Six months later, the bribery and corruption case against Wang Mingcheng and Chen Pingzhang went to trial. Ning Yue didn’t attend, as she was helping He Kuan finalize an investment partnership. He Kuan had finally found his investor and could now spread his wings again. Through this experience of helping him, Ning Yue realized that working while raising a child wasn’t completely unproductive after all.
When she heard that Ning Yue was considering resigning, He Kuan enthusiastically said, “You can bring your child to work. You can work from home. You can even not work at all…” After hearing the last option, Ning Yue abandoned the idea of resigning.
However, Qin Can accept an invitation from a law firm, preparing to spread his wings to broader horizons. He urged Ning Yue to go work for He Kuan, reasoning that Luo Yating was too shrewd a woman to provide her with a flexible working environment.
Ning Yue was torn. She didn’t want to involve emotions again, but she indeed needed a job to support herself and her child. Most of Hu Cheng’s assets had been left to his parents. However, due to the bribery investigation, they were frozen. As a result, the elderly couple was barely maintaining their lifestyle. But as Qin Can said, Luo Yating was someone with high work standards, and Ning Yue didn’t expect a single woman to understand a single mother’s situation.
On the second-to-last day before Qin Can’s departure, the group’s HR department announced a new policy: To improve work efficiency, save costs, and better utilize space, they would implement staggered working hours and trial a work-from-home system for administrative departments. The work-from-home system would first be tried in three departments: the Business Center, Legal Center, and Finance Center, with detailed conditions and application procedures specified.
Before leaving work, Qin Can approved Ning Yue’s submitted documents, closed his laptop with a smile, and said to her, “This woman Luo Yating, always opposing me!” He looked deeply at Ning Yue, seeming about to say something more.
But Ning Yue cut him off: “It’s not that she’s opposing you. Rather, this society will become increasingly understanding towards women, women’s contributions will receive more and more recognition, and women’s rights will gain more and more respect. But regardless, I’m fortunate to have met you all now!”
Qin Can’s mouth twitched, he swallowed, and smiled bitterly: “You’re welcome. Helping you is also helping myself.” He stood up, made himself some instant coffee, took a big gulp, and then said, “You all probably know my parents divorced and my mother raised me, then later she passed away, and I went back to my father’s place. But what you don’t know is that my mother committed suicide. Shortly after I moved to my father’s house and went abroad, she killed herself.”
Ning Yue was so shocked she almost cried out, quickly covering her mouth.
“I found out very late. Only after I found a good job in New York did my father tell me this news. During that time, I would receive letters from my mother during holidays and festivals. However, these letters were actually all written by her before her suicide.” Qin Can took a deep breath and continued, “In high school, I wanted to study abroad, but my mother had left the marriage with nothing, and to raise me properly, she never had a good job, earning very little, which couldn’t possibly meet my requirements for studying abroad. So, I told her…” Qin Can paused, his Adam’s apple moving violently, the following words were what he had wanted to forget for many years, yet now desperately wanted to tell Ning Yue. No, he wanted to tell his mother – would she hear his confession in heaven?
“I told her, since you’re incapable, why did you take me away? Since you can’t give me a better future, why did you stop Dad? You’ve ruined me! For your love and dignity, you sacrificed my future, my life! I hate you, I despise you! I want to go back, I’m grown up now, and I can finally choose. I want to go back, I won’t be your sacrifice anymore!”
Qin Can close his eyes, trembling all over, saying nothing more.
Ning Yue’s vision blurred with tears. She finally understood why Qin Can have helped her. Because he saw his past self in Hu Ziyuan, and his mother’s shadow in her! His help to Ning Yue was just a delayed self-redemption. You may not admit your mistakes, but you cannot stop the conscience from self-reproach. In the dead of night, when times have changed, whenever similar people, things, scenes, or feelings appear, conscience and self-reproach will stand up to fight against cowardice, selfishness, and hypocrisy. This is torment. You may not admit it, but the torment doesn’t need your admission!
Whether you acknowledge it or not, the abyss is there, silently watching you, reminding you of everything from the past.
Ning Yue didn’t speak; she felt ice-cold all over. The moment Qin Can finished speaking, she completely understood his mother’s state of mind when committing suicide! If Hu Ziyuan grew up and said such things to her, she would probably do the same thing. She would also try to prevent her child from knowing about her death after choosing to die. The feelings of Qin Can’s mother while writing those letters.
Ning Yue was in tears, and could only cover her mouth to stop her sobs from escaping.
Qin Can came over, hugged her, lowered his head onto Ning Yue’s shoulder, and after a long while, whispered: “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
May the departed have no more regrets.
May the living regain their courage.
May the fortunate cherish life.
May time pass peacefully?
From now on.