The night is getting darker.
"Ah--"
"Don't want--"
SuQinglan curled up in the corner, howling in panic.
The dim iron cage was damp and smelly, and the original color of SuQinglan's expensive luxury clothing could no longer be seen.
I don't know what he put on his body, but it smelled terrible.
She drove away the disgusting water rats that surrounded her, and goose bumps spread all over her body.
"Please, let me out... I have money, if you let me out, I can give you a lot of money..."
Her plea for mercy did not arouse any sympathy from the guards, not even a glance.
"Really?" A clear and cold female voice sounded: "How much money can you pay to buy your life?"
SuQinglan felt as if struck by lightning.
She was very familiar with this voice, and she crawled towards the iron gate like crazy, waiting for it.
"Wanwan? Is that you?"
LiWanwan slowly walked to the iron gate, revealed her face, and looked at her with cold eyes.
SuQinglan's face showed surprise and joy.
"Wanwan, are you here to save me? Take me out now! They are so blind that they dared to arrest me and lock me up in a place like this!"
However, LiWanwan's words completely extinguished her hope.
"I caught you myself, how could I let you go?"
"Wanwan...what are you talking about?" The expression on SuQinglan's face kept changing.
Doubt, panic, holding on to a glimmer of hope, and shaking her head in disbelief.
"I'm your mother, are you kidding me?"
She drove away the water rat that was rubbing against her: "...Can we go out and talk, mother and daughter?"
Her eyes were wide open and her facial muscles were twitching and trembling.
She was going to be driven crazy by those water rats!
LiWanwan raised her hand: "Bring her out."
SuQinglan ignited hope and kept talking about the identities of the mother and daughter.
In fact, she was taken out of the iron cage and pressed to her knees on the ground.
LiWanwan walked slowly, step by step, until she stood in front of her, with a weak and sickly look on her face.
"SuQinglan, do you know how Dad died?"
SuQinglan's eyes trembled: "He..."
"He was mad at you." LiWanwan didn't want to hear what she said.
"He left the best for you, but you betrayed him."
SuQinglan struggled and begged for mercy.
"Mom is wrong, Mom will change..."
LiWanwan looked at her coldly: "Change? How can you change the meanness in your bones?"
The word "cheap" was emphasized when it came out of the mouth of LiWanwan, who could only speak in a soft voice. SuQinglan trembled all over, and memories that had been buried for more than ten years came flooding back.
Thirteen-year-old LiWanwan returned home all dirty. Her tear-soaked eyes had lost the purity and clarity they should have, and were filled with fear. She looked as if she had been possessed by a vicious ghost, and all the color on her face had faded.
"Mom, save me, I'm in so much pain... call the police..."
When SuQinglan saw the blood on her calf, she knew what had happened at a glance, and the first thing she said was to curse her.
"You little bitch, why are you not coming home so late after school? Why are you calling the police? Do you want to let everyone know that my daughter, SuQinglan, is a cheap bastard and no one will want her in the future?"
LiWanwan saw the surprised expression on her face.
The feeling of suffocation and despair that she had felt at that time, as if she were being swallowed by the deep ocean, could still come flooding back to her now, wanting to crush her heart and take her life.
LiWanwan smiled lightly: "Did you remember?"
"I..." SuQinglan shook her head.
"Mom didn't mean it. I was in a bad mood that day, but it was for your own good... Even though it didn't sound nice, it was really for your future reputation..."
"Think about it, later on, mom accompanied you in your treatment and actively treated you... I also loved you and comforted you very much... Mom was really in a bad mood that day..."
LiWanwan swallowed.
"I've never been afraid of other people's criticism, but you made me feel cold."
"How much did you spend on the surveillance camera? Fifty dollars? You could have loved me well, but how much did you get in return for my video?"
SuQinglan's knees felt weak as she knelt on the ground, and she collapsed to the ground, her eyes a little dazed.
She remembered again -
"I'm her mother! If you don't pay me compensation today, I will take the video to the police station and call the police. My daughter is hiding outside. If you dare to touch me, she will call the police immediately..."
LiWanwan tilted her head and smiled gently.
"You didn't expect that. I was really hiding outside at that time."
"Look at how my good mother forced them to humiliate and abuse me constantly, and finally had to compromise and pay compensation. You were the one who was humiliated, so why was I the one being scolded?"
"At that time, I was wondering why they dared to bully me but didn't dare to do anything to you..."
"Later I found out that evil people are in power in this world."
"Conscience is worthless."
"I am worthless."
SuQinglan listened to her every word and felt creepy and kept shaking her head.
"I was really wrong. Please give mom a chance. I really love you... Really, I swear!"
A water rat smelled SuQinglan's scent and jumped out. LiWanwan stepped on the water rat's tail and let it run around, biting her shoes in an attempt to save her.
LiWanwan slowly squatted down and stood in front of SuQinglan.
Looked into her eyes.
Then she asked, "What were you doing during the two months I was missing?"
She even had a glimmer of hope at that time that someone would kick open the door, rush in with the light, pick up a soft blanket beside her, wrap her broken body, carefully hold her in his arms, and say to her... don't be afraid.
SuQinglan didn't remember, she just shook her head numbly, constantly thinking -
She really loves LiWanwan, but she just doesn't know how to express it, right?
SuQinglan's lips trembled: "Wanwan... Mommy really loves you... and I really know I was wrong, I just didn't know how to express it, but now I have learned..."
LiWanwan reached out and pinched the water rat, which was much bigger than her palm.
"Wrong?"
She raised her eyes, her eyes were red, but she still had a gentle smile on her face: "It's too late."
"I never intended to forgive you. If I hadn't let you get close to LiZeshou, I would have dealt with you first."
When SuQinglan saw her eyes, her hair stood on end and her face showed panic.
"What did you say? What are you doing? I am your biological mother! I carried you for ten months and took care of you... well..."
LiWanwan pinched her jaw and forced the water rat in her hand, who only wanted to escape, into her chattering, lying mouth bit by bit.
Watching her eyes widen and become bloodshot, until the veins in her neck bulged and the pulse on the side of her neck stopped beating...
LiWanwan withdrew her hand, slowly stood up, lowered her eyes to look at her wide-open eyes and the tail twitching weakly at the corner of her mouth, and chuckled softly.
"This is your kindness in raising me, and I am repaying you."
Silent night, dim light in the room.
LiWanwan sat in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. It was pitch dark outside.
SuQinglan's name on the canvas was wiped out horizontally with red paint.
She slowly and methodically added color to the canvas bit by bit.
Treat it like a work of art, carefully crafting it.
It was the entrance of a flower shop. The surrounding pedestrians and shops were only colorful dots of light. Only the back of a man was clearly visible, holding the hand of a little girl who loved to wear white dresses.
Dyeing the sky red, the gorgeous and dreamy sunset——
It's SuQinglan's name.
There was one more person missing from LiWanwan's list.
…
LiShuang was sleeping soundly.
In the dream, her knees were scraped and she failed to hold the woman's hand. She was abandoned again.
"Mother..."
She felt insecure and snuggled into ShenJi's arms.
ShenJi slowly opened his dark eyes, bent down and kissed the hair on her forehead, wrapped her curled up body in his arms, patted her back gently, and whispered softly.
"Forget about all the people who make you unhappy, I will always be there for you."
"I am completely yours."
"And will never leave."
LiShuang was half asleep and half awake, and seemed to be really comforted by him. Her tense nerves slowly relaxed and she continued to sleep soundly.