After returning home with the child, her ex-husband knelt down and gently coaxed her.

"My goodness! Didn't you bring an umbrella with you when you went out? How did you end up like this after just one trip to the company?"

Li Chunfang played with Anxian in the children's room, building blocks. The grandmother and grandson had a great time playing all afternoon. Just as she had put Anxian to sleep, they heard Anning come back.

She rushed out, only to see her return soaking wet, and immediately exploded.

Li Chunfang was flustered, rushing into the room to get a dry towel and clean shoes for her. "What happened, Anning? You'll catch a cold like this!"

An Ning stood at the door, soaked to the bone, with a puddle of water at her feet.

She didn't speak, but with red eyes, she glanced around the huge house—the house where she and Lu Xiyan had spent every day together, a house where their intimate moments were almost always present in every corner.

Even standing here, it's as if you can still smell his scent.

Her nose tingled, and hot tears streamed down her face.

After returning to Jinghai, Li Chunfang never saw her cry.

Seeing Anning shed large tears for the first time, Li Chunfang was startled. Her hands trembled as she grasped Anning's cold hand. "What's wrong, Anning? Tell Mom what happened? Huh? Ningning, what happened? What wronged you? Tell Mom!"

He doesn't like me anymore.

He no longer belongs to me.

A voice inside Anning was screaming those two sentences at the top of its lungs, but when she opened her mouth, no sound came out.

"It's okay, Ningning, Mommy's here!"

Li Chunfang quickly hugged her and stroked her trembling back. "If you don't want to talk about it now, you can talk about it later, okay? My dear daughter, go take a shower first, don't catch a cold."

As she spoke, she quickly led Anning to the bedroom.

After filling the tub with water and testing the temperature, everything was ready. Then, looking back at Anning, she stood there motionless, as if she had lost her soul, just crying, crying incessantly.

Her eyes were red from crying, and her body was trembling uncontrollably.

Like a rag doll that has been thrown into the rain and gotten soaked.

Li Chunfang suddenly froze.

She had seen Anning like this once before, four years ago.

At that time, Li Chunfang knelt in front of her, begging her to save Yu Can and to promise Grandpa Lu that he would leave his grandson, Xiao Lu.

She kowtowed to Anning, weeping as she said, "You only lost a love, but you saved your brother's life!"

She gripped Anning's hand tightly, as if it were her only lifeline, and said, "Anning, please, have mercy! You're only separated from Xiaolu temporarily. Once this is over and your brother recovers, you can be together again! You can't be so selfish!"

Anning stood before her, trembling, tears streaming down her face.

But she didn't cry out loud; instead, she seemed to have lost her soul, like a puppet that could only shed tears.

So helpless, so desperate.

Thinking of this, Li Chunfang's hand trembled, and her eyes immediately turned red.

"Ningning...did something happen between her and Xiao Lu?"

Li Chunfang walked up to her, rubbing her cold shoulders with both hands. "Did the Lu family cause you trouble? Tell your mother, I'm not afraid of anything now, I'll go and reason with them!"

As Li Chunfang was about to leave, her fingers were gently grasped.

An Ning trembled, her voice hoarse as if it had been rolled with razor blades, "...I'm so tired..."

Three words are too heavy.

This brought tears to Li Chunfang's eyes.

"Mom is so sorry!"

She cried bitterly, "It's all my fault for dragging you down!"

Anning stepped into the bathtub, soaked herself in it, and gently closed her eyes. "I want to be alone for a while."

Li Chunfang wiped away her tears and said, "Okay, Mom will go make you some ginger tea. Call me if you need anything."

The bathroom door closed, and steam filled the air.

Anning looked at her wrist, which was tied with a ribbon, and silently shed tears.

Lu Xiyan, do you still love me?

Will you still love me?

If you really don't love me anymore, what should I do...?

......

The next morning, Anning had just gotten up when she heard faint noises coming from the kitchen.

I glanced at the time; it was not yet eight o'clock.

Sister Zhao has taken the past two days off, so she probably wasn't busy in the kitchen.

She went outside and saw that breakfast was already laid out on the table, and people were still busy in the kitchen.

"mom?"

An Ning called out, only to realize that her voice was hoarse, and she couldn't help but cough twice.

Upon hearing the sound, Li Chunfang immediately turned around with a worried look on her face. "Are you coughing? Did you catch a cold yesterday?"

An Ning felt dizzy and shook her head, only to feel even more disoriented.

"It's nothing." She looked at the large breakfast spread on the table. "Why did you get up so early? The doctor said you should rest well at home and not overwork yourself."

"Making breakfast isn't hard work," Li Chunfang said with a smile. "I'm getting old and can't stay idle. I can't do anything else, so all I can do is cook for you and look after the kids. Just don't mind my age."

"What are you saying?"

An Ning looked at the dining table. The breakfast was plentiful, with steamed buns, soy milk, fried dough sticks, milk sandwiches, bread, and more.

Her gaze fell on a plate of pastries, and her brow twitched slightly.

It is a specialty breakfast in Jining City.

"We don't often have breakfast in Jining around here. I happened to see a breakfast shop with a sign for Jining City on the door when I was taking a walk this morning, and I was wondering if you and Xianxian would like to eat there."

Li Chunfang wiped her hands on her apron and said with a smile, "You and Xuanxuan can try it later and see if it's authentic."

An Ning felt a ripple of emotion. She knew that Li Chunfang was trying her best to make up for the maternal love she hadn't received in those years.

There are many things she can't let go of or forget, but that doesn't mean she can't turn the page.

She felt that it was fine to have a simple and ordinary relationship with Li Chunfang.

After all, being so calculating is exhausting.

She no longer had the energy to care about anything.

"Mm." She nodded, smiled gently, and said, "Thank you, Mom."

"No need to thank me." Li Chunfang's smile deepened, then she suddenly remembered something, "Ningning, you came back yesterday—"

"It's nothing, I'm just a little tired from work stress, I'm sorry to have worried you."

An Ning smiled, not mentioning yesterday's events, and said, "I'll go wake up Xuanxuan for breakfast."

......

At the dining table, Li Chunfang carefully helped An Xuan eat breakfast.

Anning received a phone call from Huang Yuanyuan.

"Ningning, I have some really exciting news to tell you!"

On the phone, Huang Yuanyuan spoke exaggeratedly, "This morning, our boss's wife stormed into the project office, slapped Li Hui twice in front of Sun Liangying, and then fired her in front of everyone."

"Not only that, the boss's wife also declared that this was a warning to others, and that if anyone dares to lord it over her again by spreading rumors and creating chaos in the company, she will make sure that person can't stay in Jinghai!"

"I knew those rumors were definitely spread by Li Hui. She doesn't do any work all day and just stares at people."

Huang Yuanyuan said angrily, "Let's see who dares to spread rumors about you and President Dong again!"

"You didn't see how dark Sun Liangying's face turned, but no matter how angry she was, she didn't dare to say anything in front of the boss's wife. She could only swallow her anger and watch Li Hui get beaten. I reckon she's going crazy this time."

Speak of the devil, and he appears; just as Huang Yuanyuan mentioned Sun Liangying, Anning received a phone call.

She glanced at it and said to Huang Yuanyuan, "Yuanyuan, I need to take this call, I'll hang up now."

When I answered Sun Liangying's call, she got straight to the point, saying, "Anning, I have to go out on fieldwork this afternoon. You'll have to come with me."

"Where to?"

"Longhu Lake in the South Suburbs".