Volume One, Chapter 72: Weren't You the One Who Gave Her Up First?

Lu Jinnian couldn’t remember the last time he saw Sang Wan smile so brightly and radiantly. Perhaps… more than half a year ago?

When she received his medical report, her eyes reddened right there and then. After that, she frantically ran between hospitals searching for a kidney donor. Alone and in secret, she didn’t know how many times she’d cried. Even the little nurse who changed his dressings had quietly told him that Mrs. Lu was seen hiding in the restroom, crying again. The nurse even advised him, “Mr. Lu, when you recover and leave the hospital, you must treat your wife better, even better than before! She really loves you, she’s so distressed for you!”

Later, she gave him a kidney. Even though they had to enter the surgery room together, her face still wore a smile—a gentle, resolute smile that comforted the heart. But Lu Jinnian knew that was just her pretending to be strong. She feared the operation failing more than anyone.

Fortunately, the operation succeeded. But it was only a fleeting illusion.

He improved day by day. But she…

“Who told you I live here?… Lu Jinnian, are you following me?”

Sang Wan’s sharp voice snapped him back. Lu Jinnian spoke, “Wanwan, Xiao Mu misses you!”

Sang Wan paused, lowering her gaze to look at Lu Xiao Mu. Lu Xiao Mu clung tightly to Lu Jinnian’s arm, his eyes red with grievance, refusing to lift his head.

During the evening rush, the elevator’s chime sounded intermittently. People coming and going glanced their way. Sang Wan stepped aside, “Come in, then…”

Lu Jinnian’s tense gaze softened, and he led Lu Xiao Mu inside.

The apartment was bright and clean. Though it couldn’t compare to the Lu family villa’s spacious luxury, it was countless times better than that cramped attic in the old city.

A light, soft throw was draped over the sofa, and a few architecture books sat in the corner. On the dining table, champagne-colored roses in the vase were tinted orange-red by the sunset outside.

Everywhere one looked, there was a strong sense of home—Sang Wan’s presence filled the space.

“Wanwan, Xiao Mu’s kindergarten assigned homework. They want a photo of the family making crafts together…”

Lu Jinnian explained their visit.

Sang Wan frowned, “Where’s Lin Chaochao?”

“Wanwan!” Lu Jinnian’s voice was sharp, “Even if we’re separated, you’re still Xiao Mu’s mother!”

He seemed afraid Sang Wan would get angry and drive them out, leaving no chance of ever entering again. He softened, “Wanwan, last time, I didn’t think things through. Because of that, Xiao Mu has been isolated by his classmates at kindergarten…”

Sang Wan looked up and saw Lu Xiao Mu’s grievance deepen.

He looked at her again and again, as if he might burst into tears at any moment.

Sang Wan wanted to say decisively, isn’t this the choice you all made? Since you chose Lin Chaochao, don’t regret it. But looking at Lu Xiao Mu, as timid as a rabbit, she couldn’t bear it.

She changed her tone, “What’s the assignment? How do we take the photo? Please hurry, I have lots to do.”

Lu Jinnian breathed out in relief, rubbing Lu Xiao Mu’s head, “Didn’t you say you wanted to draw with Mommy?”

Lu Xiao Mu took off his backpack, slowly unzipped it, and took out drawing paper and pencils, spreading them on the table.

Most of it was already colored. The blue sky, white clouds, birds. On the green grass, a father in a red shirt and green pants held a kite string in one hand and the hand of a boy with a big head and small body in the other. The boy’s other hand held his mother’s. The mother wore a dress, though it wasn’t yet colored; only her long hair, fluttering in the wind, had been shaded black.

“Do you want me to color it, or will you do it yourself?” Sang Wan asked.

Lu Xiao Mu glanced at Sang Wan’s white shirt and black pants, murmuring, “I’ll do it myself.”

Sang Wan turned the paper toward him. Lu Xiao Mu chose a pink crayon and started coloring with quick strokes.

Lu Jinnian took out his phone, snapping a few pictures of the mother and son.

Remembering the kindergarten wanted a family photo, Lu Jinnian asked Sang Wan, “Do you have a phone stand?”

Sang Wan shook her head. She got up, found a few books, adjusted the angle, and set up the phone. Lu Jinnian sat behind Lu Xiao Mu, handing him crayons.

As soon as the timer’s shutter sounded, Sang Wan got up and left.

Lu Xiao Mu looked at Lu Jinnian with pleading eyes. Lu Jinnian shook his head, signaling him it was fine, and told him to keep drawing.

When the doorbell chimed, Sang Wan went to answer it.

“Miss Sang…” The driver stood with a pet carrier in one hand and miscellaneous items in the other. “I brought your cat!”

“Thank you! Are there more things?”

“Yes, I’ll go downstairs and get them.”

Sang Wan took the carrier. The orange tabby, once listless in the cage, instantly perked up, meowing affectionately.

Through the cage, she stroked its head, then turned to Lu Jinnian, who was checking his phone. “Did you finish taking the photos?”

Lu Jinnian nodded.

Sang Wan pointed at the door. “Then you can leave now.”

Lu Xiao Mu looked at Sang Wan incredulously, then at Lu Jinnian, then back at the orange tabby reaching its paw out to tug at Sang Wan’s pant leg.

He instantly recognized it as the little orange cat that used to hide behind his mother and ignore him at his grandmother’s villa.

Lu Xiao Mu’s eyes widened.

Dad said there’s no mother in the world who doesn’t love her child.

Dad also said, if he behaved, Mommy would definitely draw with him, maybe even let him stay for dinner.

But nothing happened.

Mommy would rather take in the little clown cat than him.

Thinking of the mocking children at kindergarten, all his pent-up grievances erupted.

“Waa…” Lu Xiao Mu burst into tears and ran out.

Lu Jinnian hurriedly packed the backpack and chased after him.

After a few steps, Lu Jinnian turned back to Sang Wan, “Wanwan, divorce is between adults. Don’t drag our son into it, please? No matter what, he’s still your child, born after ten months in your womb!”

“Is that so?” Sang Wan retorted, “I carried him when he was too young to understand. But when he was old enough, he chose Lin Chaochao. Isn’t that right?”

Lu Jinnian was at a loss for words.

Sang Wan shut the door behind her.

“Meow, meow…” came the sound inside.

“Juju missed Mommy too, didn’t you? Look, this is our new home.”

The voices carried through the door.

No one knew when Lu Xiao Mu came back. Lu Jinnian turned to see Lu Xiao Mu’s tear-streaked face looking up at him. “Dad, Mommy doesn’t want me anymore, does she?”

The chaos at work, the mess at home, and Sang Wan’s radiant expression turning cold as she opened the door—all of it gathered into a storm of anxiety within him.

Lu Jinnian looked down at Lu Xiao Mu, his voice cold, “You were the one who didn’t want her first, weren’t you?”

Lu Xiao Mu’s eyes widened, as if remembering his own words, yet unable to believe his father would say such a thing.

His tears fell in streams.

The elevator stopped at the first floor. As Lu Jinnian led Lu Xiao Mu outside, he saw the driver and several others carrying cat food, toys, and a cat tree into the elevator.

The palm tree on the cat tree was already scratched soft and fuzzy, as if it had been clawed for a long while.

Thinking of the driver’s “Miss Sang,” and the cat that seemed strangely familiar at first glance, Lu Jinnian stopped in his tracks.

There were none of these things in the attic. So where had the cat been kept all this time?

Suddenly, he turned and saw the elevator doors about to close.

Lu Jinnian rushed after them.