29/Fall
Everyone has a different definition of life. Ruan Yanmei also thought about living a good life with Chen Song, but as everyone knows, Chen Song was the worst kind of scoundrel. At that time, Chen Song's family had just been relocated and he had some money. He did some small business and they had a sweet life together for a while. Chen Song was a good-looking man and attracted attention wherever he went. In order to stabilize the family, Ruan Yanmei did not hesitate to quit her job and stay at home to prepare for pregnancy and have a child for Chen Song.
As a result, Chen Mian's cries at birth seemed to be the beginning of misfortune. Their savings were exhausted, and the veil covering their stable life was finally lifted to reveal the truth. The reality that Chen Song was incapable was placed between the two of them. As Chen Mian grew up day by day, their lives became more and more difficult.
At the height of the argument, Chen Song pointed at Chen Mian, who was fast asleep in the room, and said that it was this child who had dragged him down.
A charlatan from who-knows-where told him that he shouldn't have children, saying that Chen Mian had a "Seven Killings" destiny, which would bring misfortune to his father.
As it turned out, business declined day by day, and Chen Song became addicted to gambling. The small wins he made at the card table initially lured him into a desire for easy money, and gradually turned him into a degenerate person who indulged in eating, drinking, gambling, and whoring. At first, the people at the card table called him Boss Chen, but later, when they learned that his business had failed, they changed their tune from Boss Chen to Little Chen.
Then, after seeing Ruan Yanmei leading Chen Mian by the hand to come home, he grinned and said to him, "Little Chen, if you can't pay back the money, you can use your beautiful wife."
These words reached Ruan Yanmei's ears and became the last straw that broke the camel's back.
She decided to leave Chen Song. Her life shouldn't be like this. She was beautiful, and countless rich young men pursued her. Chen Song was just the most handsome one among them. Young and infatuated with his looks, she wasted her years and exhausted all her longing for love in that cramped two-bedroom apartment.
She left with her luggage, throwing the borrowed money in Chen Song's face in exchange for a divorce agreement. As she embarked on her new life without hesitation, she did think of Chen Mian. The twelve-year-old girl, holding a certificate of merit, said to her with a slightly coaxing tone, "Mom, look, I'm number one."
Hidden under the certificate was a message: "Mom, please don't leave."
Or, could you please not leave me?
Ruan Yanmei pretended not to understand.
She squatted down and said to Chen Mian, "Mom can't do anything about it either."
She had no choice; she couldn't bear this kind of life. The bed was full of visible lice, which devoured all her enthusiasm for life. When she opened the window, she saw not sunlight, but darkness that never saw the sun. Even sharing a bed with Chen Song made her feel disgusted. Every time she gritted her teeth and endured it, it felt like being slowly tortured to death.
She's only thirty; her life shouldn't be like this.
So, she broke up with Chen Mian; it was the only best option she could make.
Thirty-year-old women are not popular in the job market. It is even more difficult for them if they lack ability, education, family background, and are divorced. She cannot imagine how she will live with a sixth-grade girl. Who would choose her? Maybe there are, but they are not what she wants.
She longed for high-rise buildings, for a room where, when she opened the window, the air was fresh and she didn't smell the stench of garbage cans.
As it turned out, her choice was right. Qiao Cheng was attracted to her beauty and fell in love with her gentleness and thoughtfulness. He didn't care about her divorced status. He only frowned when he heard that she had a child with her ex-husband. But soon after hearing that the child had no contact with her and lived with her ex-husband, he hugged her and said that he would give her a good life in the future.
All the unpleasantness she experienced while with Chen Song seemed to vanish.
Only then did life return to the main theme that should have belonged to Ruan Yanmei.
Chen Mian's reappearance filled her with apprehension after her initial joy, especially when she saw Chen Mian and Qiao Zhiwan standing together. She couldn't help but see the shadow of Chen Song in Chen Mian's eyes and brows.
Chen Mian is her child with Chen Song.
This fact, along with the lice on the old quilt, gradually eroded her maternal instincts.
She stood there, her hands trembling as she held her bag, watching Chen Mian's lip movements as she spoke to her stepdaughter, trying to guess what she might say.
Is that my mom?
Are we sisters?
Or are they threatening you with money?
These are all tricks that Chen and Song used to use. How good could their daughter, who grew up with Chen and Song, be?
Qiao Zhiwan was completely unaware of this, and didn't even understand Chen Mian's words. Somewhat confused, she walked to Ruan Yanmei's side, hooked her arm around hers, and felt as if she were the closest mother and daughter to Ruan Yanmei.
As usual, she shared her thoughts with Ruan Yanmei, pointing to Chen Mian's back and saying, "Mom, that's the top student in our school's humanities class. She's good at academics and pretty, but I don't really like her."
The girl lowered her eyes, pursed her lips, and spoke softly, as if disliking something was wrong.
