Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Shattered The night before the court hearing. While Ruan Chutang was showering in the bathroom, she heard the sound of something shattering in the bedroom. She quickly rinsed off the remaining foam, put on her pajamas, and came out to check. The bedroom was empty, with a pile of ceramic shards on the floor. Ruan Chutang recognized at a glance that the broken object was the ceramic figurine her mother had left her. It was one she had painted with her mother at a DIY shop for her twelfth birthday—a light blue Cinnamoroll with their names engraved on the back. The moment she saw the fragments scattered across the floor, Ruan Chutang felt her blood rush to her head, fury consuming her in an instant. "Who did this!" she roared, charging out of the bedroom. "Bang, bang, bang—" Ruan Chutang pounded furiously on the door of the room across the hall where Gu Zechuan was sleeping. "Gu Zechuan! Chen Wan! Which one of you went into my room!" Gu Zechuan's door opened, the man's eyes brimming with impatience. "What is it at this hour? Can't a person get some sleep?" Ruan Chutang's chest heaved violently with rage, her gaze murderous. "Gu Zechuan, did you just go into my room?" "Who went into your room?" Gu Zechuan frowned. "Don't make a scene for no reason. I've been in here reviewing contracts the whole time and haven't stepped out once." "If it wasn't you, then it was Chen Wan." Ruan Chutang didn't waste another word on Gu Zechuan and turned to march toward Chen Wan's room. Chen Wan's room was at the end of the hallway. Seeing Ruan Chutang storming off in such a fury, Gu Zechuan worried something might happen and followed after her. "Chen Wan! Open the door!" Ruan Chutang was so angry she kicked Chen Wan's door directly. Gu Zechuan was stunned. Was this the same gentle, easily bullied Ruan Chutang he knew? What had happened to make her this angry? Chen Wan opened the door slowly. "Ruan Chutang, what's wrong with you?" Ruan Chutang grabbed Chen Wan's wrist and dragged her toward her own room. Chen Wan struggled, stumbling along with Ruan Chutang's pace. "Let go of me! Ruan Chutang, let me go!" Ruan Chutang brought her into the room and flung her aside with a forceful shove. "Ah!" Chen Wan lost her balance, staggered, and her knee slammed into the cabinet beside her. "Ruan Chutang, are you insane?" Chen Wan shouted, clutching her knee. "Did you break my ceramic figurine?" Ruan Chutang stepped forward, her presence intimidating. "What were you doing in my room just now?" Chen Wan's eyes darted away, clearly guilty. "I... I didn't. I was in my room the whole time and didn't go anywhere. Don't accuse me of things I didn't do." Ruan Chutang stared straight into Chen Wan's eyes and said coldly, "Is that so? When I came out of the bathroom just now, I saw the hem of your beige skirt through the crack in the bedroom door." "You're lying! When I went in there, I was wearing a gray skirt. This beige long skirt is—" Chen Wan's mouth was faster than her brain; she had already blurted out most of the sentence before her mind caught up. She flew into a rage. "Ruan Chutang, you tricked me! You never saw my skirt at all!" "It's what?" Ruan Chutang sneered coldly at Chen Wan. "This beige long skirt—you changed into it just now, didn't you?" A cold gleam flashed in Ruan Chutang's eyes, her voice as icy as the frost of deep winter. "What were you doing in my room?" Chen Wan was frightened by her gaze and involuntarily shuddered. "I... I was just... looking around..." "What was there to look around for in my room?" Chen Wan swallowed hard, terrified that Ruan Chutang would discover what she had done. "I... I was just..." "Enough!" Gu Zechuan stepped forward, shielding Chen Wan behind him. "Ruan Chutang, stop making trouble out of nothing. It's just a cheap ceramic doll—if it's broken, buy a new one. Why are you making things so difficult for Chen Wan!" "Smack—" A crisp, resounding slap rang out. Ruan Chutang had put all her strength into slapping Gu Zechuan across the face. Both Gu Zechuan and Chen Wan were stunned. "Get out!" Ruan Chutang roared at Gu Zechuan. "This is none of your damn business! Who gave you the right to forgive on my behalf?" Seeing Gu Zechuan get slapped, Chen Wan grew frantic. She shoved Gu Zechuan aside and squared off against Ruan Chutang in fury. "How dare you hit people!" "Smack—" Another resounding slap. "You get out too!" A red handprint instantly appeared on Chen Wan's face. Having been slapped, Chen Wan was both furious and frantic—there was no way she would let this go. She widened her eyes and raised her hand to slap back, but Ruan Chutang caught her wrist and flung her aside. Chen Wan fell to the ground, her palm landing directly on the pile of ceramic shards. Blood immediately gushed out. "Ah—my hand! My hand!" Chen Wan screamed in agony. Gu Zechuan snapped back to his senses and rushed over to check Chen Wan's injury. "Wanwan, are you okay?" "Serves you right!" Ruan Chutang watched coldly. "If you hadn't broken it, you wouldn't have gotten cut." "Ruan Chutang, you've gone too far!" Gu Zechuan glared at her, his voice furious. "Apologize to Wanwan right now!" Ruan Chutang's gaze was icy. "She's the one who owes me an apology. She broke something of mine." "Zechuan, it hurts so much." Chen Wan leaned against Gu Zechuan's chest, crying like a weeping pear blossom in the rain. "Please take me to the hospital. It really hurts." "Wanwan, bear with it. I'm taking you to the hospital right now." With that, Gu Zechuan scooped Chen Wan up in his arms. As he passed by Ruan Chutang, he shot her a vicious glare and said with a dark, gloomy face, "Get the hell out of here. I never want to see you again!" "Fine." Ruan Chutang replied flatly, her face expressionless. Gu Zechuan paused mid-step, feeling that Ruan Chutang was acting very strangely. But he couldn't afford to dwell on it—Chen Wan's hand was still dripping blood. He cast one last deep look back at Ruan Chutang before hurrying downstairs with Chen Wan in his arms. After the two left, the house finally fell quiet. Ruan Chutang slowly walked over to the pile of ceramic shards, crouched down, and reached out with trembling hands to touch the fragments. Tears fell one by one, splashing onto the broken pieces. "Mom... I'm sorry... I couldn't protect the gift you left me... I'm sorry, Mom..." In the vast, empty room, the girl crouched on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. When Chutang was twelve, her mother fell gravely ill. That gentle, serene woman who always had a smile on her lips was ravaged by illness until she was gaunt and skeletal. Chutang had just started middle school then. Every day after school, she didn't go home first—she went to the hospital. She stayed by her mother Su Qingyun's side, telling her funny stories from school and singing the new songs her teacher had taught her. "Mom, when will you get better?" Little Chutang sat by her mother's hospital bed, her bright, clear eyes hiding a faint trace of sorrow. Her mother had been sick for over half a year now, and her condition seemed to worsen by the day. Su Qingyun gently stroked little Chutang's head, a soft smile curving at her lips, and said in a tender voice, "The doctor said Mom can be discharged soon." "Really?" Little Chutang's eyes lit up, her voice crisp and bright. "Mhm." Su Qingyun's lips were pale, her face drained of all color, but the look she gave little Chutang was gentle and resolute. "In a few days, Mom will be discharged and celebrate your birthday with Tangtang." "Yay!" Little Chutang believed her. She thought her mother would truly recover soon. It wasn't until later that she realized her mother's "discharge" wasn't a recovery—it meant her illness had reached its terminal stage. The doctors could do nothing more and had advised her to go home, spend time with her family, and fulfill her unfinished wishes.