Chapter 58 Qiaoqiao, Don't Cry
Six months later, Yang Shuhua met Qin Lang again.
He sat on the sofa, the golden sunlight streaming in from the window behind him, blurring his features, except for his dark eyes, which remained remarkably clear. Yang Shuhua saw deep longing in those eyes, and a hint of… reproach.
She stood there, stunned, for a long time, before her scalding tears finally broke through the dam and soaked her cold cheeks.
She instinctively took a step forward, but when Qin Lang's gaze slowly moved to her face, a wave of overwhelming shame suddenly gripped her. She stepped back.
“Qin Lang… I can’t stop them…” Her voice trembled. “It’s been more than six years… They’ve… they’ve gotten back together…”
In the past, she would always confide in her husband about everything, big or small. Her husband always favored and indulged her, but he passed away early, leaving her and her child as a widow.
"Stop him?" Qin Lang asked softly, his reproach deepening. "Shuhua, why should we stop him? You and I have long seen Jiashu's feelings for Qiaoqiao. As parents, shouldn't seeing our child find happiness again be the most gratifying thing?"
They all blamed her and hated her.
Yang Shuhua clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms: "You don't understand! Qiaoqiao will hate me! If she knew... knew what I did, she would never acknowledge me as her mother again! She only has Chen Jiashu in her eyes and heart! My daughter, whom I raised with such care, has abandoned me for a man... What am I supposed to do?!"
Qin Lang remained silent, his gaze like a dark, deep pool, watching her sob without offering a single word of comfort. A cold silence enveloped the entire room; every glance from him was a silent judgment: You are wrong.
Yang Shuhua's emotions were churning, but she gritted her teeth and endured it.
"You only remember his good points!" Yang Shuhua interrupted excitedly. "Why don't you think about it? It was Chen Jiashu who initiated the divorce! He was the one who didn't want our Qiaoqiao first! Isn't it enough that we married our daughter to him? Do we have to kneel down and thank him for the rest of our lives?!"
“I’ve never wronged him in any way! He’s busy with his business, so I cook different dishes and make soups for him every day; when he was hospitalized with retinal detachment, I fed him three meals a day; even before it got cold, I was already worried about whether he had brought an umbrella when he went out... I’ve been even more considerate to him than to Qiaoqiao, and I’ve been completely devoted to him!”
Tears streamed down her face, her lips trembled, and she was completely overwhelmed by immense pain.
"You won't agree to them getting married, will you!"
The usually gentle husband suddenly raised his voice, jumped up, and his dark eyes were filled with rage: "Shuhua, Qiaoqiao already told me that Jiashu has lost sight in his left eye, and weren't you outside the door that day? You really didn't know?!"
Suddenly, something occurred to her, and her eyes turned icy cold as she stared at Qin Lang: "It's all because of you! You're the one who ruined our family like this. You left so early, ending everything. Now you're turning around and blaming me! How many days did Chen Jiashu take care of you? You're all siding with him. Am I the sinner? The wicked one?!"
Yang Shuhua bent over, unable to support herself, clutching her knees, unable to steady her trembling body. She burst into tears, crying more bitterly than ever before, choking and gasping for breath several times.
But Qin Lang changed the subject and gently advised her, "Shuhua, if we made a mistake, we should admit it. Children are reasonable. Honesty is always better than deception, and making amends is always better than making the same mistake again and again."
"Admit your mistake?!" Yang Shuhua suddenly straightened up, glaring furiously at the figure that was almost blending into the light: "Admit your mistake? What mistake have I made?!"
"I did nothing wrong! I was only doing it for her own good! Chen Jiashu's eye disease is incurable and will only be a burden to Qiaoqiao! I'm her mother, how could I just watch her jump back into the fire?! I'm keeping her away from trouble, what's wrong with that!?"
Her voice grew louder and louder, the weight on her chest felt heavier and more painful, but only one voice swelled in her cochlea: "She did nothing wrong."
"Shuhua!" Qin Lang said in a trembling voice, as if he didn't recognize her. "Is it really for Qiaoqiao? Isn't it because Jiashu's kindness to us is too great, so great that we still feel indebted, so great that others are pointing fingers and saying that we're being pampered by him, so great that you feel... our whole family can never stand up straight in front of him, can't breathe... that's why you're desperately trying to cut all ties with him..."
Her husband's words were like a beam of pale light, suddenly piercing the darkest corner of her heart.
He saw through her.
Yang Shuhua was completely stunned. Just then, the earth shook violently. After Qin Lang finished speaking, his figure vanished like smoke.
Yang Shuhua opened her mouth, wanting to call out to him and ask him not to leave, but she couldn't make a sound at all.
For a moment, she even felt that Qin Lang had never returned, and those words... clearly came from the depths of her own heart...
No! Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
"You're talking nonsense!"
Yang Shuhua screamed and suddenly broke free from her dream.
The sudden burst of blinding light felt like a red-hot needle piercing the back of the eye, bringing a sharp, almost tearing pain to the pupil.
Yang Shuhua turned her head slowly, and the living room of her home came into view.
She sat up, her fingers nervously rubbing together. Suddenly, her toe kicked something hard. Looking down, she saw it was her cell phone.
Tears welled up in her eyes and dripped onto the tiles. She sniffed and picked up her phone.
Where did Qiaoqiao go?
Last night, after the banquet ended, Chen Jiashu came over to tell her that he had something urgent to attend to and had to go back, leaving the two nannies here to take care of the three children.
When did Qin Qiao leave? Yang Shuhua was busy helping her friends with the aftermath and didn't even know. When she was about to go home, she called her, and Qin Qiao only said that she hadn't been back for a long time and was just going for a stroll.
But after shopping for a while, by 11 or 12 o'clock, Yang Shuhua called her again, but her phone was switched off.
She tossed and turned, unable to sleep, feeling that something was wrong.
The phone remained switched off, switched off all the time. Yang Shuhua felt a chilling panic creep up her spine, gripping her heart. She was even more worried that something had happened to her child.
Just as she was about to go out to look for her daughter, she noticed that one of the keys on the three hooks of the keychain on the wall was missing. This key was the one that Chen Jiashu's aunt had given him on behalf of him when he came to propose marriage years ago, as part of a house gift.
No matter how much she knocked on the door, they didn't come to open it.
Could it be... that they had already discussed it, and Qiaoqiao decided not to have a mother?
Neighbors came to help by knocking on the door and calling out, and eventually even the property management staff arrived. The staff repeatedly assured her that no one was home, and to convince her, they even took her to the security room to retrieve the surveillance footage.
In the surveillance footage, Qiaoqiao opened the door and went in alone, stayed for about half an hour, and then left alone.
There is no Chen Jiashu; they are not together.
Yang Shuhua stared at the frozen image of her daughter leaving alone, feeling that all her panic, anger, and strength were so absurd.
The way her neighbors looked at her was like they were studying a monster. Did they think she had gone mad?
Before the brief relief of escaping the near miss could spread to her entire being, a chilling thought surfaced: Qiaoqiao must have already discovered the letter she had brought back.
"No..." Yang Shuhua cried out in her heart, "Qiaoqiao, you've misunderstood your mother. It's not what you think. Your mother is only doing this for your own good..."
*
As soon as the phone was turned on, countless missed calls and message notifications popped up one after another.
Qin Qiao first called Lu Tai back, and Lu Tai answered in just two seconds.
"Qin Qiao, where did you go?" Lu Tai asked in a bad tone.
The sunlight outside the window was bright, casting a yellow hue on the bedsheet. It was already 12:30. Clutching a corner of the blanket, she said apologetically, "I'm sorry... I just got up."
"Get up?" Lu Tai laughed angrily. "Alright, it's good that you're awake. Do you have time to come to the station now?"
Qin Qiao recalled the fifteen phone calls Chen Jiashu had made to her, the debts she had owed him over the years, and the unforgivable sins Yang Shuhua had committed against him… She just wanted to see him immediately.
"Lu Tai, I have some personal matters to attend to... I'd like to take the day off."
Her tone conveyed a clear message: she needed to take the leave, with six parts request and four parts notification. The implication was obvious: regardless of Lu Taitong's agreement, she absolutely had to take the leave.
"Take leave?" Lu Tai asked incredulously. He chuckled and said, "Fine! Go take care of your personal matters and see what people are saying about you online. I won't say anything more."
Lu Tai hung up the phone in a fit of anger.
Qin Qiao threw off the covers, got out of bed, put on her high heels, and went outside to find the couple; she wanted to pay their medical bills.
After running out of the hospital, Qin Qiao hailed a taxi, got in, and headed to Qiaoshu Group.
Lu Tai asked her to look at the online comments, which she did. She swiped her thumb across the screen, looking at the personal attacks and foul language. At first, her eyes were filled with shock and pain when she saw the words "poisonous woman," but gradually her heart became calm.
She deserves to be scolded.
A call from Chu Yutong popped up on the screen, and Qin Qiao swiped to answer.
"Qiaoqiao, online... I just saw it." Chu Yutong was very worried about her.
The driver kept glancing at her through the rearview mirror, presumably recognizing her as the "poisonous woman" condemned by millions of netizens.
"I'm fine." Really, I'm fine.
Having worked in journalism for so many years, she has the ability to withstand pressure.
Chu Yutong, who was usually quick-witted, became hesitant and stammering. Qin Qiao smiled silently: "Do you know what I'm thinking right now?"
