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墨書 Inktalez
"You... what did you say?" Xu Ruyun doubted that her ears were working properly; how could she not understand a single word of Cheng Qiuyi's statement?
"Auntie, I love Shu Han. It's not the love of friends; it's the kind of love where I want to take care of her for a lifetime."
"You... you..." Xu Ruyun looked desperately at her daughter, hoping she would smile and come over to say that it was all a joke, that they were just playing around with her.
But Liu Shuhan looked up at her with determination, her lips pressed tightly together, her expression serious, showing no hint of jest, as if she had already made up her mind.
The hands they held together appeared glaring to Xu Ruyun. Two good girls, instead of learning something proper, why did they have to imitate others... imitating those who are neither male nor female!
Xu Ruyun's heart raced violently, almost leaping out of her throat. She clutched her chest and gasped for breath, feeling no relief; it was as if a large hammer was pounding away inside her, shaking her insides to the point of breaking.
She looked at the two kneeling side by side, anger making her fingers tremble. Ignoring Cheng Qiuyi, she grabbed Liu Shuhan's elbow and pulled her up. "Liu Shuhan, you are coming home with me." Saying this, she dragged Liu Shuhan towards the door.
"Mom? What are you doing? Mom!" Liu Shuhan broke free from Xu Ruyun's grip. "I'm not going! Mom, haven't you always wanted to meet my partner? It's not a boyfriend; it's a girlfriend—it's Qiu Yi! The person I mentioned to Auntie the other day is Cheng Qiuyi!"
A crisp "slap" echoed through the living room, plunging it into silence.
Liu Shuhan's head tilted to one side, her expression hidden in shadow. The half of her face that was visible bore a clear handprint—a light red mark that stood out starkly against her pale skin under the bright fluorescent light.
"Shu Han? Shu Han, are you okay?" Cheng Qiuyi quickly got up to check Liu Shuhan's injury. She reached out to touch the handprint on Liu Shuhan's face, feeling more pain than if it had been inflicted on herself.
Xu Ruyun looked incredulously at her right hand. She had actually hit Liu Shuhan.
Liu Shuhan cried out all day, demanding that her mother hit her, but in reality, Xu Ruyun couldn't bear to truly strike her daughter even when Liu Shuhan accidentally scraped her skin. At most, she would pull a small twig from the broom and wave it symbolically to scare her. However, this time, she really did lose control.
It was the first time she had ever laid hands on her daughter, and she had gone too far; those five fingerprints would likely take days to fade.
Xu Ruyun felt both regret and anger. She instinctively stepped forward but then resolutely stepped back, gritting her teeth and saying, “Liu Shuhan, if you don’t come with me today, you can forget that I’m your mother for the rest of your life!”
As expected, Liu Shuhan scoffed, “Mom, is it just because I like Cheng Qiuyi?”
“Mom, you raised me for over twenty years. Just because I like someone who isn’t a man, you can deny your own daughter?”
Xu Ruyun was so furious that her blood pressure skyrocketed. She grabbed a porcelain cup from the table and smashed it violently on the ground. The shards scattered everywhere, half a cup of tea splashed all over, soaking into the wool carpet beneath the tea table.
“You still know you’re my daughter? I have no unfilial daughter like you!”
Cheng Qiuyi felt a pang in her heart. This tea set was chosen by her and Liu Shuhan. At that time, Liu Shuhan had immediately fallen in love with this design. The wool carpet was also Liu Shuhan’s favorite. Cheng Qiuyi loved watching her walk barefoot on it; Liu Shuhan’s feet were soft and chubby, particularly ticklish. Cheng Qiuyi enjoyed surprising her by knocking her down onto the carpet and tickling the soles of her feet.
“Auntie…”
“Shut up!” Xu Ruyun pointed at Cheng Qiuyi and scolded, “I will teach my daughter myself; I don’t need outsiders interfering!”
Ceramic shards splattered near Liu Shuhan’s feet. She picked up a piece with her favorite pattern and blinked back tears. “Mom, do you think I like women just because of Cheng Qiuyi?”
I can't cry. In the past, Cheng Qiuyi always stood in front of me. This time, it should be my turn to be brave.
"Mom, I have only liked women since I was born. I've only liked women since middle school, you know?"
"The posters and magazines I collected in high school, which one wasn't of a woman? Back then, you scolded me for not liking handsome guys and only liking those messy-dressed female celebrities. Do you remember?"
"Mom, I like women. It's just that this woman happens to be Cheng Qiuyi. Even without Cheng Qiuyi, I could never marry and have children according to your wishes."
Xu Ruyun wished her ears would go deaf right then and there so she wouldn't have to hear Liu Shuhan say such nonsense!
"You... you all... have no shame!"
Her heart twitched, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed straight onto the carpet.
"Mom! Mom, what's wrong? Mom, don't scare me!" Liu Shuhan desperately pinched Xu Ruyun's philtrum, but Xu Ruyun showed no reaction.
"Quick, get her to the hospital." Without saying a word, Cheng Qiuyi picked up Xu Ruyun and carried her downstairs.
Xu Ruyun was pushed into the emergency room for treatment while Liu Shuhan stood against the wall, her hands and feet cold.
"Shu Han, don't worry. Auntie just got a bit too worked up; she'll be fine." Cheng Qiuyi comforted her by wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
Liu Shuhan forced a smile by pulling at the corners of her mouth. "Qiu Yi, I'm sorry."
"Don't take what my mom said today to heart."
Cheng Qiuyi comforted her, "I know, don't worry. Auntie will be fine."
During this time, Liu Sen called Liu Shuhan's phone. "Shu Han, what's going on with your mom? Why hasn't she answered several calls?"
