In the deafeningly loud karaoke room, Shu Jianyang reclined on the sofa, legs crossed, while girls tried to get close to him, but he dismissed them with a single glance.
"Third Brother, the phone."
Shu Jianyang, carrying his mobile phone, arrived outside the disco and answered the phone with a flamboyant air, "Hello, who is this?"
"Third Brother, it's me." Shu Yan felt a little awkward. "Hey, Third Brother, can you hear me?"
"Hello, hello..." Shu Jianyang walked to the main road and finally heard a voice from the other side, "It's Yan Yan, wait a moment, I'll call you back from the landline." Damn, this crappy phone cost him 20,000 yuan, and it's only good for showing off.
I found a small shop and pulled up a chair for Shuyan to return to.
"Third Brother, can you hear me?" Shu Yan laughed, "I already told you that the old mobile phone is no good, but you still want to buy one."
Back then, those old mobile phones were a real rip-off—expensive and unreliable. It was better to wait a couple of years until smartphones came out and then just buy those.
“Other bosses have all bought them, I can’t fall behind, it would be so embarrassing. How are things in Nancheng?” Shu Jianyang looked around and said in a low voice.
Shu Yan burst out laughing. Once you get to know Shu Jianyang, you'll find that he's actually quite funny.
"I'm fine. I got my official household registration in Nancheng, and I wanted to tell you." After searching around, it seemed that Shu Yan could only talk to Shu Jianyang.
"Didn't we register our residency last time?" Shu Jianyang asked, somewhat puzzled.
"The last one wasn't official; the one I received today is the official household registration. I also changed the children's names. Jingjing is now Shu Jinxi, and Tianbao is now Shu Jinchen. That's all, I just wanted to call and let you know. I'll hang up now."
"Wait a minute," Shu Jianyang called out. "Are you coming back for the New Year? My second uncle and Jianbin have come to see me several times, asking me to give them your contact information. I've been making excuses that I don't know, but they must be quite suspicious."
"I won't go back for the New Year. In any case, you absolutely cannot tell them where I am or how to contact me. Just say you haven't been in contact with me." Shu Yan refused without hesitation.
Why go back? To let them exploit you? She's sure that without a major financial loss, she won't even be able to leave the house.
The original owner's village was still very feudal in its thinking. They felt that daughters were not human beings, but rather private property. Before marriage, they had to listen to their parents' arrangements; after marriage, they had to listen to their husband's family's arrangements; and after divorce, they had to listen to their mother's family's arrangements when they returned to their parents' home. In short, they were just objects and were not treated as human beings at all.
If Shu Yan goes back home for the New Year, her parents will keep her at home, and no one will step forward to help her. Shu Jianyang might help her, but it will be difficult. After all, no matter how powerful he is outside, he is still a junior at home.
When Shu Yan woke up that morning, she looked at herself in the mirror. The spots on her face had finally faded quite a bit. However, the skin where the spots had just fallen off was still white, and it didn't look much better than before the treatment. At least it looked much better than when the scabs were forming. Finally, she could go out without wearing a mask.
The newly grown skin was very pink and tender, so Shu Yan didn't dare to wash her face too hard. She gently wiped it with a cotton pad soaked in toner, followed by a repair essence and a repair lotion. These were all prescribed by the hospital. A small bottle of repair essence only had five milliliters and cost more than two hundred yuan. Shu Yan was very generous in spending money on her face. She had already done laser treatments that cost tens of thousands of yuan, so she really didn't mind spending a little more.
Now is the time for repairs. Shu Yan takes great care of herself, and she always wears a hat and carries an umbrella whenever the sun is out.
Today was a rare good day, and Hu Ruixue invited Shuyan to take the children out for a field trip. However, looking at the sun outside, Shuyan hesitated.
"My face can't be exposed to the sun yet, so let's wait until spring to go for a spring outing." Shu Yan thought that by then it would definitely be healed.
“It’s not like I’m asking you to stand in the sun. The place I found has a big lawn outside, where the kids can play. We can just sit in the pavilion and watch them play. Tell me, how long has it been since you’ve had a proper chance to go out and get some fresh air?” Hu Ruixue knew Shu Yan well; she was always busy at home, at the shop, and with Lao Zhang and her place, she never had a moment to spare.
"Just the two of us and the three kids?"
Since arriving in Nancheng, Shuyan has really not had a break. Every day she gets up early to take the children to school, then goes to the shop, and in the afternoon she has to rush back to pick them up. She has to cook dinner, and after dinner she washes the floor, sweeps the floor, and does laundry. She's busy until eight or nine o'clock. She takes a shower, goes to sleep with the children, and the day is over.
