"Zhenghang, my son. It"s been 29 years. I"ve waited 29 years to finally hear you call me "mum". It was worth it, it was all worth it!" Jiang Changdai gently touched Lu Zhenghang"s face.
Yan Zhiqing"s lips pressed so tightly together that her chin began to tremble. She was afraid that she would rush into the room and shout at them both if she did not force herself to relax.
Yan Beicheng had never referred to Jiang Changdai as "mum" for as long as Yan Zhiqing could remember. Nevertheless, Jiang Changdai always kept a blasé att.i.tude toward the matter. She never seemed to care if he called her "mum". Whenever Jiang Changdai argued with Yan Beicheng, she would say the same thing, "You"ve never treated me as your mother and have no respect for me. I"d rather never have given birth to you. My life would be better than it is now, since you constantly act as if I owe you something!"
Jiang Changdai had always treated Yan Beicheng as a son she had never given birth to, all because Yan Beicheng was Yan Huaiyuan"s son. However, Yan Beicheng might still have referred to her as his mother when he was very young, but since Yan Beicheng was much older than Yan Zhiqing, Yan Zhiqing could not be entirely sure of this.
However, she was sure that before her father"s accident, Yan Beicheng definitely called Jiang Changdai "mum" when he was still a little runt who had no experience in the real world.
Yan Zhiqing wondered what Jiang Changdai"s att.i.tude toward him was then?
After witnessing the vast difference between how Jiang Changdai treated Yan Beicheng and Lu Zhenghang, Yan Zhiqing felt like it would genuinely make no difference to Jiang Changdai even if Yan Beicheng did call her "mum" when he was a little boy!
Yan Zhiqing may be full of herself, but she was not completely stupid.
She had suffered a huge blow today. There were some truths that she would need to accept and face even if she was not willing to.
Similarly, there were also many things that she was starting to understand.
Jiang Changdai had shed tears over a single use of the word "mum" by Lu Zhenghang, as if he was the only son she had in this world. She acted like they had not met each other in years and was forced to live apart. It was as if things had been so difficult for her, so it was wonderful that they had such a strong mother-son tie to fall back on.
As for her other son, she had never once asked about him. She never even bothered to visit him when she came to B City every year. The only time Jiang Changdai remembered his existence was when she needed money. Only when she wanted to visit shops and restaurants under Yan Hui did she suddenly remember that her son was actually the owner of Yan Hui, to which Jiang Changdai would inform the employees to put the bill under Yan Beicheng"s tab. During all other occasions, she would never think of Yan Beicheng.
Yan Zhiqing had witnessed Jiang Changdai doting on Lu Zhenghang all these years. She had thought that Jiang Changdai was treating him as a replacement for her own son because Yan Beicheng never treated her well. Thus, it was acceptable for her to treat Lu Zhenghang like an adoptive son. Yan Zhiqing had never thought that it was all Jiang Changdai"s fault, and initially even thought that Yan Beicheng was the cause of their bad blood. She even tried to reason with Yan Beicheng to get him to be more filial to their mother.
Now that Yan Zhiqing thought about it, she must have sounded like such a joke!
Jiang Changdai had cheated on her father and let Yan Beicheng down, not to mention, she had never treated Yan Beicheng as her son from the start. Why should Yan Beicheng allow himself to be humiliated by Jiang Changdai over and over?
Even though she could not see the touching reunion scene between mother and son, she could still hear them. There was a chill running down Yan Zhiqing"s spine as she listened to Jiang Changdai crying.
Yan Zhiqing covered her mouth to try and stop herself from crying too as her hands gripped her phone tightly. She was filled with so much rage that she had no idea what she would do.
She heard Jiang Changdai continue saying, "I… I promise you. I"ll sacrifice anything for you as long as you are happy and do well in life. Zhenghang, I know I owe you a lot. I owe you a mother"s love. I gave you a mother but did not let you acknowledge her. If I can help you by telling everyone the truth about this, then I"m willing to do so."
Yan Zhiqing"s eyes widened in disbelieve. Jiang Changdai claimed to owe Lu Zhenghang a mother"s love, but what about Yan Beicheng? Why did she not mention anything about that?