Hearing Qiao Zhiwan's words, Ruan Yanmei breathed a sigh of relief. Chen Mian hadn't said anything, and Qiao Zhiwan knew nothing. At this moment, she was the most gentle and considerate mother, asking her with concern, "What's wrong, baby?"
"Because, the person I really like, is her."
Qiao Zhiwan spoke slowly and deliberately.
She understood everything, she knew it all. She was different from Chen Yin. Chen Yin could deceive herself and pretend to be deaf and dumb, but she wouldn't.
She knew it was different when she saw the way Shen Yu looked at Chen Mian under the tree.
Humans are born with an intuition, and when it comes to someone they like, their whole body seems to be covered in sensors. This sixth sense keeps ringing, and every sound tells her that the past ambiguity was nothing but a deception.
All the sweetness that requires careful analysis and repeated savoring to appreciate is nothing more than Schrödinger's cat.
It's nothing but a romantic illusion, a one-man show.
Her eyes drooped, and her nonchalant probing in front of Chen Mian completely crumbled at this moment. She said to Ruan Yanmei, "Mom, I envy Chen Mian so much."
She was so envious.
—Chen Mian, who was favored by Shen Yu.
Cinderella herself had no special charm; it was the prince who chose her, making her the protagonist of a fairy tale.
That's what Qiao Zhiwan thinks.
Chen Mian was unaware of the conversation between Qiao Zhiwan and Ruan Yanmei.
She was in the elevator, the floor slowly going up, the mechanical noise whispering in her ear, pulling out all the words Qiao Zhiwan had said to her.
At this moment, Chen Mian thought that people's lifestyles in this world can really be so different.
What was Qiao Zhiwan doing when she went to the amusement park? She was probably minding the convenience store while recalling the lessons her teacher had taught during the day.
What was Qiao Zhiwan doing while her family was having a picnic? She was probably hiding in the house, listening carefully to the sounds outside while trying to stay awake and memorize her lessons by the dim light of a lamp.
It was as if a cicada had crawled out of her heart, chirping at Chen Mian, "Admit it, you envy Qiao Zhiwan. You envy how effortlessly she can obtain a good living environment. You envy how privileged she is, and her biggest trouble is that the boy she likes likes someone else."
—Chen Mian, you're not as nonchalant as you think.
Chen Mian's breathing became heavier.
It felt like the air had been sucked out of my body, and I slowly squatted down.
The enclosed space was the best protective shell. She hugged her knees and leaned against the corner, hiding her sadness deep in her heart during the last five hours. The moment the moisture in the corner of her eyes was wiped away, the elevator doors opened with a ding.
Just as Chen Mian was about to stand up, she saw the person standing at the door.
Sinking Domain.
He looked at her.
Then he stepped into the elevator, bent down, and reached out his hand to her.
"Why are you squatting? Get up, I'll take you home."
That's so cheesy.
It's old-fashioned and lacks originality.
Shen Yu could see every single moment when Shen Yu was most emotionally out of control.
It's as if fate itself has nailed the words "destined" onto them.
But at this moment, there were those hands reaching out to her, and the words "go home."
All of this pulled Chen Mian out of the feeling of weightlessness, like waves crashing at her feet. The sea breeze blew over, sweeping away the stuffy air, and the sunlight gradually poured in, as the light burst in from the open elevator doors.
"Chen Yu." She called his name as she bit into the last of the melting snow at the end of winter.
She lifted her face, her moist eyelashes no longer able to hide her expression. She didn't grab his outstretched hand, but simply said to him, "Can I hug you?"
Chen Mian leaned there, like an abandoned kitten.
She let out a faint cry for help, perhaps without even realizing it herself, her voice trembling with sobs.
The feigned strength and indifference of the past vanished instantly, like an ice cube thrown into boiling water.
She was only seventeen years old.
I've been walking alone in the dark for so long, constantly telling myself it's okay, that everyone is just carrying a heavy burden.
But how can we let people who have never seen the light see the true face of life?
Ruan Yanmei's reappearance reopened the scab on her wound, causing it to bleed profusely once more. One intercepted message after another from Chen Song flooded her phone. While other people's fathers were their daughters' superheroes, her father was her biggest nightmare.
She leaned there, her body trembling.
Shen Yu stepped inside.
The elevator doors closed again after the waiting time had passed.
The moment the light disappeared, I was pulled into someone's arms.
The boy squatted down, bent over, and carefully hugged her, his hand on the back of her head gently stroking her hair.
He said.
"Chen Mian, I caught you."
She is falling.
He caught her.
/
This is an update to version 4.4. I'm posting it first because I finished writing it ahead of time.
I'll add an extra chapter if I get 1000 pigs, so please give me more pigs!
I really liked this chapter, and I hope you will like it too. If you don't like it, that's okay too; I'll try harder on the later chapters.
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