Su Yue finally decided to call her mother.
“Hello, Yue Yue.” Jiang Ling’s voice was a little hoarse on the other end.
“Are you alright, Mom?” Su Yue suddenly felt nervous.
“I’m fine, just a little cold. What is it? Go ahead and tell me.”
She felt relieved but didn't directly mention her plan to get the marriage certificate. Instead, she asked if her mother could come to her place in the afternoon.
“This afternoon? I have some things to do. Can I come tomorrow?”
“Oh… alright.” Su Yue still felt strange but didn't press further.
After hanging up, as she was wondering, a man’s voice suddenly sounded.
“How was it?”
“Hm?” She looked up and smiled, “Nothing, my mom is busy this afternoon and can only come tomorrow.”
Sensing something unusual about her, he sat beside her and asked in a low voice, “Is your mother’s condition not right?”
Su Yue froze for a moment, then slowly nodded.
“I’ve been secretly keeping an eye on Su Minghua’s movements. Want to hear about it?”
Next, Chen Ziming told Su Yue about Su Minghua.
After Su Yue went abroad, he had been well-behaved. However, not long after, some bad signs began to appear.
He became listless at work, seemingly seeking meaning through other activities.
Such as drinking and bragging.
Or playing cards and indulging in leisure.
But what was even more excessive were his unclear relationships with some girls.
“Wait, unclear relationships with girls?” Su Yue was stunned. “Explain it to me clearly, what kind of relationship is it?”
He pondered for a moment and replied, “He often brings girls to banquets and makes them learn to toast.”
Su Yue’s heart trembled violently.
She immediately realized that the girls Chen Ziming was referring to were likely around her own age back then.
Su Minghua had clearly become pathological.
“I want to go home and see Mom.” She suddenly recalled her mother’s odd behavior.
“Alright, I’ll take you.”
…
Su Yue asked Chen Ziming to wait downstairs and went into her home alone.
The moment she opened the door, she was stunned.
The place was a mess.
Smashed glasses, overturned chairs, a sofa stained with spilled liquid, a curtain half-torn down.
Accompanying this was a frail figure sitting on the balcony, trembling uncontrollably, as if weeping.
Su Yue nervously picked her way through the debris and went around to her mother.
Her mother was crying.
Her eyes were swollen from crying.
She looked so dizzy that it took her a moment to focus on Su Yue before finally understanding who it was.
“Yue Yue, why are you back?” Jiang Ling quickly wiped her tears and stood up.
But her vision darkened, and her body swayed unstably, almost fainting.
Su Yue immediately supported her, gently pressing her to sit down, and sat down herself.
“What happened, Mom? Where is Su Minghua?”
Hearing the name Su Minghua, Jiang Ling’s body stiffened for a moment, and tears began to flow uncontrollably.
“Did he bully you?” Su Yue felt a surge of anger and asked anxiously.
But Jiang Ling shook her head repeatedly.
“No, we just argued, and in a fit of anger, he smashed some things.”
She then looked at Su Yue and forced a smile, “He didn’t lay a hand on me, don’t worry.”
She knew very well the deep psychological trauma her daughter had suffered from her ex-husband’s domestic violence all those years ago.
Su Yue looked at her mother’s forced smile and then glanced at the home still imbued with an angry atmosphere.
Ultimately, she couldn't believe her mother’s words.
Perhaps he didn't resort to violence, but it was definitely not just a simple argument.
As she figured this out, Su Yue felt a sense of absurdity.
She had kept secrets for so many years and had warned Chen Ziming not to make a move on Su Minghua, all for the sake of her mother’s happiness.
Even if she remained oblivious her entire life.
As long as she felt happy, that was all that mattered.
But now, faced with such an incident, what meaning did the things she had so carefully protected hold?
“Mom, can you tell me the truth?” Su Yue calmed down considerably and asked again.
Her response was still a shake of the head and the same answer of a simple argument.
When asked for the reason, she merely said they had a spat.
Recalling Chen Ziming’s account of Su Minghua’s various behaviors.
Su Yue looked out the window at the sky, stunned for a moment, and finally let out a long sigh.
“Mom, there’s something I need to tell you now.”