Chapter 216: No matter when, don't let her be alone

Three months passed, and they entered the sweltering summer of August.

Xu Zhouyuan and Zhang Zixin's wedding date was also set for the spring of the coming year.

Today, Shen Li and Xie Qin had just returned from Linchuan City after attending Xu Zhouyuan and Zhang Zixin's engagement banquet, and they were exhausted when they got home.

Shen Li didn't rest much; she drank some water and hurried back to school.

Xie Qin was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt, walking out of the kitchen with a bottle of ice-cold mineral water from the refrigerator. His phone rang incessantly. He unscrewed the cap, tilted his head to take a drink, and then took his phone out of his pocket, sliding the screen to unlock it. Looking at the messages popping up in the small group, it was already 99+ even though he hadn't looked for a while.

What was sent in the group were all photos of Xu Zhouyuan and Zhang Zixin, all taken at the engagement banquet.

Among them was a group photo of the few of them standing together.

Shen Li stood beside Zhang Zixin, wearing a light blue long dress, elegant, low-key, and appropriate. Her long hair was loosely pinned into a gentle princess style, half-tied and half-hanging, with fine strands of hair lightly touching her neck, and a faint, gentle smile on her lips.

Xie Qin was beside Xu Zhouyuan, wearing a white shirt paired with sharp black suit trousers. The guests at this engagement banquet were all business partners of the Xu family, and their identities were either wealthy or noble, so they were all dressed very formally and appropriately.

In the group, Xu Zhouyuan was still boasting: 【Wife, I feel like I'm the most handsome today, directly crushing someone.】

Xie Qin lowered his head to look at the message and laughed nonchalantly. He didn't reply in the group, seeing it was his big day, and left him some face.

Zhang Zixin: 【Handsome, handsome.】

【Xu Zhouyuan, where the hell did you die! There are so many people, I'm a bit nervous, hurry over (smile)】

Xu Zhouyuan: 【I'm in the bathroom, coming, coming, wife.】

Zhou Mingyu replied below: 【Keep it down...】

Xu Zhouyuan: 【?】

Zhang Zixin: 【?】

Zhou Mingyu: 【You guys are being happy too loudly, you're bothering me.】

Zhang Zixin: 【(smile)】

Xu Zhouyuan: 【...】

Qiao Lang: 【Congratulations to the two of you, may you be together for a hundred years. Are you giving out red envelopes? (grin)】

Watching the messages pop up one after another.

Xie Qin had just walked to the sofa and was about to sit down when the doorbell suddenly rang.

He glanced at the door, thinking it wasn't Shen Li; she never rang the doorbell.

He threw down his phone and walked over to open the door.

When the door opened, seeing the person outside, he was stunned for a moment.

Yu Lizhen was carrying a bag, looking at him with a serious expression: "Is it convenient for me to come in and sit for a while?"

Xie Qin immediately stepped aside to make way: "Nothing inconvenient."

Yu Lizhen: "Thank you."

Yu Lizhen entered the house and looked around the two-hundred-plus-square-meter flat.

Xie Qin found unopened tea leaves from the cabinet, then went to the kitchen, boiled water, and prepared to brew her a cup of tea.

Xie Qin went to the cabinet to get a can of new tea leaves and went into the kitchen to boil water.

Yu Lizhen followed and stopped him: "Don't bother. I came over today, Ah Li doesn't know."

"It's just that there are some things... I want to talk to you about privately."

A while later, Xie Qin brought the brewed tea to Yu Lizhen: "If you have anything to say, feel free to speak."

Xie Qin restrained his usual uninhibited posture, put down the tea, and sat down on the sofa opposite her.

Yu Lizhen pursed her lips tightly and took a piece of white paper out of her bag. Her hands trembled as she slowly opened it; it was a diagnosis certificate for depression: "It's about Ah Li..."

"I don't think Ah Li would tell you about this."

"Actually, Ah Li has had severe depression since middle school."

"This is her diagnosis."

Xie Qin's pitch-black eyes suddenly sank. He looked stunned, receiving the confirmation sheet she handed him, his knuckles turning white, unable to speak for a long time.

He read it word by word.

His aura was shrouded in a gloom.

Suicide, severe depression, Shen Li...

Among all the words, Xie Qin only grasped the most critical terms.

The scene stagnated, and the atmosphere went quiet.

After a long time, Xie Qin's throat spoke with difficulty: "Why... didn't she tell me?"

His voice was a bit hoarse, not angry, only filled with panic that couldn't be hidden.

Thinking of these things, Yu Lizhen's eyes couldn't help but redden, as if she couldn't face or forget the past.

"Six years ago, on the day of Ah Li's college entrance exam, she attempted suicide because of a depression episode..."

Her words made Xie Qin's heart ache intensely.

Yu Lizhen's voice trembled as she continued, "The second time... was the day she called you to break up."

However, that day...

It was also the day Xie Qin had his car accident.

Xie Qin opened his mouth slightly, wanting to say something, but he felt a sense of suffocation that made him unable to say a word.

Regarding that breakup, Xie Qin had thought of countless possibilities.

He thought she was bored.

He thought she had found someone better than him.

He thought her family didn't agree and forced her to call him to break up.

He had even thought of hundreds of possibilities, but never, ever had he thought that Shen Li had called him while in the midst of a depression episode, wanting to end her own life.

The fact Yu Lizhen spoke out personally exceeded Xie Qin's capacity to bear.

Xie Qin's eyes reddened, and he questioned her with trembling hands holding the paper: "Why... why did she have depression?"

Yu Lizhen recalled painfully: "Her depression was all caused by me, the mother."

Afterward, Yu Lizhen told him everything Xie Qin didn't know, without reservation.

Starting from her own past, to Shen Zhaozhao being brought back to Haishi by her.

This conversation lasted for more than half an hour.

Time passed bit by bit, and the atmosphere became heavier and more oppressive.

Yu Lizhen held back her tears and continued: "We weren't qualified parents; we didn't give her a complete home. For over ten years, we never let her feel the warmth of a family. I know, this is all my fault, I'm sorry to her..."

"But I know that what Ah Li wants, only you can give her."

"She has grown up and won't need me anymore. I am also very grateful to you for liking my daughter so much for so long."

"Previously, I opposed you being with Ah Li because I was afraid you would be like Ah Li's father, afraid you would do something to hurt Ah Li in the future."

"It wasn't until Ah Li told me everything about you not long ago that I understood I was the one who thought wrong."

"I am the burden who has been delaying her and dragging her down."

"These six years, it was also me... who delayed you two."

"If possible, I hope you can stay by her side forever and love her well for me. Make up for the love I owe her."

Her tone softened, and her eyes looked at him with humility as she pleaded: "Just consider it me begging you, no matter when, don't let her be alone..."

Yu Lizhen raised her hand to wipe away the tear that fell, took something out of her bag, and placed it on the tea table: "This is the last thing I can do for you two." ===== CHAPTER 217 =====