Chapter 119: Love at First Sight

She would walk toward him with firm resolve, unconfused, unflustered, and unhesitating. Until the earth turns to dust and bones crumble, I will guard your years from sorrow.

Yet, at this moment, if Shen Yanlie were standing by to hear these words, would he be moved beyond measure? Mai Xijun had rarely spoken such passionate words to him, but every sentence she uttered in her emotional state was so poignant. Surely, if Shen Yanlie knew, he would be delighted—happy from the very depths of his soul.

"Do you think I don't understand the son I gave birth to? I have said all the pleasantries I have to say. For the sake of the time you cared for him when he had a fever, stop forcing me to speak so cruelly. You are absolutely not the one for him." Shen Yiling’s patience was nearly exhausted. She had assumed this matter would be easily resolved and brushed aside, but she had not expected this girl to be so deeply attached.

Hmph, so arrogant and conceited, as if the fact that she had abandoned Shen Yanlie after his birth, never asking after him or caring for him, were still a glorious and perfectly justified matter.

Mai Xijun did not know what to say. The woman’s formidable presence pressed upon her, creating an overwhelming sense of suffocation. Her own firm words had clearly infuriated her. She hadn't wanted it to be this way; she had maintained the proper respect and admiration for Shen Yiling, yet the older woman remained relentlessly aggressive.

Indeed, Shen Yanlie was a standout among men. As she had said before, no matter the time or place, he would always be a man of brilliant radiance. She had never denied this from the moment she met him, but that did not hinder her from loving him with all her heart, nor would it become an unbridgeable chasm between them.

She had told herself she would strive to become more excellent, a woman with a strong heart yet gentle spirit. To love him was like loving herself; since she had decided to love him, she had nowhere to flee, no path of retreat.

"While it is not hard to see that you are a good girl, you are truly not suitable for him. It would be better to let go gracefully." Seeing Mai Xijun remain silent, Shen Yiling softened her tone slightly. But Mai Xijun only curled her lips in a faint smile, as calm and composed as if she had seen through everything. Shen Yiling thought, if that were the case, why not be even more blunt? Perhaps once Mai Xijun saw reason, everything would fall into place.

Only...

"Lie is twenty-seven this year. Since he was four years old, for twenty-three years—more than four-fifths of his life—you, Auntie, have not lived with him. How can you know for sure that I am not the one for him? If it happens that I am the woman he loves to death in this life, then wouldn't you, Auntie, have been wrong from the very beginning?"

Mai Xijun had never imagined she would one day face the mother of the man she loved most in such a state. She should have been warm and kind, treating this woman with the same respect and reverence one would show an honored guest. Yet, she increasingly found that she could not remain calm and composed.

Shen Yiling had divorced Shen Yanlie’s father when he was four. Shen Yanlie took his mother’s surname, but Shen Yiling had not raised him, nor had she raised him alongside his brother, Shen Qian. This was a problem that had remained unchanged for years, one that would never be open to dispute.

Perhaps Shen Yanlie was powerful; after all, he possessed an empire behind him. He used his talent to support thousands of people. From the moment those tens of thousands were willing to let him step on their shoulders to move forward, he was a king, a victor.

But a king has a king’s loneliness, and a king has a king’s solitude. Motherly love—those two warm yet unfamiliar words that sounded so sorrowful—had once been something Shen Yanlie longed for and dreamed of in his wild, youthful days. But in the end, it was a dream, an extravagant wish, a luxury that could not be bought with all the money in the world.

As one matures from a cocoon into a butterfly, there are some things that, no matter how much you yearn for them, you know cannot be forced. Eventually, you stop expecting them. As time passes, they settle into the depths of your heart, never to be easily revealed, never to be announced to the world. You can only take them lightly, ever more lightly...

As for the term "home," the first time Shen Yanlie had a sense of it was when he met Mai Xijun.

Shen Yiling gritted her teeth. She had not expected Mai Xijun to know so much, but she did not let her surprise show. Instead, her gaze turned icy, and the words she spat out were enough to make the surrounding air plummet in temperature: "Even if I did not raise him, it is not your place to interfere."

Indeed! What right did she have? Certainly, it was not for her, Mai Xijun, to interfere. Yet, even if it cost her everything, if it could bring one more shred of peace and happiness into Shen Yanlie’s world, she would not hesitate.

