When Rong Ci arrived at the airport in Country A, her flight was already over nine hours late.
Today was her birthday.
When she opened her phone, she received a flood of birthday wishes.
They were all from her colleagues and friends.
But there was absolutely no message from Feng Tingshen.
Rong Ci’s smile faded.
By the time she reached the villa, it was already past ten at night.
When Aunt Liu saw her, she froze for a moment: “Madam, you…
why are you here?”
“Where are Tingshen and Xinxin?”
“The master hasn’t come back yet.
The young miss is playing in her room.”
Rong Ci handed her luggage to the housekeeper.
As she went upstairs, she saw her daughter sitting at a small table in her pajamas, deeply engrossed in whatever she was fiddling with.
She was so focused that she didn’t even notice someone entering the room.
“Xinxin?”
Hearing the call, Feng Jingxin turned around and happily called out, “Mom!”
Then, she immediately turned back to whatever she was doing.
Rong Ci walked over and pulled her daughter into her arms.
But the moment she leaned in for a kiss, she was pushed away.
“Mom, I’m busy right now.”
It had been two months since Rong Ci had seen her daughter.
She missed her terribly and couldn’t get enough of holding her; she desperately wanted to talk to her.
But seeing her so engrossed, she didn’t want to ruin her mood.
“Is Xinxin making a seashell necklace?”
“Mhm!” At this, Feng Jingxin clearly became excited.
“Auntie Wuwu’s birthday is in a week.
This is the birthday gift Dad and I are preparing for her!
Dad and I carefully polished all these shells with our tools.
Aren’t they beautiful?”
Rong Ci’s throat tightened.
Before she could even speak, her daughter happily continued, without turning around, “Dad also customized other gifts for Auntie Wuwu.
Tomorrow—”
Rong Ci felt her chest constrict.
Unable to hold back any longer, she asked softly, “Xinxin…
do you remember Mommy’s birthday?”
“Huh?
What?” Feng Jingxin glanced up at her, then immediately looked back down at the beads in her hands, complaining, “Mom, stop talking to me, you’re messing up the order of the beads—”
Rong Ci released her hold on her daughter and stopped speaking.
She stood there for a long time.
Seeing that her daughter didn’t look up at her even once, Rong Ci pressed her lips together and finally left the room without a word.
When she came downstairs, Aunt Liu told her, “Madam, I just called the master.
He said he has something to do tonight and told you to rest first.”
“I understand.”
Rong Ci acknowledged it.
Thinking of her daughter’s words just now, she paused, then dialed Feng Tingshen’s number.
Rong Ci acknowledged it.
Thinking of her daughter’s words just now, she paused, then dialed Feng Tingshen’s number.
It took a long while before he picked up, his voice sounding indifferent: “I’m busy.
Let’s talk tomorrow—”
“Tingshen, it’s so late.
Who is that?”
It was Lin Wu’s voice.
Rong Ci gripped her phone tightly.
“It’s nothing.”
Before Rong Ci could say anything else, Feng Tingshen had already hung up.
The couple hadn’t seen each other for two or three months.
She had gone through the trouble of flying to Country A, and he didn’t even bother to rush home to see her.
Not only that, but he didn’t even have the patience to let her finish a single sentence on the phone…
After so many years of marriage, he had always treated her like this: cold, distant, and impatient.
She had actually gotten used to it.
In the past, she would have definitely called him back, patiently asking where he was and whether he could come home.
But perhaps she was just too exhausted today.
Suddenly, she found herself lacking the energy to do so.
When she woke up the next day, she thought about it and decided to call Feng Tingshen anyway.
There was a seventeen or eighteen-hour time difference between Country A and their home country.
In Country A, it was still her birthday today.
Besides desperately wanting to see her daughter and Feng Tingshen, the other reason she had come to Country A was her hope that the three of them could have a nice family meal together on this special day.
This was her birthday wish for this year.
This was her birthday wish for this year.
Feng Tingshen didn’t answer the phone.
Only after a long time did he send a text message.
[Something wrong?]
Rong Ci: [Are you free for lunch?
Bring Xinxin.
Let’s have a meal, just the three of us?]
[Got it.
Tell me the address once it’s decided.]
Rong Ci: [Okay.]
After that, Feng Tingshen went completely silent.
