He felt deep regret, powerlessness, and anger.
"I was too young? Couldn't bear the consequences? Not worthy of making my own decisions? So He Yao could make this decision alone?"
"Wasn't she the same age as me? And a girl!"
"In that situation, having to tacitly agree to my withdrawal, and then face your difficulties, did you ever think about how she would live her life?!"
Hu Jiasheng had fully anticipated Zhan Jingrui's current reaction, so he wasn't angry at all.
He looked at him calmly.
"You are right. Because He Yao is not my child, and I have no blood relation to her, I couldn't truly put myself in her shoes."
"I won't deny that I was selfish and biased towards you in your relationship matters."
"You can scold me, blame me, say I have no right to make decisions for you. But I tell you, Rui Rui, if time could turn back and things were to happen again, I would still do the same."
"Because you were an exceptionally outstanding child from a young age, and you were born into the Zhan family. The attention and expectations placed upon you far exceeded your imagination."
"It's not that our family is not open-minded or cannot accept He Yao's background. It's that at your age then, facing future choices, there was no room for mistakes."
"No room for mistakes? Then you didn't stop me from being with Chu Xi openly either! To put it bluntly, you still looked down on He Yao's background!"
"If you insist on saying that, I won't deny it. After all, Chu Xi's upbringing, family background, and foreseeable future were all evident."
"For you to be with her is like two galloping horses progressing side-by-side. Knowing you would head towards a bright future, what right did I have to stop you? He Yao was different."
Zhan Jingrui never knew that his seemingly enlightened and generous uncle was actually so feudal and class-conscious at heart!
He was extremely angry: "Then He Yao isn't even human? She has no feelings, no right to be aware? She deserved to fend for herself, to live in the mud forever?"
Hu Jiasheng remained calm.
"If you put it that way, I can only say you didn't read the agreement terms carefully."
"It's true that He Yao was living in the mud at the time, because no one in her family was normal."
"Even if you had pulled her out of her chaotic family and insisted on having this child with her, would you have been happy?"
"By following you, she would have been a parasite with no education, no survival skills, relying on the child and her looks to depend on you forever."
"You were young and still unsettled. Your novelty might have lasted three to five years. But with her staying at home while you continued your studies, rising higher and higher, your horizons broadening, meeting more outstanding people, would you still have common ground with her?"
"Although I didn't let her keep the child, I cleared away all those scummy men who were always around her. And I didn't force her to drop out of school."
At this point, Zhan Jingrui's anger gradually subsided.
Yes. His uncle made some sense.
Even if no one had obstructed him and He Yao back then, and they had successfully had a child, and then gotten married when they reached the legal age.
Could he guarantee he would love He Yao like that for a lifetime?
He was someone who valued independence and progress. If He Yao had truly become a woman who only knew how to take care of children, have afternoon tea, and go shopping at a young age, would he really love her forever?
He had to blame his own immaturity and wavering emotions at the time.
To put it bluntly, his breakup with He Yao was entirely his own doing. He couldn't blame anyone else.
He Yao had been misunderstood by him for so many years. Upon reuniting, she didn't offer much explanation and didn't try to get closer to him.
This attitude of having let go of the past and being completely disheartened by him was something Zhan Jingrui dared not think about too deeply.
She must have hated him intensely.
When she found out she was pregnant back then, surrounded and cursed by a group of elders, facing such a difficult situation, she still chatted with him pretending everything was fine, not wanting him to worry.
But what had he done?
He had misunderstood her, distrusted her.
He had even shown off his affection with Chu Xi in public to provoke her, just to vent his anger.
Perhaps, if he hadn't been so extreme back then, He Yao wouldn't have dropped out of school.
With her grades, even if she couldn't get into a four-year university, she could have attended a vocational college.
Then she wouldn't have had to toil in workshops for so many years.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt like he was less than human. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to slap himself. His hands trembled while driving.
He sped off in Hu Jiasheng's car to the hospital. It was past three in the morning, and the hospital was deathly quiet.
He rushed to the door of the ward.
Inside, Liang Bo was sitting by the bedside, talking to He Yao.
Perhaps it was a sixth sense, but the moment Zhan Jingrui's face appeared in the glass frame of the ward door, He Yao saw him.
Their eyes met, and both instantly guessed what the other was thinking.
Soon, Liang Bo came out.
As he brushed past Zhan Jingrui, his mouth opened and closed as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately he held back.
Zhan Jingrui entered, closed the door, walked to the chair where Liang Bo had been sitting, and sat down. Before he could say anything, seeing He Yao's shaved head, tears began to fall.
Throughout his life, there were almost no people or events that could make him cry.
He didn't know why he was being so weak today.
Two clear tears fell. He didn't want He Yao to see them, so he quickly turned his head away and wiped the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand.
But He Yao still saw them.
She reached out to touch Zhan Jingrui's hand, her voice immediately hoarse.
"Don't be like this."
"Don't be like this."
These four words conveyed her complete understanding and tolerance of Zhan Jingrui's emotions.
She didn't hate him. On the contrary, she didn't want him to be upset…
Zhan Jingrui's heart was in agony. Such a good He Yao; he would be a beast to have wronged her.
He lost all control of his emotions.
He grabbed He Yao's hand and pressed it against his eyes, burying his head and crying silently.
His tears contained all his guilt towards He Yao, his self-reproach.
There was also hatred.
Hatred for He Yao not telling him the truth sooner, hatred for both of them not being firm enough.
Actually, from the moment Liang Bo mentioned retrieving the medical records, He Yao had guessed that Zhan Jingrui would learn the truth.
So, she had been anticipating Zhan Jingrui's return just now.
She wanted to see his reaction after knowing the truth.
She had imagined several scenarios, but never expected it to be like this.
From the day she met Zhan Jingrui, he had always been aloof and proud.
Even though he was less sharp-edged now, much more gentlemanly and gentle, he was still noble and distant.
She never expected him to cry like a child in front of her.
Honestly, in the past few years, although He Yao had thought about him most of the time, she also hated him at times.
But now, she no longer hated him.
She even felt that everything that had happened in the past was worth it.
To have loved Zhan Jingrui selflessly was enough for her to die without regret.
There was no woman in the world who could withstand her beloved man crying in front of her, and He Yao was no exception.