How could Lin Ting possibly not care about her life?
She wanted to live longer.
The painting Xiao Youzi drew, she cherished it as much as her own life.
But Jiang Yu tore it to shreds.
Late at night, after Xiao Youzi had fallen asleep.
Lin Ting got up and pieced together the torn fragments of the painting Jiang Yu had destroyed, one by one.
Not a single corner was missing.
But the reassembled painting was wrinkled and fragmented.
It could never be restored to its original state.
This was a portrait Xiao Youzi had painted for her with her own hands. Before it could even be framed, Jiang Yu had torn it apart like this.
It seemed to foreshadow Xiao Youzi’s life—no matter how hard she, as a mother, tried, she couldn’t give Xiao Youzi a complete childhood or life.
Was it destined that after her death, Xiao Youzi’s life would be tattered and patched up?
How could a mother bear to let her child suffer countless hardships and pains in the future?
“Mommy, what are you doing?”
Xiao Youzi’s drowsy voice made Lin Ting quickly wipe away her tears.
She tried to hide the reassembled painting, but it was too late.
A cute figure in a onesie pajama, with a round little belly, had already come to her side.
The portrait she had painted for Mommy—how had it ended up like this?
The small figure with the round little belly suddenly seemed as if it were about to shatter too.
“Mommy, why is the portrait I painted for you like this?”
Lin Ting didn’t know how to answer, “…”
“Mommy, who tore it?” Her little mouth quivered, on the verge of tears, but she held them back.
Tears of sadness and grievance welled up in Xiao Youzi’s eyes, tearing fiercely at Lin Ting’s heart.
When she picked up Xiao Youzi, Lin Ting could hardly breathe.
“Sorry, Youzi, it’s Mommy’s fault. Mommy wanted to take the painting you drew to get it framed, but on the way, I encountered a fierce, vicious dog. It rushed up and tore the painting in my hands to pieces…”
A flimsy explanation.
She didn’t even know how she came up with it.
Xiao Youzi seemed a bit skeptical, blinking back tears as she said sadly, “Mommy, little dogs are usually very gentle. Why would one rush up and tear my painting?”
“…” Lin Ting didn’t know how to explain.
Realizing something, Xiao Youzi quickly checked her mother all over.
“Mommy, are you hurt?”
“Did the dog bite you?”
Thankfully, Mommy wasn’t hurt.
It had scared her.
She quickly hugged her mother, comforting her in a soft, tender voice:
“Mommy, it’s okay. Youzi will draw another one for you. As long as you weren’t bitten by the dog, that’s all that matters.”
“Okay!”
Lin Ting, choked up, breathed a sigh of relief.
She had finally managed to fool her!
Otherwise, if Xiao Youzi found out it was Daddy who tore her painting, she didn’t know how heartbroken she would be.
“Hurry back to bed and cover up, so you don’t catch a cold.”
She carried Xiao Youzi back to bed.
The two of them snuggled under the covers together.
Small hands wrapped around her thin body. “Mommy, can you come pick me up earlier tomorrow? I waited for you for so long today. I missed you so, so much.”
She replied gently, “Mommy will definitely come earlier tomorrow.”
“Mommy, why do I feel like you’ve lost weight again?”
“Not really. Maybe Mommy hasn’t had much appetite these past few days and hasn’t been eating much.”
At that moment, Lin Ting suddenly felt discomfort in her lungs.
She couldn’t help but cough.
“Mommy, do you have a cold?”
“Cough, cough… Mommy might have caught a cold. I’ll go drink some water.” Lin Ting lied.
Recently, her coughing had noticeably increased.
And she would sometimes cough up blood.
Afraid Xiao Youzi might see, she quickly got up.
Xiao Youzi moved even faster, slipping on her little cotton slippers and running toward the kettle.
“Mommy, wait for me. I’ll get you water.”
Xiao Youzi heated the water in the electric kettle.
When it reached 60 degrees, she poured it into a cup and brought it back to her mother.
Lin Ting quickly crumpled the tissue in her hand into a ball, clutching it in her palm.
Because the tissue contained traces of the blood she had coughed up.
She didn’t dare let Xiao Youzi see.
After days of agonizing thought, Lin Ting still hadn’t found a way to settle Xiao Youzi’s future after her death.
The next day, Jiang Shuchen arranged to meet Lin Ting at a private club.
The sky was somewhat gloomy that day.
By four in the afternoon, it was already overcast and gray, as if rain was coming.
Even gloomier was Lin Ting’s unhealthy complexion in the cold wind.
Jiang Shuchen always felt a pang of sympathy for this girl from the neighborhood.
As he approached, he quickly led her to a private room.
While brewing warm ginger tea, Jiang Shuchen said:
“Xiao Ting, Jiang Yu sent me.”
As he poured the ginger tea and handed it to her, he also passed over a bank card.
“Jiang Yu said, seeing that life has been tough for you, he hopes this money can help.”
“The password is your birthday.”
“Xiao Ting, see, he still remembers your birthday. That means he hasn’t forgotten many things from the past.”
“It’s just that during the time of his car accident, there were indeed misunderstandings, and it was Lin Weiwei who took care of him, comforted him, and stayed by his side.”
“Xiao Ting, don’t dwell on the past anymore. Take this money and live well with your child.”
Lin Ting smiled bitterly.
She was well aware of how cold, heartless, and sharp-tongued Jiang Yu had become these days.
These were not Jiang Yu’s exact words.
She asked, “Shu Chen, did Jiang Yu say that I should repent and turn over a new leaf, and that if I do anything bad again, he won’t let me off?”
“…” Jiang Shuchen didn’t answer directly.
It was exactly as she guessed.
