Chapter 72: Shen Mother Recovers Her Memory

Shen Yunhe parked the car at the entrance of the house. After Grandpa Ji got out, he looked around at the clean and orderly yard, with five large tile-roof houses. The yard had vegetables planted, and although his older sister lived in the countryside, the living conditions weren’t bad.

Shen Yunhe held Su Jian’s hand and got out of the car. Together with Grandpa Ji, they entered the house. Inside, Shen’s father and Shen’s mother heard the sound of the car door and hurriedly rushed out.

“Dad, Mom, I’m back!” Shen Yunhe walked up to his parents, holding Su Jian’s hand.

When Shen’s mother saw her daughter-in-law, she excitedly grabbed her hand.

“Banban, you’re finally back! Where are the kids? Why didn’t you bring them back?”

Su Jian smiled awkwardly, trying to pull her hand back, but it wouldn’t come free. Despite her age, Shen’s mother still had quite a strong grip.

Grandpa Ji was also very emotional. He slowly walked up to Shen’s mother. Her appearance still bore traces of her youthful looks. He was sure—this was his older sister, he couldn’t have been mistaken.

“Big sister, I’m your younger brother, Ji Changfeng. Do you remember me?”

Shen’s mother froze, staring at him. She felt a bit of tightness in her chest.

“Sorry, I’m old now. I can’t remember anything.”

Ji Changfeng trembled as he reached for Shen’s mother’s hand, his throat choked with emotion.

“It’s alright. It doesn’t matter if you can’t remember. I’ll tell you everything. You’re my older sister, my real sister. You look very much like you did when you were younger. You haven’t changed much at all.”

Only then did Shen’s father realize that the family of his daughter-in-law had arrived. He stepped forward and took the initiative to shake hands.

“Hello.”

Grandpa Ji turned to look at Shen’s father and shook his hand.

“You must be my brother-in-law. I’m Ji Changfeng. You’re the one who saved my older sister. Thank you.”

“Changfeng, come in, let’s talk inside!”

Ji Changfeng followed his sister and brother-in-law into the house. Su Jian was forcefully dragged in by Shen Yunhe. Inside, Ji Changfeng began explaining about the family matters.

“Big sister, come back home with me. Our mother is over eighty years old now, and her health is failing. She’s been hanging on, waiting for you to come back.”

Shen’s mother felt a pang of guilt upon hearing these words. Although she couldn’t remember everything, her heart ached for her mother, who was already in her eighties.

“Mother…”

In her mind, Shen’s mother vaguely pictured an old woman with white hair, bent over, leaning on a cane, with deep, hollow eyes staring into the distance, longing and waiting.

“Big sister, do you remember now?”

Ji Changfeng knelt beside Shen’s mother and tightly grasped her hand. Shen’s mother shook her head, trying hard to recall, but her head ached terribly. She clutched her head in pain, and her mind flashed with many images of the past.

“My head hurts…”

“Mom!” Shen Yunhe hurried over to support her, and Shen’s father expertly massaged her head. Shen’s mother fainted from the pain. Shen Yunhe anxiously ran outside to ask the village doctor to come.

Su Jian, frightened, stayed obediently to one side, not daring to cause any more trouble.

When the doctor arrived, he used acupuncture to treat her headache. After a while, he removed the needles from her head and turned to the Shen family.

“Let her sleep for a bit. After she wakes up, we’ll see how things go. I’ll prescribe some medicine for the headache.”

“Alright!” The Shen family, especially Shen Yunhe, were deeply worried, and Ji Changfeng was also startled.

“Does my sister often suffer from headaches?”

“Yes,” Shen’s father sighed. “The first time I saw her was in a very remote area, at the foot of a mountain. I was driving a truck through that area when I saw her lying on the ground, her body covered in injuries, especially on her head. It looked like she had fallen from the mountain. I quickly took her to the hospital. When she woke up, she had no memory of anything. She survived, but she’s been suffering from frequent headaches since.”

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Ji Changfeng was both shocked and heartbroken. “My sister used to stay in the capital city and rarely left. How could she have gone to such a remote mountain and fallen off it? What happened?”

Shen’s mother lay on the bed, her eyes closed, tears streaming from the corners of her eyes. Her expression was filled with pain, and she cried out. In her dream, she saw her eighteen-year-old self standing at the edge of a cliff on Wurou Mountain. She saw Gu Yalan and her daughter with fierce expressions on their faces, their hands around her neck, pushing her off the cliff. The sensation of falling from such a height immediately caused her to wake up.

“No! Gu Yalan, I hate you! Ah…”

The Shen family and Ji Changfeng gathered around her.

“Big sister, how are you?”

“Mom!”

“Old companion…”

Shen’s mother woke up, looked at her husband and son, then turned to Ji Changfeng. She tightly grasped his hand.

“Feng, is that you? Are you my brother? I’m Ji Wanting, the eldest daughter of the Ji family. I remembered! I finally remembered who I am! Wuwu… Mother, I’m sorry…”

“Big sister!” Ji Changfeng embraced her, crying out in distress.

“Feng, why did it take you so long to find me?”

“Sister, I’m sorry, I came too late!”

The siblings cried together for a while. Shen Yunhe brought a towel and gently wiped his mother’s face. Ji Changfeng wiped away his tears.

“Big sister, what happened? How did you fall off the mountain?”

Shen’s mother clenched her fists in regret, gritting her teeth.

“It was Gu Yalan and her daughter who harmed me. They tricked me into going up the mountain, then pushed me off the cliff!”

“It really was her!” Ji’s father stood up. He had suspected that it was Gu Yalan all along, but he still had doubts.

“I won’t let her off the hook! She intended to kill me!”

Shen Yunhe thought about how Song Shiyan was a lawyer. Maybe he could help.

“Do you think we could charge Gu Yalan with attempted murder? Could she get the death penalty?”

Ji’s father suppressed the anger in his chest, his gaze fierce.

“The death penalty might not be possible, but I have a way to make her get a life sentence! We’ll make sure she spends the rest of her life in prison. Once we return to the capital, we’ll file a lawsuit against her directly!”

Shen’s mother had recovered her memory, and with her brother here, her previously troubled heart instantly calmed.

“I’ll go make lunch. Yunhe, you drink with your uncle at noon!”

“Alright!”

Shen’s mother called for Su Jian. “Banban, come, let’s go to the kitchen and chat!”

“Ah! Oh.” Su Jian didn’t want to go to the kitchen, but she was pulled along by Shen’s mother to keep her company there.

Su Jian sat on a stool, tearing cabbage leaves, while Shen’s mother stood by the stove, cooking.

“Next time, bring the kids with you. I’ll make them something delicious!”

“Alright.” Su Jian continued tearing the cabbage leaves, replying absentmindedly. She wasn’t sure when she’d be back next time, and she even thought she might not be here then.

“You promised to bring the kids back!” Shen’s mother turned around with surprise. “Then when will you and Yunhe remarry?”

“Uh… well…” Su Jian felt incredibly embarrassed. She hadn’t been married or divorced, so what marriage was she talking about?

The sound of tofu being sold came from outside. Shen’s mother took out two yuan and handed it to Su Jian.

“Banban, go buy a block of tofu for me at the door. I can’t leave the stove right now.”

“Alright!”

“Take a bowl, and put the tofu in it.”

“Got it!”