She paused briefly, "If they won't keep me here, there are other places that will. Tongtong, you don't need to worry about me."
As she said this, the driver glanced at her again, just out of the corner of his eye.
The receiver kept ringing with her voice.
Chu Yutong could tell she was busy, so she hummed in agreement and said, "I'll call you later. I'll hang up now."
At the same time, Yang Shuhua's call was also interrupted. Qin Qiao ignored it and was about to take a deep breath to calm herself down when Chen Jiashu's call came in.
With a quick glance, Qin Qiao answered the phone, her fingers gripping the device tightly.
“Jia Shu…”
"Qiao Qiao T...where are you?" Chen Jiashu was even more nervous than she was.
He probably didn't believe the blog post, and Qin Qiao felt a little relieved. Because he still cared about her, Qin Qiao felt even more at ease, but her heart ached a little more.
“I’m in a taxi, I’m coming to your place now,” Qin Qiao immediately added, “to the group.”
There was a long silence on the other end, followed by the faint sound of fabric rubbing together.
“…I’m at the hospital,” Chen Jiashu said softly.
Qin Qiao's eyes stung, and tears welled up instantly. She forced back the intense sorrow and asked, "What's wrong?"
"I've lost the internet again," he said in a soft, hoarse voice.
"...I...I'm coming to find you." This time she really couldn't hold back anymore, and a sob escaped her throat: "Jiashu, where are you? I'm coming right now, I'll never leave you!"
She was acting like she was delirious, her words rambling and incoherent, but this was what she wanted to tell him: she would never leave him in the future.
"Qiaoqiao... is fine." Chen Jiashu chuckled softly, with a hint of reassurance: "City Hospital, Ophthalmology Department, Bed 002."
Qin Qiao hung up the phone, raised her tear-streaked face, and pleaded, "Driver, to the city hospital."
*
Chen Jiashu put his phone back on the bedside table and leaned back. He had just had surgery, and his right eye was throbbing with a dull pain. He really wanted to touch it, but after several surgeries, the doctor had warned him not to move it around, as it would affect his recovery.
Recovery... this time it's probably going to be very difficult. A lump rose in his throat, and he lowered his head, took a deep breath, and suppressed his emotions.
"Old Song?"
The excessive quiet in the ward made the call bells and announcements in the corridor all the more clearly audible.
“Chairman Chen,” Old Song said as he approached.
Chen Jiashu turned his head to the side, "Where's Jiayue?"
He was halfway through his sentence when Tian Jiayue walked in.
She walked around the partition wall and saw Chen Jiashu awake. She immediately put away her phone and rushed to the bedside.
"Brother, you're awake!"
Chen Jiashu's right eye was covered with gauze, and his blind left eye had a dark, lifeless pupil. He turned his head slightly in response to the voice: "Jiayue... contact President Li and have her come to the hospital."
Tian Jia stared at the faint pink finger marks on his face, her heart aching.
Before her eyes appeared Yang Shuhua's face, contorted with anger, a stark contrast to the kind and gentle face that once graced the stage, saying, "You are all my children."
It was terrifying.
Yang Shuhua must have felt that her brother was behind this, which is why she rushed over to teach him a lesson. Clearly, the content of the blog post hit a nerve. Isn't this slap a tacit admission that they were using her brother?
Otherwise, her first words upon rushing over would definitely be: "Who told you to spread rumors!"
Looking at the man again, his expression was as calm as if nothing had happened.
Does this prove the saying, "You can see through the treacherous currents of the marketplace at a glance, but you can never see through their pretense"?
"Jiayue?" Chen Jiashu tilted his head to remind him.
Tian Jiayue suddenly snapped out of her daze and licked her lips: "I'll take care of it right away."
A rapid clatter of high heels echoed across the floor tiles as they entered. Tian Jiayue and Lao Song looked up simultaneously, one glancing up and the other turning their head.
They saw Qin Qiao turn out of the passage and suddenly stop in front of them.
Strands of messy hair clung to her flushed face, and her bloodshot eyes held a mixture of panic, heartache, and guilt.
Tian Jiayue's pent-up resentment was immediately replaced by a feeling of heartache and guilt that welled up in the woman's eyes, making her realize that her sister-in-law could never treat her brother like that.
"Jiashu." Qin Qiao rushed to Chen Jiashu's side, half-squatted down, and tightly grasped his left hand with both hands.
Tian Jiayue and Lao Song quietly left, and Tian Jiayue gently closed the ward door.
The air fell silent, as if frozen in time.
Qin Qiao leaned down and pressed her forehead against the back of his hand, her thin back trembling slightly, suppressing a sob.
"Things online..."
Chen Jiashu lowered his head, the tears that fell on his hands were scalding and heavy, almost burning through his skin: "I will clarify... Qiaoqiao, don't cry."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
