The restaurant on Renâen Road.
Someone walked over and opened the door for Shen Yuechuan as soon as he stopped his car. âExcuse me, are you Mr. Shen?â
Shen Yuechuan nodded.
The waitress standing aside gestured for Shen Yuechuan to enter the restaurant. âThis way, please. Mrs. Su is waiting for you.â
The restaurant was formerly an old western-style house. The industrial-style lamps shed a warm yellow light on the path in the garden with a retro charm.
There was only Su Yunjin, who was sitting at the table by the window on the first floor in the two-story restaurant, although it was dinner time.
Shen Yuechuan frowned while wondering, âWhat on earth is Su Yunjin going to tell me? Why did she make a block booking?â
âMr. Shen, please come this way.â
The waitress led Shen Yuechuan to Su Yunjin.
Fresh-looking Su Yunjin appeared calm and mysterious in the pale yellow light as if she were wearing a veil.
Shen Yuechuan thought that he had sharp eyes. However, he couldnât figure out Su Yunjinâs mood at that moment, although she was right in front of him. He had no idea what she would talk about.
âWell, let me play to score,â he thought.
Shen Yuechuan greeted her politely, âAuntie, Iâm sorry for being late.â
âNever mind.â Su Yunjin smiled. âI know that you drove from your company to reach here in a hurry. Anyway, I just arrived a few minutes ago.â
Su Yunjin opened a menu and placed it in front of Shen Yuechuan. âPlease help yourself to suit your taste. I owe you a dinner.â
Shen Yuechuan ordered two light dishes and then laid down the menu in front of Su Yunjin. âAuntie, itâs your turn.â
Su Yunjin smiled and ordered a soup and two more dishes.
The chef had been idle in the kitchen, so they served the food soon. The delicious dishes were both pleasing to the eye and palate.
However, both Shen Yuechuan and Su Yunjin ate absent mindedly, although they pretended to be relaxed.
In the end, Shen Yuechuan and Su Yunjin laid down their chopsticks almost at the same time, which made the two surprised. Su Yunjin smiled and called the waiter. The waiter cleared the leftovers and brought them two cups of coffee.
Shen Yuechuan didnât take a sip of his coffee. He said, âAuntie, you said on the phone that you have something to tell me, didnât you?â
âYes.â Su Yunjin took a sip of coffee. She simply asked, âHowâs your injured hand?â
Shen Yuechuan had been changing dressing himself these days. He was surprised that Su Yunjin cared about his wound. He said leisurely, âNo big deal. Itâs getting better. Iâll soon be fine.â
Su Yunjin didnât know where to start at that moment.
She had finally found the chance to tell him about it after preparing herself for days.
However, she was afraid that it would mess Shen Yuechuan up. After all, she abandoned him 20 years ago, which had changed his fate.
She didnât know whether she should tell him about the truth with brutal honesty at the moment when Shen Yuechuan wasnât prepared for it.
Shen Yuechuan felt strange as he looked at Su Yunjin. He asked, confused, âAuntie? I guess youâre not ready yet. May I say something first?â
Su Yunjin waved her hand. âNo. Let me say a few words first.â
She didnât want to give him the chance to tell her what he was thinking about because she had guessed it!
Otherwise, they would feel awkward. It would also embarrass Shen Yuechuan and Xiao Yunyun in the future.
Shen Yuechuan wasnât surprised at her words. He sat there in silence, waiting for Su Yunjin to speak.
Su Yunjin thought for a while as she looked down. Then she slowly said, âYuechuan, it will take a long time before your injured hand gets better.â Her voice was soft and dull. It seemed that she was trying to restrain her sorrow.
Shen Yuechuan was too surprised to notice that.
âAuntie, I thought youâre going to talk about Yunyun,â Shen Yuechuan said in surprise. He had never thought that Su Yunjin would talk about the wound in his hand.
Su Yunjin gave a bitter smile. âIâm not going to talk about her. I want to talk about your origin. I have to talk about your wound first because I donât know where to start.â
Shen Yuechuan narrowed his eyes. His face looked more and more impassive as he stared at Su Yunjin.
He had always avoided talking about his origin. He could tell from Su Yunjinâs tone that she knew it well. He thought that she had found out who his parents were while she was investigating him.
