After escorting Xiang Wan home, Lu Mingzhe began his journey home.
To appease his mother, he called ahead to let her know he was coming.
Unexpectedly, Mom Lu informed him,
"Don't come back. Your uncle had an incident, and I need to go see him. I'm heading to the airport now, so you can meet me there directly."
"I might be gone for a while. Let's see each other one last time before I leave."
Why the sudden need to go to the countryside?
Lu Mingzhe asked his mother what had happened.
"It's not clear yet. I haven't seen them in a long time. You know how your aunt gets, always crying at the slightest trouble. She couldn't explain things clearly over the phone."
"Apparently, your uncle has a very serious illness. Your cousin is their only daughter, but she's been living abroad for years and isn't coming back. I have to go at a time like this."
Lu Mingzhe worried about her.
His sister-in-law was a pampered rich lady, treated like a helpless child and incapable of doing anything. What help could she offer?
"Who are you taking with you? Can you handle it alone? You don't know anything."
His mother said, "Speaking of which, it makes me angry."
"What's the use of raising you two? Your cousin studied for so many years, married abroad, and doesn't even care about her parents."
"And you? I have two sons, and neither can be relied upon in a critical moment."
"Your brother can't be reached when something happens, and you're so stubborn and ill-tempered, I don't dare to ask you."
"What else can I do? I'll have to learn as I go. I can't just watch my own brother die, can I?"
His mother and uncle came from a scholarly family in Shangcheng.
During the ten years of turmoil, to take care of his sister, his uncle gave his only chance to stay in the city to his mother and went to the countryside.
He endured much hardship in the rural areas, and because he became a rural resident, he married his aunt from that area and spent his life in a small mountain village.
His mother, however, went to university after the college entrance examination resumed, and met his father while pursuing her master's degree.
Her life had been smooth sailing ever since.
His mother felt guilty towards her uncle and always wanted to bring him out of the countryside, but he had grown accustomed to the place and was unwilling to leave.
After their cousin was entrusted to their care, she was a good student and attractive, but her ambitions were too grand.
They sent her abroad to study, and she never returned.
His mother's complaints had some merit.
Lu Mingzhe did not argue with her.
"Alright, alright, I'm going to the airport now."
When they met, his mother intended to go alone.
The driver was helping her load her suitcases.
"Why didn't you ask your father to send someone with you? Do you really plan to go alone? Hospitals nowadays aren't what they used to be; even getting a registration is difficult. Should I send someone to accompany you?"
His mother pulled her sunglasses down her nose, her eyes already red.
"What's the use of having you? They say children support you in old age, but I'm not old yet, and for your own happiness, you don't even want to be near me."
"If I really end up bedridden, will you all stay even further away?"
"I've seen through it all. A bunch of ungrateful people, stop being so fake!"
"Who needs you to send someone? Are you that busy? Your father is much busier than you, yet he's willing to take leave to accompany me. You, who can leave anytime, don't even dare to say you'll accompany me on this trip?"
Lu Mingzhe indeed dared not.
Because he couldn't bear to leave Xiang Wan.
But seeing his mother's distress, and thinking of the few times he had visited the countryside and seen his uncle, he felt a sense of guilt.
"I didn't say I wouldn't accompany you, it's just too sudden, and you didn't give me any prior notice. I haven't brought anything."
"Stop making excuses. Shangcheng is not smaller than Nancheng; you can buy anything you want! I think your heart is just elsewhere, and you don't consider me your mother anymore, you don't want to be with me!"
"Mom, look at the hat you're putting on me..."
"Is it that woman outside who's stopping you from being with me? She's been clinging to you like a magnet all day!"
"I told you, you can't keep that kind of woman! Her perspective is too narrow..."
"Stop, stop."
Lu Mingzhe interrupted her.
"Why are you making wild assumptions? I don't even know you're going to see your uncle, so how could she know? And how could she stop me?"
Mom Lu sneered.
"As soon as I mention her, you defend her. You always defend her. What's so good about her? Tell me properly! What exactly is good about her?"
Lu Mingzhe's eyes lit up.
"You're willing to listen to me?"
"As long as you accompany me back to Shangcheng and make me happy, everything else is negotiable."
Mom Lu said with a proud expression.
"If you make me unhappy, I won't even acknowledge you as my son. Let alone that vixen!"
"What vixen? Such nasty words. Alright, alright, I'll accompany you, won't I?"
Lu Mingzhe's plan was simple.
Air travel was so convenient now. At worst, he would go today and return tomorrow.
It would only mean being apart from Xiang Wan for a day, which wasn't a big deal.
His mother, beaming, took out another plane ticket and invited him to board.
Sitting together, Lu Mingzhe told her all about Xiang Wan, praising her as if she were a beautiful flower.
Mom Lu finally showed some appreciation.
"Really? Is she that capable? Alright, when your uncle's condition stabilizes, we'll arrange to meet her. Give her a chance."
Lu Mingzhe was overjoyed.
He thought to himself that he would share this good news with Xiang Wan as soon as they landed.
Meanwhile, after finishing work and going home, Xiang Wan had just finished cooking dinner with her younger brother and picked up her chopsticks. As she took a bite, her phone rang.
A staff member called her urgently.
"Sister Wan, what's going on? Why has the factory stopped production?"
"I accidentally got the sample dirty today. I just went to the factory to pick up some goods, but the gate was locked, and there was no one there."
"What happened? Did you tell them to stop?"
How could that be!
With so many orders backlogged, they couldn't keep up even with 24-hour overtime. How could Xiang Wan tell them to stop production?
"No way? I didn't tell them to stop."
Thinking about the continuous overtime for several days, she wondered if the factory manager had given them a break, a temporary holiday.
"Hold on, I'll call them."
She found the manager's number and dialed, but it couldn't be reached.
She tried another, but it was turned off.
She tried the finance department, but it couldn't be reached.
Xiang Wan's mind raced.
She looked at her phone in disbelief.
"Is there something wrong with my phone? Why can't I make calls? Xiang Yang, give me your phone."
Xiang Yang, unaware of what was happening, handed her his phone while shoving food into his mouth.
As it turned out, when she dialed the same number on his phone, it still couldn't be reached.
Xiang Wan began to panic.
Many things she had seen on the news but thought would never happen to her started flooding her mind.
She felt so panicked she could barely breathe.
"Xiang Yang, pinch me quickly, quick, am I dreaming right now?"
Xiang Yang looked up and saw her pale face and trembling lips.
He quickly went to support her.
"What's wrong, Sis? What happened?"