Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Si Zhengting continued Googling Mother Zhuang’s illness. In the end, he surmised that Mother Zhuang still had her wits about her. The symptoms of her illness were similar to Alzheimer’s, and thus, she had forgotten a lot of her memories.
But forgetting those memories didn’t mean that she was incapable of rational thought.
So… Mother Zhuang had indeed instigated that patient to act up so that everyone else’s attention would be diverted before she left the home.
Si Zhengting narrowed his eyes. Why had she left the home?
And… why had she been so agitated after seeing Madam Ding?
As he thought about this, Si Zhengting couldn’t help but pick up his phone and call Ding Mengya.
Although it was nighttime in America, it was daytime in Beijing due to the time difference. The call thus went through quickly. Ding Mengya sounded relaxed as she picked up the call. “Son, what’s the matter?”
Her relaxed and happy tone of voice caused Si Zhengting to pause for a moment, not knowing what to say in response. He didn’t want to tell her what was happening in America and to ruin her mood.
But he had to if he wanted to find Mother Zhuang. “Mother…”
He lowered his voice, his tone full of emotion. However, Ding Mengya replied, “Don’t call me that! Gosh, what’s wrong with you?”
Si Zhengting couldn’t empathize with her relaxed state of mind. He paused before saying, “Mother, I want to ask you a question.”
As she realized that Si Zhengting’s tone of voice was deep and somber, Ding Mengya’s playful mood turned serious. She replied, “Ask away.”
Si Zhengting asked, “Did you and Zhuang Meiting, that is, Zhuang Nainai’s mother, know each other in the past?”
Once he had asked the question, Ding Mengya paused for a moment before replying, “No, we didn’t. Well… did something happen?”
Si Zhengting continued, “Did you meet up with her in the past?”
Ding Mengya hurriedly replied, “No, I didn’t! I promise that I have never seen her, but…”
Her voice was laced with guilt as she said, “Just that I went to the convalescent home just a couple of days ago. It seemed as though she didn’t like me much. Perhaps it’s because of Nainai?”
She asked this question carefully as she was afraid of intruding on their relationship. Si Zhengting remained silent because he could not speak about it.
Ding Mengya was a woman with a great personality. She had also been very open-minded about Si Zhengting and Zhuang Nainai’s relationship. She had never argued with anyone, and her biggest fear was to affect their relationship.
Before they had gotten married, Ding Mengya had lived with Si Zhengting in his villa when she was in Beijing. However, she was living in another residential area full of villas, and she was lonely.
At this moment, Si Zhengting was unable to say anything critical of her.
Si Zhengting sighed deeply. “That’s all, I’ll hang up now.”
After he hung up, he felt perplexed. Madam Ding wouldn’t lie to him. But if Madam Ding and Mother Zhuang had never met, why had Mother Zhuang been so agitated?
He suddenly felt his thoughts being jumbled together, and he was unable to sort them out.
…
Zhuang Nainai slept well initially, but her quality of sleep worsened as the night grew darker.
She seemed to have seen her mother in her dreams.
She saw her mother walking toward the river, a step at a time. The water was up to her calves, then her knees, then her waist, then almost up to her head.
Zhuang Nainai reached out, wanting to stop her mother from wading deeper into the river, but she couldn’t say a word. It was as though her throat had been blocked — she was unable to call out!
She was frantic with fear, tears streaming down her cheeks. She wanted to run over and pull her mother out of the river, but she found that she was unable to move.