While others have weekends off, her weekends are the most tiring time. She picks up her children on Friday, goes to Hangzhou on Friday night, starts buying goods around 4 a.m., and works until about 7 a.m. Then she immediately takes a bus back to Nancheng to unpack, mix and match, and stock new products. She goes back to make lunch for her two children, can sleep for an afternoon, and then makes dinner, washes dishes, sweeps the floor, and does laundry. There are never-ending chores.
Looking back on the past few days, Shu Yan couldn't help but admire herself. How did she manage to get through it? Luckily, she was physically strong, otherwise she would have fallen ill long ago.
“Yes, it’s just the few of us. Is there anything you don’t want to eat? I’ll have Auntie prepare the things we need for the picnic,” Hu Ruixue said immediately, sensing that Shu Yan had relented.
“We’re not picky eaters, anything is fine.” After hanging up the phone, Shu Yan took her coin purse and went to the market. She planned to cook some things herself to take with her.
It's winter now, and hot food gets cold easily. We already have two insulated containers at home, so she bought two more. She washed them and soaked them in boiling water, planning to use them later.
"Mom, who are we going on a picnic with?"
“One of Mom’s good friends, whom you haven’t met. She also has a four-year-old sister. You’ll be the big sister then, and you’ll have to take care of your younger siblings, okay?”
"I know, Mom, what are you doing? I'll help you." Jingjing rolled up her sleeves, wanting to help.
"No need. Mom is making cola chicken wings. Didn't you say they were delicious last time?" Besides that, Shu Yan also made a sweet soup and some sushi. This kind of thing is not very common in China now. The tools for making sushi were something she bought from the owner of a restaurant when she had lunch once.
A thermos was full of cola chicken wings, another thermos was filled with neatly stacked sushi, and the other two thermoses were full of sweet soup. After filling them up, Shu Yan took the two children downstairs. A little while later, Hu Ruixue's car arrived.
"I asked Auntie to prepare a lot, why did you bring things too?" Hu Ruixue took the things from Shu Yan's hands without ceremony and opened them. What she opened was a thermos containing sushi. "You can make this?"
After eating one, Hu Ruixue's eyes lit up. "It's delicious! How did you make it? Teach me later."
"No problem." Shu Yan handed the things to the driver and put them in the trunk. She then got in with the children. There were two adults and three children, and the space wasn't too cramped.
“This is my daughter, Duoduo. Duoduo, why don’t you greet your older sister and younger brother?” Hu Ruixue shook her daughter in her arms.
Shu Yan looked at the little girl in Hu Ruixue's arms. Her skin was snow-white, her eyes were big and round, her eyelashes were long, black and thick, her nose was pert, and her mouth was cherry-like. She was as delicate and cute as a doll.
"Your daughter is so adorable," Shu Yan couldn't help but praise.
"Your daughter is beautiful, and your son is handsome," Hu Ruixue praised sincerely.
Shu Yan thought it was just polite talk; of course she thought her daughter was beautiful. But in reality, Shu Jinxi hadn't been raised well before, and although she was much better now, she could only be considered average-looking, while Tianbao was quite good-looking.
"Duoduo, this is Aunt Shu, Mommy's good friend. Be good and call her Aunt Shu." After waiting for a while, Duoduo didn't speak, but Hu Ruixue wasn't angry. She continued to introduce, "This is your sister Jingjing, and this is your little brother Tianbao. Would you like to play with them later?" But Duoduo in Hu Ruixue's arms was still in a daze, as if she hadn't heard Hu Ruixue's words.
Shu Yan immediately noticed the problem. She opened her mouth but didn't ask anything. Instead, she chuckled and changed the subject, "The company is all done with work. Is it alright for you to leave?"
"Everyone is busy preparing for the advertisement. There are dedicated staff at the TV station following up, so I don't need to keep an eye on it for the time being. It's rare to have a moment of leisure, so I came out to relax." Hu Ruixue hugged Duoduo tightly and said to Jingjing and Tianbao, "I am your mother's friend. You can just call me Aunt Xue. This is a gift from me to you."
Hu Ruixue took out two exquisite boxes and handed them to Jingjing and Tianbao. Inside each box was a piece of jade that looked to be of very high quality. Shuyan wanted to refuse, but in the end she didn't say anything. Actually, she had also prepared a gift for Duoduo, but after seeing the gift that Hu Ruixue had prepared, she felt that her gift was a bit too light.
