Lu Mingzhe, after taking Xiang Wan home, started his journey back.
To cheer his mother up, he called her in advance to let her know.
Unexpectedly, Lu's mother told him, "Don't come back. Your uncle had some trouble, and I need to go back and check on him. I'm rushing to the airport now, so you should head directly to the airport."
"I might be gone for a long time. Let's see each other one last time before I leave."
Why was she suddenly going to the countryside?
Lu Mingzhe asked his mother what had happened.
"I'm not sure yet. I haven't been back to see them in a long time. You know how your aunt is, she cries at the drop of a hat when something happens. She couldn't explain it clearly over the phone."
"It seems your uncle is very seriously ill. Your cousin is his only daughter, but she's been living abroad for years and won't come back. I have to go in times like these."
Lu Mingzhe worried about her.
His sister was usually a pampered rich wife, treated like a helpless child in daily life. What help could she provide?
"Who are you taking with you? Can you handle it alone? You don't know anything."
His mother said, "Speaking of this makes me angry."
"What's the use of raising you? Your cousin studied for so many years, married abroad, and her parents don't even care about her anymore."
"And you two? I have two sons, but neither is reliable in a critical moment."
"Your brother can't be reached when he's needed, and you, with your bad temper and stubbornness, I don't dare to ask you."
"What else can I do? I have to learn it whether I like it or not. I can't just watch my own brother die, can I?"
His mother and uncle came from a scholarly family in Shangcheng.
During the ten years of turmoil, to take care of his younger sister, his uncle gave his only chance to stay in the city to his mother and went to the countryside.
Not only did he suffer a lot in the countryside, but he also ended up with rural household registration, married a local aunt, and lived in a small mountain village his whole life.
His mother, on the other hand, went to college after the resumption of the college entrance examination and met his father while pursuing her master's degree.
Her life had been smooth sailing ever since.
His mother felt guilty towards her uncle and always wanted to bring him out of the countryside, but he had grown accustomed to the place and was unwilling to leave.
After his cousin was entrusted to their care, she was a good student and beautiful, but her ambitions were wild.
She was sent abroad to study and never returned.
His mother's complaints had some basis.
Lu Mingzhe did not argue with her.
"Alright, alright, I'll go to the airport now."
When they met, his mother actually intended to go alone.
The driver was helping her put her luggage into the car.
"Why didn't you ask my father to send someone with you? Do you really plan to go alone? Hospitals nowadays are not what they used to be; it's hard to even register. How about I send someone to accompany you?"
His mother pulled her sunglasses down from her nose, her eyes already red.
"What's the use of having you? They say children are for old age support, but I'm not old yet, and you don't even want to come to my side for your own happiness."
"If I'm truly bedridden in the future, won't you all stay even further away?"
"I've seen through it. A bunch of ungrateful people, stop your fake concern!"
"Who wants you to send someone? Are you that busy? Your father is much busier than you, yet he's willing to take leave to accompany me. You, who can leave anytime, don't even dare to say you'll accompany me on a trip?"
Lu Mingzhe indeed dared not say it.
Because he couldn't bear to leave Xiang Wan.
But looking at his mother's distressed expression, and thinking about the few times he had been to the countryside and seen his uncle, he also felt guilty.
"I didn't say I wouldn't accompany you. It's just too sudden, and you didn't give me any notice. I haven't brought anything."
"Stop making excuses. Shangcheng is not smaller than Nancheng; you can buy anything you want! I think you've just gotten too ambitious and don't consider me your mother anymore, you don't want to be with me!"
"Mom, look at the hat you're putting on me..."
"Is it that woman outside who's stopping you from being with me? She's always clinging to you like a magnet!"
"I told you, you can't keep that kind of woman! Her vision is too narrow..."
"Stop, stop."
Lu Mingzhe interrupted her.
"Why do you have to speculate wildly? Even I didn't know you were going to see my uncle, so how could she know? And how could she stop me?"
Lu's mother sneered.
"You always defend her when she's mentioned. Tell me, what's so good about her? What exactly is so good?"
Lu Mingzhe's eyes lit up.
"You're willing to listen to me?"
"As long as you accompany me back to Shangcheng and make me happy, everything else is negotiable."
Lu's mother said with a proud air.
"If you make me unhappy, I won't even acknowledge you as my son. Forget about that vixen!"
"What vixen? That's a nasty thing to say. Alright, alright, I'll accompany you, won't I?"
Lu Mingzhe thought very simply.
Air travel was so convenient now. At worst, he would go today and come back tomorrow.
It would only be one day apart from Xiang Wan, which was not a problem.
His mother, beaming, took out another plane ticket and invited him to board with her.
Sitting together, Lu Mingzhe told her all about Xiang Wan, praising her like a flower.
Lu's mother finally showed some admiration.
"Really? Is she that amazing? Alright, when your uncle's condition stabilizes, we'll arrange to meet her. Give her a chance."
Lu Mingzhe was overjoyed.
He thought he would tell Xiang Wan the good news as soon as they landed.
Meanwhile, after getting off work and making dinner with her brother, Xiang Wan had just picked up her chopsticks and taken a couple of bites when her phone rang.
A staff member called her in a hurry.
"Sister Wan, what's going on? Why has the factory stopped production?"
"I accidentally stained the samples today. I just went to the factory to pick up some goods, but the gates were locked, and there was no one there."
"What happened? Did you tell them to stop?"
How could that be!
With so many backlogged orders, they couldn't keep up even working 24 hours a day. How could Xiang Wan have told them to stop production?
"No way? I didn't tell them to stop."
Thinking about the continuous overtime for several days, she wondered if the factory manager had given them a break and a temporary holiday.
"Wait a moment, I'll call them."
She found the manager's phone number and dialed, but it couldn't be connected.
She tried another, but it was turned off.
Then she tried the finance department, but it couldn't be connected.
Xiang Wan's mind went blank.
She stared at her phone in disbelief.
"Is there something wrong with my phone? Why can't I make calls? Xiang Yang, give me your phone."
Xiang Yang, not knowing what had happened, handed her his phone while stuffing food into his mouth.
As a result, she dialed the numbers again using his phone, but they still couldn't be connected.
Xiang Wan panicked.
Things she had seen on the news but thought would never happen to her flooded her mind.
She panicked, unable to breathe.
"Xiang Yang, pinch me quickly. Quick, am I dreaming?"
Xiang Yang looked up and saw her pale face and trembling lips.
He quickly went to support her.
"What's wrong, sis? What happened?"