She was willing to sacrifice herself for Lu Zhenghang"s benefit, but what about Yan Huaiyuan"s reputation? Her father had died without peace so many years ago. Now that he was gone, she would allow people to laugh behind his back for being cuckolded? She was willing to allow the Yan family and Yan Beicheng to be humiliated, even going so far as to help a wolf-like Lu Zhenghang into the Yan family to hurt and trick them.
She was sacrificing herself to help Lu Zhenghang but was also destroying the Yan family in the process. Lu Zhenghang was obviously not Yan Huaiyuan"s son, so she was willing to help the Lu family manipulate the Yan family and usurp their fortune. All this for Lu Zhenghang!
For some reason, Yan Zhiqing suddenly recalled the incident when Old Master Yan had wanted to splash hot tea on Jiang Changdai. Jiang Changdai had used Yan Zhiqing as a s.h.i.+eld without hesitation.
Yan Zhiqing could not help wondering about what Jiang Changdai would have done if the person next to her was Lu Zhenghang instead of her.
She had grown up with Jiang Changdai. When Yan Zhiqing was born, Yan Huaiyuan had already pa.s.sed away, but there was still Yan Beicheng, who looked exactly like Yan Huaiyuan. Thus, Jiang Changdai had transferred the hate she had for his father onto Yan Beicheng. However, when it came to Yan Zhiqing, Jiang Changdai had never really revealed any dislike for her, instead, she really doted on her and never crossed the line when she doted on Lu Weining too.
Was the reason why Yan Zhiqing and Yan Beicheng could never have the same selfless love and adoration she gave to Lu Zhenghang simply because no matter how hard they tried, they were still Yan Huaiyuan"s children?
In Jiang Changdai"s heart, Lu Zhenghang was her real son, the son that she truly loved, This was all because Lu Zhenghang was the child she had bore with the man she loved.
As for Yan Zhiqing and Yan Beicheng, she was indifferent to their existence. Yan Zhiqing fared only slightly better than Yan Beicheng. However, even Lu Weining, who shared no blood relations at all to Jiang Changdai, could receive the same love and affection as Yan Zhiqing, all because Lu Weining was Lu Zhenting"s daughter. Lu Weining was the daughter of the man she loved, which made Lu Weining comparable to her own daughter.
If Lu Weining was the daughter of both Jiang Changdai and Lu Zhenting, would Yan Zhiqing end up like Yan Beicheng and simply be cast aside by Jiang Changdai?
Even though Yan Zhiqing acted as if it had not bothered her after all this time, she could never forget the day when Jiang Changdai had used her as a human s.h.i.+eld against the scalding tea. The scene would sometimes replay in her mind in slow motion; every time the scene repeated itself like a bad dream, it got worse and worse.
There were times that she would also remember the words Lin Chu had said to her.
Lin Chu"s words rang in her mind again. "Judging by Miss Jiang"s performance today, you should really be selective about how much of her words you want to believe. It was only hot tea today, but she was already willing to use you as a s.h.i.+eld. Luckily for you, it was just hot tea and you weren"t too badly hurt. What if something worse had happened? One can see a person"s true character during moments of danger. You should really think about the things she has done and the way she has reacted in the past. Was she right in doing them? Is she really somebody you can trust so much?"
Lu Zhenghang"s voice snapped Yan Zhiqing back from her daydream. "Mum, thank you. Don"t worry. I will succeed in doing this. Our family will then be able to reunite in public. What is the Yan family to you anyway? They"ve given you nothing but grief all these years, so I"ll take back everything they owe you. The Yan family always blamed you for Yan Huaiyuan"s death, but they were just being unreasonable. It was Yan Huaiyuan who protected you out of his own free will, and he was the one who was willing to die for you. What has it got to do with you? You didn"t force Yan Huaiyuan to protect you. Besides, even if both of you had decided to divorce back then, he was still legally your husband as no papers were signed. Therefore, he had the obligation to protect you. It"s totally unreasonable for the Yan family to blame you for his death."
