Duan Yarong widened her eyes and, in disbelief, stared at Zhao Youlin’s serious side profile. She had thought of countless reasons behind why Suxin once hid this from her, but she had never thought of what Zhao Youlin said could be possible.
“Mom, have you ever thought of why my mother chose Zhao Shuncheng instead of anyone else in that situation? Usually, when your parents experienced a plane crash, the orphan would first look for blood relatives, right? Why did she go to Zhao Shuncheng for help in the end when she usually ignored him and did not have any feelings for him?”
Duan Yarong’s expression changed a little. Over the years, she had always been paying attention to the mess between Zhao Youlin’s mother and Zhao Shuncheng. She had never thought about why she would rather look for Zhao Shuncheng for help instead of telling her about it, even though she had such a good relationship with Zhao Youlin’s mother.
“Youlin, are you saying…?” Duan Yarong gulped. Due to Zhao Youlin’s words, she had an inkling of what had happened, but that guess made her blood run cold.
Zhao Youlin turned her head and looked into Duan Yarong’s eyes deeply. She sighed, “This is just my guess, but did my mother have any other relatives aside from my grandparents at that time?”
Duan Yarong dug through her memories. “I remember that Suxin once told me that she had two uncles. Both of them were her father’s brothers, and they had close ties with her family. But after your mother married into the Zhao family, I never saw your mother going back to visit them. After your mother married into the Zhao family, they did come to visit her a few times, but later on, for some reason, they never appeared again, and they never even showed up when your mother passed away…”
Duan Yarong’s voice faded away abruptly before she finished her sentence. Great shock shone in her eyes.
Why had she never thought about why Suxin was so cold toward her remaining relatives after she was married? After all, she had been really fond of her uncles before she was married!
Why did Suxin’s blood relatives not even show up during her funeral after she passed away? It was as if they disappeared from the surface of the earth and never showed up in front of them again.
At that moment, Duan Yarong suddenly felt as if loads of information was stuffed into her head. How could she forget? She forgot the most tragic thing that plagued rich families—they treated money much more importantly than anything else.
Suxin’s uncles had been close to her family because they valued her family’s capital.
But once Suxin’s parents passed away and Suxin was left behind to face the pressure alone, she must have asked for their help, yet by then, they must have discovered that the benefits that drew them to her family had disappeared.
She could easily imagine what sort of answer they gave her under that sort of situation.
What else could Suxin do when she had no one to help her and even her relatives cruelly cast her aside? She could not even trust her relatives anymore, so who else could she ask for help?
The more Duan Yarong thought about it, the more terrified she was. A look of shock and helplessness naturally appeared on her face.
When Zhao Youlin saw her reaction, she knew that Duan Yarong must have understood certain things. She sighed and said, “Money can sometimes give you everything you want, but sometimes, it can also destroy everything that you have. She already lost her family, and she definitely did not want to lose you too, not when you’re such good friends with her. That’s why she chose the most extreme of methods.”
“But… I’m different from those people. If Suxin just asked me for help, I definitely wouldn’t do what those people did to her. In fact, she didn’t even have to ask for my help. As long as I knew this happened, I would have—”
“Mom, I know. I trust that my mother knew this too. But she didn’t dare take the risk.”
Duan Yarong’s expression stiffened, and her gaze fell to the floor dejectedly.
“Mom, don’t blame my mother for not trusting you enough at that time. During that period, she lost her parents, and for the first time, she saw the ugly side of the people she was once close to. Even if she understood that you won’t be the same as they are, it would have still left her uneasy.”
It was precisely because she cared that she did not dare take the risk. That was how humans were. When it came to people or things they cared about, they would lose the composure and rationality they usually possessed. They would just run away and continue deluding themselves.
Even if the people they cared about would really do something to hurt them, as long as it had not happened yet, she could continue lying to herself.
After she listened to Zhao Youlin’s explanation, Duan Yarong’s heart clenched. She felt even more dejected than just now, but this dejectedness was not due to her guilt. Instead, it was because her heart ached for Zhao Youlin’s mother.
“I understand now. What Suxin did at that time was just a choice she made instinctively to protect herself. There’s no right or wrong in that, and no one has the right to criticize her.”
As Duan Yarong recalled all that had happened, her eyes turned red against her will again.
At that time, what sort of emotions did Suxin harbor in her heart when she decided to use her own body as a bargaining chip to help her family business get a chance to survive?
After she married into the Zhao family, what sort of emotions did she have when she had to face those “relatives” who put on those hypocritical facades again to ride on her coattails after they learned that she married into a rich family?
And in the end… what sort of emotions did she have when she learned that her husband repeatedly cheated on her after marriage, even though he had been really obedient to her and had been really gentle and affectionate to her before marriage? In fact, while she was pregnant, he even brought his mistress to publicly appear with him in all sorts of situations. She even gave birth to her husband’s children, just like Suxin did.
The more Duan Yarong thought about this, the more her heart bled for her friend. Her expression turned increasingly darker as she grew more displeased and angry at Zhao Shuncheng and Suxin’s relatives.
Zhao Youlin seemed to have seen Duan Yarong’s anger. Her eyes flashed, and she whispered, “As for Zhao Shuncheng, he’s the type of person who changes the target of his affection once every few days and only knows how to enjoy life. He’s also overambitious and can’t see through reality. He’s not worthy of my mother, much less my father. There will come a day where he will pay for all that he did.”
“Youlin, I didn’t tell you these things only for you to do something stupid. You…” When Duan Yarong heard what Zhao Youlin said, she immediately panicked. She was worried that Zhao Youlin would do something irreversible and ruin herself for someone not worthy.
Zhao Youlin comforted her by patting Duan Yarong’s hand. She chuckled and said, “Mom, don’t worry. I don’t intend to do anything. He’s the type of person who will end up ruining himself even if we don’t do anything about it. Mind you, I’d think that I’m soiling my own hands if I take revenge on him!”
She would not take any action against him, but there were countless ways to make a person go through a living hell without taking any direct action.
She would not have Zhao Shuncheng enjoy his life for too long, and she would do this as a small bit of payment for the mother and daughter pair after she took over the original Zhao Youlin’s body.
