In the dark, Shen Wanqing took a step back, then took a slender cigarette out of the pack, lighting it slowly and taking a drag, while Shen’s mother watched her skilled movents in a trance—
Once, Wanqing was such a well-behaved girl, how did she turn out this way?
She couldn’t quite accept it, her voice suddenly muted: "Wanqing, why are you smoking now? It’s bad for girls."
"Bad." Shen Wanqing flipped her wavy long hair, smiling nonchalantly: "Mom, do you know what’s really bad for girls?"
Shen’s mother stood there stunned.
Shen Wanqing chuckled lightly: "It’s not having a good family to rely on. Mom, you’ve seen it, today how arrogant Wang Keru was, everyone in Qingcheng knows her family ca to apologize for her. Look, that’s the power of wealth, those without money or status are dood to be oppressed."
Shen’s mother said softly: "Isn’t that because Anxi was capable? The wife’s family is wealthy, but she chose to marry Mr. Gu who had nothing, she suffered hardships too."
Shen Wanqing’s voice suddenly sharpened: "So you an I’m not allowed to suffer?"
She laughed coldly: "Mom, I didn’t know you’re all about helping others now."
Shen’s mother was so angry her body trembled slightly, she spoke gently: "Wanqing, it was Anxi who had soone save you, you can’t be ungrateful. Besides, the Gu family has always treated us well. Since childhood, Anxi was very considerate, you rember how she always gave her dresses for you to wear."
"Of course, I rember." Shen Wanqing said excitedly: "But mom, you forgot, I never wore them, I hated her charity, I hated being inferior, I hated people calling the servant’s daughter."
Shen’s mother opened her mouth, then spoke with difficulty: "Those pretty dresses, Anxi never wore them either."
Shen Wanqing sneered: "Mom, you’re too easy to please. It doesn’t matter if they were never worn, they’re still soone else’s; only buying them yourself makes it real, right?"
She gracefully held her cigarette, "Look, I have everything now, I eat the best cuisine, wear the most expensive clothes, stay in the finest hotels, I’m no longer the Shen Wanqing who watched others’ expressions."
Shen’s mother looked at her and couldn’t accept.
Shen Wanqing was too tired to speak further, she simply took out a stack of money from her bag, roughly ten thousand, seemingly pre-prepared.
She said: "Rent a place in Qingcheng, I’ll give you ten thousand a month, stop working as a servant in the Gu family."
Shen’s mother looked at the money, hearing her daughter repeatedly call her a servant, as if a needle pricked her heart.
At the Gu family, no one treated her as a servant, Anxi called her Aunt, always cheerful, and would ask her to make osmanthus cakes. Occasionally she’d bring fashionable clothes and sternly ask her to try them, saying she was too conservative and wouldn’t find a new husband that way. She didn’t want another husband, she just wanted to serve Mr. and Mrs. Gu, who were kind-hearted, Mrs. Gu seed unapproachable but was very soft-hearted...
Money, she liked too, but the money before her felt too hot to handle.
Shen’s mother reached out, gently touching the money, slowly saying: "Mom has money, I saved over a hundred thousand in dowry for you."
"Oh, over a hundred thousand, what good is that." Shen Wanqing chuckled, then impatiently said: "Just take this money, stop working, take care of yourself more, lest when I get married people say I’m the servant’s daughter seeing you all shabby."
Shen’s mother listened in a daze.
After a long ti, she chuckled lightly, "Wanqing, do you want mom to live like a wealthy wife too?"
Shen Wanqing smiled faintly, "Sothing like that."
Shen’s mother pushed the money away: "But this money might not be enough."
She looked up, directly at Shen Wanqing: "You know, it’s not easy being a wealthy wife, mom is used to working, I can’t sit idle, and to truly cultivate that essence, even a month with a million might not suffice, let alone ten thousand."
What she didn’t ntion is her work at Gu’s earning twenty thousand a month, enjoying good food and accommodations, even staying in a single suite, working eight hours a day with the rest of the ti free.
Her words made Shen Wanqing angrily exclaim: "One million, should I go rob?! Mom, don’t be ungrateful, many children don’t give a penny...."
Shen’s mother interrupted her: "Wanqing!"
Her voice was stern, Shen Wanqing paused.
Her mother had never used this tone with her before.
Seeing her incredulous expression, Shen’s mother slowly spoke: "Wanqing, you’ve asked sothing of mom, now mom is asking you, stop associating with those married n, last ti I overheard Mr. and Mrs. Gu saying you were involved with Anxi’s uncle, I’ve just seen him... Mom wants you to sever ties with him."
Shen Wanqing’s face grew unpleasant.
After a while, she sneered: ’Mom, President Wang is my client.’
Shen’s mother got angry: ’What kind of client is he, don’t take mom for a fool.’
Shen Wanqing didn’t want to speak.
They sat in silence, the atmosphere tense.
After a long ti, Shen’s mother asked again: "Will you break it off?"
"What break off?" Shen Wanqing denied: "I said he’s a client."