Jiang Changdai cried. "Only you truly understand me. I"m already feeling guilty over Yan Huaiyuan dying to protect me. Aren"t I feeling sad enough about it? I was about to divorce him, and yet, I ended up owing him even in death. Even if he didn"t protect me, I wouldn"t have necessarily died. We would have divorced after this and would have nothing to do with each other. I wouldn"t need to be hounded by the Yan family all my life and Yan Beicheng would not hate me so much! The public had always thought of Yan Huaiyuan as a true gentleman, but how were they to know just how scheming he was? He had even schemed right to the point of his death, making me carry this guilt for the rest of my life. He gave me a life devoid of peace! Even in death, he refuses to let me go! Who would understand what I"ve been through? All everyone did was blame me. Even the Jiang family blamed me, they blamed me for causing them only being able to own minor properties in Ning City; they blamed me because they could not grow the company over all these years. It"s that useless Jiang Changzai who had caused this, otherwise, how would the Yan family had even made it happened? He was not even a match for a young Yan Beicheng, so what makes him think he has the right to blame me?
"This is all Yan Huaiyuan"s fault! He was the one that forced both of us apart! He was the one who caused Yan Beicheng to hate me to the point that he refuses to acknowledge me as his mother. Go on and do your best! I"ll give it my all. I don"t care about my reputation anymore. So long as we succeed and end up the winners. So what if we suffer a bit during the journey? The Yan family has caused me enough grief, especially that old man and old woman. All they do is shout at me when they see me, treating me like some kind of animal. I"ve never retaliated all these years and I returned whatever I owed them. But now, it"s time to fight for my own happiness. They were the ones that treated me badly in the first place, so now, I"ll make sure they live to regret it! Yan Beicheng refuses to acknowledge me, then he can continue refusing to do so for the rest of his life!" Jiang Changdai said in one deep breath.
Yan Zhiqing could no longer continue listening to this conversation. She had grown up with Jiang Changdai all these years. No matter how much the two Yan family elders did not like it, she had remained loyal to Jiang Changdai. Yan Zhiqing did not expect her loyalty to be wasted on a traitor like her.
Grandpa and grandma were right, even Lin Chu was right. She was stupid; she was the one could not tell who the protagonist from the villains.
Yan Zhiqing could no longer take it. She put her phone away and kicked the door open.
Jiang Changdai and Lu Zhenghang were stunned. They looked over in surprise. Now, Yan Zhiqing finally saw the teary look on Jiang Changdai"s face. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were puffy. This was truly an emotional scene of a mother and son finally acknowledging each other!
Both of them did not expect Yan Zhiqing to be present. On the other hand, Yan Zhiqing"s reaction told them that she had heard everything they said.
Lu Zhenghang very quickly composed himself as his expression turned calm. Meanwhile, Jiang Changdai could not hide the guilt on her face.
"Zhi… Zhiqing, You... You"re home? Didn"t you say… you said there was rehearsal today and that you weren"t coming home," Jiang Changdai"s face was pale as she stuttered out the question.
"You thought I was not coming home, so you brazenly brought your son over to scheme together?" Yan Zhiqing sneered. She was so mad that her face was twitching with anger.
Yan Zhiqing pointed at them. "Both of you are so shameless! Lu Zhenghang, do you think you are actually capable of siphoning out the Yan family fortune? That is some wild dream you have! You aren"t even capable of expanding your own company nor gaining any respect, yet you dreamt up of a plot to s.n.a.t.c.h another"s fortune?! You can"t even manage the Lu family business well and you want to try your hand at the Yan family business with your limited intelligence? Even if someone gave the company of the wealthiest man in the world to you, a b.a.s.t.a.r.d like you would probably run it to the ground; but to think that you want to take over the Yan family business. The child of a tramp will never have fortune. Lu Zhenting expanded the Lu family by depending on women, and you are exactly the same! Lu Zhenting got his fortune from his dead wives, and in the same way, you depend on your mother! Do you really think you can compare to my big brother? You"re nothing but a fake, there"s not a shred of elegance nor dignity of the Yan family in you. No matter how much you act, you"re still nothing more than a common bull!"
To be blunt, he was nothing but an animal.
"You!" Lu Zhenghang"s face turned red.
He hated it when people compared him to Yan Beicheng. It felt like he could never beat Yan Beicheng in any way. In truth, Yan Beicheng"s surname itself was a very powerful thing to have.
His surname was Yan and he was born to the Yan family, with a twist of good fate leaving him as the sole heir to the Yan family fortune. He was the only son and grandchild of the Yan family, and there were no other existing heirs beside him.
Other than that, there was nothing outstanding about Yan Beicheng at all!
Where was the proof that he could not compare to Yan Beicheng? In what regards did he lose out to Yan Beicheng?!
