Sui Qing, dissatisfied, pointed at Chu Mu's IV drip bottle again before storming out.
As the head of the family, Mr. Chu finally couldn't stand Chu Mu's behavior any longer. He slammed the cup heavily on the low table in front of him, exuding authority. "What's done is done. Stop whining like a woman! You've even gotten yourself into a hospital bed. What kind of behavior is this!"
Chu Mu looked up at his father and gave a short, cold laugh. "I really am unfilial, I've held you back."
Father Chu wasn't angry. He softened his tone and continued to persuade his son, whom he felt somewhat indebted to since childhood. "In the end, it's all your own doing. Lying there like this isn't a solution. You've wasted too much time with the ministry. I didn't urge you before because Yi'an was in the hospital, and you had to pay your debts. Now that she's gone, you should hurry back to your post."
"After all, not everyone gets this opportunity."
"I'll try to persuade your mother; she'll stop nagging after a while. As for Yi'an... she should just let it go."
"Let it go," those words from Chu's father echoed in Chu Mu's mind during his hospital stay. Let go? Easier said than done... However, he did take some of his father's words to heart. He was discharged from the hospital and went back to work in less than a week.
Having not been to the place for half a month, his current posture naturally led to a crushing defeat. With ruthless handling of several foreign affairs, Chu Mu's reputation soared in the capital.
Tonight, Jiang Beichen hosted a party to celebrate Chu Mu's discharge from the hospital. He was dressed very formally, having just come from a media event. As soon as he entered the private room, he couldn't help but frown. Those with families brought their wives, and those without brought their latest girlfriends; the room was filled with men and women, creating quite a lively atmosphere.
Ji Hengdong deliberately pulled him into the house, smoking a cigarette and shouting, "Come in, come in!! Everyone's here to celebrate your single life, whether they have something to do or not!"
Chu Mu calmly entered the house, took off his coat, and squinted as he took a cigarette from his pack. "So, should I thank you?"
Ji Hengdong, feeling guilty, hummed and hawed to change the subject, and busied himself urging everyone in the room to drink. It had been too long since Chu Mu had attended a gathering like this, so he wasn't too uncomfortable. Watching the group of people drinking heavily, he just couldn't find that feeling he had when he was single. He only stayed for two hours before making an excuse to go home.
As night fell, the second floor of the Lake Garden Villa was brightly lit. Chu Mu stood on the balcony, a nearly burnt-out cigarette between his fingers.
He didn't know how many times this had happened. Every day he forced himself to fall asleep, feeling like he had slept for a long time, only to check his phone and find that only a dozen minutes had passed. Several times, he would suddenly wake up in the middle of the night, sitting up gasping for breath, only to find the side of the bed empty, followed by a long silence.
The pillow was in the same position, and the bedside lamp and her usual books were still there, but the person who should have been lying there was gone.
He'd lost count of how many times he'd been startled awake like this today.
It's been a month since Shu Yi'an left, and for those thirty-odd days, Chu Mu has shamefully admitted that he's been suffering from insomnia almost every night. This was especially true after discovering the stack of things piled up on top of the desk in his study.
All the property transfer agreements he left her, his car keys, house keys, credit cards, including the bracelet Sui Qing had given her, were all neatly placed on his desk. Chu Mu didn't even know when she had put them there. Whenever he closed his eyes or had a minute of free time, he couldn't help but wonder where she was, what she was doing, whether she had a safe place to stay, and whether anyone would find out if she was bullied.
With each passing year, these anxieties intensified in Chu Mu's mind, making him feel as if he were developing some kind of mental illness.
He called her several times afterward, but unsurprisingly, her phone was always off. It seemed that since the day of the divorce, Shu Yi'an had vanished into thin air.
——————————————————————————————————————
At that very moment, Shu Yi'an, who was in an apartment in Suzhou, suddenly felt a chill for no apparent reason.
Su Ying, who was beside her, glanced back at her and added some more hot water to the porcelain cup on the bedside table. "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Shu Yi'an wrapped the blanket tighter around herself, leaving only her eyes showing. She shook her head in a muffled voice, "No, maybe it's just chilly in the middle of the night. Do you think the company will agree to you staying with me for so long?"
