This was precisely what troubled her; she had no idea where the child had gone and could only reply, "Alright, alright, I'll go find someone to bring him back..."
"Sir, Madam, the second young master, he, he's back," the butler said respectfully as he entered.
Wu Xiufang could hardly believe it and quickly asked, "You say Shaohua is back, where is he?"
"Young master is at the main gate, shall I let him in?" the butler requested.
"Nonsense." Wu Xiufang hurried with the butler to the main gate to receive him.
Upon seeing him, Wu Xiufang quickly took his hand, noticed his pale complexion, and asked, "Son, where have you been these past few days? You worried me to death, I thought something had happened to you again?"
Huangfu Shaohua's voice was hoarse as he said, "I'm fine, I want to go back to my room to sleep."
Wu Xiufang tugged his hand and said, "Okay. But your father is home now, he, he's in a bit of a bad mood. Apologize to him properly, alright?"
Huangfu Shaohua responded.
Wu Xiufang felt a sense of relief.
In the living room, as soon as Huangfu Sisong saw Shaohua enter, he said coldly, "So you know to come back, don't think you're grown up and I can't do anything about you!"
Shaohua walked numbly before him and said respectfully, "Dad, I've returned to admit my mistake."
"Get out!" Huangfu Sisong didn't fall for his act and said angrily, "You dared to get registered and married behind our backs. Now you come to me to admit your mistake, what do you want! I will never let that woman enter the Huangfu family!"
Wu Xiufang blocked Huangfu Sisong and advised, "Don't get angry, listen to your son. I think he truly knows he was wrong, he's not back to beg us to accept that woman, he's here to admit his mistake to you..."
"He admits his mistake? If he truly repents, he should divorce that woman and cut all ties!" Huangfu Sisong interrupted her authoritatively.
Wu Xiufang quickly said to Shaohua, "Quickly promise your father that you will divorce that woman."
Huangfu Shaohua looked at them and said with unusual calmness, "I will divorce Daisy and never believe in so-called love again. Are you satisfied?"
Huangfu Sisong and Wu Xiufang were stunned simultaneously, both sensing that something was not quite right with Shaohua.
"That's good, that's good," Wu Xiufang quickly smoothed things over, saying, "See, the child truly knows he was wrong, he's already said he'll divorce that Daisy."
Huangfu Sisong snorted coldly.
Shaohua walked past them and said coldly, "I'm tired, I want to go back to my room to sleep." He then went straight to his old room.
Huangfu Sisong, his anger unappeased, pointed at his retreating figure, "Look, look, does this look like an attitude of admitting fault?" He then angrily smashed a teacup.
Wu Xiufang pulled Huangfu Sisong and said, "Don't push him too hard, he recognizes he made mistakes before, and coming back to admit his mistake to you is a big step forward."
Huangfu Sisong's angry emotions finally eased a bit, and he sat down, saying, "I'm doing this for his own good. How can he be my successor looking like this, it makes me so angry!"
"He's still young and has plenty of opportunities to be tempered. Jade cannot be made into a useful article without being worked on," Wu Xiufang personally poured him another cup of tea.
However, Huangfu Shaohua had not left his room since his return, not even for dinner.
Huangfu Sisong was still fuming and strictly ordered everyone in the house not to bother him, to see how long he could lock himself in his room. If his young master's temper wasn't broken, it would be endless trouble.
After dinner, Huangfu Sisong went to the study.
Wu Xiufang knew he was busy with company affairs in the study and had no time for other matters, so she quietly went to Shaohua's room.
Seeing his door ajar, she pushed it open and found him lying on the bed asleep without even changing his clothes.
Wu Xiufang nudged him and said with concern, "Shaohua, it's time to get up, change your clothes, and eat..."
Seeing that Shaohua still didn't move and his breathing was a bit heavy, she felt something was wrong. She touched his forehead and found it very hot.
She exclaimed, "You have a fever, you need to see a doctor."
Huangfu Shaohua frowned and tossed restlessly in his sleep, murmuring, "I want to sleep, don't bother me."
Wu Xiufang said anxiously, "This won't do, if you keep this fever up, it could damage your brain. Wait, I'll go get you some medicine."
Saying this, she left his room, found Aunt Li, got some common cold and fever medicine the household kept, and asked Aunt Li to bring a cup of warm water. Together, they went back to Shaohua's room.
As soon as they entered, they heard Shaohua calling out in his sleep, "Daisy, Daisy..."
She dropped the medicine in her hand in surprise. This child still hadn't truly let go of Daisy.
But it didn't matter, as long as he was willing to divorce Daisy and make a clean break, it would take time to forget and recover.
She asked Aunt Li to help prop Shaohua up, fed him the cold and fever medicine, placed a fever patch on his forehead, and personally stayed by his bedside.
She looked at the sleeping Shaohua, this child she had painstakingly given birth to, now grown up, and no longer close to her.
In the middle of the night, Shaohua's temperature dropped, and his breathing became much steadier.
She quietly returned to her own bedroom, only to find that Huangfu Sisong was still awake.
Huangfu Sisong heard the sound of someone entering, and with a click, turned on the room light, asking, "Shaohua, is he any better?"
"You know." Wu Xiufang saw that he was no longer angry and had a worried look on his face. She sat on the bed, feeling tired, and said, "His fever has broken, he probably caught a chill outside, it's nothing serious."
"This brat still wants to cut ties with us, and he can't even take care of himself outside, what's the use," Huangfu Sisong said irritably.
Wu Xiufang knew he also cared about Shaohua, but he just wouldn't admit it verbally, and he still held a grudge about Shaohua leaving home for a woman back then.
She smiled and said, "Why are you arguing with your son? Who hasn't acted impulsively for love when they were young? He didn't deliberately pick a fight with you when he came back today, he's just sick and not feeling well, so he didn't want to talk much with us."
"Will just taking cold medicine be enough? Tomorrow morning, have him go to the hospital for a comprehensive check-up. A fever and cold might seem like minor illnesses, but they cannot be ignored," he said in a stern tone, then lay down, turned off the light.
Wu Xiufang knew him too well; he appeared tough and indifferent on the outside, but in reality, he was even more worried about his only son than she was.
"Alright, tomorrow morning when he wakes up, even if he doesn't want to go to the hospital, I'll drag him there."
Huangfu Sisong turned over, his back to her, as if he had already fallen asleep.
The next morning, Wu Xiufang was about to ask a servant to bring breakfast to Shaohua's room, when she saw Shaohua emerge from his room, seemingly recovered.
"Good morning, Mother." He sat himself at the dining table and took a sip of coffee.
Wu Xiufang quickly stopped him, saying, "You've just recovered from a cold, you should eat something light, don't drink coffee."
But Huangfu Shaohua still held the cup of coffee in one hand, and with the other, picked up a steamed bun and ate it heartily.
"Eat slowly." Wu Xiufang quickly told Aunt Li, "Quickly bring some porridge for young master, let him drink some porridge to warm his stomach."