She was not Shen Yanlie; she could not say with absolute certainty what he would do. But she knew that Shen Yanlie needed to be loved and cherished. If Shen Yanlie were capable of falling for Zhou Jingyi, given that they had known each other for so many years, he would not have waited until now to act. Shen Yiling could not possibly be unaware of this, so why bother trying to malign her with money?

She had chosen to be with Shen Yanlie, and she would walk that path firmly. Since Shen Yiling had never fulfilled the duties of a mother all those years ago, had never loved him well, and had never disciplined him, what right or reason did she have to restrain him now?

Perhaps... having such thoughts was disrespectful to Shen Yiling, but facts were facts. Although Mai Xijun might not be the person who loved him most in this world, she would use her sincerity to cultivate him like a flower, watering it with her heart, so that it might bloom into something magnificent and varied.

"I simply feel that, rather than telling me to give up, Auntie, it would be better to go home and spend more time with your son, or perhaps cook him a few good meals."

*Slap.*

As Mai Xijun just stood up to grab her bag, the words barely off her lips, a loud, stinging slap landed on the side of her cheek. Everyone in the coffee shop turned their gazes toward them, their eyes burning upon them.

Meanwhile, Yu Wensi, who was walking down the stairs, stopped abruptly. He was not one to join in on messy excitement, nor would he watch affairs that had nothing to do with him, but at this moment, he did not know why—whatever the reason—he stopped.

Then, the scene he witnessed caused his heart to tighten, as if a spike had struck his most vulnerable point without warning.

To see her wronged—it turned out it made him sad.

Yu Wensi’s expression darkened, turning gloomy and cold. He strode toward the table near the window where the standoff was taking place. Step by step he approached, yet every step would become a sign of the chaos and indelible marks in his future life.

"Lie cooks well, it’s delicious. Auntie, you should have a taste if you get the chance."

Mai Xijun was not as fragile as one might imagine. She did not reach out to cover the place where she had been hit; she remained incredibly calm.

Whether out of sheer anger or something else, Shen Yiling clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. She was a diplomat, an outstanding and excellent woman. To be more precise, she was a career woman—an uncompromising, strong-willed woman.

Yet, facing the girl Shen Yanlie loved, she could not handle it with composure. She had arrogantly assumed that Shen Yanlie was still the three- or four-year-old child who would cling to her and want to throw himself into her arms at all times. But it was not so. With her not by his side all these years, Shen Yanlie had become strong enough—strong enough to hold up any sky on his own without needing anyone.

Mai Xijun had not said many words, but every one of them struck like a sharp blade into the most defenseless part of Shen Yiling’s heart, causing a deep, piercing pain.

Mai Xijun walked past Shen Yiling without hesitation, heading for the café door. Her vision began to blur. In a daze, a figure seemed to be striding toward her, but she knew it was not Shen Yanlie. She did not want to look back, and she could see nothing. She could not close her ears or her heart; the whole world was spinning, dancing, and soaring with only him inside it.

"Mai, girl!" Yu Wensi chased closely behind Mai Xijun, afraid something might happen to her. After all, with the traffic on the road, he was not just worried—he was truly anxious. But at this moment, Mai Xijun seemed to possess a burst of strength, running fast as if to escape this chaotic world.

"Miss Mai!" Yu Wensi chased relentlessly, but a car blocked his path, forcing him to maneuver around it. In the blink of an eye, however, Mai Xijun had already run a great distance away.

Whether he called her girl or Miss, she would not look back. He believed she had heard him, but she simply did not want anyone to see her in such a disheveled state.

Yet, the truth was otherwise. Amidst her confusion and helplessness, Mai Xijun’s world was once again left to her alone... only Shen Yanlie’s every glance, smile, and frown remained in her mind—his overbearing, gentle, wicked, and playful ways. Everything was him. It turned out he hadn't just seeped into her bones before she noticed; from the moment they first met, the seeds of affection had been deeply planted in her heart—to the ends of the earth, he would always be with her.

But little did she know, for some people and some things, from the moment of meeting, all destiny is already set. The process is something one must experience and feel for oneself, without asking whether it is fate or a trial.

Yu Wensi had just stopped to gasp for air when the iron-clad reality before his eyes left him panicked and caught off guard. The blaring sound of a horn, a speeding truck—it was hurtling toward Mai Xijun at a speed Yu Wensi could not fathom.