“Of course I know that, what is it? Why are you missing your brother early in the morning?”

Hesitating for a while, Ning awkwardly cleared her throat. “I—” ​​

“I am your brother Ning, we were once cramped up in a tiny space together and only God knows how many times you might have kicked me. Anyway, the conclusion is that you don’t have to think so much before asking anything from me,” Chen explained. He could feel she wanted to ask him something but was having a very hard time doing it. Though everything between him and Ning was normal and they were also comfortable with each other, he could still feel she wasn’t one hundred percent comfortable around him like a sister should be which bugged him a lot.

Chen understood that the way everything had happened, it was understandable why there was still a thin wall between them. But he still wanted to work on their relationship to make it stronger.

Keeping quiet for quite some time, she asked, “Do you have her number?”

“Whose number?”

“Umm, m-mother’s number,” she stuttered. Ning could feel her heart racing in excitement and anticipation. For some odd reason, referring Ziyi as her mother made her feel anxious but also gave her a feeling of satisfaction which was weird.

“Y-Yes, I have it. Let me forward it to you.”

“Okay, will she be free now? I mean, I won’t disturb her if I call her, right?”

“You can call her anytime you want Ning, I am sure she will feel elated even if you call her at three in the morning.” Without waiting for her reply, he added, “I’ll send you the number, don’t worry about other things.”

After hanging up the call, Ning impatiently waited for Chen to send her the number. After a few seconds, when she received a message from him, she gulped in nervousness and kept staring at the screen before dialing the number.

After a couple of rings, the person from the other side received the call.

“Hello?�� When Ning did not say anything, Ziying added, “Who is it?”

Gulping in nervousness, Ning contemplated for a while before hesitantly answering, “It’s me, Ning.” As she had expected, she received a complete silence from the other side.

Staying silent for almost a minute, Ziyin muttered, “Ning.”

“Hmm, I hope I didn’t disturb you.”

“O-Of course not, I—”

Hearing her mother’s choked up, her heart suddenly started filling up with grief and her eyes started tearing up too.

“Y-You did not disturb me,” Ziyi responded.

“I asked Chen for your number, I hope you did not mind.”

“N-No, not at all. You can call me anytime you want to.”

Keeping quiet for a couple of seconds, she asked, “I was wondering if you are free today.” Without waiting for her reply, Ning added, “I wanted to meet you.”

“M-Meet me? Yes of course, where should I come?” she excitedly asked.

“Are you free now? We can meet in a cafe which is also near to your place.”

“Yes I am free, I will be right there. Don’t worry, I won’t make you wait,” she beamed.

“Okay, I will text you the address and see you there.” After hanging up the call, Ning quickly sent her the address before informing Yichan about the sudden change in the plan.

…..

Mo Base.

Looking at Linhou who was grumpily slumped on the couch, Jason raised his brows. “What happened? You look super tired.”

“Kiara threw me out of the room last night.”

“Okay, then why didn’t you sleep in your room?”

Scrunching his brows, Linhou snapped, “Didn’t you hear what I just said? She threw me out of the room because she was angry. How am I supposed to go and sleep in my room like nothing happened? I would have been single by now if I had done that.”

“What did you do then? Stand outside her room the whole night?” Jason chuckled.

“Of course, what other choice did I have,” he sighed before massaging his forehead. “My head hurts, can you make a cup of strong coffee?”

Helplessly shaking his head, Jason made his way towards the electric kettle. “Didn’t I ask you to tell her about Mary when she first arrived? But at that time you were too chill to listen to me. None of this would have happened if you had listened to me.”

“Will you stop taunting me? Seriously Jason, I help you out whenever you have troubles with Elizabeth, am I wrong if I expect the same thing from you?” he frowned.

“Of course not, I will be more than happy to help but you know how I suck at things like this so you have to tell me what to do.”

“How useless,” Linhou scoffed.

“Ask me to fix your computer or laptop and maybe other electronic things and I will do it within seconds but don’t me to find a solution for your problems which is related to your girlfriend.” Passing him the coffee, Jason added, “You have to tell me what to do.”

Thinking for a while, he remarked, “Okay if you really wanna help me out, go tell my Kia baby how I was drunk that night and the kiss was just a drunken mistake which was never repeated.”

Nodding his head in approval, Jason stated, “Alright I can do that.”

“Great, she might be sleeping now you should go after some time.”

…..

Cafe.

When Ning arrived at the cafe, she looked around trying to find out whether Ziyi was already there or not. She was about to take out her phone when her eyes landed on a woman dressed in yellow and her body froze. Yichan was right, she looked exactly like her mother.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, she slowly made her way towards her—her mother.

“I am sorry for being late.”

Ziyi quickly got up when she saw Ning. This was the first time she was seeing her daughter let alone talking to her. When her eyes started tearing up, she quickly looked away and wiped her tears away.

She then turned towards her and smiled, “It’s alright, I also arrived a few minutes ago. Please sit down.”

When Ning settled down, she asked, “What do you want to have?”

“A coffee will do.”

After ordering two coffees, Ziyi asked, “You don’t have work today?”

“Yes I do, I’ll go there after we finish—” Taking out the black file from her bag, Ning placed it on the table. “Yi told me you gave him this file the other day.”

When Ziyi nodded her head, she shoved it towards her. “I appreciate your efforts but there is really no need of doing this. Please take it back.”

“B-But these are yours, all of this yours.”

Keeping quiet for quite some time, Ning sighed, “I don’t really need it so—”

“It’s not about whether you want it or not, this is something that belongs to you.” Lowering her head, Ziyi explained, “Everything that we have belongs to you and Chen, whether you both want it or not.”

Without waiting for her reply, she explained further, “I know you don’t want to have anything to do with us and It’s understandable. I will never force you to make Weilong and me a part of life because we know we don’t deserve it. We have wronged you Ning and I as the mother have wronged you the most.”

Balling her hands into a fist and with tears flowing down her cheeks, she remarked, “Giving you up was the most hurtful and regrettable thing I have ever done but I had no other choice. At that time, I had no idea what to do, I felt so lost and anxious. I didn’t think about the consequences but your safety, I didn’t want to lose my daughter forever—I….”

Wiping her tears with the back of hand, she added, “Though I ended up losing you anyway, at least I always felt satisfied and relieved knowing that you are living a happy and safe life. Trust me, nothing else mattered after that. I am ready to accept your hatred and disdain towards me but I am not ready to lose you forever. I will happily live a regrettable life until and unless you and Chen are living a peaceful one.”

Taking a deep breath, she further explained, “The day I gave you up, I knew you would never forgive me, I knew I would never be able to hug my daughter and take her into my embrace but everything is worth it. I know you are angry with us and will never accept us which is completely right. A mother like me shouldn’t be appreciated at all, I deserve all of this and I know it. But can I ask you for something?”

When Ning nodded her head, she added, “Please don’t hate me.” Pausing for a couple of seconds, she stated, “I can take everything but not your hatred.”