Chapter 1526: Chapter 1526: Can Never See Her Again
Zhou Ran stared at the photo on the wall. The little girl resembled Xu Mengxi a lot, with those big eyes. But unlike Xu Mengxi, the little girl was much more lively.
“She’s a bit mischievous, but very clever and well-behaved. She won’t cause trouble for anyone,” Xu Mengxi said weakly, her face pale.
At that moment, Zhou Ran understood Xu Mengxi’s intention. She wanted to entrust Xu Chaomu to her.
Zhou Ran frowned, feeling conflicted inside.
“Aran… I beg you, please take Chaomu with you. Can you give her a home? She’s still so young. I don’t want to send her to an orphanage. Orphanages are chaotic, and she won’t get a good education. Chaomu is very smart; she won’t trouble anyone. She’s obedient at school, too.”
Xu Mengxi pleaded with Zhou Ran desperately, tears streaming down her face as she spoke.
Zhou Ran realized that this meeting’s sole purpose was precisely this.
Looking at the little girl on the wall, Zhou Ran felt unsettled within.
At times, she had been jealous of Xu Mengxi, wondering how she could hold Cexian’s heart for so long… But now, at this moment, the resentment had faded. After all, how much longer did Xu Mengxi have to live?
Moreover, her life… hadn’t been good at all.
“Aran, Aran, please take her with you, will you? Aran, I promise I’ll completely disappear from your and Cexian’s lives. I won’t show up in front of Cexian anymore… All these years, I’ve never loved Cexian. I’ve always treated him as a friend.”
Xu Mengxi begged Zhou Ran again, knowing she was her final lifeline.
After spending so many years together in college, Xu Mengxi fully understood Zhou Ran’s temperament. Zhou Ran appeared strong on the outside, but deep down, she wasn’t that ruthless.
“Aran, I’m begging you… Chaomu is only ten… She has no father; she’s already so pitiful,” Xu Mengxi implored repeatedly, tears falling as she pleaded.
Zhou Ran’s heart finally softened. After all, she was also a mother, with two children of her own.
A woman could be unyielding enough to stand against the world, but for her child’s sake, she could forgo her dignity and abandon all she could.
Zhou Ran sighed, uncertain of what to say at that moment.
Xu Mengxi grabbed her hand tightly: “Aran, I’ve even figured out how to do it. I just ask for your help, okay? This is my last request to you… I have no other options… This disease can’t be cured… I don’t want Chaomu suffering alongside me… She’s still just a child…”
That day, Zhou Ran didn’t know how long Xu Mengxi begged her. She wanted to steel her heart, but in the end, she nodded.
“Fine, I promise. I’ll take Xu Chaomu to the Shen Family. But you have to figure out the specifics, and you must never appear in front of Shen Cexian again. Never,” Zhou Ran said.
Xu Mengxi nodded: “I won’t. I’ve only ever treated Cexian as a friend, and… with this illness, I really don’t have much time left.”
“What do you want me to do? Take Xu Chaomu tonight? Have you talked to that little girl about this yet?” Zhou Ran asked doubtfully.
A ten-year-old girl facing such a situation—how was it possible for her to leave her mother willingly?
Xu Mengxi nodded, her gaze hollow and lifeless.
“I’ve thought it all through,” Xu Mengxi told Zhou Ran. “Later, you’ll take me along. When we reach a wooded area, drop me off, and I’ll leave from there.”
“What kind of plan is that? Your daughter will cry her heart out,” Zhou Ran refused to agree.
A little girl returning home only to find her mother was gone—how could she not be devastated?
“No, I haven’t finished. When I leave, I’ll tamper with the gas tank. Once the gas explodes, everything will be over. The fire will burn everything to ashes. I’ll stuff some things under the blanket to make it look like I died in the fire, trapped under the quilt. That way, Cexian won’t have any lingering feelings about me,” Xu Mengxi explained in painstaking detail.
Back in those days, nobody would think too much about it. The less trouble, the better—nobody would care to investigate further.
Zhou Ran stared at her, struggling to reconcile this Xu Mengxi with the one she used to know.
Xu Mengxi was so well-behaved back then. What on earth had she been through?
Xu Mengxi mistook Zhou Ran’s hesitation for reluctance. She grabbed Zhou Ran’s hand tightly and said, “Aran, please, promise me. Promise me, won’t you? After the fire, old neighbor Mo will definitely send Chaomu to the orphanage. When that happens… take her in… please, will you?”
Zhou Ran sighed again. Xu Mengxi had truly thought through everything down to the last detail.
“Aran, I’m begging you… Take Chaomu with you… Please… Please…” Xu Mengxi pleaded over and over, her eyes filled with desperate hope. “I don’t want to see her suffer in an orphanage… I don’t want her to spend her whole life like that… These ten years, I’ve given her nothing, and I feel so guilty… I’m not a good mother…”
Zhou Ran’s chest tightened; she couldn’t help but be moved. After all, she, too, was a mother.
The smiling face of the little girl on the wall tugged at her heart. Yes, she was just a ten-year-old child. Could they really leave her in an orphanage?
“I don’t want her to end up with nothing in her life, stuck in the depths of a mountain forever. As a mother, I just want to see her live a good life…” Xu Mengxi pleaded again and again. “She’s truly a lovely child. She won’t give you any trouble, Aran…”
Xu Mengxi’s sobs were especially heartbreaking in the cold winter evening, like a cuckoo crying blood.
Moved, Zhou Ran supported her, saying, “Stop crying. Didn’t I already agree?”
“Thank you, Aran. Thank you… I promise I’ll leave. I’ll never appear before you and Cexian again, nor will I appear before Chaomu. Just consider me dead. Don’t bother with me anymore. If I go back on my word, may heaven strike me down.”
Xu Mengxi was frantic. She feared Zhou Ran might change her mind. She didn’t want Chaomu to suffer. After all, she didn’t have much time left.
“Don’t say that,” Zhou Ran said coolly. “I can’t control much about the future. I’ll simply bring her to the Shen Family. Whether she achieves anything, that’s out of my hands.”
“I understand, I understand.” Xu Mengxi nodded quickly. “As long as she doesn’t end up in an orphanage.”
Xu Mengxi also understood that the Shen Family was a wealthy household—a genuinely affluent one in those times.
If Xu Chaomu went with them, she wouldn’t suffer.
As for the future… she likely wouldn’t be around to see it.
“Xu Mengxi, aren’t you afraid that your daughter will be heartbroken?” Zhou Ran sighed.
“I already have this illness. Sooner or later, she’ll be heartbroken. It’s better for her to experience it sooner,” Xu Mengxi said calmly.
“But what’s even more painful than death is separation while alive. You’ll never be able to see her again. Won’t that hurt you?”
“No…” Xu Mengxi murmured, her gaze distant and unfocused.
She wouldn’t be hurt. She would leave Chaomu sooner or later.
But this way, Chaomu’s future would be much better…
“But Xu Mengxi, we’ve agreed: you cannot go back on this. And under no circumstances are you allowed to show up at the Shen Family, to see her or Cexian!” Zhou Ran said firmly.
Xu Mengxi nodded eagerly: “I won’t.”