Chapter 173: Shen Zhaozhao threw away my depression medicine

The familiar smell of disinfectant in the hospital spread in the air.

Warm sunlight slanted in from the window, falling on Shen Li's pale and delicate cheeks; the beam of light was very warm, but it couldn't melt the coldness in her eyes.

"Are you feeling much better today?"

The nurse removed the IV needle from the back of her hand; Shen Li sat quietly on the hospital bed, only responding lightly: "Mm."

"Pay more attention to rest, press the bell if you need anything."

"Okay, thank you."

Shen Li had actually woken up since last night.

What made her completely clear-headed was the intense argument between her parents outside the ward.

The sound was so loud that almost the entire floor could hear it.

Overnight, their already crumbling relationship completely shattered.

Yu Lizhen: "... It's my fault, but how much better are you? Have you ever cared about the child? Shen Wenqing, do you know how many days you haven't returned to this home? Your heart has long been placed on that woman outside and the son she gave birth to!"

"If you had truly cared at all, Ah Li would never have reached the point of suicide."

Shen Wenqing also chose to break the pot, "I'm telling you, I just couldn't stand you being like this, that's why I didn't want to come home!"

"Since you know everything, there's nothing left to say."

"Yu Lizhen! If you had even half the gentleness and understanding of Wanyi, we wouldn't have reached this point today."

"I've drafted the divorce agreement; the house is yours, I'll split half of the deposits under my name with you, and the rest will be left for Mom to support herself."

"Someone like you is not worthy of being Ah Li's mother at all."

"Don't say anything else, let's divorce!"

"As for Ah Li..."

"I'm taking her with me."

That night, Shen Zhaozhao didn't appear; even when she woke up, she didn't appear in front of Shen Li again.

She was right not to appear, because she didn't want to see her either.

At 7:00 AM, Shen Li was all alone, until after a while, Liang Jingze brought a thermos and boiled some porridge to visit her at the hospital.

"Looking a bit better today."

He sat by the hospital bed, opened the thermos, and carefully scooped out a bowl of warm porridge

Shen Li's long hair hung loosely over her shoulders, her eyes vacant. She lowered her lashes, not looking at him, and asked softly, "Did I... cause them trouble?"

Watching her look so dejected and soul-lost, Liang Jingze felt a pang of heartache: "No. To them, you have never been a trouble. They..."

He couldn't find more appropriate words to comfort her for a moment. After a pause, he said softly, "They are also very worried about you. Aunt Yu and Uncle Shen stayed at the hospital to watch over you all night yesterday."

"I know, I heard them arguing," Shen Li's voice was as light as a breeze. "Mom actually always knew that Dad had another child outside."

"Dad even said very hurtful things to Mom... He said that woman was better than Mom in every way."

Liang Jingze's expression faltered slightly. He picked up a spoon, scooped up some porridge, blew on it gently to cool it, and held it to her lips: "Let the adults solve the adults' problems."

"Drink some porridge first; I've been simmering it all morning."

Shen Li opened her mouth slightly and slowly ate it.

The warm porridge slid into her stomach, and her body finally felt a little warmer.

Before long, the bowl of porridge was empty.

"Do you want more?"

"No."

In truth, she didn't have much of an appetite, nor did she really want to eat.

As time ticked by, Yu Lizhen returned from outside, having also bought a portion of porridge and some fruit. Walking into the ward and seeing the person who had woken up, her heart ached faintly; that guilt still hadn't dissolved in the depths of her heart.

Seeing who had arrived, Liang Jingze stood up: "Aunt Yu."

Yu Lizhen: "It's fine, sit down. When did you get here?"

Liang Jingze smiled gently and said: "I just arrived not long ago. Since you're here, I'll head out first; there are still some things to do at the studio."

"Alright, thank you for coming to take care of A-Li."

"It's nothing, it's what I should do."

After Liang Jingze left, leaving them space alone, Yu Lizhen cast a faint glance at Shen Li, then sat down beside her. Seeing she had finished the porridge, she began to peel an apple for her on her own.

The atmosphere was somewhat quiet.

After a moment of silence.

Yu Lizhen spoke slowly, telling her: "Your father and I went to get a divorce this morning, but we still have to wait through a one-month cooling-off period."

Shen Li's lowered long lashes trembled slightly, but she didn't speak.

"Your father wants you to go with him."

Shen Li gripped the quilt on the bed, tightening her hold bit by bit, and said in a very soft voice: "I want to go back to Su Shi and stay by Grandma's side."

She didn't want to go with anyone; Dad had his own home and other children now.

Mom... compared to her, she probably wanted Shen Zhaozhao more.

She didn't want to stay by anyone's side.

Yu Lizhen's hand peeling the apple paused, nearly cutting her finger.

What followed was a long stretch of silence.

After handing the peeled apple to Shen Li, she took a small piece but didn't move, just kept her head down and asked the answer she had hidden in her heart for so long: "Mom..."

"Did I do something wrong?"

"Why... do you just not like me?"

Her voice was very calm, so calm it held no emotion. As she slowly let out these questions, every word felt like a needle piercing her heart.

"When I was in college in Wuchuan, I had a roommate named Zhang Zixin. Her mother was also very strict with her, not allowing her to date, not allowing her to stay out overnight, and sometimes scolding her when she didn't do things well. But... her mother would also be very good to her. Whenever she went home, she would make her many delicious things. When she returned to school, she would also pack many dumplings and wontons for her to take back to the dorm and put in the fridge. She said her mother was afraid she would be hungry at night, afraid that what she ate outside wasn't clean. And... every night her mother would call her to ask if she had been bullied at school and if she was happy."

"I also wanted to have a mother like that, I also wanted this kind of care."

"But you two were never like that to me."

"Every day you only ever called Shen Zhaozhao, and you would talk to her until very late."

"Compared to me, she is more like the child you gave birth to."

"Every time I had thoughts like this, I wondered if I wasn't doing well enough, or if... I didn't study hard enough and disappointed you, which is why you dislike me so much!"

"I really... have already... tried so, so hard."

"Why did you still have to give my spot to Shen Zhaozhao?"

"Why did you and Dad have to leave me home alone on the day of the exam?"

"I also wanted you and Dad to send me to school, and wait for me at the school gate after the exam ended..."

"Just like other moms and dads."

Hearing her words, Yu Lizhen hurriedly raised her hand to wipe away the tears that were about to fall: "Eat the apple first."

This was the first time Shen Li had seen a crack of fragility appear on her mother, who was always strong and never bowed her head.

Shen Li picked up the apple and took a small bite. The moment she lowered her head, uncontrollable tears fell silently onto the back of her hand. The temperature burned her skin, and her voice was very light and weak: "I never thought about causing you and Dad trouble..."

"Shen Zhaozhao took my medicine. She thought that me taking medicine... was to trick you and Dad for sympathy."

"I... I didn't..."

"I really was sick..."

A tear fell, followed by one after another, splashing onto the back of her hand and blooming into a wet stain.

If she had taken those medicines, she wouldn't have lost control and done those things.

Nor would she have... said those cruel things to Xie Qin.

She had originally thought she could endure it all on her own.