Lu Jiaping glared at Ding Yawen with annoyance but didn’t continue the conversation. Instead, she checked the time and called Jiang Yuchen out of the playground, preparing to have their meal.
Ding Yawen was lost in thought. If she had to point out what was wrong with Jianhui, aside from his lack of ambition, there really wasn’t anything. Their hometowns were close, and Jianhui had always wanted to return there, find a stable job, and live a simple life. It was she who refused to go back, insisting on staying in Shanghai to build a career, and Jianhui had always gone along with her wishes.
But marriage—marriage clashed with her career. How could she compromise? She wasn’t willing to. She had finally gotten this opportunity, and she intended to seize it, to soar to great heights.
If Huang Jianhui couldn’t wait for her, that was his loss.
During the meal, Lu Jiaping kept scolding Jiang Yuchen—now complaining that he had made a mess with his food, now complaining that he couldn’t sit still on the chair.
Ding Yawen frowned. “We’re in public. Give the boy some face. Don’t keep nagging him.”
Lu Jiaping was displeased. “A child’s manners must be cultivated from a young age. Other children can sit properly. Why is he the only one squirming and fidgeting? If he keeps being naughty, I’ll take action.”
Ding Yawen shook her head helplessly, lowered her head to eat, and after holding back for a while, said, “Jiaping, I really think you’re too harsh on the child. Actually, a child’s growth doesn’t need too much interference. Be strict about the big things, but turn a blind eye to the small ones. Being mischievous is a child’s nature. Suppressing it completely isn’t right.”
“You don’t even have children. What do you know? Stop giving bad advice.” Lu Jiaping reached out and slapped Jiang Yuchen’s hand.
Jiang Yuchen burst into tears, and Ding Yawen hurried over to comfort him.
“Don’t comfort him. The more you do, the more he’ll act up.”
Nearby customers noticed the commotion and kept glancing over. Lu Jiaping continued her scolding, either saying Ding Yawen shouldn’t be shielding him or complaining about how unruly Jiang Yuchen was.
Ding Yawen felt utterly embarrassed, as if every pore of her body screamed awkwardness. She picked up Jiang Yuchen and walked out of the restaurant, intending to take him to the play area. But Lu Jiaping quickly chased after her, grabbed Ding Yawen, and stopped her.
“What are you doing? I’m teaching the child manners. Since he’s disobedient, he needs to be punished. He can’t go to the playground this afternoon.”
Ding Yawen turned around, furious. “Lu Jiaping, do you know what? I really think you’re a woman who doesn’t know how lucky she is. Since graduation, you’ve never worked, always relying on Jiang Cheng to support you. You have two children—one smart and sensible, the other lively and adorable—yet you’re never satisfied. You always feel like everyone has wronged you: your husband doesn’t care about the family, your children are disobedient, and neither of them is ambitious. But the one who lacks ambition the most is actually you.”
Lu Jiaping stared at Ding Yawen in shock, speechless for a long time.
Ding Yawen continued, “What else can you do besides taking care of the children?”
“You… think of me that way?”
Seeing the moisture in Lu Jiaping’s eyes, Ding Yawen felt a pang of regret. She licked her lips, wanting to explain. “Jiaping, actually, what I meant was…”
“You think I can’t do anything except take care of children, is that it?” Lu Jiaping held back her tears. “A ‘mom parasite’ who only knows how to depend on a man after having children, doesn’t know how to earn money, and doesn’t understand how hard others work?”
Ding Yawen shook her head. “That’s not what I meant…”
Lu Jiaping suddenly raised her voice, “And what about you? What are you doing? For the sake of so-called ideals and dreams, you stubbornly go your own way, disregarding your parents’ wishes and Huang Jianhui’s feelings for you. If that’s not selfish, what is?”
Ding Yawen felt a rush of blood to her head. She had never been one with a good temper. Since college, she had been very assertive. But she had always known how to regulate her emotions, and in just an instant, she calmed down.
“Sorry.”
The tightness at the corners of Ding Yawen’s lips showed that she wasn’t truly apologetic; she simply didn’t want to engage at all.
Jiang Yuchen started crying again, slipping out of Ding Yawen’s arms and heading toward Lu Jiaping. Ding Yawen thought he wanted his mother, and suddenly felt a sense of emptiness. Children always recognize their mothers; even if she loved this child dearly, he still felt closer to his own mother.
“Mom, you argue with Dad every day, and now you’re going to argue with Godmother too? I’m starting to not like you!”
Lu Jiaping stared at the child in shock, then watched as he ran back to Ding Yawen’s side, looking at her with reproachful eyes. Suddenly, she felt exhausted, utterly drained.
She turned and walked away, her diaper bag slung over her shoulder.
Jiang Yuchen was at a loss, looking up at Ding Yawen.
Ding Yawen picked up Jiang Yuchen and followed Lu Jiaping, one after the other, down the stairs—from the fifth floor to the first. Lu Jiaping walked straight out of the mall. Ding Yawen went to get the car, drove out with Jiang Yuchen, and found Lu Jiaping had only just crossed the street.
“Get in the car. It’s not safe for Yuchen to sit alone in the back seat.”
Lu Jiaping took two steps forward, pursed her lips, and reluctantly got into the car. With the child there, she couldn’t bring herself to be stubborn no matter what.
The five-minute drive felt like an eternity.
When they reached the neighborhood, Ding Yawen didn’t want to drive in. She circled around to the back gate, which was closer to Lu Jiaping’s building.
Lu Jiaping suddenly spoke up, “Once, I took Yuxin to that mall for a tutoring class. Yuchen was only two years old, running around aimlessly inside. A boy in his teens was riding a balance bike in the mall and almost crashed into Yuchen.”
Ding Yawen remained silent, feeling a pang of guilt. She shouldn’t have said those things earlier. Jiaping was raising two children alone, and it truly wasn’t easy. She thought Jiaping might say that was why she was so strict with Yuchen.
But Lu Jiaping continued, “I sprained my ankle trying to save Yuchen, and it hurt terribly, but I didn’t have time to go to the hospital. I had the older one in tutoring class, the younger one in my arms, and a heavy bag on my back. It was raining that day. Yuxin held her own umbrella, and I carried Yuchen while holding another umbrella. My ankle hurt so much I could barely walk, limping along. Yuchen couldn’t hold the umbrella steady, and by the time I got home, half of me was soaked.”
“The next day, I had a fever, but I still had to get up to cook, take the kids to and from school, do the housework, and look after them. Not a single thing could be skipped.”
Ding Yawen listened, her heart aching. She parked the car by the roadside. Lu Jiaping was about to get out, but Jiang Yuchen had taken off his shoes, and she was still putting them back on for him. Her hair was loose, with no time to tidy it up. From this angle, Ding Yawen noticed a bald patch near her temples.
“Jiaping… I was wrong earlier.”
Lu Jiaping got out of the car holding Jiang Yuchen, looked steadily at Ding Yawen for a moment, and then said, “People say that human joys and sorrows are not truly shared, and it’s true. Yawen, honestly, I often envy you. Maybe if I had chosen a career like you back then, I wouldn’t have trapped myself in this mess.”
She set Jiang Yuchen down, slung the diaper bag over her shoulder, and held Jiang Yuchen’s hand, even giving him a sip of water before entering the neighborhood.
Ding Yawen watched blankly, her eyes slightly reddening.