Volume 1, Chapter 38: Is your mother suffering because of me? Have some shame!

After a moment, Zhong Huiying couldn't help but reveal a hint of underlying worry. "If I make such a scene with Zhou Manhua, won't it affect your relationship with Yixiao?" After all, her daughter was nearing her due date; if the young couple were at odds at a time like this, it would ultimately be her daughter who suffered.

She felt a twinge of regret, wondering if she had been too impulsive earlier.

Jiang Yunmiao pursed her lips and shook her head. "If it affects it, so be it." Her relationship with Duan Yixiao was already like a foundered ship—leaking from within and battered by the wind and rain from without; it was beyond repair. And she had no desire to patch it up.

"Are you two... alright?" Zhong Huiying sensed that something was wrong.

"We..." Jiang Yunmiao hesitated for a moment before deciding to tell the truth. She revealed everything: her premature labor, the difficult delivery, the fact that she and Duan Yixiao were estranged and at odds, and her plans for divorce.

Zhong Huiying was stunned into silence.

After a long time spent digesting the news, the expression on her face shifted from shock, confusion, and anger... finally settling into regret. "Is this... a decision you've already made?"

Jiang Yunmiao nodded firmly. "I've decided. If the peach blossoms have withered, then so be it. I don't want to watch the evening breeze with someone whose love for me is fickle."

Seeing her so calm, Zhong Huiying felt a little more at ease; she must have thought it through thoroughly.

"You silly girl, why didn't you tell me sooner? And the baby..." At the mere thought of her premature granddaughter, Zhong Huiying couldn't help but feel a surge of heartache and pity.

"The baby is doing very well, don't worry. Once she's discharged, I'll bring her to see you. Later on, I'll bring you to live with us." Jiang Yunmiao had already made plans for their future.

"Good, good!" Tears glistened in Zhong Huiying’s eyes as she smiled.

Jiang Yunmiao carefully wiped away her mother's tears with a tissue. To lighten the mood, she teased, "I didn't expect my mom to be so open-minded. I thought you were going to try to talk me out of the divorce!"

Zhong Huiying gave her a playful, reproachful look. "Why would I try to talk you out of it? I’ve found that Duan Yixiao disagreeable for a long time."

Jiang Yunmiao: "...Oh? How did he offend you?"

Zhong Huiying’s expression darkened. "You were pregnant for so long, how many times did he accompany you to see me? It’s not that I cared about him visiting me, but that he didn’t seem to care at all that his own wife was pregnant. I asked you before if he went with you to your prenatal checkups. You kept making excuses for him, saying he was busy with work. If he’s really that busy with work, then he can just go and live with his work."

Jiang Yunmiao couldn't help but laugh. "Mom, you're absolutely right!"

The mother and daughter chatted like best friends for a long time. Jiang Yunmiao made sure Zhong Huiying was in good spirits and hadn't been too negatively affected before she left the nursing home.

"Alright, you haven't even finished your postpartum recovery period! Just stay at home and rest properly, don't be running around. If Zhou Manhua tries to give you a hard time, just ignore her. I’m your own mother and I don't go around ordering you about all the time, so what right does a mother-in-law have to do it? She really has no sense of propriety!"

Zhong Huiying ranted about Zhou Manhua again. There was no helping it; that woman had far too many flaws.

When Jiang Yunmiao arrived home, Duan Yixiao was already there. He was waiting for Ms. Xu to finish cooking dinner to take to the hospital.

"How is Mom?" Duan Yixiao put down his phone and asked, sounding concerned.

Jiang Yunmiao only found him hypocritical. Her snow-white face remained devoid of any smile, her eyes filled with detachment and indifference. "If you were truly concerned about my mother, why didn't you go to the nursing home to see her yourself?"

Duan Yixiao’s expression stiffened, then he offered a justification: "I just got back from the hospital myself. I’ll make time to visit her tomorrow."

Jiang Yunmiao felt weary and didn't want to engage with him.

Just then, Ms. Xu finished cooking, and it was time to eat. Jiang Yunmiao washed her hands and sat down at the dining table.

"I have several meetings tomorrow and might be busy. Could you go to the hospital and take care of Mom for me?" Duan Yixiao mentioned during the meal. It wasn't a request, but a matter-of-fact instruction.

Jiang Yunmiao refused point-blank. "I'm not going." Was she supposed to walk right into a trap and get scolded? Besides, she was afraid that if she lost control, she might actually end up causing the woman a heart attack.

Duan Yixiao stopped eating, looked up at Jiang Yunmiao in disbelief, and asked, "What did you say?"

"Do you think it's appropriate for me to go?" Jiang Yunmiao didn't look at him, focusing on picking out her favorite food. Her tone was one of cold, unwavering rationality.

"It's not like you have to do anything; there are caregivers there. You'd just be there to keep her company," Duan Yixiao explained.

"I can't keep her company at all," Jiang Yunmiao said, adopting a posture of total indifference.

"Jiang Yunmiao, how did you become so heartless? That is my mother, your mother-in-law! She's in the hospital; is it appropriate for you to just ignore her? Yes, my mother's words can be harsh, but she's getting on in years—can't you just let her have her way? She worked hard to raise me, she's suffered a lot, why do you have to be so difficult with her?" Duan Yixiao stared at her with disappointment, coldly accusing her.

"So you know your mother's words are harsh? You know she's mean-spirited? Then why do you insist on sending me there to take that abuse? Am I some kind of punching bag?" Jiang Yunmiao laughed self-deprecatingly. How could she have been so blind as to not notice what a jerk Duan Yixiao was?

"Duan Yixiao, don't you think your logic is flawed? Did your mother suffer because of me? Did she suffer after I married you? She gave birth to you and raised you; her hardships were caused by you and your father—it has absolutely nothing to do with me! If you want to be filial, go show it yourself. Don't use moral blackmail on me!" Jiang Yunmiao laid it out clearly.

"You!" Duan Yixiao was so taken aback by the usually soft-tempered Jiang Yunmiao that he couldn't utter a word.

A moment later, he regained his composure, flew into a rage, and slammed his chopsticks onto the table. "Jiang Yunmiao, what is that supposed to mean!"

Jiang Yunmiao curled her lips into a mocking smirk. Afraid he wouldn't hear her clearly, she enunciated every word: "What. I. Mean. Is: Duan. Yixiao. Have. Some. Shame."

"You..."

"Duan Yixiao, ask yourself: in all the years we've been married, how many times have you visited my mother at the nursing home? You could count them on one hand. Everything is reciprocal. You don't value my mother, so why should I be filial to yours? Besides, when has your mother ever looked at me with anything but disdain, unless she was receiving a gift from me? I have no intention of going to annoy her." Jiang Yunmiao finished speaking and went back to her meal.

The netizens were right.

Stop asking yourself why, and start asking others by what right they demand things!

Doing this really did feel good.

Duan Yixiao was so furious that he left without finishing his dinner.

With the person who ruined her mood gone, Jiang Yunmiao found that her meal tasted even better.