Chapter 1527: Chapter 1527: Eternal Maternal Love
Zhou Ran ultimately softened, because of maternal love.
“Where will you go after leaving here?” Zhou Ran asked quietly.
Xu Mengxi’s mood had recovered a lot, but her gaze remained as hollow and powerless as ever: “I’ll go to a distant place, where no one can find me, and wait for death.”
Zhou Ran’s heart trembled slightly, but she was helpless.
“Don’t give up on yourself. When you get there, find a hospital; you still need to deal with your illness.” Zhou Ran took out her wallet from her bag. “I didn’t bring much cash, but here, take all of this.”
Xu Mengxi shook her head. “I don’t want it. I have nothing else to ask for; all I want is for Chaomu to be well.”
“Take it. You’ll need money for transportation and medication.” Zhou Ran couldn’t bear to watch her refuse.
Ah, this profound, eternal maternal love…
In the end, Xu Mengxi accepted Zhou Ran’s money. She knew that, in the moment of being abandoned by everyone, this once-close friend still cared about her.
Perhaps, she should be grateful.
If not for those tangled, unresolvable emotional entanglements, she and Zhou Ran might still have been very good friends!
But ten years had passed; time had transformed everything. Zhou Ran was still beautiful, while she had changed.
What hadn’t changed, though, was her love for her daughter.
“Mengxi, who is your daughter’s father?” Zhou Ran asked.
She could tell that Xu Mengxi deeply loved her daughter.
“After arriving here, I had her with someone from the countryside. Aran, please don’t ask anymore,” Xu Mengxi lowered her head.
Seeing that she was unwilling to say more, Zhou Ran refrained from questioning further. She knew that the child could not possibly belong to Shen Cexian; after all these years, Shen Cexian hadn’t been able to find Xu Mengxi.
But she never imagined the child might belong to Bai Xuan.
“Aran, this secret is something only the two of us know…” Xu Mengxi raised her eyes to Zhou Ran. “Please, never tell anyone.”
“I won’t tell anyone. I keep my promises, always,” Zhou Ran responded calmly.
Because they were good friends, she valued their promises very deeply.
Xu Mengxi nodded and held Zhou Ran’s hand. “Aran, thank you—truly, thank you… I can be at peace now.”
Zhou Ran didn’t say anything further. For a woman with a terminal illness, life was already unbearably cruel.
She couldn’t bear to rub salt into Xu Mengxi’s wounds, so she did what she could to fulfill her requests.
However, later… Too many things happened, things beyond her control.
“Aran, you must never tell Chaomu the truth. She would be heartbroken. If she knew that her mother abandoned her, she would cry.” Xu Mengxi choked on her words.
Xu Chaomu had a great relationship with her and deeply loved her.
If she knew her mother had abandoned her, how would she feel…
“I promise you,” Zhou Ran said.
Only then did Xu Mengxi feel assured. She talked to Zhou Ran for a long time.
That time, they stayed together for quite a while.
Later, afraid that Xu Chaomu might return home or that they might be discovered, they packed up under the cover of night and left through the back door together.
Zhou Ran had driven there, and when the car pulled away and went far enough, Xu Mengxi saw her home explode in a gas explosion, followed by roaring flames that engulfed everything…
They both saw this scene but chose silence.
…
Scenes from the past replayed in Zhou Ran’s mind for a long, long time, like watching a film. Her heart no longer stirred the way it had back then.
Later, as promised, she brought Xu Chaomu to the Shen Family. However, Xu Chaomu wasn’t as obedient as Zhou Ran had imagined, and events didn’t unfold as she had hoped.
Until Xu Chaomu turned eighteen, she realized everything had become uncontrollable.
Xu Chaomu secretly liked Shen Chi. This was something she could not allow.
What followed was the scene where she drove Xu Chaomu away at eighteen.
She wasn’t entirely without compassion, but since the Shen Family had raised her for eight years, that was already more than enough. They had fulfilled their duty.
Xu Mengxi, based on their agreement, never reappeared. At that time, Zhou Ran didn’t know whether she was alive or dead, but judging by her illness, she assumed she had died.
Later, she accidentally discovered that her precious son, Shen Chi, had feelings for Xu Chaomu—but because Xu Chaomu was young, he didn’t express them and kept his love buried inwardly.
This was something Zhou Ran could not tolerate. She refused to watch her son’s future be destroyed by this kind of love.
Shen Chi’s perfect match was Bai Man—a union of strength and prestige, the kind of marriage befitting a wealthy family.
It made her question whether her choices and moments of compassion back then were mistaken!
In front of Shen Cexian, she played the role of a vicious wife; in front of her son and the world, she played the role of an executioner. She bore all of this so her son could grow stronger and not be muddled by fleeting emotions of love.
Over the years, she invested her all in tearing Shen Chi and Xu Chaomu apart.
But she overlooked one thing: Shen Chi was not like her. Shen Chi was calmer, wiser, and better at weighing matters.
In the end, he still married Xu Chaomu — and through all these years, it hadn’t been bad.
…
At this moment, Miao Xiu had just finished speaking, laying out all the truths clearly for Shen Chi in an objective, rational manner, devoid of any personal emotion.
During Miao Xiu’s narration, Shen Chi remained almost entirely silent.
When he finished listening, Shen Chi seemed less furious about Xu Mengxi abandoning Xu Chaomu.
As a mother, Xu Mengxi was extraordinary. She sacrificed herself for Xu Chaomu.
“This is the story of the past. As for what happened in later years, Mr. Shen, do you want to hear it directly, or should I continue speaking?” Miao Xiu asked.
“Just give me the quick version,” Shen Chi said flatly.
He had never met Xu Mengxi, but he had heard her name countless times from Xu Chaomu.
In Xu Chaomu’s heart, Xu Mengxi was the best mother—bar none!
“Based on the recordings in the device, Xu Mengxi eventually went to Qing City, changed her identity, and quietly sought treatment. She missed her daughter terribly. In the recordings, the person she mentioned most was Mrs. Zhou,” Miao Xiu said. “However, she kept her promise and never returned.”
“Did she know about the things that happened to Chaomu afterward?” Shen Chi asked with a frown.
“She was mostly unaware, only finding out about major events that made it on TV or online. For example, during the expo, when you publicly confessed to Mrs. Shen. Xu Mengxi said in the recordings that she was so emotional she stayed up all night watching that video over and over. She said her daughter was truly beautiful—more beautiful than when she was little.”
“Of course, she also expressed gratitude toward Mrs. Zhou in the recordings. She was truly thankful—without a hint of pretense,” Miao Xiu added.
Zhou Ran fell into silence; Xu Mengxi almost certainly didn’t know about her forcing Xu Chaomu to leave or her interference between Shen Chi and Xu Chaomu.
In Xu Mengxi’s heart, she might even have believed she had enabled Shen Chi and Xu Chaomu to be together.
“She said she hadn’t expected to live for so many years…” Miao Xiu sighed.