Chapter 19.2

He Yan finally managed to pull He Dongchuan with him, and the father and son went into the second bedroom together.

However, after lying down, He Dongchuan didn’t immediately go to sleep. Instead, he asked his son: “What were you and your mom talking about just now?”

It was better that he didn’t ask. Once he did, He Yan remembered something important. “Dad, if you and mom get divorced, can I stay with mom?”

He Dongchuan’s temple twitched slightly. He propped himself up and rubbed his forehead, asking: “Did your mom say that she and I would get divorced?”

He Yan nodded but then thought it sounded wrong and shook his head. “At first, it wasn’t mom who said it.”

“Then who said it?”

“Qian Honghong’s mom.”

“Who’s Qian Honghong?” He Dongchuan wasn’t as familiar with the children in the family compound as Su Ting was.

“Qian Honghong is just Qian Honghong!” He Yan said matter-of-factly. Then, he leaned in close to his dad’s ear and whispered: “Dad, let me tell you, Qian Honghong’s mom is really bad!”

He Dongchuan could see that He Yan couldn’t explain who Qian Honghong was, so he followed the thread of the conversation. “What’s wrong with Qian Honghong’s mom?”

“She’s so bad, she even wanted mom to get rid of me.”

He Dongchuan’s gaze darkened slightly. “How do you know about this?”

“Mom told me.”

It was at this point that He Dongchuan realized that during the time he had been away from home, there might have been a lot happening that he wasn’t aware of. He leaned in slightly and asked: “When did she say that? How did she say it?”

“What?”

“When did you find out that Qian Honghong’s mom told your mom to get rid of you? Tell me everything in detail.”

He Yan responded with a simple “Oh” and then repeated the entire story about Su Ting having breakfast and Yu Hongzhi coming over.

After hearing this, He Dongchuan felt a sense of helplessness. He couldn’t help but rub his brow in frustration.

He Yan was still young, so he only half-understood what was going on and didn’t catch the full meaning. But He Dongchuan was an adult, and he could easily detect things He Yan hadn’t noticed.

From He Yan’s description, it seemed like Qian Honghong’s mom and Su Ting weren’t close; they weren’t even friends. What kind of person would say to a mere acquaintance: “You should get rid of your stepson”? If someone really said that, they’d have to be incredibly foolish—why would they offer up such damaging advice, practically begging for someone to report them?

So, He Dongchuan thought that the whole “Qian Honghong’s mom wants Su Ting to get rid of He Yan” thing was probably something Su Ting had said to scare He Yan.

But Qian Honghong’s mom was worth paying attention to. Although Su Ting’s personality wasn’t exactly steady, she wasn’t the type to make baseless jokes or slander others without reason. Even if Qian Honghong’s mom hadn’t said something that direct, she’d probably made plenty of indirect suggestions.

She wasn’t a good person.

Thinking back to what He Yan had said earlier, He Dongchuan asked: “What did she say today?”

The question snapped He Yan back from thinking about events from over half a month ago. He recounted what had happened at the playground and then angrily added: “She said that you and mom don’t get along and that you’ll divorce in the future!”

It was only then that He Dongchuan understood where the conversation in the master bedroom had come from.

He Yan also remembered the main point and repeated his question: “Dad, you still haven’t answered me. If you and mom divorce, can I live with mom?”

He Dongchuan’s lips twitched. “Why do you think so much about me and your mom getting divorced?”

“He Yan said, ‘Mom said that. She said she can’t guarantee that you two will never divorce.'” He Yan spoke, his eyes rolling around as he glanced at his father. “Dad, do you not want to divorce Mom?”

“No, I don’t.” He Dongchuan answered candidly.

Although he hadn’t wanted to marry Su Ting at first, no one marries with the intention of divorcing. If Su Ting hadn’t looked at him so intensely before the mission, he wouldn’t have avoided her and gone to the second bedroom.

But even so, he had never thought about divorce. However, if one day Su Ting decided to change her mind and go for a divorce, he probably wouldn’t oppose it.

Of course, that was all before the mission.

After returning from the mission, Su Ting had changed a lot, and their interactions had become more natural. There was also more warmth between them.

Although he had been married once before, he had never experienced such warmth.

When he married He Yan’s mother, he was not yet at the level where he could take his family with him, and at that time, he was in the Special Military Unit, so he had barely spent time with her.

In their two years of marriage, the longest period they spent together was when He Yan was born. He had taken a month’s leave to go back. But by then, her state had already been quite bad; she was always crying, unwilling to see anyone, especially him.

He and his ex-wife Zhou Yuan had not married out of love. Their union was more of a reluctant decision made under tough circumstances.

Their fathers had been war buddies for years, with a good relationship. After the start of the mass movement, many people were given labels and sent away, and Zhou Yuan’s father was one of them.

Zhou Yuan’s father had wide connections and received the news early. But he couldn’t change the past, and being sent away became a certainty. The only thing he could do was ensure his daughter’s safety.

Zhou Yuan’s father had immediately thought of He Dongchuan’s father. It was unclear how they had discussed it, but they quickly arranged for He Dongchuan and Zhou Yuan to get married.

