After Breaking the Ice-Beauty's Heart - Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Their World Finally Had Color.

After more than twenty hours on the train, Zhou Nianzhi arrived at the hospital the next afternoon.

She rushed to Sheng Ning’s bedside and found her mom sitting up and eating, wearing a hat. She looked quite energetic.

On the way back to the hospital, Zhou Nianzhi’s heart was in her throat. She didn’t dare to rest for a moment, afraid of being delayed.

Before she left, Sheng Ning’s illness seemed to have gotten more serious, so she was nervous and worried that something might have happened. However, at this moment, Sheng Ning didn’t seem to be suffering as much.

“Zhi Zhi,” hearing the noise, Sheng Ning turned her head to look at Zhou Nianzhi. She put down her spoon and smiled. “You’re back.”

“Mhm, I’m back.” Zhou Nianzhi smiled with relief. No matter what the reason was, as long as her mom wasn’t suffering from her illness anymore, that was all that mattered. She walked closer, placed the things from her bag in front of her mom, and sat on a chair beside the bed.

Sheng Ning was startled. She looked at the wedding photo in front of her, put her bowl aside, and reached out with a trembling finger to caress the face of Zhou Chenggang in the photo. She also smiled. “Your uncle just left to get the car to pick us up.”

“Pick us up?” Zhou Nianzhi was confused. “Where are we going?”

Sheng Ning’s gaze was still on Zhou Chenggang’s face as she softly replied, “We’re being discharged.”

“What?” Zhou Nianzhi’s voice went up in surprise. Remembering that they were in a hospital, she lowered her voice again. “Mom, why are you suddenly being discharged?”

“I’m almost completely better,” Sheng Ning turned her head and gently stroked Zhou Nianzhi’s hair. “Your uncle has already paid the bill and handled the discharge paperwork.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Zhou Nianzhi was a little hurt. “I’m your family too.”

Sheng Ning smiled. “You’re still a child.”

“I’m not a child anymore,” Zhou Nianzhi mumbled softly. She looked at Sheng Ning again, then lowered her head and continued, “Can you really be discharged?”

“You don’t believe your mom?” Sheng Ning’s hand was still on Zhou Nianzhi’s head. “I am your mom, after all.”

Zhou Nianzhi looked up at her mom, whose eyes were filled with a smile. It was as if she could blink and be transported back to the past when her mom wasn’t suffering from illness and aging. Back then, her mom had endless energy. After finishing her work outside, she would pick Zhou Nianzhi up from school, and she would still have the energy to mop the floor, do laundry, cook dinner, and help Zhou Nianzhi with her homework in the evenings.

When she was little, Zhou Nianzhi didn’t envy the characters in cartoons, because her mom had superpowers.

But later, her mom’s superpowers stopped working, and she could only lie in a hospital bed.

The girl’s dream was shattered.

But her mom’s words, “I am your mom, after all,” put the little girl’s fantasy back together.

Zhou Nianzhi nodded and said with a smile, “Mom, I believe you.”

Maybe the sickness had finally let go of her mom?

No.

It should be that her mom had her superpowers back and had driven away the terrible illness.

An hour later, in her uncle’s van, Zhou Nianzhi looked at Sheng Ning beside her. Her mom was looking at her dad.

In the hospital and in the shaking car, her mom’s eyes barely left the wedding photo.

Her lover was frozen in the photo.

His tall frame had become a small person in a picture.

The distance for a hug was too far. She could only touch his face.

His body temperature, his breathing.

They were all in her memory.

“Zhi Zhi, did you run into…” Sheng Ning paused, not finishing her sentence.

“No, I didn’t,” Zhou Nianzhi naturally understood her mom’s hesitation. The name that was difficult to say, along with the family relationship, was disgusting to even utter.

So, Zhou Nianzhi couldn’t tell her mom the truth.

She was afraid her mom would worry.

Sheng Ning nodded, letting out a sigh of relief. “That’s good, that’s good.”

