Hearing Jiang Yuanchuan stand up for her, Xu Mian could no longer hold back the tears she had been desperately suppressing, and they spilled over all at once.
When feeling wronged and miserable, how could she not be moved to have someone defending her so unconditionally?
Regarding her relationship with her mother, it was hard to explain in just a few words.
A lack of companionship during her childhood had left the bond between mother and daughter far from intimate.
In the past, facing Ling Mei’s overbearing discipline, it was not as though she had never tried to defend herself. However, Ling Mei simply refused to listen to her explanations. Instead, she would only grow angrier and scold her, claiming her wings had grown strong enough that she now dared to talk back to her own mother.
Over time, whenever she faced Ling Mei, nothing was left except endless silence.
Her heart had already learned to submerge all her grievances deep within.
Because of such an unhappy family of origin, she felt increasingly inferior in front of Jiang Yuanchuan. His family was warm, kind, and easy to get along with, and her mother-in-law, Shu Ying, treated her even more gently than Ling Mei ever had.
In truth, it would be more accurate to say that Ling Mei had never shown her a single moment of tender affection.
When Jiang Yuanchuan chased after her and came outside, Xu Mian had already processed most of her emotions on her own. She did not want Jiang Yuanchuan to see her in such a miserable state.
Yet Jiang Yuanchuan could tell at a single glance that she had been crying. Her skin was so fair that whenever she cried, the corners of her eyes and the tip of her nose would turn red.
His heart ached for her terribly.
Walking over, he wrapped his arms around her and comforted her in a low voice: “If you don’t like going back to that home in the future, then don’t go back.”
He had always felt that Xu Mian and Ling Mei were not close, but he could not very well drive a wedge between mother and daughter. Today, however, Ling Mei’s words had been far too hurtful. Even if he did instigate a rift between them, so what?
Was he supposed to stand by every single time and watch his wife go back to suffer grievances?
“Thank you, Jiang Yuanchuan.”
Xu Mian was deeply moved. After speaking, she leaned closer into his embrace and tightened her grip around his waist.
Whenever she took the slight initiative to draw close to him, Jiang Yuanchuan could barely control himself. Unable to resist, he lowered his head to kiss her.
Xu Mian was startled, placing her soft palm against his lips to block him: “What are you doing?”
Jiang Yuanchuan teased her on purpose: “I can’t even steal a kiss?”
“No, we are out in public. It will be troublesome if someone takes a photo of us.”
After saying that, Xu Mian even looked around to check their surroundings, causing Jiang Yuanchuan to narrow his eyes slightly.
He pulled her hand away and said nonchalantly: “What is there to fear if someone photos us? We are legally married, so taking a picture would be the perfect chance to make our relationship public.”
They had been married for five years and even had a child, yet she was still unwilling to publicly disclose their relationship.
“No, absolutely not.”
Xu Mian shook her head in refusal.
Once her relationship with Jiang Yuanchuan became public, she could easily imagine what kind of storm of public opinion she would have to face.
Everyone would say she was nowhere near good enough for Jiang Yuanchuan, and everyone would condemn her, especially all those women who dreamed of marrying him.
Furthermore, she had no confidence that this marriage would last forever, so why bother going public? It was better to enter it quietly and leave it quietly.
Jiang Yuanchuan knew crystal clear what she was worrying about.
Yet precisely because he understood it so clearly, a wave of irritation surged in his chest. Raising her delicate chin, he lowered his head and obstinately kissed her anyway.
He wished that the surrounding area were filled with reporters and media right this second to capture this moment clearly, so that she would have no way to escape even if she wanted to.
Even more so, he was tempted to stage such a drama himself just to expose their marriage to the world.
Jiang Yuanchuan knew that he possessed a fatal stubbornness when it came to Xu Mian. The more she refused something, the more determined he was to force it upon her. Even though he knew this would anger her, he simply could not control himself.
Sure enough, the rims of her eyes turned red once again.
Right at that moment, Xu Mian’s phone began to ring. Jiang Yuanchuan let her go and glanced at her phone screen. It was a string of digits with no saved contact name, yet instinctively he felt it belonged to Ji Yuanhang.
He had guessed correctly; it was indeed Ji Yuanhang’s phone number.
Xu Mian had not expected Ji Yuanhang to still use his original number after returning to the country. Gazing down at the number that was so deeply familiar yet incredibly strange, memories from the darkest period of her life suddenly flooded her mind.