She looked at Shen’s mother: "Mom, do you even understand how tough it is to struggle alone? It’s not like before, without a Qin family supporting , I’m alone, if I don’t connect with influential n, I’ll never make it."
Shen’s mother was trembling with anger: ’So you don’t want to change?’
Shen Wanqing sneered, "Change? Mom, what is there for to change? We finally et, and all you can do is bla , yet you’re so forgiving of others. You probably really like Gu Anxi now, but do you know she sent her half-sister to Qin Siyuan’s side? That hurts more than a needle in my heart, but you, you just help others. Mom, I am your daughter, not her."
Shen’s mother closed her eyes slightly, feeling a sharp pain in her heart.
It had been over twenty years since she gave birth to this daughter after her late husband had left, raising her alone through hardship and toil, and in the end...
She recalled Wanqing’s 20th birthday, when she bought a small cake, but Wanqing didn’t even glance at it.
Shen’s mother laughed, tears streaming down as she laughed.
She slowly walked forward, faster and faster.
"Mom." Shen Wanqing called her, but she didn’t respond.
Shen Wanqing ran a few steps forward, grabbing her mother’s hand, "Mom, you have to listen to my arrangents."
No sooner had she said this when Shen’s mother slapped her on the cheek.
She was stunned, only speaking after a long pause, "You hit ?"
Shen’s mother looked numb, "With this slap, our mother-daughter relationship is over. Wanqing, from now on, take care of yourself. I can’t manage you anymore, and I don’t want to."
Shen Wanqing gently stroked her face, staring at her mother.
From childhood to adulthood, her mother had always been willing to endure, always willing to sacrifice, but now she did not want to anymore.
She murmured, "Mom, you’ve been poisoned by Gu Anxi."
Shen’s mother scread, "It’s you who strayed off the path. You’ve changed to soone I don’t recognize. I don’t recognize you. You’re not my daughter."
She scread as she spoke, retreating, and then ran very fast...
Ahead, the car’s headlights lit up, and then—with a bang—
Shen’s mother’s body flew up, followed by the sharp sound of braking.
And the splash of blood in the night, like a blood-red rose blooming in the dark...
Shen Wanqing scread, "Mom!"
She ran over, wanting to lift her mother, but she just lay there, motionless.
"Call an ambulance, call an ambulance," she shouted hoarsely, "Save my mom!"
People got out of the car, checked, and imdiately dialed 120...
An hour later, Shen’s mother was in critical condition at Yunxi Hospital, with a ruptured spleen. The chief surgeon was called back from vacation by Professor Bo.
Gu Yuntian and Wang Keru also rushed over and waited outside the operating room. Shen Wanqing was there too, but neither party spoke...
Around one o’clock, there was a commotion down the corridor. A nurse went over to check and ca back to tell Gu Yuntian, "They are reporters, seven or eight of them, wanting to do an interview."
Gu Yuntian frowned, "What’s there to interview about?"
The nurse glanced at Shen Wanqing and said slowly, "They want to interview Miss Shen, saying a well-known painter’s confrontation with her mother caused the car accident, and now the driver is terrified of being sued."
Shen Wanqing looked up and murmured, "What else did they say? Did they ask if I am the maid’s daughter? Did they inquire about my background? What do they want? Why are they pushing to a dead end?"
Wang Keru couldn’t stand it, reprimanding, "Wanqing, at a ti like this with your mother, you’re still thinking about aningless things. Doing work for others doesn’t make you less of a person. Everyone who works earns a salary."
Shen Wanqing seed dazed, "It’s different, completely different. You don’t understand how I feel."
The Gu family couple felt exasperated, watching her grow up, yet now seen as beyond saving. But the young nurse spoke up, "My mom used to work for soone too. If they were good employers, she stayed longer; if not, she went to work in a factory. It’s all the sa; just like a restaurant has cooks and also has bed-makers. It’s really the sa. Miss Shen, if you don’t care, no one else will."
Shen Wanqing’s face turned grim, "What do you know?"
The young nurse was startled. She finally squeezed out a sentence, "Why are you so fierce? No one owes you anything. Your insecurity shouldn’t harm others."
With that, she turned and ran.
Wang Keru said to Gu Yuntian, "That girl is quite good."
Gu Yuntian patted her hand, sat down, and rubbed his leg, speaking gently, "Ke Ru, go talk to those reporters. Tell them not to disturb the surgery. As for the rest, we’ll handle it according to traffic laws. If it’s Jin Feng’s responsibility, we will take it; we won’t trouble them. You should go talk to them, the other party is probably scared too. They’re innocent after all."
Wang Keru nodded, "Alright, I’ll go talk to them. If you’re not feeling well, I’ll have the nurse get a hot water bag for your leg, you’ve been working hard all day."
Gu Yuntian smiled warmly, "It’s okay."
Wang Keru gently patted his shoulder, "Alright, I’m going."
As she left, she glanced at Shen Wanqing one more ti, speaking softly, "Wanqing, if you can’t handle it, we can take care of your mother."
She feared, one day, old Jin Feng would be angered to death by her daughter.
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