DF Chapter 129

Chapter 129 It’s Not Too Late, It’s Never Too Late

Chapter 129 It’s Not Too Late, It’s Never Too Late

This was not a decision Song Ji’an made hastily.

Perhaps from the moment she saw Wang Huiqiu off at the funeral home, she had been pondering this matter silently.

If she hadn’t seen Song Ningqiu, she might have been able to restrain her thoughts.

But she watched Song Ningqiu’s hand lead her step by step from the funeral home to the airport. That familiar and warm hand held hers tightly, even with sweat stains from excessive force.

The longing in her heart was transmitted through the palm’s veins and temperature. A mother who deeply loved her child finally held her child’s hand again after five years, unwilling to let go.

The moment her eyes welled up with tears, Song Ji’an could no longer convince herself not to do this.

She had to face Song Ningqiu.

Sheng Jia created opportunities for her, built ladders for her, almost leading her forward by the hand. She couldn’t refuse, and deep down, she didn’t want to refuse.

No one knew better than her how much she had missed Song Ningqiu, how much she had missed her mother, all these years.

Five years ago, everything she saw seemed gray and bleak. But during this time, when she looked up again, she suddenly realized that Jingjiang’s sky had never changed. It was clear and blue, and the sunlight felt warm when it shone down.

Her situation had never been as bad as she had imagined.

Those who cared about her still cared, those who loved her still loved her, and her past friends’ attitudes towards her had never changed.

The one who couldn’t move on was herself.

But Song Ji’an never wanted to disappoint anyone. She was always the most sensible child.

The moment she made up her mind, she had already decided to say goodbye to her past self.

She couldn’t meet Song Ningqiu in such a dejected state. That would only make her sad. If one day she stood before Song Ningqiu again, it would definitely be a confident and striding Song Ji’an.

Sheng Jia understood this too, which was why she spared no effort to help Song Ji’an out of her despair.

The sincere Sheng Jia felt that she had done everything she could, so she no longer forced Song Ji’an forward. She gave Song Ji’an time to make her final decision.

Outside the airplane window was an entire sea of clouds. Song Ji’an hadn’t taken such a long flight in a long time, but as she glanced at the sea beneath the fuselage, she only felt exceptionally lighthearted.

Her meeting with Song Ningqiu didn’t involve any tearful embraces.

Song Ningqiu seemed to have expected Song Ji’an to come looking for her. She just sat in her office and looked at her gently, as she had done many years ago, beckoning to her and pulling her to the coffee table to look at the planning proposal for Sheng Jia’s South Africa project.

“Ji’an, I’m very happy that you’re willing to come see me,” she raised her hand and touched Song Ji’an’s head.

Perhaps Song Ji’an was already grown up and this gesture was no longer appropriate, but it’s never too late for a mother to stroke her daughter’s head.

Song Ji’an leaned her head against her hand and said softly, “I’m sorry, Mom, I’m late.”

“It’s not too late, it’s never too late,” Song Ningqiu said with tears in her eyes, but only with a smile: “Everyone will take many detours in life and experience setbacks, but you and Sheng Jia are always my children, and I can always wait for you.”

“It’s Mom who should thank you for being willing to come back, for being willing to choose Mom. It’s good that you’re back.”

It’s good that you’re back.

Five years, more than eighteen hundred days, were reduced to these four words.

She had always been the most open-minded mother, and she had always been learning how to be a better mother.

She never blamed her children.

She had enough strength to bear her children’s weakness, cowardice, bias, and avoidance, the wrong choices they made, giving them a chance to make a second choice and giving them the confidence to waste time.

She just needed her children to come home.

She could wait.

Waiting wasn’t a difficult thing.

Since Wang Huiqiu’s death, this waiting had become even more firm in her mind.

She had seen Sheng Jia and Song Ji’an reconcile, and she knew the close relationship between Sheng Jia and Song Ji’an, so she was even more confident that one day, Song Ji’an would walk back to her again.

The strategic Song Director could only quietly wait for things to develop in front of her children.

But neither Song Ji’an nor Sheng Jia ever disappointed her.

Song Ji’an couldn’t say what she was feeling at that moment, but when she looked at Song Ningqiu again, she could only do as she had done many times in the past, turning it into an embrace, hugging her tightly.

