Chapter 70
But life is not a matter of appreciating the blooming flowers of spring without enduring the damp plum rains, enjoying the heat of summer without suffering the unbearable heat, tasting the fruits of autumn without experiencing the hardships of cultivation, or feeling the tranquility of winter without accepting the biting cold.
The story of a girl from a small town who rose to become a top-tier makeup artist, and then to a makeup artist with a college diploma who climbed the ranks, all happened in the time it takes to type a few words on a keyboard.
In a class-themed essay writing session, Jiang Jiawei, the central figure, and her family all become sacrifices in this narrative.
Her past was completely denied, and she was given a new label. Sudden malice fell like hail and rain.
The extravaganza reached its climax after paparazzi photos of Mu Zhengxi being leaked and taken secretly, along with photos of him fighting with friends in a private meeting place that should have been a private setting, were leaked.
The fierce-looking Samoyed in the video and photos turned into a dog standing in front of its house getting soaked in the rain.
"sorry……"
Mu Zhengxi bent down and hugged her tightly, like someone grabbing the only piece of driftwood when drowning. "Don't give up on me, Jiang Jiawei, please... don't give up on me..." He didn't know how to start the conversation. This malice came from his own parents. He had a hundred ways to disobey, and Mu Shaoqing had a hundred and one ways to punish him. Even the scene in the TV series where the male lead's mother finds the female lead and asks her for money to leave can be considered kind.
Jiang Jiawei hugged him back, "Why are you fighting again? Didn't we agree not to pay attention to what they were saying? Hmm?" She raised her hand and cupped Mu Zhengxi's face, "Hey, have you forgotten what your girlfriend does? I'm a makeup artist, and the dressing room is where secret exchanges happen most often. I know a lot of their gossip. It's not hard to fight back, is it?"
"How come you're even dumber than Yebao?"
Mu Zhengxi didn't answer. He sobbed and leaned in to kiss her, wiping away her tears. He carefully and tenderly pressed his forehead against hers, as if he had a box of his favorite candy during his teething period, hidden under his pillow, afraid that the slightest sound would reveal it and cause him to lose it at any moment.
But Jiang Jiawei is not candy, and he is no longer that seven-year-old child.
As a child, the study was a place of punishment and lessons for making mistakes, where opinions were not allowed to exist solely in obedience. As an adult, the study became a place for negotiations between father and son.
Footsteps broke the stagnant silence in the living room. Jiang Jiawei looked up and saw Mu Zhengxi walking straight towards her. His previously calm face revealed a small, reassuring smile. He took her hand and said, "Let's go home."
Mu Zhengxi held her hand with one hand and took the gift they had bought when they visited her home with the other. He was so eager that he didn't want to stay a second longer. Jiang Jiawei was pulled away by him and could only hurriedly turn back to say goodbye to Zeng Yuan and Mu Zhengting.
Back in the car.
What did your uncle say to you?
"He didn't say anything."
Don't lie to me.
"He told me to go to the company tomorrow so he can have a lawyer come and draft a contract for me to sign, relinquishing my inheritance rights." Mu Zhengxi, holding his seatbelt, snorted disdainfully, "He hasn't given me any living expenses since I started university."
This was the answer they expected. Jiang Jiawei lowered her eyes and looked at the gift bag on the back seat, feeling both helpless and amused by Mu Zhengxi's childish behavior. "Then why did you take all the gifts?"
Mu Zhengxi said in a serious tone, "A gift is only meaningful if it is given to someone who responds."
Mu Zhengxi asked her, "Are you ready?"
Jiang Jiawei grasped his hand in return.
In the scorching heat of summer, as the sun sets on the distant horizon, it gives one boundless courage to look forward to the tomorrow that is yet to come.
But it was truly... a very difficult journey.
The strict hierarchical laws of monkey groups in nature still exist today, even after humans have evolved. As a member who rebelled and fled, he was subjected to a united extermination by the entire tribe, for no other reason than that any challenge to power was intolerable.
Jiang Jiayi's startup tech company was also affected, and its originally smooth Series A funding round was obstructed by unknown factors.
Jiang Jiayi said, "Sister, it's okay, what are you afraid of? Who is your brother? This little difficulty is nothing. Don't worry or feel sorry. If they don't vote, there are plenty of others who will." He said, "Sister, I will definitely not let you lose."
My aunt said, "What are you afraid of? If you don't want to go back to Changqing, you won't starve."
So, even though the days were tough, the unconditional support from my family made me more courageous to persevere.
Because of criticism regarding his educational background, he worked hard to improve himself. When he was almost rejected for jobs, he changed career paths and turned to working behind the scenes, starting his own cosmetics brand.
Mu Zhengxi asked her if she would regret it.
Jiang Jiawei said, "Thank you for making me a better version of myself."
This continued until the third year of their marriage.
Jiang Jiawei once bumped into Zeng Yuan, who was also there to see an exhibition, at a gallery owned by Mu Zhengxi's friend.
After the staff member tactfully left.
Zeng Yuan looked at her seriously and said, "You should call me Mom, not President Zeng, at least in front of outsiders."
Jiang Jiawei hesitated for a moment, a stubbornness lingering in her gentle features. "You don't like me, so I can't call you Mom. Mom is a very important title." Her tone was calm, without any intention of arguing or contradicting her; she was simply stating a fact that she was powerless to change.