Those harsh words, Jiang Shuchen didn’t want to repeat to Lin Ting.
He pushed the bank card closer to her. “Just take the money. It’s from Jiang Yu. No reason to refuse it.”
Lin Ting accepted the card without hesitation. “Please tell Jiang Yu thank you for me.”
Let this money be considered as child support for Xiao Youzi.
As Xiao Youzi’s biological father, he should be providing this anyway.
After she died, this money would be left for Youzi.
Jiang Shuchen hadn’t expected her to accept it so quickly. At first, he was puzzled for a moment, but then he thought she might truly be in a difficult situation.
Given her character, she wouldn’t have colluded with the Zhou family to repeatedly betray the Lin and Jiang families.
“Xiao Ting, about your cancer…” Jiang Shuchen was still somewhat concerned.
“Shu Chen, please don’t worry about my matters. Just assume I was lying.”
After all, no one would believe her.
Most importantly, Jiang Yu didn’t believe her and refused to take Xiao Youzi in.
She didn’t want to involve anyone else.
She was deeply grateful.
“Shu Chen, thank you for helping me so much.”
“From now on, don’t worry about me. No matter what happens, I’ll get through it.”
That last sentence made Jiang Shuchen’s heart ache terribly. “Xiao Ting, if you’re really sick, we’ll go get treatment. If money isn’t enough, I’ll help you…”
“Shu Chen, I know my own body, I’m fine right now.” Lin Ting stood up. “You don’t need to worry about my affairs anymore, Shu Chen. I know how to handle them.”
If it could be treated, she would definitely seek treatment.
She had bought medical insurance herself, and even purchased million-yuan medical coverage.
Having been a single mother for so many years, she was afraid that if she fell ill, no one would take care of Xiao Youzi.
So she had long prepared many backup plans for herself.
But with late-stage lung cancer, even the doctors said there was no point in treating it.
…
These past few days, Jiang Yu had been staying in the pharmaceutical laboratory.
The specific anticancer drug had consumed the efforts of two generations.
Seeing that results were about to be achieved, Jiang Yu wanted to speed up the progress.
To get the anticancer drug into clinical trials sooner.
To benefit the common people earlier.
By the time Jiang Shuchen saw him, it was already past eleven at night.
He walked out of the laboratory, taking off his white work uniform as he went. “Have you been waiting long?”
“Jiang Yu, let’s talk about Xiao Ting’s situation again.” Jiang Shuchen walked alongside him.
Jiang Yu carried the white work uniform he had taken off, walking as he asked, “Did she take the money?”
“She took it, but…”
“Two million, she just took it without hesitation. Who knows what benefits the Zhou family gave her.” Jiang Yu stopped, a mocking smile at the corner of his mouth—full of disdain and hatred.
If this woman dared to collude with the Zhou family again, he wouldn’t go easy on her.
Last time she got her sentence reduced, he had played a part in it.
She really should have been locked up longer, to reform properly.
Today, Jiang Shuchen couldn’t forget the sight of Lin Ting leaving.
She was no longer the sunny, cheerful Xiao Ting who was always laughing.
As Jiang Yu started walking again, Jiang Shuchen followed him earnestly.
“Jiang Yu, think about how tragic Xiao Ting’s life has been.”
“When she was born, her biological mother died.”
“At twenty-one, Su Xiuzhen and Lin Weiwei showed up, claiming she wasn’t Lin Jianguo’s biological daughter, and just like that, she wasn’t.”
“At twenty-five, she went to prison and gave birth to a child with hearing impairment while inside.”
“If she really has cancer this time, she’ll truly be at a dead end, with nowhere to turn.”
“You have Lin Weiwei now, that’s true. You hate Xiao Ting, that’s also true. But at this moment, can you calm down and think about this rationally?”
Jiang Yu had already thought about it rationally.
He was afraid he might have wronged Lin Ting before.
So he kept the paternity test results extremely confidential.
No one knew.
No one could have tampered with the paternity test results.
He glared at Jiang Shuchen. “Is Lin Ting your wife, or is Xia Jingshu your wife? It seems to me you care more about Lin Ting than you do about Xia Jingshu.”
“Why are you so venomous? Jing Shu is my wife, and Xiao Ting is the neighbor’s little sister I watched grow up. Do you have any brain or conscience?”
Jiang Shuchen was angry.
But Jiang Yu was even angrier.
By then, he had reached his car, opened the door, and got in.
Before stepping on the gas and speeding away, he said coldly, “Stay out of Lin Ting’s affairs.”
That night, Lin Ting coughed up blood again.
But it wasn’t much, just little bits, like watermelon seeds.
The doctor said that when the coughing becomes overwhelming, it signals the final countdown of the last few days.
Xiao Youzi, hearing her cough, woke up despite having been sleeping soundly and, very sensibly, got up to pour her some water and pat her back.
“Mom, your cold has gotten worse. You must see a doctor tomorrow.”
She took the medicine bottle from the bedside and swallowed a pill.
It was a painkiller, Tramadol.
Used for cancer pain relief.
The doctor said that if Tramadol no longer worked, stronger painkillers would be needed.
Fortunately, not long after taking the pill, the pain in her body gradually eased considerably.
After breakfast the next day, Xiao Youzi poured her warm water and opened the drawer to fetch her cold medicine.
Like Jiang Yu, Xiao Youzi never forgot anything she had seen or learned.
She also remembered many of the Chinese characters Lin Ting had taught her.
She learned to read earlier than other children her age.
So, among the pile of medicine bottles, she searched for her mother’s cold medicine.
How strange!
Why had there been so many more bottles in the cabinet lately?
All medicine, densely packed.
Xiao Youzi casually picked up one of the bottles and examined it closely…