DF Chapter 84
by VolareHai Yao returned to Jingjiang. After a three-hour journey, Sheng Jia landed at 10:30 PM.
Sheng Huaiying wouldn’t be home until tomorrow, so Sheng Jia stood in front of the familiar door for a long time before taking out the key and opening it.
Instead of a dim space, she was greeted by warm yellow lights and the aroma of food.
Sheng Huaiying had actually returned home early, as if she knew even earlier that Sheng Jia would be back today. Just like she had done for decades, she held a plate of food and called out to her, “What are you standing there for? You’re finally back, come eat.”
The naturalness of this conversation almost made Sheng Jia feel as if her experiences during this time were just a dream.
But no, Sheng Huaiying’s natural attitude was strange. She should be coming back tomorrow and then nervously ask Sheng Jia what she had been doing all this time, ask if anything had happened to her, and ask if she had accomplished what she wanted to do, instead of talking to her so calmly.
Sheng Jia realized something, her eyes flickered slightly, but she didn’t say anything and walked in just as calmly.
She washed her hands and sat down at the table, only to realize that the dishes tonight were surprisingly lavish.
Sheng Huaiying served her a bowl of steaming chicken soup, smiling as she said, “I bought a free-range chicken yesterday when I got back, and I’ve been stewing it all night. Try it.”
There was a tender chicken leg in the chicken soup. The soup was golden and clear, with one or two goji berries floating on top, and the aroma and steam hit her face.
Sheng Jia finished the chicken soup.
The meal proceeded in silence, with only the occasional clinking of bowls and plates and the sound of a funny variety show playing on the television. The old television had some static, and even the laughter from it seemed to be covered in a layer of blurry film before it could reach her ears.
“Sheng Jia, you, you must take care of yourself in the future.” Sheng Huaiying’s voice sounded, choked with emotion. Sheng Jia looked at her and saw her red eyes.
“How did you know?” Sheng Jia asked in a hoarse voice.
“I’m not stupid,” Sheng Huaiying blinked, trying hard not to let her tears fall. “When someone came to trick me out of my hair while you were out there taking care of our family’s affairs, I suspected something was wrong.”
“You said you were sending me messages every day, and I received them every day, but I still felt like something was off, so I kept asking that person,” she said, her voice becoming softer and lower, “And then she told me everything…”
Told her that Sheng Jia might not be her daughter, told her that her daughter might have been deliberately switched at the very beginning, told her that Sheng Jia’s biological mother was the high and mighty chairperson of Song’s Heavy Industry.
Perhaps the old Sheng Huaiying would have rudely driven that person away and scolded her for talking nonsense, because no one could take away her daughter, but the current Sheng Huaiying wouldn’t.
Because there was a voice in her heart saying that perhaps this was true, and if it was true, what if she drove this person away and Sheng Jia couldn’t go back? Sheng Jia might not hate her, but she would hate herself for cutting off Sheng Jia’s path to success.
Her Sheng Jia had been suffering with her all along, and as a mother, she even needed her child to take care of her. She couldn’t give Sheng Jia too much. Everything about her was so ordinary and unremarkable. The more dazzling Sheng Jia was, the more inferior and guilty she felt.
So even though she knew this news, which was equivalent to the sky falling for her, she suppressed the blankness in her mind, her expression was unsightly, like she was about to cry but not crying, and she still bowed politely to see the person off.
Before leaving, that person patted her shoulder with pity and told her that although Sheng Jia was a little hurt, everything was fine.
She swallowed all the cries in her stomach, waiting for that person to give her a final answer.
So she got her wish and finally knew what Sheng Jia was doing.
She knew that Sheng Jia was not her child, she knew the crimes that Wang Jian had almost committed, and she also knew how the child had been switched.
Ten thousand, ten thousand was actually enough for someone to covet her child and want to sell her off.
But she was powerless to say anything more. The last thing she could do for Sheng Jia was to let her return to the world that should have belonged to her without any reservations.
