Luo Huimei offered to help Yan look after her children, but Yan was afraid of tiring her mom out so she did not agree. But this did not prevent her mom from worrying about her daughter looking after the children by herself. Besides, Luo Huimei wanted to spend time with her own grandchildren, so she visited almost every single day. This resulted in Mr. Zhou staying back to keep watch of the shop.
Now that some time has passed, the shop employees became skillful enough in their work to manage on their own. Moreover, the store’s business had been booming, so Luo Huimei hired additional staff to help out at the store, just so she could concentrate on looking after her daughter and her two grandchildren.
“It’s my choice to help you to look after your children. Your husband shouldn’t slack off just because I’m helping.”
Many who became fathers would not assume the responsibility of a father, and they would rarely interact with their own children. In some cases, they wouldn’t even be able to look after their children properly. Some might even have the guts to yell at their own wife when they were woken up by their children in the middle of the night, shouting things like: ‘Do you even know how to look after your own child?’ After yelling, they’d promptly fall asleep, not taking into consideration how upset their wife must have felt. This was also the reason why pregnant women were increasingly becoming vulnerable to depression.
During Yan’s pregnancy, she read many posts about this topic on the internet. There were just so many of them, and most were women’s complaints of how lazy their husband was, and how they had the audacity to yell at them even when the husbands didn’t help to raise the children. As they had to stay at home and look after the children, they did not have any income and were painted as a non-contributing member of their own family in the eyes of others. The husbands conveniently forgot how upset and down their wife must have felt. A new mother could rarely eat or sleep well. On top of that, she had to change the children’s diapers and coax them to sleep. Coupled with the inconsiderate and insensitive words from their husband, they would surely lose it.
Yan strongly believed that it was better for women to have their own career and be financially independent. Otherwise, it would be difficult for them to have a say in anything. Fortunately, her Han Qing was extremely good to her, even more than what she had expected. At the thought of this, Yan instinctively reached out to hold Han Qing’s neck as she buried her head into his chest.
“In the future, please go to work and return home earlier so you can have more rest.” She was afraid that Han Qing wouldn’t be able to take it. Lately, his dark circles had become prominent, similar to when he traveled abroad and back multiple times just to see his sister. He never once complained about being tired. He did not even frown when he fell ill. This man is too hard on himself.
“It’s alright.” Han Qing hugged his wife’s petite shoulders. It warmed his heart to see how caring she was, and the corner of his lips curled upward. “I can handle it, don’t worry.”
Puzzled, Yan lifted her head. “Why are you always like this? You were the same as when you reunited with Muzi previously. You did not complain of tiredness even before Muzi returned. You’re human, not a robot. There’s no need for you to carry all the bitterness and pain by yourself. Also…” Yan ventured to ask a question that was a pressing thought on her mind. “Between you and Muzi… how wide is the age gap? Why do I feel that something’s off?”
Back then when Han Qing told her about his childhood, Yan felt sorry for him and did not dwell much on the details. Until one day, while having a conversation with Muzi, they touched on the topic of age. That was when she suddenly realized the age gap between Muzi and her brother was a little too wide. It wasn’t exactly far apart, but it didn’t match the date that Han Qing had told her.
At that time, the opportunity to ask Han Qing didn’t come up. Moreover, after she became pregnant, she began to sleep for longer periods of time, hence she did not ask about it. Now that she suddenly thought of it, she simply had to ask.
“You’ve finally realized it?” Han Qing extended his hand and brushed against her nose gently as he said with a smile, “And here I thought you wouldn’t notice.”
Hearing this, Yan’s eyes widened. “Could it be that you and Muzi are…”
“Yes.” Han Qing gently nodded his head and lowered his voice. “Muzi and I are half-siblings; we have different fathers.”
They have the same mother but different father. Upon hearing, Yan was extremely shocked.
“She did not ask a lot of questions, and we did not mention it after that. Since the rest of our family members are gone, she and I were the only ones left in this world at that time. Even if we have different dads, I still cherish her very much.”
Yan could tell that Han Qing really did cherish his one and only sister. At this thought, she assured him earnestly, “I’ll keep this a secret.”
“Why would this be a secret, silly? Even if we have different dads, she and I are still related by blood.”
Han Qing’s mom felt her husband’s loss keenly after his passing, and did not have the heart to take care of her son. In the end, Old Master Han had to bring them back to Han Residence.
During that period, Madam Han had shut down completely, and was always in a daze. She even started having sleep disorders. Old Master Han couldn’t bear to see her in that state, so he contacted her childhood sweetheart. This childhood sweetheart of hers, who later became Muzi’s father, continued staying single even after Madam Han had married. After seeing how dazed she was, he stayed by her side every day, talked, enlightened and even advised her. Madam Han did not want to accept the situation, but there was one time that she ran and was almost hit by a car. It was her childhood sweetheart who saved her life. Unfortunately, it also cost him his eyesight. Madam Han felt guilty, and it was then that she snapped out of her daze. She took up the responsibility to take care of Muzi’s father, but by then, he felt that he was useless and didn’t want to cause her any more trouble. Hence, he let Madam Han leave.
This decision pained Madam Han to no end. Not only did she not want to leave him, her childhood sweetheart said some harsh words to her, wanting to force her to leave. It went something like—either she left, or she had to marry him. Those words weren’t meant to force Madam Han into marrying him; it was meant to make her leave. In fact, he was shocked when Madam Han chose to marry him. And so, their wedding ceremony was held. Although Muzi’s father lost his eyesight, he had gained the chance to be by Madam Han’s side. Later, Madam Han became pregnant and gave birth to Muzi.
Muzi’s father loved her with all his heart. Of course, he was also very loving toward Han Qing, and Han Qing was also understanding and accepting of him. It wasn’t until later that Muzi went missing, and her biological father got in a plane crash. Even as he was breathing his last breath, Muzi’s father knew Madam Han had never loved him. She only married him out of duty. He did not say anything, but Madam Han had always known it, even until his death.
“Actually…” At this point, Han Qing buried his face into Yan’s neck, his voice muffled. “As she took her very last breath, she told me she was very sorry toward my father. He was the one she felt the most apologetic toward all her life. At that moment, I kind of knew what she meant.”
Because from the very start, they had promised to stay with each other forever. However, Madam Han did not control herself and started to have feelings toward Muzi’s father. That was why she told Han Qing that she was apologetic toward his father.
