You hidden in my heart - Chapter 45.3

Chapter 45.3

No one would ever scold him for not having a father again! No teacher would ever speak ill of her mother behind her back again!

His mother was also moved to laugh by his excitement. She was grateful to Li Zhang but also felt that Li Zhang was shrewd and scheming. ‘You are not here to be my son’s father; you are here to support your son-in-law. I don’t know whether this son will be a good son when he grows up, but he will definitely be a good son-in-law.’

At that time, the young Lu Yuling didn’t know what his mother was thinking. Anyway, he was very happy that he finally had a “father.” Although he was a fake father, he could finally hold his head high in front of his classmates and teachers.

Uncle Li also did what he said. Every Friday afternoon, he would come to pick Li Yuling up from school, send him and his mother home first, and then went to pick up his daughter.

Uncle Li helped the fatherless little boy defend his dignity in his childhood so that his mother no longer suffered insults and curses behind her back and allowed him to hold his head up in school.

Lu Yuling would never forget this kindness.

He felt deep down that what he did was right and that he had to do it, even though his grandfather criticised him as an ungrateful traitor. Just as Uncle Li stood for him when he was a small boy, he now had to defend Uncle Li’s dignity as well as that of his wife and daughter.

 Now old Mr. Lu was furious. ‘Not only is he an ungrateful person, he also disgraces the Lu family!’

With a grim expression and trembling with rage, Old Master Lu gazed at Lu Yuling. “If it weren’t for you, your mother wouldn’t have lived such a miserable life when she was alive,” he said, his eyes fiery as if he were staring at an enemy and blazing with rage. “It’s you who ruined your mother’s life! Now that you’ve grown up and become powerful, you dare to point fingers at me. You’re amazing, really amazing!”

Lu Rongxing’s expression darkened, and he quickly scolded his father. “Dad!”

Lu Yuling still didn’t say anything. He clenched his fists, silently enduring his grandfather’s insults and anger. He had long expected that this day would come sooner or later.

They never regarded him as their grandchild; instead, they viewed him as a sinner who had destroyed his mother’s life. It was like this when his mother was alive, and even more so after she died. Later, their kindness to him was just to make up for the debt they owed to his mother over the years, but it was all superficial kindness that only made things more obvious.

He had long understood that this kind of relationship, which was trying to hide itself but only made things more obvious, would eventually break down. It just needed a fuse and a breaking point.

Today was the breaking point. It was not accidental but inevitable.

Perhaps to a certain extent, he was really a sinner. To be fair, he had indeed ruined his mother’s life.

If his mother had not given birth to him, she would not have been kicked out of the house, and she would not have lived such a hard and difficult life.

So he didn’t refute his grandfather’s words.

Although Lu Yuling could tolerate it, Li Xining could not. She had finally realised that Lu Yuling didn’t have a place in the Lu family at all. 

It was true that Lu Yuling had spent so many years living under someone else’s home. 

‘No wonder he wants to live alone.’

Li Xining was extremely angry and upset at the thought of this, feeling as though a steel needle had been driven into her heart.

‘What is meant by the statement “you have ruined your mother’s life”? He is her mother’s biological son! He is also the person I love the most.’ Li Xining was desperate to go to Mr. Lu and argue with him. She had to express her attitude to him, even if she couldn’t make him change his mind! But she had to restrain this thought for the good of the whole. Otherwise, she might embarrass the entire Li family.

Now she just wanted to take Lu Yuling away from others as soon as possible.

‘This place is so suffocating that no one can tell what’s going on in their minds.’

Li Xining held Lu Yuling’s hand even tighter, but just when she was about to pull the boy away, Zhao Hailan suddenly came forward. After a few quick steps, he strode boldly and heavily towards Mr. Lu. To the astonished gaze of all, he knelt before Mr. Lu.

Zhao Hailan had never met the Lu family before. Lu Rongyue wanted to take him home to meet her parents when they were dating, but he refused because he was just a rich boy who lived with his parent’s money at that time. He was too embarrassed to go home with her to meet her parents.

It was not until Mr. Lu called out Rongyue’s name just now that he realised that they were Rongyue’s family.

When he got the invitation for Mr. Li’s birthday party, he had a feeling that the old man of the Li family would not invite their family to the birthday party for no reason.

‘Sure enough, Mr. Li’s real interest is to reveal the truth about Rongyue and this young man.’

He had been silent just now. He was too shocked and couldn’t utter a single word for a while. 

Rongyue has been dead for six years—it took him a long time to understand the meaning of this sentence.

‘His Rongyue is gone.’

He had been looking for her for nearly twenty years and still couldn’t find her… Now he realised that he would never find her in this lifetime.

He wanted to confess all of his misdeeds to Mr. Lu and acknowledge that he was the one who had destroyed Rongyue’s life, but he was unable to do so until he knelt down in front of the old man.

He was unable to talk, lacked the strength to do so, and dared not speak in front of the young man, Rongyue, who had left this world.

“I kowtow to you and apologise to you,” he muttered in a raspy voice, finally stifling the deep sorrow in his heart. “I’m to blame. I didn’t provide my daughter with good teaching.” When he was done talking, he knelt down and gave Mr. Lu a deep bow.

Seeing this, Zhao Cichu was stunned. She never expected her father would behave like this. ‘What is he doing? Is he out of his mind?’

Zhao Cichu refused to accept this. Her breathing began to become rapid, as if she had asthma. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. Tears flashed in her eyes again. She roared at him with a red face, “Dad!”

But this time she was stopped by her granddaughter. “Shut up!” he shouted at her.

Old Mrs. Zhao also scolded the girl. “It’s all your fault!”

