"Our prime years are wasted like this. After getting out, everyone avoids my son and me, let alone finding him a wife... Child, to be honest, most of this illness I have is due to anger. Sometimes I really don't want to bother with him anymore, just die and be done with it. But then again, he's not a bad kid."
"Except for his temper, where is he not better than others? It's just bad luck. Although I can't help him much by living, at least he has a hot meal when he comes home. If I really die, he'll be too pitiful all alone in the world."
Zeng Hui felt sad listening to her and wanted to tell her to stop.
"Auntie, don't talk so pessimistically. Dong Jian is great. If someone doesn't like him, it's their problem with their vision. Look, I quite like him."
"Don't be sad. As long as we have hope and work hard, things will get better."
Going by Zeng Hui's words, did she really like Dong Jian and want to be his girlfriend?
The old lady was overjoyed. She ate a large bowl of rice, which was rare, and was coaxed by Zeng Hui to go to sleep early.
With the medical expenses settled and her mother's heart at ease, Dong Jian could go back to work with peace of mind.
The two left the hospital together. On the way, Dong Jian asked Zeng Hui, puzzled.
"Why are you being so nice to me for no reason?"
Zeng Hui didn't hide it from him, "There are no free lunches in the sky, only traps. I wouldn't be nice to you for no reason. I want to make a deal with you."
"Dong Jian, actually, our destinies are very similar. But I won't force you to do anything just because I spent money on you. Listen to my story first, then consider if you want to help me."
The two walked leisurely along the road in front of the hospital. Zeng Hui told him about her childhood of studying hard, getting into university, going abroad to meet Dou Bao's father, what happened to Dou Bao's father, her insistence on having the child, and living with Chen Dong Yang for so many years.
The entire story was told calmly, and she even smiled when recounting the details of her time with Chen Dong Yang.
"You know, when I was pregnant, he accompanied me to every prenatal check-up. Everyone thought he was my husband, and he never denied it."
"He was the first person the child saw after being born. Later, when I was recovering postpartum, we couldn't afford a nanny or good food. It was all in that small rental room that he helped me with."
"Even though his work was hard during the day, if the child woke up and wet himself at night, he would still get up and rush to help comfort him. The first thing he did when he got home after work was to wash the child's soiled clothes."
"Losing my boyfriend was a painful thing, but with him, honestly, I didn't feel very sad during that time."
"I thought we would be like this for the rest of our lives, already deeply becoming a part of each other's lives. I treated him as my spiritual pillar, as someone I needed to repay, but he never liked me from beginning to end."
"Do you know how ashamed and sad I was when he told me I was overthinking things, that he never thought of developing a relationship with me?"
"It felt like I was the only one to blame, and he was just doing it to repay a debt."
"I was so upset, but can you imagine? Even though I was so upset and ashamed, I still didn't give up on him."
"I cooked his meals every day and waited for him to come home, I meticulously put on makeup and dressed up, I spoke to him cautiously, assessing the situation, trying to portray myself as a perfect woman to get closer to him."
"But, while I was doing all this, he was thinking about another woman all the time."
"Everything he did, every extra shift he worked, was for that woman, and he was planning their future."
"Do you know how despairing I was when I found out? There are people in this world who have no heart, like your ex-girlfriend. You fought for her, wasted years of your youth for her, ruined your life for her, but what about her?"
"If I'm not mistaken, she married someone else as soon as she turned around."
"These people don't deserve happiness. I don't have your good temper to just accept it dejectedly, living a lingering existence while watching the heartless enjoy happiness."
"I want those who wronged me to pay the price, even if I have to pay a price at the same time. But as long as my heart is at ease, living is meaningful, isn't it?"
Her words truly struck a chord with Dong Jian.
Dong Jian asked her, "Do you know how my legs became like this?"
Zeng Hui naturally didn't know. He gave a wry smile.
"Even my mother didn't dare to tell the truth because it was too embarrassing. But you understand me, so I'm telling you."
"It wasn't done to me by someone inside. The day I got out, I rushed to find her, only to discover she was with another man, and that man had people beat me up."
"She thought I was harassing her, that I was terrifying, so she had me beaten until I became like this. Isn't it ridiculous?"
Looking at the tragic smile on his face, Zeng Hui felt their situations were increasingly similar.
She grit her teeth fiercely, "Where is that woman now?"
"What? You want to avenge me?"
Zeng Hui said, "Honestly, Dong Jian, does it feel meaningful to live like this, like neither human nor ghost? Today I saw you being scolded by the boss at the restaurant, and I think you're worse than a dog!"
"That woman ruined you like this, and you can still let her off so easily? Don't you hate her every time you're scolded?"
Dong Jian used to be defiant, but ever since his legs were crippled, he couldn't find work, faced discrimination when going out, and everyone looked down on him.
Over time, he became self-conscious and resigned himself to it.
But today, inspired by Zeng Hui, he rekindled his fighting spirit.
"What do you plan to do? That man is rich..."
Zeng Hui was quite dismissive. Perhaps she didn't want to live anymore; life itself wasn't important, so everything else was ephemeral.
"How much money does he have?"
"I don't know. I heard he opened a small factory, and he drives a BMW whenever he goes out."
That was nothing at all.
Zeng Hui patted him on the shoulder, "How about this, you come with me. Don't go to the restaurant tomorrow. Follow me from now on."
Zeng Hui took Dong Jian home. The house was big and clean; it was the most comfortable place he had lived in his 28 years.
That night, both slept soundly.
The next morning, Zeng Hui got up early and prepared breakfast. After eating, Dong Jian asked her what her plans were. Zeng Hui said they were going to rent a car.
"Let's go meet your ex-girlfriend's husband. We need a car, don't we?"
Zeng Hui wasn't greedy. She rented an S-class Mercedes-Benz, and the two inquired their way to her ex-girlfriend's husband's factory.
Hearing that clients had come to visit the factory, the security guard let them in smoothly and led them to meet the boss.
Upon entering the boss's office, he sized them up, and the man quickly remembered who Dong Jian was.
"You? Why are you here? Ha, pretending to be a client to see me, you've got some nerve!"