Lu Qingfeng opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He looked at Yun Qingrong in bewilderment, before uneasiness spread in his chest as he realized the implications of Yun Qingrong’s words.

Yun Qingrong was forced to put down her mug to pull out napkins to dry her tears. It made Lu Qingfeng feel uncomfortable seeing her like this as he didn’t know what he could do to help her.

“Aunty Qing… what do you mean by this?” Lu Qingfeng asked. He was a little nervous to hear her answer. He hoped that whatever it wasn’t the one he was thinking. 

Still, he mustered all the courage he had to confront Yun Qingrong. Since she had given him an opening, how can Lu Qingfeng stop here and ignore the gnawing worry on his chest?

Yun Qingrong fell silent as if she realized the slip of the tongue she just made. Looks like she couldn’t hide the truth from everyone any longer.

She looked at Lu Qingfeng and saw the worry in his eyes. This was what she feared she would see, especially in her daughter once Feifei finds out the truth. However, she was also aware that it would be pointless to hide this for too long, as she would only make everyone worry about her more.

She heaved a deep breath and willed herself to calm down and trust that everything would be alright, especially for her dearest daughter. She also knew that Lu Qingfeng would be there for her daughter, just in case she needed someone to lean on.

“Xiao Feng, actually…” She started, paying attention to Lu Qingfeng’s face. “Actually, I’m sick. Extremely sick, and I don’t know how to tell Feifei about it.”

There. She said it. She smiled helplessly as she thought that her time left to spend with her daughter was now limited. Yun Qingrong wasn’t willing to leave her daughter yet. Not like this.

She found out about her illness a month before Lu Qingfeng’s return and during the time she was contemplating to inform her daughter about it, the news of Lu Qingfeng’s accident reached them.

Seeing her daughter’s devastated state over the news, Yun Qingrong decided to delay their talk, as she didn’t want to make Feifei more worried than she already was at the time. Her Feifei had been worried sick about her childhood friend’s condition, now lover, that Yun Qingrong could only hold her tongue and silently stay next to her daughter.

When Feifei’s birthday arrived, she saw her daughter being truly happy for the first time in ages as she announced her relationship with Lu Qingfeng. Yun Qingrong hadn’t seen her daughter this happy and she couldn’t be more happier seeing her like that.

As a mother, how could she ruin her daughter’s special day with such horrible news about her illness? She could also see how happy her daughter was as Feifei looked at Lu Qingfeng.

Despite her marriage with Su Haoran ending in shatters, Yun Qingrong could see the love in their eyes and the respect the two shared with each other.

It was the kind of connection she really didn’t share with her ex-husband. She was happy that her daughter found a man who could cherish her and love her more than anyone else through Lu Qingfeng.

“I couldn’t tell her, because I didn’t want to ruin her happiness, but I see now that my daughter can sense my distress even if she doesn’t say anything.”

She could remember the look Su Xiaofei had before she left for her business trip. It was as if she wanted to ask her, confront her about what was going on, but Feifei didn’t.

Her daughter respected her and was willing to wait for her to muster her courage to say whatever she needed to tell her. Times like this made Yun Qingrong happy to know that she had raised such a sensible child.

Lu Qingfeng understood the situation clearly now, and it made him worry about both Feifei and her mother. He couldn’t stop himself and strode towards Yun Qingrong, gently giving the woman a firm hug.

When he was young, Lu Qingfeng knew that he wasn’t loved by his own parents and the person who became a father figure in his life was his grandfather. Meanwhile, Yun Qinrong provided him with the maternal love he’d been yearning for from his own birth mother but wasn’t able to receive.

This was why he understood why Feifei held Yun Qingrong with high regards in her life. Yun Qingrong had filled the empty spaces they didn’t know existed in their hearts.

“Aunty Qing, allow me to help you find a decent doctor and hospital facility to help you with the treatments.” He said, not willing to accept that Yun Qingrong’s life would perish again.

In his previous lives, he was aware of the impact of Yun Qingrong’s death over Su Xiaofei and he didn’t want to see her in such a helpless state all over again. He also wasn’t willing to give up easily. He wanted to help Yun Qingrong, now that he had gotten a chance to.

Lu Qingfeng knew that despite him and Feifei being reborn, there were still things that they cannot change no matter how they tried, and that includes death.

Yun Qingrong let a small smile cross her lips as she allowed for the young man to hold her, thinking that her daughter was really lucky to have someone like Lu Qingfeng on her side.

As she thought of this, her worries were somewhat eased by the thought of her daughter not being alone once she had left this world. With Lu Qingfeng by her daughter’s side, she didn’t need to worry about Feifei being taken advantage of or being abused by a man like what Su Haoran did to her.

“Thank you, Xiao Feng.” She murmured, as she continued crying helplessly in his embrace.. “Thank you for being part of our small family.”