Chapter 27: You Won’t Get Anything
Shen Yuchun waited at the elementary school entrance, watching groups of children leave, but Liang Jieran was nowhere to be seen. Usually by this time, Liang Jieran would have rushed out already. Why hadn’t he come out today? She waited until everyone had left the school entrance but still didn’t see him. She took out her phone from her bag and called Liang Jieran’s homeroom teacher. The other side picked up quickly.
“Hello teacher, I’d like to ask why Liang Jieran hasn’t come out yet.”
“Mrs. Liang? His father picked him up right after school. Didn’t his father tell you?”
“…”
“Hello? Mrs. Liang, can you hear me?”
Shen Yuchun felt her whole body trembling with anger. She gripped her phone tightly and finally regained her composure after a while. “Thank you, Teacher Wu. I just confirmed with his father that he picked up the child.”
“That’s good then.”
“Sorry for troubling you. I’ll hang up now.”
After hanging up, Shen Yuchun stood there holding her phone, feeling dazed.
“Excuse me, don’t you know you’re blocking the road?” A driver couldn’t help but remind her as she stood in the middle of the road.
Shen Yuchun moved aside and apologized, but accidentally bumped into another woman crossing the road.
“Watch where you’re going! What are those big eyes for if you’re not using them? Never seen someone just crash into people like that.”
A woman in her forties glanced at Shen Yuchun.
“I’m sorry, it wasn’t intentional.”
“Can an apology be used as food? If sorry was enough, what would we need police for?”1
“Come on, say less,” the man beside the woman looked at Shen Yuchun and tried to mediate.
The woman got angry at this: “Say less? Why should I say less? What? She bumps into me and I should kneel down and thank her?”
“She already apologized for bumping into you. Let’s not be unreasonable. Let’s all go home.”
“Go to hell, Zhu Guangbing! Have you lost your mind, taking a stranger’s side? Your eyes go straight when you see a pretty woman, huh? She bumps into me and you’re telling me to let it go, what’s wrong with you?” The woman finished scolding, then looked at Shen Yuchun again, clicking her tongue before continuing, “Dressed up so flashily just to pick up a kid, like a vixen, who knows who you’re trying to show off to.”
“That’s enough. She just bumped into you once, why make such a big deal and start insulting people?”
Shen Yuchun had no time to waste with them – that bastard Liang Zhengzhi had taken Liang Jieran away. Just as she was about to leave, the woman grabbed her. A driver behind them yelled: “Are you all crazy? Fighting in the middle of the road? Go somewhere else! Don’t you know you’re blocking traffic?”
The woman, seeing the line of cars backed up behind them, pulled Shen Yuchun to the roadside. Shen Yuchun struggled to free herself while saying, “I have an emergency. I’ve already apologized to you, what more do you want?” But the woman wouldn’t let go.
Shen Yuchun, used to an easier life, hadn’t encountered someone like this in many years. As the woman’s insults got worse and the crowd of onlookers grew larger, she felt increasingly embarrassed. When she saw the woman’s hand about to reach for her face, Shen Yuchun forgot about maintaining her image and started arguing back, hands on her hips.
At the police station.
The police officer was taking statements from the three people, learning that a simple bump had led to a street fight. He rubbed his temples wearily: “Can’t we all be more understanding and forgiving? Is such a small matter worth fighting over?”
The woman wanted to say more but was pulled back by the man beside her, and she lowered her head saying “Yes.” She wasn’t so bold in the police station.
Shen Yuchun just wanted to leave quickly and nodded: “Yes.”
After leaving the police station, Shen Yuchun took out her mirror to check her face. Her hair was already messy from the fight, and there were scratch marks on her face from that woman. But the woman hadn’t gotten the better of her – after all, before marrying Xu Hengyu, Shen Yuchun could argue with the best of them.
She fixed her hair and crouched by the roadside to make a phone call. After several attempts, the other side finally answered lazily.
Shen Yuchun gripped her phone: “Where’s Ranran? Where did you take him?”
“What kind of question is that? Ranran is my son too. What’s wrong with bringing my son home?”
Liang Zhengzhi stood in front of a huge floor-to-ceiling window, smirking.
“What are you trying to do, Liang Zhengzhi?”
Liang Zhengzhi laughed: “Nothing much. I just want to tell you, Shen Yuchun, we’re divorced, you won’t get a penny, and you won’t see Ranran either.”
“We were married for ten years, and you’re leaving me with nothing? Liang Zhengzhi, are you even human? I don’t need the money, just give me Ranran. Give Ranran back to me!”
Shen Yuchun’s tears started falling as she spoke.
“Dream on, Shen Yuchun. You’re just a loose woman I picked up. What are you acting so high and mighty for? I can have any woman I want – did you really think you were special? Even if we go through legal procedures, do you think they’d give custody to someone who doesn’t even have a job?”
Liang Zhengzhi found it amusing.
“Dad, when can I go see Mom?” Liang Jieran asked, hugging a doll with an innocent face.
“Ranran, be good and go eat first.” Liang Zhengzhi crouched down and rubbed Liang Jieran’s head, then told the servant: “Take the young master down for dinner.”
“Yes.”
Hearing Liang Jieran’s voice, Shen Yuchun’s nerves tensed completely. She screamed into the phone: “Liang Zhengzhi, you’re inhuman! Give Ranran back to me! Give him back!”
As soon as she finished speaking, the call was cut off.
Shen Yuchun helplessly crouched by the roadside and began crying, completely losing her composure. Her hair was messy, and her makeup was smeared from crying.
As evening fell, Shen Yuchun stood up, feeling dazed. She walked very slowly. Now she had nothing left. She truly had nothing left. Her only emotional support had been taken away by that beast Liang Zhengzhi.
As she walked, she suddenly twisted her ankle, her high heel getting stuck in a drain grate. The old saying was true – when you’re having bad luck, nothing goes right. Shen Yuchun crouched by the roadside to pull out her high heel, taking quite some time before finally freeing it, but the heel had broken off.
And so, she carried her broken high heel, walking home in a daze. Usually, she cared most about her image, but now she didn’t care how people on the street looked at her.
- T/N: Two very common phrases in response to an apology that’s not accepted. They have the same meaning of ‘your apology is useless’, said often in a spiteful tone. ↩︎
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