From Broken Family to Life Winner: A Reborn Mother's Journey

Su Li hadn’t expected the grade-skipping business to be settled so quickly.

While Little Tang Mo was taking his exam, she was meeting with the agent and that scholarly merchant.

Upon hearing the quantity and range of books Su Li wanted, the scholarly merchant—a refined man with a weathered face and glasses, who looked more like a scholar than a businessman—asked curiously.

”Give me half a month, and I can gather all these books and have them delivered to you. But could you tell me what’s special about your bookstore?”

”It’s simply turning the business of selling books into renting them,” Su Li said, feeling there was nothing to hide.

The books she was looking for were all ones the school library didn’t have.

”Renting books?” The scholarly merchant nodded in understanding. ”That’s a good idea. A very good idea.”

After settling the deal, they parted ways. The man was quite busy and didn’t have time for lunch.

”It was a pleasure doing business with you.”

”The pleasure was mine. Goodbye.”

Su Li saw the two of them out of the teahouse and made a point to thank the agent.

”You brought me business, so it’s only right for me to return the favor. No need to be so polite.”

The agent waved his hand. ”You should head back. The midday sun is scorching; don’t get heatstroke.”

”Alright. You too.”

With the book situation sorted, Su Li breathed a sigh of relief.

The next day, Su Li officially started her classes, and her university life began in earnest.

After two days of classes, Su Li’s legs nearly gave out from all the running around.

Besides walking to her classes, this was mainly because Chang E had been dragging her around to look at numerous student clubs.

University clubs are a key feature of college life—student organizations voluntarily formed to fulfill their members’ common goals and cater to their personal interests and hobbies.

Student clubs are an important vehicle for building campus culture and leaders in the ”second classroom” of higher education.

In short, university clubs are very important.

After the first-year students arrive, the first month of the semester is the recruitment period for clubs. Students choose clubs, and clubs choose students.

After getting the basic rundown, Su Li had a good idea of what she wanted.

Chang E, however, was still completely undecided. She enthusiastically found every club interesting and wanted to join them all.

As a result, she dragged Su Li along to check out each and every one.

She was so enthusiastic that she didn’t just look at clubs within their department, but outside of it as well.

Thanks to her, Su Li also learned a great deal.

”Should I join the department’s student union or the university’s student union?” The student union was also very important, and many people wanted to get in. Chang E was now conflicted about this too.

Su Li stated the unvarnished truth. ”It’s not exactly a matter of just wanting to join and getting in.”

”You’re right. Let’s just apply to both then! We’ll take whatever we can get,” Chang E said immediately.

Su Li couldn’t help but laugh, but she didn’t object. ’After all, just because we apply doesn’t mean we’ll get an interview.’

’The student union is a great way to build character, and I want to join, too.’

Back in his sophomore year, Yu Zhengqing had even been the president of the department’s student union.

If he hadn’t been busy with an internship during his junior year, he might have become president of the entire university’s student union.

’I’m not aiming to be president just yet, but I do genuinely want to join the student union.’

’Experiencing university life to the fullest is one of my goals.’

After two dizzying days of running around, they finally finished applying for clubs and the student union.

Su Li made the rather unoriginal choice to apply for the journalism club and was now waiting for her interview next week.

As for the student union, Su Li didn’t apply to both the university and department unions like Chang E did; she only applied for the department one.

’My free time is limited. If I manage to pass the interviews, this will be more than enough.’

And so, Su Li’s busy campus life began.

With so much going on at the start of the semester, Su Li was mostly staying at the school.

Time flew by, and two weeks passed in the blink of an eye.

During that time, Tang Yuanxiao and Wu Sheng must have been busy, or perhaps it was because she rarely went home, but neither of them appeared before Su Li.

Su Li breathed a sigh of relief.

’This calm and relaxed university life is perfect for sorting out my feelings.’

Too much had happened in such a short period before, and it was all too chaotic, leaving her with no mental space to sort through it.

These past few days, she could finally settle down and organize her thoughts.

First was Yu Zhengqing. Just as she had said before, they could only be friends.

Getting to know the still-somewhat-immature Yu Zhengqing again, several years early, Su Li was certain that with just a little more time, she could sort out her heart.

Next were Tang Yuanxiao and Wu Sheng.

On the night of her near-miss with the car accident, hiding in the dark stairwell, Su Li had forced herself to think calmly: leaving Yu Zhengqing aside, who was she more inclined towards, Wu Sheng or Tang Yuanxiao?

Under hypothetical conditions, setting aside their families, backgrounds, and everything else, and looking only at the two men themselves...

Su Li could only say that they were completely different, yet each had his own unique qualities.

Wu Sheng was humorous and fun. When she was with him, she would always laugh freely and could forget the resentments of her past life. He was like the Albizia tree he had given her, filling an ordinary life with surprises.

Tang Yuanxiao was just as he described himself: clumsy with words, not very witty, and a bit stubborn. But he was down-to-earth and, like the dumplings he made, he cared for her quietly in everyday life or from behind the scenes.

They were both very good men; there was no doubt about that.

And precisely because they were both so good, Su Li knew she needed to make a decision soon. She couldn’t drag this on any longer.

After her afternoon class, Su Li said goodbye to Chang E and went to her rented bookstore space.

The half-month deadline agreed upon with the book supplier was approaching, so Su Li had to start arranging the other necessary preparations.

After measuring the bookstore’s dimensions, Su Li went out to look for a contractor. She couldn’t find a suitable one right away and only returned home after dark.

Once home, Su Li contacted Li Hongqin and the others to handle some matters. Later, while she was in the middle of a shower, the phone suddenly rang.

Su Li hurried out. It was already the third time the phone had started ringing.

’If it wasn’t an emergency, they wouldn’t be calling like this.’

”Hello?” Su Li quickly answered the phone.

”Is this Su Li?” a vaguely familiar voice asked from the other end.

”This is she.”

”Su Li, this is Aunt Chang. I’m calling to tell you, Tang Yuanxiao’s mother has arrived in the Imperial City. She’s at the train station right now. Would you be able to go pick her up?”

Aunt Chang’s anxious voice came through the receiver, and Su Li froze for a moment.

”Who did you say?” ’Mrs. Tang? Mrs. Tang is here?’

”Tang Yuanxiao’s mother.” Aunt Chang’s voice gave Su Li her definitive answer.

”She...” Su Li closed her eyes, momentarily at a loss for words.

Su Li had always known she couldn’t just avoid reality because it wasn’t right in front of her. She’d always known that Mrs. Tang’s arrival in the Imperial City was only a matter of time.

She had to come to take care of Little Tang Mo. The nature of Tang Yuanxiao’s identity meant that he couldn’t look after Little Tang Mo forever.

Su Li knew she would come sooner or later, but she never imagined it would be this soon.

For a moment, she was speechless and fell silent.

On the other end, Aunt Chang sounded very guilty. ”Su Li, I’m so sorry. I know I shouldn’t be contacting you, but I really have no other choice.”

”Tang Yuanxiao is away on a business trip. We received a telegram from his mother and quickly arranged for someone to pick her up from the train station. But his mother doesn’t trust the person we sent. She insists on seeing a familiar face before she’ll leave, saying she’s afraid of being scammed.”

”The young man we sent to get her tried to persuade her for ages, but she won’t budge. It’s already gotten dark, and it’s too late to have someone bring Tang Mo all the way there to pick her up. It would be too much of a hassle. I had no other choice, so I called you.”