She said softly, “Mom, the future will be better and better. Thank you, thank you so much.”

She said countless thank yous until Song Ningqiu patted her shoulder and said with amusement, “You’d better hurry up and read the planning proposal. If you want to go to South Africa to find Sheng Jia, you can’t just go like that. Since you’re going to participate, you have to play your part, right?”

This was an extremely familiar feeling. Perhaps Song Ningqiu was changing her way of being a mother, but her way of training her children had never changed, because it was inherited from Song Yumei.

The girls in their family must do practical things, wield real power, and have real achievements, and they must not be marginalized.

In the past, she had demanded this of Song Ji’an, and later, she had demanded this of Sheng Jia.

Now, she had the same demands for both of her daughters.

The fact that Song Ji’an had come to her meant that the past five years could be brushed aside, and every day from now on would be a new future.

Song Ningqiu had always had very high execution skills since she was a child. She would not dwell on her emotions in the past, she only looked to the future.

Song Ji’an hadn’t had this feeling for many years, but she only felt relaxed in every part of her body.

Suppressing oneself makes one physically and mentally exhausted. After the knot in her heart was untied, she felt indescribably comfortable all over.

This was the choice Song Ji’an had made.

From the South China Sea to Kilimanjaro, she spent a full seventeen hours on the plane, changing planes once in Egypt. The scenery outside the window changed from ocean to land, bright and clear.

Nairobi Airport was in Kenya. This was a itinerary that Song Ningqiu had arranged for Song Ji’an and Dong Zhen long ago. As soon as they picked up their luggage and walked out of the simple airport, they saw a young man holding a sign with their names on it outside the door. She looked about twenty-five or six years old. When she saw Dong Zhen, she waved at them.

“Dong Zhen! Over here!”

Dong Zhen was slightly stunned when he saw her, and then, as if he remembered something, he said to Song Ji’an, “This is a girl like me who Ms. Fu once sponsored. Ten years after meeting Ms. Fu, she was admitted to a top university in China from a small junior high school in a mountain village, and after graduation, she came to Africa to be a supervisor. Her name is Wan Rui.”

Wan Rui was obviously a very enthusiastic person. She gave Dong Zhen a big hug when she approached. Her wheat-colored face, tanned by the sun’s radiation on the plateau, was smiling. She joked, “Little Director Dong, long time no see. Ms. Fu was still talking about throwing you over here for training before the Chinese New Year last year. I didn’t expect you to come over after a whole year.”

Dong Zhen pushed her away helplessly. “We won’t be friends anymore if you say that again. Why did Ms. Fu have to throw me over here? It turns out you instigated it.”

“As expected of our great detective, you guessed that I did something bad right away,” Wan Rui said with a grin. “But I think you’ll regret coming too late after you’ve seen these projects here.”

Wan Rui’s words were always very credible. Dong Zhen didn’t blame her. Whether she had strongly recommended him to Fu Minglang or not, Fu Minglang would probably have thrown her here in the end. After all, after obtaining natural gas from Norway, Fu Minglang was now very interested in new energy construction and eventually turned his attention to the African continent, wanting to try something. A few months ago, she was preparing to participate in the construction of the second largest solar power station after the Garissa Solar Power Station in Kenya. Wan Rui was the person in charge of this project.

The two of them were just teasing each other. After all, Wan Rui had always been a joking person.

The park was to be built next to Amboseli Park. Naturally, the Fu family couldn’t do it alone, so they also started cooperating with the Song family.

One of the reasons Sheng Jia was going there this time was to cooperate with Meng Yeran and the Opter family, and the other was to come and inspect it in advance. In the future, Sheng Jia would most likely be the person in charge of this project for the Song family.

“This is Song Ji’an,” Dong Zhen introduced to Wan Rui, “the second representative of Song’s Heavy Industry.”

Wan Rui’s eyes flickered slightly. She shook hands with Song Ji’an. “Hello, let’s get in the car. We still have a few hours to go.”

As she spoke, she picked up their luggage and put it in the off-road vehicle.

It took four or five hours to drive from Nairobi Airport to the small town of Amboseli. They had to go through the city on the highway, but the scenery along the way changed, gradually revealing the yellow grassland and the looming snow-capped peaks. Kilimanjaro was close at hand.

