"I was out of line," Jiang Li sensed the rejection in Sheng Shuocheng's words, so she promptly reined in her curiosity and didn't ask another question.
Everyone has a secret garden in their heart, and the only one who can set foot in it is themselves. Jiang Li was well aware of this and naturally wouldn't overstep.
"Then haven't you ever been curious about what happened to your wife during the year she disappeared?" Jiang Li thought for a moment and asked another question.
"Of course I've been curious," Sheng Shuocheng smiled, finding her quite interesting as she always managed to ask the questions that had once bothered him. "It might be that I'll only get the answer from her myself after I'm a hundred years gone."
Jiang Li was left speechless.
All that had happened during Li Muzi's year of disappearance had become a sealed secret that no one knew.
After walking a few steps, the broad road led to a bustling square.
In fact, it was more like an open - air area. Some people were setting up vegetable stalls there, and the shouts of the vendors and the bargaining noises rose and fell one after another.
Jiang Li felt that they had walked enough for a stroll, so she stopped and turned to Sheng Shuocheng. "Do you want to go back?"
Sheng Shuocheng was also tired from walking and nodded. "Let's go back the same way."
Just as they were about to turn around, Zhou Ningyun, who was hunched over picking vegetables at a vegetable stall, caught sight of Jiang Li.
Like seeing a sworn enemy she loathed, hatred flashed in her eyes. She quickly walked over to them with her vegetable basket in hand, blocking their way.
The moment she saw Zhou Ningyun, Jiang Li also looked surprised. The word "Mom" almost slipped out of her mouth uncontrollably.
Zhou Ningyun first glanced quickly at Jiang Li, then sized up Sheng Shuocheng from head to toe. Suddenly, she let out a sneering laugh as if seeing through something. "Jiang Li, you're really promiscuous."
"You even service a man in his fifties. You're really willing to sacrifice yourself."
Hearing these vulgar and offensive words, Sheng Shuocheng frowned unhappily and narrowed his eyes.
His upbringing and self - restraint made him stay calm. He just turned to Jiang Li and asked, "Do you know her?"
Jiang Li pursed her lips. In the end, she didn't call out. She just replied distantly, "She's my mother." Then she added, "She used to be."
Sheng Shuocheng keenly noticed her words "used to be" and looked at Zhou Ningyun again. "Not anymore?"
Zhou Ningyun couldn't hear what they were saying clearly. But thinking about how she was bargaining with the vegetable vendor for a few cents while Jiang Li was enjoying wealth and luxury, she gritted her teeth in hatred.
"Jiang Li, you're such an ungrateful wretch! You're a dog that can never be tamed!" Zhou Ningyun shouted angrily. "It's all because of you that our Jiang family has become nothing!"
She threw her vegetable basket aside and stepped forward to grab Jiang Li. "You managed to hook up with a man by sleeping with him. You're living a good life, but you've ruined mine!"
"I finally had my own family, but you messed it all up and forced me to come back to this poor place!"
"Give me back Jiang Yi! Give me back my son! You're really a curse..."
But before she could get close to Jiang Li, Zhang Yi, who had been following nearby, suddenly appeared and blocked Zhou Ningyun. His eyes were cold and his voice was stern. "Please step back."
"I really regret raising you! I should have buried you in the snow that winter and let you die! Only when you're dead will our Jiang family be at peace! Why don't you just die!"
Her shouts grew louder and louder, attracting the people around to come and watch the commotion.
Jiang Li's hand hanging by her side tightened little by little, and her throat felt hoarse. She pretended to be calm and said, "Mr. Sheng, let's go back."
Sheng Shuocheng stood still, looking down at her pale face. He wanted to ask something but just waved his hand, letting Zhang Yi handle it. He and Jiang Li quickly walked away.
As soon as they turned around, the restrained Zhou Ningyun still refused to give up. She suddenly sneered at their backs and shouted, "You don't even have the Jiang surname. To tell you the truth, you're a bastard without a father or a mother!"
A bastard without a father or a mother.
Jiang Li's breath trembled, and her movements stiffened. But she quickly resumed walking forward as if nothing had happened.
It wasn't until she got in the car that her back was still rigid. All the muscles in her body were tense, and her hands were pressed against the outside of her thighs. Her face was calm without a trace of emotion.
But Sheng Shuocheng could tell that her eyes were red.
So he handed her a tissue.
"I don't need it. Thank you," she looked at the tissue in front of her. As soon as she opened her mouth stubbornly, her throat started to choke. "I really don't need it..."
Sheng Shuocheng didn't ask about the cause and effect just now. He just said indifferently, "It's okay. This car has excellent sound insulation."
"You're a young girl. You have the right to cry and throw a tantrum."
These words seemed to suddenly break through Jiang Li's self - restraint. Her tears finally burst out and fell one by one, wetting the thin blanket on her legs.
Her hands moved from the sides of her legs to the blanket. She tightly grasped it, trying her best to control her trembling body, but her emotions were on the verge of collapse.
The tip of her nose turned red, and she kept shaking her head, repeating, "I don't need it... I don't need it..."
"Yes, you do, young girl," Sheng Shuocheng looked directly into her eyes. His voice was deep and steady. "Do you need me to help you with anything?"
Jiang Li cried for quite a while. After she stopped crying, she took the tissue Sheng Shuocheng handed her, wiped her nose, and calmly replied, "I don't need it. Thank you."
It was still the same answer.
Sheng Shuocheng couldn't help but laugh and shook his head helplessly. "Jiang Li, you're as stubborn as a mule now."
"Well, it's a fearless mule," Jiang Li sniffed and replied seriously. "I don't need anyone's help. I can handle things on my own. You don't have to worry about me."
Her stubbornness and obstinacy were really frustrating at times.
Because she was too proud and self - respecting, she would push away those who wanted to help her with her tough words.
She didn't want to rely on anyone, but she also forgot that she wasn't completely invincible.
Sheng Shuocheng wasn't the type to dig into others' wounds. He could also tell that Jiang Li didn't want to confide in him, so he just gave a neutral comment. "I've never seen a mother slander her daughter like this."
"What I mean is, since she treats you like this, you shouldn't be hurt by her words."
Jiang Li's voice was nasally, but she still pretended to be calm. "I know. I'm not sad at all. I just have a bit of allergic rhinitis."
Sheng Shuocheng couldn't help laughing. "I've never seen anyone so tough - mouthed. Your toughness is giving me a headache."
Jiang Li wiped away her tears and politely said, "I'll take that as a compliment."
"Do you know the saying 'the crying baby gets the milk'?" Sheng Shuocheng stopped smiling and asked her seriously.