long silences.
Lu Rang's image flashed into Shang Wu's mind every night.
Those past moments of love, all the experiences they went through, and finally his hatred and coldness, all tormented Shang Wu repeatedly.
Even though she tried to numb herself with busyness, her emotions always came back to haunt her in the dead of night.
More than a month has passed in the blink of an eye.
Shang Wu thought she would gradually get used to this peaceful life tinged with hidden pain.
But one night, a phone call from Shang Yun Shen shattered all of this.
On the other end of the phone, Shang Yunshen's voice was heavier and hoarse than ever before.
“Awu, Mom… is dying, she wants to see you one last time.”
The phone nearly slipped from Shang Wu's hand, and she stood there stunned.
Ruan Yuzhi...
How could that woman with whom she had a complicated and distant relationship suddenly become unwell?
Shang Wu bit her lip, unsure of what to say.
"She wants to see you, she's been forcing herself to stay strong, Ah Wu, please come over, okay?"
"Just for the sake of her giving birth to you and raising you, I'll see her once."
Shang Yunshen pleaded softly on the phone.
A complex look flashed across Shang Wu's eyes as she grabbed her coat and wallet.
She hurriedly gave a brief explanation to Ah Ying, who came out after hearing the noise.
"I'm going on a business trip."
Without looking back, Shang Wu drove to the airport in the deep darkness, her mind in turmoil.
She finally arrived at the private hospital just before dawn.
The ward was filled with the smell of disinfectant.
As soon as Shang Wu entered, he saw Ruan Yuzhi lying on the hospital bed, so thin she was almost unrecognizable, her life hanging by a thread thanks to machines.
Shang Yun stood by the bed with red eyes and gently shook her head at her.
Shang Wu slowly moved to the bedside, her steps unsteady.
She could hardly recognize the woman on the bed, barely breathing, as her impeccably made-up, domineering, and unreasonable mother.
Ruan Yuzhi seemed to sense her arrival and opened her eyes with difficulty.
His eyes were cloudy, but he tried to look at her.
"Ah... Wu..."
Her voice was barely audible.
Shang Wu looked at her withered hands, her throat tightened, and she couldn't speak.
Ruan Yuzhi's unfocused gaze revealed a strange clarity and obsession.
She took a few deep breaths and said haltingly, "I don't have much time left. There's something I must tell you."
Shang Wu leaned down and brought his ear close to her lips.
“Lu Rang…the Yu family…it’s my fault…I’m sorry to them…”
Ruan Yuzhi's voice was weak but clear, tinged with regret.
“I… liked Lu Zheng… but he only had eyes for Xiao Yun, and I never expected…”
Shang Wu's body stiffened abruptly, and she looked at Ruan Yuzhi in disbelief.
An unnatural flush rose on Ruan Yuzhi's face, as if she were experiencing a final burst of energy before death.
“It was me… who secretly pushed Xiaoyun and him apart… I didn’t expect… I never thought Xiaoyun would be so traumatized that she would become depressed… and die… I… regret it…”
Shang Wu's breathing faltered slightly as he stared blankly at Ruan Yuzhi.
Love turned to hate.
Many high-sounding excuses.
Could this love lead Ruan Yuzhi to destroy everything Lu Zheng has, including his wife?
Shang Wu probably felt that he was heartless to the core.
Even so, she never felt any pity for Ruan Yuzhi.
Ruan Yuzhi gripped her hand tightly, her nails almost digging into the flesh of the back of her hand.
"Mom was wrong...Lu Rang is a good boy...Please, don't blame Mom...You two should be happy..."
happiness?
These two words pierced Shang Wu's heart like a knife.
She looked at Ruan Yuzhi, who was repenting on her deathbed, and at the entanglement of love and hate between two generations.
A sense of absurdity nearly crushed Shangwu.
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she tried hard not to let them fall.
Shang Wu grasped Ruan Yuzhi's cold hand in return, her voice trembling yet unusually clear.
"Mom, thank you for telling me all this, and thank you for teaching me one thing with your whole life."
Ruan Yuzhi was surprised that she would call her "Mom," and her eyes lit up.
Shang Wu took a deep breath: "That means never becoming like you, hurting the innocent because of love turned to hate."
"Me and Lu Rang..."
She choked up, and tears finally streamed down her face, dripping onto the back of Ruan Yuzhi's hand.
"As you wish, it will never be possible. You can rest in peace now."
As Ruan Yuzhi listened to her words, her eyes widened in vain, as if she wanted to say something.
Finally, she grasped Shang Wu's hand, which began to fall limply to her side.
On the monitor, the heart rate appeared as a straight line.
Medical staff rushed in.
Shang Lingfei and Shang Yunshen rushed over in grief.
Shang Wu was pushed aside and unknowingly found herself outside the crowd.
She stood at the door, motionless for a long time, letting tears silently stream down her face.
Outside the window, the sky gradually brightened.
A new day dawned, but it couldn't illuminate the despair in her heart.
Between her and Lu Rang lies an insurmountable abyss.
The mother who created this abyss has passed away.
Shang Wu was distraught. She turned around and stumbled out.