From a young age, she had lived with her grandparents in a small town. The two elderly people had always educated her with gentle love and calm patience.
When she suddenly transferred to the city for high school, her relationship with her parents was already cold. Coupled with Ling Mei’s overbearing nature, her mother demanded excellence and top performance at every turn with extraordinary severity, even though her scores in both fine arts and academic subjects were already among the best.
Not only that, but she knew no one at school. Surrounded by unfamiliar classmates and unfamiliar teachers, she felt completely isolated and helpless, and her state of mind slowly collapsed under the suppression and pressure.
She still remembered the preparation period for the art entrance examination, when she would draw until one or two in the morning almost every night. Late one night, Ji Yuanhang happened to send a message inquiring about her studies. Unable to bear it any longer, she wept as she poured out her heart to him.
After that, Ji Yuanhang often called her at night. However, the two of them never spoke about ambiguous topics like romance or love; they simply chatted about their daily routines.
At that time, Ji Yuanhang was already a college freshman, working part-time jobs everywhere outside of his studies. He would tell her about various things he encountered at work while she listened and painted, which made her nights feel much less dull and grueling.
However, this somehow came to Ling Mei’s knowledge. On the day they were on the phone, Ling Mei barged into her room, snatched her phone, switched on the speaker, and proceeded to give both her and Ji Yuanhang a severe scolding.
Ling Mei condemned her for being shameless and engaging in romance at such a young age. She accused Ji Yuanhang of seducing a minor and cursed Ji Yuanhang’s mother for being a home-wrecker with degraded morality, not even sparing Ji Yuanhang’s deceased father.
The words were so harsh and venomous that her spirit was entirely shattered.
She had never imagined that the nastiest words she would ever hear in her life would come from the mouth of her own mother.
She was filled with unbearable guilt for harming Ji Yuanhang, believing he had likely never heard such horrible insults in his entire life.
Crying, she apologized and admitted her mistakes to Ling Mei, which finally made Ling Mei stop directing those bitter insults at Ji Yuanhang.
Afterward, Ling Mei confiscated her phone and deleted every means of contact she had with Ji Yuanhang. For the three years of high school, she studied and painted in silence, never contacting Ji Yuanhang again.
Later, when she entered university and got a new phone number, Ji Yuanhang took the initiative to contact her. By then he was a senior in college and mentioned he was preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam.
Because of Ling Mei, Xu Mian carefully maintained a clear distance from Ji Yuanhang and turned down his requests to meet, not wanting to cause him to be berated by Ling Mei ever again.
She even avoided interactions with any men whatsoever, because she knew deep down that no matter how exceptional a man was, Ling Mei would find countless flaws to criticize. Exhausted from arguing with Ling Mei, she had planned to never fall in love or get married her entire life.
Who could have anticipated that she would later meet Jiang Yuanchuan? He was so flawless and perfect that Ling Mei could not pick out a single fault, going so far as to defend him in everything. As a result, she entered into marriage without any defense and had stayed in it for five years.
Nevertheless, during her university years, she had still run into Ji Yuanhang by chance on a few occasions, where they exchanged simple pleasantries.
In truth, over all these years, neither she nor Ji Yuanhang had ever confessed their feelings openly, nor had they ever truly been together. Back in middle school, she indeed had a period of good feelings toward Ji Yuanhang. She had painted a portrait for him on his birthday and even foolishly folded paper cranes to pray for his performance in the college entrance exams.
After that phase passed, those feelings suddenly disappeared. During the days they talked on the phone, she held no romantic affection for him; she simply regarded Ji Yuanhang as a friend she could confide in, or even as a lifeline to cling to.
Yet it seemed her actions back then had given Ji Yuanhang the wrong impression, to the point where he still held a grudge over it now.
Reflecting on what had occurred in her grandmother’s courtyard earlier today, Xu Mian could faintly sense Ji Yuanhang’s deliberate intentions. Yet she found it difficult to believe that someone as gentle as Ji Yuanhang could perform such despicable acts.
The awkward friction with Jiang Yuanchuan over the past few days, her worries about her grandfather’s health, and her current conjectures regarding Ji Yuanhang’s motives, all weighed heavily on her.
Most fatal of all was the sudden impact of those dark memories. Her vision went black, and she fainted right there.
She was truly exhausted in mind and body.