Xie Qian’s profile was too much like Xie Jinghu’s!
Zou Weijun felt as if she’d been struck.
It had been some time since she last saw Xie Jinghu. Their last meeting was far from pleasant. Xie Jinghu sat on the sofa, visibly impatient, saying no one could influence Zou Weijun, nor Xie Qian. As long as she continued to turn a blind eye, she’d remain Mrs. Xie III, and outsiders wouldn’t dare say anything to her face.
Xie Jinghu claimed he had no choice—it was fate toying with three people. By a twist of fate, his ex-girlfriend had borne his child. Since she’d kept the child, for the child’s sake, their connection could never be fully severed.
The ex-girlfriend hadn’t even planned to tell him. She’d gone abroad and married a wealthy overseas Chinese businessman.
But within a couple of years, the businessman died of illness. The ex-girlfriend, as his widow, fought his previous children in court. Those children weren’t pushovers and proved her son wasn’t the businessman’s. In the end, she and her son got only a small portion of the estate.
Even so, that inheritance was enough for a comfortable life.
With that money, when she reconnected with Xie Jinghu, it wasn’t for his wealth. Their old feelings reignited, and though they meant to part, she got pregnant again—this time with a daughter.
With a son and a daughter, how could they separate?
Xie Jinghu’s stance was that the children were his flesh and blood, and he’d support them financially. But company shares and such would go to Xie Qian, so Zou Weijun didn’t need to get so worked up.
As if leaving marital assets to his legitimate son was some grand concession or sacrifice.
That shameless, brazen face shattered Zou Weijun completely. Was the other woman making some great sacrifice? Xie Jinghu painted her actions in glowing terms, but to Zou Weijun, it was clear: when her family fell apart back then, Xie Jinghu lacked the means to save them. Unwilling to endure a “hard life” with him, she quickly married abroad.
Why did the businessman marry her?
Perhaps he believed the child she carried was his!
Before even breaking up with Xie Jinghu, she might’ve already been entangled with the businessman, enabling her swift marriage abroad after the split.
After the businessman’s death, with a son in tow, she saw Xie Jinghu had struck it rich in China. Their old flame rekindled, and she bore him a daughter.
Zou Weijun could only piece together this story. She couldn’t think well of the woman who’d wrecked her marriage. The son, older than Xie Qian, predated her meeting Xie Jinghu, so she had no say there.
The daughter, younger than Xie Qian, was glaring proof of Xie Jinghu’s infidelity. On that alone, the woman couldn’t wash herself clean.
Not after wealth, pursuing true love?
Xie Jinghu actually bought that nonsense!
A seasoned businessman like Xie Jinghu, who’d faced countless temptations, might not be as steady as Xie Yuping, but foolish? Hardly.
Yet he believed her, refusing to see any fault in her. The fault was his for succumbing to old feelings.
There was only one explanation: Xie Jinghu loved that woman. He didn’t care what kind of person she was—everything she did was right in his eyes.
Her husband had never loved her.
She’d just happened to appear when he was at his lowest, abandoned by his ex-girlfriend.
All these years of affection were an act!
She alone had poured her whole heart into it.
Realising this, after Xie Jinghu left, Zou Weijun swallowed sleeping pills.
Xie Qian rushed back to Beijing overnight. After emergency treatment, Zou Weijun survived, and Xie Qian stayed by her side day and night, fearing she’d try again. But she treated him as if he didn’t exist.
Xie Qian was her son, but also Xie Jinghu’s.
They looked alike. Seeing Xie Qian brought back memories of a younger Xie Jinghu.
That year, fresh from university with a job secured in her hometown, she’d met Xie Jinghu downstairs at her family’s building.
The faculty dorm was an old building with dim stairwells. Climbing up, Zou Weijun looked up to see a young man at her door. Hearing her, he turned, smiled, and asked if she was Professor Zou’s daughter. She couldn’t recall her reply, only that his smile lit up the entire stairwell. Recalling these memories brought Zou Weijun pain. She refused to accept they were fake, that she alone had fallen so deeply.
She hated Xie Jinghu, and hated herself even more.
Without love, where would the hate come from?
The flip side of hate was deep love.
Zou Weijun had a secret she couldn’t tell anyone.
The name “Xie Jinghu” gnawed at her heart day and night, leaving her no peace. Her son Xie Qian stood by her, ready to cut ties with his father, even defying the Xie family to support her divorce.
With such a filial, sensible son, Zou Weijun should’ve been emboldened. In Rongcheng, they should’ve leaned on each other, living vibrantly to show Xie Jinghu. But she couldn’t bring herself to be close to Xie Qian.
Seeing him reminded her of Xie Jinghu.
She couldn’t even be close to her own son… She was unfit to be a mother!
Xie Qian didn’t see Zou Weijun’s expression, but Wen Ying, outside the window, saw it clearly and shuddered: Something was wrong with Aunt Zou’s emotions. What kind of mother looked at her son like that? Despite her efforts to hide it, the unspoken pain and resistance were nearly spilling over.
Wen Ying ducked her head.
In a flash, she understood why Xie Qian had acted so strangely today.
A neglected child might act out to get attention.
Wen Ying sat on the flowerbed, hugging her knees.
She wasn’t hugging her chubby self—she ached for Xie Qian.
Xie Qian’s father was undeniably a deadbeat, and his mother wasn’t exactly stellar either.
A woman becomes a “mother” once she has a child.
Even animals instinctively protect their young. Whether Zou Weijun divorced her cheating husband was her choice, but as a mother, she should shield her underage son from harm.
Zou Weijun hadn’t done that well.
Xie Qian’s precocious clarity wasn’t just from the Xie family’s upbringing. Xie Jinghu’s infidelity and Zou Weijun’s inadequacy forced Xie Qian to grow up fast.
Zou Weijun was like Chen Li from Wen Ying’s past life.
After divorcing Deng Shangwei, Chen Li never moved past the failed marriage, neglecting Deng Jie and Deng Hao’s growth. One became a playboy, the other a troublemaking delinquent.
The impact of family and childhood trauma was hard to heal. Wen Ying knew this deeply.
She was like that.
Deng Jie and Deng Hao were like that.
No matter how high Xie Qian’s IQ, he couldn’t be entirely unaffected.
Xie Qian was trying to save his mother, but who would save Xie Qian?