Zhao Ci Chu was in utter disbelief. She became acutely aware of her helplessness and loneliness. She inhaled deeply, spun around, and hurried from the room.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Shen Siqi, who had been watching the show on the side, made the decision to pursue Zhao Cichu. She was his cousin-sister, after all. So he whispered to the elderly Zhao family members, “I’ll go find Chuchu.” Then he walked away from the table.

Zhao Hailan pretended not to notice his daughter fleeing in rage. “It’s all my fault,” he said, bending down to kowtow before Mr. Lu a second time. “I kowtow to you and admit my mistake.” When his forehead hit the floor, everyone could hear a heavy muffled sound.

Then, he kowtowed to Mr. Lu for the third time, still repeating the same words. “It’s all my fault. I kowtow to you and admit my mistake.”

Except for Lu Rongxing, no one in the Lu family knew Zhao Hailan. The only reason they knew his name was through the conversation they had just had.

Lu Rongxing did know Zhao Hailan, but he wasn’t very familiar with him, and they didn’t have a very deep friendship. He only knew that he was the president of Zhengxing Group.

The Lu family was too ashamed to bring up the issue with the Zhao family any further after Zhao Hailan knelt like this and kowtowed three times in succession. It would be irrational for them to pursue the subject further.

So the Li family put this matter aside for now. 

However, Zhao Hailan didn’t dare to look at Lu Yuling, and he had no confidence at all.

He knew that he was sorry for Rongyue. Over the years, every time it was late at night and everyone was asleep, his longing and guilt would burst out uncontrollably.

He was in pain and had been living in agony for so many years. In order to ease the pain, he kept deceiving himself—he had no choice back then; the woman was pregnant, and he had to be responsible for her.

During those two months, he had been out of town discussing business, and Rongyue kept telling him on the phone that she had a surprise for him when he came back. He even asked her what the surprise was, but Rongyue said that she had to keep it a secret for now and could only tell him when he came back; otherwise it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore.

But before he could go back, a woman came to him and said she was pregnant. 

He didn’t cheat on Rongyue; he was also a victim.

However, in the end, he chose responsibility and betrayed Rongyue. Later, when Rongyue left, he searched for her like crazy but never found her.

He actually regretted every day for about 20 years.

What made him decide to take responsibility?

Rongyue should have been his choice.

He dreams of marrying his love and living a happy life. But what happened in the end!

He was still guessing every day what the surprise Rongyue would give: a gift, clothes, or a watch? He thought of countless possibilities, but he never thought it would be a child.

He didn’t dare to think about it. He married a woman he didn’t love for the sake of his child and abandoned the woman he loved. If the person he loved also had a child, then he would not only abandon the person he loved, but also his child and home.

He had always been a little jealous of Li Zhang: jealous that Li Zhang had a beautiful family, a loving wife, and an obedient daughter, while he had nothing.

But now he realised that what he should have had was abandoned by his own hands.

So he didn’t dare to look directly at the boy. He was particularly afraid that once he met the boy’s eyes, he would see through all his crimes.

Only after he kowtowed to Mr. Lu did he muster up the courage. When he stood up from the ground, he glanced in the direction of the boy.

Both of their eyes met, and Zhao Hailan froze. He felt like his heart was stabbed by a sharp blade.

‘Those eyes are the same as Rongyue’s.’

This time, Lu Yuling also clearly saw the man named Zhao Hailan.

They had never met before, but Lu Yuling felt that the man gave him a familiar feeling.

However, he had no interest in him. Lu Yuling only gave him a quick look before looking away.

Only then did he discover that the old couple of the Zhao family were also staring at him. 

 ‘No, they are looking at me from my head to my toe.’

Zhao Hailan had brought Rongyue back to his own house, although he had never visited the Lu family.

Both of Zhao Hailan’s parents were aware of Rongyue’s presence. In actuality, they all adored Rongyue and regarded her as their daughter-in-law. 

However, after that woman got pregnant with their son’s child, they couldn’t ignore their family blood. So they forced their son to break up with Rongyue and forced him to marry that woman.

‘If Rongyue had a child back then, the child should be about the same age as this boy, and this boy looks really like our Hailan when he was young.’

‘No, he is even more handsome than Hailan was when he was young, especially his eyes, which look energetic.’

Although Lu Yuling was unaware of the reason behind the Zhao family members’ attention, he chose to ignore it and look away.

Li Xining, however, understood why everyone was staring at Lu Yuling.

‘You are all a bunch of hindsight-ers. What were you doing earlier? Okay, you want to see him, right? I won’t let you see him.’

After making the decision, she took Lu Yuling and left.

She was so strong that Lu Yuling was almost pulled down by her. He staggered for a while before steadying himself and blurted out, “Where are we going?”

Li Xining replied angrily, “Go out and get some fresh air!”

Lu Yuling: ‘…Are you angry again? I didn’t provoke you…’ But he didn’t dare to resist her, so he shut up and followed her, as obedient as a little wife.

Mr. Zhao’s eyes kept following Lu Yuling. After he followed Li Xining out, he turned his eyes to Mr. Li, laughed, and said in a flattering way, “Old Li, your granddaughter is really amazing.”

Mr. Li didn’t have the patience for him. “What does this have to do with you?!”

Mr. Zhao was not angry; his attitude was still kind, and he said with a smile, “It’s okay; I just think your granddaughter is beautiful, sensible, and likable.”

Mr. Li replied proudly, “There are many people who like our little girl.” At the same time, he snorted in his heart, thinking, ‘You bad old man, now you know how to curry favour with me? It’s too late!’

End of chapter 45

Have a nice day!