Lu Mingzhe spent half a day outside, checking the assets under Xiang Wan's name, only to discover that her leaving him was not a spur-of-the-moment decision but a well-planned one. She had quietly sold off all her assets without his knowledge. Recalling the sweet moments they spent together recently, her gentle gaze whenever she looked at him, and their excitement upon learning of her pregnancy, Lu Mingzhe felt like a fool. It seemed she had never truly been sincere, and he, completely manipulated, had been diligently planning a future with her. What a joke! He couldn't understand what he had done to Xiang Wan to deserve such heartlessness and self-abasement.
He hired someone to track her down and demand an explanation. However, he had underestimated Xiang Wan. She was incredibly meticulous. Her travel records were untraceable by train, car, or ship. For the past two days, she hadn't eaten out, ordered takeout, or booked a room. It was as if she had vanished into thin air, with no clues to her whereabouts.
With his anger boiling and nowhere to vent, Lu Mingzhe had no choice but to find Xiang Yang. "Why? Why did you do this to me? You were already making plans, did you and your sister conspire to trick me? Are you even human, Xiang Yang?" he yelled, grabbing Xiang Yang's collar outside the school. "I've practically ripped my heart out for you two, are you even human, Xiang Yang?"
Xiang Yang had just returned from his hometown by train, and Lu Mingzhe was waiting for him at the school entrance. Amidst the crowd, Lu Mingzhe shouted, drawing frequent glances from passersby. Xiang Yang remained unfazed.
"Honestly, when my sister first told me she planned to leave you, I was quite shocked," Xiang Yang admitted. "I thought she was wronging you, that she was heartless. But now, I see her decision was the right one." He continued, "You know what your mother did to her. You know the immense pressure she endured. And yet, you're here questioning me. Brother Mingzhe, doesn't my sister have any self-respect in your eyes?"
"Just because we come from humble beginnings, are we meant to be trampled on by your mother again and again?" Xiang Yang's voice rose. "If it were you, and someone constantly told you that you weren't good enough for your significant other, how would you feel?"
"My mother is my mother, and I am me! Haven't I made my stance clear enough? I've even cut ties with her for your sister's sake..."
"Can a mother-son relationship be severed just by saying so? Don't be ridiculous. If you had truly cut ties, your mother wouldn't have continued to harass my sister." Xiang Yang sneered. "You don't know, do you? She hasn't let me off the hook either, nor my sister's friends."
"She hired someone to run me over with a car, and she sent people to cause trouble at my sister's friend's company, forcing them to shut down... If my sister hadn't left, who knows what would have happened." Lu Mingzhe was shocked again. He hadn't realized his mother could be so despicable.
"This happened? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"My sister didn't want me to. At first, she was afraid it would put you in a difficult position. But later, she felt there was no point in telling you." Xiang Yang sighed. "Your perspective is your perspective, and Auntie's perspective is her perspective. She just won't stop, and you can't do anything about her."
"In that case, it's best my sister bowed out. At least everyone can be at peace."
Lu Mingzhe was now like a patient suffering from lovesickness, with Xiang Wan as his antidote. He was determined to find her. So, after Xiang Yang finished speaking, Lu Mingzhe finally calmed his anger. He adopted a serious, almost pitiful expression and said, "I'm going back to confront my mother right now. If you think cutting ties isn't enough, I'll argue with her, I'll make a scene, and I'll make sure she never bothers me again."
"Call your sister and tell her to come back. I don't want my mother; I only want her, is that enough?" Seeing him like this, Xiang Yang felt a pang of sympathy and conflict. But he had done all he could.
"I really don't have my sister's phone number, and I've truly lost contact with her. You know how stubborn my sister is." Brother Mingzhe, whether you sever ties with your mother or not is irrelevant now, truly. My sister no longer cares."
Lu Mingzhe refused to believe him. He had made mistakes in the past by not handling his relationship with his mother properly, but he would fix it now. He would go back and talk to his mother. Xiang Wan would surely return in a couple of days.
A car screeched to a halt outside the door. Lu Mingzhe frantically rang the doorbell. The housekeeper opened the door, her surprise evident. "Mingzhe is back? The madam has been mentioning you these past two days..."
Lu Mingzhe ignored the housekeeper and strode into the living room. Hearing the housekeeper, his mother came to greet him. As Lu Mingzhe approached, his eyes were red like a rabbit's, his lips trembling slightly, and he looked at her with profound pain. "Xiang Wan is gone, vanished without a trace, and I can't find her anywhere. Are you satisfied now?"
Lu Mingzhe's mother already knew. She had prepared a speech for him, but seeing his expression, she didn't know what to say. Lu Mingzhe met her gaze, his eyes red, and after about ten seconds, he suddenly knelt on the floor, his face filled with disgust. "I beg you, please stop hiding behind the guise of doing what's best for me and harming me. I'm begging you."
"I never imagined that my own mother would do so many despicable things behind my back, targeting my son's lover. It's utterly absurd." "Xiang Wan was carrying my child, Lu Mingzhe. You repeatedly pushed her to the brink. If she's alright, fine. But if something happens..."
Lu Mingzhe had never knelt before his mother, not even for red envelopes on holidays. Now, nearly thirty, he was kneeling for a woman? She had intended to appease him with soft words, feeling guilty about her actions. But now, she couldn't utter a single one.
"...Lu Mingzhe, is this all you amount to?" Lu Mingzhe knelt dejectedly. "This is all I amount to. I love Xiang Wan so much that I can't live without her."
He continued, his voice cracking, "I wasn't finished speaking. If she's alright, fine. But if anything happens to her, you can wait to collect both our bodies."
"You!"
"Don't think I'm lying. If you think giving birth to me means you have the right to control me, then control me to your heart's content." With that, Lu Mingzhe left the house without looking back.
A stinging sensation rose in his nose, and tears blurred his vision repeatedly. His hands trembled, making it impossible to grip the steering wheel, and he drove erratically. A lump of cotton seemed to be stuck in his throat, preventing him from breathing. He slumped in his car, overcome with grief for a long time, and could only think of Zhan Beijue.
Zhan Beijue was working from home with Jiang Nan Fang and, seeing Lu Mingzhe's call, assumed he was slacking off and joking around, so he hung up. Lu Mingzhe called again, his voice breaking as he spoke. "Lao Zhan, come find me. I'm so miserable."