“How did she lose her child?” Mu Chen asked quietly.

Mu Qing had been surprised earlier that Mu Chen was willing to listen to him; he was further surprised by his calmness. For these reasons, he continued telling Mu Chen about the past.

“Liang Zhen had achieved a lot at that time, causing Liang Zhou to feel jealous. Spurred by her jealousy, she grew agitated and emotional, insisting that I get a divorce. She threatened to jump into a river to commit suicide if I didn’t. I had to coax her; after all, this involved a person’s life or death…” Mu Qing said, “When your grandmother found out about the affair, she scolded me. However, there was nothing much could do; after all, Liang Zhou was from the Liang family as well. If it were another woman, she could be scolded or beaten, but Liang Zhou was from the Liang family so your grandmother was in a dilemma…”

“Liang Zhou made a huge fuss at home. She said the marriage was originally hers and that her sister robbed her of her marriage. She said her sister had been happy for so many years and it was time to return the marriage to her. She insisted that she would not allow her child to be born as an illegitimate child. Otherwise, she would die along with her child.”

“When your mother heard those words, she was crying and smiling bitterly. After that, she drank a lot and returned drunk. Your grandmother was incredibly distressed when she saw your mother…”

“Your mother kneeled on the ground and said she agreed to leave and let me and Liang Zhou be together. She said she’d consider that a final act of sisterly affection. She kowtowed thrice to your grandmother and thanked your grandmother for taking care of her over the years. She said she wanted to continue taking care of you… Your grandmother was incredibly sad, but there was nothing she could do. After all, the child in Liang Zhou’s stomach was as much her grandchild as you are…” As Mu Qing spoke, his eyes reddened, and his expression was one of grief and self-blame.

Mu Chen looked at Mu Qing emotionlessly.

Mu Qing wiped his tears off his face and blew his nose. His voice grew even more sorrowful as he continued to say, “Your mother said her entire life was a joke. She was born into a family with no love and was treated as a tool. She felt she was born to repay her debts to the Liang family. Although her heart hurt, she said she didn’t blame anyone. She only hoped there would be justice and fairness in the world and that those who hurt her would receive the punishment they deserved…”

“And then?” Mu Chen asked lightly.

“And then, she left. She left without looking back…” Mu Qing wiped his tears again. He said sorrowfully, “Three days later, Liang Zhou had a sudden abdominal pain at night. When she arrived at the hospital, the child was already lost. It was a girl. She and I were both very sad. It was also at that time that I received news from the police that Liang Zhen ran her car into the bridge railing the night before and drowned.”

Silence sat between the father and son for a long time.

In the end, Mu Qing broke the silence first and said in a voice brimming with grief, “Mu Chen, do you think God exists? Is it retribution that Liang Zhen and Liang Zhou’s child died at almost the same time? Since Liang Zhou and I owe Liang Zhen, did she take our child away?”

“Don’t flatter yourself. My mother wouldn’t care about taking your child away. She was disgusted with you when she was alive, and she didn’t want to have anything to do with you after she died,” Mu Chen said icily.

Mu Qing froze.

“After so many years, I finally mustered up enough patience to listen to your story. I wanted to listen to what you have to say. As expected, from the beginning to the end, you’ve been shirking your responsibility; you’re innocent, and everything is my mother and that woman’s fault. Are you sure you’re a man? You have no sense of responsibility at all,” Mu Chen said, “Perhaps, I would have admired you if your relationship with that woman were sincere and as strong as gold and you were responsible to my mother even after the divorce. However, look at yourself. You clearly only love yourself and have never loved any of them. You only used them for their value. I really feel ashamed of you…”