The plans she had imagined for Sheng Jia after she grew up and graduated were all torn apart by herself. She and her daughter no longer had a future together.
Sheng Jia sat in the chair for a long time without saying a word. She lowered her eyes and looked at the remnants of chicken soup in her bowl. Perhaps all of this was the consideration that Song Ningqiu had made the moment she learned that she was her daughter. She wouldn’t let her daughter directly face her mother’s pain, so she chose to tell Sheng Huaiying in this way earlier, to spare Sheng Jia the difficulty.
As if in an instant, she received a lot of love, from Sheng Huaiying, from Song Ningqiu, they didn’t want Sheng Jia to be sad.
But there were still liquids constantly sliding down in the bowl, one after another, gradually blurring Sheng Jia’s vision.
“Mom, I’m sorry.” She said slowly, “I knew about this a long time ago. I did everything. I exposed it. You don’t have to be like this to me.”
“I know,” Sheng Huaiying interrupted her, “Don’t say sorry to me, go back to your biological mother’s side happily.”
She said, “I should be the one saying sorry to you. I haven’t really protected you well all these years.”
“Yi Yi, you are a little angel sent by God to save me.”
For Sheng Huaiying, Sheng Jia was an angel.
Taking her out of the sea of suffering, giving her courage, and encouraging her to face life bravely.
No matter whose daughter she was, it couldn’t change this.
Sheng Jia’s tears fell more and more, and she realized that she could no longer pretend in front of Sheng Huaiying.
“Maybe my departure is only temporary?” She said softly.
“Whether it’s temporary or not, Mom hopes you keep moving forward. Everything you’ve done for me is enough.” Sheng Huaiying wiped her tears and wanted to touch her face across the table, but eventually put her hand down.
“Madam Song also gave me a sum of money, enough for me to live a good life in the future. Don’t worry about me.”
“Is that so?” Sheng Jia murmured softly, “Then you must live well in the future.”
“I will.” Sheng Huaiying rambled on again, “In a few days, there will be Wang Jian’s trial, and I will testify. I want him to stay in prison for the rest of his life.”
“Show yourself on television more often in the future, so I can see you more on television. You’re so amazing here, if you return to your real home, you’ll definitely be even more amazing.”
“I’m a failed mother, but I don’t want to be your shame. I’ll try to become better.”
“You’re already very good,” Sheng Jia interrupted her, “You possess the world’s greatest courage to break through the cage. I’m always proud of you.”
“Really?” Sheng Huaiying’s crying could no longer be concealed. She covered her mouth and sobbed uncontrollably.
Sheng Jia walked to her side and gently hugged her.
Sheng Huaiying held her hand, “If you don’t mind, this will always be your home.”
Sheng Jia said, “You will always be my mother.”
Blood ties are not the only connection for affection between people.
She would always regard Sheng Huaiying as her mother.
Sheng Jia left on the fourth day, the day she was supposed to be discharged from the hospital, and the day before Song Ningqiu had long planned to make everything public.
She spent these four days peacefully. The wound on her hand had almost healed. She didn’t bring too many of her belongings from the house. She left those certificates of honor here. She took a few photos of herself and Sheng Huaiying, and a little of her remaining clothes. All in all, it only amounted to one bag.
Sheng Huaiying was playing cards at Xiyanghong’s house when she left. She couldn’t face Sheng Jia’s departure and hated farewells even more. She preferred to think of her as just going on a long trip, and that the dimness of the house when she returned was only because her child was going far away.
People always have to live as usual and always have to give themselves more hope.
Sheng Jia walked along the road from her home to the school. Jingjiang hadn’t rained in the past two days, as if that rainy season had quietly passed, and the sun above her head was once again radiating vitality.
No one was guarding the entrance of Jingjiang No. 1 High School today, and Sheng Jia entered easily. She walked to the edge of the empty playground and sat on the bleachers.
