Chapter 066: A Letter from Mother

The wind on the rooftop howled as it swept past. The sky was heavy and gray, threatening to unleash a torrential downpour at any moment.

After so many years, for the first time in ages, Jiang Yao sat across from her mother, staring absentmindedly at a plate of dumplings with three-flavor filling.

Her mother, full of warmth, handed her a pair of chopsticks. "Eat, why aren’t you eating?"

Jiang Yao took the chopsticks, and her mother pushed a dish of vinegar toward her, her aged, clouded eyes shining with faint glimmers as she gazed at her.

Jiang Yao picked up a dumpling and put it in her mouth, biting down gently.

The taste was familiar—these were the best three-flavor dumplings she had ever eaten.

Yet, she felt an unprecedented bitterness.

"Is it good?" Her mother's eyes brimmed with expectation, waiting only for her affirmation.

Jiang Yao raised her head, looked at her mother, and nodded.

"Don’t just eat dumplings. Here, I've got your favorite duck feet," her mother said, pushing more food in front of her, her thin, trembling hand wiping her wrinkled face. "I’m already so happy you agreed to have a meal with me."

Jiang Yao watched her mother quietly.

She had aged far too much.

The mother in her memory was not a dazzling beauty, but she was certainly quite lovely. She always wore her thick, glossy black hair, and even after being beaten, she went out with dignity.

But now, the woman before her was nothing but a gaunt shadow.

Jiang Yao felt a sour ache in her heart. She pushed the dumplings toward her mother. "You should eat too."

Her mother looked at Jiang Yao in surprise, then smiled awkwardly, repeating "good, good," as she hurriedly stuffed two dumplings into her mouth.

Her cautious demeanor stung Jiang Yao’s eyes even more.

"Today, someone told me she would never forgive me," Jiang Yao choked, "but she hopes I’ll live well."

Her mother's hand paused, chopsticks suspended. She slowly lifted her gaze to Jiang Yao.

"I want to say the same to you." Jiang Yao sniffled. "Jiang Zhihua, I will never forgive you, but I hope you can live well. Just like you abandoned me back then, abandon me once more, go live the life you want, and never come looking for me again."

Her mother bowed her head silently. "Ah Yao, it was my fault, it’s all my fault."

"Some things can’t be remedied with just an apology." Jiang Yao turned away, a single tear slipping down.

"I know..." Her mother cried too. "Ah Yao, your mother... won’t bother you anymore. Could you call me 'Mama' just once, like you did when you were little? Just once more..."

Jiang Yao was silent.

When she first returned to her mother as a child, she loved nothing more than to cling to her arm and sweetly call her "Mama."

She lowered her head, slowly eating the dumplings, one after another.

Her mother's gaze, once full of hope, gradually dimmed.

She knew it was her own failure as a mother, and when she finally wanted to truly be one, she no longer had the right...

"I’m finished," Jiang Yao gently set down her chopsticks. "I should go."

"It shouldn’t be you who leaves," her mother whispered.

"What do you mean?" Jiang Yao looked at her in confusion, but suddenly her head spun, and her mother’s face blurred before her eyes.

"Jiang Zhihua, what have you done..." she murmured, clinging to her last shred of consciousness.

But before her mother could answer, Jiang Yao’s body went limp, collapsing softly onto the table.

Her mother slowly stood, went to Jiang Yao’s side, and reached out her rough hand to gently stroke her daughter’s face.

The sky began to drizzle.

A single, desolate tear mingled with the rain and fell upon her face.

"Xiaoqing..."

Her mother still loved to call her that.

As if, by calling her thus, everything could return to their childhood, everything could begin anew.

"Mama is going to do what mothers ought to do. If there’s a next life, I hope you’ll still be willing to be my daughter. Next time, Mama will definitely be a good mother..."

Rain poured suddenly, as if in an instant...

Jiang Yao awoke in the storage room; beside her, the place was already empty.

She rubbed her still-dizzy head, looked around, then got up to open the door.

The door was blocked from the outside. Jiang Yao pushed several times, but it wouldn’t budge.

Turning back, she saw where she had just lain—a sheet of letter paper, covered in scrawled handwriting.

It was her mother’s handwriting.

Jiang Yao slowly picked up the paper, reading each line; her body began to tremble uncontrollably.

"My Xiaoqing, whether you admit it or not, let me call you this one last time. Mama deeply regrets not being by your side during the innocent, carefree years of your childhood, and pushing you helplessly into the hands of a monster when you most needed love."

"Countless times, I wanted to gather the courage to take you away, to shield you, but I was far too selfish and cowardly. I am not a good mother, I know I can never make up for what I owe you, and I don’t hope for your forgiveness. I only hope you can step out of the shadows of the past and embrace the life that belongs to you."

"As for the past, let me carry out my duty as a mother, and do what I never had the courage to do. I want to be brave for my child, to end all of this for you. I’m sorry, I overheard your conversation in the stairwell. I know that merely arresting that person for hurting others can’t solve the root of the problem. Our entanglement with him is a fight to the death. When you called him before, wasn’t that what you intended?"

"Xiaoqing, I will give you an answer. Please don’t feel guilty. I am only walking toward my best destiny, though I regret not hearing you call me 'Mama' again... It’s alright, I’ll wait for the next life. Next time, I’ll hold your hand tightly and never let go, braid your hair, tell you stories, and accompany you through every spring, summer, autumn, and winter of this life that I missed..."

Jiang Yao gazed at the traces of ink on the letter; a single tear dropped onto the paper.

"Jiang Zhihua, what foolish thing are you doing now!" She wiped away her tears. "Who asked you to do this! I don’t want you to do this! You’re supposed to owe me for your whole life, do you hear me!"

She turned and started pounding furiously on the storage room door. "Open the door! Is anyone out there? Open up!"

As she pounded, tears streamed down her face.

She didn’t know how long it lasted, but finally someone heard the noise from within.

"Huh? Why is the door blocked? Seems like someone’s locked inside." Saying this, the person opened the door.

Jiang Yao burst out from inside.

She ran desperately forward, out of the hospital, heedless of the torrents of rain, heading straight for that abandoned factory from the past...