The morning sun was bright and warm.
The moment Pei Ge entered the ward, she spotted her mother being bathed in the sun’s golden glow; this made her pale face appear healthier.
“Mom, how do you feel today?”
“I feel very good. Rather, Ge Ge, you have suffered the past few years.”
After talking to her mother about these past five years’ events, she realized that, while her mother had been in a coma, she was still cognizant of her surroundings. She might be unable to see everything herself, but she could still hear people’s conversations.
“Mom, I’ve made you worry all along… haven’t I?”
Her eyes reddened, not having expected her mother to know about her sufferings and struggles.
“Yes, lass… you’ve truly suffered.”
Her mother placed her hands against her face. Although they were boney and slightly cold, they warmed her heart.
At that moment, she felt safe and secure.
Even though she was already a successful business woman, she still felt like a fragile child before her mother.
“I didn’t suffer. Everything is worth it as long as you are with me.”
She pressed her lips together, trying hard to prevent her tears from falling. Still, despite her attempts, she was unable to stop them.
“…Mom knows how tired and sad you are. Cry. You’ll feel better afterward.”
Zhang Manhua comfortingly patted her daughter’s back, just like before when the latter was young.
Although she was in a coma these past few years, she was still cognizant of all that had happened to her daughter.
She truly wanted to wake up from her coma and help out her daughter but was unable to do so.
That was until…
At this point, an abnormal look flashed past her eyes.
“Mom, I’m all right now. With you awake and me having those two kids, I am already very happy.”
Pei Ge wiped her tears away while smiling at her mother.
She was past the most painful period of her life. From here on, everything that happened would be full of happiness…
Things would get better from here on…
“That’s right. We now have those two kids…”
The mention of her grandchildren made the other smile.
“They’re truly very adorable. Ran Ran looks exactly like you when you were young. It’s just that An An doesn’t look much like his fath—”
Zhang Manhua stopped herself midway, seemingly having realized that she had trodden on forbidden territory.
“It’s fine, mom. I’m already over him.”
Her daughter amusedly waved her hands at her.
‘Luckily, my son doesn’t look much like him. It will be pretty troublesome otherwise.”
She sighed in lament.
Who knew that, after she woke up from her coma, her would-be son-in-law turned out to be a jerk?
Meanwhile, her daughter had become a single mother of twins.
“Is there a misunderstanding between you and Xiao Ji? I don’t see him as someone irresponsible.”
Pei Ge’s smile froze at this.
“Let’s not bring him up and just talk about Mr. Charles!”
She blinked and grinned teasingly at her mother.
This made her mother roll her eyes.
“You stupid lass, how dare you tease your mother?”
“How am I teasing you? I’m merely concerned about you!” She grinned and hugged her arm. “To be honest, I think that he’s not too bad.”
A person’s heart was soft in nature, after all. Although she knew that that man’s background was complicated, he was truly sincere toward her mother.
He came every day. Even if her mother and she herself did not show him a good attitude, he was like a dog-skin plaster as he refused to stop pestering her mother.
He did not look at all like the imposing and domineering man he was when she first saw him.
He appeared to be a totally different person right now!
“Mom, tell me; what do you think of him?”
At her relentless questioning, her mother sighed softly again.
“I won’t lie to you. I felt very lonely here. Other than the nurse who came to inject me with medicine and clean my body, I was mostly alone. I lay here by myself…”
At this point, Pei Ge felt a sharp pain in her heart. Her eyes then shone with regret and guilt.
I actually let mom lie here alone… Before, how lonely and awful she must’ve felt…
“I don’t know since when, but a man suddenly appeared in my room. He was an English-speaking man. Although I don’t understand English, I know that he was speaking to me. Every day, he would call me Hua…”
At this point, she smiled.
The guilt on her face dimmed at her mother’s smile.
“It was truly my first time being called a flower[1] by someone,” she lamented, continuing to speak about the man thereafter. “While he couldn’t speak in Chinese, his voice made me feel less lonely. He’s truly very interesting. I don’t know when, but he actually started learning Chinese in my room, and all he said was I…” Like you.
Zhang Manhua’s cheeks were dyed red at this point.
Sigh… What am I even telling my daughter?
“I understand. Actually, I am quite supportive of you dating him.”
Pei Ge, who was initially against that elderly man wooing her mother, was touched by his sincerity after hearing her mother’s account.
That man clearly liked her mother.
If he were by her mother’s side, she would feel more at ease.
[1] Hua is the Chinese word for flower.
