"Are you really happy for me?"

From Sun Zhaodi's actions and expressions, one could sense that she was not really happy for Shen Zhizhu.

But after all, it was my mother whom I had missed for a long time, and I would still unconsciously wish for her. There were a few moments when I truly hoped that I could live a good life.

Sun Zhaodi didn't expect Shen Zhizhu to continue asking. To her, it was just a few polite words, so she responded somewhat awkwardly.

"Yeah...yes."

Then there was a long silence.

Shen Zhizhu smiled somewhat self-deprecatingly. In his previous life, he had hoped that during the difficult days, his mother would appear, touch his head, and tell him that she was there to pick him up.

When I grew up, I envied them when I saw them interacting with each other, and I also secretly imagined what it would be like if the two of them met.

I didn't expect that after realizing my dream in this life, I felt uncomfortable all over and just wanted to escape from here as soon as possible.

"So, what do you want to talk to me about? If it's nothing, I'll go back to school."

"Wait, you were able to get into Kyoto University. It seems your uncle's family likes you very much. Where's your cousin? Isn't she with you?"

"You didn't pass the entrance exam, did you? Hahahaha, if that's the case, then you really deserve it. You don't know how your aunt tortured me before I left. Now my daughter got into Beijing University, but her daughter didn't. This can be considered as a vent for my anger."

Sun Zhaodi let out a long sigh, and she seemed to be alive again, full of energy.

"My cousin wanted to harm me, but ended up falling off a cliff and dying in public. My cousin set me on fire the night before my college entrance exam, and was later imprisoned for fraud. My uncle and aunt were also imprisoned for condoning the crime and shielding them."

Shen Zhizhu calmly talked about his past experiences. He was curious about what the woman who left him so early would say and whether she would comfort him.

She still overestimated her importance in the other person's heart.

"Ah? Hahahahaha, that's right, evildoers will be punished by evildoers. This is what happened to their family. It's really gratifying."

After not seeing each other for fifteen years, Sun Zhaodi still looks like the image in Shen Zhizhu's memory. She speaks softly, but there is a sense of quiet madness in her words.

Shen Zhizhu vaguely remembered that Sun Zhaodi was also a gentle mother who raised him together with his father.

The house is always full of laughter.

Even though my uncle's family often came to cause trouble, it did not affect the warmth between them at all.

Everything changed after my father died. He got drunk and drowned in a pond at the entrance of the village. My mother cried all day long and raised me with great difficulty.

I was always ridiculed by my aunt, and day after day, I went crazy. Finally, she abandoned my young self and left alone.

"Just be happy."

Shen Zhizhu no longer had the desire to continue the conversation, so she avoided the topic of Sun Zhaodi.

"You are so heartless. We haven't seen each other for so long, and you didn't even bother to call me mom."

Obviously, Sun Zhaodi didn't want to end this conversation for the time being.

"I have a favor to ask of you."

"You? You have something to ask of me?"

Thinking about the family of three she saw during the day, and how she herself was dressed very nicely, Shen Zhizhu really couldn't imagine what they needed her help with.

"What kind of attitude is that? It turns out that you can't learn anything from that bitch Li Chunlan. It's like this. I haven't mentioned you to my daughter. Even my husband only knows that I once had a child, but he died. You know what I mean."

"I don't want you to suddenly appear in front of them and reveal your identity. You have finally come this far and become a Kyoto University student that everyone envies, but you probably don't have anyone to rely on."

Sun Zhaodi stated her request in a semi-threatening manner while rummaging through her bag.

"You suddenly came to me just to warn me to stay away from your family, right? Actually, there is no need to do that. I didn't recognize you at school, so you should have understood what I meant. However, you can love Li Yunyun with all your heart, but why didn't you ask me how I have been doing these past few years when we met?"

Sun Zhaodi paused her searching hand for a moment and she didn't say anything. Yes, when she was still there, the attitudes of Li Chunlan and others were so bad that she couldn't stand it.

How can you have a good life if you only have a house deed and a child who knows nothing?

"You told your current husband that you once had a child but that the child had died. You actually believed that, didn't you? You thought that Li Chunlan and Shen Jianjun couldn't let me eat their food for free. Sooner or later, they would starve me to death, or beat me to death."

It has been two lifetimes, but when talking about this matter, Shen Zhizhu still couldn't help feeling sad. In fact, she had known for a long time that the mother with a gentle smile in her memory would never come back.

"You are living well, aren't you? I see it's not easy for you either. Take this money. It's my compensation to you for all these years."

"At first... after your father passed away, I lived a very miserable life alone. Every day I wanted to take you with me to die. I raised you by myself for two years, which was already the best I could do. You couldn't let me die of exhaustion there, could you?"

"You know your uncle and aunt's personalities. As my daughter, you should be considerate of me. I really can't help it."

When Sun Zhaodi thought of those dark years, her well-maintained face became distorted, and the look she gave Shen Zhizhu was filled with disgust.

"When I see your face, I think of those days. We've been living a good life for so long that I've forgotten the time that made me sad. It's been fifteen years. Why are you here again? You appear in front of me and remind me of those things!"

Sun Zhaodi was a little emotional, as if the suffering she had endured during that period had never been released until today, when she met Shen Zhizhu and opened the water valve, and all of it burst out.

"I've accepted the money, and I promise you not to mention our relationship. In the parent column at school, I'll write that both of us are dead, so you can rest assured."

Shen Zhizhu, who used to be sharp-tongued, was speechless at this moment. She really wanted to ask him why he didn't take her away with him, when they were so happy when they lived together.

I also wanted to ask her if she had ever thought of me during the fifteen years since she left, even just that one time.

When Li Yunyun was born, did she ever think that another thin daughter, whom she had once cared for with love, was living in dire straits?

Even though he had thousands of words in his heart, they all fell silent when Shen Zhizhu opened his mouth.

She couldn't ask. To Sun Zhaodi, herself at that time was a past that she was eager to get rid of. It was a burden and pain.