The next day.
After the rain, the sky cleared.
It was Saturday again, so there was no need to go to work.
Li Mai got up in the morning and made breakfast—porridge, egg pancakes, and a glass of milk for Chengcheng.
After breakfast,
You Huan wanted to drive Li Mai and her son back.
Li Mai stopped her.
“You have really heavy dark circles. Go back to bed and get some more sleep. We’ll take a taxi.”
You Huan didn’t insist.
Li Mai and Chengcheng returned to the rental apartment.
Water had leaked into the balcony, leaving a complete mess. The window hadn’t been closed, and with yesterday’s strong wind and heavy rain, water had blown inside.
The clean clothes were dirty again.
Li Mai started cleaning.
Chengcheng ran over. “Mom, I’ll help you.”
Li Mai smiled gently. “Sure. Help Mommy mop the floor.”
“Okay! I like mopping the floor the most.”
Watching the little one working so hard, Li Mai felt the tightness in her chest ease a lot.
Her precious son was especially sensible.
From a young age, he had been considerate of her and would take the initiative to help with chores.
When she worked, he was very well-behaved and never noisy.
Because there was no one to take care of him, she had sent Chengcheng to daycare before he was even two years old.
At first, she worried he wouldn’t adapt, that he might be bullied, or that the teachers wouldn’t be responsible.
During that time, she was constantly anxious.
Later, the teachers said Chengcheng was very well-behaved and polite, and they didn’t need to worry about him much.
They liked him a lot.
Chengcheng adapted very well.
Only then did she feel relieved.
After the two of them worked for a while, they finally finished cleaning the balcony.
Li Mai washed the clothes again— by hand.
It was a rental apartment, and the washing machine hadn’t been cleaned. She didn’t dare use it.
She had already bought a new washing machine, but it hadn’t been delivered yet.
Once the new machine was installed, she could use it.
By the time she finished washing the clothes, it was almost noon.
Li Mai took Chengcheng downstairs to buy groceries.
There were vegetable shops outside the complex, which was very convenient.
After buying groceries, she went home and started cooking.
This was what it was like raising a child alone—once you got home, you never stopped. There was always endless work to do.
After lunch, Li Mai finally sat down to rest for a bit.
She held her laptop and organized documents.
Chengcheng sat nearby reading a book.
They didn’t disturb each other.
Chengcheng’s reading ability was already good enough for him to read smoothly on his own, but at night he still liked to cling to her and have her read picture books to him.
Not long after she started working, she received a message from the kindergarten teacher.
The teacher told her that Chengcheng could start kindergarten next Monday.
Li Mai happily shared the news with Chengcheng.
Chengcheng pulled a long face.
Li Mai asked, “You don’t want to go to kindergarten?”
Chengcheng replied, “No. It’s boring.”
The teachers were boring, the classmates were boring, and the games were boring.
Li Mai knew her son was more mature than other children his age.
But she wanted him to have a happy, normal childhood. Going to kindergarten would help him learn how to get along with other kids.
“Chengcheng—”
“Mom, I know. I’ll go.”
Chengcheng interrupted her.
If going to kindergarten could make his mom’s life easier and make her happier, he was willing to go.
Actually, he was fine staying home alone.
It was just that his mom never felt at ease.
For example, these past few days, he wanted to stay home by himself, but she insisted on sending him to his godmother’s place.
Li Mai rubbed his soft hair. “How about I take you to the amusement park tomorrow?”
She had seen that most kids liked going to amusement parks.
She was usually busy with work and didn’t have time to take him. Tomorrow was Sunday, so she would be free.
Chengcheng said, “I don’t want to go to an amusement park. Take me to a museum instead.”
Li Mai: “……”
Her son was only four years old. Why didn’t he like things other kids liked at all?
A museum?
Wouldn’t that be boring?
Well, if he liked it, she would take him.
To her surprise,
Chengcheng loved it.
At first, he asked her to explain things to him.
Later, he thought her explanations weren’t good enough, so he had her download an app. He listened to the app’s audio guide while walking around.
Li Mai followed behind him, feeling a bit silly.
…
Red light.
Zhou Songyan stopped his car.
As he looked up, he seemed to see Li Mai—holding a child’s hand.
When he tried to look more closely, they were gone.
He rubbed his forehead.
His head was throbbing badly.
Had he not rested well these past two days and started having hallucinations?
He must have seen it wrong.
Ever since he ran into Li Mai again, her image kept popping into his mind from time to time.
Even in his dreams at night, it was her.
In the dream, Li Mai looked at him coldly and said,
“Zhou Songyan, we’re not suitable for each other. Let’s break up. I want to marry a rich man so I won’t have to worry about money. You’re handsome, but you don’t have money. I’m sorry—we can’t go on.”
He hadn’t had dreams like this in a long time. He used to have them all the time right after they broke up.
Then he would wake up in the middle of the night and be unable to fall back asleep.
These past two days were the same.
Once he woke up at night, he couldn’t sleep again.
He was irritable all the time.
The source of all this trouble was Li Mai.
…
Li Mai took Chengcheng to eat dinner at a restaurant outside before going home.
After Chengcheng fell asleep, she packed the things he needed for school the next day and stayed busy until eleven before going to bed.
No matter how late she slept, Li Mai’s body clock always woke her up at six.
She got up to make breakfast.
At seven o’clock,
Chengcheng crawled out of bed, yawning. “Good morning, Mom!”
Li Mai turned around and smiled gently. “Good morning, Chengcheng!”
Chengcheng had strong self-care skills. He could brush his teeth, wash his face, and get dressed by himself.
After getting ready, he went to the dining area to eat breakfast on his own.
Li Mai felt very relieved.
She didn’t have to worry too much about her son.
Perhaps this was the angel baby heaven had given her.
After breakfast, Chengcheng put on his little backpack.
Li Mai walked him to kindergarten.
Since it was a new kindergarten, Li Mai was afraid he wouldn’t adapt. She stood at the entrance for quite a while, only leaving after Chengcheng had completely walked into the colorful building.
She then walked to the subway station.
It was rush hour, and the subway was crowded.
Li Mai felt uncomfortable being squeezed.
She started thinking about buying a car for daily transportation.
It would make commuting easier.
In the future, Chengcheng would attend various interest classes, and having a car would save time when picking him up and dropping him off.
She didn’t have much savings.
Over the years, she had to raise a child and pay rent. There wasn’t much left, even though she lived very frugally.
She had heard that second-hand cars were cheaper.
But she didn’t know how to choose one.
When the time came, she would ask her senior to go with her—she probably knew a bit about it.
When she arrived at the company, Li Mai started another busy day.
However, she felt that after coming to Beijing, work had become much easier.
There were no longer so many women fighting for attention that she had to deal with.
She could focus on her work.
Ji Wangyu wasn’t like this when he was in Su City.
He changed women as easily as changing clothes.
Every few days, there would be women fighting over him and showing up at the company.
At times like that, Ji Wangyu would hide himself and push her out to deal with it.
His previous secretaries had all been driven away like this.
At that time, she had spent two years giving birth to and raising a child, without working.
When she tried to return to work, no company was willing to hire her.
She sent out many resumes, but none got a response.
Later, she changed her approach. She stopped focusing only on jobs related to her major and applied for everything.
Back then, the HR department at Ji Group’s branch office was on the verge of collapse—Ji Wangyu would drive away a secretary every so often.
HR adopted the same strategy as her, blindly casting a wide net.
That was how they called her, someone with no experience, in for an interview.
Li Mai was desperate to find a job at the time.
No matter what requirements the company mentioned, she said she could do it.
And that was how she got hired.