Before the marriage, Zhou Yuan’s father had said that if anything happened to him, Zhou Yuan should write a letter severing ties with him. This, along with the protection of the He Family, would ensure Zhou Yuan’s safety, and He Dongchuan wouldn’t be burdened by his father-in-law, which might affect his future.

Things developed just as He Dongchuan had expected. He and Zhou Yuan had barely married when Zhou Yuan’s father was sent away. Zhou Yuan, in tears, wrote the letter to sever ties, and she barely avoided being implicated. Zhou Yuan’s father was then sent to a relatively better place under the arrangement of He Dongchuan’s father.

To them, whether it was severing ties or living in separate places without seeing each other, it was a temporary compromise. They believed that one day, everything would get better.

But reality took a turn for the worse.

When Zhou Yuan’s father was sent away, he caught a cold. Initially, he thought it was a minor issue and kept it to himself. By the time the farm manager found out, his condition had already worsened. At that time, Zhou Yuan was pregnant. Fearing that his daughter would worry and not wanting to cause trouble for the He Family, he begged the manager to keep it quiet. By the time the He Family was notified, he had already passed away.

Father He originally wanted to keep it from Zhou Yuan. At that time, she was about to give birth and her condition was not good. He didn’t want her to be emotionally distressed, so he planned to wait until the baby was born before telling her. However, when he was discussing it with his wife, Zhou Yuan, who had already fallen asleep, came out of the bedroom and happened to overhear.

Zhou Yuan, agitated, fell and had a premature delivery.

Although the baby was born safely and Zhou Yuan herself survived, her body never fully recovered, and her mental state remained poor.

The last time they met, a fierce argument broke out between them—or rather, it was her one-sided interrogation.

She asked him why he hadn’t protected her father.

He couldn’t answer and could only apologize.

After hearing that, she cried out loud, and when she had cried to exhaustion, she wiped her face and told him: “I regret it.”

She didn’t specify what she regretted, but he knew.

She regretted listening to her father’s words, regretted writing that letter to sever ties, and most of all, regretted marrying him, weakly choosing to stay in the capital.

He didn’t know how to comfort her, and he couldn’t comfort her. Although they were married and had a child, they hadn’t spent even a full month truly together.

Their relationship hadn’t reached the level where they could comfort each other.

Moreover, perhaps she was secretly resenting him.

Sometimes, he also wondered if he had made the wrong choice. Actually, with his father’s status, even if she hadn’t severed ties with Zhou Yuan’s father, it wouldn’t have been hard for him to protect her. The only thing affected would have been his future.

But their marriage had not been based on love before, so both of them had weighed too many pros and cons.

His parents were willing to offer help but didn’t want to drag him into a difficult situation, while Zhou Yuan’s father hoped his daughter would live a stable life, so he used the severing of their father-daughter relationship to remove her worries.

As for him, he had been willing to enter marriage for the sake of his parents’ friendship, but he couldn’t exchange his future and his family’s safety for her peace of mind.

Even if life could be lived again, their choices probably wouldn’t change.

After Zhou Yuan passed away, He Dongchuan never thought about remarriage. He had no confidence in managing a marriage.

He often thought that if someone else had married Zhou Yuan instead of him, despite the obstacles between them, they probably wouldn’t have ended up in mutual resentment.

But he never expected that, just by accompanying his mother to her hometown, someone would attach themselves to him.

At first, he wasn’t happy about it, and he kept it bottled up inside. But after spending some time together, he had changed his opinion of Su Ting.

As of today, he still wasn’t sure if he could be a good husband in the future, or if he could manage a marriage properly. But he would try his best to live this life with her.

If she was willing.

But He Yan raised a sharp question: “But what if Mom wants to divorce you?”

He Dongchuan’s face stiffened: “…”

He Yan, seemingly unsatisfied with the previous hypothetical, continued: “Dad, if Mom wants to divorce you, can I go with Mom?”

He Dongchuan: “… Yes, but I have one condition.”

He Yan quickly asked: “What condition?”

“You have to take me with you.”

He thought Dad was going to propose some condition, but when it turned out to be this, He Yan confidently promised: “Then I’ll tell Mom about it.”

He Dongchuan: “… Alright.”

He agreed readily, but once Dad fell asleep, He Yan began to feel uneasy the more he thought about it.

If Mom and Dad divorced, he would go with Mom, and then Dad would follow him… so, would that still count as a divorce?

He couldn’t make sense of it.

He Dongchuan hadn’t actually fallen asleep; he was also deep in thought.

He knew that while he was on the mission, Su Ting had undergone a great change, especially in how she treated him.

But he thought she had simply gone through a phase of emotional turmoil and was now calmly reassessing their relationship. This was what he hoped for, as her previous passionate attitude had made it hard for him to feel confident in building a stable relationship with her.

And stability was the ideal state he envisioned for his marriage.

So, after noticing Su Ting’s change, he didn’t rush to alter their interaction. He planned to take things slow, waiting for the right moment before progressing to the next stage.

However, it seemed that Su Ting’s thoughts were not in sync with his.

Perhaps his previous indifference had hurt her feelings, or maybe, after the emotional phase had passed, she was no longer satisfied with him. She had already begun considering withdrawing from their marriage.

Perhaps they needed to have an open and honest conversation about the future.

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