The whole way, her uncle didn’t say a word. He just drove silently.

Several times, when they came across a lot of traffic, Sheng Ning would nervously look up and stare out the window, mumbling without making a sound.

Zhou Nianzhi could read her mom’s lips. She was saying—

Slow down, be careful, be extra careful.

Zhou Chenggang’s death had left a scar on both the mother and daughter’s hearts. It would hurt whenever it was touched.

When they arrived downstairs in the apartment complex, her uncle parked the car and took out their luggage.

Zhou Nianzhi wanted to take the luggage, but her uncle insisted on carrying it himself and took it all the way to their front door.

Zhou Nianzhi supported her mom. In the elevator, she saw that her uncle’s hunched back was burdened with heavy responsibilities, and his sallow skin was a result of long days of working under the sun.

After taking them to the front door, her uncle said, “I’m still busy. Just call me if you need anything,” and then turned and hurried away.

Zhou Nianzhi looked at her uncle’s back, a mix of emotions in her heart.

She used the key to open the door and went inside with her mom. She then went to the kitchen to boil a pot of water.

The water started to boil.

Zhou Nianzhi was lost in thought, as if she were back in her uncle’s old van.

After the water boiled, Zhou Nianzhi poured a cup for Sheng Ning. She put it down, took out her phone, and scrolled through the screen, saying softly, “I’ve already transferred most of the money to Uncle. I’ll give him the rest as soon as I can.”

Sheng Ning looked down at the steam rising from the hot water, nodded, and replied, “Okay.”

Zhou Nianzhi turned and walked to the window, opening the curtains. The hustle and bustle of traffic outside came into view.

The reason they had left their hometown and come to this city was to seek help from her uncle, hoping he could help them.

But at that time, her uncle didn’t agree to Zhou Nianzhi’s request. Instead, he gave them a little money and told them to find a hotel to stay in first.

So, Zhou Nianzhi held a grudge against her uncle and was even more convinced that she couldn’t rely on anyone.

Therefore, Zhou Nianzhi never bothered her uncle again. She found a shared apartment and worked several jobs a day to make a living. At that time, her mom’s illness wasn’t too severe, so she could also earn some money for rent.

But for Zhou Nianzhi, the shared apartment was terrifying. The sounds of arguments and fighting kept her up at night. And with all the things that were constantly being stolen, their already difficult lives became even harder.

So, Zhou Nianzhi gritted her teeth and rented a slightly better apartment. At least it was just her and her mom living there, and the security was decent enough.

Zhou Nianzhi was just beginning to think that life was slowly getting better when Sheng Ning’s health completely failed. The illness was aggressive and accelerated her mom’s aging, shattering the beautiful fantasy they had.

During the first surgery, Zhou Nianzhi didn’t have enough money. She was so anxious that she cried in the hospital. In the end, she had no choice but to beg her uncle to lend her some money.

At first, Zhou Nianzhi didn’t understand. Her uncle could afford to buy a house here, so why was he so hesitant to give his sister money to save her life?

Later, she found out that behind the glamour of owning a house, her uncle was doing hard labor day and night. Just like many other migrant workers who came to the city, he was trading his strength for a meal. His family was working their lives away just to send their daughter to school here so she could have a slightly better education than in their hometown.

Zhou Nianzhi didn’t trust her uncle.

But that didn’t mean she didn’t feel for him.

The burdens of middle-aged people were far more than what you could see on the surface. Their stress and pain were hidden deep inside. At the same time, the choices they faced were no longer a choice between four letters. They were heavy topics like life and death. They welcomed new lives and faced the aging of old ones.

So, living in this world, her uncle also had it hard.

So did she. She had to keep going.

“Mom, are you okay staying at home alone?” Zhou Nianzhi walked back from the window and sat next to Sheng Ning. “I have to go to work, and I might come back a little late tonight.”

“Don’t worry, I’m doing great now,” Sheng Ning said, taking a sip of water and smiling.