Shen Yuechuan looked away and said in a cold voice, âAuntie Su, I know that you investigated me, and I understand why you did that. If you found out something I donât know, keep it to yourself, please.â
âDo you think that I did that because of Yunyun?â Su Yunjin shook her head. âNo, child. I knew that you were a capable and reliable man the first time I saw you. I never doubted your moral quality.â
âDidnât you?â Shen Yuechuan was confused. âAuntie, whatâs the reason?â
âYuechuan...â Su Yunjin hesitated and found that she didnât dare to speak frankly. She simply asked, âDo you want to find your parents?â
Shen Yuechuan was sure that Su Yunjin had found out something about his parents. He even thought that she had already known who they were.
However, he wasnât interested in it.
âNo, I donât,â Shen Yuechuan said without hesitation. âMaybe I meant nothing to them since they decided to abandon me. Iâm old enough to live without my parents. Weâre just strangers even if they were right in front of me.â
Su Yunjin closed her eyes to hold back her tears. âI see, you... will never forgive me.â She opened her eyes, which had turned exceedingly bloodshot. âYuechuan, you donât take after your father.â
â...â
Shen Yuechuan was completely stunned at that moment. He felt as if a bomb had been thrown into his body, and his cells, along with the blood, had exploded together with a âbangââ sound.
He would have lost control of his emotions if he hadnât seen the ups and downs in the business circles with Lu Boyan those years, which enabled him to stay calm at all times.
He thought to himself, âI said that I would take my parents as strangers. Su Yunjin thought that I wouldnât forgive her. She even told me that I donât take after my father.â
âDid she mean that sheâs my mother?â
Shen Yuechuan clutched the tablecloth with a frosty look while his chest heaved. It seemed like he was going to tear the exquisite tablecloth.
He would forgive his mother, and he would forgive whatever she had done.
He would forgive his parents, who had given him life but had abandoned him.
He would even call them Dad and Mom. He would give them a happy life and watch over them in their old age until their final days, no matter what had become of them.
He would do all that as long as Su Yunjin wasnât his mother.
He and Xiao Yunyun would be family if Su Yunjin was his mother.
He wanted to be Xiao Yunyunâs family but not in a blood-relation. He had wanted to start a family with her.
He was born more than 20 years ago, the same way as how all the other babies came into this world. However, God made fun of him; he was abandoned.
He wondered why God had made fun of him again when he was close to his happy ending.
He wondered why he had to suffer retribution when he had never embraced evil, although he had always fooled around.
Su Yunjin felt sadder as she looked at Shen Yuechuan.
She knew that Shen Yuechuan wouldnât be able to accept the fact easily.
His family, who had disappeared without a trace for more than 20 years, suddenly showed up and shattered his hopes. It was a big joke to Shen Yuechuan.
Apart from it, however, a disaster was awaiting him.
âAuntie Su,â Shen Yuechuan said in a trembling voice, âdonât pull my leg, please.â
âIâm not kidding. Yuechuan, itâs about your life and future. How could I do that?â
Shen Yuechuan evaded her hand on the table when Su Yunjin reached out to him.
Shen Yuechuan regarded Su Yunjin coldly. âWhat evidence do you have to prove that we are related?â
Su Yunjin took out her cellphone and opened a private gallery. âTake a look at these photos.â
There were no more than 10 photos in total.
The first photo was of Su Yunjin and a man when they were young.
Shen Yuechuan almost thought that the man in the photo was him at first glance.
They were so much alike. He could say that he was a carbon copy of the man.
Su Yunjin and the man in the photo were hugging each other. He could tell that they were lovers.
He saw a photo of a newborn baby after some photos of the two.
It was a photo of a baby boy who was just born. He could tell from the babyâs little face that he and the man looked alike.
The rest of the photos in the gallery were all about the baby boy.
Shen Yuechuan felt a shiver all over his body after looking carefully at those photos.
He had seen similar ones.
There was a tradition of taking photos of the children under five years old every month in the orphanage where he grew up to open files on them so that they could keep them as memoirs and find their families in the future with the photos.
The director would give him his file and show him the photos every time Shen Yuechuan returned to the orphanage these years. Sometimes the director would banter with him. âLook, this is what you looked like when you were just sent here. After so many years, you have become a handsome gentleman.â
The boy in the photos that were taken after he was sent to the orphanage and the one in the photos of Su Yunjinâs cellphone gallery looked alike. In fact, the two were one and the same.
Sure enough, he was Su Yunjinâs son.