Chapter 36: Mom’s Crisis

Yu Zihan and her mother were both busy with their own tasks, only able to meet each other during dinner to share interesting things that had happened throughout the day.

This semester, Yu Zihan and her classmates had evening self-study, so she didn’t get home until around 9 p.m. To save time, she started riding her bicycle to school and back.

One day, just like usual, Yu Zihan was riding home. Normally, by this time, the lights in the yard would be on because her mother would be waiting at home for her. Yu Meijuan often said, “If the lights are on, it means someone is waiting for you to come home.”

But today, the yard was pitch dark. Yu Zihan opened the gate and entered the yard, turning on the light.

She thought to herself, this light was not just for her mother waiting for her, but also for her waiting for her mother.

Yu Zihan began cooking. There were steamed buns left over, so she made some porridge, fried some vegetables, and scrambled an egg. That was her simple dinner.

Half an hour later, Yu Zihan had finished making dinner. She looked at her watch—9:30 p.m., but her mother still hadn’t returned.

She quickly ate a few bites, then took out a thermos and packed some porridge and food to bring to her mother.

In her mind, the reason her mother hadn’t returned so late must be that she was working overtime. Concerned that her mother was walking home alone at such a late hour, she decided to take the food to her and bring her home.

She left the yard light on, locked the gate, and quickly rode her bicycle to the factory where her mother worked.

The factory wasn’t far from home; it was about a 20-minute bike ride. When she arrived at the factory gate, she explained the situation to the guard and asked about her mother’s usual workplace.

The guard, upon hearing that she was Yu Meijuan’s daughter, greeted her warmly and said, “Your mother usually works in the first workshop of the garment factory. She usually gets off around 7 p.m., but she might be working overtime today. Comrade Yu is really working hard, staying late like this.”

Yu Zihan hadn’t expected her mother to be so well-liked that even the guard knew her. After thanking the guard, she got back on her bike and headed for the first workshop.

From a distance, she saw that the lights were still on in the workshop. She parked her bike at the entrance and walked towards the door.

Yu Zihan tried to open the door, but it didn’t budge. She thought the door was heavy and that she hadn’t used enough strength, so she pushed harder, but the door still wouldn’t open.

“Uh-oh,” she thought to herself.

Her years of experience told her something was wrong—her mother might be in trouble. She knew it was impossible to enter through the door.

Since she still didn’t know her mother’s condition inside, she couldn’t rashly report it to the security department. She decided to handle the problem herself.

She stepped back a few paces and looked up at the window, which was lit. The workshop, like most, was very high and large—about 4 to 5 meters tall and roughly 30 meters long. The windows were around 3 meters up.

Looking around, she saw there was no ladder to climb. Her first thought was to use her space. So, she quickly exchanged for a ladder and a hammer to break the glass.

She quickly set up the ladder, climbed up to the window, and stowed the ladder back into the space. The window was slightly open, just enough for ventilation.

She didn’t use the hammer; instead, she swiftly crawled through the half-open window and nimbly jumped into the workshop.

The workshop was large and empty, with echoes as she walked, but it was eerily silent at the moment. She didn’t let her guard down, staying alert as she cautiously searched through the workshop.

She searched for about half an hour but didn’t find anything. However, a strong sense of foreboding filled her heart, and she knew her mother was here. She followed her intuition.

Sure enough, on a large table, she saw her mother. She was lying there, looking as if she were dead, just like the last time.

Seeing her mother like this, Yu Zihan immediately felt an uncontrollable rush of emotions well up inside her. She hurried over to check, relieved that her mother was fully dressed and seemed to have been undisturbed.

Turning around, she saw a middle-aged man collapsed on the ground. A wooden club lay next to him, stained with blood.

Seeing this, Yu Zihan had a rough idea of what had happened. The man must have used some trick to drug her mother and was likely trying to harm her, but before she fell unconscious, her mother managed to knock the man out.

Now, the priority was to wake her mother up. Luckily, she had some water stored in her space, so she splashed cold water on her mother’s face.

When her mother opened her eyes, she seemed disoriented. But when she saw the man on the ground, her eyes filled with rage.

“Cui Mingtao, you bastard! I… I’m going to kill you right now!” Her mother was extremely agitated and tried to move forward, but Yu Zihan stopped her.

Her mother looked at her daughter, realizing that once again, her daughter had saved her. She felt utterly useless, always dragging her daughter into these situations, always forcing her to witness such shameful moments. She felt deeply ashamed now and collapsed into her daughter’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

Yu Zihan allowed her mother to vent, understanding her emotions. She gently held her mother and thought about what to do next. When she heard her mother utter the man’s name, Yu Zihan’s heart filled with even more hatred. So, this was the infamous Cui Mingtao. She had no idea he was such a vile person.

This man held a high position in the factory, so they couldn’t just make him disappear like they would with a petty crook. After all, this was a factory, and if professionals investigated, it would be easy to drag her mother into the matter.

Yu Zihan thought about the fire. She had planned to speak to Uncle Zhou about it at the right time, but since this man had now dared to threaten her mother, she would let him get what he deserved.

“Mom, you’re okay, right?” Yu Zihan asked, taking the chance to wipe the tears from her mother’s face. Seeing her mother’s large, tear-filled eyes, she felt helpless.

Her mother’s appearance always attracted attention wherever she went. Sigh… Yu Zihan desperately wished her real father would show up soon, so he could witness how beautiful her mother was.

“Don’t you know how attractive your wife is? If you don’t hurry up and show up, I might have to find someone else to protect my beautiful mom!” Yu Zihan thought to herself.

“I was feeling dizzy when I saw him approach. His expression was off, so I grabbed the club and knocked him out,” Yu Meijuan explained while glaring fiercely at the man lying on the ground, who resembled a dead pig.

“Good job, Mom! Protecting yourself always comes first,” Yu Zihan said, looking at the man on the ground and confirming that he was still alive, though unconscious. His wounds were no longer bleeding.

She concluded that once he woke up, he’d figure out a way to leave. Given his status, he wouldn’t dare to talk about what happened today.

“Mom, let’s leave. We should head home first,” Yu Zihan told her mother, prompting her to gather her things.

“Okay,” Yu Meijuan replied, her sharp mind quickly returning. She understood that the best course of action was to leave as quickly as possible.

As they left, they locked the door behind them.

The two of them made a point of appearing at the gatehouse, chatting and laughing as they walked out of the factory gate, giving no hint of anything unusual.