"Meng Yu?"
A blatant look of surprise flashed across Mrs. Shen's face for a split second, quickly replaced by a look of realization and complexity.
She sized Meng Ruozhao up and down, her eyes turning rather emotional.
"No wonder, no wonder I thought you looked familiar. So you're Meng Yu's daughter... I'm really filled with mixed feelings."
This time, it was Meng Ruozhao's turn to be surprised. "Mrs. Shen, you knew my mother?"
Mrs. Shen smiled, a hint of nostalgia and regret in her expression.
"We weren't close. I met your mother a couple of times at some events many years ago."
"She was a truly unique, talented, and charming woman. Once you saw her, you couldn't forget her."
"Later, I heard that she... Alas, beauty is often fated to an early doom."
She paused for a moment, looking at Meng Ruozhao with a more genuine softness in her eyes.
"Now seeing you open this shop and do so well, it seems you've perfectly inherited your mother's legacy.
"If she were watching from above, she'd surely be very relieved."
Legacy? Meng Ruozhao's heart skipped a beat.
Due to her amnesia, she knew very little about her mother.
She didn't even know what her mother did for a living, let alone understand the concept of a "legacy."
Her father had never gone into detail about it either.
She was just about to ask what "legacy" meant when Mrs. Shen's phone rang in her bag.
Mrs. Shen took out her phone, glanced at it, and gave Meng Ruozhao an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, I need to take this call."
She walked to the side and spoke in a low voice for a few minutes. After hanging up, she said to Meng Ruozhao,
"Boss Meng, I'm really sorry. There's an urgent matter at home, so I have to leave now.
"Can we discuss the custom - made clothes some other time?"
"Of course. You attend to your business first."
Although Meng Ruozhao was full of questions, she could only nod.
After Mrs. Shen left, the studio fell silent again, with only the faint sound of traffic outside the window.
Meng Ruozhao didn't immediately return to her workbench. Instead, she slowly sat back down on her chair.
Her fingertips unconsciously rubbed the thick fabric sample book on the table, but her mind had already drifted far away.
Mother... Meng Yu.
This name was like a long - forgotten key that gently touched a forgotten corner of her heart.
Actually, during the period when she had just regained consciousness and felt strange and panicked about everything.
She had also tried to find information about her mother.
She entered keywords like "Du Feng's first wife" and "Meng Yu" in the search engine, but the results were scarce.
It was as if the information had been deliberately erased.
In the memory of the online world, it seemed that Xia Lian had always been the wife of the chairman of Du's Group.
Her mother, Meng Yu, seemed to have never existed in this world, disappearing completely.
She had also summoned the courage to ask Du Feng.
It was not long after she returned to the Du family, and she still held a faint hope for family affection.
She asked her father what kind of person her mother was.
She still remembered Du Feng's reaction at that time.
He was stunned for a moment, then his face showed a look of sadness and nostalgia.
Then he heaved a deep sigh and told her in a solemn tone,
"Zhaozhao, let some things go.
"You and your mother... were destined not to be close.
"She suffered from severe postpartum depression not long after giving birth to you. Her emotions were very unstable, and she even seemed to reject you.
"When you were a child, you were basically taken care of by the nanny."
He even raised his hand to wipe away the non - existent tears in the corner of his eyes, his voice choking.
"Your mother was a sensitive person with a lot on her mind. I'm sorry for her.
"At that time, the company was in a crucial period of development. I was so busy that I hardly had any time to accompany her.
"I failed to notice something was wrong with her in time and comfort her properly. Her health got worse and worse, and she was always in low spirits. That's why she... left so early."
He spoke so sincerely, as if he was drowning in great grief and self - blame.
But for some reason.
At that time, Meng Ruozhao looked at her father's overly - acted grief.
Instead of being touched, she felt a strange sense of unease and coldness.
That grief seemed too superficial, too much like a show for her, just to tell her:
Look, your mother didn't love you, and her death was also partly your fault.
And I'm also very sad and self - blaming, so don't ask any more questions.
She didn't say anything at that time. She just lowered her head silently.
She was penniless and had lost her memory, like a rootless duckweed.
She simply didn't have the ability or means to verify her father's words or explore her mother's real past.
That doubt and the faint disbelief were buried deep in her heart.
Until today, Mrs. Shen's casual words were like a spark that instantly reignited the long - buried doubts in her heart.
"Unique," "talented," "charming," "legacy"...
These words couldn't possibly match the weak image her father had described of a woman who was depressed after childbirth, in low spirits, and even rejected her own daughter.
What kind of person was her mother?
Even more, what was the real cause of her death?
She was eager to know the answers, but where should she start?
It was obvious that she couldn't get the truth from Du Feng, and Xia Lian definitely wouldn't tell her.
Did her mother have any relatives or friends?
If so, why hadn't they met her in the past six months...
She felt like she was trapped in a thick fog, unable to find her way.
Just as she frowned and fell into deep thought, the door of the studio was gently pushed open, accompanied by the crisp sound of wind chimes.
"Sister, I'm here."
It was Pei Jiangmu's voice.
Meng Ruozhao looked up from her chaotic thoughts and saw Pei Jiangmu walking in from outside.
He was still wearing a simple white T - shirt and jeans today, and his body still carried the smell of the outside sunshine. He seemed to be in an especially good mood today.
In his hand was a small, exquisitely - wrapped cake box that seemed a bit out of place with his temperament.
"Our school had an event today to celebrate something... I didn't really catch what it was. Anyway, everyone got a small cake."
Pei Jiangmu walked up to her, put the small cake on the table, and tried to sound as natural and casual as possible.
"One of my classmates gave me an extra piece. I couldn't finish it, so I brought it back for you to try."
His eyes flickered, and he didn't dare to look Meng Ruozhao directly in the eye, as if he was trying to hide something.
Meng Ruozhao's gaze slowly moved from the cute little cake to Pei Jiangmu's deliberately calm face.
She didn't reach for the cake right away. Instead, she just stared at him silently. Suddenly, she spoke softly, but there was a hint of scrutiny in her voice.
"Pei Jiangmu, you're lying."
Pei Jiangmu's heart skipped a beat.
A thin layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.
Did she find out?
It couldn't be!
He had checked many times. There were definitely no traces on her body that shouldn't be there.
The bedsheets had been washed, and everything had returned to normal.
Her reaction this morning clearly showed that she had blacked out.
Or did she remember some fragments, and now she was just testing him?
In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through his mind, almost drowning him.
He nervously swallowed, his palms sweating, and his brain was working at full speed to figure out how to explain.