He hadn’t remembered that today was her birthday.
Although Rong Ci had mentally prepared herself, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment deep down.
After washing up and getting ready to go downstairs, she heard her daughter’s and Aunt Liu’s voices coming from below.
“Are you unhappy now that Madam is here, young miss?”
“Dad and I already promised to go to the beach with Auntie Wuwu tomorrow.
If Mom suddenly shows up and tags along, it’ll be so awkward for us.”
“Besides, Mom is so mean.
She’s always fierce to Auntie Wuwu—”
“Young miss, Madam is your mother.
You shouldn’t say things like that.
You’ll break her heart, you know?”
“I know, but Dad and I both like Auntie Wuwu more.
Can’t I just make Auntie Wuwu my mom?”
“…”
Whatever Aunt Liu said next, Rong Ci could no longer hear clearly.
She had raised her daughter with her own hands.
But over the past two years, as the father and daughter had spent more time together, her daughter had grown more attached to Feng Tingshen.
Last year, when Feng Tingshen came to Country A to expand the market, her daughter had insisted on coming along no matter what.
Rong Ci couldn’t bear to part with her; naturally, she had hoped her daughter could stay by her side.
But she couldn’t bear to see her daughter sad either, so she had agreed.
She never expected…
Rong Ci stood rooted to the spot as if paralyzed, her face turning pale.
She remained motionless for a long time.
She had canceled her work and rushed to Country A this time just to spend more time with her daughter.
Looking at it now, it probably wasn’t necessary anymore.
Rong Ci returned to her room and put the gifts she had brought from home back into her suitcase.
A while later, Aunt Liu called to say she had taken the young miss out to play, telling Rong Ci to contact her if she needed anything.
Rong Ci sat on the bed, feeling an emptiness and disorientation in her heart.
She had abandoned her work and rushed all the way here, only to realize that no one truly needed her.
Her arrival was nothing but a joke.
After a long while, she walked out of the villa.
She wandered aimlessly through this country that was both strange and familiar.
As noon approached, she remembered that she had agreed to have lunch with Feng Tingshen.
Recalling what she had heard that morning, she hesitated about whether to go back to the villa to pick up her daughter.
Just then, she suddenly received a text from Feng Tingshen.
[Something urgent came up at noon.
Lunch is canceled.]
Rong Ci stared at the screen, feeling not a hint of surprise.
Because she was already used to it.
In Feng Tingshen’s mind, whether it was business or a gathering with friends…
absolutely anything was more important than her, his wife.
Whenever he made an arrangement with her, he would cancel it as he pleased.
He never once considered her feelings.
Was she disappointed?
Perhaps she would have been in the past.
But now, she had gone numb.
She couldn’t feel it anymore.
Rong Ci felt even more lost.
She had come here full of excitement, yet all she received from both her husband and her daughter was cold treatment.
Unknowingly, she had driven to a restaurant she and Feng Tingshen had visited many times before.
Just as she was about to walk in, she saw Feng Tingshen, Lin Wu, and Feng Jingxin all inside the restaurant.
Lin Wu was sitting intimately on the same side as her daughter.
She was chatting with Feng Tingshen while playfully teasing the little girl.
Her daughter happily swung her legs, laughing and mingling with Lin Wu, even leaning over to eat a pastry that Lin Wu had already taken a bite of.
Feng Tingshen, meanwhile, was smiling as he served dishes for the two of them, his gaze fixed entirely on Lin Wu across from him.
It was as if his eyes could only hold her.
So this was the “urgent matter” Feng Tingshen had spoken of.
And this was the daughter she had carried in her womb for ten months, risking her life to bring into the world.
Rong Ci smiled.She stood right there, watching.After a long while, she withdrew her gaze, turned around, and left.
Back at the villa, Rong Ci prepared a divorce agreement.
He had been the dream of her youth, yet he had never truly seen her.
If it weren’t for that accidental night and the pressure from the old man, he would never have married her.
In the past, she had naively believed that as long as she tried hard enough, there would be a day when he would finally notice her.
Reality, however, had slapped her hard across the face.
It had been nearly seven years.
It was time for her to wake up.
After placing the divorce agreement in an envelope and instructing Aunt Liu to hand it to Feng Tingshen, Rong Ci dragged her suitcase into the car and told the driver, “To the airport.”