"Stop hiding it, give it to me." Hu Ruixue took the box from Shu Yan's hand. "I gave you one of my two gifts back, which is already a loss for me. You still want to hide it and not give it to me? No way." Hu Ruixue joked on purpose.
It's a small golden Buddha, and the safety buckle on the outside was made by Shuyan herself.
"I like it very much, and Duoduo likes it very much too." With that, he put it on Duoduo.
The child in Hu Ruixue's arms remained motionless and did not utter a single word.
They got off the bus and arrived at a manor.
"This is a private estate owned by one of my dad's friends. It has a golf course, a horse farm, and indoor and outdoor swimming pools. The indoor pool is heated, so we can go swimming there. There's also a small amusement park, which the kids will definitely love."
"So big?" Shu Yan really thought it was a lawn in a park. She didn't expect it to be a manor. This was the first time she had ever known that there was such a big manor in Nancheng, and that it was privately owned.
Hu Ruixue led Shu Yan inside, "See that grove of trees? There's a big lawn just past there. But we can go to the amusement park first, and then eat on the lawn over there when it's almost lunchtime."
The so-called mini amusement park gave Shuyan another shock; it not only had a carousel, but also bumper cars, a mini roller coaster, and a mini Ferris wheel...
"It really is a 'small' amusement park." Shu Yan said speechlessly.
"What's wrong?" Hu Ruixue looked at her, puzzled.
Shu Yan shook her head. She initially thought the mini amusement park was like the game castle set up in a big supermarket, with a trampoline, slide, sandpit and the like. But it turned out to be built just like an amusement park, only all the buildings were scaled down.
Jingjing and Tianbao are too young, so Shuyan has never taken them to an amusement park. This is the first time the two children have seen anything like this, and they're having a blast. Right now, they're bouncing around on the trampoline. But Hu Ruixue's daughter just sits there, not moving an inch, like a wooden doll.
"You noticed, didn't you?" Hu Ruixue suddenly asked.
"What?" Shu Yan, who had been watching the two children closely, worried that they might fall due to their excitement, was taken aback when she heard Hu Ruixue's question.
“My daughter. She’s sick.” Hu Ruixue looked down at Duoduo with a loving expression. “She has congenital autism. The doctor said that if her parents continue to influence her with love, perhaps one day she will call him Mom and Dad.”
"So you found out Zhang Baizong cheated on you, and you chose to forgive him?" Shu Yan said. After getting to know Hu Ruixue, she found that she was a person who couldn't tolerate any infidelity. How could she choose to forgive Zhang Baizong? At first, Hu Ruixue said it was because of love, but this time she was so ruthless. Anyway, Shu Yan always felt very conflicted. Today she finally knew the reason.
Hu Ruixue nodded gently. "After you called, I specifically consulted a doctor. The doctor said that Duoduo isn't unaware of the outside world, but she just can't express it. So she can sense even fake love, and what we're doing is only hurting her more. Then I divorced Zhang Baizong. I took her to see experts both domestically and internationally, but it was all in vain. I was thinking about whether she could play with your child. Maybe... there might be a turning point."
Shu Yan suddenly didn't know what to say. Sure enough, every family has its own troubles. Take Hu Ruixue, for example. She was born into a good family, is beautiful, and is smart, but she just happened to meet a scumbag and her child has autism.
She had seen some information about this illness online and knew a little about it. Mild cases could be treated, but the symptoms Duoduo exhibited were clearly more severe and belonged to an incurable mental illness.
Hu Ruixue smiled bitterly, "I just won't give up. I know Duoduo won't get better, so I want to start a business. I hope to save enough money for her so that if I'm gone one day, Duoduo can spend the rest of her life in the best nursing home."
"She's only four years old. With the advancement of technology, perhaps she can be cured," Shu Yan could only offer words of comfort.
Hu Ruixue shook her head. "It's almost time. Let's go to the pavilion over there for dinner."
Shu Yan called the two children back and then asked Jingjing to take better care of her younger sister.
"But my sister is ignoring me," Jingjing whispered into Shuyan's ear.
"Your sister just doesn't like to talk. You'll be fine if you talk to her more."
Surprisingly, Duoduo really loves the sweet soup that Shuyan makes. Hu Ruixue said excitedly, "Duoduo has a small appetite and has never liked to eat. I didn't expect her to like your sweet soup. Shuyan, teach me how to make sweet soup later, and I'll make it for Duoduo."
"Of course." Shu Yan looked at the little girl obediently drinking the sweet soup and felt a little regretful. Such a pretty little girl, it would be great if she could get better.
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