Zeng Yuan turned her gaze back to a painting on the wall. "Tomorrow is Flora's birthday. Let's bring Mu Zhengxi home for dinner."
Jiang Jiawei left the gallery. The sunset that day was so beautiful that it made one believe that the past unpleasantness stemmed from our respective difficulties.
She called Mu Zhengxi.
"Jung-hee, your mother wants you to come home for dinner tomorrow and celebrate Flora's third birthday."
When Jiang Jiawei first visited Mu Zhengxi's home, Yang Shengyi was the only member of the family who genuinely welcomed her. In fact, she had always maintained contact with them in private and even provided assistance on several occasions.
Being a kind person is simply a personal choice, because fate does not use kindness as a criterion to arrange the hardships of life.
At the moment of the car collision, Jiang Jiawei almost instinctively turned around and hugged Flora, who was sitting next to her.
Fortunately, no one was injured in that car accident.
This is the truth she originally knew.
Until many years later.
Mu Zhengting had an accident, and she was invited to Mu Shaoqing's office.
Jiang Jiawei didn't know how she got home.
The deepening night slowly devoured the light from the room.
Does she regret it? No, she doesn't. If she could do it all over again, Jiang Jiawei would still stick to her original choice without hesitation. She just... just needs a little time to accept the truth of the matter. She just... still wants to ask why...
They'd been together for many years and had argued before, but that was the first time she couldn't control herself and used the cruelest words she could think of to attack him, and she didn't keep her promise to make up before the next day started.
Zeng Yuan's bipolar disorder, which she had been hiding for many years and was undergoing continuous treatment for, completely erupted due to Mu Zhengting's accident. She became like a child at times, sensitive and fragile, and at other times like a stubborn old lady. Her sharp words and unwarranted rude behavior caused the nursing home's caregivers to be replaced time and time again.
Jiang Jiawei moved to a nursing home and was cared for by a maid.
It's strange that people who didn't like her before suddenly become the most dependent on her when they're not thinking clearly.
After Mu Zhengting collapsed, the responsibility that belonged to him naturally fell on Mu Zhengxi's shoulders.
Overtime work, business trips, dealing with the media, and board meetings have become the norm in daily life.
So-called maturity and composure are about picking up your broken soul alone in the dead of night, mending the cracks, and carefully hiding it under your crisp collar before the sun rises the next day.
When they meet and make eye contact, they turn into children who haven't yet learned to speak, not knowing how to pronounce words.
Who should be blamed or hated? The root cause of the problem is now lying in the hospital, a soulless body.
Ultimately, what angered and saddened her the most was how he could bear such a truth alone, while pretending to be indifferent in front of her.
Mu Zhengxi lowered his head and asked her, "Jiang Jiawei, do you... hate me?"
Applying ointment mixed with tears to a scratch only intensifies the burning pain.
Jiang Jiawei raised her hand, and her answer was to slowly press her palm against his cheek, her thumb gently wiping away the tears on his face.
This time, Mu Zhengxi did not apologize.
He said, "Let's get a divorce."
Jiang Jiawei called and asked, "Have you thought it through?"
The person on the phone said, "I've...thought it through."
"Okay, come home and we'll talk."
Jiang Jiawei hung up the phone.
The interview was something I had agreed to beforehand.
When the host asked her if she would choose the same life again if she could do it all over again, she firmly answered no because she knew he was there for her.
It was really too hard, and it's also true that I won't make that choice again.
But actually, at the end of the interview, she added that...
"If I could live my life again, I would still most want to experience it with him."
"What's your name?"
"Mu Zhengxi".
"Which Mu, which Zheng, which Xi?"
"Mu Guiying's Mu, Zheng's Zheng, and Xi's Xi."
Jiang Jiawei stood on the steps, looking down at the other person. The light cut sharp lines between light and shadow on the boy's nascent handsome face. Millions of golden dust particles floated in the air, slowly swirling and rising, like the visible breath of time itself.
At first, I really thought it was superficial, both of Mu Zhengxi himself and the equally superficial 24-year-old Jiang Jiawei.
Therefore, the violent beating of the heart was attributed to anger.
That was certainly not an ordinary goldenrain tree; Jiang Jiawei knew that, she had always known.
After the Easter party ended, Mu Zhengxi carried his drunken friend home. Just as he went to get a glass of water, a loud crash came from the living room. A picture frame on the cabinet was swept off and the glass frame shattered. Mu Zhengxi's roommate, whom he wanted to beat up, also shattered on the floor. With the last shred of conscience, he kicked the person away.
Carefully picking up the photo from the frame, I discovered blurred pencil writing on the lower right corner of the back of the photo.
The first and last capital letters can be vaguely discerned as N and J.
"So you've been living abroad since high school?"
"No, I went back to China for a year of exchange studies during my sophomore year at Xuanhe University. My dad had a collaborative project with the university's School of Economics, and he asked me to come back."
The shadows of the trees rushed backward.
"Brother, that lady said the manager recommended watermelon juice today, and she told me to buy watermelon juice."
Mr. Justin, you told Miss Lester that love is a hand that wants to touch but then pulls back.
But today I discovered that when that person reaches out to you, all you have to do is bravely and firmly shake their hand back.
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