Chapter 8: 8. Complicated Feelings (Please vote!)

Shanghai.

Liu Lu returned home after her night shift, dragging her exhaustion with her; many doctors at the hospital had been transferred away, leading to an even busier workload, and she hadn't rested all night.

"Taotao, time to get up, Mom bought you breakfast," Liu Lu called out while changing her shoes.

"Mom." Zhang Xiaotao was already dressed and ran out immediately upon hearing this.

"Where is your dad?" Liu Lu asked, stroking her son's head.

Zhang Xiaotao said, "He's still sleeping, but I saw Dad looking a bit sad yesterday. Mom, did something happen?"

As he spoke, a look of worry appeared on his little face, which was very cute.

Liu Lu crouched down, kissed her son, and said, "There's nothing going on, don't overthink it. Eat your breakfast like a good boy, Mom is going to wake Dad up."

With that, Liu Lu arrived at the bedroom door, opened it, and looked inside, only to find that Zhang Sicheng was not there. Liu Lu couldn't help but feel puzzled; where had he gone so early in the morning?

Could he have gone to work?

But that didn't seem right either, as the quilt was still perfectly in place; one had to know that in all the years they had been married, Zhang Sicheng had never once folded the quilt.

Moreover, Liu Lu looked closely and saw that the quilt was still the one she had folded and placed there earlier; it hadn't been moved.

Where did he go?

If Zhang Sicheng had ever had something come up suddenly in the past, he would have sent her a message to let her know, but why was he suddenly missing now?

After thinking for a moment, Liu Lu instructed her son to eat while she went upstairs; whenever Zhang Sicheng encountered something unhappy in the past, he would always come to the roof to sit for a while.

Upon reaching the roof, she indeed saw Zhang Sicheng lying on that lounge chair, his whole body curled into a ball, clutching his phone in his hand with his brows tightly locked, as if he had encountered some difficult problem.

Liu Lu crouched down, came before Zhang Sicheng, and rubbed his brow with a touch of heartache.

Her movements were very gentle, but they still startled Zhang Sicheng awake.

"Ah, wifey, you're back." When Zhang Sicheng spoke, he couldn't help but shiver, and his voice had changed; he had caught a cold last night after all.

His mind had been a mess last night, and he didn't even know what he was thinking himself, so he had just drifted off to sleep in a daze.

"Hubby, did something happen? Tell me about it," Liu Lu asked softly.

Zhang Sicheng thought for a moment; he should tell his wife about this matter, after all, they were a family now, and this was a matter concerning their whole family, not just him alone.

But Zhang Sicheng opened his mouth and didn't know how to start; Liu Lu didn't urge him either, just crouching to the side and waiting quietly for him to speak.

After a long while, Zhang Sicheng sighed and said, "My dad is back."

Liu Lu: "????"

"Didn't you say your father had already..." Liu Lu didn't finish her sentence.

Zhang Sicheng wore a bitter smile and said, "This matter is actually quite complicated. Let's put it this way: until last night, I also always thought my dad was dead."

After saying this, Zhang Sicheng didn't know what else to say.

"Alright, let's go back and talk about it slowly. You should take the day off today too; I see your mental state isn't very good," Liu Lu said gently.

Although she was also somewhat surprised now, she was still able to handle it.

The two returned home, first sending their son off to do his homework, and then they talked while eating.

In truth, Liu Lu's mood was also quite complicated; how did a father-in-law suddenly appear out of nowhere?

"I haven't told you before, but my mom was pregnant before marriage, and I had never seen my dad either. Back then, my dad went abroad for a period to handle some matters, but the cruise ship he was on when returning encountered a shipwreck, so everyone thought my dad had died," Zhang Sicheng said, organizing his words slightly.

Upon hearing this, Liu Lu immediately thought of the news she had heard last night and asked in surprise, "Was it the Goddess of Destiny passenger ship?"

Zhang Sicheng didn't feel surprised by this; it was already spreading everywhere outside, and such shocking news was now known to almost everyone in the world.

"Yes," Zhang Sicheng nodded.

Liu Lu opened her mouth, not expecting such a fantastical thing to actually land on their family. After thinking for a moment, she couldn't help but ask, "Then what do you plan to do?"

Zhang Sicheng grabbed his hair in distress and said, "I'm not very sure either. My mood is very complicated right now, and I don't know how to face him."

"And you should have heard it too; the people on that cruise ship have all remained in the state they were in back then. For us, it has been twenty-eight years, but perhaps for them, it was only a single instant."

Zhang Sicheng truly didn't know how to face this biological father who had suddenly popped up again; his mood was incomparably complicated.

If he were to act as if he didn't know, he couldn't get past that hurdle in his heart, but if he were to go and acknowledge him, he felt a bit awkward.

Liu Lu naturally saw her husband's complicated mood and thought for a moment before saying, "What needs to be seen still needs to be seen. After all, he is your biological father; that is something no one can erase."

"And twenty-eight years have passed, the era has changed too, too much. How is he going to survive in this modern society?"

"If you don't help him, he might very well be unable to adapt to this era. No matter what, as a son, you still need to do what you should do."

Zhang Sicheng felt some gratitude upon hearing his wife's words, but at the same time, he let out a bitter laugh and said, "I actually don't worry about what you're saying."

"Hmm?" Liu Lu didn't understand what he meant; wasn't this the place that needed the most attention? Modern society and the society of twenty-eight years ago were like two different worlds.

Zhang Sicheng opened his mouth and finally could only say, "Believe it or not, thirty years ago, my biological father actually already predicted the development of today's society."

Seeing Liu Lu's 'you're bragging' expression, Zhang Sicheng could only smile bitterly and stop talking. This was something only he and his sister, as people who had personally experienced it, would believe; if told to anyone else, how could they possibly believe it?

Even for them, when those predictions spoken by their mother were realized one by one, they were still incomparably shocked.

However, Zhang Sicheng was prepared now; just as Liu Lu said, what needed to be seen still needed to be seen.

Moreover, Zhang Sicheng was truly full of curiosity about this father of his; what kind of person was he exactly, and how much charm did he have to make his mother remain devoted for so many years?

"What does Xiao Yan say on her end?" Liu Lu asked.

Zhang Sicheng thought for a moment and said, "I called her yesterday but didn't get through. Let's not tell her for now; when she finds out about this matter naturally, we'll tell her then. Her family hasn't been peaceful lately either, sigh!" He sighed heavily as he spoke.

Upon hearing this, Liu Lu didn't say anything more; she knew a little about the situation in her sister-in-law's family, and although her relationship with her sister-in-law couldn't be called great, it wasn't bad either.

"Why don't you go and bring Susu over to stay for a while? I'm afraid the child will be affected," Liu Lu was most concerned about the child, Susu.

"Alright, I'll go over in a bit," Zhang Sicheng also felt heartache for his niece, so he agreed immediately.