If he were born into the same conditions as Yan Beicheng, then he would definitely be as capable as Yan Beicheng was!
"Zhiqing, how can you talk about your big brother like that?!" Jiang Changdai felt hurt on behalf of her son.
Yan Zhiqing suddenly laughed hysterically. Tears were streaming down her face as she cried and pointed at Lu Zhenghang. "This thing! How could this thing be my big brother?! I only have one big brother and his name is Yan Beicheng! Lu Zhenghang is the only son you have in your eyes, but what about my big brother? All I said was that he was incapable but you"re already hurt for him. How would you have treated my big brother if it was him who was getting insulted? You"re always scolding and shouting at him, and have not once said anything nice to him. What does that make him? I would never have thought of you as someone with no conscience!"
"I am your mother. Yan Beicheng was the one who stopped treating me as a mother in the first place! He has never been filial to me. He"s showing me att.i.tude and is unwilling to even say a word to me. How do you expect me to treat him well?" Jiang Changdai shook her head and said in despair.
In the past, Yan Zhiqing would have believed her, but after overhearing their shameless conversation, she found herself hating Jiang Changdai. She would no longer believe another word that Jiang Changdai says.
Yan Zhiqing had been full of herself before, lying to herself in the process into thinking that she was an objective person. If she perceived someone was a good person, she would trust that person to the very end. She would not listen to anyone who tells her otherwise and remain obstinate about her opinion.
Now, that school of thought has been completely flipped. If someone had told her that this was the true Jiang Changdai, she would never have believed it. She would even think that Jiang Changdai was being maligned. This time, she had heard everything with her own ears. She was now aware that Jiang Changdai was a petty and revengeful person. Her father had sacrificed himself to save Jiang Changdai, which allowed her to live a good life to this day. Yet, Jiang Changdai was not only being ungrateful about it, but she had also hated him for saving her life, as if he was too much of a busybody for involving himself.
Yan Zhiqing finally saw Jiang Changdai for the selfish, shameless, a.d.u.l.teress she truly was. She cheated on her husband to have a baby with another man and was now plotting to harm her own children. No matter what Jiang Changdai said at this point, Yan Zhiqing would not believe it.
"Shut up! You know how you really treated my big brother. You"ve never thought of him as a son. All you do is reprimand him and have never even shown him an ounce of a mother"s love. You think that he owes you everything so all you do is use his money shamelessly. My big brother tolerated you because you are his mother. It"s already great that he"s even willing to still give you anything, but you still have the gall to say all those things about him! He doesn"t owe you anything. What have you really done for him besides giving birth to him? You are the one that owes him!
"You say his full name every time you call out to him. You always sound so cold when you do this, as if he was your enemy or the dirt under your feet. What right do you have to look down on him? It"s different from when you call out to Lu Zhenghang, isn"t it? Zhenghang, Zhenghang. It sounds so close, so affectionate, but what has he done for you? Was Lu Zhenghang the one who paid for your expenses and gave you a good life? When he needs you to sacrifice yourself, he is suddenly able to come here and call you "mum". If you had shown an ounce of motherly love to my big brother, he would have taken care of you your entire life! I"m a sister who has never grown up with him and has had so little contact with him, yet he gives me everything I want! If you had loved him even a little, then would he have treated you badly? He would have repaid you a million times more! He"s a much better person than this snake who only ever gives you lip-service!
"You"re hurting your other son all because of this person, who only knows to take and never learned how to give. Aren"t you letting down my dad and forgetting the sacrifice he made? If you have even a shred of conscience left in you, you will remember that you owe my dad. You shouldn"t harm his son in this way!"
Jiang Changdai"s eyes widened in fear as her face turned pale. All she could do was shake her head in her defense. She could not find the words to defend herself and prove her innocence.
In reality, there was no innocence to prove. What more was there to say? Even the most honey-tongued would not be able to reverse the situation, especially since Yan Zhiqing had heard everything clearly!
"No wonder… No wonder you never wanted to tell me anything whenever I asked you about how dad died. You caused his death! He died trying to save you, yet you"re being so ungrateful, even claiming that he never really saved you! Do you really think that you could be standing here today and plotting against his family while torturing his son without his sacrifice?" Yan Zhiqing was furious. She screamed while tears streamed down her face as she accused Jiang Changdai.