Su Ying shook her head indifferently, looking mysterious. "Don't you know Xiao Ke? I mentioned your name, Shu Yi'an, and he gave me a vacation without saying a word. Counting the days," Su Ying grabbed the calendar next to her and carefully marked a few lines, "Hmm... there really aren't many days left."
Grabbing a lighter and ashtray from the side, Su Ying planned to go to the balcony to smoke a cigarette and ease the pressure of writing the project proposal. She kept muttering to herself, "So what if you're divorced? Why did you choose such a place to recuperate? Living in an unfamiliar place like this is so unfair! And this is the only reason your husband doesn't know you're pregnant. If he knew…" Su Ying's beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, and she deliberately trembled. "I don't even want to think about it."
Shu Yi'an was amused by Su Ying's expression and couldn't help but roll her eyes to correct her, "Are you out of your mind... He's not my god... He's yours, okay? Let me repeat, he is my ex-husband!"
Su Ying chuckled and climbed onto the bed in a few steps, pinching and squeezing Shu Yi'an's little face. "Shu Meimei, you've really made something of yourself! Now you can call your ex-husband so confidently? The first few days after I came here, the look on your face... people who knew you were divorced and abandoned, but people who didn't would have thought you were a widow who had lost your husband!"
Since becoming pregnant, Shu Yi'an has become extremely superstitious, especially averse to words like "death." She grabbed a nearby cushion and started hitting her. "Don't say it! Don't say it! Who are you cursing!"
Su Ying chuckled as she grabbed her finger, then her expression suddenly turned serious. "To be honest, you still can't let him go, can you?"
Shu Yi'an's expression froze for a moment, then she lay down to sleep.
Su Ying chuckled and tossed her cigarette aside, then sat cross-legged, ready to give Shu Yi'an a good talking-to. "Don't pretend to be asleep. I've been through this before, I've seen it all. You... you're a classic case of being stubborn and soft-hearted."
“You love him, but you can’t accept what he says and does to you, especially when you see yourself bleeding and hospitalized. You can’t convince yourself to stay with him. You always feel that it’s unfair to you. So you want to leave him, no matter what, as long as you can leave this person named Chu Mu and leave all the influence he has on you, you’re willing. Actually, Yi’an, you’re just deceiving yourself.”
"Now you've left, changed your phone number, changed your address, and are a single mother all by yourself. But baby, do you think you're having an easy time? Can you honestly say you can be a mother like this without any distractions?"
After all, every night when he slept with her, Su Ying could clearly hear her murmurs in her sleep and the tears streaming from the corners of her eyes.
Shu Yi'an remained facing away from Su Ying, and it took her a while to sit up. "You're right, but Su Ying, at least I'm at peace." She placed a pale hand on her chest, her tone calm.
“I can’t live on love for the rest of my life. I have to try to find another way out. I left him. That’s the first step towards independence.”
“And what you’re saying about my feelings for him is a completely different matter.”
Su Ying pondered for a moment, then patted Shu Yi'an's head thoughtfully. "Hmm, it's definitely different now."
"What's different?"
"She's still the same weak and kind-hearted Shu Yi'an, but... she seems braver now."
Looking at the deep blue night sky outside the glass window, Shu Yi'an slowly placed her hand on her lower abdomen. She whispered, "Baby, all of Mommy's courage and strength are for you. So you must grow up safely and happily. When you grow up, Mommy will tell you just how wonderful your father is."
Author's Note: I'll answer all your questions, so don't worry!
Yi'an's baby is still alive, so you can all rest assured now.
Chapter 57 Crackling and popping
Julie smiled at Shu Yi'an across from her and tapped the table with her fingers.
"So, are you satisfied with this location?"
Shu Yi'an picked up the porcelain teapot on the table, poured some hot water into her cup, and nodded with a smile. "It's fine. I was in a hurry when I left and didn't even get a chance to thank you."
"I've come to your door in person, haven't I?"
"However, are you sure you can handle your current situation? I feel that since you're not in your hometown or Beijing, it's not always reassuring to be alone."