Chapter 95: Who Matters More

Lu Caiqing had never met Han Lanzhi before, so she greeted her warmly. “Who are you looking for?”

On the other side of the room, when Anan saw Han Lanzhi, his little face scrunched up. He quickly put down the recorder in his hand and ran to Shen Qingyi, gripping her hand tightly.

It was that grandmother—the one who had come last time and made his mother cry.

“Mom! How do you have time to come by today?” Shen Qingyi asked, her tone neither warm nor cold.

Hearing Shen Qingyi call her “Mom,” Lu Caiqing hastily pulled over a chair beside Han Lanzhi. “Please, take a seat.”

After saying that, she quickly poured her a cup of tea.

Han Lanzhi accepted the cup and sat down, her gaze falling on Anan. Seeing the child staring at her with open hostility, even his angry expression exactly like Lu Yan’s, she felt a sudden irritation.

But she had come today to mend fences with her daughter, so she restrained her emotions and said gently, “Mom has a few things she wants to say to you. Could you come out for a walk with me?”

Shen Qingyi hesitated a moment, then said to Lu Caiqing, “Please help look after Anan for a while.”

Anan held on to Shen Qingyi’s hand and would not let go. “Mommy, don’t go!”

Shen Qingyi comforted him with a gentle pat on the head. “It’s all right. I’ll be back soon.”

With that, she placed Anan’s hand into Lu Caiqing’s and followed Han Lanzhi out the door.

The two walked side by side. Shen Qingyi stole a glance at Han Lanzhi and saw only gentleness on her face. For an instant, it felt as though she had been returned to the past, when her mother still cared for her.

“If you have something to say to me, just say it plainly,” she said.

Han Lanzhi turned and looked at her daughter, just in time to meet her eyes. It was clear that this daughter still had feelings for her.

She sighed. “Qingyi, I often wonder what a woman lives for in this life. I spent half my life toiling for your father, yet in the end he did not even discuss your marriage with me.

After all, you are flesh of my flesh. I raised you with my own hands, through school, illness, and parent-teacher meetings—everything was done by me alone. I remember one year you had a fever while your father was away on a business trip. I watched over you for three straight nights and did not dare close my eyes.

I lost weight too, and when your father came back, he actually questioned me, asking why I could not even keep proper watch over a child at home. Do you know how wronged I felt then?”

Shen Qingyi had raised Anan herself and naturally understood how difficult it was.

“Mom, I don’t blame you.” Her heart softened at once. “I know you have grievances against Father, but Father was truly good to you. Don’t you remember the cashmere coat you once took a liking to at Aunt Yang’s?”

Han Lanzhi had little memory of it now, and said nothing.

Shen Qingyi went on, “You only looked at it once and said it was pretty, and Father remembered it. Later he asked me where it had been bought. Aunt Yang said it came from the Overseas Chinese Department Store.

Imported from America, handmade. Father went to the store the very next day after work. I don’t know how much that coat cost, because his entire monthly salary was in your hands. Afraid you would think it too expensive, he secretly wrote articles for a science and technology magazine for two months before finally buying it. Unfortunately, by then the season had passed, and you just hung it in the wardrobe.

The next year, when Auntie took a fancy to it, you gave it to her without a second thought.”

Han Lanzhi was somewhat startled. She thought hard and indeed remembered something of the sort, but she quickly suppressed the feeling. “It seems he was not entirely heartless after all.”

Shen Qingyi nodded. “When Uncle came to the capital to gamble and was caught and thrown in jail, your father was afraid you would worry yourself sick. He had never used connections before, but he spent half a month looking for someone and secretly got Uncle out of prison.

Uncle never told you about that, did he?”

Han Lanzhi suddenly stopped walking. “When was this?”

“I was twelve that year. Uncle said this matter must not be known by anyone, otherwise when he returned to the village he would be looked down upon, unable to find a wife, and might even bring trouble to the whole family. So Father truly never told anyone.

I only heard it once by accident when I walked into his room and overheard him scolding Uncle.”

Han Lanzhi’s expression changed. After a long silence, she said, “I’ll bear witness for your father.”

At those words, tears instantly spilled from Shen Qingyi’s eyes. “Thank you, Mom. Father really was good to you. He just was not good at expressing it.”

Han Lanzhi looked at her daughter. “Compared with your father, I clearly gave more to you. Why do you only listen to him? Why do you always speak up for him?”

Shen Qingyi had not expected her mother to care so much about that one decision of hers.

“Mom, I only disobeyed you that one time, because at the time I felt toward Lu Yan...” Han Lanzhi raised a hand to interrupt her.

“Enough. What about now? Are you going to live with him for the rest of your life? These four years—have you never regretted it?”

In a situation like that, to say there was no regret would be a lie. Since she had finally opened her heart to her mother, Shen Qingyi naturally did not want to hide it. “I did regret it, but it was all a misunderstanding. Afterward, he behaved quite well, and besides, we have Anan.”

Han Lanzhi gave a faint, almost amused smile. “People always say that reform has opened things up, that we should liberate our minds every day, yet I never expected you to be more old-fashioned than I am, your own mother.”

Shen Qingyi felt Han Lanzhi had misunderstood her. “I’m not afraid of divorce.”

“Then you think your life now is very meaningful?”

Shen Qingyi thought for a moment. “His work is unlike anyone else’s. As his wife, of course I’m not satisfied. But as a person living in the same era and country, I admire him very much and am willing to support him. The same goes for Father.”

When Han Lanzhi heard that, she seemed to understand something at last. “Your father spent every day in the past filling your head with this sort of thinking?”

She had given everything to him all her life, toiled for him, and received nothing in return.

Shen Qingyi did not deny it. Her father truly did often teach her that the country needed many talented people in order to build a nation that was more prosperous and powerful.

He even encouraged her to donate the savings she had accumulated over the years from New Year gifts to gifted students who, because of poverty, could not obtain an education.

He himself also placed immense importance on talent, practicing what he preached.

“Mom, if you could understand Father, you would know he truly is not that kind of person. Please, you must testify for him. He is innocent.” Shen Qingyi pleaded once more.

Han Lanzhi fell silent for a moment. “If you leave Lu Yan, our mother and daughter will have a better life in the future. I promise you that Anan will also receive a better education.”

Hearing this, Shen Qingyi finally looked at her mother in earnest again. “So you came this time to persuade me to divorce Lu Yan?”

Han Lanzhi nodded. “Yes. Mom doesn’t want you to waste your whole life in vain.”

“And are you happy now?” Shen Qingyi asked.

Han Lanzhi smiled. “Of course.”

“Then was what you just said about testifying for Father conditional?”

Han Lanzhi felt somewhat gratified. Her daughter was not foolish at all. “Yes.”

Shen Qingyi drew in a deep breath, and her heart suddenly turned cold. “Mom, everyone has their own choices. Even if they are not good, they will bear the consequences themselves.”

At this, Han Lanzhi was disappointed in her as well. “So in the end, is your father more important, or is Lu Yan more important?”