The sky was overcast, tinged with a somber mood.
She calmly went outside and started calling the funeral home to contact someone to purchase a burial plot.
At this moment, Shang Wu was as rational as a machine that only follows orders.
The next day, Ruan Yuzhi was buried, and she silently discussed all the funeral arrangements with Shang Yunshen.
Throughout the entire process, Shang Wu remained unusually calm, without bursting into tears; her eyes, however, were even more subdued than when she arrived.
Shang Yun Shen looked at her, hesitated, and finally just patted her on the shoulder.
"Xiao Wu, from now on, your father and I will always be your family."
Shang Wu asked, "Is her heart problem that serious? With the experts Lu Rang sent, why is she still experiencing heart failure?"
Shang Yun sighed: "It's probably because she's in a bad mood. After leaving Lincheng, she doesn't know why, but she's been depressed all the time. Mental illness is hard to cure, and her depression has been building up for too long."
Shang Wu nodded without saying anything more.
All she wanted to do was escape.
Even recalling the past is unbearable for her.
Especially the various unpleasant things that happened between her and her mother.
Shang Wu didn't linger; she immediately returned to Ye City.
Outside the airplane window, the outline of the cemetery grew smaller and smaller until it was finally covered by clouds.
Shang Wu closed her eyes, feeling not relief, but an indescribable weariness.
evening.
She had just returned to her studio and hadn't even had time to brush off the dust of her journey when Aying approached her nervously, her tone uncertain.
"Mr. Shang, you're back. Did something happen?"
Shang Wu shook her head: "No, it's just that my mother passed away. What happened?"
Aying choked for a moment, not expecting that she could talk about this so casually.
Shang Wu quickly brushed it off: "How's the studio been these past few days?"
"It's all good, but there's something..." Ah Ying hesitated before continuing.
"What is it?" Shang Wu hung up her coat, her voice tinged with weariness.
"Just a couple of days ago, when you weren't here, I was on that street near our art exhibition..."
Ah Ying stammered, "It seems...it seems I saw Lu Lu."
Shang Wu abruptly stopped hanging up the clothes, her fingertips turning slightly white.
She shook her head slightly as if she had heard something absurd, and continued what she was doing, her tone calm and indifferent.
“You’re mistaken. How could he possibly be here?”
Yecheng is separated from Lincheng by the entire Wanhu Lake, and its world is completely different from Lu Rang's.
He hated her to the core and forced her to leave, so why would he condescend to appear near her small refuge?
Ah Ying must be seeing things.
"Maybe... so."
Seeing that Shang Wu didn't believe her, A Ying didn't dare to say anything more, but she couldn't completely dispel her doubts.
That fleeting glimpse of his figure that day was so strikingly similar to that man with such a powerful aura.
In order to start her life afresh and get back to work, Shang Wu mustered her spirits and went to check out the exhibition area of her studio held on the street corner.
She was looking down at the design labels for the jewelry when a slightly surprised voice rang out beside her.
"Shang Wu? Is it really you?"
She looked up and met Chen Chunzhi's face, which held a slightly cynical smile.
He wasn't dressed too flashy today, in a simple casual suit, and he was holding a cup of coffee.
"Mr. Chen?"
Shang Wu was somewhat surprised, "What are you doing in Ye City?"
"I came here specifically to see you."
Chen Chunzhi smiled brightly, "I didn't expect to run into you here. You're quite something, running a studio and holding exhibitions for the past two months?"
He looked around at the design works, his tone full of admiration.
Shang Wu forced a smile: "Yeah, it's just something I did casually."
"Hey, don't be modest. By the way, there's a nice coffee shop across the street. Would you do me the honor of joining us?"
Chen Chunzhi extended a warm invitation.
Shang Wu could tell at a glance that he had come prepared, and that it was not a chance encounter.
Chen Chunzhi added, "I just got off the plane and came straight here, please give me face."
Shang Wu ultimately did not refuse.
The two walked side by side across the street into the cafe across the street.
Neither of them noticed that a discreet black Lexus had been parked for a long time not far from the street corner.
With the car window rolled down halfway, Lu Rang's gaze swept across the street, locking onto the window seat in the coffee shop.
He looked at Shang Wu and Chen Chunzhi sitting opposite each other.
Seeing that Chen Chunzhi said something that made Shang Wu turn her head slightly and reveal a very faint smile.
Lu Rang's knuckles turned white from gripping the steering wheel so tightly.
Why did he come here? Even he himself can't explain it.
Since she left, the inexplicable emptiness and anxiety have not subsided, but have instead intensified.
He used his methods to find out where she was.
Then, as if possessed, he abandoned his busy work at the docks and flew to this unfamiliar little town.
He told himself that he just wanted to see for himself how this heartless woman was doing.
But what he saw was her life, which seemed to have gradually calmed down.
There was even a man in a pink shirt with him.
How long has it been? They've already hooked up again!
Are they currently dating, or have they already become a couple?
A sudden, oppressive heat surged up, making it difficult for Lu Rang to breathe.
He narrowed his eyes, staring at the smiling woman behind the glass window. A few seconds later, he stepped on the gas and drove towards Shang Wu's studio.
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