Liu Shuhan spoke into the receiver in a low voice, "Dad, my mom is in the hospital."
"What?" Liu Sen knocked something over on his end. "How is she doing now? I'm coming over right away!"
"It's still unclear. Please be careful on your way here. We're at Renai Hospital. Let me know when you arrive, and I'll come pick you up."
Liu Sen hurriedly hung up the phone, packed up, and rushed to the high-speed train station.
Liu Shuhan leaned wearily against Cheng Qiuyi's shoulder, feeling completely drained and not wanting to say a word.
Her mother was so angry that she ended up in the hospital; there was no daughter in the world more unfilial than her.
Aside from being there for her during this difficult time, Cheng Qiuyi couldn't do anything else.
Yuan Ying once said that this path was hard to walk, but it turned out that the hardest part wasn't public opinion; it was that even the closest family members didn't support her. Cheng Qiuyi thought that her own mother probably didn't support her either. When she had taken Liu Shuhan to pay respects at her grave before, she feared that just looking at them would disgust her.
"My mom has been pampered by my dad for half her life. Usually, if my dad yelled at her even once, he would regret it for a long time. Now I've made her so angry that she's in the hospital, with her life uncertain—how am I supposed to explain this to my dad?"
Cheng Qiuyi tightened her arms, eliminating even the slightest gap between herself and Liu Shuhan.
Liu Shuhan nestled in Cheng Qiuyi's lightly fragrant embrace, feeling both at ease and guilty. Her mother’s life was uncertain, yet here she was, caught up in matters of love.
At that moment, the surgery concluded, and the doctor emerged. Liu Shuhan hurried forward, "Doctor, how is my mother?"
"The patient has heart disease. The shock was too much for her heart to handle, but timely rescue has ensured she is no longer in critical condition."
Liu Shuhan's legs went weak; fortunately, Cheng Qiuyi was there to support her, preventing her from collapsing. Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
"Doctor, thank you for your hard work," Cheng Qiuyi expressed gratitude on behalf of Liu Shuhan and helped her into Xu Ruyun's hospital room.
Xu Ruyun, who usually appeared youthful among her peers, was not as young as she seemed. Her hair was a mix of black and white; once it had been mostly black with only a few strands of gray, but now it was nearly half and half. Liu Shuhan feared that one day Xu Ruyun would have completely white hair and would leave her.
"My mom was so beautiful when she was younger, with a long, shiny braid. My dad fell for her because of that braid."
"But after she had me, she never kept long hair again. When I was little, she loved to braid my hair in all sorts of styles, as if my hair were an extension of hers."
"By the time she finally had the chance to grow her hair long again, she had already started to go gray and wrinkles covered her face. No braid would look good then."
Xu Ruyun lay in the hospital bed with her eyes closed, her lips cracked and pale, resembling a complete old woman.
"Why can't family ties and romantic love coexist? Qiu Yi, am I truly being too greedy?"
Cheng Qiuyi remained silent; she had never experienced such meticulous maternal love and felt unqualified to comment.
Liu Sen arrived in C City late at night. He didn't ask Liu Shuhan to pick him up but took a taxi to the hospital himself. As soon as he entered the ward, he rushed to Xu Ruyun's bedside. She had been perfectly fine earlier that afternoon, even calling him, so how could she be lying in the hospital with an unclear condition now?
“Dad…” Liu Shuhan whispered from behind him.
Liu Sen carefully adjusted Xu Ruyun's blanket. “Let's talk outside; don't disturb your mom's rest.”
The hospital corridor was empty, illuminated only by a small light overhead, casting a pale glow.
Liu Sen noticed the tall woman standing next to Liu Shuhan. “Who is this?”
“Dad, her name is Cheng Qiuyi; she is my… my…” Liu Shuhan hesitated. Her mother had fainted because of this; should she tell her dad the truth? What if he found out and… what would happen then?
Liu Sen observed the hesitant Liu Shuhan and the woman standing beside her, understanding dawning on him. “Shu Han, you mentioned during the New Year that you had a partner; is it her?”
Liu Shuhan's eyes widened. “Dad, you knew?”
Liu Sen smiled wryly. “I had my suspicions since you were in school, but as a father, I couldn't discuss these things with you in detail; after all, you're a girl.”
“I used to worry that my good daughter might go down the wrong path out of fear. I was always afraid you wouldn't get along with your classmates and would be isolated.”
“Fortunately, Shu Han, you've grown into a wonderful child; you haven't gone astray or learned anything bad.”
Liu Sen has always been quiet, but every word he says pierces Liu Shuhan's heart.
Liu Shuhan and her mother had a stubborn argument all night, but when she was with her father, tears flowed uncontrollably. "I didn't study well, Dad. I didn't get into college, and I haven't found a good job. I've made Mom so angry."
Liu Sen sighed, "Shu Han, I anticipated this day would come."
On one side is his daughter's happiness, and on the other is his beloved wife. They are not opposing forces, yet he can only choose one.
"You are Cheng Qiuyi, right?" Liu Sen suddenly asked the quiet Cheng Qiuyi.
Even Cheng Qiuyi felt a bit uneasy in front of this seemingly silent old man. "Uncle, I am Cheng Qiuyi."
"These questions might not be appropriate for me to ask, but since Shu Han's mother is still ill, I have no choice but to ask. How long have you known Shu Han?"
"We were high school classmates, but after I graduated, I went away and just returned a year ago."
"No wonder Shu Han used to mention you every day, and then suddenly stopped. So you two were separated." Liu Sen supported himself with his hands on his knees. "Have you and Shu Han decided to be together?"
"Yes."
Liu Sen nodded and fell silent. He neither expressed support nor opposition; he simply stared out into the dark outside the window, not knowing what he was looking at.
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