Chapter 43: She Regrets It to Death

“Ah! It’s really not like before; I can’t take it anymore.”

“What? You used to be quite capable, right?”

“Of course… huh?” No, that’s not right; I almost fell into her trap.

“How would I know? I was still a virgin when I was with you.”

“Hmph.”

“Really, don’t you believe me?”

It was late at night.

“Alright, let’s go to sleep; I’m about to fall asleep.”

……

Two days passed quickly. He had to catch the train early tomorrow morning, and he had already bought the ticket. He needed to leave as soon as it got light.

He had originally planned to wait for Sanhao to accompany him to collect the house, but with this sudden change, that was off the table.

Today, she accompanied him to buy the ticket, and they also bought some food for the journey, along with some local specialties.

He mentioned that when he was injured, several friends took turns keeping him company in the hospital for a few days, so he wanted to bring some local specialties to thank them.

This kind of social obligation was expected.

The two bought a bunch of items to bring back, with Lin Bingwei carrying more of the load. She insisted that Zhang Tingyuan take the lighter items.

Zhang Tingyuan looked at her small, slender figure struggling with a big bag and felt a pang in his heart.

As a man, he should have been the one doing this work; he should be protecting her. Yet, since they got married, she had always been taking care of him, eagerly doing all the chores.

“Why are you so good to me?”

As they approached home, Lin Bingwei, who was walking ahead, suddenly heard Zhang Tingyuan sigh from behind.

Lin Bingwei paused for a moment and then asked lightly, “What do you mean by good?”

“You’ve taken care of me for so long; isn’t that good?”

Lin Bingwei turned to glance at him and smiled, saying, “Isn’t that how it should be? You were seriously injured and nearly lost your life. If I didn’t take care of you, what’s the point of this marriage?”

She truly didn’t think much of it.

But Zhang Tingyuan was very touched.

Before this, they weren’t familiar with each other, and he didn’t have the concept of being one as a couple in his mind.

After three months of getting to know each other, things he didn’t understand before gradually became clear in his mind.

Zhang Tingyuan didn’t say anything more, and the two continued walking.

However, just as they entered the house, they saw Zhou Shufen again.

Lin Bingwei was taken aback. Why was she here again?

Zhang Tingyuan’s expression darkened. “What are you doing here?”

Li Yurong was sitting opposite, holding Zhang Jianguo, with a worried look on her face.

Zhou Shufen’s gaze moved back and forth between them, and she tugged at the corner of her mouth, saying, “I just came to see Jianguo; I have no other intentions.”

Zhang Tingyuan set down the items he had bought and said bluntly, “Well, now you’ve seen him; you can leave, right?”

Zhou Shufen opened her mouth, hesitating, and after some struggle, she said, “Tingyuan, I know I was wrong before, and I realize my mistakes now. I don’t have any other thoughts; I just want to come by occasionally to see Jianguo. After all, I’m his biological mother. You can’t just say he can’t see his mom, right?”

Zhang Tingyuan really did have that plan, but he was educated and knew that wasn’t right.

Even after a divorce, it was impossible to prevent the non-custodial parent from seeing the child.

“Alright, you can see Jianguo.”

Zhou Shufen let out a sigh of relief.

Zhang Tingyuan said again, “Let this go for now, but if you want to come see Jianguo in the future, you should let us know in advance, agree on a place, and decide how long you’ll visit ahead of time. You can’t come through the Zhang family’s door again.”

Zhou Shufen was taken aback.

Seeing Jianguo was one thing, but her more important purpose was to use it as an excuse to come to the Zhang family.

Seeing the tall and handsome Zhang Tingyuan made her regret even more why she had left in the first place.

She hated herself for being too conservative three years ago, staying in the village and not seeing the world. At that time, she hadn’t considered that the eldest son had died and that the second son might still be alive.

After spending two or three years in a developed city, she gained experience and opened her mind, gradually coming to her senses.

The Zhang family was quite well-off, and her in-laws were educated and reasonable people. The second son was tall and handsome, had a good job, and she had heard he had received awards for being injured in the line of duty, possibly even getting a promotion.

Most importantly, the child was a Zhang, so she didn’t have to worry about being rejected.

She never expected that she would return too late and that Zhang Tingyuan was already married.

She regretted it so much; if only she had come back a few months earlier.

Zhang Tingyuan was injured and resting at home. If she had taken care of him for a few months, even without feelings, she could have developed some affection.

Zhou Shufen glared at Lin Bingwei, this sudden interloper.

“Tingyuan, the Zhang family was once my family too. I’m just here to see Jianguo; I’m not doing anything else. Is it too much to not even let me through the door? If your elder brother knew…”

“How can you even mention my elder brother?” Zhang Tingyuan, who had been trying to suppress his anger, was ignited as soon as she brought him up.

“My elder brother has only been gone for a month; his bones are still not cold. You couldn’t wait to leave Jianguo, who was still drinking milk, and run off to steal money. How can you have the face to mention my elder brother? If he knew, he would want to come back as a vengeful spirit to take your life. Hmph, how can you even mention my elder brother?”

Zhou Shufen was choked up, feeling both guilty and sad.

Most of her emotions were still regret.

She wiped her tears and said, “Yes, I’m sorry for Tingyi, but I’ve already said I had no choice back then. What could I do?”

Lin Bingwei laughed out loud.

Zhou Shufen’s face darkened. “What are you laughing at?”

Lin Bingwei replied with a faint smile, “Don’t you find what you’re saying funny? What do you mean by having no choice? Did your parents deprive you of food and clothing when you stayed with the Zhang family, or would Jianguo drinking a few more sips of milk have killed you? You ran away so eagerly and still say you had no choice. Isn’t that ridiculous?”

Her insistence on having no choice was unreasonable, and perhaps she herself felt guilty, as she hurriedly averted her gaze to change the subject.

She squatted down to look at Jianguo in Li Yurong’s arms and said, “Jianguo, come here to Mommy.”

Well, she was trying to get close to the child.

Lin Bingwei also wanted to see Jianguo’s thoughts and felt a bit worried.

Because it was natural for children to be close to their mothers, if Zhou Shufen managed to win him over, it would be difficult to handle.

However, her worries were unnecessary; Jianguo had no impression of Zhou Shufen at all. He only remembered that she made his grandmother cry during her previous visits, which made the whole family unhappy.

He didn’t like her.

Jianguo turned his head directly and said to Li Yurong, “Grandma, I don’t like her.”

Li Yurong was deeply moved, while Zhou Shufen’s smile froze on her face.

“Jianguo, why don’t you like Mommy? I’m your mommy; don’t you remember?”

Everyone: “…”

Has she gone mad? Does she still expect a three-month-old child to remember her?

“Grandma, I don’t like Mommy. I don’t want Mommy.”

Well, even if you are his mother, he still doesn’t want you.

Zhou Shufen clearly couldn’t accept this and said indignantly, “How can a child not recognize his own mother? Did you teach him this?”