Chapter 191
"Theoretically, that's correct." Song Nianchu nodded.
Hearing this, Mother Mu was immediately overjoyed, but the next moment, Song Nianchu spoke again.
"But right now, I quite like Mu Shi'an, and he quite likes me too. The two of us are living quite well these days, and at present, we have no intention of switching partners."
Mother Mu's face fell again in an instant.
"Did you come to see me today just to say this?" Song Nianchu looked at Mother Mu's expression, as wilted as an eggplant hit by frost, and found it inexplicably a little amusing.
"I..." Mother Mu opened her mouth, feeling that there was no point in saying anything more after that.
Song Nianchu had said she didn't want to change partners, and given her means, she probably wouldn't let her son leave either.
"If you have something to say, why not just say it directly. If you can convince me, maybe my mind will change." Song Nianchu could tell that Mother Mu still had more to say, so she coaxed her into speaking.
After all, she was the kind of person who liked everything to be clear and unambiguous. This kind of vague, unclear feeling would keep her awake at night.
When Mother Mu heard Song Nianchu's words, the dead hope in her heart began to rekindle.
"Are you serious?"
"You can try me."
Mother Mu stared at her for a moment before finally speaking.
"Shi'an has a teacher in Tianjin. That teacher has always been very good to him, virtually passing on everything he knows. Shi'an respects him deeply. Sometimes I even feel he cares more about that teacher than he does about me, his own mother."
Song Nianchu nodded. Given the way Mother Mu had behaved before, she found it hardly surprising that Mu Shi'an felt that way about her.
"When our family fell into trouble, I wanted Shi'an to go and ask his teacher for help. Not necessarily to save our whole family—just to save himself."
"But you've been with him long enough to know that he's an extremely loyal and devoted person. He absolutely refused to trouble his beloved mentor over his own affairs, and he followed us here without hesitation."
"But he's different from us. He's capable of achieving great and extraordinary things. He shouldn't be trapped here, and he definitely shouldn't be just a carpenter." Mother Mu's eyes were extremely earnest as she said this.
"Are you telling me all this now because you have a way to get Mu Shi'an back to the city?" Song Nianchu was sharp. The moment Mother Mu said this, she guessed the hidden meaning behind her words.
Mother Mu hadn't expected Song Nianchu to catch on so quickly, but she nodded.
"Yes, there's now a tremendous opportunity right in front of Shi'an, but he's refused it." Even now, thinking about it still pained Mother Mu.
"If he refused it himself, then that means he himself doesn't consider it a tremendous opportunity." Song Nianchu parted her red lips.
Mother Mu's expression froze.
Every time she talked with Song Nianchu, she felt that this woman was absolutely no ordinary village fisher girl. She hit the nail on the head every single time, always leaving Mother Mu speechless.
This kind of feeling, she had only ever experienced with Mu Shi'an's grandfather over the years.
But how could Song Nianchu, a fisher girl from the countryside, possess that kind of imposing presence her father-in-law had?
"I... I already told you, Shi'an is loyal and devoted. Sometimes that very trait causes him to miss out on many opportunities." Mother Mu tried to make another attempt.
"So why did Mu Shi'an refuse to return to the city?" Song Nianchu wanted to get to the most critical question.
Mother Mu's expression turned somewhat unnatural. She hemmed and hawed for a long while, but finally spoke up.
"Shi'an's teacher only has the ability to arrange for one person to return to the city, and it requires him to completely sever ties with us, and even use his family's full guarantee. So the only way is for Shi'an to... marry his only daughter." Mother Mu's voice dropped lower and lower near the end, almost inaudible.
But Song Nianchu heard every word clearly, and a cold smile crept onto her lips.
"So that's why you went on and on in front of me just now—it's because of this."
"Comrade Song, I know you've helped our family a great deal. Not just Shi'an—even Haoxuan and Yongnian have benefited greatly from your care. But didn't you tell me before to pay more attention to Shi'an and the others?"
"As a mother, when I know there's a way to rescue my own son from hardship, of course I want to do everything in my power to help him seize it."
"I'll repay everything I owe you. I'll repay it tenfold... no, a hundredfold. If you don't believe me, I can even put it in writing!" Mother Mu's tone grew urgent.
"Do you think that coming behind Mu Shi'an's back to ask me to divorce him is what caring for him looks like?" The last trace of amusement in Song Nianchu's eyes faded away.
"I..." Mother Mu was instantly stumped.
"I can feel your love as a mother, but what you haven't understood is that Mu Shi'an is already an adult who can think for himself. He knows best what he wants. He doesn't need anyone to make decisions for him."
"If he wants to return to the city, he'll come to me personally and bring up the divorce himself. And I know very clearly that I don't want to divorce him, so I won't bring this up with him on my own." Song Nianchu spoke each word slowly and deliberately.
"But if you truly like Shi'an, if you truly have feelings for him, don't you want him to live a better life?" Mother Mu shot back urgently.
"Do you think that if I divorce him and let him marry someone else, that's living a better life? Since he married me, I believe I've never let him suffer even a bit. Why do you think I'm incapable of giving him a better life?" Song Nianchu asked calmly in return.
Mother Mu had never encountered this kind of thinking before.
A woman... could also give a man a better life?
Wasn't that... turning the natural order of things upside down?
But then she thought about it again—Song Nianchu's words didn't seem wrong at all.
After Mu Shi'an married her, he had indeed been doing better and better. Not only had his health improved, but he seemed to have become much more cheerful too.
Before, even when facing them, he would always wear an extremely cold and indifferent expression.
"But... you can't get Shi'an back to the city either. You don't know how deeply obsessed he is with doing research."
"He started his early education under his grandfather's tutelage at age three, and from that day on, he never rested a single day. Every morning, without fail, he'd wake up at five to study, and he couldn't go to bed until ten at night."
"Many people say I gave birth to a genius son, but I know that behind the brilliance of genius lies his hard work, day after day, night after night."
"When he was little, he had almost no entertainment at all. His daily tasks were just reading and doing homework. Such thick books, all filled with professional knowledge—just looking at them made me dizzy, but he started reading them when he was only five or six."
"He did research day and night until he finally collapsed in the institute. But even while recovering in the hospital, he still wouldn't stop working."
"Comrade Song, you are a good girl. If Shi'an were just an ordinary businessman like his father, I would never have come here to say all this to you."
"But he is a researcher. The work he does could benefit so, so many people. His mentor has said he will become a pride of the entire nation."
"Truth be told, I don't even care whether he becomes a pride or not. I only hope that all his years of hard work and effort can finally come to something good — not end with him stuck in this tiny fishing village, making woodwork for the rest of his life..." Mu's mother said, tears streaming down her face without stop.