Amboseli Park was vast. Their itinerary hadn’t yet reached the park, but was about ten kilometers outside the park, with a similar environment. Occasionally, some wild animals would visit.

Many solar panels were erected here, shining brightly under the intense sunlight above their heads. Wan Rui led them past the panels, explaining, “The project hasn’t started yet. We’re currently testing the light under very reasonable lighting conditions. If we can reach our expectations, construction will begin soon.”

It was now the afternoon rush hour, and many senior workers who had been sent to do the tests were coming out of the temporary dormitory buildings next to them one after another.

But this wasn’t their final destination. The solar energy project wouldn’t be launched so quickly. Wan Rui turned around and drove them towards Amboseli Park.

November and December were considered the park’s secondary peak season. There weren’t too many vehicles coming and going. Wan Rui took out her phone from her pocket and glanced at it. “We’re going to the cooperation site of the Song, Meng, and Opter families now. Ms. Fu thinks this project is promising and has also invested in it. I’ve been running around the park a lot lately.”

As she was speaking, Song Ji’an heard a loud noise in the distance that shook the ground. The sound was so loud that she felt her heart was shaking with it. Then, a group of elephants galloped past them, and behind them was a group of lionesses chasing after them, trying to devour the smallest baby elephant in the herd.

The visual impact was so strong that Song Ji’an almost instantly realized where she was.

—The free and primitive African savanna.

And behind the pride of lions, another off-road modified truck drove up.

The body of the car was dark yellow, and most of the roof had been removed. A person was standing on the pedal of the passenger seat, holding a telescope and looking in the direction of the lions.

Vest and overalls, her skin had been tanned a few shades darker, and her bent arms were covered with a layer of thin muscle lines, as if she had blended into this vast grassland, and also had a wild beauty.

It was Sheng Jia, whom she hadn’t seen for nearly a month.

Song Ji’an carefully observed her through the car window. It wasn’t until the elephant herd and the pride of lions had left that Wan Rui stuck her head out of the car window and shouted loudly, “Little Director Sheng, Little Director Meng, look who’s here.”

Her voice penetrated half of the grassland, attracting the attention of the people in the off-road vehicle over there.

Wan Rui stepped on the accelerator and drove towards them.

The two cars drove a long distance of seven or eight meters before stopping at a point within the park where it was allowed to get out of the car.

Song Ji’an lowered the car window. She leaned against the window and looked at Sheng Jia, who was still standing on the passenger seat.

Song Ji’an didn’t tell Sheng Jia that she was coming to Amboseli, and Song Ningqiu didn’t tell Sheng Jia either, but when Sheng Jia saw her, there wasn’t any surprise in her eyes. She just waved at her as usual.

Song Ji’an asked knowingly with some amusement, “Why aren’t you surprised at all to see me, Little Director Sheng?”

“Because I knew you would come. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.” Sheng Jia threw the telescope back into the car. She jumped off the off-road vehicle and opened the car door for her. “Earlier than I expected. Why didn’t you tell me to pick you up?”

After Song Ji’an got out of the car, she said slowly, “Because I wanted to see if you would be surprised by my sudden visit or show any other expression. It’s a pity, I didn’t see anything.”

At this moment, the two of them, who had been apart for nearly a month, finally stood side by side again. They looked at each other for a long time, and there weren’t many complicated emotions in their dark eyes. There was only the most careful examination of each other.

After a moment of silence, Sheng Jia smiled and couldn’t help but ask, “Do you need me to perform a surprise for you right now?”

She lowered her eyes and gently touched Song Ji’an with her little finger.

Song Ji’an held her hand back, firmly and tightly.

The unrejected intimacy had already explained everything, or perhaps it should be said that everything had already been explained the moment Sheng Jia saw Song Ji’an.

Sheng Jia knew her choice.

She turned her head and said seriously in Song Ji’an’s ear, “Song Ji’an, it’s so good to see you here.”

It was so good to see Song Ji’an choose to move forward.

It was so good to see Song Ji’an willing to take the initiative to step back into her world.

It was so good to see the relaxed smile on Song Ji’an’s face at this moment.

There were countless “so goods” that Sheng Jia wanted to say in her heart, but in the end, they were only turned into one sentence—”It’s so good to see you here.”

Song Ji’an could always hear the meaning behind her words.

“I think so too.”

Song Ji’an said softly.

Better than every day of the past five years.