The last time she sat here was when Song Ji’an, Su Zhaolin, and Xu Lijing pulled her to watch the school’s soccer game. At that time, it was close to the college entrance examination, and this was an exhibition match to relieve the pressure on the senior students. The girls on the field were sweating like rain, and Xu Lijing smiled and put her arm around Sheng Jia’s shoulder and said, “Now that we can still watch, we should watch more, otherwise it will be difficult to return to this feeling after we graduate.”
What Xu Lijing said was about carefree gazing at joy in the time of youth, but Sheng Jia also felt that it was right at that time, because she already knew that her life would be turned upside down at the moment the college entrance examination ended.
So she nodded with rare agreement, and Song Ji’an looked at her teasingly and asked with a smile, “Sheng Jia, will you also miss our current time?”
“Maybe,” Sheng Jia replied, “Now is a good time.”
The grass was lush and the orioles were flying, free and unrestrained, and the only thing she needed to face was the pressure of the college entrance examination.
She could sit here with Song Ji’an calmly, without any calculations, as if they were really close friends with resonance in their souls, discussing their respective futures.
“Then we can create more memorable times together in the future,” Song Ji’an said to her, “Time is always flowing, it just depends on how we move forward and what kind of stories we create, right?”
Sheng Jia didn’t answer this sentence, and Su Zhaolin and Xu Lijing laughed and said that this sentence was too philosophical and could be written into the Chinese composition for the college entrance examination.
But now Sheng Jia silently answered in her heart – yes.
Time is always flowing, it just depends on how they move forward and what kind of stories they create.
Sheng Jia heard footsteps behind her. She didn’t turn her head, but slowly opened her mouth, “You’re here.”
In fact, she had prepared herself for Song Ji’an to question her and scold her, but the person behind her didn’t do that. Her familiar footsteps spread to her side, and then she also sat down beside her, just like every time she had sat here with her in the past year waiting for the fiery red sunset.
Silence spread in the air, and no one spoke.
Sheng Jia finally turned her head to look at her.
Only a pale profile, much more haggard than the last time she saw her, with heavy dark circles and bags under her eyes.
“I didn’t expect you to come. I thought you wouldn’t want to see me.” Song Ji’an suddenly said in a hoarse voice, “I didn’t expect you to really come.”
“I also thought you would come with accusations and confront me,” Sheng Jia replied, “But you are much calmer than I thought.”
“You know I wouldn’t,” Song Ji’an raised her neck slightly, as she usually did, her back straight.
Song Ji’an had always been calm and composed, and even if she collapsed in pain, she would bury it deeply, sort out her emotions, and then face Sheng Jia. What’s more, this was an invitation she had actively sent to Sheng Jia.
Sheng Jia knew it, she had always known it.
She would say that –
Song Ji’an suddenly crashed into Sheng Jia’s gaze, catching her off guard, and she didn’t even have time to hide the emotions in her eyes.
Song Ji’an laughed softly, “Because you think that saying this will negate the time we’ve spent together, and make you feel better.”
But just as Sheng Jia knew Song Ji’an well enough to accurately calculate Song Ji’an every time, Song Ji’an also had an in-depth understanding of Sheng Jia.
When she got all the truth and looked back, all of Sheng Jia’s emotions were nowhere to hide.
She pointed at Sheng Jia and then at herself, “In your heart, you and I were originally supposed to be enemies.”
“But after you got close to me, you found that I couldn’t be your enemy, and you couldn’t see me as your enemy, so you could only continue your plan with guilt.”
“How despicable,” this was Sheng Jia’s exclamation, and also the words she had never spoken.
“No, it’s not despicable,” Song Ji’an shook her head, “If I were in your position, I wouldn’t necessarily do better than you.”
She may be the loser in this game at the moment, but that doesn’t mean she has to deny everything about Sheng Jia, that would be an unrefined behavior.
Even though her emotions had actually reached the verge of losing control, and the red blood vessels in her eyes were about to overflow.