Zhou Nianzhi still looked at Sheng Ning with concern.

“You silly girl, why don’t you believe your mom anymore?” Sheng Ning’s tone was light, as if she was several years younger.

When Zhou Nianzhi heard this, she smiled, as if time had turned back and she was a child again, looking up at her mom and begging for a Barbie doll. If her mom didn’t buy it right away, she would look at her with a pained expression until her mom said those words—

You silly girl, why don’t you believe your mom?

Mom, Zhi Zhi believes you.

No matter in the past or now.

“Then I’ll go buy some groceries first. The fridge is empty,” Zhou Nianzhi poured herself a cup of water, took a couple of sips, and fanned herself with her hand. “You just stay home and wait for me.”

“No, let’s go buy groceries together,” Sheng Ning also stood up, wanting to go with Zhou Nianzhi.

Zhou Nianzhi’s steps paused. She asked, “Can you… handle it?”

“Of course I can. Don’t underestimate your mom,” Sheng Ning smiled easily, raising her hand to straighten her hat.

“Okay,” Zhou Nianzhi finally agreed. She knew she couldn’t win against Sheng Ning. “The sun is strong outside. I’ll wear a hat too.”

She went back to the room, grabbed a baseball cap, and put it on her head. She stood in front of the mirror with her mom and said with a smile, “Look, we really look like mother and daughter.”

“You silly girl,” Sheng Ning lightly patted Zhou Nianzhi’s shoulder, laughing and crying at the same time. “Aren’t we mother and daughter?”

With that, Sheng Ning coughed a few times. Zhou Nianzhi looked at her with concern and asked anxiously, “Mom, are you feeling unwell again?”

Sheng Ning waved her hand, stopping the coughing. She laughed twice and said, “No, it’s just that what you said made me choke on my saliva.”

Zhou Nianzhi let out a sigh of relief and teased, “Mom, you have to be careful. I’m afraid you’ll choke on cold water too.”

“You little rascal,” Sheng Ning’s eyes squinted into slits as she laughed. “You dare to make fun of your mom?”

Zhou Nianzhi stuck out her tongue at Sheng Ning, laughing non-stop.

The laughter echoing in the room and her mom standing beside her, everything felt so unreal, like a dream.

Zhou Nianzhi helped her mom downstairs, and they walked around the whole market. She pointed at different vegetables and analyzed whether they were fresh, and she mumbled about which stall’s prices were a little high. In the end, after a lot of careful selection and bargaining, they bought a lot of groceries.

“It was a good haul,” Zhou Nianzhi said, her arm around her mom and her other hand carrying the groceries. Her face was glowing with happiness.

“Of course it was,” Sheng Ning said. Although she was still a little weak, her smile never left her face. “When a mother and daughter go grocery shopping together, how can the haul be small?”

“Yeah,” Zhou Nianzhi also smiled. “We’re going to eat well tonight.”

Upon hearing this, Sheng Ning lowered her eyes and said softly, “Yeah.”

Yeah.

Her daughter would only be able to eat well today.

Back at home, Zhou Nianzhi tied up her hair and said with a confident smile, “Mom, watch me show you my cooking skills beyond just making soup.”

Sheng Ning nodded and said, “Then I’ll look forward to it.”

“You’ll get bored waiting. I’ll turn on the TV for you,” Zhou Nianzhi walked to the TV and leaned over, studying every button. She mumbled, “How do you turn this TV on…”

“It’s okay if you can’t turn it on,” Sheng Ning said from behind. “It’s not like we have to watch it.”

“No,” Zhou Nianzhi flatly refused. Then she said firmly, “I want you to experience what it’s like to be a daughter, too.”

The TV turned on.

Their world finally had color.

Sheng Ning’s nose stung. She let out a soft sound, looked up at the ceiling, and said softly, “Thank you for all your hard work.”

“It’s not hard work,” Zhou Nianzhi said, her eyes curving into crescents and her voice filled with laughter. “I have superpowers. I don’t get tired.”